Hi, it’s Boddaker here — for the final time.

I’m very excited to reveal the final images of the Battlefield vs. Call of Duty Showdown’s grand prize, the Ultimate Rig! What started out as a simple idea around creating a ‘military-themed’ PC evolved into this gaming rig featuring a minigun and a beverage cooler!

I’m rather proud of how the whole thing came out. You can see we custom-painted the side panel with a Battlefield-inspired theme and incorporated a Raptr dino logo.

Here is the other side of the PC mod. You can see the window cut out and the first-aid kit attached to the side.

If you’ve been following my progress on this blog, you already know that the first-aid kit is actually a USB-powered beverage cooler! :)

Here is a closer look at the minigun and the custom-made sniper fan grill.

These are custom-made control switches. One turns on and off the PC and the other controls the minigun. Yes, the minigun actually rotates!

You can see the inside of this rig with the side panel removed. Just to reiterate, this is one beast of a gaming machine. It has the cutting-edge AMD FX 8150 processor as well as TWO Radeon HD 6970 graphics cards, a 60GB solid state drive AND a 1TB SATA III hard drive.

Here is a short video that shows the rig in action.

I’d like to thank Origin PC for providing most of the hardware, CoolerMaster for the awesome case, MNPCTECH for the ‘Sniper’ fan grill and the toggle switches, and of course the guys at Raptr for making this project happen. And although they weren’t official sponsors of the promo, the AMD guys helped with our hardware choices.  So thanks again for everyone’s help. Hope you enjoy.

Click here to see the list of winners of the Battlefield vs. Call of Duty promo. Go ahead; you might have won something! - Raptr blogger dino-in-chief.

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Hi, it’s Boddaker again.

I made a lot of progress the past couple of weekends. The fact that Battlefield 3 won the overall poll is a relief in terms of my project timeline, because Battlefield 3′s theme is pre-dominantly black, whereas Modern Warfare 3′s theme is more white and green. The Cooler Master case I’m using is black, so I don’t have to repaint the whole case green. Whew!

Anyhow, this is some of what I worked on:

I got the custom fan grill I ordered in the mail last week, so I cut out the mesh on the front panel to mount it.

This is the front view of the custom fan grill fitted and mounted.

I also finished the external roll cage. I started by heat bending some 1/2″ acrylic rod.  I carved a groove into the edge of a piece of wood to bend the acrylic around, so that it wouldn’t flatten out around the curves.

Result: the perfect bend! :)

Here are all the pieces done and being glued up.

With that, all of the major elements are finished. This is the frontal beauty shot of this beast, with the fan running and the blue internal lighting for extra impact.

Here’s a three-quarter view of the case – you can see the first-aid kit on the side.

Now I’ll get to work on modifying the control panel on the front to make it more military themed, as well as polishing up the whole case mod with Battlefield-inspired artwork and an extra paint job. I think you’ll be very pleased with the result. Can’t wait to show you the finished product!

- Boddaker

2011 has turned into a landmark year for video games. Never has so many AAA games come our way, that gamers are actually overwhelmed by options. Reviews and preliminary sales data are in are often used to determine the best games of the year, but we at Raptr believe that when it comes down to it, the true gauge of a game worthy of your time, is the one you spend  your precious time playing the most. That was the thinking behind our inaugural Most Played Awards from Raptr!

Check out the winners below!

Download the Full Report Here

The Most Played Shooter of 2011
The Most Played RPG of 2011
The Most Played Open-World Game of 2011
The Most Played Sports Game of 2011
The Most Played Social Game of 2011
The Most Played New IP of 2011
The Most Played Game of 2011
The Most Successful Paid-to-F2P Game of 2011

For more info on how we picked each winner and what criteria we used, check out our methodology summarized in our report. What was your most played game of 2011? Let us know in the comments below!

Voting is now over to determine which game theme we’re going to use for the PC. Go here to find out what people are saying about Battlefield and Call of Duty. Don’t forget to download and use the Raptr client when you play Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3, as you still have a chance to win big prizes including free games and other gaming goodies! – Raptr blogger dino-in-chief

Hi, it’s Boddaker here again.

While I was working on adding different fun military-themed elements to this case, I had an idea to attach a first-aid kit.  What would you do with a first-aid kit on a PC case? Just follow along and you’ll see :)

This is a shot of the First-aid kit. Now I have to separate the lid and incorporate it in to the side panel of the PC case.

