tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85178814088388817462012-03-02T14:24:11.222-08:00mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.comBlogger5891100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-50720353388709020462011-12-03T05:15:00.000-08:002011-12-03T05:15:00.306-08:00 <P>The great thing about the iPhone is its innovative touch screen. Unlike other handheld gaming devices, the touch screen allows you to play games in a whole new style. Some of Japan's most popular RPG gaming franchises have been released on the iPhone with impressive results.</P><P>The Final Fantasy franchise is renowned around the world and is arguably the most popular RPG series of all time. The first three Final Fantasy games have been ported to the iPhone and look as brilliant as their handheld companions. Final Fantasy I and II are exact ports from the PSP versions while Final Fantasy III is a direct port from the Nintendo DS version. Final Fantasy III looks brilliant compared to the Nintendo DS original and its touch screen controls makes battles smoother and faster.</P><P>This is because you can use your finger to pick and choose which enemies you want to attack. It's a much better system than using the controller to scroll through the enemies all the time. I've played a ton of turn-based RPG games in my life and there's nothing worse than accidentally choosing the wrong enemy to kill in the heat of battle. In the iPhone versions, you shouldn't encounter such problems as this...</P><P>Scrolling through the world maps is also less frustrating. Just put your finger on the corner of the screen and you character will move automatically. The other great thing about the iPhone version of the Final Fantasy games is that they all retain the beautiful cutscenes that the series is famous for.</P><P>One of Japan's other most popular RPG franchise is the Monster Hunter series. Unlike with the Final Fantasy games, Monster Hunter titles have no story as it's all about you hunting rare beasts in various exotic locations. The newest Monster Hunter game released is Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting. The touch screen plays a huge role in the game yet it's simple to learn the controls.</P><P>Tapping the screen with your finger allows you to attack, while sliding your fingers across the screen allows you to move. Using more than one finger will initiate other controls such as rolling out of danger and blocking. It's a unique approach to the game and RPG fans will love the new way of playing Monster Hunter. Graphically the game is similar to that of the PSP version.</P><P>Not all of the iPhone RPG games are 3D powerhouses however. There are a ton of games that gamers from the '90s will appreciate. There are a number of old-school 2D RPG games available that are similar to Nintendo's Zelda games. One of the most popular iPhone RPG games is a game called Across Age. It's got pretty 2D visuals and offers hours of fun.</P><P>There are a number of titles available for the iPhone that RPG fans both old and young alike will enjoy playing. Not to mention they're all pretty affordable and can all be easily downloaded from Apple's own app store. The only thing iPhone owners need to check before they purchase these games is if they have enough memory space left to download them. Other than that, it's a pretty easy process.</P><P>If you're want to play iPhone RPG games then Bestonlinerpggames.com is is for you.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6382700" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5072035338870902046?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-86856855012602835932011-12-03T02:04:00.000-08:002011-12-03T02:04:00.054-08:00 <P>The game industry has experienced a considerable shift in the past few years. Online and social games have emerged as massive markets showing explosive growth. But what has really taken off is mobile gaming. It's highly dynamic nature has influenced not only the structure of the video game business, but consumers' attitude towards gaming as well.</P><P>Traditionally, we know people have been playing video games in the bedroom and lounge room. Nowadays due to the mobile industry development, games are delivered anytime, anywhere, and across a wide range of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Increasingly, the gamer expects to access his games from any device of his liking, rather than limiting himself to consoles or PCs. Moreover, mobile gaming does suit our busy life style; therefore our appetite for it is growing.</P><P>And mobile gaming meets our expectations. The rise of underlying forces such as smartphone sales, tablet sales, mobile internet subscribers and applications downloads point out to a rosy future for the industry.</P><P>A few years ago mobile gaming was dominated by two companies: Nintendo with its Nintendo DS handheld and Sony with its PlayStation Portable. However, with growing smartphone and tablet markets and increasing advances in mobile device development, Android and iOS devices are becoming the systems of choice for many handheld gaming enthusiasts. Hundreds of volunteers are working in mobile development.</P><P>Android and iOS smartphones, portable media players, and tablets have most of the essential features of portable gaming devices - touch screens, motion sensors, accelerometers, and fast graphics, in addition to functioning as phones, contact managers coupled with wireless interfaces for Internet access. One more advantage is that Android and iOS users don't need to go to a store to get titles they can browse and download games anywhere from either App Store or Android Market.</P><P>One may point out that smartphone and tablet games cannot compete with well-designed titles for specific gaming devices. However, it's becoming clear that a large (and growing) portion of the consumer marketplace is satisfied with general-purpose smartphones and tablets.</P><P>All the same console gaming still rules nowadays, followed by online and PC gaming. But as hardware continues to evolve, mobile gaming provides a very rich user experience. 3D technology, motion detection and smart gesture recognition are becoming commonplace allowing developers to harness the potential of gaming. In short, the mobile games development has only just begun. The age of new mobile games has started.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6691080" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8685685501260283593?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-81290004879780221422011-12-02T07:01:00.000-08:002011-12-02T07:01:00.072-08:00 <P>These cute birds are available everywhere! They are also making their ways to many other mobile devices, some launched and some yet to be launched. Now you don't just have to have the traditional iPhone or iPod to play the game. You can still enjoy the angry bird experience from any phone with Angry Bird Mobile! The graphics on other mobile devices are as great as the iPhone!</P><P><STRONG>iPhone: </STRONG>This is the traditional one. The game was first originally released only for the iPhone and available on other apple devices like iPod touch or iPad. Now it is available for many more devices. It is available on the current version of the iPhone, 4.3 and you can also play it on the newest version 5.0. I phone 5.0 has not yet been released but soon enough it will!</P><P><STRONG>Angry Birds for Nokia Symbian:</STRONG> They are also on Nokia phones. They still have the same gaming interface, but the only thing is that you must have a big screen to fully enjoy the true aspects of the game. It is still a work in progress, so it may not be perfect yet on all Nokia phones. It will keep improving though.</P><P><STRONG>Windows Phone</STRONG>: This one is yet to release. There has been rumors about it releasing sooner, but it just hasn't yet. The official date in June 29th, 2011 and it will release then. It will be cool to see how much angry birds are able to do on the windows phone, but considering how well they have done on android, I know this will also be another success. Hold tight, It will be here soon!</P><P><STRONG>Angry Birds for Android: </STRONG>The stats for this are phenomenal. There have been more than 3 million downloads in one week when this first launched (and I was also one of them). I was overjoyed when I learned I could continue my passion from my smartphone! The interface on the android is also very impressive, but not as good as the iPhone. The touch and the rendering speed is still a little slow, but I am sure that android will fix that to maximize their results. However, I love playing on the android.</P><P><STRONG>Angry Birds for Samsung Phones: </STRONG>Currently, this is only available on the smart phones for Samsung, which probably run on android. You have to be able to connect to the store to download it. Some phones have to be patient and just wait until an option for playing this highly addictive game is available. You can try it out on your phone to see if it works!</P><P><STRONG>Tablets:</STRONG> It was not originally set for nook or kindle, but some smart hackers have been able to get their game on the nook. However, this requires some extreme knowledge. Also the nook has a dimmer screen than mobile phones so the overall aurora is different and I'm not sure how the touch works on the nook either. But hopefully soon there is an option available for nooks and kindles like it is on ipads. That would be great.</P><P>There are so many Angry Bird mobile options available and most of them are certainly worth a try. And I know rovio will continue to expand so your gaming experience will be better each time.</P><P>Angry Birds are defiantly the next big thing. I am interested in angry birds and the greatest and latest Angry Bird news!</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6362051" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8129000487978022142?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-65939206125583139992011-12-02T01:56:00.000-08:002011-12-02T01:56:00.884-08:00 <P><STRONG>Do you have trouble installing on windows 7 and vista</STRONG></P>If you have any problems during installation on Windows 7 or Vista machines, please use the following steps:Run the installer file in <STRONG>XP compatibility mode.</STRONG>Follow the tips below:Right click on the.exe installer file and select properties. Then select the compatibility tab and choose to run it in Windows XP compatibility mode. Check out the full step-by-step guide on how you do this.One key point to mention is you must run the installer file as "Administrator". If that's not possible, you will receive permission errors. To ensure you have that enabled in Windows, please follow the step-by-step instructionsDisable all firewalls and anti-virus software that may cause you problems by blocking the installation process. Then install again.<P><STRONG>I cannot download the files</STRONG></P><P>Please be aware that these files are large. Your ISP might have cut you off halfway resulting in an incomplete file. Make sure that if the full file is not downloaded correctly you will automatically receive an error when you try to install the file. Make sure you Check the file is the correct size, if not please re-download the file again.</P><P>The best way in which I found to sort this is to "RE-DOWNLOAD" the whole file again. A very good tip: Make sure you use a download accelerator to increase the download process and to prevent any partial download errors. I recommend an excellent free download accelerator called DAP and you can download it for FREE at Speedbit.com</P><P><STRONG>Problems while downloading aircraft </STRONG></P><P>For the files in the aircraft and scenery section - I found that you may only download 1 file at a time but it a lot of hassle but well worth it. Make sure you don't try to download multiple files, as you will be rejected, and you will have to go through the password process again. The reason for this is because the server does not accept multiple connections. If your server is very slow I recommend too opt for the 4-DVD edition in the Members area.</P><P><STRONG>Look for a flight simulator that:</STRONG></P><P>* Allows environment change without distorting its graphics</P><P>* Has clear graphics to save your eyes</P><P>* Incorporates beauty and attractiveness</P><P>The flight simulator should allow you to improve your skills and have a taste of various equipment and abilities. The flight mechanism should, for instance, be sophisticated with a variety for you to choose from. Since the PC game is supposed to keep your heart racing, and your urge demanding for more, choose the flight simulator that provides you with many different aircrafts such as combat jets, helicopters and even passenger aircrafts. It is important for the flight sim to capture some reality for your own personal development in flight skills. For instance, the basis of the software used for controlling the equipment, and the equipment itself should capture the reality in the aviation field</P><P>http:/www.aircraft-sim.com</P><P>Hi Andy Fowler here, I have put together a piece of technical information that may help you with some download problems which I encountered.I f you would like any further information visit, http://www.aircraft-sim.com/</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6677428" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6593920612558313999?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-53669417824014408482011-12-01T08:56:00.000-08:002011-12-01T08:56:00.356-08:00 <P>I think it's fair to say that folks who have acquired the full 1000 gamerscore (Or "Platted" for my PS3 fans) in Final Fantasy XIII or people who acquired the "Little Rocket Man" achievement in Half Life 2 are slightly obsessive compulsive. If you have no clue what the "Little Rocket Man" achievement is, I'm probably not talking about you. Over the past few years, you could easily toss me into the OC bracket."</P><P>When I first started playing games on my 360, I didn't care much about gamerscore or achievements. My first game was Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I would have logged 200+ hours playing that game with or without the cheevos. As time passed, I became more aware achievements and my obsessive compulsive tendencies began to kick in a bit. Soon, I was playing games I didn't even like (and sometimes hated) for 50+ hours just to squeeze out that last 25G Achievement for finding all 700 collectible items strewn about the in-game world.</P><P>What can I say? I have a very strong goal-oriented personality. There is virtually nothing I do in my life that I don't see significant purpose in dedicating time to. Cheevos scratch that itch in my personality. Over time, I began to focus more on acquiring achievements than enjoying the mechanics and atmosphere of the games. Achievements became a huge factor in my game purchase decisions. If I felt a particular achievement was out of reach or ridiculously tedious, I would avoid a purchase just because I didn't want to have a 10G or 25G blemish on my completion record. I felt a game was never truly finished until that final achievement was unlocked.</P><P>One of the catalysts that lead to my obsession was the subjective 'quality' of the games I was playing. I began to focus on achievements because I enjoyed obtaining them more than the gameplay surrounding them. I'd say they are largely responsible for me being able to finish games like Venetica, Sacred 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. This issue doesn't apply to every game. Oblivion, Tales of Vesperia and the Mass Effect series are games I could play and easily enjoy without cheevos.</P><P>And achievements are a different animal for me. I don't care about my overall gamerscore or being in competition with other people. Achievements are all about the joy I find in completing projects. That's how I began to look at my games--like projects.</P><P>Recently, I've noticed a change in my behavior. When I play games I find boring or unenjoyable, my obsession does not keep me playing past my dissatisfaction. Most recently, I experienced this with LA Noire. The achievements in LA Noire are fairly easy to obtain. However, I've found the game so profoundly unenjoyable that I just gave up and said "to hell with a the perfect 1000G."</P><P>Maybe it's my busy lifestyle that doesn't afford me the time to care as much. I think it has more to do with the fact that I've come to grips with the truth. Completing all the achievements in a video game is not really accomplishing anything. Especially when doing so requires herculean efforts and investing hours in the double digits. It's just not fun any longer. I've more important and enjoyable "projects" that fill my time now.</P><P>That's not to say that I no longer enjoy getting achievements. I still try to fully complete most games I play. I'm just being a bit wiser about it. If I don't enjoy a game enough to "1G it" (getting the full 1000G gamerscore), I won't force myself to do it anymore.</P><P>Still, Star Ocean: The Last Hope stares at me every time I open the sock drawer where I keep my games. 1G-ing it requires a 4-hour bonus dungeon run with no save points. Failure means the complete loss of 2-4 hours of my life. I've been reluctant to go for it because if I do fail--that's 4 hours I could have spent playing Kinect Sports with my son.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6510560" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5366941782401440848?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-34072637920671653442011-12-01T01:06:00.000-08:002011-12-01T01:06:00.383-08:00 We tried Amazon's trade-in service for videogames the first time recently and were pleasantly surprised. It is fast, easy, and their trade-in values are surprisingly great. Find out all of the details here. <P><B>How Does it Work?</B> <P>Amazon Trade-In Hub <P>First you have to head to the Amazon.com trade-in page. You can trade-in videogames, DVD/Blu Ray, and books (even videogame strategy guides). Then you just type in the products you would like to trade and the search results will show you their trade-in value. Then you just click "Trade-In" and that item will be added to a special trade-in cart on your account. Once you have everything in your cart that you want to trade, you submit your list. <P>You will then be given a specific trade-in transaction number as well as shipping info. You have the option of printing out a free UPS or USPS shipping label, or if you can't do that you can send your items however you want at your cost. You just pack your items in a box, print out a packing list and put it in the box, and then ship it. If you have second thoughts on trading stuff in, you can just as easily cancel your trade-in transaction with no worries. <P>A third party company handles the trade-ins for Amazon, so you send your items to them and they tell Amazon whether your items are accepted or not and how much credit to put in your account. <P>My experience was pretty amazingly flawless. I sent my 5 games in on a Friday via Priority Mail and they received and confirmed them on Monday and credited my Amazon account that same day. Your timeline will be a little different depending on how you ship stuff (I paid for Priority Mail because I wanted it to go quickly, if you use Amazon's free shipping labels things go slower). The process was fast and smooth and painless and I'm itching to do it again. I have a pile of DVDs to get rid of next. <P>If your items aren't accepted, they will be returned to you. If, however, you include items that do not match the items on your packing list, they will not be returned, so be very careful when you pack stuff. <P>One thing to keep in mind is that values can go up or down (usually down) at any time. However, once you put everything in your cart and confirm your trade-in order, those prices are locked in and can't change. My advice when you see a high price is to jump on it today, because tomorrow it will probably be lower. <P><B>Why Should You Trade-In With Amazon?</B> <P>Because you are trading in for credit, you won't get as much as you would if you sold them on eBay or something. That is to be expected. But sometimes it is just easier to trade-in for credit if you don't want to go through a lot of hassle. Some items aren't in demand and you can't sell them for months anyway. Then you factor in eBay/half.com/Amazon Marketplace's commission, plus shipping, and the cash you're getting for selling isn't as much as you thought. <P>Another benefit is that Amazon offers generally better trade-in values than GameStop. Of course, when GameStop has a special promo going on (tiered trade-ins, $10 bonuses, etc.) they might be better. <P>The main difference and ultimate benefit of trading in with Amazon instead of GameStop, however, is that Amazon credit can be used for anything you want on Amazon.com while GameStop credit can only be used at GameStop / ebGames, which means only videogame-related stuff. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>Trading stuff into Amazon is fast, easy, and relatively painless. You won't get as much total value as you would if you tried to sell the items for cash, but sometimes the ease of getting a fat wad of credit all in one step is a lot more appealing than hassling with buyers, shipping separate packages, and having to pay commissions and shipping on multiple sales. I was impressed and plan on using Amazon's service again in the future. <P>If you have been on the fence about trying it, there really isn't much to worry about. As long as you are careful with what you try to trade in (you have to have the exact version they have listed, so check UPCs and ISBN #'s to make sure your product is correct), there really are no worries. Be sure to get tracking and insurance on your packages, just to make 100% sure they are safe. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/buyersguide/a/Amazon-Videogame-Trade-In-Review.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3407263792067165344?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-76835214142877114112011-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:002011-11-30T10:59:00.186-08:00 <P>This is a comprehensive and easy to read list of good jet fighter games. This list will appeal to the tastes of any fan who enjoy fighter jet games, or flying games in general.</P><P>Out of the many popular games for jet fighter fans, Ace Combat 6 is currently one of the most played. This game came out for the Xbox 360 several years ago, and still remains one of the most activity played fighter jet games with an online community. Some of the highlights of this game include fast paced, intense fighting, along with highly detailed and strategic game play. Ace Combat 6 will keep you busy dodging and ducking and at the same time trying to focus in on your target, all while watching your radar and screen for incoming missiles.</P><P>Ace Combat 6 also has an interesting story line that will keep most users interested in the single play mode for long periods of time, allowing you to enjoy your time spent in the game. Single player mode also allows you to unlock and buy new jets and weapons for use by you and your wing man.</P><P>Another highly popular game is Free Falcon 5, while this is a free fighter jet game, it has the game lay experience that a paid game would have. Free Falcon 5 is the free version of Falcon 4.0 Allied Force, it has upgraded features at the cost of system stability during play. This is a computer simulation game so it would help to have a medium cost computer if possible.</P><P>Free Falcon 5 offers a highly detailed level of game play that will make you feel very much like a real air force pilot. The actual game play experience will involve many actions a real pilot would take, such as operating the complex radar computer displays.</P><P>A final jet game that is worth noting here is After Burner. This is an old school game, and is now consider a classic. It is one of the most popular jet fighter game made, and is still a quality game. After burner puts in controller of one of several fighter jets, and allows you to shoot down many times of aircraft in a High speed and interactive on rails shooter style. This is an arcade game, not your normal simulation and you will be armed with a large amount of weapons to shoot down as many enemy's as possible.</P><P>The games listed here will greatly appeal to any one who flying games, and you will find them all to be of high quality. These 3 games have dominated the sky's for years or decades and will most likely continue to do so until others manage to take the place they hold.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6576398" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7683521414287711411?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-29155822049903213112011-11-30T00:03:00.000-08:002011-11-30T00:03:00.433-08:00 Do you like Harry Potter? Then you'll like LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7. Simple as that. It isn't just a formless beast feeding off of your love of the franchise, though, it is actually a really solid game thanks to a couple of level design and progression tweaks that make makes the LEGO game style fit much better with Harry Potter than it did in the Years 1-4 game. More importantly, it makes the whole experience a lot more fun. Kid or adult. Man or woman. If you are a Harry Potter fan, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is worth a look.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Warner Bros. Interactive <B>Developer</B>: Traveller's Tales <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E10" for Everyone 10+ <B>Genre</B>: Adventures <B>Pros</B>: Great level design; nice presentation; good set pieces for big moments; tons of content; fun gameplay <B>Cons</B>: Some obtuse puzzles; story won't make sense if you haven't seen the HP movies <P>LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 features "Order of the Phoenix", "The Half-Blood Prince", and "The Deathly Hallows Part 1", and "DH Part 2". The stories follow the movies more than the books, and some of the cut scenes and levels are direct copies of what happens in the movies, just LEGO-fied. Some of the set pieces for major events (the battle with Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic at the end of "OotP" immediately comes to mind) are really especially well done and really do a good job of combining the LEGO gameplay and HP universe well. <P>It has to be said, though, that if you have never seen the movies, nothing in the game is really going to make sense. You need to have seen all 4 movies covered here so all the cool cutscenes and funny LEGO takes on key scenes actually make sense. Of course, if you're interested in the game, you'll more than likely have already seen them all. <P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>Each movie is split into six levels and you get to explore in between the levels. You can explore Hogwarts, King's Cross in London, Diagon Alley, and even the camp sites from DH 1. A ghost leaves a trail of coins for you to follow to start the next level, but you can explore if you want instead. Generally it is advisable to just play through the story completely before you really explore, though, since you'll need to unlock powers and characters through the story before you'll really be able to explore thoroughly. Also, you'll have to play each level twice - once for the story and once again to mop everything up when you have all of the necessary abilities - so don't worry about being thorough your first time. Hidden across the levels are students in peril, hidden characters, golden bricks, and red bricks (which activate cheats), so there is a ton to find and do here. </P>The level design was one of our complaints with the first LEGO Harry Potter game. It tried to turn Harry Potter, which really isn't an action series, into a bunch of 15-minute long combat-heavy levels and it didn't really make sense. In LEGO Harry Potter 2, the levels are much more cleverly designed and are usually split into multiple parts that might take you to a few different locations or have you play as a new set of characters all in the span of one "level". It keeps the action and exploration and "ooh, neat magical stuff" bits much more in line with how it is in the movies, and is a better experience because of it. It is just the right balance of combat, puzzle solving, and exploration. <P>New in this game is that you get to duel with other characters quite a bit, and it is fairly well done. When you're in a duel, you have to match the spell your opponent is using (designated by a colored line behind them) and then have to mash a button so your spell overpowers theirs. I have to admit, at first I hated the duels. Once I realized you could quickly change spells with the trigger buttons, though, they became much easier and more fun and trading spells with Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort was pretty thrilling. <P>One complaint I do have is that some of the puzzles you have to solve are pretty obtuse. Things aren't always made clear about how you are supposed to progress, and sometimes characters show up with new powers you need to progress but it isn't ever explained, so you wander about for 5-10 minutes until you figure it out. One or two times wouldn't be a problem, but this happens constantly through the game. I first noticed it in LEGO Batman and again earlier this year with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. It is one of the sort of confusing things about the LEGO games - they are clearly games aimed at kids (but good enough everyone can enjoy them), yet the puzzles are oftentimes a bit too tricky for kids to solve them all easily. </P>In a strange twist of fate, I didn't actually experience any glitches in my time (25+ ours to 100% complete it) with LEGO HP 2. Usually LEGO games are full of freezes and glitches and things don't always work right. I didn't have any problems this time around. Guess I was just lucky. <P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Visually, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is a pretty nice looking game. The little LEGO people are cute and very expressive (they need to be since they can't talk) and all of the special effects look fantastic. The levels also look very good as well. <P>The sound is also very good. Music from the movies is used all over the place and it is kind of reassuring to hear character themes and other music from the series in all the right places. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Lego-Harry-Potter-Years-5-7-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2915582204990321311?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-15616668291995657032011-11-29T15:16:00.000-08:002011-11-29T15:16:00.771-08:00 Looking for a quick and relatively inexpensive gift idea for an Xbox gamer? We have our picks for the best Xbox stocking stuffers right here.<P>Another great gift idea is videogame-related action figures.  There are figures for just about any game you can think of including Halo, Gears of War, BioShock, Assassin's Creed, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Solid, Metroid, Super Mario, Street Fighter, and many, many more.  It must be noted that you'll only really be able to find Halo figures in normal retailers, and will have to use a specialty shop for any others.  My personal recommendation is BigBadToyStore.com  (they also sell through the Amazon Marketplace if you'd rather buy through there to feel more secure).  They have a great selection, and mostly decent prices, though shipping can be expensive.  See their full selection of videogame items here.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/buyersguide/tp/Xbox-Stocking-Stuffers.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1561666829199565703?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-73027414405781761772011-11-29T12:48:00.000-08:002011-11-29T12:48:00.675-08:00 <P>Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two decades, you must have already heard of the global phenomenon, Pokeman. Pokeman, a brand owned by Nintendo (the makers of Wii, and another famous video game brand - Mario), was launched in 1996. It was originally a set of role playing games for GameBoy, but soon morphed into an entire industry of video games, playing cards, collectibles, toys and other merchandize. Today, it is arguably one of the most recognizable brands in the world with followers in every country of every age group. From six year olds in Sweden to thirty somethings in Turkey, Pokeman is known and loved the world over.</P><P>The name Pokeman is derived from the Japanese 'Poketto Monsuta', which means "pocket monsters". Pocket monsters, of course, refers to the wide variety of 'monster' species that populate the Pokeman world. Originally, there were 649 such species and the list has been growing longer every year.</P><P>Pokeman is based around collecting, training and battling your own monster species. In this Universe, the trainer can collect monster species by using a specially designed ball called the 'Poke Ball'. Maybe you've even see this 'Poke Ball' - a red, white and black contraption that is a common sight around the world. Once collected, the monster species are trained and battled against each other. Each monster has special attacks and defenses, and winning a battle allows them to 'level up' to gain even more power.</P><P>Initially released as a role playing game, Pokeman soon evolved to include a very popular anime series. This series followed a trainer called Ash Ketchum collecting and battling monsters in a fictional world. Ash's first Pokeman is called 'Pikachu' - a furry, yellow creature that soon became the symbol of the Pokeman brand. Even today, most people associate Pokeman with Pikachu.</P><P>Besides anime, a number of full length feature films have also been made on the Pokeman Universe. A set of trading cards and manga comics further strengthened the brand's appeal. The cute, cuddly monsters appeal a lot to kids, who are the primary consumers of toys and merchandize related to this brand.</P><P>The popularity of Pokeman has been declining over the past few years. Nevertheless, many of the monsters - especially Pikachu - remain cultural icons throughout the world. In Japan, for instance, you can find everything from airplanes to theme parks dedicated to this brand.</P><P>Pokeman as a global phenomenon has left a significant impact on pop culture. It has been featured in everything from South Park and The Simpsons to VH1 and even a live action show ("Pokeman Live!") in the US. Despite controversies over the brand glorifying occult and violent themes, Pokeman continues to remain well loved throughout the world.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6145173" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7302741440578176177?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-35676328938049840332011-11-29T02:00:00.000-08:002011-11-29T02:00:09.287-08:00 EA takes the Need for Speed series to the underground for the second time in as many years and has produced a winner once again. Need for Speed Underground 2 isn’t all that different from the first game, but it features more parts, more cars, and more stuff and is a better game overall. It isn’t completely free of problems, but NFSU2 is still a great racing game and stands among the best racers available on the Xbox.Need for Speed Underground 2 isn’t completely without problems, however. In fact, a lot of the complaints I had with the first game are still present here. The thing that bothers me the most is that in the career mode you aren’t actually able to make a car look the way you want it to look. Each part has points that contribute to the overall visual score of your car. In order to proceed through the game you have to meet certain visual points milestones. That means that you have to use the newest and the best even if you don’t like the way it looks. That is lame. <P>The other problems are mostly little nitpicky issues that are annoying, but I don’t think they really detract form the overall experience. The wide open city design is a cool idea on paper, but you spend way too much time just driving back and forth to get to shops instead of racing and that gets boring fast. Also, none of the difficulty levels provide a challenge simply because you can build an awesome car and just smoke everyone. And finally, what is the deal with traffic cars? If you bump them they slam on the brakes and you can’t move them so you have to usually back up in order to get around. <P>Click here for page 2</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/reviews/fr/nfsu2rev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3567632893804984033?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-59720253034621120862011-11-29T00:07:00.000-08:002011-11-29T00:07:00.562-08:00 GoldenEye is one of the most beloved games of all time. It pretty much started the FPS craze that exists in the industry even today. I know some people would say Halo did, but we were playing console multiplayer FPS on N64 back in '97, well before Halo. So when Activision announced it was re-making / re-imagining the classic game in 2010, we were initially sad - because it was on the Wii - and then happy a year later when it was announced for Xbox 360 and PS3. This isn't the same old GoldenEye, though. This is a modern twist on the old classic that makes some pretty big changes. They are mostly for the better, though, and GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, is worth a look for old fans as well as newcomers.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Activision <B>Developer</B>: Eurocom <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “T" for Teen <B>Genre</B>: First-Person-Shooter <B>Pros</B>: Nice presentation; MI6 Ops; Classic 007 difficulty; neat modernization of old story <B>Cons</B>: Story changes are pretty jarring; Quick-Time-Events <P>It has to be said first off that this is not a remake of the classic GoldenEye 007 game or the 1995 movie. This is a re-imagining of the story to bring it into the modern day. Pierce Brosnan is gone and is replaced with current Bond Daniel Craig and is meant to take place in the same Bond universe as Craig's "Casino Royale" and "Quantum of Solace". The tone and presentation and overall feel of the story is much more modern to fit with the new leading man and storyline and it works really well. <P>The core story of an MI6 defector and an EMP-blasting Russian satellite is still present, but the way we get there is greatly different from the old game and movie. The story here takes some radically different paths - some of which are pretty jarring if you are a long time fan of the movie (they kill Zukovsky off, what the heck man!) - but when you stop worrying about what is different and start trying to appreciate the new version of the story, it is pretty darn entertaining overall. <P>However loosely it follows the same story we know and love, when you go to the same levels as before and see how different, yet familiar, they are, it is very cool. And I quite like the new cover of the "GoldenEye" theme song performed by Nicole Sherzinger. It compares pretty favorably to the Tina Turner version. </P>The gameplay, for better or worse, plays basically like Call of Duty. On lower difficulties there is the CoD-style "snap" targeting where you automatically target nearby enemies and can just run through enemy confrontations with no problems. It also uses the now standard recharging health system as well. The gameplay is very sharp, though, and the shooting is pretty fun and satisfying because of how fast paced it is. You don't really think too much, just shoot, which is fun. <P>Of course, there are some tricks up GoldenEye: Reloaded sleeves as well, though. First, in a throwback to the classic Rare shooter, higher difficulty levels actually give you more objectives that you have to complete. On the easiest difficulty you pretty much just run straight through a level. On higher difficulties, though, you'll travel to completely new areas of the maps you didn't even know existed in order to complete objectives. It is very cool. Another great throwback is the 007 Classic difficulty mode where there is no recharging health and you instead need to find body armor hidden in the levels, just like the N64 classic. <P>In addition to running and gunning through levels, you can also stealthily sneak through levels and silently take out guards if you want. You hack security devices and computers with Bond's smartphone. And there are some sniping and vehicle sections and boss fights and more to keep you busy. The single-player takes 10-12 hours to complete and is pretty enjoyable all the way through. Our only real complaint is that the game has a habit of throwing quick-time-events at you in somewhat obnoxious ways to be more cinematic, or something. We're fine just watching, thanks, and don't need to press buttons to make cool stuff happen all the time. <P><B>Multiplayer</B> <P>One of the main selling points of the original GoldenEye game was multiplayer, and GoldenEye: Reloaded also comes with a full suite of multiplayer options. Up to 16 players can play online on bigger more modern versions of many of the old favorite maps along with plenty of new stuff. It uses the progression and perks system found in most modern shooters, which makes it fun and worth playing while you level up and get increasingly better guns and gadgets to play with. In a nice touch, you can even play as classic Bond villains like Jaws, Oddjob, Goldfinger, and many more. <P>Offline, you can play four-player splitscreen, just like the good old days. Instead of a perk system, however, the game lets you select from a long list of modifiers that change everything from how grenades bounce, making only headshots count (or not count at all), players exploding if they touch each other, players die if they stand still too long, and more. Offline multi is pretty fun and unique, and it is nice that it stands on its own with special options instead of just being a boring version of online pay. <P><B>MI6 Ops</B> <P>There are no bots for the multiplayer, which is disappointing, but GE Reloaded makes up for it with the MI6 Ops mode. Similar to Spec Ops mode in the Modern Warfare games, MI6 Ops gives you a series of single-player objectives set on the multiplayer maps against bots. Really, this is just bot-style multiplayer, but instead of straight deathmatch it sort of plays like a combination of horde mode and other multiplayer game types. There are 40 missions in all, and in a great touch, there is a set of modifiers for MI6 Ops such as infinite ammo, paintball, golden gun, RPG (you start with a rocket launcher instead of a pistol) and more. Each modifier changes your scoring multiplier, which obviously will affect your ranking on the leaderboards for each mission, but if you don't care about leaderboards and just want to goof off against bots, you can.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Goldeneye-007-Reloaded-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5972025303462112086?