EndLagNow.org Blog

How to beat PC Game Piracy, w/o DRM

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Warez http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warez Serialz, Cracks, Crackers, Hackers, Modders, and Phreaks are alright in my book. They cannot be stopped with DRM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRM, Encryption, Fingerprints, or any other way. All the public debate recently over SPORE http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2617 by Maxis DRM crippling is totally legit. And here is the core of my BIG problem with it: it has NO SIGNIFICANT ONLINE component. EA and Maxis, and Will Wright have given me no REASON NOT to download the Warez version. So, the answer, HOW TO BEAT PC GAME PIRACE: Give me a reason NOT to Pirate your game.

Dell's XPS Gaming PCs now Feature the Killer NIC!

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dell just began selling XPS Gaming PCs featuring the Killer NIC!

GOOGLE TO BUY VALVE, LAG HATERS START CRYING!

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The rumor: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/09/17/google-valve is that Google will buy Valve any day now. For gamers, this means your favorite program: Steam, which holds all your game logins and keys as well as makes it easy to buy and plan games, will get heftier and cooler. It also means LAG could become WORSE before it gets better. Google is set up for big things (like Yahoo), or slow things (like gmail), but for FAST things (like games) they could seriously slow your experience.

Is gaming really slowing? What will make it blast off again?

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Recently, it was reported that gaming is supposedly slowing. While this is alarming for those of us in the gaming business, it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. If you do any surveys or talk to gamers, you will find that they are spending increasingly more of their disposable income on gaming related purchases. Why? Lots of factors: Price of Gas, Quality of Games, Awesomeness of latest GPUs and Gen3 Consoles, and Casual games. So, why the disconnect from industry folks like NPD Group and the gamer on the street? And what is it that will (or already is) making gaming blast off? My thoughts… I believe it is Online Gaming.. Read on.

Gaming on Laptops? Really?

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

So, my gaming laptop died. I've had it for 3 years.... and enjoyed many many hours of WoW and Counterstrike Source on it. It was a Dell XPS Gaming Laptop (called Gen 2). And it was sweet.... Funny, it never occurred to me that OTHER people might be gaming on a laptop too... yep, it is a huge growing phenomenon. It's not just a trend, but is real, and can be seen in the hallways of gaming conventions and even office buildings. Its big... and growing... and I can't wait! Lag issues on Laptops are even BIGGER than on Desktops...and serious gamers, that want to play on laptops should consider the Lag!

Common Killer Questions from the ENDLAGNOW-er

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

From time to time I get questions such as those posed by JEMCRYSTAL on my last Blog Entry. Since I get them often, I thought I'd spend a few moments answering them to all. Its no secret, I love gaming, online games, FPS, MMOs, and all things to do with Networking these things together. LLR, The Killer NIC, LLR2, and all things to do with Bigfoot Networks are the penultimate culmination of those combined passions. On to the questions:

Killer and Valve: How Games Hide Lag, and cause it.

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In a previous EndLagNow Blog Entry, we looked at how Counterstrike Source and Team Fortress 2 use Lag Compensation and other techniques to hide Lag from users and make the game 'work' over high latencies and a variety of network conditions. The Killer Gaming Network Card has been my passion, my life for 3 years now... and i thought it would be good to explain how Killer works in context of how CSS and TF2 compensate for Lag, Latency, and how all that relates to framerates (FPS). The short answer is, Killer not only helps yourself in the game, it helps the server and the other players too... AND... less Lag Compensation makes for a BETTER experience, and if this matters to you, More Killing, more winning, and to some that means more fun.

IGDA Summer picnic at Richard Garriot's private lakeside resort....

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It was great to be able to Sposor the Independent Game Developers (Austin) Summer Picnic this year! We had a blast, as you can see by the pictures! Everybody loved the Killer Bling Loot we handed out, and many of the developers were very receptive to the idea of "End Lag". I enjoyed meeting lots of old and new friends, and hope they email me and keep the fight going! Thanks IGDA!

Counterstrike and TF2 Source Engine Lag Uncovered!

