Asus Debuts Rampage III Extreme Motherboard

Say hello to the hot rod of motherboards.

Looking for that next hot motherboard to pair up with your fancily-cooled GPU and CPU? Asus wants you to take a look at its new Rampage III Extreme motherboard.

As part of the Republic of Gamers line, the Asus Rampage III Extreme uses Intel’s X58/ICH10R chipset with support for the LGA1366 CPUs with up to six cores.

Pakistan Gets 1st Google Certified Analytics Professional

Mohsin Khawaja has secured Google Analytics Certification, first instance of it’s kind in the country.

Web Anaytics allows you to Maximize the ROI (Return on Investment) of your Website. Analytics data offers a wealth of information about what visitors are doing on your website: what they’re reading, how they navigate, what they’re buying, and what they’re ignoring.

By capturing, analyzing, and taking action on this gold mine of information, you can tune your website for maximum performance.

Those who want to follow Mohsin, should go through Google Analytics Course and reading the various questions and problems in Help Center before attempting the exam.

Win7 XP Mode Drops Virtualization Hardware Need

Wanting to run XP Mode inside your Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate? Now you don't need a special CPU anymore.

One of the more interesting technologies inside Windows 7 that should ease all sorts of upgrade and application compatibility worries is XP Mode – a virtual Windows XP that can operate inside Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.

Up until today, those who wanted to run XP Mode in their modern OS would be required to have hardware virtualization support through Intel VT or AMD-V. Now that requirement has been lifted, though those with virtualization hardware will still see better performance.

Microsoft announced the change in a press release dealing with new virtualization initiatives: "Windows XP Mode no longer requires hardware virtualization technology. This change simplifies the experience by making virtualization more accessible to many more PCs for small and midsize businesses wanting to migrate to Windows 7 Professional or higher editions, while still running Windows XP-based productivity applications."

Lucky StarCraft II Beta Gamers Can Invite Friends

Instant popularity if you have a spare StarCraft II beta invite.

Know someone in the StarCraft II beta right now? It might be time to be their best friend, as there's a chance that he or she might have a spare beta invite key at his or her disposal.

According to Kotaku, Blizzard has recently started sending out beta invites for its current beta testers to award to their best gaming buds.

On the other side of the equation, those of you who have a spare StarCraft II beta invite may suddenly find yourself at a heightened level of popularity. Please choose wisely who you gift the invite to, even if he or she may be the highest bidder.

Sega Talks on Total War MMO, 3D

Sega is considering both 3D and a Total War MMO.

Mike Hayes of Sega West recently spoke with CVG about the company's new strategy for hardcore and casual games, Sony's PlayStation Move, what's coming to E3 2010, and the future of theTotal War strategy series.

Hayes admitted that many people have asked if the company has considered taking the Total War franchise into MMO territory, however he would not confirm that Sega is indeed heading in that direction.

"We're constantly looking at [taking Total War in that direction], but MMO is a very competitive market," he said. "We want to get the core games right before anything else." He also added that MMOs are "feast or famine" with publishers, noting the somewhat-profitable Football Manager Live which has a 35,000-user fanbase.

The core games Hayes refers to is Aliens vs. Predator, Aplpha Protocol, and Bayonetta. He said that Sega is hoping to extend those games into full-blown franchises, to "sequal-ize" these particular titles. With that said, a Total War MMO may be a ways off... if at all.

Hayes also offered his take on 3D gaming, emphasizing that it's important to provide the real enhanced experience rather than throw in the technology "for technology's sake." His comment echos James Cameron and Codemasters Studios VP Gavin Cheshire who both insist that 3D projects are to be constructed from the beginning, and not tacked on in later stages.

"The first few games to prove we can play in three dimensions will be amazing," he said. "But eventually it will go back to what the story is, what the emotional connection is. It will just become: 'Oh, it's 3D again...' For us, we're still some way off 3D games until we can make one that's commercially viable."