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-35871638037705223182011-11-28T14:35:00.000-08:002011-11-28T14:35:00.331-08:00 <P>Winning in Starcraft is much easier than many believe. The truth is that many players are simply unaware to basic game mechanics that will give most new players a 90 % win rate in bronze all the way to top ten in diamond league. There is just a few simple tips that one must remember in order to do this. Here are 7 tips that will change your game play so much you wont believe it was that simple.</P><P>1. Picking your Race: There is much debate about which race is the easiest to play out of bronze and up to diamond. The truth is any race can be played and win games with, as long as the player is comfortable. But, honestly in my opinion it will be much easier for a player to master protoss than zerg or terran. This is due to the straight forward nature of protoss. As for terran you can still reach the same levels as you would with protoss but it will be more difficult for you to compete once u reach diamond and above. Finally zerg will take a deeper understanding of the game alongside a grasp on game mechanics in order win consistently</P><P>2. MACRO!, MACRO!, MACRO!: The term macro which refers to hotkeying your units or structures by holding down Ctrl and pressing a numerical number. this will allow you to control the unit or structure while not having to click on it or even be looking at it. So you can focus on attacking while still building workers and sending reinforcements to aid in the battle</P><P>3. Workers win games: It is a must to constantly produce workers through the game till all expansions are saturated with 20 workers on minerals and 6 on gas. The key to winning is a strong economy hands down</P><P>4. Scouting: Many low level players do not scout nearly enough, by watching what your opponent is building, you are able to prepare for the units he is using. Rather than being surprised when he knocks on your back door with 40 void rays and your forces are on other side of map</P><P>5. Map control: this is achieved by having units in all areas of map especially expansion zones. furthermore, this aided by having multiple expansions all across map.</P><P>6. Controlling opponents economy: You will win every single game you play if you can prevent your opponent from expanding his economy. As long as u keep building units and preventing him from expanding you will starve him to defeat</P><P>7. Keeping up with supply: One of the worst mistakes a player can do is supply block himself by not building enough pylons, supply depot's, or overlords. this will severely cripple your unit out put as well as worker output and in return gives your enemy enemy the upper hand. NEVER become supply blocked</P><P>These tips will greatly improve your game to the higher leagues, and they will amaze you. If you want to see my complete guide to winning with Full strategy analysis for every race, as well as powerful build orders that will crush your opponent at http://sc2pro.blogspot.com/</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6530800" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3587163803770522318?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-23149369777467272932011-11-28T09:56:00.000-08:002011-11-28T09:56:00.992-08:00 We've tried to round up all of the currently announced games (as of E3 2011) for Kinect we could find. Most are scheduled for a 2011 release, but a few will trickle over to 2012. There will also surely be some that make it out before the end of the year we're not even aware of yet. This is just a quick reference list to show you what is coming up for Holiday 2011. <P><B>Blackwater</B> - Shooter from 505 Games and Zombie Studios based on controversial military contractor. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Cheerleading</B> (Working Title) - 2K Play. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Child of Eden</B> - Ubisoft, Q Entertainment - Rail shooter that mixes action and music with stylish visuals. Kinect controls are optional. June 14, 2011 release. <P><B>Codename D </B>- Grasshopper, Microsoft - Use your body as a weapon to fight through amusement park full of monsters. TBA release. <P><B>Dance Central 2</B> - Harmonix, Microsoft - Sequel to hit game from Kinect launch. Will offer simultaneous multiplayer. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Fable: The Journey</B> - Lionhead, Microsoft - On-rails game set in Fable universe. TBA release. <P><B>Forza Motorsport 4</B> - Turn 10, Microsoft - Kinect used for head tracking, ogling cars outside of races. Racing gameplay will still use normal controllers. October 11, 2011 release. <P><B>Fruit Ninja Kinect</B> - Halfbrick Studios, Microsoft - XBLA version of Fruit Ninja with Kinect controls. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Ghost Recon: Future Soldier</B> - Ubisoft - Use Kinect to customize weapons, shoot on firing range. TBA 2012 release. <P><B>Haunt</B> - NanaOn Sha, Microsoft - Haunted house game aimed at families. TBA release. <P><B>Hole in the Wall</B> - Ludia, Microsoft - XBLA version of popular (and humiliating) "Human Tetris" TV show. TBA 2011 release. <P><B>Hulk Hogan's Main Event</B> - Panic Button, Majesco - Motion controlled pro wrestling where you not only perform moves, but have to create a persona and work the crowd. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Just Dance 3</B> - Ubisoft - Popular Wii dancing game makes its debut on Kinect. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>Kinect Disneyland Adventures</B> - Frontier Dev, Microsoft - Action/adventure/mini-game collection where you explore Disneyland and experience the rides. Fall 2011. <P><B>Kinect Sports Season Two</B> - BigPark, Microsoft - Baseball, football, skiing, golf, and more. Fall 2011. <P><B>Kinect Star Wars</B> - Terminal Reality, LucasArts, Microsoft - Pod racing, lightsaber battles, and more. TBA 2011. <P><B>Mass Effect 3</B> - BioWare, EA - Uses Kinect for voice commands of your squad. Early 2012 release. <P><B>Michael Phelps: Push the Limit</B> - Blitz Games, 505 - Kinect swimming game. Your guess is as good as ours as to if it'll be any fun. Fall 2011 release. <P><B>miCoach</B> - THQ - Kinect fitness and training game. Early 2012 release. <P><B>Minecraft</B> - Mojang, Microsoft - Not a port, but a new version of Minecraft made specifically for Kinect. TBA 2011. <P><B>MotionSports Adrenaline</B> - Ubisoft - An extreme sports Kinect game, which seems like a good idea considering how awesome hang gliding was (and how awful everything else was) in the first MotionSports. Fall 2011. <P><B>Nickelodeon Dance</B> - High Voltage, 2K Play - A dancing game for kids with Nick Jr. characters. Fall 2011. <P><B>PowerUp Heroes</B> - Ubisoft - Fighting game that dresses your Avatar in different superhero outfits, each with different powers. Fall 2011. <P><B>Project Draco</B> - Grounding, Microsoft - Shooter featuring flying dragons. TBA release. <P><B>Raving Rabbids Alive & Kicking</B> - Ubisoft - Off the wall Rabbids mini-game collection / party game. Fall 2011. <P><B>Rise of Nightmares</B> - SEGA - Survival horror game. Not many details yet. TBA release. <P><B>Ryse</B> - Crytek, Microsoft - First person sword fighting. TBA release. <P><B>Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster</B> - Double Fine, Warner Bros. - Minigame collection for kids. Could be amazing ... for kids. Fall 2011. <P><B>Steel Battalion Heavy Armor</B> - From Software, Capcom - Sequel to giant robot game that used 40+ button controller. Now uses no buttons with Kinect. TBA release. <P><B>The Gunstringer</B> - Twisted Pixel, Microsoft - Third-person-shooter where you control character with left hand, shoot with right hand. TBA release. <P><B>Sims 3 Pets</B> - The Sims Studio, EA - The Sims, now with pets and Kinect. Fall 2011. <P><B>UFC Personal Trainer</B> - THQ - UFC-themed fitness / training game. June 2011. <P><B>Wipeout: In the Zone</B> - Activision - Run through obstacle courses based on hit TV show with your avatar. June 2011. <P><B>Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2</B> - Ubisoft - Sequel to best exercise game from Kinect launch. Fall 2011. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/projectnatal/a/E3-2011-Upcoming-Kinect-Games-List.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2314936977746727293?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-31489552302410298592011-11-28T00:54:00.000-08:002011-11-28T00:54:00.457-08:00 The ESRB recently issued an advisory that it has changed its rating for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from a "T" for Teen to an "M" for Mature. The reason for the change? A third-party mod that allowed you to play the game with topless female characters in the PC version of the game. <P>The reason why this is a problem is because the nude art file was actually included in the final version of the game. It must be noted, though, that it is <B>impossible</B> to access without downloading the mod. It was left on the disc, but the average user isn't ever going to be able to access it. Similar to the "Hot Coffee" scandal around Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, this is a mod that you have to jump through several hoops to get so only a small percentage of people are ever going to see. <P>Of course, for anyone that has played the game it is pretty clear that Oblivion probably deserved an "M" rating from the start even without the pixelated elf boobs. There is blood and violence and you are killing other people. There are dismembered corpses all over the place. There is devil worship among many other cults. Cold blooded murder. Drug use. <P>It seems to me the ESRB blew it when it rated Oblivion and they are using the nude mod to cover up for their mistake. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/news/a/esivrerating.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3148955230241029859?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-68387665697154899082011-11-27T16:23:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:23:00.264-08:00 <P>Batman fans will definitely find it comforting to know that there are hundreds of Batman games online which they can play to their heart's content - and they can be easily downloaded too. They can also be played using an internet browser if you want. Players are free to choose what type and what genre they are going to play with as well. There are all kinds of titles available and all of them can definitely sharpen your playing skills and instincts, just like the Caped Crusader himself.</P><P>The many choices of Batman games online can even give a player the chance hone their personal abilities if they simply choose the right type. Check out the different Batman games online, from adventure and arcade games all the way to fighting and racing games. Indeed, a character as famous as Batman deserves to be featured in more than a hundred titles over the worldwide web.</P><P>The fact that there many choices you have available online is already a truth worth enjoying. It assures players that they can easily jump from one game to another if ever they get bored with the one they're playing. The titles available online are oftentimes similar to original video games released under this franchise. Examples of the original titles are Dark Tomorrow, Return of the Joker, Chaos in Gotham, and Gotham City Racer, among others.</P><P>For you to enjoy Batman games to the fullest, be sure that you log on to a dedicated site. By that, it means that such a website features only Batman games and nothing else. These sites are going to give you the best collection of titles. There won't be any other offerings here than the ones that feature Batman on the helm. If you do it that way, then you will be able to find the game that you want fast and easy. You don't have to do a search or look through the countless of categories because all that you can ever want are already out in front, ready for you to enjoy.</P><P>When playing Batman games online, be sure to start with the basics first, especially if you are a beginner at these things. Be reminded that online games follow a very different orientation from that played in a console. For one, the controls are different. You don't have a joystick or anything to maneuver your character. Only the keyboard and the mouse are present and using them can be an entirely different experience.</P><P>Familiarize yourself with the game you chose and with the way it is played. Don't be too over eager to try all the Batman games that you can hold of at once as they are going to remain online anyway. It will also stay free of charge so there's no reason for the rush. You are going to enjoy Batman games online the most if you take one step at a time and just play it at par with your pace and skills.</P><P>Luciano Figallo - Developer, webmaster and owner of several entertainment sites including music, video and gaming.<BR>Do you want to play Spiderman games online? then visit Spiderman Games and play the most amazing Spiderman games online for free.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6564655" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6838766569715489908?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-61184058487029136062011-11-27T16:14:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:14:00.458-08:00 Without a doubt the hottest gaming product for Holiday 2011 is going to be Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. It isn't just a game, it is an awesome collection of remarkably well made toys that let you swap the characters in and out of the game by putting the toys on a special portal device. It is pretty much the coolest gaming peripheral to come along in a long time. The game itself? Mediocre, at least for a seasoned adult gamer. For kids, though, the game and toy line are pretty much the best thing ever. Find out all of the details here.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Activision <B>Developer</B>: Activision <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E10" for Everyone 10+ <B>Genre</B>: Platforming <B>Pros</B>: Amazing concept; the portal is awesome; great excuse to collect toys; fantastic kids game <B>Cons</B>: The most devious marketing tactic in history; game underneath the cool toys isn't all that good <P>Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is an action platforming game. Think the 3D Mario games or Banjo-Kazooie ... or past Spyro games, but no one played those (at least, not recent ones). Instead of using one or two characters to run and jump around an open world and save the day, Skylanders has a cast of dozens. <P>The key to the whole concept, and what raises it from a somewhat mediocre platformer into something much more interesting, is the Portal of Power peripheral and the line of toys you place on the portal to use them in the game. The Portal is a USB pedestal that plugs into your Xbox 360 and lights up and changes colors and looks super neat. Really, the portal looks awesome. While playing the game, you place one of the Skylanders toys on the portal and that character is immediately put into the game for you to use. Swapping characters is easy and instant, you just put a toy on the portal, so kids won't have any trouble with it. The game comes with three characters along with the game and portal for $69.99, but you can also buy single character toys for $7.99 or three-packs of characters for $19.99 and there are also bonus levels available as special toys as well. </P>You don't actually have to use any extra characters besides the three the game comes with to beat Skylanders, but you won't see everything the game has to offer, which is the real evil genius of the whole product line. The characters have elemental associations, so to open a water door or magic door or tech door or some other element, you have to have a Skylander with that element. Which means you'll have to buy more toys if you want to see everything. You don't have to buy the whole collection, and can actually see everything with just one character of each element, but the "Gotta catch em' all" Pokemon mentality is very strongly at play here. You won't "need" them all, but you'll "want" them. Or, er, your kids will want them. <P>The toys themselves are really remarkably cool. They are really, really detailed and look great. These aren't just quick cash-in tie-in toys. These are well-made collectible toys all by themselves. They have another unique quality besides just looking awesome, though. They actually save character data to the toy itself when you put it on the portal rather than saving it in-game. So when your character levels up and gets a new hat (which boost stats) or something, it is saved to the toy for you to use anywhere there is a portal. Like, say, your friends house so you show off how awesome your characters are compared to theirs. <P>While the tech and toys are great, the actual game you use them in is only so-so. It is an entirely linear, super simplified platformer that is, well, boring compared to other 3D platformers on the market. It is a kids game, though, so you really can't complain. The short length of the main game and tiny 10-level cap for characters make it an easy game for kids to pick up and really get the most out of. The game isn't super-easy, though, as some boss fights are basically wars of attrition where your Skylanders lose all their HP and have to be swapped out one after the other until you finally win, but it isn't all that taxing, either. Again, kids will dig it. </P>Personally, I'm not sold on it as a game for grown up gamers as much as so many other 25+ year old gamers on forums and podcasts all over the Internet seem to be. The gameplay is bland and boring, and while the toys are fantastic, I'm not particularly drawn to the characters. I do love the overall concept, though, and hope that Activision tries this again in the future with other licenses. Just imagine a Transformers game with the Portal of Power where you scan in new toys to use in the game. That is something I'd run out and buy all the toys for. Spyro, not so much. But that is just me. <P>It is kind of a hypocritical moment for gamers, though, because this entire game concept is basically premium DLC disguised as neat toys. If another game tried to sell you multiple packs of three new characters as DLC for $20 each, hardcore gamers would flip out and throw a fit. This isn't a criticism of the game, mind you, but more a criticism of gamers who only stand by their principles when it suits them and as soon as something new and shiny shows up they abandon them. <P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Presentation-wise, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a decent looking game. The game worlds are somewhat bland, and NPC characters are plain funky looking, but the Skylanders characters you play as all are fantastically detailed and look good. There are also some very nice special effects for attacks, and it looks good overall. The game is bright and colorful, which also looks nice. <P>The sound is only okay. The voice acting is kind of terrible, and battle sound effects and catch phrases are used over and over again to the point they drive you crazy. Solid music, though.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Skylanders-Spyros-Adventure-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6118405848702913606?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-19636012435290675682011-11-27T03:54:00.000-08:002011-11-27T03:54:00.038-08:00 Battlefield 3 is a real Jekyll and Hyde-type of game. On one side you have a completely derivative and disappointing solo campaign. On the other, you have a fantastically deep and satisfying multiplayer. It is clear that most of the care and attention went into the multiplayer, and we're fine with that, but when the competition's offerings are more well rounded, it is hard to recommend Battlefield 3 on quite the same level. If your focus is on multiplayer, Battlefield 3 is among the absolute best and worth buying. If your focus is mainly on the campaign, move along. It is as simple as that.<B>Single-Player Campaign</B> <P>It is clear the campaign isn't the main attraction here since the single-player is actually on disc 2 and the multiplayer is on disc 1. If that doesn't tell you what is more important, I don't know what could make it more obvious. At any rate, there is a full story driven campaign here similar to the Bad Company games (minus the fun banter among the squad, BF3 is super serious) rather than the bot-driven training modes in the other Battlefield games. <P>The campaign itself is completely derivative, though. It is like it takes the best parts of the last few Call of Duty games and mashes them all together. It is hard not to get a sense of serious deja-vu when the first mission ends with a gun pointed at your head (a COD trademark) and the meat of the story is told through flashbacks while the main character is being interrogated (hello Black Ops). The six-hour campaign features missions you'd expect - a sniper mission, lots of turret sections, lots of urban combat, even a mark targets on the ground from a plane mission we've seen somewhere else before. <P>The fact that we've seen a lot of this before isn't necessarily the problem, though. I honestly like the campaigns in these types of games, and there is only so much you can do before it stops being realistic, so seeing similar missions between games isn't that big of a deal. The problem with Battlefield 3's campaign is the way it is presented. It is more like a guided tour of modern combat where your indestructible squad mates take you by the hand and lead you through the fights than you actually really having the freedom to do anything. You just sort of follow your squad around, or follow mission markers (and you don't want to break from the mission path, the game throws up a "leaving the battle area" warning if you do even if a different path might lead to a better flanking position or something), from one scripted sequence to the next. Your A.I. squad mates are surprisingly skilled too, as aside from set pieces where you absolutely have to be the one to pull the trigger, they do a pretty good job of killing all the bad guys for you. <P>The worst part is that you spend a somewhat ridiculous amount of time just watching stuff happen. In these sections your character automatically walks along and focuses on stuff the developer wanted you to see and you just sit back and watch. Fun movie, boring videogame. Also troubling about the campaign is the incredible overuse of Quick-Time-Events. Seemingly every couple of minutes a QTE pops up where you press a button and then watch your character jump across a moving train, or fight an enemy in CQC, or stab a damn rat in a sewer. <P>The story about an uprising in Iran with the threat of nuclear weapons scattered about is definitely interesting. And there are a lot of neat set pieces and absolutely stunningly cool things to see. But the gameplay itself just isn't all that fun. If you were thinking of buying Battlefield 3 for the single-player, don't bother. It isn't awful or anything, but it fails to really stand up next to the campaigns in other shooters - not just modern combat - on the Xbox 360. </P><B>Co-Op</B> <P>There are also a handful (6) co-op missions available. Co-op makes things more fun (always), but even these missions have their share of QTE's and heavy scripting that take you out of the fun more often than we'd like. You can only play on Xbox Live, no local multi options available at all in BF3, and we recommend playing with friends rather than randoms. Co-op is more fun than the campaign, but we wish there were more of it. <P><B>Multiplayer</B> <P>All that out of the way, onto the real draw in Battlefield 3 - the multiplayer. Nine maps of varying sizes cover multiple terrain types from deserts to coastal roads to urban settings and more. Vehicles such as Humvee's and tanks dot the maps, and larger areas even offer helicopters and fighter jets. There are multiple classes of vehicles, with a few variations in each class, and in a neat touch you actually earn specific perks and bonus upgrades for the vehicles when you use them well. So now you level up not just your character and their loadout, but also the way they can use vehicles. Minor damage to vehicles repairs automatically as well, and you now have a few second window to bail out if your vehicle is on the verge of being destroyed. Very cool. <P>Up to twenty-four players duke it out in teamwork-focused multiplayer modes. Going lone wolf is never really advisable in games like this, but in Battlefield 3 sticking with your team and completing objectives together is the key to victory. Solidifying this fact is the new scoring system that rewards players for suppressing the enemy (suppressing fire makes the enemies have blurred vision and less accuracy). You suppress while your teammates actually get the kill, but you all get points for it. You score points for pretty much everything you do, which makes you a valuable member of the team no matter your skill level and lets you level up to more quickly reach better equipment (and having more fun) without necessarily needing to have the most kills. <P>There are a couple of other significant changes in BF3. First is the ability to go prone (lay flat on the ground). This lets you hid pretty much anywhere and pick off enemies and you'll be hard to find if you position yourself right. Suppression is the counter to this, though, so by suppressing an area you suspect an enemy to be hiding in, you mess up their accuracy and give teammates time to take them out. Also new is the fact that knives are no longer one-swipe kills. It takes two swipes, or one from behind, to take out an enemy now, which makes close quarters fights much more tense and interesting than before. <P><B>No Bots</B> <P>One complaint we have about the multiplayer is the lack of A.I. bots. Some people don't like playing on Xbox Live with 12 year olds screaming at them and prefer to play with bots. Also, bots would offer a way to actually learn maps and learn to use the vehicles (jets and helicopters in particular have a steep learning curve) and being able to practice offline with bots would have been appreciated. Part of the reason why we liked Gears of War 3 so much is that every single game mode is playable offline with bots. CoDBlOps also had multiplayer bots. It would have made the overall Battlefield 3 package a lot better if 70% of the content wasn't locked away exclusively for online players. </P><B>Presentation</B> <P>Graphically, Battlefield 3 looks outstanding. The single-player campaign has an optional HD texture pack you can install, and we highly recommend that you do if you plan on playing the campaign. Without the HD textures it looks okay - the lighting is the same and other effects are the same, but objects and buildings and stuff look awful when you get close. With the HD texture pack, everything in the game world pops with detail and looks fantastic. Multiplayer maps take a bit of a hit in the graphics department, obviously, with 24 players running around, but they definitely look good. In a bit of a disappointing touch, the levels aren't as destructible as they were in Bad Company 1 and 2. You can still blow holes in some walls and stuff, but it isn't as crazy as it was in BC. Also, we don't love the dust on the camera lens, crazy light bloom lens flare effect that completely obscures your view way too often. <P>The sound is also very good overall. Solid music. Great sound effects that really put you on the battlefield. And solid voice work in the campaign. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>Ultimately, Battlefield 3 is an easy game to recommend depending on how you answer this question - Are you buying it for the multiplayer? If yes, buy it. You won't be disappointed and don't even have to bother with the mediocre campaign. If no, you don't care about playing multiplayer, you're better off skipping BF3 or just renting it if you enjoy these modern combat-type campaigns. The campaign is short and derivative and literally all of the other content is locked away only for online players. No use paying $60 for a game you can't really play. In the end, Battlefield 3 is among the best games on Xbox 360 in terms of multiplayer, but as a whole package it doesn't quite match up with other shooters. Keep that in mind before you purchase.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Battlefield-3-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1963601243529067568?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-2811270488543818152011-11-27T01:42:00.000-08:002011-11-27T01:42:00.320-08:00 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a little predictable, and it isn't a big step forward for the series, but it isn't a step back either. It is kind of exactly what you expect when you start a Call of Duty game which, really, is a good thing. It has a great campaign, awesome multiplayer, and even some extra offline modes for "forever alone" gamers to enjoy (take that, BF3). Modern Warfare 3 is the best and most polished total package in the series. If you love COD, you'll love MW3. If you love to hate it, well, you'll just buy it and play it in secret like you did the rest of the series.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Activision <B>Developer</B>: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M" for Mature <B>Genre</B>: FPS <B>Pros</B>: Nice presentation; exciting, well paced campaign; Spec Ops mode; solid gameplay <B>Cons</B>: Small MP maps; cheap SP deaths <P><B>Campaign</B> <P>Modern Warfare 3 continues the ongoing Modern Warfare storyline right where Modern Warfare 2 left off. Soap and Price are in bad shape following their narrow escape at the end of MW2. Russia is super pissed at the U.S.. And World War 3 has started. You jump around to a few different characters on several fronts of the conflict - fighting off a Russian invasion of NYC as a Delta Force character before hopping over to see how Soap and Price are doing and then jumping off somewhere else. The story is really quite interesting. It took me a while before I actually remembered all that happened in MW2 (I remember specific moments more than story or characters), but after a few levels I was engrossed all over again. It is full of trademark Call of Duty set pieces and amazing moments, and unlike some games that made you do a lot of watching (or, worse, QTEs) when the cool stuff happens, MW3 leaves you in control. <P>One nice thing I really liked about the campaign is that it is split into a ton of small levels instead of overlong ones. Each level only takes 15-20 minutes and there are 15 of them. It adds up to a game that is only 5 hours long, but it is a really well paced, exciting 4-5 hours. Each level usually has some unique element to it, and you only do things for a few minutes before doing something else, so it never feels boring or repetitive, but also keeps you a bit hungry for more, which makes re-playing the campaign worthwhile. It delivers the high spots and then moves on to something else. </P>I have to admit, though, that I did get tired of constantly dying during the campaign. No, not the COD trademark "side characters die at the end of every chapter" stuff. I mean during gameplay. Enemy grenade spam (you don't see the grenade indicator when you're looking down the sights). Exploding cars. Suddenly accurate enemies (the A.I. is mostly cannon fodder, but at a few chokepoints they become super accurate). I'm not even playing on Veteran or anything and I died a hundred cheap deaths. To its credit, though, MW3 does have very conveniently placed checkpoints, so you never have to restart very far back from where you died, but it definitely gets obnoxious after a while. <P><B>Spec Ops</B> <P>When you finish the campaign, and it is worth playing even though I complained a little, MW3 also has Spec Ops Mode. There are two separate modes this time around - a horde-style Survival mode where you fight waves of enemies and buy new equipment between waves, and an objective-oriented Mission mode. The missions are one-off missions that compliment the story campaign to give you an even broader experience of the conflict. You can play Spec Ops solo or in co-op locally or online. There is a separate XP system for Spec Ops so you can play and progress and unlock new weapons to use, just like MP, which makes it fun. </P>Of course, the real draw of a new Call of Duty for most people is the competitive online multiplayer. There is no combat training against A.I. here like there was in Black Ops, unfortunately, but it is easy enough to pick up. The XP system COD popularized is once again in place, so you earn XP by doing a wide range of things on the battlefield and level up to earn new weapons and perks. Individual weapons now level up as well, and you earn new attachements or stat boosts for a given weapon buy using it a lot. A lot of the fun of COD multiplayer is that it is fully customizable based on how you want to play, so every player can have a unique experience and make it fun in their own way by using different loadouts and perks and managing their weapons differently. It is addictive as heck. <P>One potential issue with the multiplayer in MW3 is that many of the maps are seemingly too small for the number of players on them. On one hand, it encourages players to actually move around more since they are much more likely to be flanked on the smaller maps, but it also changes the pacing of the game. There aren't really those slow paced moments between kills anymore. You just constantly have to be on the move. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also doesn't exactly feel like COD anymore. Not all of the maps are too small, though, and with the variety of gametypes available, some gametypes strike a better balance on certain maps than others, so there are still plenty of fun maps even if a few are only so-so. <P><B>COD Elite</B> <P>Activision got a lot of backlash when it announced Call of Duty Elite earlier this year. Elite is an Xbox 360 dashboard application, or you can access it on the Internet, that lets you check out your stats and overall COD experience similar to how Bungie.net and Halo Waypoint work for the Halo games. The base stat tracking is free, but Elite also has a premium subscription service that gives you all of the DLC, video guides to help you play better, and more for $50 a year. Elite is not required to play multiplayer, it is just sort of a Season Pass for DLC plus other benefits. If you are serious about COD, though, it can certainly be useful. </P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Visually, Modern Warfare 3 can't match the great graphics of Battlefield 3, but it is in no way a bad, or even average, looking game. The engine is a little dated, sure, but there is something about the visuals in the COD games that manage to look sharp and realistic and genuinely good even if other games have better textures or lighting. MW3 really does look great and always runs at 60FPS. <P>The sound is also very good. Solid voice acting. Good music. And some of the best sound effects in the industry. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>All in all, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is yet another solid entry in the franchise that will keep players busy for months. A good, well paced campaign, awesome Spec Ops mode, and industry leading multiplayer all combine to make this a great overall package. Buy it.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Call-Of-Duty-Modern-Warfare-3-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-281127048854381815?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-42591562655415083722011-11-26T18:26:00.000-08:002011-11-26T18:26:00.422-08:00 <P>In 2003, the Spike TV Video Game Awards (or VGAs) became the first of such honors to focus on honoring recognition of excellence within the growing computer and video game industries. Each year, the best of the games are rewarded, interspersed with live musical performances, film and television celebrity appearances, and preview trailers for soon-to-release video games. The awards ceremony has taken place in various locations in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Las Vegas, and has been hosted by Samuel L. Jackson on multiple occasions. In 2009, for the first time, the awards show did not have any host at all. Musical performers have included Snoop Dogg and The Bravery, and celebrity guests in the past have included Jack Black, the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore, Green Bay, and Stevie Wonder.</P><P>Among the shows honors are categories featuring the coveted Game of the Year, along with best of honors for hottest video action and adventure, innovative graphics, and technology. Categories include separate honors for best Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC games; separate honors for best handheld, shooter, action adventure, RPG, multiplayer, fighting, individual sports, team sports, driving, and music games; Game of the Year; Studio of the Year; Best Soundtrack, Best Original Score, Best Graphics, Best Game Based On a Movie/TV Show, Best Performance By a Human Male/Female, Best Cast, Best Voice, Best Downloadable Game, Best DLC, and Most Anticipated Game.</P><P>Critics of the awards disapprove of its selection processes for determining both nominees and winners, which they are concerned reflect bias toward specific products and platforms, with video console games being more likely to come out as winners of the crystal awards over PC games. Since winners are determined by online polls, critics accuse the program of awarding popularity only, rather than true advancement or innovation in the grand scheme of the industry. Additionally, concerns arise from the show's tendency to misappropriate awards or refer to games incorrectly. For instance, during the first Video Game Awards show, Halo won an award in the category of best shooter even though it should have been deemed ineligible, since it was technically a two year old game by then.</P><P>During the second awards ceremony, the host, Samuel L. Jackson, referred to the fifth installment of the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as "Grand Theft Auto 2." In addition, later on the same year's show, the game was mistakenly displayed with the label of "Grand Theft Auto 3." When video games King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie and 50 Cent: Bulletproof were nominated in categories despite having not even been released by the time the awards program had been filmed - in fact only being released just in time for the award show's broadcast - critics immediately took their nominations as nothing more than components of advertising and publicity campaigns for both games. It did not help that the video game Bulletproof, had actually even been nominated for the most highly sought after honor of the awards show, Game of the Year, in spite of negative reception by critics as well as gamers upon its release. Another sore spot for critics of the awards program is that they feel the ceremony dedicates too much time and emphasis to celebrities, musical performances, and aspects of pop culture that have nothing to do with the video game industry, just to draw a larger audience and boost ratings for the show.</P><P>The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6317864" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4259156265541508372?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-31424396884617240532011-11-26T10:40:00.000-08:002011-11-26T10:40:00.048-08:00 Call of Duty: Elite is the oft-rumored premium service for Call of Duty that Activision plans to roll out with Modern Warfare 3 in Fall 2011. It isn't quite what people expected, though. It won't make online COD multiplayer pay-to-play, and Elite won't actually require a monthly fee. It will offer additional features that you can pay for, but the core Elite service will be free. We have all of the details right here. <P><B>What Is Call of Duty: Elite?</B> <P>Call of Duty: Elite was developed from the ground up by Activision's Beachhead studio to offer cutting edge features to Call of Duty multiplayer beyond just the game itself. It will launch with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on November 8th, 2011. Most of the features will be free, and online multiplayer won't cost anything, but there will also be a paid premium service available as well. <P>"The average Call of Duty player spends 58 minutes per day playing multiplayer. That is more than the average Facebook user spends per day on Facebook. And yet, right now, there are very few tools to unite and super charge that social community," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "Whether it's allowing you to connect with your friends, or people of a similar skill level, people who live in your city, people who share your favorite passions, join competitive clans or social groups, or upload, view and comment on the incredible mass of player-generated content, or watch and comment on exclusive created content, Call of Duty Elite will give people more ways to connect with fellow players than ever before. Elite will also allow players of every level to improve their game with an intuitive suite of tools, and compete in tournaments for both real and virtual prizes." <P><B>No Really, What IS It?</B> <P>Online multiplayer will remain free to play. Elite is, thankfully, something else. <P><B>Connect</B> -Activision is still being kind of vague, frankly. Elite is designed to be a sort of all-inclusive community portal for Call of Duty multiplayer. It will be a stat tracking service (similar to what we get with Bungie.net for the Halo games, we assume), as well as a community building service. You'll be able to find people of similar interests and skill levels and then make clans to compete with and against each other and compete in tournaments. It is like social networking just for Call of Duty players that will greatly alter your matchmaking results so you'll be able to find players more similar to yourself instead of just getting thrown to the wolves like most multiplayer games. <P><B>Compete</B> - Both in-game and real world prizes are being promised for users of all skill levels. The idea is that instead of struggling against skilled players, you can play against a bunch of scrubs and actually have fun. And at the same time, you'll still be rewarded. <P><B>Improve</B> - Elite is also being touted as a sort of personal coach that will help you improve. You'll obviously improve simply by playing with people closer to your skill level, but the game will offer additional information based on your stats that will help you get better at the game. <P><B>What About the Premium Elite Service?</B> <P>So, if online play in Call of Duty will still be free (other than your Xbox Live subscription), and most of the Elite features will be free, what exactly will Activision charge for with the premium membership? All we really know is this, taken from the press release - <P>"Call of Duty Elite will offer a premium membership with a wide range of state-of-the-art services, exclusive entertainment programming and all-inclusive game content for less than the cost of any comparable online entertainment service currently in the market." <P>As to what exactly that means, your guess is as good as ours. They didn't say how much it will cost, or what you'll get. Rumors indicate it could be as simple as special in-game tags or camo patterns or as big as getting new maps earlier / cheaper. We don't know for sure yet. <P><B>CoD: Elite Beta Coming to CoD: Black Ops Summer 2011</B> <P>To test the service, CoD: Black Ops will get an update to serve as the beta test for Elite later this Summer. You can sign up for the beta here - Call of Duty: Black Ops Elite Beta Sign Up </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/news/a/Call-Of-Duty-Elite-Details.