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

An amazing look into Lag & its causes in a real game (we all love) is a few clicks away. The Video of Team Fortress 2 (a Valve Steam Source game) and the real game developer conversation about TF2 and Counterstrike Source are both incredibly revealing, shocking, and prove true what we at ELN have been saying for a long long time. Lag is caused by the internet, the client, and the server... and in many cases, Lag is even introduced and expected: e.g. the things game developers do to try to "Hide Network Lag" from the weak (slow net connections), actually make those of the strong (like you and me with decent to good net connections) experience MORE Client Lag. Not good my friends. I'll take my game without Lag please... read on for the truth, and straight to the point of the story.

World of Warcraft Lag finally explained!!!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

World-of-Warcraft Lag finally makes sense! Some clever writer has explained the Physics of World-of-Warcraft (geeks like me only!)... The diameter of the WoW World, the relative gravity, the dimensional implications, and of course, the reason "Time" is 'weird' in the game, especially Lag! Reality is, you need something like the LagMeter (downloadable here at ELN) to actually tell what is causing your Lag... For WoW, unfortunately, it is the "servers" that are usuallty to blame! That doesn't mean you can't get a smoother experience, you just can't fix their servers (yet)... Yes, We at Bigfoot are working on that :) GRIN :) (disclaimer, not officially announced with any partners except for Emergent Game Technologies)

Recent Lag Experiences....

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Recently, I've been hard at work at not working hard. Its not an easy thing to do, when I have so many fun work projects to do... but I do find a few minutes to 'not work'. What I've found is that the state of the internet... the health of our backbones, and general online gaming has gotten WORSE! Lag has gotten, statistically, worse in the 2 years I've been running this blog.

CES 2008 News: Killer to offload Playxpert in-game overlay.

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Want to do more while you game? Killer NIC is all about that, and remember, doing more while you game usually causes Lag! Killer NIC lets you do more while you game without Lag; now in a very unique way.

Killer NIC: 3D VOIP to make FPS Gluttony worthwhile!

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

If you love FPS games, you probably already know that this is the year of the FPS Game. Check out the IGN.COM reviews of Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament 3 (2007), just to name a few… I believe that 3D VOIP is going to make all these FPS Games infinitely better. Imagine communicating fluidly over VOICE with your team and smoothly hearing which direction they are on the map according to the sound of their voice. Coordinating attacks couldn’t be simpler than that! The price you pay for VOIP is performance though… and that performance price tag is the #1 Reason that VOIP is NOT being done in today’s games. The Killer NIC is about to change all of that. The biggest news, and why I haven’t posted in a while, is that the Killer NIC now supports fully offloaded 3D positional VOIP from DiamondWare.

Lag and Why I Hate Forum Spammers

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

This will be a short post, but I wanted to say I'm not dead! I've just been crazy busy with all the amazing stuff happening at http://www.killernic.com . We're working on some projects that are amazing (and by the way reduce Lag!) But what I really wanted to say was: spammers, go away! Stay out of forums, out of our phones, out of our heads!!!!

Measuring Lag.

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In case you did NOT know, there is in fact a tool that measures Lag. It is called LagMeter, and you can download it right here. In fact, I helped design it (though I didn't program much of it). That being said, I have been pondering lately about HOW DO we measure Lag? Is doing what LagMeter does the right approach (e.g. measuring latency, FPS, and server responsiveness?) Can we do better?

Killer Launches in UK: I-31 is fun. Less Lag for Europe is a good thing!

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The I-31 LAN party (biggest annual UK gaming event) was this weekend, and it is there that we offically launched the Killer NIC into Europe! Yes, your emails and calls can stop now, you can Buy Killer overseas right now!

Fleeceing the Online Gamer!!! MMO Games are not FPS games!!!!!

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Recently at E3 2007, new footage and gameplay of NCSoft's upcoming MMO Tabula Rosa was released. It looks GORGEOUS, it will clearly be a great fun MMO... in fact I had a chance to play it, and it is fun! BUT IT IS JUST AN MMO. A lot of people are thinking (incorrectly) that his will be any different than the 'click, click, wait' experience found in ALL OTHER MMOs.... it is not different. It "hides" lag like all other MMOs. No, it is no FPS. There is no FPS MMO. There cannot be any time soon....

Today's Games Lack Novelty... what will tomorrow bring.

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Electronic Arts head man seems to think that the 'sequel' and the 'unoriginal' titles are hurting gaming. He seems to believe that we need more novelty in gaming... Quite Ironic considering EA is the biggest SEQUEL maker of all time. I pose the question (and please do respond below), are games stale? and if so, WHAT will make games more novel in the future? Read on to hear my thoughts on this...

