Matt Clarius

Learning about semiconductor physics and technology can be a daunting task. While it’s easy enough to understand what a transistor does and some of the terminology thrown around, getting into the deeper aspects of how things work is tough. A great deal of the information on the internet is simply too cryptic to understand, even for those that want to learn. If you've wanted a primer to help bridge the gap, read on as we explore the lower level details of semiconductor physics and technology.

A remastered version of Grim Fandango coming to PlayStation and PC platforms next year feels something like a video game miracle. Thanks to developer Double Fine's efforts and some smart people at Disney and LucasArts — people who can make things happen — players will get the opportunity to play Tim Schafer's classic noir adventure game, now lovingly overhauled.

At Indiecade, Double Fine and PlayStation brought the PS4 version of the game — it's also coming to PlayStation Vita and Linux, Mac and Windows — putting their remastering efforts on display. The most noticeable difference comes, unsurprisingly, in the game's graphics. Grim Fandango's pre-rendered backgrounds have been uprezzed and textures for real-time 3D models have been...

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Costume Quest 2 is that rarest of things: A holiday game.

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Alien: Isolation does not want to be an Aliens game.

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Last week we took a look at NVIDIA’s newest consumer flagship video card, the GeForce GTX 980. Today in the second part of our series on the GTX 900 series we're taking a look at its lower-tier, lower priced counterpart, the GeForce GTX 970. With a price of just $329, GTX 970 is just as interesting (if not more interesting overall) than its bigger sibling. The performance decrease from the reduced clock speeds and fewer SMMs that comes with being a GTX x70 part is going to be tangible, but then so is a $220 savings to the pocketbook. With GTX 980 already topping our charts, if GTX 970 can stay relatively close then it would be a very tantalizing value proposition for enthusiast gamers who want to buy in to GM204 at a lower price.

After Colin Farrell told the Irish press last weekend that he was joining the cast of the critically acclaimed crime drama True Detective, HBO has just confirmed that both Farrell and Vince Vaughn will star in the series' second season.

The news comes via press release, and details both actors' roles. Farrell will play Ray Velcoro, a "compromised detective" caught between his bosses and the mob. Vaughn will play Frank Semyon, a career criminal about to lose his empire after the death of a business partner. Director Justin Lin, known for his work in the The Fast and The Furious franchise, is slated to direct the first two episode in the new run. There's still no word, however, on the new season's female lead.

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Wasteland 2 is formidable. The word ‘sprawling’ comes to mind but it’s not quite right. There’s a bit of sprawl, if such a thing as sprawl can happen in bits, but the game’s density is a more distinctive feature than its actual size. InXile’s Kickstarted RPG is a large game and rewards repeated playthroughs with previously unseen content, but it’s the sheer quantity of stuff that has astonished and occasionally overwhelmed me. As to whether the effort of seeing it all (or most of it) has been worthwhile? Here’s wot I think.

… [visit site to read more]

"Question: why do we talk out loud when we know we're alone? Conjecture: because we know we're not."

For this season of Doctor Who, Ross Miller and Kwame Opam will be sounding off on each episode in a series of emails we'll be publishing on the site. This week it's "Listen" (warning: spoilers ahead). Check out our previous recaps: "Deep Breath," "Into the Dalek," and "Robots of Sherwood."

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It seems company sponsored live events are becoming more popular. Not long after AMD hosted their own gaming celebration, NVIDIA is upping the ante with a 24 hour live streamed event with several physical locations around the world, which they're calling GAME24.

NVIDIA describes GAME24 as a celebration of gaming, and several gaming studios will also be involved in the event. However, NVIDIA has not yet announced the studio names. GAME24 will feature eSports competitions, record-breaking gaming stunt competitions, exclusive game demos, prizes, and developer interviews. And of course, along with a focus on gaming products and partnerships, there will be a significant amount of actual gaming taking place both remotely and in-person.

The event will take place starrting 6 PM PST on Thursday, September 18th, and it will last until the same time the next day. Streaming will be provided from start to finish via Twitch. To attend the event, register at http://www.game24.nvidia.com/. Attendance and registration are free. Registration ends at 5 PM PDT the day of the event but NVIDIA warns seats are limited, so it's first come first served.