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3142439688461724053?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-73177657795968457522011-11-26T02:33:00.000-08:002011-11-26T02:33:00.564-08:00 While Grand Theft Auto went super serious and kind of boring with GTA4, Saints Row has always been crazy and over the top. Saints Row: The Third kicks up the craziness even more and the result is one of the funniest and most fun open world games yet. Great set pieces give every mission at least one "Holy ****" moment, the weapons and vehicles are fantastic, the dialogue is hilarious, and it is fun to play a game that just doesn't give a damn about realism or being serious. Saints Row: The Third is a blast.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: THQ <B>Developer</B>: Volition <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M" for Mature <B>Genre</B>: Third-Person Sandbox <B>Pros</B>: Over the top set-pieces; great voice acting (Laura Bailey!); awesome weapons; lots to do; co-op; steady stream of new stuff to play with <B>Cons</B>: Some bland side missions; not enough songs on radio; kind of easy <P>The story in Saints Row: The Third has the Third Street Saints as more than just a gang from Stillwater. They are a media empire who are now rich and famous, but they still like to play the villain every once in a while. You know, to keep in practice. When a bank robbery attempt goes wrong, the Saints end up stuck in a new town, Steelport, and instead of heading home they decide to take over this new city. Standing in their way are rival gangs and a frightening anti-gang military force. At least they have the support of Steelport's mayor. <P>Your character is the leader of the Saints, and is literally whoever you want them to be. You can customize characters however you like and are even encouraged to change them entirely in the middle of the story. It frankly doesn't matter what your character looks or sounds like. Change from man to woman, completely change their face, give a woman a beard, make them talk in a zombie voice - you can do whatever you want. There are several clothing stores around the city that have everything from Saints-branded gear to costumes to emo clothes and even lingerie. You can even walk around naked (censored, though) if you want.</P>The gameplay is pretty standard third-person open world stuff. You steal cars. You drive around. You shoot enemies (or civilians, whatever). The core gameplay doesn't really stand out other than you can quickly steal cars by jumping in through the windshield. The enemy A.I. is completely braindead and is mostly just there as cannon fodder. The game is really pretty easy overall, especially if you upgrade your health and combat abilities and upgrade your weapons. You can piss off the cops or rival gangs and are immediately forgiven by just entering a property you own. The game is easy. <P>That is a good thing, though, because it lets you goof off without really worrying too much. You are free to kill and steal and do whatever you want without really worrying about whether the cops are going to mow you down. Oh, they'll still show up, you just don't have to worry about them. <P>While the gameplay mechanics don't exactly stand out, the weapons you use and the missions you play through are what make SR3 so fun and interesting. Weapons range from normal pistols, SMGs, shotguns, and rifles on up to brain controlling octopi, Fart in a Jar grenades, dildo bats, chainsaws, the ability to remote control A.I. vehicles, and more. Vehicles go from standard cars and trucks on up to hover bikes, VTOL aircraft, a Mars Rover, laser firing tanks, and more. Causing mayhem is fun here. <P><B>Missions</B> <P>The missions you use all of these neat toys in are part of the fun as well. One of the first missions has you jumping out of a plane and then having to somehow get back in while it is falling. Crazy. You'll rescue an ally from a S&M hotel, fight off a zombie invasion, hack a computer from the inside Tron-style, and more. Not all of the 47 main missions are super exciting - quite a few of them are just introducing the side missions - but for the most part the missions are awesome. <P>The side missions aren't quite as consistently good, unfortunately. There aren't any police or ambulance or delivery missions, and instead you do things like steal hookers from rival pimps, drive around with a tiger in the passenger seat, protect an ally while they make a deal on the street (Saint's merch, not drugs), and dive in front of oncoming traffic in Insurance Fraud, among other things. Some side missions are pretty bland (Mayhem, Insurance Fraud) but some are pretty good like Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax reality show. There are also vehicle theft missions where you find a specific vehicle as well as assassination missions (where you have to perform specific actions to make your target appear) that are pretty good as well. Overall, though, the side-missions are kind of boring. </P>The missions and side missions all contribute cash to your bank account as well as respect. Respect is basically XP, so you when you earn a set amount of Respect you level up. It isn't like past Saints Row games where you had to reach a certain level of respect to open new missions, however. In SR3 respect is purely a leveling device. Higher levels give you access to new upgrades and better toys to play with. <P>Cash is used to buy properties, buy upgrades for your character, customize and upgrade vehicles, upgrade weapons, buy new outfits, and upgrade your strongholds to help you earn even more cash and respect. Properties you own all make you even more money that is deposited in your account every in-game hour (10-15 minutes). You always have a constant stream of income, and pretty much everything you do builds up Respect even if it is just a few points at a time, so you level up quickly and usually have plenty of cash and lots of fun things to spend it on. A nice thing about SR3 is that it is all open from the start. The entire city is there for you to play in. You can drive to the airport and steal a plane and fly around before jumping out and parachuting to the ground within 5 minutes of arriving in Steelport, something locked away for much later in most open world games. Or go to the military base and steal a tank and blow crap up right from the start of the game. It is nice that they don't lock away the fun stuff. With that said, you do have to complete missions in order to unlock the really crazy weapons and vehicles and stuff, but it is fun right from the start if you just goof off and don't really do missions. I played for 10 hours just exploring and finding hidden stuff and doing side missions before I really seriously started doing story missions. To finish the game 100%, it takes a solid 25+ hours or so.</P><B>Co-Op</B> <P>Saints Row The Third isn't just a single-player game, though. It is also features co-op where you and a friend can cause havoc and have fun and complete missions. Goofing off in open world games by yourself is only so fun. Playing with a partner, especially in a crazy world like SR3, makes everything better. <P>SR3 also has its own version of Horde Mode, titled Whored Mode. It is really the same as horde mode in other games - waves of enemies attack you and you have to kill them all - but fending off waves of S&M freaks, psychos wielding dildo bats, zombies, giant brutes, and more makes it much more interesting here. Again, play with co-op friend to make it more fun. <P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Visuals are one area where Saints Row: The Third is lacking a bit. It isn't exactly a pretty game. It doesn't look awful or anything, but environmental objects pop in and out constantly and there are generally pretty bland textures everywhere. The character designs are exaggerated and sort of twisted and the NPCs and enemies only have a handful of different models so you see the same people everywhere. At least the explosions and other special effects are nice. <P>The sound is pretty good overall. The voice work is solid no matter which voice you choose. I chose the female voice played by one of my favorite anime / VG voice actresses, Laura Bailey, who did a particularly good job. Or you can make your character grunt and groan like a zombie, One complaint I do have about the sound is that there isn't really very much music on the radio. There are multiple radio stations to choose from, all with licensed music of course, but you'll end up hearing the same songs over and over and over just because there isn't a huge tracklist. The Adult Swim radio channel is pretty good though, I have to admit. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>All in all, Saints Row: The Third is a big, goofy, over the top experience that never forgets that videogames are supposed to be fun. It doesn't have genre redefining gameplay, or top of the line visuals, and not all of the side missions are the greatest, but it offers up fun and hilarious dialogue and funny situations by the truckload. It is an absolute blast to play because it doesn't make you hold back. You can do whatever you want, however you want, and it is pretty much always fun. If you like the freedom of open world games but don't always appreciate how stiff and realistic some of them try to be, Saints Row: The Third is for you. We highly recommend it for a purchase.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Saints-Row-The-Third-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7317765779596845752?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-25113027371484694512011-11-25T20:14:00.000-08:002011-11-25T20:14:00.977-08:00 <P>Full disclosure before you start reading this article; I am a PC gamer at heart. But I am also a gamer that enjoys great games on whatever platform they are available.</P><P>I currently own an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii (hey, don't laugh, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and a Nintendo DS.</P><P>So I bear no ill will towards consoles, even though the majority of my everyday gaming takes place on PC.</P><P>It seems that as of late the PC is having somewhat of a resurgence as a major platform for "Triple A" games.</P><P>Battlefield 3 is a good example of a major release that flexes its muscles on the PC platform in comparison to the console version.</P><P>The current generation of consoles are getting pretty long in the tooth by now. <BR>With 5-6 years under their belt, it is no wonder that game developers are trying to squeeze out the last drops of gaming juice from these partially mummified fruits of gaming hardware.</P><P>Of course, this also means that the current console generation has a huge audience by now, so there is plenty of incentive to still keep pumping out your games on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.</P><P>But it does look like new games are now first shown on the PC, where developers can give a truly stunning presentation, before a more toned down version that can run on consoles is demonstrated.</P><P>This is a very natural development, as game makers will of course always be chasing those stunning visuals that will make the jaws of the public drop open and do their best "fish-on-land" impression.</P><P>Since the guts of the consoles have pretty much given all that they are going to give, it is becoming almost impossible to get this sort of reaction from simply being clever with your coding.</P><P>You need more horsepower than what you can find withering inside a PlayStation or Xbox. <BR>Enter the PC with its constantly shifting hardware that has by now completely and utterly eclipsed that of the consoles.</P><P>This allows game developers to create those stand out visuals that will get heads turning and preorders rolling. <BR>Even if it turns out to be a bit of the old smoke and mirror, showing off the PC version of the game on a super high end PC, while Joe Mario Kart ends up ordering the Xbox 360 version that only has half of the graphical bells and none of the whistles of the PC version.</P><P>This is something that we have seen before and it's a cycle that I call the "PC Sisyfos problem".</P><P>Picture the preference for PC's as a big hill. <BR>At the bottom of the hill is a large rock that gets pushed up to top of the hill as PC games slowly gain momentum against their console counterparts, as their technology continues to evolve.</P><P>Every new major console generation launch sees the release of hardware that is usually equal or better to most hardcore gaming PC's that are out at the time. <BR>Coupled with the fact that you are working with a fixed platform, this means that developers are able to churn out some games that put most of the contemporary PC games to shame and makes all gamers go "oooh, shiny shiny!".</P><P>The rock is at the bottom of the hill</P><P>This effect starts to wane a bit, but after the first couple of years it's not that pronounced, because developers may be struggling with hardware that is slowly becoming obsolete, but they are also learning all the tricks that they can use to cram still more power out of the box.</P><P>The rock starts slowly being pushed up the hill</P><P>Inevitably of course, this development of squeezing ever more power out of the same hardware reaches a limit. <BR>This is when you start noticing that PC games are beginning to look noticeably better than their console counterparts, and probably where we were at about 12-18 months ago.</P><P>The rock is now very close to the top of the hill</P><P>Finally we enter a brief period, where it is evident to everyone that the PC is just punching the consoles in the face and taking their lunch money in terms of hardware power.</P><P>All the visually impressive stuff is being shown on PC's and consoles have well and truly hit their performance ceiling.</P><P>The rock reaches the top of the hill and everyone wipes the sweat off their faces and enjoy a brief and ill advised round of "hells yeah, in your face Microsoft/Sony/Sega/Nintendo".</P><P>This is the point where the next generation of consoles is announced.</P><P>Crammed full of next generation hardware and sporting tech demonstration videos that make PC gamers weep salty tears of envy, they immediately rally the gaming public towards this new beacon of visual splendor.</P><P>The rock tumbles headlong down the hillside, crushing any PC fanboys foolish enough to try to stop it.</P><P>Right now we are just coming up on the hilltop.</P><P>The PC is markedly stronger than the consoles and we have yet to see a response from the big two console makers (Nintendo has pretty much already given up on trying to create consoles that are hardware powerhouses).</P><P>So to all my fellow PC gamers that are pushing the rock alongside me I say; Enjoy our brief moment of glory and spot in the sun. <BR>It's been a fun ride and I'll see you all at the bottom of the hill next Christmas.</P><P>Don't stop pushing!</P><P>I'm a passionate gamer and lover of science fiction.</P><P>With more than 25 years of gaming and consuming sci-fi in every media form, I consider myself something of an expert.</P><P>I write reviews, impressions, opinion pieces and things that are just meant to make you smile.</P><P>If you like this article, then you'll probably like my site, which you can find here:</P><P>http://www.lightspeed-gaming.com/</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6617039" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2511302737148469451?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-45546357900035820392011-11-25T16:53:00.000-08:002011-11-25T16:53:00.368-08:00 A lot of folks laughed when Ubisoft revealed it was working on a new guitar game. The plastic instrument genre is pretty much dead, after all. Rocksmith isn't a plastic instrument game, though. Rocksmith is a real guitar game. Not like Rock Band 3 where you need a special "real" guitar. No, Rocksmith uses anything with a pickup from a cheap second hand pawn shop axe all the way up to a top-end Gretsch or Gibson. It is more a learning tool than a pick up and play party game, so it isn't going to replace Rock Band, but if you're looking to learn how to play real guitar, Rocksmith is definitely the way to go.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Ubisoft <B>Developer</B>: Ubisoft <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “T" for Teen <B>Genre</B>: Music <B>Pros</B>: Works very well; good song list; great teaching tool; minigames <B>Cons</B>: Lacks personality; awful menus; having to unlock stuff <P>Full disclosure: I never played the Rock Band 3 Pro Mode so I can't compare it with Rocksmith. Review units for the RB3 guitars were not easy to get, and I couldn't justify paying $150 for a fake Mustang or $300 for a so-so Squier Strat. <P>This is why Rocksmith is appealing for me. I didn't have to buy new equipment just to play it. I already have an Epiphone Wilshire LE (hugely underrated fairly cheap guitar, I love mine) and an Epiphone LP Special II (my first guitar ... I have no regrets) so I was already set to play Rocksmith. <P><B>Hardware</B> <P>If you have a guitar already, you can buy Rocksmith along with the special cable it requires for $80 MSRP. You can also buy an extra cable, for simultaneous co-op play, for $30. If you don't already have a guitar, Rocksmith comes in a bundle with an Epiphone LP Junior for $200, though some retailers have already had sales where it was down to $170 or so, so if you look around you might find a deal. The LP Junior is a solid beginner guitar. Keep in mind, the Junior part doesn't mean it is small, it just means it is a full sized Les Paul-style guitar but with less features - mainly just one pickup compared to the two you'll find on the slightly more expensive Epiphone LP Special II. It won't blow you away or anything, because the pickups are pretty muddy, but it has a great feeling neck and is a great place to start for beginners. <P>Any guitar with a pickup and a 1/4" output will work thanks to a special cable that comes with the game that is a 1/4" audio plug on one end and a USB cable on the other. Unlike with Rock Band 3 or (lol) PowerGig: Rise of the Six String, which had sensors in the neck so it could tell what note you were playing, Rocksmith instead looks for the specific tone it expects based on the sound. An in-game tuner helps you tune your guitar to match what the game expects to hear. It isn't a super precise tuner, but the whole point is that it produces the tone that the game is looking for, so even if it isn't as perfect as some $100 chromatic tuner, you can't really complain. This way, any guitar will work perfectly fine with the game. </P><B>It Isn't the Only Way to Learn, but Definitely One of the Better Options</B> <P>As for my own skill level, I have only been playing a couple of years now. I'm not some semi-pro musician who has been playing 10+ years that doesn't "get" what Rocksmith is trying to do (like some reviews I've read, yeah I'm calling you out). I'm pretty much square in the intended demographic for Rocksmith - well, maybe a little further ahead. I already know scales and chords and transitions and all of that and have my handful of songs I have learned and can play. Side story time. I was actually inspired to learn guitar by the "Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad" anime. I loved the music and decided then and there that I was going to learn it. About a week after I bought my first guitar, I could already play "Face" and "Moon on the Water" and have progressed a lot more since then. I never had a teacher or lessons, and instead learned with tabs and watching other people play. <P>Some experienced guitar players will tell you this is the wrong way to learn and you need to know the basics first and HAVE to get a teacher. In my experience, experienced guitar players are super territorial and want to make learning guitar seem much harder than it is. And if you don't learn the hard way (with a teacher) and have to suffer like they did, then you're doing it wrong. But I feel you have a lot more fun learning to play songs you actually like instead of practicing tedious crap for months. And by playing songs you actually like, I guarantee you that you'll learn all of the basic techniques and scales and chords along the way, and you'll have a lot more fun doing it. Teachers and lessons are great for some people, but they don't work for everyone which is why so many people end up giving up on learning guitar. <P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>What does all that have to do with Rocksmith? Everything. Rocksmith teaches you to play in much the same way as I described. You play real songs and the techniques and things you need to learn are introduced slowly and naturally in the context of a real song rather than just making you practice something without really understanding how it is supposed to be applied. <P>The on-screen interface is laid out with the six strings of the guitar each representing a different color. Numbers appear on the in-game fretboard which show you where on the neck you are playing, and when you have to move your hand the fretboard expands well ahead of time to show you which direction to move, as well as how far. Notes show up on the fret board on the numbered fret it is on, as well as the color of what string it is. Power chords and full chords have their own special markers on-screen, so it is easy to know ahead of time when you need to change position. If you are off by a fret or two, a little arrow pops up telling you what direction to go so you'll be right. This way you can learn to play without having to look at your hands too much, which is very important. It takes a bit to get used to it all, but it works very well once you learn what everything means. <P>One tip I will offer is that you can invert the string layout in the options menu, which I recommend. Normally, the bass E string would be on top of the screen, followed by A,D,G,B,E to the bottom, which mirrors your guitar in relation to the TV. For many beginners, however, it is easier to have the strings represented in the opposite order, with the bass on the bottom and the treble on the top, because this is how the guitar looks when you look down at it when you play. It is also the way guitar tabs are laid out, so if you plan on going from Rocksmith to learning other songs with tabs, inverting the string layout in the game will help you. <P>When you first start a song it will be easy with single notes where you are only playing a fraction of the total notes of the song. As you demonstrate that you know what you are doing - by playing along perfectly or even filling in the gaps with the right notes if you already know the song (you aren't penalized for noodling, which means you can improvise and have fun here) - the game automatically adjusts the difficulty either up or down to suit your level. The difficulty of the song dynamically changes, so after you play a song a few times it will have a much more complex note layout from when you first played it because you, presumably, are getting better at it. <P>It is an incredibly smart way to learn, and really is an improvement over how most players learn with tabs. Players that learn with tabs usually know a few full songs, and only the beginning part of a ton of songs, because that is all they bother to learn (guilty ...). The way you usually learn with tabs is to learn a chunk, then play a little more, then learn a little more, and a little more, and a little more, starting over from the beginning and learning ever-increasing chunks of the song until you know the whole thing. Sort of like how you play Dark Souls (play just a little further after each death). Rocksmith, on the other hand, makes you learn an entire song all at once. But, like I said, with the dynamic difficulty you learn on a curve where the song gradually fills out with all of the notes instead of overwhelming you with having to absorb every note all at once. It is a very clever way to learn. </P><B>Features</B> <P>The game comes with 40+ songs, with more coming as DLC (see the full track listing at the official Rocksmith website here), each with multiple versions that that only make you play single notes, chords, or combo versions with everything. You progress through the "career" by meeting point thresholds in each song. The scores to progress are very, very low, so don't worry too much about progressing even if you are a beginner. With that said, however, more skilled players will have to play pretty well to master each song where you have to play everything note-for-note and be nearly perfect. Which is great, because whether you are a beginner or skilled player, the goalposts are always moving just a bit further ahead so you are motivated to keep playing and learning. <P>It has to be said, though, that the game is kind of dry and sorely lacks the personality found in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. You just sort of trudge along the maze of menus (seriously, you have to select a million things before the game lets you do anything) playing songs from the menu and occasionally playing a "show" where you play the songs you just learned for a crowd. <P>The only real reward you earn is that you unlock new guitars, amps, and effects pedals you can use in the "Amp" mode of the game where you just get to play whatever you want. It is fun to set up all of the levels and effects and craft custom tones, but it is a serious pain in the butt to have to unlock it all. Particularly because the good stuff is all locked away for much later in your progression through the game. It does help motivate you, but it is also sort of ridiculous how all of the fun stuff is locked away. <P>Also waiting to be unlocked are arcade-style minigames that teach you basic techniques in the guise of actual fun. Things like shooting ducks by playing a note on the correct fret or destroying zombies with the right chord, among a handful of other minigames. These games are surprisingly fun, and actually pretty effective at teaching you how to move along the fretboard and change chords smoothly and quickly. Again, though, it is a pain they all have to be unlocked. </P><B>Presentation</B> <P>Visually, Rocksmith is pretty simple. There aren't any big crazy venues or characters, but the interface is clean and very easy to follow. This is a teaching tool more than a game, after all. <P>The sound is quite good overall. At least, as good as playing guitar through your TV can be. Each song changes your guitar tone to fit the real song (pretty much like a digital modeling amplifier does) so your guitar always sounds just like it should for each song. I haven't mentioned lag in the review so far because I never experienced any. Of course, my setup was already what the game considers optimal - not using HDMI for sound and instead using the separate Xbox 360 audio out cable to direct the sound to your stereo or headphones - so I never had to deal with any audio lag like some other reviewers complained of. This setup is actually good practice for all music games, not just Rocksmith, as it eliminates audio lag almost entirely. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>All in all, Rocksmith does pretty much exactly what it promises. It will absolutely teach you how to play guitar. The dynamic difficulty ensures you never get too overwhelmed, but also doesn't hold you back while you're learning and advancing. I won't lie and say it makes getting started any easier if you are a true beginner - honestly, picking up a guitar for the first time is overwhelming and confusing no matter what method you are using when you are trying to learn - but the learning process will definitely be more fun and smoother here than trying to learn by yourself. For beginners and intermediate players, it is a solid learning tool, though truly advanced players likely won't learn much since the songs are generally pretty easy. Though, I'm not an advanced player so I can't precisely predict at which level the advanced guitar snobbery skill many guitar players have kicks in. If you are a novice or beginner guitar player, however, and want to learn to play, Rocksmith is a great tool to use. Buy it.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Rocksmith-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4554635790003582039?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-25531883798447016692011-11-25T02:39:00.000-08:002011-11-25T02:39:00.099-08:00 PowerUp Heroes is a Kinect game that makes you feel like a superhero. Or, if superheroes aren't your thing, it makes you feel sort of like Mega Man mixed with Ryu from Street Fighter with some Goku from DBZ thrown in. You perform punches and kicks and special moves, and when you beat up enemies you take their powers to use in the next fight. As a kid, I would have loved this. Heck, as an adult it is pretty darn entertaining still. The fun only lasts for a few hours, though, as there just isn't very much content here, but PowerUp Heroes is still worth a look.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Ubisoft <B>Developer</B>: Longtail Studios <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E10" for Everyone 10+ <B>Genre</B>: Fighting / Action <B>Pros</B>: Fun Kinect gameplay makes you feel like a super hero; nice menus and overall presentation <B>Cons</B>: Not much content; not always responsive enough <P>The story in PowerUp Heroes tells of an evil alien force comes to Earth. A good alien hero comes to Earth but crash lands and gives his special power suit to the nearest human he can find. That human is you, or at lest your Xbox 360 Avatar, so you put on the suit and get to fighting bad guys. When you defeat an enemy you take their suit, which gives you new powers to choose from. You select two suits before every fight and can switch between them at will. Even mid-combo. So, just like Mega Man, you beat up a bunch of dudes, steal their powers, and save the day. Good times. <P>Unfortunately, there isn't much content here. It only takes a couple of hours to collect all 20 suits and save the world. There is local multiplayer as well as online multiplayer, which does help, but good luck actually finding anyone to play against online. Local multiplayer works just fine as long as you don't get too wild and have a big enough space for two people to flail around without hitting each other. </P>The gameplay is set up like a fighting game. You and your opponent have a health bar, and the first one to win two rounds wins the fight. The moves you perform are all surprisingly intuitive as you just stand in front of Kinect and punch and kick to make your character do the same. Special moves are different for each suit, but require motions like a quick movement with your hand to throw an energy ball, a "Kamehameha"-type motion for a fireball, raising your hands above your head to throw a big energy ball (sort of like a Spirit Bomb ...), whipping your hand forward to crack a lightning whip, and much more. Defensive moves include stepping left or right to dodge attacks, or QTE-style pop ups where you match a specific motion to block attacks. It is all rather simple, but it does work really surprisingly well and is pretty satisfying to punch and kick and throw energy attacks around like a comic book hero. <P>For the most part the game is easy enough that even with some hiccups where Kinect doesn't do what you want, it doesn't really affect the gameplay. At least, for the first half of it. Late in the game when you've beaten all of the enemies once and have to fight through much tougher versions of them a second time, though, it can be tougher to react quickly enough or Kinect might read your movements wrong, which can lead to some frustration. It isn't so much that it is terribly difficult, but it is definitely a bit of a jump from how easy the game is the first time you fight everyone. You get used to it.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Powerup-Heroes-Review-X360-Kinect.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2553188379844701669?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-83366696897688966402011-11-25T02:14:00.000-08:002011-11-25T02:14:00.052-08:00 Just when you figure there couldn't possibly be any more crazy new peripherals coming out to clutter up your gaming space, a new one shows up. This one is a little different, though. The uDraw GameTablet from THQ is a touch sensitive art tablet that lets you draw and paint and more on your Xbox 360 and it works remarkably well. It won't replace a real drawing tablet for PC, of course, but for younger aspiring artists, it is a pretty solid place to start.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: THQ <B>Developer</B>: THQ <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Art / Puzzle <B>Pros</B>: Tablet works well; lots to do with included Instant Artist game <B>Cons</B>: Not super precise <P>The uDraw GameTablet is a little wireless 10"x6" device with a 6"x3.5" touch pad in the middle. It also has a d-pad and A,B,X,Y buttons on the front. There is a stylus pen you use on the touch pad that has a springy tip, so you drag it lightly across the surface of the touch pad to see where your cursor is, and then press the tip down to actually draw. It is pressure sensitive, so the harder or softer your push the darker or lighter your lines will be. You can also use your fingers on the touch pad, if you want, and it even uses the "pinch to zoom" motions you find on smart phones these days. The tablet also has gyroscopes in it, so you can pick it up and move it around and those motions are translated into games. It is all pretty cool. It should be obvious, but this is not an iPad-style tablet with a display screen. It is just a touch pad that transfers what you draw to your Xbox 360. </P><B>uDraw Instant Artist</B> <P>For $80 you get the uDraw Gametablet along with a game called uDraw Studio: Instant Artist. It requires three "AA" batteries, which are not included. The Instant Artist game offers a surprisingly large selection of things to do. You can play through art lessons to learn how to draw and paint better as well as freely draw whatever you want using a wide range of techniques on a lot of different surface textures. You can then upload your custom artwork to the uDraw community website to easily share it with friends and family. It also has some minigame-type activities like coloring books, paint by numbers, a game where you roll a paint ball around using the motion controls, and a lot more. <P><B>Other uDraw Games</B> <P>Launching alongside the uDraw Gametablet hardware are two other games you can buy separately. uDraw Pictionary: Ultimate Edition, and uDraw Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat. We didn't get a chance to try these titles out, but it is good to know there is support for the uDraw tablet beyond the game that comes with the unit. Considering how well the Wii uDraw has been supported since it launched in 2010, we don't expect the 360 version to just be quickly forgotten. You can buy with confidence that it won't be a 1-and-done $80 paperweight you won't use again. THQ couldn't give us specifics on anything, but there will be more titles coming in 2012. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Udraw-Gametablet-W-Instant-Artist-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8336669689768896640?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-70326466373844850352011-11-25T00:06:00.000-08:002011-11-25T00:06:00.984-08:00 <P>Be it action, adventure, family or kids, iOS games has always delivered the best in providing complete entertainment and non-stop fun.</P><P>What makes people go crazy about these games?</P><P>The games have everything say from stunning graphics, lovely characters to vibrant colors and brilliant gameplay. There is always a competition in the Appstore to top the charts, but who makes it to the top? Is it games with good gameplay, or the ones with a great subject?</P><P>You really cannot judge that, can you? Then how is it that, even simple game with not so good graphics or with any theme make it to the "Top". What makes Apple to list them in Top 10?</P><P>One thing that matter's the most here is the number of downloads and the popularity of games, but again there arises a question, is it the games developed by popular game developers only top the chart?</P><P>With too many questions and confusion, many people tend to download the games with highest number of reviews, ratings and download, whether they like it or not. There are plenty of games out there with superb graphics and excellent gameplay, which goes unnoticed.</P><P>You all like Angry Birds, but do you like Shoot the Birds, which has fabulous graphics and vivid gameplay? What is lacking in Shoot the Birds, why it has not made it to the Top?</P><P>As a player, even I like some of the games which have made it say Top 50, but there are many other games too, which have not.</P><P>Some of my favorite games like Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja etc. are popular set of Games.</P><P>But Brain Puzzle, Bird's the Word, Untangled HD, Doodle Car HD, Bubble Trap, and Magic Paths HD and many others to name also fall under my personal favorites.</P><P>What makes the latter ones less popular than the initially mentioned games? No answer right? I am not comparing, but all I want to convey is, there are many such good games in Appstore, which are getting overlooked by some or the other reason. We as players can bring such games to the publics' notice either by reviewing the games or asking a friend/family member to play and review it.</P><P>Give it a second thought because there are hundreds of games out there in Appstore with great potential to offer thorough entertainment to all age group.</P><P>I am off to play some more games. See you on Leaderboard. Ciao!</P><P>Namratha. V (Content Writer/Online Marketing)</P><P>Website: http://www.dumadu.com/</P><P>Like Us: http://www.facebook.com/dumadumobilegames</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6680504" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7032646637384485035?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-5391050749153369912011-11-24T22:11:00.000-08:002011-11-24T22:11:00.418-08:00 <P>If you're doing a little digging to find a decent gaming laptop under $1000, you might run across several options out there. Your best bet would be to create a list of features you want from the laptop and search according to that list.</P><P>A good gaming laptop must first be configured to carry a powerful processor. Now for this limited budget, some good suggestions would be dual-core processors, since these are both powerful and affordable at the same time. Single core processors are great for simple tasks, but since games demand more from the gaming system, it's a lot better if you start with a dual-core processor just to make sure everything runs fine.</P><P>In terms of system memory a good target to start at would be 3GB. Extreme gaming laptops might carry up to 16GB, but for a modest gaming laptop, 3 or 4GB of RAM is a good start, since most modern games don't even go beyond 3GB in their system requirements list. This amount will allow you to also do some editing work, graphic design and even a bit of multitasking.</P><P>The video card that comes with a gaming laptop has to be dedicated. What this means is that it has to have its own dedicated memory, so it doesn't take from your available RAM in order to run. For this budget you'll probably get away with a decent model from either nVidia or ATI with about 512MB to 1GB of dedicated memory. This is fine if you don't mind running games in medium to high quality settings, but for extreme graphics you'll definitely need to do better than this.</P><P>Games are better played when they're viewed properly and you don't have to strain your eyes to keep the crosshair on your target. This means that the screen size on your gaming laptop should not go under 15 inches, since then all the targets you're hunting will be mere pixels. Average laptop screen sizes are in the 15.4 inch range, but you might also find 16 inch screen laptops in this budget range and they're quite capable of displaying decent resolutions too.</P><P>The hard drive is often an overlooked feature in gaming laptops, since all it does is store information. You should not overlook one aspect of HDD though, and that is their rpm. More is better in this case, so don't settle for an average laptop hard drive with 5400rpm, but try to go for a 7200 rpm model, or, if you're willing to spend a bit, go for an SSD drive.</P><P>Go ahead and check out the Best Gaming Laptop Under $1000 for more information and actual examples.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6412443" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-539105074915336991?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-17690968203150539932011-11-24T09:54:00.000-08:002011-11-24T09:54:00.648-08:00 The original Motionsports was a bit of a mess, but it had one bright shining feature that we actually loved - hang gliding. When the sequel, Motionsports Adrenaline, was announced with a focus on extreme sports, we thought that maybe, just maybe, we'd get a game full of awesome like the hang gliding of the original. Well, we were wrong to get our hopes up. The six extreme sports featured here all sort of control the same, some have serious input lag, and the game is just generally lacking features. It definitely plays better overall than the first Motionsports, but that isn't saying much.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Ubisoft <B>Developer</B>: Ubisoft Vancouver <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Extreme Sports <B>Pros</B>: Interesting selection of sports; nice presentation; good menus; multiplayer options <B>Cons</B>: Control lag; many sports have very similar controls; sort of feels "on rails"; linear events <P>Motionsports Adrenaline is a collection of six extreme sports - mountain biking, skiing, kayaking, rock climbing, wingsuit flying, and kite boarding. Each sport has a couple of courses along with a couple of single-player modes (collecting coins, doing tricks, speed runs) as well as multiplayer variations of those modes. As you play each event, you earn points that level you up and unlock new courses and boosts for the characters. There is a steady stream of unlocks, at least at first (it seems like you unlock 2-3 things after every event), but the total amount of content is kind of surprisingly small and the unlocks dry up pretty fast. <P>You can play multiplayer in Quick Play where you get to select the events, but you can also play Adrenaline Party where four players compete in 10 random events, and the person or team with the highest total score wins. Adrenaline Party is cool since it streamlines everything and gives you 30+ minutes of content all laid out in front of you without you having to fiddle with the menus. <P>Speaking of menus, Motionsports Adrenaline uses the Dance Central-style menus (raise or lower hand to select menu item, swipe it to the left to select it) that all of Ubisoft's 2011 Kinect titles have used. This is our favorite menu system for Kinect, and it works great here.