When Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet, running Windows 8 Pro, was released about 2 weeks ago, there was little fanfare surrounding its gaming capabilities.  Most of the news and advertisements showed the tablet running your typical touch screen games like Angry Birds.  However, since the tablet runs a full Windows operating system, as opposed to the watered down Windows RT surface tablets that came out a few months ago, we decided to pick one up and try running a few desktop games on it.

Not expecting much from the device, we were pleasantly surprised when the game ran Guild Wars 2 with a decent frame rate right out of the box.  There are a few bugs with running Guild Wars 2 on the Surface though.  Mainly the mouse clicks weren’t registering correctly or were registering about 3 inches to the top-left of the edge of the mouse pointer.  The quick fix is to set your Desktop Scaling from 150% to 100% (right click your desktop and go to Personalize).  Lowering the scaling does fix the mouse problem, but it also makes your desktop really small and fonts hard to read.

After a successful attempt at playing Guild Wars 2, we decided to delve a little further and popped in Skyrim to check how it would work.  The game is totally playable at the lowest settings, but there are pockets of low frame rate spikes that appear throughout the game.  We ended up playing about 4 hours into the game and noted that while combat would sometimes become sluggish and suffer from poor frame rates, they weren’t enough to hinder your gameplay and cause any unnecessary deaths.

Finally, we decided to head back into the realm of MMORPGs and give Tera: Uprising, the newly re-launched free to play version of Tera, a spin on the tablet.  Again, we were surprised at how gorgeous the game was on the device.  However, you do start to experience random pockets of lag at certain points in the game.  Since we could only obtain the 64GB model of the Surface Pro, a major limitation we faced was trying to find the space to fit Tera (which requires 25GB of free space).  Out of the box, the 64GB tablet came with about 30GB of free space, but after installing a few apps and updates, we only had 22GB free and were forced to use a flash drive to run Tera from.  Thankfully, the table does come with USB 3.0 ports, though it did leave us wondering of the game would have run smoother if it was installed directly off of the internal SSD.

Aside from the 3 games we’ve tested on the device, we’ve also heard from some other gamers who have had success running games like Counter Strike, Minecraft, and Diablo III off of the device.

Pros

It can run the games. You can install and run most Windows PC games with little to no voodoo involved.

It runs quietly and doesn’t get too hot.  The fan does kick in, but it’s surprisingly not that loud.

Portability. It’s no bigger than an iPad (although a bit thicker), and you can play Skyrim on the go in your lap.  However…

Cons

Battery – You do have to be plugged in!  Not only will the battery drain pretty fast (I got about 90 minutes of Guild Wars 2 before I hit less than 10%), but it appears that the CPU clock speed of the device is slowed down while being unplugged to conserve battery power.

Hard Drive Space.  Probably not as much of an issue if you get the 128GB model along with an SD Card.

If you run all your games on max settings, you’re gonna have a bad time. The device does only have an HD 4000 Intel graphics card which isn’t powerful enough to run the highest graphic settings.  Still, it does a decent job on medium to low settings.

On-screen keyboard doesn’t work in most games.  It just doesn’t even pop up.  But if it did, why would you want half of your screen covered while playing a game?

You need a mouse.  That touchpad on the surface keyboard doesn’t really work as nicely as you’d expect.

Conclusion

The wow-factor of being able to play your favorite PC games on your lap will instantly hit you.  However, the not-so-great battery life along with it being heavier than most market tablets may put a damper on things.  That’s if the $1,000+ price tag doesn’t already.  Most PC games aren’t optimized yet for a touchscreen interface which makes having the Surface keyboard attachment a necessity.  That said, you may consider not bothering with the tablet and may choose to go with an ultrabook computer.  If you are looking for a light weight gaming device with a touch screen and a detachable keyboard, then this is really the only one currently on the market, though it’s not the best option for gaming.  But if you’re willing to wait a few more months, and spend a few more hundred dollars, then I suggest waiting and see what the Razer Edge Pro has in store.

The bottom line: Being able to play full desktop PC games on this device should only be looked at as a secondary feature so don’t buy the Surface Pro if you’re solely looking for a new gaming device.

Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet
[as a Gaming Device]
3.0 Gears out of 5

The results are pretty amazing.  We managed to get 40 to 60 frames per second on all settings except for the 2800×1200 “Best Appearance” setting which chugged along at a meager 12 frames.  However, the “best performance” setting at max resolution still managed to look great and keep up the frame rate.  Good work ArenaNet on getting the client to run smoothly.  Now give us a release date… pretty please!

You see, normally when MMORPGs go “free to play”, I really feel it should be called “a little-free-to-play, the-rest-pay” because they usually have such restrictions as limited class choices, limited chat channels, limited levels, etc.  Well NCSoft US is one of the first big named MMORPG publishers to use the term “truly free” which means that the game is totally free.  Exactly as it was if you were paying your $15 a month. No restrictions or anything.  They plan to recoup the costs of running the game by offering a Black Cloud Marketplace which lets you buy cosmetic items and non-game changing bonus items with real cash.  For example, you can purchase a scroll which prevents you from having any experience point loss from death for 7 days.

Come back in a few days where we’ll have an extensive review of the game but in the mean time you can download the client and register for your free account here.

Although the new earbuds may not look that different, Apple believes that the poor sound quality from their earbuds is because of all of the components floating around in them.  They plan to address this by making the buds appear to have a unibody look by using an ultrasonic bonding method and also by “deburring” the holes for the headphones.

I’m not wholly convinced that the design of the headphones is what’s causing the poor sound quality since there are similar earbuds on the market which sound a lot better. But since I know very little about acoustics, I’ll have to hold my real opinion until I try out the new earbuds.

[Source: AppleInsider]

The two scrapbook apps that I tried are both fantastic so there’s no excuse not to at least try one of them

ScrapPad – Scrapbook for iPad $4.99 (+0.99 cents for additional theme packs)
The interface for this app is great.  It’s designed as if you have different drawers for different themes.  Super easy to use with the addition of tabs and drags on the iPad.  The $4.99 app has a great selection of themes to chose from.  But if you’re looking for something a bit more specific, you do have the option to expand with the $0.99 theme packs.  If you mix and match, you can create different looks for each page. I like this app because it is easy to navigate since it’s all sorted by albums which work together to create a comprehensive story.   Here’s an example of me Facebook stalking Eddie of his Paris photos.

ScrapPad – Scrapbook for iPad
4 Gears out of 5

BlackBerry Scrapbook App (Free)
Similar to the ScrapPad, it has an awesome variety of stickers and themes making it full of endless fun.  What I love about this app over ScrapPad, is the style of it. Although it doesn’t keep your work in an album, all the art is displayed on a fantastic virtual photo wire. I also like the fact that the app can be linked with Facebook for automatic uploads and instant sharing.  The selection is a bit more animated which solicited a few chuckles and suited my odd sense of humor a bit better.  Considering this is a free app, the limited selection didn’t bother me. Here is an example of what I did with the BSB concert photos my “friend” had.

[Ed. note: Sure.... your "friend".  That's what you're calling your shadow these days I see!]

Scrapbook on BlackBerry Playbook
4 Gears out of 5

A few tips to set you up for success.

1. Stylus. A handy stylus helps you through some of the sizing, drawing and even writings.
2. Try the free trial first. Before you dig out the cash, make sure you like it.
3. Be creative. You don’t have to be an artist, just let your imagination run wild. I know I did and I can’t draw on Draw Something to save my life.
4. Share! I did some REALLY funny ones and the LMAO moments just keep flowing.
5. Get your hands on embarrassing photos. I totally stalked people on Facebook to get photo for my scrapbooks. It’s somewhat legal and they’re still my friends… for now… so… hopefully you won’t get sued.

A quick note, I know the Samsung Galaxy Note also has the capability to instantly edit photos on that amazing screen. Different tech, same idea!

Have fun and please feel free to share some of your creations in our comment section, tweet us @gizmomash or post on our wall on Facebook.com/gizmomash.

Warning – these games aren’t safe for work productivity!

Note: I sort of blocked out my friends on these with lovely white squares.

Fish World

For a fishy good time!

Fish World doesn’t really do much to reinvent the aquarium game genre: you buy fish, you grow them, you sell them.  However it does do the formulaic game play pretty well. My only gripe is how you can get the game’s currency for free – in the past you just had to play once a day for a week, but now it’s a random spinwheel with dismal chances of getting money. Otherwise the app is fun, solid, and has some cheery graphics that I enjoy. Some might find the advertisements in game intrusive however I wasn’t bothered by them that much.