Confirmed locations include:

• Los Angeles:  Hangar 8, 3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, California. 18 and up only.
• Chicago: Ignite Gaming Lounge, 3341 N. Elston Ave., Chicago, Illinois.
• Indianapolis: eBash Indianapolis Video Game Center, 6609 East 82nd St., Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Mission Viejo, California: 27741 Crown Valley Pkwy, Ste. 223, Mission Viejo, California.
• London: Location TBA
• Shanghai: Location TBA
• Stockhom: Location TBA

I have personally attended a few regional celebration events like this before, and I've always had a good time. Between the gaming, merchandise giveaways, and just the social aspects it should be a fun event.

Source: NVIDIA

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Ridley Scott has been working on a sequel to Blade Runner for at least a couple years, and it now appears that the script is ready to roll. "It’s written and it’s damn good," he tells Entertainment Weekly. The story will bring back Harrison Ford, who starred in the 1982 film as one of the eponymous replicant hunters. Scott says that Ford's character is "a survivor after all these years," which, certainly, is a curious fact in and of itself given the ambiguous ending of certain cuts of the film. There's no specific timetable on when the sequel will be made, but Scott sounds confident. "So yes," he tells EW, "that will happen."

Up next for Scott is an adaptation of The Martian, the best-selling novel first released in 2012. Scott suspects...

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Almost Human's island-based dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock 2 is now in a closed beta, the developer announced today, and in the hands of a select group of players.

Legend of Grimrock 2 is somewhat larger than its predecessor, Almost Human co-founders Juho Salila and Petri Häkkinen said in an update — about 25 percent larger. And although the game has been playable from beginning to end for some time, they say, there's still plenty of work to be done to polish and improve upon the game.

The developer didn't provide an updated release window for the game, but did provide the above teaser trailer for Legend of Grimrock 2.

Almost Human also showed off a shot of the iOS version of the original Legend of Grimrock running on an iPad.

"A...

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Much has been made about Intel’s 14nm process over the past year, and admittedly that is as much as Intel’s doing as it is the public’s. As one of the last Integrated Device Manufacturers and the leading semiconductor manufacturer in the world, Intel has and continues to set the pace for the semiconductor industry. Which means that Intel’s efforts to break the laws of physics roughly every 2 years mark an important milestone in the continuing development of semiconductor technology and offer a roadmap of sorts to what other semiconductor manufacturers might expect.

To that end, at a time when ramping up new process nodes is more complex and more expensive than ever, Intel’s 14nm process is especially important. Although concerns over the immediate end of Moore’s Law remain overblown and sensationalistic, there is no denying that continuing the pace of Moore’s Law has only gotten more difficult. And as the company on the forefront of semiconductor fabrication, if anyone is going to see diminishing returns on Moore’s Law first it’s going to be Intel.

Today Intel is looking to put those concerns at rest. Coinciding with today’s embargo on Intel’s 14nm technology and a preview of Intel’s upcoming Broadwell architecture based Core M processor, Intel will be holding a presentation dubbed Advancing Moore’s Law in 2014. Intel for their part is nothing short of extremely proud over what advancements they have made over the last several years to make their 14nm process a reality, and with that process now in volume production in their 14nm Oregon fab and being replicated to others around the world, Intel is finally ready to share more information about the 14nm process.

We’ll start off our look at Intel’s 14nm process with a look at Intel’s yields. Yields are important for any number of reasons, and in the case of Intel’s 14nm process the yields tell a story of their own.

Intel’s 14nm process has been their most difficult process to develop yet, a fact that Intel is being very straightforward about. Throughout the life of the 14nm process so far its yields have trailed the 22nm at equivalent points in time, and while yields are now healthy enough for volume production Intel still has further work to do to improve the process to catch up with 22nm. In fact at the present Intel’s 22nm process is the company’s highest yielding (lowest defect density) process ever, which goes to show just how big a set of shoes the up and coming 14nm process needs to fill to completely match its predecessor.