</P>The gameplay is actually fairly intuitive. Just think for a moment about how each sport "should" control, and that is generally how things do work. Thankfully, you don't have to actually pedal the mountain bike. The controls are fairly intuitive, but they are also suspiciously similar in many of the events. There is also a bit of control lag in many events, and when you're barreling down a mountain trying to avoid obstacles, a second of lag is pretty big. Also, most of the events are pretty linear where you just tear down a set course to a finish line, which makes them sort of feel the same (except rock climbing, which has its own problems). With the limited number of courses, you see most of what the game has to offer fairly quickly. We'll take a look at the individual sports below. <P><B>Mountain Biking</B> - Just a downhill run rather than trail riding, mountain biking is very simple where the course is made up of lanes and you turn left or right with your hands (just like if you were riding a real bike) to switch lanes to avoid obstacles or hit jumps. Some sharp corners require you to smoothly turn into them at the right time in order to maintain speed. And that is pretty much it. It is totally on-rails where you just barrel down the mountain. Not too fun. <P><B>Skiing</B> - Skiiing isn't anything new for Kinect, but it seems to be handled a little better here. You lean your body to turn, jump to get more height off of jumps, and push with your poles to get more speed. You also can do tricks, but they are pre-set motions where you have to match a pose on a floating icon with your body, and sometimes you can't see the icon fast enough to get into the right pose. Tricks are a part of many of the events, and they all suffer from this - you can't see the trick quick enough a lot of the time. Overall, though, the skiing does work well and probably controls the best overall. <P><B>Rock Climbing</B> - Rock climbing has the most potential out of all of the sports, but is ruined by input lag. The idea is that you are climbing up a rock face full of handholds, so you reach up or to the side or diagonally with one of your hands to climb in that direction, and occasionally you have to jump to boost your character two levels in areas where there isn't a handhold in easy reach. The concept is awesome, but you never really build up a rhythm to your climbing because the controls never respond consistently. We spent a bunch of time on rock climbing and never got closer than about a minute to the gold medal times. <P><B>Kayaking</B> - Kayaking is another linear downhill event. You turn by essentially sticking your paddle in the water on the side you want to turn, and can build up speed by paddling back and forth with your hands but we couldn't get it to consistently work. To roll your kayak to go under obstacles, you squat down. Other than "paddling", kayaking controlled okay, actually, and the streams you go down have a couple of branching paths. Because it is all mostly linear, though, there isn't all that much to see. <P><B>Kite Surfing</B> - Kite surfing is just like it sounds. You are pulled along the water with a kite, and turn left or right by moving your hands to turn the kite. You can jump and do tricks, and the controls work pretty well. <P><B>Wingsuit Flying</B> - Wingsuit flying is pretty simple. You put on a suit with extra fabric on the arms for "wings" and can glide around with the greatest of ease. You turn by raising your hands left or right, speed up by putting your hands at your sides, and slow down by spreading your body out. The courses are sort of boring, though (you aren't zipping around buildings like that scene in "TF3: Dark of the Moon", anyway) and you aren't so much flying as just falling with style. <P>So, some sports work better than others, and some can even be pretty fun. Our problem with it all, though, is that the controls all feel pretty similar across all of the sports, and since the objective is the same in so many of them (going downhill off a mountain plays a big role in 4 of them) it all feels pretty samey after you do each event once or twice. Riding a bike, sitting in a kayak, skiing, and flying (falling) with a wingsuit shouldn't all feel the same, but they definitely do here. And the one event that is truly different from everything else, rock climbing, just doesn't work that well.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Motionsports-Adrenaline-Review-X360-Kinect.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1769096820315053993?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-74757118782524719002011-11-24T02:41:00.000-08:002011-11-24T02:41:00.142-08:00 <P>I've been a computer game addict for as long as I can remember. Our first computer was an MSX machine (can't recall the model nor the manufacturer) in the early 90s. And it has mostly been about games always, though later on such actions as programming and web design have become big part of my computer life too.</P><P>I never imagined I'd need instructions on how to play well. I could internalize almost any game in very short period of time and after that always do reasonably well. But there were always better players. Always someone who 'fragged' you for the tenth time in a game, smashed your army to pieces in just minutes or drove that one tenth of a second better time in every race. That made me feel helpless and angry at the same time. Gaming had become more of an annoyance than fun! Often leaving the computer after a long playing session simply made me feel frustrated more than relaxed.</P><P>Then I happened by accident to bump into a certain video tutorial on how to use a certain shotgun as a sniper rifle on Battlefield Bad Company 2. This was really a turning point for me. It doesn't matter how excellent you are at games, how many hours you have spent in that particular game or how much you think of methods and tactics, there is always something you overlook and others unfortunately do not. How great a player would you be if you learned all that missing knowledge?</P><P>Game instructions help us notice all the details we miss ourselves regarding any one game, without us having to go through all the different sites and community written content about the topic. Someone has gathered a lot of details about the game just for you, so that you could do better, more cunningly and more viciously in games! And more than that, knowing that you really are one of the best players in a game is a lot of fun! Knowing techniques that others might never know is fun!</P><P>But how do I know I won't just receive empty promises and lose my money you ask? Most of the guides you can find online have full 60-day money back guarantee! No questions asked. You should always first check whether the guide you're going to buy offers this and only after that go for it. If you're not happy with the product, you can return it and get your money back at any time during the 59 days period! As a final word I'd like to say that game guides are not for all. Some people enjoy finding and learning things by themselves no matter if they will never learn everything. It's really up to your preferences.</P><P>Writer is a video game enthusiastic especially interested in online gaming.</P><P>Interested in doing better on Battlefield 3? Check our online guides at http://battlefield3guidehq.com/!</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6660398" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7475711878252471900?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-81544184091559521052011-11-24T02:06:00.000-08:002011-11-24T02:06:00.791-08:00 To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of not just the original Halo: Combat Evolved, but also the original Xbox hardware, Microsoft and new Halo series developer 343 Industries bring us a remastered version of Halo called Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Halo CEA packs all of the great gameplay the series, and Halo CE in particular, is known for and wraps it in new updated graphics with some Kinect functions thrown in for good measure. It is a shame the classic Halo CE multiplayer isn't here, but new maps for Halo Reach and a new Firefight map are certainly better than nothing. For longtime Halo fans, and especially for newer fans of the series that never played the original, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is definitely worth a look.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Optional</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft Game Studios <B>Developer</B>: 343 Industries, Saber Interactive, Certain Affinity <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M" for Mature <B>Genre</B>: Shooter <B>Pros</B>: Great classic Halo gameplay; remastered graphics are very nice; awesome music; new terminals are interesting <B>Cons</B>: Absence of classic Halo MP; Kinect controls kind of pointless; bland level design <P><B>What Is Halo CE Anniversary?</B> <P>Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a remaster of the original game created by Bungie, not a remake. It literally is a new graphics layer running on top of the old game code, so the gameplay and physics and glitches and exploits are exactly the same as they were ten years ago. The new visuals actually look really, really nice. The original graphics (which you can switch back and forth between at any time with a press of the "Back" button) are kind of sterile and plain compared to the much more detailed and vibrant Anniversary visuals. It is nice they put in the option to use the old graphics, but I honestly can't imagine why you would want to as the new visuals are much more appealing and much more in line with how the other Xbox 360 Halo games look. The sound is the same great Halo sound we all know and love with some of the best music in the whole series. <P>The campaign does offer a few new twists compared to the original game. There are now terminals hidden in each level that fill in the story of the Halo universe a little more. Giving any specifics of what you see in the terminals would definitely be spoilers, but I'll just say they are very interesting and worth finding. Another change is that there are 14 skulls hidden in the game and those skulls can be activated in the menus to turn cheats on once you find them. Having infinite ammo or bigger explosions while playing the classic campaign really makes a big difference and adds a fun twist to a familiar game. Other than these two things, though, the game is just as you remember. <P>Well, one other thing. While classic Halo CE had local co-op play, Halo CEA has both local splitscreen co-op and online co-op for two players. Co-op is always the best way to play any Halo game, and it is definitely the way to play here.</P><B>Multiplayer</B> <P>In addition to the campaign there is multiplayer as well. It is not, unfortunately, the classic Halo MP with updated graphics. Classic Halo MP really played a lot differently from what Halo MP and multiplayer in general has become, so it would have been nice to have it here. The reasoning for not doing it was because they didn't want to split the Halo multiplayer community between CEA and Reach, which makes sense, even if we don't particularly like it. <P>So, instead of classic Halo MP, we have a handful of classic maps re-made to work with Reach multiplayer, including the awesome Forge level editor. If you have Halo Reach and don't want to pick up CEA, you will be able to download the new maps as DLC. If you only have Halo CEA, you can only play these new maps. <P>Halo CEA also has one new map for Firefight mode, which is the Installation 04 location from the campaign. It looks great and is a fun map to play on. <P><B>Kinect</B> <P>Another addition to Halo CE Anniversary is optional Kinect controls. Kinect is used in many areas, but not the shooting gameplay. During gameplay you can use voice controls to do things like turn on your flashlight, throw grenades, or reload your weapon, as well as activate a scanner mode to scan objects and enemies. Those scanned items can then be viewed in a special area of the menu, and you can use Kinect motion controls to rotate and view the items. The scanning feature to look at the item / character models is not available if you don't have Kinect, but it is only really essentially a Halo CE encyclopedia that you have to build yourself, so while cool, it isn't something you should base a purchase decision on. The Kinect features overall are kind of pointless, and while it is cool to reload or throw a grenade with voice commands at first, you'll still want to use the regular buttons during combat.</P>One note I want to make about the gameplay is that it is quite a bit different from recent Halo games. Because you don't have recharging health here, the game is much more tense than the newer games. Ammo is also in pretty short supply as well. You spend much of the last half of the game at half-health with barely any ammo and it is really quite intense and fun because of it. It also makes the game significantly more difficult and frustrating than the recent Halo games. You'll die a lot. And a lot of the time those deaths are kind of cheap and annoying. But you learn from it. Part of the beauty of Halo gameplay has always been that you can approach every enemy encounter in many different ways, so when you find one way frustrating, you just figure out another strategy that works better. <P>On that note, it has to be said that the level design is pretty so-so here. You spend the middle of the game backtracking through the same areas you saw before, which doesn't really hold up today. Also, the levels are super linear to the point there are arrows on the ground pointing you in the direction you should go. Handy from a player perspective, but kind of awful and lazy level design. While there are some bland levels (usually while you're in the Halo interior), other levels where you fight on the surface with a big squad or marines supporting you are awesome. Later Halo games definitely got more consistent as far as level design goes. <P>The campaign is definitely fun, though, and it does feel rather different from the other Halo games on Xbox 360 and very different from every other shooter on the market.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Halo-Combat-Evolved-Anniversary-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8154418409155952105?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-91847424444803738772011-11-24T00:09:00.000-08:002011-11-24T00:09:00.574-08:00 <P>Major video game companies are always looking for people who can put in the time to test their games. The primary role of a playability tester is to try and discover all of the bugs in a particular game.</P><P>Although many people think that becoming a video game tester sounds like a lot of fun, it's actually hard work and is just like any other career choice.</P><P>A videogame tester is required to have good communication skills and the position is taken seriously. Average pay for entry level playability testers or "QAs" as they are called is around $9 - $15 an hour.</P><P>The difference is that you don't just get to sit around and play video games and report back on what you think, which is the common myth about this job. Instead, many times you are required to play a game that is only 50% developed, which means that the work is not always glamorous.</P><P>Video game testers typically work your usual 9 - 5, but in some cases when there is a major deadline will be asked to put in longer hours to get the job done. You also must be able to test many different types of genres of games. RPGs, first person shooters, sports games, you name it.</P><P>Learning how to become a video game tester is one thing, but fulfilling the tasks is another. Picture this, you are asked to test a new racing game, and are given a specific track to focus on. You will probably be asked to play that track to the point where it becomes monotonous. This involves hitting other cars, going in forward and reverse in different locations, bashing into walls, testing speeds and mainly events within the games response.</P><P>In the video game industry they refer to this as "trying to break a game". The sole purpose is to assume that there is a glitch somewhere and then try and decipher exactly where and what it is.</P><P>There is also data entry work involved. You will be asked to be as specific as possible at noting anything that could be problematic for future players. You must log in details, communicate with a higher-up and help them locate and fix the problem.</P><P>Although a lot of people can't imagine this as being fun, the truth is that the folks who are video game testers love what they do. They are prepared for this kind of work and get paid fairly handsomely for their efforts. The other perk is that no college experience is needed, you can typically get increased pay with the more experience that you have and it's a possible foot in the door scenario if you want to break in to the gaming industry.</P><P>Essentially, there are several key things that game companies look for before hiring playability testers. The of course want someone with a good work ethic and good communication skills, but they also are looking for someone who "knows the ropes". This means someone who has experience playing all sorts of video games, knows the ins and outs of different systems, and can predict the common bugs that come with certain gaming platforms ahead of time so that they can go and hunt them down.</P><P>Stop! don't waste your time playing games just for fun. Get paid to do it instead. Videogame testers make good money - here's how you can get involved.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6495982" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-9184742444480373877?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-34234960242172796082011-11-23T16:43:00.000-08:002011-11-23T16:43:00.118-08:00 E3 is the biggest week of the year for gamers hungry for news on what the future holds for the videogame industry. This is where new systems are announced, new games are first shown, megatons are dropped and, occasionally, hearts are broken. Find out all of the info on Microsoft's 2011 E3 press conference right here. <P>Microsoft's 2011 E3 presser started off with a live demo from <B>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</B>'s campaign. Ruined NYC looks epic. Much bigger scale than past games, it seems like. November 8 2011 release date. DLC will be on 360 first. <P>Next up, live demo from <B>Tomb Raider</B> reboot. Looks incredible. Will be an origin story with 21-year old Lara Croft. Fall 2012 release. <P>Peter Moore comes out for <B>EA Sports</B>. 4 EA Sports games will use Kinect in 2012 - Tiger Woods, FIFA, Madden, plus one secret title. <P><B>Mass Effect 3</B> live demo. Earth has been taken over. You choose your own path to take it back. Will support Kinect via voice recognition - you speak which dialogue tree option you want to use. Can also order teammates to "Move Up" or use specific powers "Singularity". Garrus, Mordin, and Liara are shown with Shepard. <P><B>Ghost Recon: Future Soldier</B>. Will use Kinect for body tracking and voice commands. Demo shown using Kinect gestures and voice to modify weapons. Very in-depth customization. Custom weapon used on a firing range with Kinect controls - looks very responsive and smooth. Not sure how it will function in real gameplay. All future "Tom Clancy's" games will use Kinect. <P><B>New Dashboard Features Coming Holiday 2011</B> New Xbox 360 Dashboard is shown. Very clean looking and less cluttered than the current dash. YouTube access coming to Xbox Live. Bing search coming to dashboard to search Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, other content. Bing will also let you search for terms to find related games, movies, other content. <B>Xbox Live TV</B> - Microsoft partnering with live TV partners around the world. News, sports, anything you want to watch on your Xbox 360. UFC President Dana White on stage. UFC PPV coming to Xbox 360. Will use Kinect so you can access additional info / videos / etc. Compete with your friends to predict results. <B>Exclusive Games</B> <B>Gears of War 3</B> co-op gameplay demo. Rapper Ice T and Cliffy B playing together ... Huge boss fight is shown where the monster tears through a ship. Powered armor will be available - teammates can use your armor as mobile cover. Crytek Xbox 360 exclusive Codename: Kingdoms, now called <B>Ryse</B>, up next. Gameplay is first person sword / shield hack and slash with Kinect. <B>Halo CE HD remake, officially called Halo: Anniversary</B>. Looks great. Co-Op over Xbox Live. Online multiplayer. November 15th, 2011 release. <B>Forza Motorsport 4</B>. Kinect voice and headtracking controls. Tons of manufacturers. Looks like more cars on-screen at once. October 11 release date. <B>Fable: The Journey</B> revealed. Uses Kinect controls for things like driving horse drawn carriage casting magic. Combat seems to be on-rails. 2012. <B>Minecraft</B> coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and Kinect in 2011. <B>Kinect Disneyland Adventures</B> revealed. Get to visit Disney parks completely re-created in the game. Basically a Disney-themed minigame collection. Looks fun if you like Disney. Coming Holiday 2011. <B>Star Wars Kinect</B>. Lightsaber fights. Pod racing. Speeder bike racing. Space combat. Voice commands and motion controls. Not sure how movement works - looks on-rails but you control the movement speed. Lightsaber swings look fairly responsive. <B>Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster</B>. Looks like it would be awesome to play with your kids. Minigame collection. Fall 2011 release. <B>Kinect Fun Labs</B> announced. Lets you play with Kinect apps / gadgets / toys designed both by game developers as well as users. Will be a free addition to the Xbox Live dashboard. Will let you re-create your Avatar so that it looks exactly like you - including clothing, hairstyles, etc. Will let you take 3D photos and edit them. Finger tracking motion controls will be available. Item scanning will let you scan in any items you want to use in games. Release date - TODAY June 6th, 2011. <B>Kinect Sports Season Two</B> - Baseball, golf, skiing, darts, tennis, football. Golf demo looks decent. Change clubs with voice commands, swing with natural swinging motions. Football was also shown. I don't believe these demos were live, despite people being on stage. <B>Dance Central 2</B> - Adds voice control and new campaign mode. All Dance Central 1 songs can be imported to DC 2. Simultaneous multiplayer dancing. <B>Halo 4</B> teaser shown. Master Chief gets a jet pack. Will be start of new trilogy. Holiday 2012. End of Show. <br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/news/a/Microsoft-E3-2011-Press-Conference-Announcements-And-Recap.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3423496024217279608?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-80178580910120970372011-11-23T05:03:00.000-08:002011-11-23T05:03:00.203-08:00 <P>Many of us gamers are merely "casual players", meaning we don't have too much time to dump into an MMORPG. I was excited to join a guild but quickly learned how dedicated and intense some players can be. I looked around for an advantage to catch back up; something that would give me the one-up like a LOTRO solo leveling guide or something to that effect.</P><P>Due to the fact that I couldn't log on at prime time with my friends, I was forced to kill random monsters if the quests I were on proved too difficult. Feeling there might be quests I should be able to do alone, I started looking into a Lotro solo leveling guide. I was really impressed with some of the guides I found online. I was amazed at where this guide was leading me to go, I had never considered some of these places. The cool part was the whole guide was designed to help players like me reach level 60 based on soloable quests and monsters. The best part of the guide was that it told me to keep my eyes open for groups in while soloing in certain areas. Ultimately, it all boils down to drive and dedication; if you want to climb the level ladder and hang out with the big players, soloing is a viable option (it just takes longer). All the guides did were point me to areas where I could knock out three or four quests at the same time. The guides emphasized running from mobs that weren't related to your quests so that you didn't waste time fighting each monster that attacked you. Remember to use your mount to travel more quickly and you'll be speeing around the map in no time.</P><P>A well made LOTRO solo leveling guide can make a huge difference in your ability to progress in the game. It's great feeling like you did something worthwhile and fun instead of just wasting time in LOTRO while not making much progress. I hope this brief article helps shed some light on something I was previously unaware of as these guides have helped me enjoy LOTRO so much more. Remember, it is possible to find other players and guilds who aren't all about blazing through the game as fast as they can. Keep your eye out for other solo players that are leveling alone and reach out to them; you may make a new friend or two!</P><P>Solo leveling is an art; if you're interested in learning more about connecting with other solo players visit our website today.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6674219" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8017858091012097037?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-79849919414871111962011-11-23T02:14:00.000-08:002011-11-23T02:14:00.233-08:00 Ever since Wii Sports came out in 2006, bowling has always been my motion control measuring stick. If your fancy motion controller can get bowling right, it is usually all right in my book. Kinect has actually already proven it can do bowling justice with the excellent bowling mode in Kinect Sports, but there was certainly some room for improvement. A new title carrying the Brunswick (pretty much THE name in bowling) license should be able to give us a bowling videogame like we've never seen before, right? We have all of the details here in our Brunswick Pro Bowling for Kinect review.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Crave Entertainment <B>Developer</B>: FarSight Studios <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Bowling <B>Pros</B>: The actual bowling is pretty great <B>Cons</B>: Awful presentation; terrible menus; lack of modes; manually skipping replays; aiming sucks <P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>I'll start with the good news first. In my testing, the actual bowling is remarkably well done. This seems like one of those games where having Kinect calibrated correctly will really pay off, though. I had no problems playing it, but reading some user reviews and feedback around the 'net shows some folks can't get it to work at all. Don't hate, calibrate. </P>Now the bad news. The rest of the game is pretty awful. The menus are some of the worst you'll find for a Kinect game so far. It uses the awful style where the cursor automatically snaps to the nearest menu option, but you keep moving your hand because you don't expect it, so the cursor jumps around all over the place until you get used to it. And even when you do adjust to it, the cursor still jitters and jumps all over the screen. The menus are also problematic in that there are just too darn many of them. You have to navigate through screen after screen after screen of jittery controlling menus with tiny, hard to read text in order to do anything. Getting into a quick play game takes far longer than it reasonably should, and starting a career involves a circus' worth of jumping through hoops just to actually bowl. <P>Other annoyances include not being able to use your Xbox 360 avatar. Having to manually skip replays after every shot by raising your right arm a little bit, but it never seems to register in the same place twice. You can't watch your opponents bowl online and instead everyone bowls at once and if you finish early you just get to sit there and wait. Switching between players locally is awkward and causes the game to flip out as it struggles to adjust to a differently sized person. <P>The more you dig, the more problems you find. I had hoped that the few extra months of development time from delays would have resulted in a tighter game since the devs could see what did and didn't work with the Kinect launch lineup, but that definitely wasn't the case.</P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Presentation-wise, Brunswick Pro Bowling is pretty mediocre. The characters are all pretty simple and bland looking, but the handful of bowling alleys look all right. As good as bowling alleys can look, anyway. The menus, as I said above, are hard to navigate due to small-ish, hard to read text, which posed a bit of a problem for us as we had to constantly scootch up to the TV to read stuff, then step back to the 6-8 foot Kinect range to actually play. The sound is similarly middle-of-the-road. The music is repetitive and grates on you after a while. The sound effects of the actual bowling, though, are generally pretty good. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>All in all, Brunswick Pro Bowling is pretty disappointing. The actual bowling gameplay is fine, save for a few small but key complaints, but the rest of the game surrounding it is just plain bad. Only a couple of modes. Bland presentation. And terrible menus that make actually doing anything an annoying chore all turn you off of the game pretty quickly. It just isn't worth the effort even if we did like the gameplay quite a bit. There will surely be other Kinect bowling games. Wait for them, or at least until this one hits $20 or so. Brunswick Pro Bowling isn't really worth the trouble.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Brunswick-Pro-Bowling-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7984991941487111196?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-6044683909904256552011-11-23T02:01:00.000-08:002011-11-23T02:01:00.402-08:00 <P>The Death Knight is a very gratifying class to play in World of Warcraft. Implemented during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, this class starts the game at level 55, as opposed to level one like all other classes. They are a melee class, which means they will fight with up close to the monsters by using a weapon rather than at range.</P><P>Of the 3 specs available to a Death Knight the quickest wow leveling spec is Frost, however both Blood as well as Unholy may be leveled easily to 85. Because we're interested in the quickest build, let's take a look at Frost.</P><P><STRONG>WoW Leveling Spec - Frost - Points 1-10</STRONG></P>Place your first 3 skill points into Runic Power Mastery. Increases your maximum runic power by 10. (Tier 1)Place the next two skill points into Icy Reach. Increases the range of Icy Touch, Howling Blast and Chains of Ice by 5 yards. (Tier 1)Put your next 3 points in Annihilation. Boosts damage dealt by Obliterate by 15%. (Tier 2)Put the following 2 points into On A Pale Horse. Minimizes movement hampering effects and increases mounted speed. (Tier 2)<P><STRONG>WoW Leveling Spec - Points 11-20</STRONG></P>Place your next 3 points in Killing Machiine. Your auto-attacks can make the next Frost Strike or Obliterate a Crit. (Tier 3)Place the following 2 points into Chill of the Grave. Chains of Ice, Howling Blast, Icy Touch and Obliterate produce 5 extra runic power. (Tier 3)Put your following 3 points into Rime. Obliterate provides a 15% possibility to cause the next Icy Touch or Obliterate to utilize absolutely no runes. (Tier 4)Place your next point in Pillar of Frost. Increases your strength by 20%. (Tier 4)Place your next point in Icy Talons. Increases attack speed of all party members by 10% as well as your attack rate by 5%. (Tier 4)<P><STRONG>WoW Leveling Spec - Points 21-31</STRONG></P>Place your next point into Hungering Cold. Freezes all enemies in 10 yards for 10 secs. (Tier 5)Place the following 2 points in Improved Frost Presence. Increases your bonus damage by 2% per pont. (Tier 5)Place the next 2 points into Brittle Bones. Strength increases by 2% per point. (Tier 4)Put the following three points in Might of the Frozen Wastes. With a 2-hander deal 3% more damage per point. (Tier 6)Put your next two points into Merciless Combat Extra damage to targets below 35% health. (Tier 3)Put your next point in Howling Blast. Enormous damage ability. (Tier 7)<P>The rest of your WoW leveling spec talent point choices will be dependent on your play-style and won't significantly affect your damage per second. Your wow addon choices also affect your damage-per-second, but I will deal with those within another write-up.</P><P>Level up Guides for WoW: http://thewowlevelupguide.com/</P><P>WoW Leveling Specs, WoW Leveling Charts and daily information posts to make you the best World of Warcraft that you can be regardless of how much time you spend playing.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6511903" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-604468390990425655?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-17796233583097372922011-11-23T01:16:00.001-08:002011-11-23T01:16:32.129-08:00 Kinect Disneyland Adventures is easily one of the best family and kid-friendly games on the market. It captures the unique feeling of awe and wonder that only Disney can create and lets you do it all from the comfort of your own living room. With the unique controls that Kinect offers, you can explore Disneyland and interact with the attractions and characters in intuitive ways. It is a rather simple game overall that really isn't for the grown up hardcore gamer crowd (unless you are as crazy about Disney as you are about videogames), but kids will go absolutely bonkers over it. And for parents, watching your kids have so much fun is pretty darn fun too.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft Game Studios <B>Developer</B>: Frontier Dev <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Adventure <B>Pros</B>: Great re-creation of Disneyland; intuitive controls; lots of rides and hidden stuff; kids will love it <B>Cons</B>: Pretty simple overall; movement controls are awkward <P>Kinect Disneyland Adventures is a pretty simple game, really. The Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California has been re-created as accurately as possible in the game and you are free to explore it. If you've ever been to Disneyland, everything should be where you remember. Every bench. Every churro stand. Every souvenir shop. Every ride. It is pretty much all here. There are also dozens of Disney characters wandering around the park for you to interact with as well, and every conversation begins and ends with either a wave or you actually saying "Hello" and "Goodbye". There is plenty of hidden stuff as well like hidden Mickeys and special things you can interact with using a magic wand. And you have a camera you can take pictures with all of the characters with where you have to copy their pose for the picture. It is all super cute and fun and pure Disney. <P>There are more than 20 rides that you can go on as well. They aren't the real rides (which would have been boring to just sit and watch) and are instead mini-games inspired by the rides. The Matterhorn is a bobsled race down the mountain where you have to dodge obstacles and avoid a Yeti. Each ride also has multiple parts to it you play separately, so the Peter Pan ride starts out with a flying level where you follow Tinkerbell to Neverland, and then the next level you sword fight with Captain Hook. The mini-games are all pretty fun and offer unlimited respawns so you never see a "Game Over" screen. It is fun and easy and great for kids. And you can play all of the rides with two players, which makes things more fun. </P>A nice thing about Kinect Disneyland Adventures, though, is that it offers a great interactive map that lets you fast travel anywhere you want, so you don't actually have to do that much awkward running around. You won't find all of the hidden interactive stuff this way, but you'll get to go on all of the rides in record time. And you won't ever have to wait in line, so unlike a real trip to Disneyland where waiting in line takes up 90% of your time, this game is all about the fun stuff. <P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Visually, Kinect Disneyland Adventures is a really nice looking game. The park is really nicely detailed and looks fantastic. One thing I noticed immediately is that while there are other people at the park with you, it isn't anywhere near as crowded as the real thing. Another bonus to playing the game versus going to the real park. The Disney characters look good - big and cartoony and mascot-y, but pretty much just like they really do at Disneyland. <P>The sound is very good as well. Disney theme music all over the place. Solid voice acting from all of the characters. It looks and sounds just right. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Kinect-Disneyland-Adventures-Review-X360-Kinect.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1779623358309737292?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-11966566629083694862011-11-22T13:58:00.000-08:002011-11-22T13:58:00.347-08:00 Child of Eden is less a game and more an experience. Gorgeous visuals and thumping music blend with an unmatched feeling of freedom and immersion as you wave your hands to destroy enemies to the beat of the music. It gives you a sort of goose bump-y, warm fuzzy feeling of "This is something special beyond just a videogame" that few games can match. Child of Eden is simply stunning.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect controls optional</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Ubisoft <B>Developer</B>: Q? Entertainment <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E10" for Everyone 10+ <B>Genre</B>: Music/Rhythm/Shooter <B>Pros</B>: Stunning visuals and great music; Kinect controls work well <B>Cons</B>: Not a ton of content; Kinect controls are tiring <P>The story in Child of Eden is set far in the future where the Internet is a source of all human knowledge and now called Eden. The memories of the first child born in space, named Lumi, are also stored on Eden, but they are under attack from a virus. So you have to travel through Eden to purify the virus and recover Lumi's memories. <P>Each stage in the game has a different theme. The first stage is called "Matrix" and is sort of a high-tech entry into Eden full of geometric shapes and high-tech stuff. The other stages are tied to emotions and are much more organic with titles like "Beauty", "Passsion", and "Hope" among others. The visuals grow increasingly trippy and crazy through each level, and the things you see and interact with get pretty wild. <P>The game is rather small, unfortunately, offering only a handful of levels that you are expected to play through multiple times in order to unlock everything. There is a lot of stuff to unlock, and the high-score aspect of the game can keep you coming back, so the lack of stages isn't a huge problem, but it can still be hard to justify spending $50 for 90 minutes of real gameplay if you don't buy into the artsy-fartsy stuff.</P>The game controls fairly simply. You are automatically moved through levels and only have to worry about moving an onscreen cursor around to target enemies. You have two weapons - a lock on missile that can lock onto eight enemies at once, and a machine gun-like weapon used to destroy the occasional enemy or incoming missile that is immune to your lock on weapon. You also have a screen clearing special attack called Euphoria. As you play, you pick up extra health and Euphoria power-ups. The beat of the music plays a big role in the gameplay, and firing your locked-on weapon in time with the music gives you score bonuses. <P>And that is pretty much it. It isn't a complicated game, but it can be challenging as each level has its own rhythm and flow and will occasionally throw a ton of things at you all at once. Like I said, though, it isn't so much a game as it is an experience, and the gameplay is just a small part of what the game is really about. It is about overloading your senses with great visuals and music, and making your own music as each destroyed enemy makes a musical sound. It is about soaking in the visuals and coming up with your own interpretations about what it all means. </P>You can control Child of Eden in two ways. Both with a regular Xbox 360 controller as well as using Kinect for hands free gaming. The controller works well and has the benefit of giving you a little rumble along with the beat in each level. It adds "Touch" to the visual and aural sensory overload and helps to immerse you in the game even more. <P><B>Kinect</B> <P>The Kinect controls offer a different feeling experience even though you are playing the same levels and doing the same things as you would with a controller. Your left hand controls your purple "gun" and your right hand controls your lock on "missiles" and you sort of punch forward to launch them. When you want to use one or the other, you just raise that hand toward the screen. To use Euphoria, you raise both hands into the air. There is also an alternate control method where you use one hand to "shoot" and clap your hands to switch between the weapons, but the default scheme worked fine for us. <P>And the controls definitely do work. You can adjust how fast the cursor moves onscreen, and targeting exactly what you want is really surprisingly intuitive and easy. In fact, some areas that I struggled with on a controller were easier with Kinect simply because I could react faster and more smoothly. Checking the leaderboards shows that both the controller and Kinect are equally capable of earning high scores. <P>The only bad thing about using Kinect is that it will absolutely wear you out. You only use your arms, so it isn't like your body gets tired, but your arms will be sore after a few levels.</P>In the end, Child of Eden is a wonderful experience the excels on just about every level. It looks and sounds fantastic. It is fun and satisfying and offers an addictive high-score style of gameplay along with tons of unlockables to really hook you. And it controls fantastically well with both a normal controller as well as using Kinect. <P>Of course, it has to be said that how much value you get out of it really depends on how much you want to immerse yourself into the experience and how much the artistic aspects of the game appeal to you. As a game, it doesn't have a ton of features and is pretty simple and not really worth full MSRP. As an overall experience, though, and as something that is impressive enough it is worthy of showing off to your friends and family, and as something that is just cool to have on your shelf, Child of Eden is well worth a purchase.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Child-Of-Eden-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1196656662908369486?