| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | | |
|
 |
1.9.2008
2007 PC Game Awards...According To Me
Since it is a new year, it seems only right to look back at what made 2007 in the world of PC games so very great. So, sit back, relax, grab some popcorn, a Nesquik, if you dare, and read on as I take you through the best of 2007’s PC games.
The first award goes to the Best Action Game: Gears of War.
Developed by Epic Games, this game may be over a year old, but with its macho characters, unyielding action, powerful weaponry and satisfying combat, Gears of War is a satisfying and sure winner. It offers some of the best action game-play in either solo or cooperative mode around.
The next award goes to the Best First-Person Shooter: Bioshock.
Developed by Irrational Games, this game is thrilling. With a wide range of weapon options and seriously cool biogenetic powers, you have load of options during combat. That plus possessed girls that control monsters make this game freaky and fun to play.
The next award goes to the Best Music Game: Guitar Hero III.
Does it get any cooler than the Guitar Hero series developed by Aspyr? With an amazing soundtrack and sweet graphics, Guitar Hero III pleases even those who lack the Wii or a PS3.
The next award goes to the Best Racing/Driving Game: DiRT.
Developed by Codemasters, DiRT takes things off-road with races and cars based on real-world counterparts. The visuals are awesome, and the thrill of racing with others online adds a new dimension to your gaming experience.
The next award goes to the Best RPG: The Witcher.
Developed by CDProjekt, the core role-playing fundamentals of the Witcher are as rock-solid as they come. You get level-ups, melee attacks and damage modifiers, and a few magical abilities, but the best aspect of the game is its handling of your decisions - and the impact that has on your overall journey. The Witcher is a great reminder of how great RPGs still can be without the addition of online play.
The next award goes to the Best Online Multiplayer Game: World in Conflict.
As much as the single-player game in World in Conflict was great, the multiplayer aspects of the game make it worth playing. The small battles keep the intensity and focus level very high, and the class-based unit system ensures that teamwork and inventiveness are top priorities.
So, there you have it!
Go out and find some of these at your local gaming store and rate them yourself!
Cheers!
Beryl S
1.8.2008
Word Wars...Online?
I just saw the movie Word Wars, and in case you don’t know what I am talking about, Word Wars is about the competitive ScrabbleÒ circuit. If that doesn’t sound like the most exciting movie documentary ever, you would be right. It isn’t filled with hard-hitting action and deep intellectual insights, but it is extremely interesting, and at the end of it all, I found myself wanting to play Scrabble.
Watching the movie got me thinking, and asking myself, with everything you can do online, can you play games like Scrabble online, as well? The answer, after a little bit of searching, is undoubtedly yes, you can play Scrabble online. What I love most about the world of online gaming is that it brings together people from different backgrounds, different skill levels and from different parts of the world on one site. You can play an intermediate player from London who bakes cakes for a living and the next game play a novice from California who directs movies. Where else can you go and interact with so many different people so easily? The answer is clear, the Internet.
Now, before I get too off topic, let’s get back to Scrabble. Scrabble is a trademarked game of HasbroÒ Inc. According to WikipediaÒ, “The game is sold in 121 countries in 29 different language versions. One hundred million sets have been sold worldwide, and sets are found in one out of every three American homes.” That’s a lot of Scrabble boards! Count me in as a one in three family, I have a Scrabble board and love listening to the word tiles clanking in the bag. Scrabble is, for those who aren’t intimately familiar with the game, a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. If a word is used that you think is made up, you can challenge the other player and if you are right, they lose a turn. At the end of the game, whoever has the most points wins.
So, looking online, I found there to be a handful of Internet sites that allow you to play this game online, you can even set up a game through e-mail. The Internet is helping to bring game lovers across borders together, creating essentially a new community on the Internet. From the Scrabble lovers to the pool enthusiasts, online poker fanatics and backgammon devotees, everyone can find their niche.
So, I was thinking about how the Internet has changed the way we interact with each other. The Internet is credited with reviving the written word. When cell phones emerged and phone lines were commonplace in homes, writing letters died. And while the post man may have a lot less to deliver, more people write e-mails and letters than ever before. So, going with this trend, are more people playing board games in cyber world than before? While I might not be able to get the answer to this question, I could pose a theory and say that yes, today with the advancements in online gaming, board games like Scrabble are played more widely and by a larger population than before. So, Internet, thank you, thank you for getting the word out and helping to create a new community for those of us who love playing with and using words.
What's The Deal With Online Poker?
Online poker web sites received an estimated $200 million per month in profit in 2005. When did this trend happen, and who’s doing it?
Traditionally, poker players flocked to casinos and poker rooms. Often, these venues were frequented by seasoned players and were intimidating for novices players. Casinos, by nature, are often located in rather disparate locations and were more hesitant to promote poker because it is not a very profitable game for the casinos themselves.
With the emergence of the Internet, online poker venues began popping up. They are, by contrast, much cheaper to run and up keep because they have much smaller overhead costs. For example, with an online poker game adding another table will not take up casino floor space, nor would it require hiring another dealer. Online poker rooms allow players to play for lower stakes (some being as low as 1 cent) and often offer free entry for beginners. Online venues have been known to be much more vulnerable to certain types of fraud. These include collusion between players, underage gambling and useage of stolen credit cards.