Concerns over these yields has no doubt played a part in Intel’s decision to go ahead with today’s presentation, for if nothing else they need to showcase their progress to their investors and justify the company’s heavy investment into 14nm and other R&D projects. While 14nm has made it into production in 2014 and the first 14nm products will hit retail by the end of the year, these yield issues have caused 14nm to be late for Intel. Intel’s original plans, which would have seen the bulk of their Broadwell lineup launch in 2014, have been reduced to the single Broadwell-Y SKU this year, with the rest of the Broadwell lineup launching in 2015.

Ultimately while 14nm is still catching up to 22nm, Intel is increasingly confident that they will be able to finish catching up, forecasting that 14nm will reach parity with 22nm on a time adjusted basis in the first quarter of 2015, or roughly 6 months from now. Intel is already in the process of replicating their 14nm to their other fabs, with fabs in Arizona and Ireland expected to come online later this year and in 2015 respectively. These fab ramp-ups will in turn allow Intel to further increase their manufacturing capacity, with Intel projecting that they will have sufficient volume to handle multiple 14nm product ramps in H1’2015.

Moving on to the specifications and capabilities of their 14nm process, Intel has provided the minimum feature size data for 3 critical feature size measurements: transistor fin pitch, transistor gate pitch, and the interconnect pitch. From 22nm to 14nm these features have been reduced in size by between 22% and 35%, which is consistent with the (very roughly) 30%-35% reduction in feature size that one would expect from a full node shrink.

Intel is especially proud of their interconnect scaling on the 14nm node, as the 35% reduction in the minimum interconnect pitch is better than normal for a new process node.

Along with the immediate feature size improvements that come with a smaller manufacturing node, Intel has also been iterating on their FinFET technology, which is now in its second generation for the 14nm process. Compared to the 22nm process, the 14nm process’s fins are more tightly packed, thinner, taller, and fewer in number (per transistor).

Each one of these changes in turn improves the performance of the FinFETs in some way. The tighter density goes hand-in-hand with 14nm’s feature size reductions, while the taller, thinner fins allow for increased drive current and increased performance. Meanwhile by reducing the number of fins per transistor, Intel is able to improve on density once again while also reducing the transistor capacitance that results from those fins.

Intel is also reporting that they have been able to maintain their desired pace at improving transistor switching speeds and reducing power leakage. Across the entire performance curve the 14nm process offers a continuum of better switching speeds and/or lower leakage compared to Intel’s 22nm process, which is especially important for Intel’s low power ambitions with the forthcoming Core M processor.

Plotted differently, here we can see how the last several generations of Intel’s process nodes compare across mobile, laptop, and server performance profiles. All 3 profiles are seeing a roughly linear increase in performance and decrease in active power consumption, which indicates that Intel’s 14nm process is behaving as expected and is offering similar gains as past processes. In this case the 14nm process should deliver a roughly 1.6x increase in performance per watt, just as past processes have too.

Furthermore, these base benefits when coupled with Intel’s customized 14nm process for Core M (Broadwell-Y) and Broadwell’s power optimizations have allowed Intel to more than double their performance per watt as compared to Haswell-Y.

Moving on to costs, Intel offers a breakdown of costs on a cost per mm2 and pairs that with a plot of transistor sizes. By using more advanced double patterning on their 14nm node Intel was able to achieve better than normal area scaling, as we can see here. The tradeoff for that is that wafer costs continue to rise from generation to generation, as double patterning requires additional time and ever-finer tools that drive up the cost of production. The end result is that while Intel’s cost per transistor is not decreasing as quickly as the area per transistor, the cost is still decreasing and significantly so. Even with the additional wafer costs of the 14nm process, on a cost per transistor basis the 14nm process is still slightly ahead of normal for Intel.

At the same time the fact that costs per transistor continue to come down at a steady rate may be par for the course, but that Intel has been able to even maintain par for the course is actually a very significant accomplishment. As the cost of wafers and fabbing have risen over the years there has been concern that transistor costs would plateau, which would lead to chip designers being able to increase their performance but only by increasing prices, as opposed to the past 40 years of cheaper transistors allowing prices to hold steady while performance has increased. So for Intel this is a major point of pride, especially in light of complaints from NVIDIA and others in recent years that their costs on new nodes aren’t scaling nearly as well as they would like.