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-20514947060162130022011-11-22T07:31:00.000-08:002011-11-22T07:31:00.217-08:00 <P>Citadel miniatures are one of the most important pieces that you need to start collecting if you like to be serious in table top games. These figures are outstanding in looks and they give you a more realistic experience. If you like to be an expert gamer, you need to have your own characters. They might be represented by these citadel figures. The more your mini figures are, the better, so you can freely decide what characters will be added to the game. There are stores wherein you can find such items or for ease of purchase, you can decide to purchase online.</P><P>If you love tabletop games, be an expert gamer by simply having your own citadel miniatures. Build a strong number of characters and paint them based on your own concept. There are already painted figures on sale but if you like to apply a personal touch to your characters, buy those that are not yet painted. Learn how to paint figures by watching videos, reading online pages, browsing a handbook, etc. There are also great people who you can ask tips from like avid game masters who have already developed various games for the hobbyists. Now, instead of purely imagining, you can already see colorful and attractive figures on the top of the table for you to move around. If you are a fan of fictional games then you can always have a variety of miniatures from dragons to ogres, villains, etc.</P><P>Make your table top game experience more realistic by having tons of citadel miniatures on your mini cabinet. You can even collect them easily if you haven't experienced collecting any item yet. For sure, you'll love collecting because aside from the fact that they can be used in your games, they can even entertain you when you are not busy. Complete the basic figures and slowly upgrade to the one of a kind pieces. Keep them in the right storage area and use them once in a while whenever you have games.</P><P>Be very imaginative with your citadel miniatures and make sure that you really put character on each. To avoid forgetting, you can always make a list of everything that you have learned. Now that you have those figures and you are concentrating on collecting them, your aim to become one of the best game masters is just at reach. Just like other games, you should always stick with the rules, know your limitations and keep on improving. Join announced games or initiate your own.</P><P>Learn more about citadel miniatures.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6633646" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2051494706016213002?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-2101643547966534072011-11-22T03:54:00.000-08:002011-11-22T03:54:00.068-08:00 <P>Step inside your gaming persona for a bit and think about this: what do you require out of a laptop designed for gaming? Is it the internal hardware? Is it the external design? Is it the added features and functionality it provides?</P><P>On the design part, lots of companies produce laptops with key design characteristics that inspire you to think about extreme things.</P><P>Alienware is such a company and their gaming laptop product line is designed to look more like really fast planes, rather than laptops. They also include illuminated keyboards with their laptops to make the design stand out from the crowd even more.</P><P>ASUS and Toshiba use the same strategy and include sleek, almost aerodynamic, design and highlights in their gaming laptops product line.</P><P>Some companies go that extra mile and include a lot of added connectivity options to their laptops so the average gamer isn't constrained anymore to just playing games, but now has the option of connecting to the internet and keeping in touch with gamers alike.</P><P>Having accomplished great external designs, the real battle starts behind the scenes, under the laptop case, on the component level. There are no two laptops alike, and this is far truer in the case of gaming laptops, since every company focuses on key aspects while trying to keep their price requirements at bay so more gamers can afford the extra spec.</P><P>So what do you demand from your gaming laptop? Would you like to crank up the visual quality settings to ultra-high? Then you'll need to afford the extra buck, since gaming laptops which can do that usually come equipped with more than one graphics card and this type of configuration costs quite a lot.</P><P>How about multitasking? Do you like to do more things at once? Then invest in a laptop with a powerful multi-core processor and plenty of RAM installed. Think quad-core here with about 4-6GB of RAM installed.</P><P>If you'd like a laptop that can do everything, then the same rules apply, since the processor and RAM will handle the tasks, while the graphics card(s) will ensure everything will be represented as it should be, with every pixel in its place.</P><P>Aside from the design aspects and the extreme internal configuration, the visual side of the equation must be taken into account. The screen size will determine how well you see your opponents on the battlefield. Look for screens equal or larger than 15.4 inches, since these are perfect for gaming, and don't settle for anything less.</P><P>Visit Best Laptops For Gamers for some concrete examples.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6412541" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-210164354796653407?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-55029948526420504422011-11-21T21:43:00.000-08:002011-11-21T21:43:00.424-08:00 Fantastic Pets is a Kinect animal training game that seems to scream "I'm a kids game for little girls!" at the top of its lungs when you just look at the box art, which is sort of unfortunate because it is a much better game than that and we feel both boys and girls of all ages will like it. It isn't as polished or pretty to look at as Kinectimals, but Fantastic Pets offers more stuff to do, more types of pets, and doesn't feature an annoying flying thing that sounds like Invader Zim. The Kinect controls are a bit hit-or-miss, but overall Fantastic Pets is a nice surprise.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: THQ <B>Developer</B>: Blitz Games <B>ESRB Rating</B>: "E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Pet Raising Sim <B>Pros</B>: Super cute animals; augmented reality aspect is neat; decent graphics and sound; lots of content; Kinect controls mostly fine ... <B>Cons</B>: ... except when they stop working for no reason <P>The premise behind Fantastic Pets is that your crazy Uncle has a collection of animals and needs you to take care of them while he jets around the world to do research. You start out by choosing one pet to look after, but eventually get more. There are cats, dogs, ponies, and lizards as well as "fantastic" variations such as dragons and unicorns. A nice touch is that you can customize your animals in a ton of ways to change the patterns of their fur / skin, change colors, eye color and shape, body size, and even give them horns and wings and more. You can also change their attitude anywhere from cute and cuddly all the way up to rather wild and unpredictable. I started out with a cute little Siamese kitten, and within 30 minutes turned it into a lazy, fat, purple and yellow thing with red eyes that would horrify my Mom (she loves Siamese cats). Good times. <P>This is a great feature because it means the game doesn't have to be as disgustingly cute as the box art leads you to believe. You can make your pets as cute and sweet or as tough and mean looking as you want, which means both boys and girls will both like it. As you play the game you unlock new customization options, so it is a pretty rewarding and worthwhile experience.</P>The actual gameplay is similar to Kinectimals. It is part animal care simulator, and part minigame collection. You have to feed and wash your pet as well as play games with it using a bunch of different toys. Our favorite minigame has you tossing a ball into a cardboard city and watching your pet "destroy" the city. Fun. You can also teach it tricks and compete in talent shows. <P>Most of the gameplay takes place in designated areas of the game world, but in between the minigames and baths and feeding time, the game takes on a sort of augmented reality angle that uses Kinect's camera to display you and the room you're playing in onscreen and makes it look like your pet is playing and running around or flying around your own house. It is very cool and makes you feel that much more connected to your virtual pet since they really look like they're in your house. <P>The animals are all very cute and playing with them is really quite fun. They aren't as expressive or have the personality of the cats in Kinectimals, but they are still fun to watch. Some of the events and minigames seem to go on for a bit too long, though. Giving your pet a bath or feeding it are both multiple step, somewhat boring processes that could be streamlined a bit. </P>Actually interacting with your pet and controlling the game isn't exactly sharp, unfortunately. For the most part, the Kinect controls work fine, but for some inexplicable reason that we never experienced in any other Kinect game before, the game just stops reacting to you. Playing fetch, for example, requires you to reach out your hand and grab the ball from the pet's mouth. Quite often, though, the game just absolutely doesn't react. You can hold your hand out for hours and nothing happens. Also, once you grab the ball, we had the darnedest time actually throwing it. It absolutely wouldn't release from my hand. I also ran across a glitch where I was supposed to select a location onscreen to send your Uncle on a research trip. The only problem is that the glowing cursors representing my hands never showed up onscreen so I couldn't actually select anything. <P>These problems all happened within the first hour of playing the game and continued to occur as we played. The only way to fix them was to pick up an Xbox 360 controller, access the Kinect Tuner, and then cancel back to the game and it fixed itself. I like to think I have a pretty optimal Kinect setup, and tested other games after playing Fantastic Pets just to make sure it wasn't my hardware or setup that was causing the issue, and every other game worked fine. The game is fun when it works, but these glitches and issues sap the enjoyment out of it pretty quickly. Depending on how much patience you have and whether you can put up with the issues, it can be enjoyable.</P><B>Graphics</B> <P>Visually, Fantastic Pets is a nice looking game. The game world is nice and sharp and clean, and the pets are very cute. They are sort of exaggerated and cartoonish looking, but that is definitely part of the charm. They are well animated and fun to watch. The effect of having your pet running around your real house onscreen is also well done. <P><B>Sound</B> <P>The sound is also pretty good. The animals all sound like they should, and make the funniest little grunts and growls and meows. The voice work for the computer at the house that helps you out as well as the voice of your Uncle are pretty well done as well. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>Fantastic Pets is just a few glitches away from being one of the better Kinect games. It offers tons of stuff to do, is customizable so it can have a wide appeal to both genders and all ages, and looks and sounds pretty nice overall. We repeatedly ran into glitches, though, where Kinect stopped reacting to us. We do still like it quite a bit despite the problems, but with those problems it is hard to recommend it for more than a rental. If you liked Kinectimals and / or you have kids, Fantastic Pets is worth playing.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Fantastic-Pets-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5502994852642050442?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-21201798031335719462011-11-21T11:30:00.000-08:002011-11-21T11:30:00.824-08:00 <P>Are you a person who is very fond of games? If you are, then you are sure to have played a Superman game at least once. Who don't know about this famous Man of Steel anyway? Superman was very popular during its prime and still very much so right now. Everyone who wants to enjoy a piece of this superhero's action-packed life should download Superman games and play it to his heart's content. And for most avid gamers, downloading is the best way to play.</P><P>Why download Superman games? There are many reasons for you to do so. When you say download, it means that you will obtain a full version of the game over the internet. That is relative to installing the game into your computer. If you look at it that way, you may say that playing with your browser is the better option. But if you are a hard-core player like you believe you are, downloading is always the better choice.</P><P>Why should you download Superman games? The reasons are enumerated below:</P><P>1. So you can play the game anytime, anywhere.</P><P>Once you have completed downloading and installing the game, you won't need an internet connection to run it anymore. Also, you have the choice to install the game on your laptop and take it anywhere you go. If you put it on a portable computer then you can play the game everywhere and enjoy it even if there is no hot spot where you are. Try the Superman Training Academy. It can give you hours of action-filled entertainment on the first minute that you download it.</P><P>2. For you to be able to enjoy the game fully.</P><P>Download Superman games and make sure to get the full version. Most of the games played on a browser are either the trial version or the simplified version of a certain title. Browser games are usually the simpler game versions. And with that said, you can't really enjoy playing that title to the maximum. Even if the browser game you obtained feels like the full version, it still won't be as complete as you hope it to be. Play Superman Game Stop Press and find out the difference between the full version and the web version.</P><P>3. You got more choices.</P><P>There are all types of Superman games available over the internet and if you just try to discover them all, you are going to find exactly the ones that you are more than willing to spend a few hours playing with. There are Superman fighting, adventure, and role-playing games available. Pick the title from the genre that you want and start the download. You can expect to have at least one Superman title appearing on each category. If you go online, you'll find out that there are at least two versions of the Superman Metropolis Game. These are the type of choices you have over the internet.</P><P>When you download Superman games, be sure to do it on websites that are dedicated to his character. Online, there are tons of gaming sites easily accessible. There are gaming websites that has Superman as their primary offering. Go straight to these sites and get the games that you're eager to play with.</P><P>Luciano Figallo - Developer, webmaster and owner of several entertainment sites including music, video and gaming.<BR>Do you want to play Superman games online? then visit Superman Games and play the most amazing Superman games online for free.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6564628" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2120179803133571946?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-40780180778241343912011-11-21T05:43:00.000-08:002011-11-21T05:43:00.506-08:00 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is finally on Xbox and the wait has definitely been worth it. Nicer graphics, faster load times, and custom soundtracks all make the Xbox version the one to buy. This game is huge and fun and wonderful and will keep you busy for hundreds of hours. Keep in mind that it has an “M” rating and it definitely isn’t for little kids, but for all of us big kids, San Andreas is a must own Xbox title.GTA: SA takes place in the early 1990’s and you play as Carl Johnson, a man who returns to the city of Los Santos (Los Angeles) after a few years in Liberty City to find that his gang is no longer in power. You start out merely trying to help your gang get back on top, but it leads to much bigger and more far reaching events and eventually you have to flee Los Santos for the relative safety of San Fiero (San Francisco) and later Las Venturas (Las Vegas). The story is long and complex and there are a number of twists and turns that keep everything interesting and it is all very well put together overall. <P>In case you are confused, GTA: San Andreas isn’t just one city like previous GTA games, it is actually an entire state. There are three main cities with several small towns in between as well as miles and miles of mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, farmland, and more in between. <P>Perhaps the best thing about the story is that since this takes place before GTA 3 and after Vice City, it isn’t uncommon for memorable characters to make an appearance and the other games are referenced a lot. It does a great job of tying everything together and expanding the GTA universe beyond just one city or state at a time.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/reviews/fr/gtasarev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4078018077824134391?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-18600288271826189612011-11-21T04:49:00.000-08:002011-11-21T04:49:00.267-08:00 We've played a lot of sports and mini-game collections with Kinect and a main problem with most of them is that the activities they chose for the game just weren't fun and / or didn't work. Third-party games are one thing, but I never expected a first-party Microsoft game to suffer from this problem, but that is exactly my issue with Kinect Sports Season Two. They just picked bad sports for this game and it isn't really all that fun. Darts, football, skiing, tennis, baseball, and golf. Some work okay. Some don't. Some just aren't fun even when they work. Kinect Sports Season Two is a disappointment.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft Game Studios <B>Developer</B>: Rare, Big Park <B>ESRB Rating</B>: "E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Sports <B>Pros</B>: Nice presentation; tennis; golf; voice controls <B>Cons</B>: They picked the wrong sports for this game; load times <P>The six sports presented in Kinect Sports Season Two - baseball, football, darts, golf, skiing, and tennis - all play somewhat reasonably like their real-world counterparts. The problem is that some of them just aren't fun here and I can't see any of them really drawing you back to play them more than once the way bowling, boxing, and table tennis did in the original Kinect Sports. It has to be noted that the original Kinect Sports had some duds as well - volleyball, soccer, and track & field - but it did also have those three other standout sports that made it worth returning to weeks and months after release. Kinect Sports Season Two, on the other hand, doesn't really have that one great thing that keeps you coming back. </P><B>Baseball</B> - Baseball lets you pitch, hit, and even make plays in the field. Hitting is straightforward where you get into a batter's stance in front of Kinect and swing away. Pitching tracks the speed of your arm when you make a throwing motion to determine how fast the pitch is, and throwing in a sort of arc is a curve ball. Fielding is rather simple where you just have to hold your hand at a spot on the screen to line the fielder up before the ball gets there. Most hits you give up, however, don't even give you the option to make a play as the ball usually flies through gaps in your swiss cheese defense. Being on the pitching / fielding side kind of sucks because you feel really helpless and can't do much other than let the game play itself. Batting is much more fun, and it works okay, but due to the inherent lag of Kinect, the timing is way off on hitting so it isn't very satisfying. Running in place to make your batter run to first (all of the other base running is automatic) is obnoxious as well. The way Kinect was used in Nicktoons MLB was honestly a bit more fun. <P><B>Tennis</B> - Tennis is one of the better sports in the game. Your player moves to an appropriate spot on the court automatically, but you still have to turn your body to be in the right position for backhands or forehands. You can also direct your shots left or right depending on how you swing, add power by stepping into the shot, and even do drop shots. There is quite a bit of disconnect between what you're actually doing versus what appears onscreen, though. The game sort of plays itself as long as your timing is decent. You are usually better off swinging early rather than trying for accurate timing. Once you figure out the rhythm of the game (swinging way early), it does play fairly well and like I said, it is satisfying when you hit a shot exactly where you wanted. You can also argue with the umpire using Kinect voice controls, which is always a hoot. <P><B>Darts</B> - Real-world darts is fun. Videogame darts is not fun. In Kinect Sports darts you move your hand around to line up a cursor on the dart board. By pulling your hand toward your body, you lock the cursor into that position. Then, by flicking your hand forward like you are throwing a dart, you throw at the board. The speed of your hand moving forward determines where the dart actually ends up - high or low or dead on to where you were aiming. Playing with any real accuracy is kind of a pain, though. I can hit 20's all day long in this game, but hitting doubles or triples with any regularity is a much bigger problem. Part of it has to do with the janky way you "aim", but also because Kinect is far from perfect at reading the speed of your hand when you throw. I'd rather play real darts. <P><B>Football</B> - Football is a huge mess. It is too easy and way too boring. You snap the ball and then throw to a receiver running a route down the field. When they catch the ball, you have to run in place and step side to side to dodge defenders. It isn't fun. At all. And I hate games that make you run in place. Not just here, but all Kinect games that do it. It is just stupid. </P><B>Golf</B> - Golf is the best of the KSS2 sports, but still held back by the Kinect itself. It is another game that almost seems to play itself. Sure, you can select different clubs and where you want to aim, and the power is determined by how hard you swing, but the courses are designed in such a way that they are incredibly easy. It takes effort to not make at least par on most holes, and birdies should come pretty easy once you have a hole or two behind you to learn the controls. There is something fun and satisfying about taking full golf swings in your living room, but all of the nuances and little touches that make real golf interesting (and difficult) in real life are completely missing. Tiger Woods 12 on PS3 Move is a much, much more satisfying motion controlled golf game. <P><B>Skiing</B> - Skiing is, well, skiing. You lean left or right to turn, crouch to build up speed, and jump to fly through the air. It is better than the skiing in any other Kinect game so far, but not all that fun. It does control fine, but after you make a run or two it loses its luster. <P>I think my biggest problem with the sports in Kinect Sports Season Two, and all of the other sports and minigame collections really, is that when you dissect everything down into simple parts that will actually work with Kinect, a lot of the fun of that sport disappears. When Kinect is used well, it can be amazingly fun. It has limitations, though, and when real sports and games are dumbed down and simplified enough to actually work within those limitations, they aren't all that fun anymore even if they might work with the motion controls okay. Just being functional, while a major success compared to some Kinect stinkers released so far, isn't enough. Games need to be fun too. <P>Specifically to KSS2, Kinect football is awful from the ground up. I thought last year's MotionSports title would have made that clear. Tennis and golf, while fun and the best of the bunch, are too easy and basically play themselves. Skiing is boring past your first couple of runs down the hill. Baseball is too dumbed down and, frankly, the delay between you swinging and it registering in the game screws the timing up so bad it just isn't fun because you never feel like you're actually making contact. Never mind how awful pitching and fielding are. And darts just plain will never work in a videogame because aiming with a cursor is the dumbest thing ever, yet that is really the only way to play darts in a game. They just plain picked the wrong sports for this one. </P><B>Presentation</B> <P>One area where Kinect Sports Season Two does hold up well, however, is the presentation. It absolutely looks and sounds and feels like a bigger better, more polished sequel to Kinect Sports (until you actually start playing). Your Avatar is the star of all of these sports and looks good. The stadiums you play in also look nice. There is nothing super detailed anywhere, but it all fits the tone and theme and looks nice. The menus are easy to navigate as well. Also, like the first Kinect Sports, licensed music plays during games at appropriate times and is a nice touch that makes the whole experience feel more like a real sporting event than a game. <P>One issue is load times, however. There are some strangely long load times in this game, even when the disc is installed to your hard drive. I'm talking a full minute wait for an event to start, and some long load times between golf holes. It isn't ever consistent, though. Between some games, or some golf holes the load times will be super fast. Other times, it'll go slow. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>Kinect Sports Season Two is a letdown. It features some of the best presentation and most functional menus of any Kinect title, but drops the ball when it came to choosing sports that are actually fun to play with motion controls. We all know videogame football, baseball, golf, and tennis can be a blast, but they have to be significantly dumbed down to really work with Kinect and the results just aren't very fun for very long. Darts was a mistake from the word go. And skiing is always going to be sort of boring when you aren't A) actually in the mountains, or B) able to perform ridiculously huge unrealistic videogame tricks. Kinect Sports Season Two is a collection of watered down sports that just aren't fun. The original Kinect Sports wasn't perfect either, but it had some great standouts that kept you coming back. Kinect Sports Season Two doesn't have those one or two great activities that you'll want to play over and over again that would make it worth owning. It can be fun in short doses, and with friends of course, but won't hold your interest long term. Rent it.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Kinect-Sports-Season-Two-Review-X360-Kinect.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1860028827182618961?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-7819531098637601272011-11-20T13:57:00.000-08:002011-11-20T13:57:00.060-08:00 <P>Story, Basic Info</P><P>Niko Bellic, a European who traveled by boat to Liberty City (Game version of New York City). He was persuaded by his cousin Roman to come to the city. He expected to live in a mansion and live the life of fast cars, beautiful women, and a luxurious and delightful life. When Niko drives to the beautiful mansion he sees that this mansion is just a small ran down apartment in Hove Beach. Niko meets Michelle a backstabbing Beech as you will find out later in the game. This game has a lot of different outcomes. I do not want to spoil the game for you. The first thing I would do to get a little heat AKA some guns is run over or beat the shit out of a police officer, take his 9mm. Once you have this weapon go save. You will be introduced to one of Roman's friends, Little Jacob who will supply you with a weapon, 9mm. If you want some heat early on just kill some cops. What I did is retrieved the pistol went up the stairs and crouched with a wanted level watch the cops open the door run up the stairs and killed them. After my health went down to a minimum where I felt I would die I saved, woke up and found most of that ammo, shotguns, machine guns, and carbine assault rifles. I had the SWAT and F.I.B. after me so I saved and picked up those weapons.</P><P>Combat Tips:</P><P>Think of this game as real life in a way. Don't just stand there! If you have heavy fire from multiple enemies how the hell are you going to take them all out? Definitely not all at once right? Put it this way, do you think the army goes out to combat running and shooting at their enemy? No, for the most part no. In this game and in real life combat you need to have tactics. get some cover, find a strategy that works for you. I could take out 20 guys sometimes and still have a fair amount of armor left. Because I used whatever I could for cover. Dumpsters, walls, whatever. Once they popped their head out- BOOM 50 caliber bullet fired from the desert eagle left them slumped on the floor!! What I am saying is if you know you are about to have a difficult mission take cover and come with a new vest of armor before every mission unless its less than 50 percent damaged. Use you assault rifles for longer distant shots when faced with a heavy load and pistols. shotguns, and SMG's for closer enemies. If you need to take out enemies that are near a whole bunch of cars, why not throw a little handy grenade and blow them all to smithereens? Taking heavy fire can very well damage your armor and health within a few seconds. Taking cover isn't a sissy move, it's a smart and tactical move. They are using cover so you should be obligated to that right as well. If you don't want to wastes too much ammo try crouching for better accuracy with your weapons. And don't worry about how many rounds you wasted, you will gain atleast 50 percent of that ammo from the fallen enemies, so try to use the same weapons as they are if you can see the weapons they are using.</P><P>So now the basic tips to succeeding in this awesome game:</P><P>Keep Saves; I kept 3. Make sure you have full health and body armor if available before missions if possible. When you can take girlfriends or friends on dates, do it. 90 percent of the friends you meet that you can take on dates have valuable perks. I suggest getting them to 100 percent fondness so if you can't make it you can go back on a date once more to get that 100 percent. Don't worry about all the fast cars early in the game. You will be granted the Comet and Infernus later in the game. The Turismo is always spawned at Faustin's house even after is unfortunate loss.</P><P>This game is wonderful. I love GTA 4, however compared to GTA San Andreas there are no tanks, airplanes, and no vehicle mods such as nitrous from what I have observed. There are beautiful fast cars that look nice but modifying vehicles in GTA San Andreas was awesome. I also liked recruiting my own members for help in San Andreas however in this game you can call Dwayne for goons if you decide to kill another character, sparing Dwayne's life.</P><P>The Pro's: Internet, Dating as well as SA, Fast Cars, better interactions with characters, graphics, driving controls can take a while to get used to but when traveling at high speeds you get blurry, drinking and driving, a lot of activities/hobbies to participate with friends and girlfriends.</P><P>Weapons:</P><P>Pistols:</P><P>9mm- 17 round magazines, decently powerful, faster fire rate than the Combat Pistol (Desert Eagle) semi-auto.</P><P>Desert Eagle- Very powerful pistol, hard to find;google location when you get to Bohan. Favorite weapon in the game. Substitutes for 9mm ammo. Semi-auto.</P><P>Machine Guns-</P><P>Micro SMG- (MAC 11)</P><P>50 round clip- very fast and loud weapon, personally my favorite out of the 2, because of larger mags and fire rate. Great damage. Automatic</P><P>SMG-30 round mags. Maybe more powerful, not as fast firing as Mac 11. Automatic</P><P>Assault Rifles-</P><P>AK-47- 30 round mag, great looking, powerful, ching sound. Automatic</P><P>Carbon Assault- Powerful, ugly weapon. 30 round mags. Stronger than the AK-47 but I prefer the AK.</P><P>Shotties-</P><P>SPAS- Powerful, slow fire rate, horrible range. Semi-auto. 8 round shells.</P><P>Combat Shotgun- Very powerful, decent range, semi-auto, 10 round, I see this shotgun as a very fast shooting weapon for a shotgun that is ( I once got blasted and killed by the triads with this one. Thought it was the SPAS but later found out when used on Roman's cab driver with all his mad shit talk.)</P><P>Pack-SUM-Punch!</P><P>Molotov- Wine bottle on fire that will catch anything in it's path on fire once made contact with</P><P>Grenade- A small bomb that can be thrown and will explode in your hand if you don't release it soon enough. This handy bomb can blow up vehicles and create a domino effect if the cars are close enough to each other creating fun multiple explosions and also some difficult stars to avoid if the explosions continue.</P><P>TIP: Try not to throw grenades out of a car unless you are moving, and grenades inflict a great amount of damage to your enemy and yourself, be careful with the nifty little devices as they can hurt you just as much as the enemy.</P><P>(Just for fun I tossed a grenade on the ground, it blew up and wiped out all my armor and 10 percent of my health with one grenade)</P><P>Rocket Launcher A.K.A. RPG: Fast non targeting missle blowing anything in its path when hit, such as cars, humans, and helicopters! I love the RPG but I didn't use it unless needed for a mission such as helicopters. Why? Ammo for these things are quite expensive, I know its a game but I would still rather buy a couple suits from Perseus instead of a couple rockets!</P><P>There are several weapons and ammo that can be found throughout Liberty City, I generated these tips and guide from my own knowledge of the game, for the most part most of this is right however I am not 100 percent sure everything is correct, again I created this blog from my own knowledge of the game.</P><P>Non-Firing/Explosive weapons:</P><P>Baseball Bat- A fine, silent piece of wood to knock heads with instead of baseballs!</P><P>Fists- Some silent knuckles that are very deadly if used multiple times.</P><P>Knife- Great for shanking Taxi drivers after they charge you a fee for the ride! Taxi drivers actually hold more money than you pay for the ride after they are swimming in blood on the concrete.</P><P>TIP: Little Jacob can be useful along this game for discounted prices on weapons. He doesn't carry Desert Eagle's as far as I know.</P><P>Main Characters and their perks:</P><P>Brucie Kibbutz- Roman's steroid abusing, lavish lived friend. He is weird in a way but he has alot of racing and car connects. He is focused about his looks and has some feminine ways. However this guy will eventually meet you to a rare car: the Comet. You will have to win first in a race mission for Brucie and afterwords he says you can keep the comet so I did, which he borrowed from his friend, Stevie which you will later interact with through missions.</P><P>Perk: Free Helicopter Ride when respect and like stat are raised to a certain level around 70 percent. Kind of like Roman's Taxi Cab driver- without the shit talk.</P><P>Dwayne Forge- This character is optional. If you decide to kill Dwayne Forge you cannot gain access to his Backup perk which sends 2 goons to help you out wherever you are whether in free roam or a difficult mission. I rarely used this perk, but just the way Playboy backstabbed his long time friend who just got released from prison bothered me. Playboy knew Dwayne taught him the ropes and helped him achieve where he was at in that point of his life. Killing Playboy in my opinion is rather sweet. I get a new outfit from GTA 3 that Alex Chilton likes besides all the Perseus crap, which I also like. I get a real friend who really has no other friends and is from the lower class struggling in the "hood". I get Playboy's loft and two extra car slots, which came in handy to fulfill my nifty car collection consisiting of: The Infernus, Banshee, Comet, Super GT, and Turismo my favorite supercars and also I believe the fastest and best looking in the game. Playboy also drops a Desert Eagle but the game glitched on me so I had to find it at a different location in Bohan. Yes, it is a game but in life and this game reality is very similar making choices and looking at personalities and how people treat other people. Dwayne is a good friend in this game, and once Playboy became rich he became an arrogant snob which I could see. He was a fake character as we all I am sure have encountered in real life.</P><P>Little Jacob- I personally like Little Jacob more than Roman. Jacob introduces you to your first weapon unless you've went around looking for red glowing guns throughout the first island, or you've killed a couple of cops and F.I.B. crouching on top of the stairs shooting the fat pigs while they run up the stairs, get shot, and break their back on the way down. Little Jacob is relevant in several important missions with Niko. He is Jamaican however he is very chill, laid back, but respectful friend. He needs help delivering "drug" packages which I think is marijuana which I also enjoyed a few years back. I suggest taking Jacob out to activities because you can use him to aquire cheaper weapons and armor which becomes useful throughout the game.</P><P>Perk: Meets you close to your vincinity in his Lowrider Jamaican style vehicle with a trunk filled with useful pieces of steel and lead, and also my favorite! ARMOR. Jacob also has significant reduced prices compared to the underground weapon dealers of course we know why (Dimitri introduced you to these underground arms dealers) and we all know when he is involved with something- it's just shit.</P><P>Roman- Cousin, Cousin, Cousin. I'm surprised he can actually maintain and taxi service after all the gambling and waste of money and problems he affiliates Niko with. It's his addiction,which brought Niko into some trouble as well. While we are on addictions, I'm sure we all have some type of addiction, not saying I'm some crack feign or anything. Whether it's candy, food, money, cigarettes whatever. Ok back to the point, Roman has a free taxi cab service for you and he also offers Taxi Missions for side money and raise his respect but they aren't needed to 100 percent completion, because you can do a million taxi fares if you like. I gained a fair amount of laughter at the cab driver and he will remain the same no matter how many times you kill him or steal his upgraded Taxi later in the game.</P><P>Packie Mcreary- Kate Mcreary's Brother, the one who is killed because you don't want your cousin to die. Figured I would tell you this before you saved your game and found out your cousin dies. Well anyways Packie offers many missions and is met through Elizabeta which really has no relevance other than a cocaine snorting fat ass. Anyways Packie is a friend who can offer car bombs for sale once completed his missions and has enough Respect and Like stat just like the other characters. See how this is turning out, every main character besides Niko offers a perk of some sore. Anyways Kate does not offer perks and I wasn't able to ever score, shes ugly anyways.</P><P>Francis Mcreary- Francis is part of the Mcreary family. I didn't like Francis but I kept him for his 3 star wanted level removal since he is a cop, and killed Michael, a heroin addicted brother of the Mcreary's. I'm still not sure why I decided to kill Michael since I had Kiki to remove those stars for me. But if you call Francis before the assassination he will pay double, eithr way this an option, kill for perks or kill based on your decision. Either way Francis is a dirty, scumbag cop, but he didn't get in my way and wasn't nearly as bad as Dimitri. And no you cannot take Francis out on activities, like I would hang out with a cop anyways, with all the money, stolen cars, and illegal firearms in my possession.</P><P>This wraps up all the Characters with perks besides the Girlfriends I've already posted. Thanks for your time.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6682832" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-781953109863760127?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-86481609786824488652011-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:002011-11-20T12:15:00.062-08:00 I'll come right out and say it. Halo: Reach is easily the best Halo game yet. From the campaign to the multiplayer to the forge to Firefight, everything in Halo: Reach is uniformly polished and excellent. The gameplay is sharp and precise. The presentation is stunning. The wealth of content is impressive. You'll be playing this for months to come. There is no question that Bungie is going out on top with its final Halo game.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft <B>Developer</B>: Bungie <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M” for Mature <B>Genre</B>: First-Person-Shooter <B>Pros</B>: Excellent presentation; great campaign; improved Firefight mode; great MP modes; co-op; Forge World; tons of stuff to do; Gruntpocalypse; customization options; awesome, varied gameplay <B>Cons</B>: Occasional framerate issues; not a ton of maps <P><B>Story</B> <P>Halo: Reach is a bit like the movie "Titanic". You know how it is going to end (the boat is going to sink / the planet Reach is going to be taken by the Covenant), but the story and characters you meet along the way make things interesting. In the case of Halo: Reach, you play as the newest member of Noble Team, a group of Spartan soldiers (just like Master Chief) stationed on Reach. Your designation is simply Noble 6. You can customize your character with a huge selection of armor pieces, and can even choose if they are a man or woman. What I like is that you aren't some no-name voiceless rookie like so many other games start you out with. You are important by the sheer fact you are a Spartan. You are highly skilled and highly trained. You are a badass hero from the word go. Over the course of the game, 6 as well as the other members of Noble Team are nothing but brave and awesome and you really do care about them by the end. <P>Halo: Reach is a prequel to the original Halo. What you do on Reach directly leads into what happens in Halo: Combat Evolved. The story overall is quite good, and all of the little touches that tie Reach to Halo: CE will give longtime fans of the series goosebumps</P>The campaign takes about 8-10+ hours to play through depending on difficulty level and how many times you die. The A.I. scales depending on how many people are playing, so expect it to be much tougher to beat in 4-player co-op than previous games have been. The game overall is more difficult than previous Halo games playing by yourself as well just due to the massive numbers of enemies you are usually fighting. Reach is Halo kicked up a notch. <P>The missions you'll play through are mostly the typical Halo mix of on foot and vehicle sections, but with a couple of interesting additions. One level features space combat where you board a ship down on the planet, launch into orbit, and then get to fly around and fight in outer space. This level is remarkably good. The ship controls are incredibly intuitive and the whole mission is crazy fun. Another cool level has you flying a Falcon helicopter around a huge city and helping civilians evacuate by landing on rooftops, fighting your way through the building, and then fighting back up to your Falcon to continue the mission. Very cool. There are also some very well done turret missions thrown in here and there. You know how helicopter "on rails" turret missions are usually awful in FPS because everything moves so fast you can't hit anything? That isn't the case here. The turret missions are actually really fun in Reach. <P>The campaign overall is excellent. There aren't any crappy levels. The ending sequence is awesome, and I have to add that the post-credits extra gameplay sequence is absolutely stunning.