The lid was cut off the box and fastened to the hinge I attached to the side of the case.

Then I got a USB beverage cooler, which I’m going to modify and incorporate into the first-aid kit. Why would I need a cooler inside a first-aid kit? Read on…

Here is a shot of the USB cooler fitted into the round hole I carved out on the bottom of the first-aid kit. I think this will work out just fine…

There, everything fits perfectly. The first-aid kit attached to the side of the PC case.

And when you open the lid – you get an instant +100 Stamina Boost!!… in the form of a cold energy drink :) Now you’re really ready for another marathon session.

Note to Origin PC – you guys should make this a standard feature in all of your premium gaming rigs!!! (Only half kidding)

- Boddaker

Click to see part 1 of Boddaker’s modding diary
Click to see part 2 of Boddaker’s modding diary
Click to see part 3 of Boddaker’s modding diary

This fall has been called by some to have the ‘greatest lineup of AAA games’ in history. And even among the list of all of the blockbuster games that have come out in the past several weeks, Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 have been arguably the two most hyped up games. The two storied FPS rivals came out within 2 weeks of each other, and went head-to-head in a marketing blitz that generated a TON of predictions as to which game was going to out-do its counterpart.

Here at Raptr, we don’t deal in vague predictions or conjectures. Because we have cold hard data that we get from tracking playtime behaviors of our 10 million plus gamer community, we can SHOW which game was more popular. Hype is one thing, but does it translate to actual play time? We answer that question here.

1. Xbox 360 players logged 40% more launch-day playtime in Modern Warfare 3 than Battlefield 3
2. Xbox 360 players logged 17% more first-week playtime in Modern Warfare 3 than Battlefield 3
3. Modern Warfare 3 has accumulated more total hours played in one week post-launch than Battlefield 3 has in three weeks post-launch
4. 53% of Battlefield 3 players on Xbox 360 are also playing Modern Warfare 3, compared to just 31% of Modern Warfare 3 players who also played Battlefield 3
5. During the first week of launch, Modern Warfare 3 stole the most playtime from Battlefield 3 than any other game
6. For the first time ever for any franchise, three Call of Duty games were in the top 10 playtime charts on Raptr

Now, let’s see if we can contrast those numbers with some opinions from our community of core gamers. We asked our community a series of questions that compare the two franchises in different categories. Surprisingly, player sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the Battlefield franchise in almost all categories. To date, more than 6,000 respondents have participated in the poll.

1. 81% of respondents were more excited for Battlefield 3 than Modern Warfare 3
2. 92% of respondents felt DICE was the more innovative developer than Infinity Ward
3. 58% of respondents said the Battlefield franchise has had a bigger impact on the FPS genre
4. Responses were split 50/50 on the question – Which franchise has had bigger ‘Oh Sh!t’ moments?
5. 80% of respondents felt the Call of Duty has had consistently more hype through its marketing – To date, this is the only category led by Call of Duty
6. 75% of respondents think that they will still be playing Battlefield 3 three months from now

Many of these questions were asked before both of the games were released, so you can see how much excitement was generated for Battlefield’s latest game, but when the games were actually out, Modern Warfare 3 pretty handily trounced its rival in terms of playtime.

What does it all mean? It’s clear that EA made a valiant effort in challenging Call of Duty’s dominance by rallying its fanbase and generating massive support around the launch of Battlefield 3. However, when push comes to shove, COD dominated.

If you’d like to read the full press release, you can check it out here.

Want to win this PC? Go here!

Hi, it’s Boddaker here.

There was alot more progress done this week, as I received most of the parts I need to start working on the actual mod.

Here’s a shot of most of the basic PC components I received in the mail over the last couple of weeks. Thanks to Origin PC, the CoolerMaster case will be decked out like a monster. And see the two Radeon HD 6970 graphics cards? Yes, this is going to be a BEAST of a machine.

As a modder, I like custom building as much as I can. I bought some acrylic tubes which were cut and sanded down to fit the design I’m going for.

Why do I need acrylic tubes? Can you take a guess?

If you guessed ‘minigun’, then you are correct! Sorry, you don’t get any prize. Well… unless you entered the contest to win this PC!