Which brings us to the final subject of Intel’s 14nm presentation, the competitive landscape. Between the ill-defined naming of new process nodes across the entire industry and Intel’s continuing lead in semiconductor manufacturing, Intel likes to point out how their manufacturing nodes compare to foundry competitors such as TSMC and the IBM alliance. Citing 3^rd party journal articles for comparison, Intel claims that along with their typical lead in rolling out new nodes, as of the 14nm node they are going to have a multiple generation technical advantage. They expect that their 14nm node will offer significantly smaller feature sizes than competing 14nm nodes, allowing them to maintain consistent logic area scaling at a time when their competitors (i.e. TSMC) cannot.

From a technical perspective it's quite obvious why it is that Intel is able to maintain density scaling above the level that TSMC and Common Platform members can deliver. In short, this goes back to the improved interconnect density that was discussed earlier in this article. While Intel is pushing 14nm transistor and interconnect, TSMC and Common Platform members are using the same interconnect technology that they did at 20nm. This means that only areas where transistor density was the gating factor for 20nm will decrease in size at 14/16nm, while areas already gated by 20nm interconnect technology won't be able to get any smaller.

Thus for what it’s worth the basic facts do appear to check out, but we would be the first to point out that there is more to semiconductor manufacturing than just logic area scaling. At least until Intel’s competitors start shipping their FinFET products this is going to be speculative, and doesn’t quantify how well those competing process nodes will perform. But then again, the fact that Intel is already on their second FinFET node when their competitors are still ramping up their first is no small feat.

Wrapping things up, while Intel’s bring up of their 14nm process has not been without problems and delays, at this point Intel appears to be back on track. 14nm is in volume production in time for Broadwell-Y to reach retail before the end of the year, and Intel is far enough along that they can begin replicating the process to additional fabs for production in 2014 and 2015. Meanwhile it will still be a few months before we can test the first 14nm chips, but based on Intel’s data it looks like they have good reason to be optimistic about their process. The feature size and leakage improvements are in-line with previous genartion process nodes, which should be a great help for Intel in their quest to crack the high performance mobile market in the coming year.

Metro Redux is the upcoming package containing remastered versions of 4A Games' Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. This six-minute video, released today by publisher Deep Silver, shows off numerous ways in which the Redux versions improve upon the original games.

The most apparent upgrade is in the frame rate: 4A is targeting 60 frames per second on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The studio confirmed earlier this year that Metro Redux will run in 1080p on PS4, and in 900p on Xbox One. 4A also made notable tweaks to gameplay, bringing features from Last Light into 2033 and including a variety of difficulty modes for players who want a stiffer challenge. And the studio expanded parts of both titles by adding new areas to post-apocalyptic...

Gunpoint developer Tom Francis has just released the first trailer for his upcoming spaceship robbery simulator, Heat Signature.

The trailer shows off key gameplay features, like sneaking onto randomly-generated spaceships, hacking computers, avoiding angry crew members and stealing things.

Francis set up the premise in an email to Polygon:

"For thousands of years, mankind has looked up at the stars and not really wondered: what if I was up there, breaking into someone's spaceship, hiding in corridors, getting shot in the gut and then kicked out of an airlock, spinning through the void and bleeding to death?"

Francis is prototyping the game by himself, and looking for an artist and composer for the project, to add some pizazz.

Board and card game publisher Fantasy Flight Games has partnered with Firaxis Games to bring the hit game XCOM: Enemy Unknown to life as a board game. XCOM The Board Game, which was announced today, will be demonstrated next week at GenCon 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana for the first time in public.

XCOM The Board Game is a hybrid digital game that requires a companion app to keep track of play.

"The app's primary function," reads the game description, "is to coordinate the escalating alien invasion, randomly selecting from one of five different invasion plans. Each invasion plan represents a general outline that the alien commanders will use to coordinate the arrival of new UFOs, plan strikes against your base, and respond to your...