</P>The gameplay is familiar Halo, but with a few welcome tweaks. It still has that great Halo feel where everything is very precise and smooth and just feels good to play it. You shoot with the right trigger, reload with X, melee with right bumper, switch weapons with Y, and throw grenades with the left trigger. The left bumper now controls your armor abilities. Armor abilities have taken the place of the equipment that was introduced in Halo 3. Now you have reusable abilities such as sprinting, shield, hologram (great for confusing enemies), or a jet pack. You can swap out abilities for new ones at several parts of the campaign or before each round in multiplayer. I didn't really worry about the abilities during the campaign, but they are pretty important for multiplayer and really make a difference there. <P>There is a great gameplay variety here and it is all very well done. The core shooting and grenade tossing gameplay is the best in the business. Vehicle controls just feel right whether you are in a Warthog, Wraith, Falcon, or space ship. The game just plain plays really, really well. It is classic Halo, but bigger. The term "epic" is kind of cliché, but that is what a lot of the campaign battles feel like in Reach. There is so much going on all around you (it is a planetary invasion, after all) and you are but a tiny speck in all of it.</P>Multiplayer is, of course, a huge part of the Halo package and Reach has a ton of goodies to play with. Most importantly, all modes including the campaign can be played in local splitscreen or online with Xbox Live matchmaking (coming soon for campaign). Now you don't have to wait for friends to get on to play some co-op campaign or Firefight. Another interesting new addition is that everything you do, either by yourself or multiplayer, earns you credits that you can use to buy new custom armor pieces. Your customized character is present in all modes, including campaign cutscenes, which is very cool. <P>Competitive multiplayer is the same as previous Halo games at the core, but thanks to new weapons, armor abilities, and a handful of new modes it manages to feel fresh and new. Classic modes like slayer, team slayer, capture the flag, and the like are all present, but new modes such as Invasion (objective-based Spartans vs. Elites protect and defend game) are also a lot of fun. This is pure Halo multiplayer and it is darn good. <P>There are 9 competitive multiplayer maps along with 5 additional Forge World variants (all made in different locations in the newly expanded Blood Gulch) to choose from, which might not seem like a lot, but with the wide variety of game types and customization options, there is plenty of content to keep things from feeling repetitive. The map designs overall are very good and really show how much Bungie has learned over the past ten years of what does and doesn't work for MP.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Halo-Reach-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8648160978682448865?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-52626649920359657232011-11-20T07:28:00.000-08:002011-11-20T07:28:00.477-08:00 NBA 2K11 was a gushy love letter to Michael Jordan. NBA 2K12 is an NBA history lesson taking you through many of the dominant players and teams that have played in the NBA over the years. And it is also, of course, a modern basketball simulation. Which is a good thing, because NBA 2K12 might be the only pro basketball fans get to watch this year if the NBA lockout doesn't get sorted soon. Considering that NBA 2K12 is just about perfect, though, the wait won't be so bad. This is the best basketball game on Xbox 360 by a pretty fair margin.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: 2K Sports <B>Developer</B>: Visual Concepts <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Basketball <B>Pros</B>: Great presentation; commentary; My Player mode; solid gameplay; sliders; soundtrack <B>Cons</B>: Inconsistent player models; occasionally odd animation <P><B>Features</B> <P>NBA 2K12 has all the features we've come to expect from the series - The Association dynasty mode, quick play, etc. are all back and similar to last year. Which is a good thing since last year's entry fixed a lot of issues, particularly with The Association. Because of the current NBA lockout, however, some of the series' best features - the NBA Today and Living Rosters which continuously updated teams and players to reflect their real life counterparts - are MIA and you have to pretty much re-live the '10/'11 season instead. Just like the bad old days of sports games before everything could be updated on a daily basis. Oh noes! <P>The presentation of the game makes it feel like a real NBA season anyway, though. Big upcoming, purely virtual, matchups are advertised between quarters of games you're currently playing. Because of the graphics and announcers and the way everything is presented, it almost feels like you're just watching games on TNT instead of playing a videogame. That sounds like hyperbole, but you really do get sort of hyped up for the next big matchup, even if it is just virtual. A nice feature is that you can let the CPU play and just sit back and watch, and thanks to the presentation, it feels pretty close to a real game anyway.</P>To fill that gaping hole left by not having a real NBA season, NBA 2K12 offers a couple of interesting additional modes. First is the NBA's Greatest mode, which lets you choose from one of 15 of the greatest players in NBA history (Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Ewing, Malone, etc.) and play through some of the biggest games of their careers. The games are absolutely period accurate, which means all of the players from both of the teams in each game, the TV graphics and presentation of the era, even the length of the shorts. And all of the commentary is period accurate as well, and it is interesting to experience some players hitting their career peaks, while younger players haven't quite made themselves into stars quite yet. <P>The other main mode is My Player Mode. My Player is NBA 2K's "Be a Pro"-type mode where you play as just one player on the court and are responsible for making good passes, playing smart defense, and generally not getting in the way. We struggled with My Player a bit last year, as it started out so slowly with your player pretty much sucking for the first few hours, but that has been remedied in 2K12 with your player being able to make more of an impact and play well early on. Now you go from an opening game to determine your draft worthiness, to the draft, and right into the NBA rather than spending any time in the d-league. It is a lot more fun this way. As you play, you earn XP that lets you upgrade stats so you can play even better next time. You work your way up from a sub to starter to All-Star to MVP and beyond, and it is a very satisfying trip.</P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>The gameplay isn't dramatically different from last year, but has little touches of refinement and balancing that makes it better overall. The A.I. has seen some improvements, with much better defensive A.I. this time around. Without a doubt, it is still the best simulation of professional basketball on the market. <P>Or if you don't want a sim, 2K's fantastic gameplay sliders let you adjust the game to play however you like. I say it every year, but I love sliders. Not everyone wants a true, hardcore sim. Some folks just like to score and see their favorite players do what they do. NBA 2K12 lets you do both. <P><B>Graphics</B> <P>The presentation is a huge part of the overall experience. It really is just crazy good and absolutely nails TV-style graphics, camera shots and cuts, and all of the little details you'd want. Right down to the Suns Gorilla shooting t-shirts into the crowd or harassing the referees during timeouts. The players look good for the most part with some players looking identical to their real life counterparts. Some players look hideously ugly, though, and just plain wrong, and it is those moments where the camera cuts to a close up to say, a creepily dead-eyed Steve Nash, that absolutely breaks any illusion that you might be watching a real game instead of playing a videogame. Also, while the animation is smooth and realistic for the most part, some aspects of the game are strangely fast and too jumpy and look strange where the rest of the game is so realistic.</P><B>Sound</B> <P>The sound is also pretty spectacular. The commentary is really something special as they don't just talk about the action in the game you're playing, but talk about every aspect of the teams and players involved. That means I have to hear a lot about how the Suns are rebuilding and pretty much suck now, which is just how a real game would be too. The music in the menus also really clicked for me this year. It is all rap and hip-hop, not my typical favorite genres, but the song selection this year just works remarkably well. <P><B>Bottom Line</B> <P>The best NBA game on Xbox 360 just got better. The gameplay is mostly familiar, but improved with 360-degree post play, unprecedented controls over your shots with the right stick, and better A.I.. The real changes here come in the form of the NBA's Greatest mode, which lets all of the people who say basketball was better 20 years ago prove it by letting you unlock and use all of the great classic teams featured in the mode and pit them against current teams. And the My Player mode is greatly improved with a much brisker pace and more satisfying progression overall. And the presentation bar has been raised about 5 notches with some of the absolute best commentary and visual presentation in any sports game yet. NBA 2K11 was already great, but NBA 2K12 is a step even beyond that and is highly recommended.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Nba-2k12-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5262664992035965723?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-10033105809649213492011-11-20T00:10:00.000-08:002011-11-20T00:10:00.081-08:00 There was some concern when the title of Rocksteady's next Batman game was going to be "Arkham City". First, because what the heck is an Arkham City and second, a big open city environment didn't seem like a good fit for the Arkham Asylum gameplay. Thankfully, we were foolish to worry. Batman: Arkham City is a perfect blend of the atmosphere of Arkham Asylum while opening up the gameplay and making use of Batman's bottomless utility belt to work in an open environment. More than any game ever before, Arkham City makes you truly feel like the Batman, and that is pretty awesome.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Warner Bros. Interactive <B>Developer</B>: Rocksteady <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “T" for Teen <B>Genre</B>: Action <B>Pros</B>: Tons of stuff to do; lots of villains; great presentation; Catwoman; fun combat; <B>Cons</B>: Easy boss fights; still gotta lean on detective mode <P><B>Story and Setting</B> <P>Arkham City takes place in a new super prison called, you guessed it, Arkham City, which is basically a large walled-off area in the middle of Gotham City. Why would anyone build a prison to hold everyone from everyday criminals on up to super villains in the middle of a major city? Who knows? And why do the prisoners have access to weapons? Well, Bruce Wayne asks those same questions and is thrown into Arkham City as a prisoner. He quickly escapes, calls Alfred to drop in his Batman equipment, and sets out to find out just what is really going on in Arkham City. It turns out the prison is just a front for other things with Batman's rogues gallery pulling the strings, but not necessarily all working together. <P>The story isn't as strong and focused as Arkham Asylum, but it uses Batman's super villains in more interesting ways, so it evens out. The story itself is kind of short, but the game is filled with side missions, hundreds of hidden Riddler Trophies and objectives, training missions, and more. You can beat the story and only have 30% game completion, which means there is a ton more to do. Add on top of all of that the challenge missions for not just Batman but some other characters as well, and you have a huge game full of things to do. <P><B>Catwoman</B> <P>If you buy the game new (though GameStop says they will also include codes with used copies as well) you get a download code to add Catwoman missions into the story. Catwoman plays rather differently from Batman and her handful of missions mesh with the main game story surprisingly well. And, darn it, she looks great doing it. I wouldn't mind a full Catwoman game where you get to sneak around and steal stuff. Make it happen! </P>Because Arkham City is just a walled-off section of Gotham, it really is its own little city. There are buildings of all shapes and sizes and you use Batman's gadgets to grappel and fly around, hack into security systems, and more. Different villains dot the city, each with their own little hideout, and it is always sort of fun to drop in unexpectedly and wreak havoc. You can be running around on rooftops and see a group of thugs standing around and drop down to fight them. Or you can completely ignore them. The city is a big place and you don't have time to beat up everyone you see. <P>While the game plays fairly differently from Arkham Asylum when you're out in the city, in the many building interiors it plays pretty much the same. Batman has a lot more moves and gadgets at his disposal in Arkham City, but the same stealth / action gameplay where you hop around from one ridiculously out of place gargoyle to the next while taking enemies out one-by-one is still the core. Sometimes you'll come across a room full of enemies and forget stealth and just fight them all at once, and thanks to the great flowing combat mixed with gadgets mapped to hotkeys, you can pummel a dozen bad guys with style. Tougher enemies with guns or blades or electric prods require different tactics, and the game does a good job of mixing the enemy types up to always keep you on your toes. <P>One thing that has to be said, though, is that Arkham City is kind of an easy game overall. Batman can take out generic thugs with such ease that they literally never pose a problem. Well, a city block full of snipers late in the game is a bit more challenging, but even then you can take them out easily if you're patient. Patience is a key word here because if you take your time you can get through most of the interior stealth sections (as Batman or Catwoman) without even raising an alert. It is easy. Easier than Arkham Asylum. This translates over to boss fights as well. Perhaps it is because the boss fights are reasonably realistic - it takes just a few hits to take out many bosses - which makes everything seem remarkably easy. <P>The flip side to this, of course, is that you are the goddamn Batman so things should be easy for him. Arkham City makes you feel more like an actual superhero capable of doing literally anything better than just about any other comic book game yet. You feel powerful and unstoppable, which is a ton of fun. It is easy, but freaking great because of it. And if you want more difficulty, the multitude of challenge missions you unlock will more than deliver on that end. </P>Visually, Batman: Arkham City is a great looking game. The city is full of detail and looks fantastic overall. It is still a bit blue/gray/brown, though, and finding and fighting the groups of blue/gray/brown thugs is tricky unless you make use of the detective mode vision filter, just like you did in Arkham Asylum. It is a shame to have to cover up the nice graphics with the detective mode again, but it is just hard to see what you're doing without it. Character models look great, though the animation is a bit stiff, and both Batman and Catwoman show damage on their costumes that show just how beat up they get over the course of the story. A couple of other characters, Joker and Two Face, are surprisingly brutal looking in this game. Like, nightmare fuel looking. <P>The sound is also absolutely fantastic here. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, as Batman and Joker respectively, do a great job. All of the voice acting for the big names (villains and handful of heroes) is solid, but the generic thugs all kinda sound the same and repeat the same whiny dialogue too much. The music and sound effects are perfectly Batman. <P><B>Load Times</B> <P>Also worth noting is that the load times are surprisingly short. Out in the city there is no loading at all. When you enter one of the handful of interiors, there is a brief pause as the game loads, but it is very quick.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Batman-Arkham-City-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1003310580964921349?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-51554484584836714202011-11-19T17:21:00.000-08:002011-11-19T17:21:00.061-08:00 <P>Video game education is known as the fun way of educating your child in the modern age. The whole point of it is to teach your child with the help of a video activity. The goal is for the child to enjoy what he is doing, but still learn the necessary skills it has to offer.</P><P>Children's games are often less complicated. The video game design in Adult online simulations tend to focus on teaching multiple principles and skills while children's ones focus on one skill at a time. Some games are designed to elevate a child's reading skills, while others help a child advance in math.</P><P>These games can be played on a number of different devices. Some are played on computers, some games are bought at the store and others are played online. You also have a choice of playing them on hand held devices. The most popular games are played on devices like the Nintendo WI and the Xbox.</P><P>The latest trend now days are hand held devices designed to teach children how to read. The games are in the form of books that children can read along with, and touch the screen to hear the spoken words. Some of the games even teach children aspects of math and science.</P><P>There are and endless amount of games on the internet and they teach children all kinds of skills. Some games teach them basic computer skills while others offer in depth teaching on more specific topics. There are games that even teach kids building skills, planning skills and even how to run a city.</P><P>These games should be viewed as an added advantage to schools. Children can come home and go over a lesson they learnt at school. If the child is studying reading, they can play a reading activity on the computer, this helps the child learn more and reinforces what he already learnt at school. Children learn by repetition, so what better tool to teach them than a computer activity that repeats itself, by the child simply pressing, start. Game development schools are also coming up for this purpose.</P><P>These games can be used in addition to the school curriculum. Game design training is something that teachers should be sent for and game design education should be introduced across the board.It has been said that some children learn better from these types of games rather than from the teacher talking them through lessons. While traditional teaching should remain the fundamental part of teaching, innovative teaching like computer games should be incorporated as part of the learning process. Children who who excel in these games should be rewarded, this will simply encourage the child to continue playing and learning.</P><P>Teachers are recognizing the benefits of entertainment software and the advantages it brings to the teaching world. These games can be so much more than just that. It is also a priceless educational tool that has no limits. This is something that is inevitable as technology remains a trade mark of the twenty first century.</P><P>Video game education is taking teaching to a new level and those who embrace it, will reap the benefits there of. This is the new trend in educating children and also business environments. Programs for video game design are available online.</P><P>Looking to capitalize on your creative gifts? Learn from industry professionals in Game education Toronto and take your first step towards an exciting new career.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6668308" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5155448458483671420?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-28194978599363446792011-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:002011-11-19T09:30:00.855-08:00 Kart racer Kinect Joy Ride is one of the easiest Kinect launch games to jump in and play and immediately know exactly what to do. You just hold your hands out like you're holding a pretend steering wheel and away you go. You don't even have to brake or accelerate, it does it all for you. Because of this over simplicity, though, Joy Ride also happens to be one of the more shallow and uninteresting launch games. It just isn't fun to play for very long.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft <B>Developer</B>: BigPark Inc. <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Kart Racing <B>Pros</B>: Super easy to play; custom paint jobs <B>Cons</B>: Menus; not a lot of gameplay depth; gets old about 5 races in <P>First, a history lesson. Joy Ride was first shown at E3 2009 and was originally meant to be a free to download XBLA game starring Xbox 360 Avatars. It would focus on custom user created content and paid premium DLC. At E3 2010 it was revealed Joy Ride had been turned into a full-priced Kinect launch game. <P>Kinect Joy Ride offers a fair bit of variety. There are normal race modes, stunt modes, drag races, and more. Smash mode is kind of interesting because you just get to break a bunch of stuff littered around an arena. The battle race mode feels just like a Mario Kart clone, complete with the same sort of weapon set. There are a handful of different environments that courses for each mode are laid out on. <P>There are a number of vehicles in the game, but none of them really feel any different from the rest. Unlocking new cars just isn't a thrill because there isn't ever a real feeling of advancement. They all feel the same. <P>One feature I admit I enjoyed way too much was the custom paint option. This lets you paint your car any color you want by holding an object in front of the Kinect camera. I scanned anything I had handy, and it copied the colors perfectly. A bright neon green pack of Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings, a bright red Stratocaster guitar, a purple and gold Minnesota Vikings blanket, etc. and it worked great. </P>Kinect Joy Ride supports multiplayer as well for most of the modes. It can keep track of as many as 8 players, but only two can play at once. To switch players, someone new just steps in front of the camera and Kinect will recognize them as a new player. <P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>This would all be awesome if Joy Ride actually played halfway decent, but it doesn't. The controls are easy to figure out - you hold your hands out in front of you to grab the "steering wheel", and turn your hands like you are turning a wheel to make your car turn, lean your body into turns to drift, lean your body while your car is in mid-air to do stunts, and pull the "wheel" towards your body to build up boost and then push it away to use the boost. But it isn't fun! The turning controls are unresponsive and calibration is wonky even though I'm playing with the same setup every other Kinect game worked fine in (which means it is a software problem, not hardware). It also feels odd to not have any speed control. Not that it matters, though, because the tracks are a mile wide and you aren't penalized for driving off road anyway. Each of the various game types are fun to try once or twice, but at that point you have seen pretty much all the actual gameplay the game has to offer. It has the depth of a half-dried rain puddle. It is very easy to pick up and play, but doesn't hold your attention for very long. </P>The menus are also a bit of a problem in that there are just too many of them. Before and after a race you have no less than 5 screens (on each end) to cycle through. It is pretty ridiculous. I'm also not fond of the way your cursor automatically snaps to menu options. Selecting things with Kinect feels more natural when you actually have to move your hand to select stuff. In Joy Ride your cursor jumps around to whatever you're relatively close to, which just feels awkward if you're used to playing other games where the cursor isn't quite as sticky. A small complaint, sure, but something that is immediately noticeable and never feels quite right. <P><B>Graphics</B> <P>Graphically, Kinect Joy Ride looks okay. Everything is bright and colorful, but very simple in terms of textures. <P><B>Sound</B> <P>The sound is also merely okay. Okay racing sound effects, and okay music. Okay.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Kinect-Joy-Ride-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2819497859936344679?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-83368977624321881162011-11-19T07:31:00.000-08:002011-11-19T07:31:00.233-08:00 The first big game of 2007 is upon us, and after months of hype and anticipation, we can finally play Lost Planet. Was the wait worth it? I would say yes, but it does depend on what you were expecting. If you liked the demos that were released in 2006, you’ll love the final product. If you weren’t impressed by the demos, you can pass on Lost Planet. It really is as simple as that.Lost Planet takes place on an icy planet called E.D.N. III that was colonized by settlers from Earth. At first, the colonization went smoothly, but as the humans explored, they discovered giant insect like aliens known as Akrid. In order to survive on the harsh, frozen wastelands of the planet, the humans need thermal energy, something that the Akrid have plenty of stored in their bodies. So, instead of running from the aliens, the humans fight them in order to harvest their energy. The humans are greedy, however, and end up fighting each other for control of the energy in addition to fighting the Akrid. <P>In the game, you play as a young man named Wayne who is saved by a group of these “snow pirates”. His only memory is that his father was killed by a giant Akrid called “Green Eye”, and he is now out for revenge. It eventually becomes a bit more complicated than a simple revenge quest, but the overall story isn’t really anything to get excited about. I love the back-story and overall theme of the game, but the story of Wayne isn’t all that interesting.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/lostplanetrev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8336897762432188116?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-31537161641895267002011-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:002011-11-18T20:46:00.132-08:00 <P>In the gaming world, there are several options to choose from when it comes to the platform the game is being played on. There are PC games, and there are console games. The difference lies within the way the game is played.</P><P>Gaming is literally a lifestyle choice so each person prefers a slightly different approach when it comes to the way they play a game. Some like computer games, because computers allow them to customize the way they play the game along with certain tweaks in visual details and controls.</P><P>Consoles don't demand that you make such tweaks, since they're built with only games in mind. So when a game comes out and it's destined for PlayStation, then, if you own such a console, you're certain you can play that game.</P><P>But when a game comes out and it's made for PCs, then you have to check on what the system requirements that game has in order to be played properly. Since games rely heavily on the specs, or hardware of the "console" they're run, for PC users this would mean there's a constant struggle to stay ahead of the gaming developer world and build or purchase the ultimate gaming computer.</P><P>In certain cases, it's a lot easier to escape this struggle by purchasing a console and not having to worry if your system meets the necessary minimum hardware in order to run a game.</P><P>The downside to consoles is, in my opinion, the lack of precision in movements and control. For instance, if you were to play a shooter game or FPS for short, it would be really hard to aim at the opponents using a game pad.</P><P>On the other hand, when using a computer, it's really easy to aim using your mouse at the opponents since you can fine tune the mouse sensitivity and actually get the mouse to work at what speed you require.</P><P>Some peripherals allow you to adjust that sensitivity right in the gaming environment and those are called gaming peripherals. These are built only with PCs in mind.</P><P>Consoles on the other hand have developed in recent years to create a more engaging environment for the player.</P><P>We have seen a lot of new advancements in this area from the Wii remote, allowing you to physically "swing" a golf club, or in the Kinect world, actually detecting your body movements to interact in the gaming world. This means that a console user might get a bit more exercise than a regular PC gamer.</P><P>Also, there are certain games which might not work on consoles, like strategy games. These games rely heavily on the use of a computer mouse for unit selection and issuing commands.</P><P>There are a lot of advantages to PC gaming as well as console gaming, and there are specific games that can be played on both platforms, without the possibility of moving from one type to the other. It's a matter of level of engagement or immersion that each gamer requires that he get from the game itself.</P><P>We, Markets, have made a page about this specific topic entitled: PC Versus Console Gaming with more detailed information about the advantages and disadvantages of both types of platforms.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6680206" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3153716164189526700?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-15488738175496506442011-11-18T17:42:00.000-08:002011-11-18T17:42:00.081-08:00 Raise your hand if any of this gets you excited. A new action RPG from Snowblind Studios. A Lord of the Rings RPG. Co-op gameplay. A new story set alongside Frodo's journey. Loot. If any or all of these things catch your interest, Lord of the Rings: War in the North is worth a look. It is a fun, challenging, satisfying game that fans of action RPGs and LotR will really enjoy. We have all of the details right here.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Warner Bros. Interactive <B>Developer</B>: Snowblind <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M" for Mature <B>Genre</B>: Action RPG <B>Pros</B>: Fun gameplay; interesting story; neat skills; solid co-op; loot <B>Cons</B>: Bland characters; crazy difficulty spikes; so-so visuals <P><B>Story</B> <P>The story in War in the North takes place simultaneously alongside the Lord of the Rings. Everyone knows there had to be more going on in Middle Earth during Frodo's trek to Mordor than what was shown in the movies and books. There had to be. Which is where War in the North comes in. The story here tells of an elf, dwarf, and man who discover a powerful new lieutenant of Sauron is planning to attack the North and they set out to stop him. Along the way they come across some familiar places and characters from the books and movies (you arrive at Rivendell literally right after the Council of Elrond ends, for example), which is always sort of a treat when you go "Hey! Its that guy!", but the core story is fully their own and most of the locations you go to are completely new. You get to see new things and do new stuff, which automatically makes WitN much more interesting than EA's LotR: The Third Age RPG last-gen where you just followed the real Fellowship around. <P>The story in War in the North is really quite interesting and works without stepping on any toes in the official canon. It isn't as grand of a story as the Lord of the Rings itself, obviously, since the scale is much smaller, but it doesn't have to top the main story. It just has to compliment it, which it does a fantastic job of. It does mirror many of the climaxes of LotR - you fight lots of trolls, a forest full of spiders, an army of undead soldiers, and there is even a Helm's Deep-style battle thrown in. It is even brave enough to try to answer one of the key questions people have about The One Ring - Why didn't they just fly the ring to Mordor on the back of an eagle? The answer is pretty darn obvious, but you'll have to play to find out. <P>While the story works fantastically well, the characters are pretty darn dry. They are just plain boring and have pretty much no personality. The dwarf has the typical serious Napoleon complex common of his race. The man is a Ranger and is basically Strider from FotR. The female elf is wise and stoic to a fault. It is like they are just copies of characters from the movies but without the personality.</P>The gameplay is pure action RPG. You select one of the characters - the elf is a mage, the dwarf is a melee-focused tank, and the ranger is projectile-focused (though all three can use both melee and projectiles) - and set off. You can switch characters between chapters, but it is also just as enjoyable to use one character for the whole game, which is what I did. The A.I. controlled characters will level themselves up as you play, and will also equip the best weapons and armor you give them (only your character can actually pick stuff up, so you have to give the other characters new weapons and armor). If you want to switch to the other characters, you get to re-spec them however you want, which is a nice touch. It lets you play without worrying about the other characters, but also gives you freedom to level them up however you want when you do play as them. <P>The gameplay is pretty much hack and slash with some magic or projectiles thrown in. The X and Y buttons are your melee attacks and you can also use special abilities and magic with combinations of the shoulder buttons. You end up with quite a large number of skills by the end of the game and really feel quite powerful. By the end my elf had a magic dome she could cast that not only stopped all projectiles, but also healed whoever stood under the dome, a couple of great AOE attacks, powerful magic projectiles, and more. Plus she was as beast in melee attacks as she could dual-wield a magic staff along with a sword. <P>A fun component of the gameplay is that consecutive hits along with getting critical hits and finishing blows rewards you with more XP, so it was fun to go through battles with dozens of enemies and really rack up the XP at the end. <P>Co-op play (two-player local splitscreen or three players online) is a major draw of War in the North, but it is definitely still a lot of fun to play by yourself. There are some somewhat crazy difficulty spikes, though, that make playing by yourself not quite so fun. Towards the end of the game you have to defend a dwarf city and you have to kill two trolls before they break down the inner door to the city. With human players, this is a cakewalk. With A.I. partners, though, it was brutal. Part of it was because it always played out differently. Sometimes the trolls would stay at the beginning of the level. Sometimes they would both run past you to the door and beat it down before you could do anything. One time I lucked out and beat one troll ridiculously fast, but by the time I ran over to the other one it had already beat the door in. When I finally beat it, the A.I. had an apparent brain fart as the trolls didn't really ever move. They just stood in place and I hacked away until they died. Then a boss showed up - an orc general - which took another half dozen tries to beat. The end-boss is a lot easier than either of these battles. <P>Your A.I. partners are kind of idiots, which is the main problem. When a character runs out of HP they drop to the ground and can only crawl toward their partners so they can be revived. The problem is that the A.I. gets knocked out a lot, so if they are already out it is game over if your character also goes down. You usually can't easily revive the A.I., though, because if you get hit by an enemy the revival meter gets reset. You spend quite a few tough battles at the end just letting your partners lie there half dead because it is easier to fight the enemies yourself. With human partners, of course, this won't be a problem because humans presumably won't suck and die so much. </P><B>New Game+</B> <P>When you beat the game, you get to start a New Game+ with all of your weapons / armor / skills and just keep right on playing and leveling up. The NG+ is a HUGE jump in difficulty over the first playthrough, however. Enemies that you shrugged off and didn't worry about on normal can suddenly one-shot you on NG+ and you can't really afford to babysit the A.I. anymore. Which is why I recommend playing through the game solo the first time, but the next two times (yep, you unlock an even harder difficulty level when you beat it a second time) human players are pretty much required. <P>I would say the game is definitely replayable even though the combat does get kind of repetitive. You collect new weapons / armor and level up at a fast enough clip that you always have new toys to play with, and it is fun to feel so powerful. Your first playthrough takes about 15 hours or so and there are side missions and challenge missions (basically horde mode where you fight waves of increasingly powerful enemies) to play as well. <P><B>Graphics & Sound</B> <P>Visually, War in the North isn't exactly a pretty game. The environments are all rather plain and have bland textures. Remember all of the great vistas and panning shots in the LotR movies? Nothing like that here. When you do get the opportunity to look out across a valley or something, all you see are blurry textures and a disappointing lack of detail. The character models do look okay, at least, with the in-game models changing depending on what weapons and armor you have equipped. The enemies also look decent, though the same handful of enemy types are reused over and over, but at least you can cut their head and/or limbs off which is always satisfying. <P>The sound is also only okay. The sound effects are fine, but the voice acting is flat and disinterested sounding, which kicks the "serious business" feel of the story and characters up even more. Musically, the game is okay. Nothing spectacular like the movie OST, but music is used at key moments to add to the drama and works well.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Lord-Of-The-Rings-War-In-The-North-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1548873817549650644?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-43148068230251179902011-11-18T11:16:00.000-08:002011-11-18T11:16:00.054-08:00 Turn 10 set the bar pretty amazingly high with Forza 3 back in 2009, but have surpassed it pretty easily with Forza Motorsport 4. Forza 4 has far better graphics, a better career mode, an improved handling model that really changes the feel of the game, more cars on track, well implemented optional Kinect modes, more cars, more tracks, and refinements to pretty much everything. Forza 4 is simply an amazing racing game overall that is highly recommended.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Optional</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft Game Studios <B>Developer</B>: Turn 10 <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Racing <B>Pros</B>: Fantastic graphics and sound; career mode; new race variations; Autovista; amazing gameplay; tons of content; livery editor; car clubs; head tracking <B>Cons</B>: No night or weather effects <P>With so much new stuff to talk about, this review is only going to cover the new features and improvements introduced for Forza 4. For a more general overview of what to expect, check out our Forza 3 review. <P><B>Career</B> <P>So what new stuff? How about an improved career mode. A complaint about Forza, and most racing games, really, is that the career mode is too dry and bland. In Forza 4 you play through multiple seasons with an increasing number of races in each season. Each stop of the season uses a specific track, and then gives you three choices of events to run on that track. And if you don't like the options they give you at first, you can pick a different car and get some new events to run. As you complete races, you earn credits and XP which raise your driver level. A nice touch this time around is that you have a choice of reward cars for each driver level you reach. Instead of being gifted a set car at each level, you have a choice of between 2-10 or so, which lets you build your garage with cars you actually want to use. Also new is that instead of each car having its own affinity level, you now earn manufacturer affinity that rewards you with credits and discounts on parts (free upgrades past level 4, heck yeah!) for that manufacturer. </P>If you have a Forza 3 save, you'll be rewarded with credits and gift cars depending on what level you were in Forza 3. This is a nice way to get some credits and decent cars to start with before you really even start playing. An interesting thing about Forza 4 is that you don't really end up spending all that much cash. You are rewarded with new cars pretty regularly, and since car upgrades are free after manufacturer affinity level 4, you never really have to spend any money on upgrades either. You certainly won't be able to earn every car in the game you want for free, and will spend credits eventually, but for much of the career you just build up a nice fat stack of cash to spend later. <P><B>Tracks</B> <P>Dotting the landscape of your season are new tracks to visit, along with most of the old favorites from Forza 3, as well as new race types. New tracks include the Top Gear Test Track, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Hockenheimring, and a fantasy track in the Burmese Alps. These join the returning tracks to give you a grand total of 26 tracks, each with multiple variations and even different times of day. There is no night racing or weather, which is disappointing since the competition does offer it, but we aren't that bothered by it. Personally, I don't really like racing at night or in the slop. </P><B>Race Types</B> <P>New race types are also featured in Forza 4. In addition to standard races (now with up to 12 cars on track!), there are bowling challenges (where you knock down pins laid out on the track for points), autocross (weave through cones set up on the track as fast as possible without hitting any), multi-class events (like Le Mans where you have faster and slower cars all out on the track at the same time), and fascinating overtake challenges where you and an opponent race on a track filled with slower moving A.I. civilian cars that act as moving chicanes. <P><B>Better A.I.