Well I was really looking forward to seeing what changes Blizzard was going to make in SCII - however, so far, it's the same ol' "who can click the fastest and rush" B.S. that all too many RTS games fall prey to.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing competitively but when that's all that it is - and the matches are barely 5-10 minutes long, it gets a bet stale - really fast. 

I know I'm not the only PC gamer out there who feels both frustration and violated by Infinity Ward, developer of the popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 game that was released last week to record-shattering sales. I've been a fan of this franchise since the first game came out a few years ago and, like many, was eagerly awaiting its release since its announcement.

Many of us, I'm sure had fond memories of COD4: Modern Warfare and rightly so - it helped elevated the Multiplayer experience with a series of upgrades which almost brought an RPG-like element to the genre and World at War continued that as well. 

So it was to a high-degree of dismay to find out that IW was screwing the pooch in a big way with its decision to bar dedicated servers from Modern Warfare 2. There are a number of rumors floating around the web as to IW's decision to do this and I'll outline them here:

 - They were lazy and didn't want do make a true PC port
 - They were worried they'd lose revenue and control over the amount of Multiplayer content due to user-created maps etc.
 - They wanted to try and curb cheating - which we now know did not work at all as evidenced by this video:

I believe the primary reason is the 2nd rumor - they want to monetize all future map content. Ultimately, however, I believe this change will come back to bite them with even lower PC sales next time around. undoubtedly, the PC was their smallest-selling group, however, it is undeniably the platform that continues to be on the cutting edge of technology.

Am I the only one who's not overwhelmed by ATIs upcoming "Eyefinnity"? It appears that most in the tech-sector are lavishing over it and frankly, I don't get it. Matrox has been doing "triple-head" for years and it has done quite well for them in the medical and financial markets. Even at its release, however, it never quite caught-on with gamers for a number of reasons:

- Most folks don't have that many monitors
- It's lame-sauce to have breaks between your in-game graphics 
- The needed desktop space to make that setup happen doesn't exist in many home-environments

*Image used by permission from Tech Report  (thanks Scott). 

Even though I've always been a huge fan of any technology that can improve the gaming experience, i've always held that excitment under the following criteria:

- Is it affordable?
- Is it widely available?
- Is it feasable for the average Joe?

While it does fall into the category of being widely available (after the cards come out) and I'm sure reasonably affordible, the overall cost of LCD's and desktop real-estate keep it unfeasable for the "Average Joe". Based on thay critera, I cannot give a full endorsement yet to Eyefinnity - I do believe it will be a strong contender against Matrox in the fields of medical imagery as well as the financial markets. 

What I am anxious to see is the actual DX11 technology inside their next GPU and more importantly what the developers are currently working on that'll take advantage of that API. 

The winner of this contest is Adam M. of Seattle WA!

Thanks to all who entered and stay-tuned for more contests here soon!

We have partnered with Intel to giveaway a brand-new PC built on its "Lynnfield" CPU - built from CyberPower.

"Intel is excited about our new Lynnfield line of processors—Core i5 and Core i7. To show how excited we are we are giving away over a dozen CyberPower and Ibuypower systems to the readers of the tech reviewers who put the products through their paces daily! “Core i for the mainstream guy (and gal) is what we affectionately call it, bringing the Nehalem architecture to mainstream PC pricepoints everywhere. Our awesome etail partners below helped make this happen, hit them up when you go shopping for a system. And special thanks to CyberPower and Ibuypower for delivering the goods yet again.”

TigerDirect – www.tigerdirect.com/go/corei5
Newegg.com - http://promotions.newegg.com/Intel/corei5/index.html
ZipZoomfly.com - http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Special/Intel_p55_launch_083109.jsp
Mwave.com - http://www.mwave.com/mwave/inteli5.asp?
Ncix.com - http://www9.ncix.com/lp2/Corei5-P55/ca/

*Note: Monitor not included

Here are the specs on this bad-boy:

CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 5000  

-Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93 GHz LGA 1156 45nm 8MB L3 Cache

-Intel P55 Chipset Mainboard
        - 3x PCI-e 16x 
        - 4x DIMM DDR3 Memory Slots 
        - 2x PCI-e 1x
        - 2x PCI 
        - 10 USB (8 x rear, 2 x front)
        - GB LAN
- 6x SATA, 2x IDE
- I/O: 2x PS2, 8x USB, 1x IEEE1394a, Optical S/PDIF Out Port, Coaxial S/PDIF Out Port,,2x RJ-45, Audio

-8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 1333 Memory(Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)[+0]More Brand...
-1TB SATA-II 3.0 Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
-Nvidia Geforce GTX295 1792MB PCI Express Video Card
-Blu-Ray Player Drive
-22x DVD±R/±RW DUAL LAYER DRIVE
-Xtreme Gear USB Keyboard
-Xtreme Gear USB Mouse
-Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
(With Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon)
-NZXT Beta Gaming Case With Side Window and 800W Power Supply
-Shipping weight : 42Lbs.
-Shipping Dimension : 28 ¼” (L) x 21 5/8” (W) x 11 7/8” (H)
-1 Year Warranty and Lifetime Toll Free Tech Support Services

To enter, please submit an email to: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it and explain to us how owning an Intel CoreI7 "Lynnfield" would Rock your world. We'll pick the winner based on the following criteria:

- Creativity
- How believable is your story

*Rules:
1. Cannot be an employee of Intel, CyberPower or IBuyPower
2. All emails and the content submitted will remain with Bootdaily and may be used again in future site announcement and may be shared with Intel and CyberPower
3. Only one submission per person please!
4. Must be a resident of the United States or Canada (Canadians will be responsible for paying any duties).