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Bit Bash is a free independent games festival being held in Chicago on September 6. It's the pet project of Jamie Sanchez, a creative professional who lives in the city and is a member of the Indie City Collective, a game development association and co-working space on Chicago's North Side.

Sanchez says that the Chicago indie game scene is in need of better local as well as international promotion. With Bit Bash, she hopes to light a fire in the city and help promote the work of the growing enclave of developers there.

"I had been hearing rumblings in Chicago for the need for more community gatherings," Sanchez told Polygon. "The need to get people, the public, interested. Involved. Educated on some level about indie games.

"But we...

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Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth, the futuristic strategy title from Firaxis Games, is set for worldwide release Oct. 24 on Windows PC for $49.99, publisher 2K Games announced today.

Pre-order customers will receive the Exoplanets Map Pack as a bonus. The add-on comes with six custom maps — Kepler 186f, Rigil Khantoris Bb, Tau Ceti d, Mu Arae f, 82 Eridani e and Eta Vulpeculae b — that are inspired by real-life exoplanets.

For more on Civilization: Beyond Earth, check out our in-depth E3 coverage. 2K Games also released a narrated gameplay video today from E3; you can check it out below.

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Q*bert is coming back this year in Q*bert Rebooted, a new game that will offer the original Q*bert experience in its pixelated 2D form as well as a 3D version with modern graphics and gameplay.

The multiplatform project is being co-developed by Gonzo Games and Sideline Amusements, who have licensed the Q*bert brand from the owner of the intellectual property, Sony Pictures Entertainment. The original Q*bert was released by Gottlieb in arcades in 1982.

Q*bert Rebooted players will be able to play in two modes, Q*bert Classic and Q*bert Rebooted. The former will consist of the original 2D gameplay on an isometric pyramid of colored cubes. The latter uses a playing field composed of hexagons, as you can see in the screenshot above, and...

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Mighty No. 9, the crowdfunded platformer helmed by Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, delivered another update to backers over the weekend, including another 90 seconds of gameplay and a look at a character who was made playable when the campaign hit a stretch goal.

The character's name is Call, and some work-in-progress animations show her crawling, a maneuver that should be useful for getting her into or out of tight spaces. She also appears to have some sort of pink jetpack, though it is not shown in action.

The video above showcases more from the Mighty No. 2 and No. 5 stages, including a boss battle. Additionally, Inafune will be hosting a panel at this weekend's Anime Expo 2014 in Los Angeles. It sounds as though he will reveal more...

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It’s been a brutal Long War.

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The first public release of Star Citizen's dogfighting module, Arena Commander, launched today as version 0.8, creator Chris Roberts announced on the space sim's official website.

Arena Commander's expected launch last week was delayed due to unresolved bugs and "too many blocking and critical issues outstanding." Users can download Arena Commander via the Star Citizen Download page or by updating their existing Hangars through the launcher, which will replace the user folder when it patches.

The latest version grants qualified backers access to the Vanduul Swarm and Freeflight modes and includes flyable Aurora, 300i and Hornet. V0.8 introduces multiplayer functionality for the Battle Royale and Team modes to a small number of players,...

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Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King, the beloved Japanese role-playing game from Level-5, is now available on Android and iOS in North America for $19.99, publisher Square Enix announced today.

The game first appeared on the App Store in New Zealand yesterday, as new releases typically do.

Dragon Quest 8 was originally released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan in November 2004. According to Square Enix, this mobile port has been redesigned with controls adapted to touchscreen devices. Players can customize the interface, including the virtual D-pad, to allow for one-handed or two-handed play. The port also offers one-touch combat in turn-based battles, although players can choose a more complex control scheme. Another option is...

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Among the Sleep seeks to answer a question that I imagine is pretty common for parents.

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You'll know if you're the kind of person who will enjoy the Long War mod.

If playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within haven't satisfied your turn-based tactical alien battling itch. If the "marathon" and "ironman" game modes haven't filled enough of your days. If all of the various upgrades, items, enemies and abilities unlock able in booth of those games don't Quite keep your mind busy.

If you played either version of XCOM and thought to yourself, "Man, but if only this was...

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