</B> <P>It is also noteworthy that the way the career races are set up makes for much more competitive races than past games. In many races, the A.I. cars are mostly equal to the car you enter with, which means you actually have to drive well to win rather than just overwhelm opponents with a car that completely outclasses them. You still sort of can do that - an "A" class Ferrari is much different beast from an "A" class Mitsubishi, but both can enter "A" class races all the same - but if you stick with cars more appropriate to each event, the competition is much better. The A.I. actually puts up a fight this time around and drives really well. I haven't just easily won every event I've played, unlike in Forza 2 and 3, and have had to settle for a second or third place finish now and then. The A.I. still has a habit of spectacular failure where they overdrive corners and wreck if you pressure them late in races, but it isn't as bad as it was in Forza 3.</P>Some significant changes have also been made to the gameplay in Forza 4 as well. First, the cockpit view is better than ever. It is a little further back (one of my complaints with F3's cockpit view was that it was too far forward) and is much more realistic. It also isn't a perfectly smooth ride in the cockpit view, either, and your mirrors vibrate a bit from the rumble of the engine and the whole thing just looks and feels more realistic than ever. It isn't all crazy NFS Shift-make-you-motion-sick while in cockpit view. It is just nice and subtle. <P>The handling has changed a bit as well. Throttle management is more important than ever. You won't really notice it with the FWD cars you start the career with, but the first time you get in a RWD car and the back end steps out on you when you hit the gas too hard, you'll definitely take notice. You have to feather the throttle and really be smooth with your braking and acceleration. And it is pretty easy to be overwhelmed the first time you get in an actual "good" car. The finesse required to drive well at 150+ MPH is very different compared to driving around at 120. This isn't necessarily anything new to racing sims, but is much more pronounced here than it has been in past games. The nice thing is that the game does a good job of really letting you know (controller vibration, sound, visuals) when the car is breaking loose so you can correct it in time so you aren't just spinning out constantly. Once you get used to the handling, though, you won't want to play a racing game any other way.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Forza-Motorsport-4-Review-X360-Pg1.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4314806823025117990?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-48891446239663140592011-11-18T04:08:00.000-08:002011-11-18T04:08:00.904-08:00Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has finally announced its PS3's launch titles. While no dates have been confirmed, all of these games are to be released during the PS3's "launch window" meaning on or around the launch date of the actual PS3, November 17th. <br /><P>21 first and third-party PS3 titles will be available for the holidays. The launch catalog encompasses the most popular game genres, with the noticeable exception of a fighting game. Sony states that most of the titles are expected to retail under $60. <br /><P>“Our line-up of PS3 games that will be available through the holidays is unprecedented in terms of volume, variety and innovation, surpassing any previous competitive launch catalog and even our own original offerings for other PlayStation platforms,” said Kaz Hirai, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We are pioneering a new era of true next-generation gaming through such titles as Resistance: Fall of Man, a visually arresting game that takes advantage of the large storage capacity and exceptional visual clarity offered by Blu-ray Disc (BD), and NBA 07, running at full 1080p for the highest resolution image possible, creating hyper-realistic characters and gameplay never seen before.” <br /><P>The Full List of Launch Window Titles: Resistance: Fall of Man - Sony - Find Best Price NBA 07 - Sony - Find Best Price Genji: Days of the Blade - Sony - Find Best Price Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII - Ubisoft - Find Best Price Call of Duty 3 - Activision - Find Best Price EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 - Electronic Arts - Find Best Price The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Bethesda Softworks - Find Best Price F.E.A.R. - Vivendi Universal Games - Find Best Price Full Auto 2: Battlelines - Sega - Find Best Price Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts - Find Best Price MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE - Activision - Find Best Price Mobile Suit Gundam: CROSSFIRE - NAMCO BANDAI Games - Find Best Price NBA 2K7 - 2K Sports - Find Best Price Need For Speed Carbon - Electronic Arts - Find Best Price NHL 2K7 - 2K Sports - Find Best Price RIDGE RACER 7 - NAMCO BANDAI Games - Find Best Price Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega - Find Best Price Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - Electronic Arts - Find Best Price Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas - Ubisoft - Find Best Price Tony Hawk’s Project 8 - Activision - Find Best Price Untold Legends Dark Kingdom - Sony Online Entertainment - Find Best Price For the unofficial release dates for these games, see my unofficial list of PS3 launch titles release dates page. <br /><P> </P><br /><P><A href="http://playstation.about.com/od/ps3/a/PS3LaunchTitles.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4889144623966314059?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-5546581756002346852011-11-18T03:58:00.000-08:002011-11-18T03:58:01.177-08:00 NASCAR Unleashed is an arcade-style take on stock car racing that takes the cars off of the ovals and lets you race on fantasy real world tracks instead. It is sort of a kart racer, but instead of weapons and powerups, you take out your opponents by beating their fenders in like Kyle Busch in a truck race at Texas (I'm a KB fan, BTW ... now I made myself sad). The gameplay is a little rough, though, and there isn't much content here, which make NASCAR Unleashed hard to recommend.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Activision <B>Developer</B>: Firebrand Games <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Arcade Racing <B>Pros</B>: Interesting tracks; dynamic challenges; decent sense of speed <B>Cons</B>: Inconsistent gameplay; awful hit detection; easy boring racing; only 15 real drivers; no online multi; bland career <P>NASCAR Unleashed is not a sim like NASCAR 2011: The Game. It doesn't have all the tracks or all the drivers. In fact, there are only 5 NASCAR tracks and 15 drivers (4 from Hendrick, 2 from Stewart Haas, 3 from Gibbs, 3 from Roush Fenway, 3 from Childress). It is kind of a bummer that there aren't more drivers to choose from, but most of the popular ones are here. Also, despite 5 tracks being in the game, they (mostly) aren't the ovals we're familiar with. They are instead track variations that twist and turn in and around through the cities and countryside around the tracks. The track designs are actually pretty cool with some featuring huge banked turns where you're driving basically stuck to the side of buildings and there are lots of jumps all over the place. <P>Game modes include a career, quick race, time trials, and 2-player splitscreen multiplayer. All of the modes are pretty bare bones. Career consists of you basically just running through all of the track variations and you don't even have to win them all to progress. As you race you build up a running total of points that unlock new paint schemes for the cars when you hit specific milestones. It is all pretty easy, not very rewarding, and as shallow as a puddle. You can run through the whole career, win all the races, unlock everything, and earn a huge pile of easy Achievements in about 2 hours.</P>The gameplay is an extremely simple arcade racer. What driver you pick only has cosmetic effects (though, this is the same as in every other NASCAR game, so whatevs) and each race has 20 cars beating and banging on the track. The idea is that you build up a turbo boost by drafting behind other cars, drifting around corners, and hitting other cars and when you use the turbo you go super fast (like 300 MPH). So the races are pretty much just a lot of drafting, building up boost, and zooming past everyone. Your car takes damage from all the bumper car-style beating and banging which you can repair by driving through the pits to repair it instantly as well as pick up a free turbo. All in all, it is kind of easy and boring. <P>The game is made slightly more interesting with a couple of ideas, though. First, when you wreck other cars they become your rival and seek you out to get revenge on you, which is pretty cool. Second is the point system. By completing specific objectives in each race, hitting other cars, drifting, making rivals, getting revenge, and all that good stuff, you set a high score for that race. Beating your high score is kind of a fun hook. <P>A third way the races are kept interesting is that the game gives you dynamic challenges that pop up during the races that ask you to hit a specific number of cars, drift a number of corners, reach a certain ranking on the track, and more. The problem, though, is that the game is incredibly inconsistent when it comes to recognizing you actually doing most of these things. You can hit an opponent car a dozen times and maybe one of those hits will count. Drifting similarly only counts about half the time. It gets sort of frustrating when you keep doing what the game wants, but you aren't hitting it exactly right so it doesn't count. <P>Also, the actual racing is just really, really rough and borderline broken. The cars don't handle particularly well, which makes them tough to keep off the walls. Hitting the walls at any sort of speed, however, results in your car flying in the air and flipping around in slow motion while the rest of the field cruises by. Again, consistency is a big problem because no two hits ever act the same way. You can barely graze the wall going 120 and get thrown in the air, but hit the same spot doing 170 the next lap and nothing happens. I know the solution is to drive better and not hit walls, but you really can't ever slow down if you want to keep up. If it was consistent it wouldn't be so bad, but because everything is so inconsistent with the gameplay it just stops being fun after a few races.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Nascar-Unleashed-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-554658175600234685?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-21526074014164133422011-11-17T23:36:00.000-08:002011-11-17T23:36:00.452-08:00 <P>Violent-laden video games, which include those that belong to the ego-shooter or first-person shooter genre - are always under close scrutiny by parents and advocacy groups who are worried about the ill-effects of such games on growing kids and teenagers. Majority of the researches and studies about this phenomenon indicate the need for us to focus more on the personality of the player instead on the general content of these video games.</P><P><B>Ego-Shooters and other Shooting Games and Violent Traits</B></P><P>There is no reason to worry that your kid would turn into a sociopath or a serial killer when he or she gets hooked on video games, particularly those with extremely violent and gory content. However, psychologists suggest that parents be on their toes and observe any palpable changes in their kid's behavior, and if they become impulsive, moody and anti-social, then they may have to take necessary action and reduce the time spent by their kids playing their favorite shooting game.</P><P>The psychological impact of video games is a complex issue, and there are simply a lot of misconceptions and confusion about the real effects of video games with violent themes on the psychological and mental disposition of growing kids and teenagers. We cannot simply label an ego shooting or first person shooting game as either good or bad. There are several variables that need to be taken into account when assessing the real impact of such violent-laden games on the personality and behavior of an individual. For instance, a person with a specific disposition may exhibit ill-effects when playing this type of games.</P><P><B>Hostile Tendencies of Video Game Addicts</B></P><P>A team of psychologists recently noted a slight increase in the hostile tendencies of their study group and such hostile tendencies were linked to specific personality traits. The experiment showed that video players who tend to manifest hostile behavior were those who have abnormally high levels of neuroticism and excessively low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness. The research divided the participants into 2 groups - one group played video games with violent theme and the other group played games with non-violent theme.</P><P>According to the proponents of the research, the hostile tendencies are largely influenced by the level of competition of the game and not by its violent content. Irrespective of the theme of the game, highly competitive games tend to trigger aggressive responses from the players.</P><P>Video gaming has continually grown by leaps and bounds. Some sectors are raising the red flag and insisting on the potential link between aggression and the level of violent content of games. However, there are also studies that disprove this claim. Amid these conflicting positions, parents and advocacy groups should be more vigilant in monitoring and guiding kids about the potential ill-effects of video games with extremely violent content.</P><P>Check out the wide array of Shooting Games that your kids can play and find out what makes Online Games a safe medium of entertainment and a tool in promoting a healthy level of competitiveness of growing kids and young teenagers.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6691615" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2152607401416413342?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-20582789818063965252011-11-17T19:34:00.000-08:002011-11-17T19:34:00.498-08:00 It was a grand year for PlayStation fans. We saw some of the greatest PS2 games to date, and a little thing called the PS3. <P>Here we have the creme de la creme of PS2 games. Each game represents the best of its genre, and then they are ranked against each other. <P>The toughest part about this year's list? Picking the best PS2 game of the year. It was tight between the top three, but in the end, I think I made the right call. <P>Whether or not you agree with my ranking, all ten of these PS2 games are must have titles, and you could do worse than playing any of them.</P>Okami is not only my pick for game of the year, but I'm going to have to re-rank my top 10 PS2 games of all time list, as this game deserves a top spot in any one's collection. It is one of the most original, beautiful games ever created on any system. The unique art style, the calligraphy, the characters... this videogame made me want to move back to Japan. Okami is simply stunning, both to watch and play. <B>Rated:</B> Teen <br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/PS2TopTen2K6.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-2058278981806396525?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-39314987728104122052011-11-17T13:00:00.000-08:002011-11-17T13:00:02.135-08:00 Dancing games have come a long way from the seemingly random steps of Dance Dance Revolution. Thanks to Kinect's fully body motion tracking, dance games are much more realistically choreographed and not just insane numbers of steps like DDR tends to be. Even with Kinect and accurate tracking of all your moves, however, there is still some wiggle room for what direction a game wants to go. Some games try to replicate the DDR experience (DanceMasters). Some games try to teach you club-worthy routines (Dance Central). Some games just want you to have fun, which is where Just Dance 3 comes in. Just Dance 3 is sort of laid back and easy, often times hilarious because the dance moves you're doing are anything but "club worthy", but it is also really, really fun because of it. Find out all of the details here in our full review.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Kinect Sensor Required</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Ubisoft <B>Developer</B>: Ubisoft Paris <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E10" for Everyone 10+ <B>Genre</B>: Dancing <B>Pros</B>: Nice presentation; good song list; unlockable content; laid back scoring makes it fun <B>Cons</B>: 4-player isn't going to happen for most people <P><B>Features</B> <P>Just Dance has been tearing up Wii sales charts since its debut in 2009. Now the series makes its debut on Kinect with Just Dance 3, with different controls from the Wii-mote waggling of past games, of course. Kinect offers full body controls, and Just Dance 3 takes full advantage of it with accurate motion tracking and fun routines. <P>The menus are pretty much a direct copy of Dance Central's menu system (hey, Kinect menus are pretty important, so might as well copy the best) and work really great. The whole up or down hand motion to choose menu items, and then a left or right hand swipe to select it is pretty much perfect. <P>In addition to single and two-player modes, which work great, Just Dance 3 also offers up to 4-player simultaneous gameplay. This is a first for Kinect and exceeds what many folks thought possible, but it also shows why it hasn't happened before. The motion tracking for 4 players is pretty inconsistent and, frankly, good luck finding a big enough space to actually fit four people clearly in front of Kinect where you aren't smacking each other in the face. It is hard enough for a lot of people to play 1-player Kinect games in small rooms. I can't imagine most people actually getting 4-player JD3 to work right. <P>Just Dance 3 for Kinect (and PS3) also features an exclusive Create Mode where you can record your own dance routines with Kinect. You can then play them later with friends, or even share them online with other players. Unfortunately, you can only share a handful of select songs online and not the whole track list, but it is a nice feature nonetheless.</P>As far as the actual dancing gameplay goes, Just Dance 3 hits a sweet spot between making you actually feel like you're dancing, but also never being too serious or judgemental. You play by mirroring the moves an on-screen dancer. There are also little cue cards that pop up in the corner to show you what you're supposed to do next, but they are usually pretty vague so it is best to just follow what the on-screen dancer is doing. This means your first trip through a song might not be very accurate, but you'll learn and be able to do it all better the next time. <P>The best part about JD3 is that the dance routines are meant to just be goofy and fun and not super serious. Playing air guitar or striking anime superhero poses (among other silly moves), along with lots of hand waving and hip shaking is the name of the game here. And it is really fun. The scoring in the game almost seems like an afterthought. You just dance along as best you can, enjoy the music, and have fun. You won't get scolded of booed off stage if you mess up. You just keep dancing. You do earn XP-style points that let you "level up", which unlocks new playlists and dances based on your performance, but getting decent scores even on your first time through a song isn't all that difficult. <P>Because of this, Dance Central 3 is the most immediately accessible and arguably the most fun dance game on Kinect. The dance moves are goofy, the scoring is super lenient, and the game is flat out fun.</P>The presentation is fairly simple, but nice. The on-screen dancers are painted with bright, neon colors that make them easy to see and follow. The UI is clean and easy to read. And the backgrounds usually match up with the specific song you're playing. Everything is sharp and great looking. <P>The sound is, as expected from a music / dancing game, great. The 40 songs on-disc, plus a number of DLC tracks, cover a wide range of genres and tastes and there is more than likely something that everyone will enjoy.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/Kinect-Game-Reviews/fr/Just-Dance-3-Review-X360-Kinect.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3931498772810412205?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-30523553305845369592011-11-17T12:29:00.000-08:002011-11-17T12:29:00.281-08:00 Fans of Legos and / or Star Wars are in for a treat with Lego Star Wars: The Videogame from Eidos. It skips the boring parts of the prequel Star Wars trilogy and jumps right to the best bits for some podracing, lightsaber dueling, action adventure game fun. It isn’t the longest or most complex game, but Lego Star Wars is undeniably fun and is worth checking out.First off, don’t be scared by the fact that every preview and review has called Lego Star Wars a kids game. To me, it seems like a great disservice to Traveller’s Tales and Eidos to call this a kids game because that label will only scare away people that would likely really enjoy it. It isn’t the most complicated game out there and the characters are pretty cute, but I don’t see why this is a “kids game”. Sure, kids will enjoy it, but those of us that grew up playing with Legos and dreaming we were off in a galaxy far, far away will be able to appreciate it even more. Don’t be fooled by other sites that want to give everything a label and categorize it. You will enjoy Lego Star Wars whether you’re 8 or 88 and that is what is most important. <P>Lego Star Wars is a retelling of the stories from Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III. It skips all of the lame parts and lets you play through the best parts of these movies. You’ll duel with Darth Maul and Count Dooku as well as take part in the coliseum battle at the end of Ep II and podracing on Tatooine along with much more. Everything is built with Lego blocks which give the game a unique look and feel so it really stands out among all of the uber-realistic games we see on Xbox.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/reviews/fr/legostarwarsrev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3052355330584536959?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-80831451849135134312011-11-17T09:58:00.000-08:002011-11-17T09:58:00.382-08:00 Sony has announced new games and services for the PlayStation Network. New details on Home and new downloadable PS3 games finally fill out the the clever, but thus far, hollow service. PlayStation gamers have been waiting with baited breath for announcements about Home, the free 3D online community for the PS3. <P>Featured upcoming PlayStation Network downloadable games include: echochrome - a puzzle game that uses the Sixaxis controller PAIN - a humorous action game WipeOut HD - a new addition to the popular futuristic air-racer game<P>Additionally, Sony unveiled a new sales/marketing strategy with two games, the much anticipated Warhawk, and SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Confrontation. Both games are going to be available via two different delivery methods, they can be downloaded via the PlayStation Network, or purchased from retail stores on Blu-ray disc. This is the first time that a dual-delivery method has been employed by a major videogame console. <P>Sony's demonstration of Home, however, took the PlayStation Network limelight. At the E3 Sony press conference, spokespeople presented both in person and as their own personalized avatars within the PlayStation Home 3D community service. While this combination of real-world and virtual-world dual presentation has occurred in Second Life, it was the first time it was demonstrated on a home videogame console. Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, outlined the key components of PlayStation Home. The following new features will all be a part of the free Home service when it launches this fall: <B>Launch Games Within PlayStation Home:</B> Users will have the ability to launch Blu-ray Disc (BD) or PlayStation Network games from inside PlayStation Home. Since PlayStation Home is designed to be a virtual meeting place for a worldwide community, users who want to play a game together can meet in one location to set options and start the multi-player online game. <B>New Home Square:</B> The newly designed Home Square replaces the PlayStation Home lobby concept first introduced at the Game Developers Conference in March. The new open-air space provides internal developers with more flexibility to build upon the community experience. <B>New Personal Spaces</B>: Four new apartments including a Beach House, Norwegian Cabin, Manhattan Penthouse and a traditional Japanese House, were introduced today to allow for additional user choice and personalization. Phil Harrison had the following remarks to add to his presentation of Home: "After more than three years in development, we’re preparing for a landmark global roll out of PlayStation Home in the fall. As an integrated service of PLAYSTATION Network, PlayStation Home will enable people to build connected communities around all of the entertainment experiences that PS3 has to offer." <P>Home looks to be one of the highlights of a very competitive fall/holiday videogame season. Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, commented on the importance of the PlayStation Network to the PS3's strategy: "Our goal is to deliver the most compelling entertainment experience to our PlayStation fans through PLAYSTATION Network. The interactive content sharing features of PlayStation Home, combined with the library of innovative downloadable games and entertainment, truly push the boundaries of our customer’s imaginations and deliver on the promise of an integrated content and community service." <P>With most of the services of the PlayStation network, including Home, being offered for free, it seems as though Sony is quite serious about taking on Microsoft's very successful Xbox Live service. </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/ps3/a/HomePSNDetails.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8083145184913513431?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-31347168282610366522011-11-17T02:32:00.000-08:002011-11-17T02:32:00.513-08:00 <P>Apple has always been known as an innovator and a forward-thinker, especially in recent years. Thanks to the success of their flagship product the iPod, the company has gone on to produce some of the most popular gadgets of all time. Take the iPhone for example, since its launch in 2007 it has taken the world by storm, and the numerous renditions of the hardware have made their way to every corner of the world. Now Apple have released the very latest addition to the iPhone family in the form of the iPhone 4S. It looks identical to the popular iPhone 4, but with plenty of extras inside. And one of the biggest focuses for the new device is graphics. Apple claims that the new A5 dual-core processor is capable of delivering seven times the graphical power along with other enhancements. So what can we expect the new iPhone 4S to bring to the world of iOS gaming?</P><P><STRONG>Better graphics</STRONG></P><P>Let's start off with the easy one: the new hardware will be able to produce games that look significantly better than the existing iPhone. The Retina Display is still intact, so graphics will remain crisp and sharp, but now the actual visuals will get an overhaul. Developers have done a lot with the existing hardware, with games like Infinity Blade</EM> and Shadowgun</EM> being notable cases -- so it'll be great to see what comes next. When Apple announced the iPhone 4S they showed a clip of Infinity Blade II</EM> with awesome effects that we can only dream of on the current iPhone, so who knows what other games developers can do with the new iPhone 4S.</P><P><STRONG>More voice integration</STRONG></P><P>The new iPhone comes with a voice-recognition system known as Siri, offering phone users an entirely new way to use their phones. They can do anything from sending a text message to making an order for truck rental, all in just a few words. It's much more than simple voice commands and it's integrated deeply within the phone's firmware. So how will Siri affect gaming? Well, there's been no official confirmation that Siri will be used within games; however if the functionality is there, why wouldn't there eventually be some games that use it? With Siri's first-rate voice recognition capabilities there are all sorts of gameplay twists and turns developers could try out. Sure, they may not all work out, but it'd be a really interesting step for iOS gaming to take.</P><P>More developers making better games</P><P>With the focus that Apple has put on graphics with this new hardware, it's clear that they're really serious about the iPhone being a 'real' handheld gaming console. There is no doubt that developers will take inspiration from this and start to develop better and better games. Plus, if Apple continue to focus on gaming, we could see some of the big triple-A console titles making their way to the iOS platform. With plenty of controller peripherals in the works for the iPhone and iPad, these games won't even be limited to just touch screen controls anymore -- and let's not forget about the potential of voice control!</P><P><STRONG>The future of iOS gaming</STRONG></P><P>So does the iPhone 4S mark the beginning of something special for iOS gaming? Well, we certainly think so. Apple has created the most powerful smartphone ever and given it bleeding edge tech with which to create better graphics, smoother gameplay, and more possibilities. We can only assume that Apple will continue this trend with the next rendition of the iPhone, and of course, the iPad and iPod Touch too. The entire family of Apple products is likely to grow to allow for more games to be played and to give players more ways to enjoy them. With companies like Nintendo opening the door to gaming for all, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Apple using the success of their products to make them credible gaming devices. At the moment many people look at them simply as phones, tablets and MP3 players -- but they have so much more potential, especially in the gaming market and we couldn't be more excited to discover what Apple will do with them next.</P><P>PocketFullOfApps specializes in iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad Game News, Reviews, Previews, and Giveaways. Follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.<BR>http://pocketfullofapps.com/</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6654738" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3134716828261036652?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-72123848487001616282011-11-17T01:46:00.000-08:002011-11-17T01:46:00.200-08:00 Without a doubt, Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the best games I've played on any system. After finishing it I put down the controller and knew I had just experienced something beautiful. <P>Incredible graphics, voice acting, and action only scratch the surface of what Makes Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots something special. It took all of the earlier games to set this one up, and MGS4 takes full advantage of the fact. <P>The game is enjoyable for new comers, who will enjoy one of the finest stealth/action games ever made, but it is the Metal Gear Solid fans who will swoon over the story arcs and characters in this game. MGS4 is an accomplishment in gaming, and is simply not to be missed. </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/TopTenPS3Games2008.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7212384848700161628?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-39451770882601854522011-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:002011-11-16T21:17:00.048-08:00 Don’t let the cute and colorful aesthetic fool you, Mini Ninjas might be “kid friendly”, but that doesn’t mean it is “kids only”. It is fun and funny and accessible and a blast to play through for gamers of all ages. This is going to go down as one of the great underrated games of this generation. Find out all about Mini Ninjas in our full review.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Eidos <B>Developer</B>: Io Interactive <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E” for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Action <B>Pros</B>: Great art style; funny; possessing animals; fun gameplay <B>Cons</B>: Short; no other content; too easy <P>Mini Ninjas tells a story about young ninjas sent out into the world to fight a growing evil but never return. Hiro, the smallest of the ninjas and last one to be sent out, has to find his friends and eventually confront the Evil Samurai Warlord. How can he be successful when his friends failed? He has the unique ability to use Kuji magic, which lets him conjure lightning and fire and even possess animals. <P>Unlike other recent ninja games, Mini Ninjas is decidedly kid friendly. There is no blood or excessive violence. The characters are kids. The story is simple. But it is still amazingly awesome. It is fun and funny and there is something refreshing about breaking the ninja-genre down into its base parts and presenting something simple and accessible. Kids will like it. Grown ups will like it. Everyone will like it. <P>It has to be said that it is a bit on the short side, and the replay value isn’t great unless you are an Achievement junkie. There aren’t any other play modes, only the story mode. The price tag is less than a normal 360 game at only $50, which definitely helps, but it is still a tough call in terms of overall value.</P>The gameplay is deceptively simple. When you start out, it is a standard hack and slash game where you just pound the attack buttons and smack enemies around. As you progress, you find magic spells and other ninjas that help beef the gameplay up a bit. Each of the 5 other ninjas you rescue has unique abilities and you can switch back and forth between them at will. One is an archer, one has a big hammer, one has a spear, etc., and switching between them opens up a world of depth. <P>The magic you can use is also interesting in that you can do normal things like cast fireballs and lightning, but you can also enter the spirit realm and possess animals. There are foxes and rabbits and bears and boars and all sorts of animals, and when you are an animal you can sneak past enemy soldiers. The game always gives you multiple ways of getting through a situation, whether you sneak around as a ninja, sneak around as an animal, or simply fight everyone you see - you always have an option. It ensures that the gameplay always stays varied and interesting and you never have to do the same thing twice if you don’t want to. <P>There is also a potion mixing aspect of the game where you collect flowers and mushrooms and other things to mix your own health or MP potions. It isn’t any more complex than selecting stuff from a menu, but it lets you focus on the gameplay rather than worrying about your health bar. </P>Also worth noting are the boss fights. You’ll fight an enemy on tall stilts and have to figure out how to cut him down to size, a bird enemy, a smelly man where you have to figure out how to avoid his smell, and other similarly silly bosses. The battles are usually quite simple and are really nothing more than quick-time-events where you get in the right position and have to press buttons as they pop up on screen, but the variety of the boss-types and the way the battles play out make them seem much bigger and more interesting than just QTEs. <P>Pretty much everything about the gameplay in Mini Ninjas seems too simple and kind of stupid on paper, but when you actually play it, everything is just really fun. It is consistently entertaining throughout the 6-8 hours it takes to play through it and there is literally nothing that you’re just going to hate and complain about. Mini Ninjas is pure uninhibited fun, and that is a good thing. <P><B>Graphics</B> <P>Mini Ninjas is a nice looking game. The environments are bight and colorful and really clean and uncluttered. The character designs are simple, but effective, and fit in with the environments perfectly. It is a cute, cuddly game about ninjas that the whole family can love. <P><B>Sound</B> <P>The sound is also really well done. The music fits the gameplay perfectly and sounds really good. There is also a bit of voice work – with dialogue that is intentionally cheesy and bad – and it is all well performed and will get a chuckle or two out of you.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/minininjasrev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3945177088260185452?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-59365396879518132512011-11-16T17:34:00.000-08:002011-11-16T17:34:00.370-08:00 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - PS3<br /><P></P><br /><P>© Sony One Part Indiana Jones, two parts Tomb Raider, a splash of Resident Evil, float a little sarcasm (OK a lot of sarcasm), stir in a half-tucked shirt and you've got one of the best PS3 games to date, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.It’s the middle of the afternoon, the sun is high, and the rich foliage of the forest surrounds you. Your pants still wet from crossing a shallow pond stick to your thighs. All of a sudden you see an object glimmering on top of a ledge. You climb the stone wall and make your way toward the unidentified object. You are near the it when all of a sudden the ledge you are on breaks, and you narrowly escape falling two stories down to your grave. The glimmering object is now within your hands and you discover it to be a silver Mayan necklace. All of a sudden a bullet slings by your head. An explosion detonates mere feet from you. A raspy voice utters, "Your head is mine!" The attack has begun.</P><br /><P> Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - jump! (PS3)</P><br /><P></P><br /><P>© SonyThe above scenario is one of the countless that you’ll encounter in Naughty Dog’s newest game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune for the Playstation 3 (PS3). The game places you in the shoes of Nathan Drake, an explorer and modern-day adventurer, who believes that he is a descendant of Francis Drake, a man who supposedly to have seen the city of El Dorado. The premise of the game surrounds Nathan’s journey as he uncovers the true secret of Francis and El Dorado. Of course, Nathan is not alone on his quest, accompanying our hero is his old, trusted friend Sullivan and a spunky, independent reporter named Elena. Two allies that prove valuable as you fend off wave after wave of modern day pirates, mercenaries, and treasure hunter who are willing to eliminate anyone in their way to attain the treasures of El Dorado. Our trio’s main opposition is led by Gabriel Roman a treasure hunter who is willing to use any resource to achieve his goal.Uncharted's biggest accomplishment is its ability to plunge the player deep into its fantasy world. From the brushing blades of grass as you walk on top of them, to the random calls of the wildlife permeating through out the forest, the game makes you feel that you are Nathan Drake. I don’t know of any other game that was able to make the player to feel as immersed in the experience as Uncharted. This feeling of interactivity is even more prevalent during a shoot-out. Enemies will dodge and weave trying to hide themselves from the line of you crossfire. When you shoot at your attackers and miss, they try to move in unpredictable ways to prevent you from shooting at them a second time. The fact that your enemy AI tries to develop a way to flush you out, and then trap you in a corner was something that I found quite refreshing and far beyond the skill of most computer controlled NPCs. The graphics are truly remarkable in this game and truly adds to the experience of the player. The it’s the most subtle of all details that makes Uncharted’s graphics stand out among its current-gen peers. In fact, the game’s biggest graphic push is the revolutionary way they were able to make Nathan shirt half-tuck, truly a revolutionary concept that will perhaps change the way we think about the design of our videogame characters, and the way gamers dress.</P><br /><P> Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Amazon ruins (PS3)</P><br /><P></P>© SonyHowever, after all this accolade, Uncharted is not without its flaws. For a game that has a lot of shooting, Nathan’s aim seems to be off. In some instances I will have a clear headshot, but then for some absurd reason I still missed my assailant’s melon. It seems like the bullet would sometimes just phase through his cabeza. It’s not that this problem is so glaring that happens in every confrontation, but it does take away some of the game’s experience when this bug occurs. There’s also the fact that some enemies (being very careful not to toss out a spoiler here for you) later on in the game, can be beat with an easy tactic of jumping on top of a platform and watching them run around below so you could shoot them down. I know that this might be a bit extreme, but when they said next-gen, the least that I expect is that the enemy themselves should be smart enough to be able to climb on the same platform and at least attempt to beat me down.if(zSbL <br /><P><A href="http://playstation.about.com/od/playstationreviews/fr/UnchartedReview.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-5936539687951813251?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-5648285454646260622011-11-16T14:56:00.000-08:002011-11-16T14:56:00.437-08:00 Dirt 2 is the best offroad racing game of this gen so far. It takes everything that made the first Dirt good and polishes it even more to produce a bigger, better looking, better playing game that is a must buy for racing fans. The gameplay is a satisfying mix of arcade and sim that is surprisingly forgiving, so players of all skill levels will be able to pick it up and have fun. It also doesn’t hurt that it is one of the prettiest looking racing games yet. Find out all of the details right here.