Win a KILLER NIC from Blizzard (WoW) World of Warcraft!!!!

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Check it out! Your chance to win a Killer NIC from Blizzard and World of Warcraft!!! It's a quick trivia challenge on WOW topics (maybe a Killer topic too). No hints here! Good luck!!!!

HOW LLR2 WILL REDUCE LAG: PART 2 (Killer NIC Owners get BIG BOOSTS!!!)

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Part 2 of how LLR2 will reduce Lag focuses on the benefits to Killer NIC Owners. I like to draw analogies to EAX from Creative Labs and their popular 'SoundBlaster' sound cards. No, LLR2 is not 3D networking (althought that would be super cool!), but it is an API for Game Developers to use that automatically gives access to more KILLER NIC power+advantage (when Killer NIC is present). How much more? It is really, really hard to estimate, because the games with LLR2 will have to be measured (every game is made differently)... but we are designing for potential of 2X the LAG reduction of what Killer delivers today. Check out the new 'game pages' on the KillerNIC.com website for Killer's benefits today (HUGE improvements in FPS and Latency), and imagine that benefit DOUBLED! Yes, it is possible, and in many games, that will happen. How? Read on!

How LLR2 will reduce Lag: Part 1 (less lag for everyone!)

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I am working on a White Paper to explain all that is LLR2, but I thought I'd proactively address some questions here. A lot of folks are trying to understand how the LLR2 Technology will help reduce Lag. There are actually MANY ways this happens, and I'll be addressing each one here. This first part explains, purely, that LLR2 (even in pure software mode, without the Killer NIC or the new GSA) delivers less Lag to EVERYONE! Yes, the first technology, that will reduce Lag, and it will Do so even WITHOUT having a Killer!!! Now, of course, people who own a Killer NIC will get an even BIGGER advantage in games with LLR2, but thats another Blog entry for later.... for now, let's talk about what LLR2 does for 'everyone'!

Killer NIC Shines in: Games For Windows Live Reviewed by GameDaily

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The Killer NIC was mentioned in this review of Games for Windows Live by Eli Shayotovich of GameDaily.com. During his testing he noted that Killer NIC had a compatibility problem with Games for Windows Live, and Microsoft gave a cryptic response. He went on to say that the guys at Bigfoot Networks released a patch to fix the issue in amazing record time. Unfortunately, Eli didn't really like Games for Windows Live, but he does like his Killer NIC! This is the review Eli did for Killer a few months ago...a great review!

Bigfoot Server Technology (LLR2) Announced!!!!!!

Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In case you missed it, BIG NEWS!!!!!! LLR2 was announced this week!!! LLR2 is designed to make GAME SERVERS run faster... that's right; Bigfoot Networks is tackling LAG AGAIN with a server technology to make game servers run faster and handle MORE PLAYERS PER SERVER WITHOUT LAG. The best part about it is, for games that are built using LLR2 Technology, are being auto-optimized for the Killer NIC! Yep, games that use LLR2 (and enable the server acceleration technology), are also optimizing for the Killer NIC. Yes, end-to-end network acceleration is now a reality.

GDC 2007: Companies taking Lag Seriously!

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The number of companies that CARE about LAG is growing. It used to be just 1 (maybe 2). I personally met with 3 companies at GDC this year about Lag. Bigfoot Networks always at the top of the list. Now, there are at least 4 companies that care about Lag, and my hope is that one or more of the other companies will join us here and promote the problem of Lag! The top 4 companies fighting Lag ARE: Bigfoot Networks (with the Killer NIC), DLINK (GamerLounge), GameRail.com, and PEER 1 hosting (Latency Kills).

Vista Networking so bad, that FEAR is nigh unplayable.; unless you have a Killer NIC

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I have recently composed a new white paper (not yet published, but will be soon) about Vista Networking performance in online games. One of the things that shocked me was that F.E.A.R. (a known system performance hog), is just unplayable in Vista.... that is unless you have a Killer NIC. Without Killer (which bypasses the "new" Vista stack), you can't aim, you can't move, you can't kill... i had 1/3 the kill scores without Killer than I did with. With Killer, FEAR becomes playable in Vista.