Here’s the full frontal view of the minigun mounted in the case. The minigun is centered above the 200mm fan. Give the way the minigun is placed, I’m having a custom target fan grill made that will mount over the fan.

Next week, we’ll have a better idea of which game (either Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3) is going to win the promotion – which means we’ll know which theme to use for the case.

- Boddaker

Click to see part 1 of Boddaker’s modding diary
Click to see part 2 of Boddaker’s modding diary

Hi, it’s Boddaker here.

Today I wanted to show you guys how our concept for the PC mod has evolved over time. We’re still tinkering with different elements of the mod but we now have a good idea of what it’s going to look like in the end. Click here to find out how you can win this custom-built PC gaming rig!

Here is our very first concept image for the mod. The idea was around creating a resemblance to a case full of ammo. We came up with this original sketch months ago, so we did not have access to official logos of the games and we were using images found on the Internet.

Next is a more evolved sketch of the original idea. We added the soldier image to the side of the case. You can also see that we were tinkering with different looks for the ventilation.

This is the Modern Warfare 3 version of the case concept. We modified it further by adding control switches and a knob at the top of the side.

Then we also created a concept using a different PC case. We’re starting to really play with the idea of adding military-themed elements such as a rotating mini-gun, a rocket launcher, and window cut-out that showcases the internals of the PC.

This is when we got in touch with Cooler Master. These guys make some of the best PC cases in the market today, and they’re heavily involved in the modding scene. Using their case, we were able to refine our ideas even further by adding a first-aid kit on the side and a radar dish on top. We’re also contemplating adding a surprise element involving a graphic inspired by the game’s themes as well as Raptr’s super popular dino!

Check back next week for more updates!

-Boddaker

Hey all -

Taskle here again to give you a quick look at some of the improvements we’ve rolled out over the last few days on Raptr!

Post Categories:

When you’re creating a post on Raptr you can now select what kind of article it is via a drop-down menu — preview, review, opinion, etc. And you can sort posts in your feed or a topic page based on those criteria. It’s a little thing…but a key part of a master plan that we’ll roll out in the future!

Comments: A Vision in Gray

You might notice some color changes in your Raptr feed. We’ve made the comments background gray to help differentiate the many posts and comments in your Activity Feeds. Comments now rawr meow with this bold new tone.

Discover Something New

Click on the View Topics link of a post and you’ll notice that we’ve colored game topics a darker blue to help distinguish them from  other kinds of topics. Handy if you’re looking to discover new games you’d like to follow. Or if you just really enjoy dark blue.

The New “Reply” Button

What if I told you you could reply to a comment by “xXxSolidMasterChefxXx” without typing “@” followed by all those Xs and random words? Well the future is now with the new Reply button. Hover over a comment, any comment, click that Reply link, and the name of the person you’re complimenting/arguing with shows up as if by magic. Magic.

For a full list of improvements, check out the website release notes.

[CONTEST OVER] PLAY EITHER GAME TO WIN BIG PRIZES!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE RAPTR CLIENT TO TRACK YOUR GAMEPLAY

UPDATE: Click here to see the list of winners

Now you can win prizes just for playing either FPS game! It’s simple: The more hours you rack up, the more chances you have to win a bevy of prizes, including $1000 worth of games. To qualify you must use the raptr client, (download the client here if you don’t have it) to automatically track your gameplay hours on PC or Xbox 360, or your achievements/trophies on Xbox 360 or PS3. Promo ends on December 6th.

PLAY TO WIN SHOWDOWN

When you achieve milestones listed below, you automatically unlock the chance to win that prize. Best of all, the promo is open worldwide!

TRACK YOUR PLAYTIME (For Xbox 360 and PC players – Via Raptr Client)

Battlefield 3

5 hours of playtime – One Battlefield map expansion pack ($15 value) for 1 user
15 hours of playtime – Gunnar MLG Legend Gaming Eyewear ($100 value) for 1 user
30 hours of playtime – $250 of free games from EA for 1 user

Modern Warfare 3

5 hours of playtime – One Modern Warfare 3 map expansion pack ($15 value) for 1 user
15 hours of playtime – Gunnar COD Modern Warfare 3 Gaming Eyewear ($100 value) for 1 user
30 hours of playtime – $250 of free games from Activision for 1 user