Online poker began its run back in the late 1990s as IRC poker. Following closely behind, Planet Poker became the first online cardroom to offer real money games where the winner left with cash. Online poker games even offer tournaments. It was in one such tournament that Chris Moneymaker won entry to the 2003 World Series of Poker. He then went on to win the main event throwing shockwaves across the poker world. In October 2004, Sportingbet Plc, one of the world's largest publicly traded online gaming company, announced the joining of ParadisePoker.com, one of the online poker industry's first and largest cardrooms. The deal cost around $340 million dollars and was a landmarked event. This acquisition marked the first time an online cardroom was owned by a public company.
There are many differences between online poker gaming and conventional, face-to-face gaming. One of the more obvious being that players do not sit across from each other, this removes body language and eye contact as variables from the game. Online poker players thus focus more on patterns. From betting to reaction times, speed of play, and fold/flop percentages, players are still able to read the other players with signs that are not physical.
As for incentives, many online poker sites offer them to players in the form of bonuses. Bonuses are given after a certain number of raked hands have been played. For example, a site may offer a player who deposits $100 a bonus of $50 once he plays 500 raked hands.
So, casino or online, it’s up to you, but whether you are an expert or a novice player, one looking to play for money or just for fun, online poker games are not only popular, but they are still just as fun to play!
Cheers!
Beryl S.
1.7.2008
Computers and Gaming..A General Overview
Computers are powerful tools. Gaming has once again been redefined with the new Call of Duty 4 for the PC. As game development technology gets better, video games are no longer missions; they have become rather interactive role-playing films, where you control the final ending. The gaming industry receives about $10 billion dollars a year in revenue. Why is this?
From car racing to single player shooter games, PC games give the user great mobility and save them the cost of a videogame consul. PC-based games use less power and are more energy efficient than the leading video game consoles. So, if you are looking for a way to play the games you want, but play them a little more ‘green,’ why not try switching your console to your computer? PC games are numerous and nearly any game you can buy for an XBOX or Nintendo, you can buy for your PC.
If you are worried that your graphics display won’t be as good, you can buy a graphics display card and install it into your computer. Your picture quality will improve. Worried that a video game controller is better than your mouse? Did you know that new gaming mouses on the market today are more accurate and easier to control than video game controllers themselves?
Using LCD monitors or an LCD TV screen when playing video games is great because for all those hours you spend playing, your energy bill and the environment won’t have to know. When unwrapping your new games, controllers or system, recycle the plastic or cardboard.
Did you know video game design technology has helped create more than just video games? Today, not only our military but scientists, as well, are using and creating simulators to help plan and plot future events. Much like the video game graphics you are used to, simulators are great because they can put into context, non-contextualized ideas.
Take, for example, Al Gore’s climate simulator in the movie “An Inconvenient Truth.” Al Gore used simulators and data to create graphs and outline future problems that could result as a direct consequence of our faltering environmental policies. Computers today not only help us enjoy our favorite leisure activities, but they are becoming the lynch pin to productivity in the fields of science, including weather mapping and satellite configuration.
So, the next time you turn on your PC and start playing your favorite game, think of all the uses that the technology that gives you hours of pleasure is doing to also help keep you safe and keep an eye out for our changing planet.
Cheers!
Beryl S.
Wolfenstein 3-D - Changing the way first-person shooters were played
Created by ID Software and published by Apogee Software, Wolfenstein 3-D is pivitol when looking back and watching the progression of first-person shooter games on the PC. Released on May 5, 1992, the game was inspired by the games Castle Wolfenstein and Beyond Castle Wolfenstein.
The main character is an American soldier caught in a Nazi stronghold. Your name is BJ Blazkowicz and in your attempt to escape, you encounter soldiers, guard dogs and missions. In total, there are 60 missions that you need to accomplish.
You (BJ) had been captured while trying to find the plans for Operation Eisenfaust, and have been imprisoned in the Castle Wolfenstein. Initially, you are armed only with a knife and a pistol, and your initial goal is merely to escape the castle prison. By deafeating SS guards, stealing their machine guns and ultimately acquiring a chain gun, you eventually finds yourself face-to-face with the Episode One boss, the ultimate prison guard Hans Grosse. This is just a brief overview of how the game storyline goes.
A bit of technological history behind the game is as follows: In order to render the walls in 3-D, the game used ray casting. This technique sent out one ray for each column of pixel. Programmers could then draw textures on the screen accordingly, creating a one buffer against which enemies, powerups and props could be attached. While Wolfenstein 3-D wasn’t the first 3-D game on the market, it was the first well made, highly interactive and life-like game available.
As with all famous games, there was controvery. It was banned in Germany because of the use of swastika symbols and the Nazi national anthem. America then took back the game and edited it to be less ‘obscene.’ Obscenity or not, this first-person shooter led the way for Halo, Call of Duty and Bioshock. So, the next time you are playing Halo remember Wolfentein 3-D.
Cheers!
Beryl S.
|