Cafe Life

Service with a frustrated smile

A simplistic charming baking game where you can also make some drinks too. Granted, there’s no energy meter, time is spent waiting for the goods to cook instead.  Still, that’s only about 3-5 minutes so you aren’t waiting all day for energy to refill. The game also has decent customization options and cute music. It’s not the end-all of Facebook games but you should check it out if you’re into micro-managing food games. I tend to do things that take days to make and just drop in once in a while.

Pet Society

Cute and Fluffy

I always have a special place for Pet Society within my long list of Facebook games. You make a pet, buy furniture, customize your house, go shopping… There’s almost no end to what you can do.  There’s other mini games, like fishing, which is fun and adds to the experience. Also, you get a weekly prize if you play every day – the game’s currency. I mean you only get a little but free game currency is a plus.

Ninja Warz

Fight!

This has to be among one of my favorite Facebook games. You essentially make a team of ninjas and train them to fight other players or AI groups (such as ninja zombies). I urge you to try it!  You can equip them with relics that effect your whole team which is a pretty neat concept.  A tip – Karma, the games paid currency, can be acquired daily by equipping a certain relic. If you’re going on hiatus from the game for a while, make sure it’s equipped so when you come back you’ll have tons  to spend.

Island Paradise

Farmville on an Island

You essentially make a person who’s stranded on an island.  You then have to cultivate, harvest, and do other things that a person would do to survive on the island. Thankfully, there’s lots to do within it and no energy meter! Think of it as a less boring and better looking Tropical Farmville. Meh…Might not be the cup of tea that many desire, but it’s great if you’re looking for something outside of the Farm.

Urban Rivals

Pow-pow!

Urban Rivals was initially a browser-based collectable card game in which characters fought each other in turn-based scenarios. If your deck had characters from the same type of group, they got additional bonuses. It has been adapted to Facebook so give it a shot if you like turn based strategy games. Also, your cards get stronger as you fight which allows you to pool experience points into cards that are low leveled. Try it!

Ninja Saga

Undead Puppet ain't no Muppet

I played this game for a whilte and, by all rights, I should have been right into it! I haven’t played enough to really judge it fully, but at least there’s no energy meter. You can always fight, save up money, learn ninja skills, and do a few other things without waiting. It’s really an RPG at it’s core, as you can see from the screen shot. Great balance of pay and free stuff too.

Castle & Co.

Can such a thing me too cute? Why, yes it can!

Your run-of-the-mill town building game where you can build cartoony castles and cute things instead of boring ol’ brick houses.  Beware though as this game is huge on cuteness overload. When you build buildings that make money they also create villagers that are related to the building. However, you need to make sure they’re happy. The graphics may seem juvenile but that didn’t bother me too much.

Tea4Friends

Tea 4 Me and None 4 You!

A charming little cafe and baking game in which you, well, open a cafe and bake stuff! The animation and graphics are incredibly smooth for a simplistic game. There’s also some long term baking projects or short term ones for those who don’t want to wait around forever. The game is a bit stringent when it comes to pay vs. free stuff though.

These are the Facebook games that I’ve been frequenting lately and there are plenty more I will be playing in the future too. If there’s any you think we would all enjoy by all means post ‘em and I’ll check them out.

Hilarious, and possibly more accurate than I’d expect.

[Source: Gizmodo]

I am pretty excited about these titles and can’t wait to try them out.

Tell us your favorite in the comments section and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Gizmomash or like us on FaceBook.

So it appears that the Google Glasses will function more like a smart phone, allowing one to look up data through the use of voice commands.  It’s interesting to note that the glasses also appear to be able to record video or take photos.  If this is the case, I predict even more candid videos on YouTube exploiting users of public transit after the glasses comes out around the end of the year.

Unfortunately, it’s not always a win for the consumer as there have been some shady businesses taking advantage of the system and leaving customers completely out of luck and money.

Hopefully the Canadian gift card law will eventually lead to the same no-expiration rule being applied to group coupons and any other sort of monetary transaction involving future redemption.

[Source: Bloomberg]