TRACK ACHIEVEMENTS / TROPHIES (For Xbox 360 and PS3 players only)

Battlefield 3

Earn “Practice Makes Perfect” Achievement/Trophy – One Battlefield map expansion pack ($15 value) for 1 user
Earn “Ooh-Rah” Achievement/Trophy – One year subscription to Xbox Live Gold or Playstation Plus ($60 value) for 1 user
Earn any Secret Achievement/Hidden Trophy – $250 of free games from EA for 1 user

Modern Warfare 3

Earn “Back in the Fight” Achievement/Trophy – One Modern Warfare 3 map expansion pack ($15 value) for 1 user
Earn “Who Dares Wins” Achievement/Trophy – Call of Duty Elite 1 year subscription ($50) for 1 user
Earn any Secret Achievement/Hidden Trophy – $250 of free games from Activision for 1 user

Finally, are you a connoisseur of legalese? Get your fix with the full contest rules!

Also don’t forget, you can also win a custom (~$5000) gaming rig by voting each week on our Battlefield vs. Call of Duty Showdown event page.

* PC mod images are early concept art and do not represent the final look of the custom rig.

OUR SPONSORS

EA surprised the games industry by capturing a sizable audience with The Sims Social. Up until recently, Zynga’s dominance of the social game market has at times seemed unassailable, but The Sims Social was able to rocket up the charts since its August release and currently ranks only behind Zynga’s aging juggernaut CityVille in monthly active users. Farming and interior-decorating game versus farming and urban-planning game — a heavyweight battle for our brave new era.

Based on actual playtime data from our 10 million Raptr members, our Raptr Report: The Sims Social dives deep into the data behind EA’s success and strives to answer a few key questions: How did EA attract such a large user base, what did they learn from Zynga’s proven formula, and now that they have a huge hit, can they parlay that into an even bigger share of the social game market?

EA aggressively marketed to their existing Sims 3 player base as well as across their social game portfolio and earned strong conversion rates to The Sims Social as a result.

However, those users did come at a price — Sims 3 and Pet Society play time dropped by 50%. Still, the game’s appeal to Zynga’s much larger audience is undeniable: Out of the top 20 other games played by Sims Social players, 10 are Zynga titles. Average weekly play time for FarmVille and Empires & Allies is down 25% since Sim Social’s launch. CityVille play time dropped as well, but a recent flood of promotions (Enrique Iglesias!) and marketing efforts from Zynga have helped protect CityVille’s numbers somewhat.

In contrast to previous EA social titles such as Dragon Age: Legends and Madden NFL Superstars, The Sims Social’s playtime patterns (average sessions length, average number of sessions per day/week/month) almost exactly match those of Zynga’s top games. In this space more than any other, imitation is the sincerest form of…successful game design.

So now that EA have a breakout hit on their hands, what’s next? A key factor in Zynga’s success is the company’s ability to release games in quick succession, with a high conversion rate from game to game. To replicate that model EA could look to its recent acquisition, PopCap. A large percentage of PopCap’s player base already plays social titles, and that propensity – coupled with The Sims Social’s impressive audience – could point to a sea change in the social game market. (Look, we just want a new Plants vs Zombies title. Tell us what we need to farm to make that happen.)

Download the full Raptr Report: The Sims Social here, and look for more Raptr Reports coming soon! You may also want to check out our previous Raptr Report: Zynga.

A note about methodology:
This report is based on data collected from Raptr’s service, available at www.Raptr.com. Raptr is the leading social network for gamers and automatically tracks gameplay activity for over 10 million users across PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. For browser-based games, Raptr defines an active playtime session as one where the game window is active.

This Raptr Report analyzes actual gameplay data for the following games: Adventure World, Bejeweled 3, Bejeweled Blitz, Bookworm Adventures, CityVille, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age: Legends, Empires & Allies, FarmVille, FIFA 11, FIFA Superstars, FrontierVille, Madden 11, Madden NFL Superstars, Mafia Wars, Peggle Deluxe, Pet Society, Plants vs Zombies, Restaurant City, Texas Hold’em Poker, The Sims 3, The Sims Social, Treasure Isle, Zuma Blitz, and Zuma Deluxe. Data is compiled from the launch of Raptr to October 7, 2011. This report was not endorsed by any 3rd party.