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Codemasters <B>Developer</B>: Codemasters <B>Also On</B>: PS3 <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “T” for Teen <B>Genre</B>: Offroad Racing <B>Pros</B>: Great graphics; awesome gameplay; tons of races <B>Cons</B>: X-Treme menus kind of suck; not enough true rally events <P>Dirt 2’s main mode is the career mode where, as is the norm in every racing game, you are a newcomer to the sport so you have to work your way up the ranks. Along the way, you’ll face off with other drivers including Travis Pastrana, Ken Block (go look up his gymkhana videos), Dave Mirra, and Tanner Faust. In an interesting twist, they aren’t really there to trash talk and beat you down. In fact, all of the other drivers generally have nothing but good things to say about you no matter what you do, which is kind of cool, actually. You’ll travel around the world tackling a number of different race types and eventually will get to participate in the X-Games (but not the real course from the X-Games …). It is all pretty straightforward, but you constantly earn XP and new cars and new stuff so you are always motivated to keep playing. There are also a few really nice, respectful nods to Colin McRae in the career that I really appreciated. <P>I wasn’t crazy about the menu system at first, which is pretty in-your-face “x-treme” and kind of annoying. Compared to the super clean menus of the first Dirt, it is a pretty jarring change. You do get used to it, eventually, so it isn’t a huge problem. And I gotta say the prizes and doo-dads you collect as you win races that pile up in your trailer are pretty cool.</P>The gameplay is simply amazing. It is definitely loose and arcadey and kind of floaty, but it also is firmly rooted in real physics. You can slide around and throw your car all over the track pretty much at will, but there is a definite limit to how far you can push it and if you go too far you pay for it. With that said, the game is still very forgiving. There are multiple difficulty levels and a surprisingly smooth learning curve, so whether you are an offroad veteran or a newbie, Dirt 2 is really easy to get into. <P>There are several different race-types to play including standard point-to-point rallies (not nearly enough) and hillclimbs, trailblazer (rally without a co-driver), landrush (closed track events), and rallycross (stadium events like they have at the X-Games). Each event requires different vehicles and there are 35 to choose from ranging from traditional Subaru and Mitsubishi rally cars to finely tuned BMWs and Nissan Z’s all the way up to Hummers and Dodge trucks. Each one handles pretty uniquely, and they’re all fun to drive, so transitioning between vehicles and race types is painless. There are limited tuning options available, but we found you really don’t need to change much to be successful. If you want to, though, the changes make a noticeable difference. <P>One final gameplay note is that the game offers a rewind feature so if you make a mistake you can rewind and try again. It is completely optional, but a nice feature when you don’t see a turn coming or another drive spins you out or something.</P><B>Multiplayer</B> <P>The first Dirt had a pitiful multiplayer option. Dirt 2’s is much better. Any and every race from the career can be played online. There is also extensive stat tracking and comparison abilities in the game so you can check out what your friends are doing in career quickly and easily, which is pretty cool. <P><B>Graphics</B> <P>The graphics are one of the absolute best parts of Dirt 2. The environments are gorgeous looking, and the cars are nicely modeled and fully deformable when you wreck. The damage model really is impressive here. Also impressive are little touches like the lighting during night races, the way dust collects on your car, and the amazing looking water and mud that gets on your windshield and the entirely realistic way the windshield wipers work. The in-car view is pretty much perfect and is the way I’d recommend playing. <P><B>Sound</B> <P>The sound isn’t spectacular, but it gets the job done. The banter from the other drivers sounds phoned-in, and it repeats a lot. The music is typical “x-treme” rock that you’d expect. I do have to say I like the engine sounds. I don’t know if they’re all that realistic, but they sound good. There is something about the high-pitched whine of the 350Z that sounds awesome.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/dirt2rev.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-564828545464626062?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-62400895749233768682011-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:002011-11-16T08:25:00.852-08:00 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has announced the product specifications for the handheld video game system, PlayStation Portable (PSP), three-dimensional-CG games incorporating high-quality, full-motion video similar to PlayStation 2 can be played anytime, anywhere with PSP. PSP is scheduled to be launched in Japan in the end of 2004, followed by the North American and European launches in the spring of 2005. <P>PSP comes in a black color, with a 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD centered in a sleek ergonomic design with a high-quality finish that fits comfortably in the hands. The dimensions are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm with a weight of 260g. PSP features a high-quality TFT LCD that displays full color (16.77 million colors) on a 480 x 272 pixel high-resolution screen. It also comes complete with the basic functions of a portable player such as built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector, brightness control and sound mode selection. Keys and controls inherit the same operability of PlayStation and PlayStation 2, familiar to fans all over the world. <P>PSP also comes equipped with diverse input/output connectors such as USB 2.0, and 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN, providing connectivity to various devices in the home and to the wireless network outside. The world of gaming is further enhanced by enabling users to enjoy online gaming, or by connecting multiple PSPs to each other, directly via the wireless network. In addition, software and data can be downloaded through a USB or wireless network onto Memory Stick PRO Duo. All of these features can be enjoyed on one single system. <P>PSP adopts a small but high-capacity optical medium UMD (Universal Media Disc), enabling game software, rich with full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content, to be stored. The newly developed UMD, the next-generation compact storage media, is only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as music video clips, movies and sports programs can be provided on UMD. To protect this entertainment content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit. <P>SCEI intends to aggressively promote PSP and UMD as the new handheld entertainment platform for the coming era. <P><B>PSP Product Specifications</B> Product Name: PlayStation Portable (PSP) Color: Black Dimensions: Approx. 170 mm (L) x 74 mm (W) x 23 mm (D) Weight: Approx. 260 g (including battery) CPU: PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1~333MHz) Main Memory: 32MB Embedded DRAM: 4MB Display: 4.3 inch, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD, 480 x 272 pixel (16.77 million colors), Max. 200 cd/m2 (with brightness control) Speakers: Built-in stereo speakers Main Input/Output: IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi), USB 2.0 (Target), Memory Stick™ PRO Duo, IrDA, IR Remote (SIRCS) Disc Drive: UMD Drive (Playback only) Profile: PSP Game, UMD Audio, UMD Video Main Connectors: DC OUT 5V, Terminals for charging built-in battery, Headphone/Microphone/Control connector Keys/Switches: Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left)Analog pad, Enter keys (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), Left, Right keys START, SELECT, HOME, POWER On/Hold/Off switch, Brightness control, Sound Mode, Volume +/-, Wireless LAN On/Off switch, UMD Eject Power: Built-in lithium-ion battery, AC adaptor Access Control: Region Code, Parental Control Accessories: Stand, Headphone with remote commander, Headphone with remote commander and microphone, External battery pack, Case, Strap E3 Prototype Exhibition: USB Camera for PSP, USB GPS for PSP, USB Keyboard for PSP <P><B>UMD Specifications</B> Dimensions: Approx. 65 mm (W) x 64 mm (D) x 4.2 mm (H) Weight: Approx. 10g Disc Diameter: 60 mm Maximum Capacity: 1.8GB (Single-sided, dual layer) Laser wavelength: 660nm (Red laser) Encryption: AES 128bit Profile: PSP Game (full function), UMD Audio (codec ATRAC3plus™, PCM, (MPEG4 AVC)), UMD Video (codec MPEG4 AVC, ATRAC3plus™, Caption PNG) <P>-from Sony </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/psp/a/PSPSpecs.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6240089574923376868?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-79062172281381227482011-11-16T05:07:00.001-08:002011-11-16T05:07:27.085-08:00 <P>Do you really have to push it too far to get things done in the workplace? Can you justify the risk of a serious heart attack with the potential income that you can earn as a productive and effective manager? There are serious issues that you need to ponder on as you try to build a reputation of a manager who can deliver the goods. Company managers and bosses should provide for a stress-free work setting. In order to do this, managers and supervisors must recognize the triggers or sources of work-related stress and take the necessary corrective actions to reduce or prevent or control these triggers of work-related stress.</P><P><B>Immediate Impact of Work-Related Stress</B></P><P>Work-related stress seriously impairs our mental faculties and reduces our level of productivity. It also increases the pressure on top and middle management positions and makes people susceptible to a wide range of health problems, like mental or heart issues. Stress in the workplace also affects basic mental functions like cognitive learning, reasoning, concentration and memory.</P><P>More than 13 million working hours are wasted each year by managers and supervisors due to pressures in the workplace. Experts estimate that over 70 percent of health problems experienced by managers and supervisors requiring medical attention and intervention are directly linked to the pressures of their job. The ill-effects of stressful situations in the workplace can easily translate into significant losses in terms of company productivity and profitability. It is a double-edged problem and impacts on revenue generation as well as on the operating expenses of the company.</P><P>While we are overly concerned with the immediate impact on our health, it is imperative for managers and supervisors to adopt stress management programs so that they don't end up as a debilitated or sickly person while trying to manage and handle the affairs of their company.</P><P><B>Main Triggers and Symptoms of Stress in the Workplace</B></P><P>A heavy workload and long working hours can put a lot of pressure on managers and supervisors. In a recent industry study, it was reported that nearly 500,000 professionals are subjected to stressful situations at a level that can already affect their health. Chronic stress can lead to depression and anxiety, and these are the major reasons why managers and supervisors seek medical and psychiatric help.</P><P>While stress can become a motivating factor, if the pressures and demands of the work get excessively high, it can cause serious illnesses and even trigger heart attacks. Stress is actually the natural reaction of people when subjected to excessive pressure at the work place. Typical symptoms associated with the condition include dry mouth, palpitation, headache, loss of appetite and reduced sexual libido. A sound stress management program is extremely necessary if you want to control this harmful condition and improve your overall health and well-being.</P><P>Certain Games can be used as effective stress reliever. Check it out and see how you can relieve stress while improving your management skills through Time Management Games.</P><br /><p><a href="http://EzineArticles.com/6691614" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-7906217228138122748?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-91304243284190664742011-11-16T05:03:00.001-08:002011-11-16T05:03:59.902-08:00 The special guitar that is being developed for Power Gig: ROTSS is a fully functioning real electric guitar produced by First Act (company known for making beginner-level musical instruments). It is 2/3 the size of a normal electric and uses a special string dampener that will hold the strings in place to prevent them from actually ringing out during gameplay. The dampener can be removed and the guitar will function like a normal electric guitar when plugged into an amplifier. <P>In-game, the guitar will have two modes. On the neck of the guitar are colored frets similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. In the normal mode, colored frets will appear onscreen and you have to play that fret on any string. In advanced mode, the colored frets will also include a number telling you which string you have to play. It isn't nearly as advanced as Rock Band 3's Pro Guitar mode, but it is certainly a step up from typical plastic instrument music games.</P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/news/ig/Power-Gig--ROTSS-Gallery/Power-Gig-ROTSS-guitar-1.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-9130424328419066474?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-45029338759667317442011-11-16T00:24:00.000-08:002011-11-16T00:24:00.124-08:00 Criterion Games has announced that Burnout Paradise will be available via download from the PLAYSTATION Network in the PLAYSTATION Store for $29.99 this Fall. No word yet as to the size of the download, but one should expect it to be hefty. <P>Earlier this year, Criterion Games kicked off ‘The Year of Paradise.' The Year of Paradise is a year-long direct-to-consumer program where Criterion Games regularly releases new game-changing downloadable content that is designed to evolve the game beyond its initial retail release. <P>The first update is already available, free of charge through the PLAYSTATION Network and Xbox LIVE Marketplace. It includes three new game modes, new cars and 70 new multi-part challenges, extending the game with hours of new gameplay. The download pack also introduces a live news page where players can track their game progress and find out news on upcoming online multiplayer events. More game-changing downloadable content is coming this Fall for Burnout Paradise, including trophy support and motorcycles free of charge through the PLAYSTATION Network and Xbox LIVE Marketplace. <P>In a press release from EA, Fiona Sperry, Studio Manager for Criterion Games said, “Our mission at Criterion is to provide the most entertaining gaming service possible. In order to do that, it’s key that we have the ability to deliver content to players in ways that work for them – through quick and easy download or via traditional bricks and mortar. For us, the fun is in playing the game with friends and constantly discovering new surprises in the world. Download packs with meaningful new gameplay are the perfect way for us to keep entertaining fans and keep them playing, even months after launch.” <P>Burnout Paradise is now available on the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system for the greatest hits/classics price of $29.99 in North America. The game is rated E10+ by the ESRB and 3+ by PEGI. <P>This article contains information provided by the publisher of Burnout Paradise. </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/news/a/BurnoutParadise.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4502933875966731744?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-85113670463144426202011-11-15T16:44:00.000-08:002011-11-15T16:44:00.375-08:00 Microsoft's Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel has been kind of confusing for gamers, so let me spell out exactly what it is. It is not a Kinect accessory. Period. Instead, the Wireless Speed Wheel is a stand-alone motion control device for racing games, similar to using the Wii Wheel to play Mario Kart Wii or other Wii racing games, but it works way better. With a slick design, great performance, and acceptable price tag, the Wireless Speed Wheel is worth a look, though it does have some limitations.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft <B>Genre</B>: Steering Wheel <B>Pros</B>: Slick design; works really well <B>Cons</B>: Lack of buttons; no vibration <P><B>Design</B> <P>The Wireless Speed Wheel is a slickly designed "U" shaped device with a little magic motion sensing doodad in a round center piece. The left handle of the "U" has the Left Trigger (usually the brake in most racing games) and a d-pad. The right handle of the "U" has the Right Trigger (usually the accelerator in most racing games) and the A,B,X,Y buttons. The A,B,X,Y buttons are interesting because they are much smaller than the same buttons on a normal controller, which lets you easily hit more than one at a time with your thumb if you need to. The center piece of the controller has the Xbox Guide button along with Back and Start buttons. On the back of the controller is the Xbox 360 system sync button along with a button that releases the cover on the battery compartment. The tips of the "U" can glow green during gameplay and will light up depending on what you're doing, which definitely looks cool. <P><B>Battery Life</B> <P>The wheel requires two "AA" batteries, which are included. We're not sure about how long battery life will be as we've been playing Forza 4 with it for a week or so and they haven't run out yet. At any rate, a set of rechargeable batteries, like Sanyo's Eneloop brand, is recommended. <P><B>Cost</B> <P>The MSRP for the Wireless Speed Wheel is $59.99, which is more than a standard Xbox 360 controller. That price, however, is also much less than most full steering wheel / pedal setups for Xbox 360, which balances things out a bit. The price does raise it a bit out of "impulse buy" territory, but if you play a lot of racing games but aren't hardcore enough to invest in a full wheel, it is worth a look. It is also great for kids / wives / girlfriends intimidated by complicated controls. With the Wireless Speed Wheel, you just steer like you would a real car, which is very appealing for casual players.</P>The size of the Wireless Speed Wheel is just a little bigger than a standard Xbox 360 controller. It looks big in the box, but the controller itself is actually really reasonably sized once you get it in your hands. I have pretty average sized hands and had no problems with using it. I can't imagine people with bigger or smaller hands having problems with it, though, since the design of the controller is so simple - big wide triggers to hit, rounded comfortable handles, and then you just physically turn it in the air to use it. Kids and adults alike can use it with no problems. <P>The first thing you'll notice when using the wheel is that it is absolutely intuitive to use. It works with pretty much all Xbox 360 racing games with zero setup. It does come with a setup disc, but I just jumped right into Forza 4 and it worked fine automatically. Once you're in a race, the motion sensitive steering is very, very good. It isn't like with the Wii Wheel where there is a sort of delay (because, lets face it, the Wii motion tech is 5+ years older than this ...), you turn the wheel and your car immediately responds. Small movements. Big movements. The wheel accurately relays the data to the game. Using the cockpit view and watching your in-game driver make the exact same moves you're making at nearly the same exact time just goes to show you how accurate it is. It feels really surprisingly great to use, and after a race or two to get used to it, it is completely second nature. <P>The steering works well, but the triggers also deserve some praise. The triggers have an extra long throw on them, which means you can really feather the gas and brake. Incredibly important with the new handling model in Forza 4. You have really precise control over your speed using the Wireless Speed Wheel. <P>One important thing that is worth mentioning is that the wheel doesn't have to be held out in front of you in the air to work right. You can actually rest it in your lap and it still works fine. Of course, in tighter, more exciting on-track situations you'll probably find yourself raising it up in the air anyway. But it is nice to know you don't have to have big muscle-y arms to use it for long periods of time. You can relax with the wheel in your lap and only make little turns with it and it works just fine. <P>Another great bonus is that because it is small you can actually put it away out of the way when you're not playing a racing game. Full racing wheel just take up too much space and can be a pain to set up. With the Wireless Racing Wheel you just get it out of a drawer or box and turn it on and you're ready to go with no setup. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xboxaccessories/fr/Xbox-360-Wireless-Speed-Wheel-Review-X360.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8511367046314442620?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-67607425325770653822011-11-15T15:03:00.000-08:002011-11-15T15:03:00.798-08:00 While there are plenty of 3rd party gaming headsets there are surprisingly few surround sound ones, even fewer with a mic for online gaming, and none that can even hold a candle to Tritton's Audio Xtreme 360 (AX360) surround sound gaming headset. I never thought I would be this impressed with a headset. But as a guy who has to keep the volume down to appease the neighbors, this is a godsend. With only one minor design issue, no mute for the mic, this is nearly a perfect headset for PC and console gamers. For the uninitiated, Dolby 5.1 surround sound uses two front, two rear, one center and one sub woofer (that's the .1 in 5.1) to create an audio experience superior to stereo not only in sound, but effect. Everyone loves to throw in the Juraassic Park DVD to show off their surround sound, as it features the sounds of dinosaurs surrounding you, and making small children cry. For gamers, there have been three major obstacles to bringing surround sound to the masses: price, headsets, and disruption. The Tritton AX360 surround sound gaming headset brings a near perfect solution to console cowboys and PC generals alike. <P>Sure, everyone loves home theaters, and surround sound movies are grand, but surround sound gaming is an experience like none other. From bullets whizzing by to actually hearing where an enemy is before you see them brings the whole experience to life. Unfortunately surround sound systems are expensive, difficult to set up, tend to bug the poor downstairs neighbor, and can interfere with voice chat in online games. The AX60 is a solid piece of hardware that is easy on the wallet and those around you. <P>As a certified Dolby Digital 5.1 headset, you know you are going to get great sound quality, and the AX360 delivers. It is unreal how the drivers in the headset create a real sense of space. By tweaking the delay settings, you get even more effect. The bass, as is the case with most headphones, is mediocre, but the rumble effect not only adds to game play, but since it is timed to the bass, it enhances its effect as well. The headset comes with skimpy instructions, but a generous collection of connectors and cables are included. <P>The only weaknesses are the lack of a mute button for the boom mic, and no bluetooth support, which is a shame for PS3 gamers. Otherwise, this is the headset every gamer needs, for convenience and quality.</P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/hardwareandaccessories/gr/AX360Review.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6760742532577065382?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-41359115987806935142011-11-15T05:03:00.000-08:002011-11-15T05:03:00.154-08:00 Logitech's family of Harmony universal remote controls is incredible, save for one major flaw, they are not compatible with one of the best Blu-ray players out there, the PlayStation 3. <P>The Harmony Universal Remote Adapter solves that problem and allows for the Logitech remotes to function surprisingly well with the PS3... home entertainment enthusiasts around the world rejoice!</P>The Logitech Harmony Adapter for the PlayStation 3 is nothing short of a godsend. While the Sony's decision to go with Bluetooth may have worked wonders for the Sixaxis and DualShock controllers, as well as allowed gamers to use Bluetooth headsets with the PS3, it prevented the PS3 from being used with almost all the universal remotes out there. <P>While this may not be a big deal for some, for those who used their PS3 as a Blu-ray disk player, it was a nightmare. Even if you had a wonderful universal remote, you still had to use either the PS3's controller or the official PS3 remote to watch movies, so at the very least it required that you have two remotes to watch a Blu-ray. <P>This was a problem both for home entertainment aficionados, who have spent countless hours tuning their systems and hundreds of dollars on high-end universal remotes, as well as casual Blu-ray users who either get confused by having multiple remotes, or simply don't want the hassle of keeping two remotes around. One always seems to get lost, run out of batteries, or simply be on the other side of the room. <P>Whether or not multiple remotes is a hassle depends on the user, but not having the option to use one at all, due to the PS3's lack of a IR input and use of Blutooth was bordering on criminal, after all, the PS3 was touted, and is, one of the better Blu-ray players out there and a very flexible part of a home entertainment system.</P>There are any number of adapters out there that purport to support universal remotes for the PS3. The problem is many of them simply don't work. Such is not the case with the Logitech Harmony Universal Remote Adapter for the PlayStation 3. Quite literally I plugged it into a power outlet, told the PS3 to register a Bluetooth remote, pressed the little sync button on the bottom of the adapter and I was using my Logitech Harmony 700 remote to control my PS3 in less than a minute. <P>Now, in all fairness, I had already configured the remote to work with the PS3, but the adapter was able to sync to the PlayStation 3 without a hitch and it worked perfectly right out of the box. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. <P>The real marvel of the little Harmony PS3 adapter is that is doesn't connect physically to the PS3 at all. Essential it's an IR to Bluetooth converter. It reads all the signals sent by your Logitech Harmony universal remote and converts them to Bluetooth. As far as your PS3 is concerned, you are using a Bluetooth remote. <P>The adapter not only allowed me to control Blu-ray disk playback, but all major PS3 functions. The Harmony remote can send all 51 PS3 commands. I used to to navigate the XMB, watch Blu-ray movies, streaming video from my PC, surf the web, and shut the PS3 down. It worked flawlessly, well for me at least.</P>Alright, so do I have any complaints about the adapter? Sure I do. It's a little expensive, I mean a Harmony universal remote already will set you back a good $150 dollars, or more, another $50-60 to get it to work with the PS3 hurts. It doesn't exactly match the PS3's styling, which is a minor complaint, but something Logitech is normally great at. <P>The Harmony adapter, and the remote, worked flawlessly for me, and I've been tickled with how much more a central role the PS3 now plays in my home entertainment system. But there are reports out there that not everyone is having the same experience. <P>Some folks around the web are complaining that the Harmony adapter causes interference with their PS3 controllers, or that it causes the controllers to disconnect, requiring you to resync them. Others say it doesn't work with the PS3 slim at all. <P>Unfortunately, I have not been able to substanitate these claims. But you should be aware of them, and keep your receipts just in case. <P>While the Harmony PS3 universal remote adapter may be pricey the unit I have has revolutionized my home entertainment center and allowed me to enjoy the non-gaming features of my PlayStation 3 more than ever before. While one can argue that the harmony remotes should have Bluetooth built in, the adapter is a solid solution that will allow you currently available Logitech universal remotes easily and quickly. Finally having one remote to rule them all has been an epic experience.</P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/hardwareandaccessories/fr/LogitechHarmonyPS3Adapter.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-4135911598780693514?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-32463857669370253842011-11-14T20:51:00.000-08:002011-11-14T20:51:00.147-08:00 Yes, the "true" Half-Life 2 experience is to be had on a PC. Yes, I will admit that the mouse keyboard combo is a better hardcore option for shooters than the Sixaxis. But, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box is a superb PS3 game, and an excellent option should you not be able to, or want to play the PC version. Sure, it may run smoother on the Xbox 360 or have more community content on the PC, but if you want the experience, and have a PS3, this is not only adequate, it nears excellence. Playing Portal on your HDTV sitting on your couch beats the office chair/monitor setup any day of the week.Yes, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box is prettier on the PC and Xbox 360. If you have those platforms perhaps those are better options. Truth be told, you will still love it on the PS3, so don't beat yourself up if your Dell was built in 2001 or you don't have an Xbox 360, this version will do you just fine. <P>First, let's make sure you understand there are five full games on this disc: Half-Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1&2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The Half-Life games rank among the best single player first person shooters to date. The dark dystopic world is the perfect place for a shooter filled with incredible action, great puzzles, memorable characters, and shockingly good storytelling (yes, HL2 is that good). Portal is the short, surprisingly compelling first person puzzler that involves less shooting and more thinking. It is also one of those games people will be making insider comments about for years, it is a must-play. Team Fortress 2? This is pure online multiplayer madness. Think of online shooters, only with cartoony characters and incredibly well designed/balanced gameplay. <P>No I will not be able to review each game here individually, but suffice to say, I'd be willing to give each game in the set a 4 star rating individually, and I'd give Portal 5, it's that good. <P>If you somehow missed Half-Life 2, and really aren't a PC gamer (don't listen to the fan-boy press, there are far more console gamers than PC gamers these days) this will not only give you the chance to catch up on a modern classic, but to play some new content as well. The only thing keeping this from a five star rating is that the other versions (Xbox 360&PC) simply run better. A small complaint, but enough to keep it from perfection... it's darn close, however.</P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/playstationreviews/gr/TheOrangeBoxPS3.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-3246385766937025384?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-10616788228149379892011-11-14T18:30:00.000-08:002011-11-14T18:30:01.804-08:00 <B>Xbox 360 Controller –</B> Based on the Controller S but features a more ergonomic design for maximum comfort over long play sessions. Nine-foot breakaway cable Black and White buttons moved to shoulders for easier access Unprecedented level of rumble control – Set it to full, medium, low, or off Xbox Guide button gives you quick access to all of Xbox 360’s features as well as the ability to turn the system off an on from the comfort of your couch <P><B>Xbox 360 Wireless Controller –</B> Same design and features as the wired controller 30-foot range Up to 40 hours of gameplay on two AA batteries When batteries get low, you are given plenty of warning so you can connect a Play and Charge cable so you can keep playing and charge your controller at the same time <P><B>Xbox 360 Headset –</B> Easily adjustable boom microphone In-line volume and mute control for easy access Noise-canceling microphone provides crisp and clear communication Lightweight design Plugs directly into a port on Xbox 360 controllers <P><B>Memory Unit –</B> 64 MB of space provides plenty of room for game saves and Xbox Live profile so you can take them on the go Includes carrying case designed to fit on a keychain <P><B>Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote –</B> Turns your Xbox 360 on and off Xbox Guide Button Can control your TV A,B,X,Y buttons included for basic control of Xbox 360 system when a controller isn’t available Includes control buttons to easily browse your stored music, movies, and pictures <P><B>Xbox Live Camera –</B> Supports VGA video up to 640x480 at 30 frames-per-second and takes 1.3 megapixel still photos Camera includes microphone that attaches to controller for full video/voice chat Your face can be imported into games (such as Perfect Dark: Zero) and can also be placed next to your name on leaderboards for more recognition and fame <P><B>Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter –</B> Highly versatile and supports 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a Powered by the Xbox 360 itself so no need for extra power cables You can transfer video and music from your Media Center PC <br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox2/a/xbox360periph.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1061678822814937989?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-64444137113649449352011-11-14T11:47:00.000-08:002011-11-14T11:47:00.352-08:00 While all current PlayStation 3's (PS3) can play original PlayStation Games (PSone discs and downloadable classics) not all are PS2 compatible. <P>To make matters short, the 60GB and 20GB launch PS3's are backwards compatible with PS2 games because they have PS2 chips in them. Other models, most notably the 80GB Metal Gear Solid PS3 used to be backwards compatible (using emulation software) but now they aren't. <P>So, here are some steps to help you identify a PS2 backwards compatible 60GB or 20GB PS3. <P>There are many reasons why Sony could have cancelled backwards compatibility, but none are verified.</P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/hardwareandaccessories/ht/Can-Your-Ps3-Play-Ps2-Games-The-Lowdown-On-Backwards-Compatibility.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6444413711364944935?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-11615879032496972922011-11-14T03:18:00.000-08:002011-11-14T03:18:00.702-08:00 The Darkness takes an excellent, but little known comic-book series and turns it into one of the more original FPS games to date. <P>Not content with merely providing stellar production values (some of the best voice acting ever in a game). The Darkness also introduces new gameplay elements in the form of supernatural powers, demonic underlings, and the trademark giant tentacles that protrude from your body. <P>I admit that I was skeptical about this one, I simply thought there was no way to make a man with living-evil tentacles not look silly, but I was dead wrong. Jackie not only looked cool, and fought like a, well, man possessed, but I actually started to care about him as a character, a rare feat in a videogame. Rated: Mature </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/Top-10-PS3-Games-Summer-2K7.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-1161587903249697292?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-90244036811832268932011-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:002011-11-13T20:25:00.648-08:00 Dark Souls is a complex and challenging action RPG that is a throwback to oldschool gaming before everything became easier and dumbed-down. It is difficult - hard as Hell, actually - and many important mechanics of the game are left as vague and mysterious as possible for as long as possible. But, when you overcome the difficulty and pass a hard part, or figure out how part of the game world works, it is one of the most enjoyable and satisfying games on the Xbox 360. It is frustrating and difficult and obnoxiously vague - to the point some folks won't like it -, but when you really get into it, it is awesome.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Namco Bandai <B>Developer</B>: From Software <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “M" for Mature <B>Genre</B>: Action RPG <B>Pros</B>: Great visuals and sound; satisfying, addictive gameplay; huge world with lots to see; <B>Cons</B>: Occasional framerate problems; clunky controls; difficulty makes it not for everyone <P>Dark Souls is the multi-platform follow-up to the PlayStation 3 exclusive title Demon's Souls. Knowledge of Demon's Souls isn't necessary to enjoy Dark Souls - the story stands on its own - but you will have an advantage as far as understanding the gameplay and general design of the game. For Demon's Souls fans, this is an improvement in many ways over its predecessor. For newcomers to the series, well, prepare to die a lot. Like, a whole lot. <P>Dark Souls is a medieval-era action RPG where you explore a huge world, fighting zombies and knights and monsters and dragons with your character armed only with swords, shields, magic, bow and arrow, and any other weapons that fit the theme. The enemies are very powerful, though, and the pattern of the game for the first time you go through a new area is pretty much to die at each new enemy encounter. The enemies are always in the same places, and follow the same patterns though, so the next time you go through a section where you died you should be able to survive. That is why you never really get too frustrated even when you die dozens upon dozens of times. You always do a little better the next time you play, and the promise of a new area ahead or new loot to find keeps you motivated and having fun. Pretty ingenious, really.</P>Writing a review on a game like this is a bit tough, though, because a lot of the fun of Dark Souls is figuring things out for yourself. Explaining every little nuance of the gameplay seems kind of like a disservice for new players because knowing what to expect takes a lot of the fun of exploration and dying a million times out of the game. Instead, I'll just touch on a couple noteworthy things we liked, and didn't like. <P><B>We Don't Love ...</B> <P>At first, the combat will feel kind of awful. Your attacks are slow, the enemies are powerful and can stagger you when you block, leaving you open. You die a lot and will curse the controls because they are undeniably clunky. But you get used to it. After a while you figure out enemy patterns and know when and how best to attack, and the slow clunky controls won't bother you anymore. The first few hours of the game can be frustrating, though, before you get to that point. <P>The difficulty of the game cannot be understated. I know there are super bad-ass hardcore gamers on forums everywhere puffing out their chest and telling everyone how great they are because they don't think the game is hard, but it is hard. And it is frustrating. Which means it isn't for everyone. If you are easily frustrated, or don't like difficult games, chances are you won't like Dark Souls. Because of that, I have to recommend Dark Souls as a rental first, and then buy it if you find you like it. That way you won't waste $60 on something you can get past the first area on.</P><B>A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma</B> <P>I know I said above a lot of the fun here is figuring things out for yourself, but you literally go into this game completely blind and major mechanics of the game are never fully explained. It sure wouldn't have hurt the experience to at least have some idea of how certain things work. Things like being hallowed (undead) or human. What using humanity actually does. How to use and learn magic. A lot of items you can use are incredibly vague and you don't know what they actually do. Even leveling up is a bit of a crap shoot because it isn't clear what any of the skills you can apply points to really do. Eventually you do figure all of this stuff out (or check the Internet or read the awesome Future Press guide for the game), but it is kind of crazy how much you don't know when you first start out. <P><B>What Makes Dark Souls Great</B> <P>There is a lot to like here as well, though. The satisfaction you get when you do figure the mechanics out, or when you pass a tough boss or tricky section, is really indescribable. It is one of the most satisfying experiences on the market right now. Opening up a new area of the game and tip-toeing around because you're (correctly) scared that some new enemy will jump out of the shadows and insta-kill you is a thrill. A lot of the game is absolutely gorgeous as well, and seeing each new area, and each new vista overlooking some beautiful part of the world, is really great motivation to keep playing. The game beats you down, but also does a great job of lifting you up and motivating you. </P><br /><p><a href="http://xbox.about.com/od/xbox360reviews/fr/Dark-Souls-Review-X360-Pg1.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-9024403681183226893?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-88096848496716818082011-11-13T17:20:00.000-08:002011-11-13T17:20:00.408-08:00 Yes, I know, what about Street Fighter 4? I agree, it is an amazing game... for the elite gamer. <P>The problem I have with SF4, is the exact problem Fight Night Round 4 solves. I, like many, love to play fighting games with friends. And let's be honest, arcade culture has died stateside, and while online matchmaking works great for shooters, it still stinks for fighters. <P>With SF4 you're either a button masher or a pro... Fight Night Round 4 takes a more deliberate, thoughtful approach to fighting. One that is both easier to learn and tougher to master. <P>Like a good chess game, novices get plenty of play and fun, even if they are going to lose. Such is not the case in SF4. Plus, Tyson is far more interesting than Ryu. <P>Rated: Teen </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/TopTenPS3Games2K9.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-8809684849671681808?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-6541425797031377362011-11-13T07:56:00.000-08:002011-11-13T07:56:00.752-08:00 The LoSt-CaUzE noise canceling gaming headphones by Ablelanet are tough to review. Everyone else online is giving them very high scores, and they do sound great... but the gaming label means that they should do something different than your standard headphones, and they don't. The LoSt-CaUzE headphones are stunning noise canceling headphones, but without a mic or Bluetooth support, I'm not sure they've earned their 'gaming' label, despite the endorsement by Quake master LoSt-CaUzE.The LoSt-CaUzE noise canceling gaming headphones are probably the best headphones you will ever see for the money. While $150 may seem like a lot for headphones, these rank up there with $500 elite headphone made by Bose, Shure or Sennheiser, you'll be hard pressed to get this kind of quality for this low a price elsewhere. <P>AblePlanet has put together an excellent package that includes a semi-hard case, 1/4 inch adapter, 6 foot extension cord, and an airline adapter, all gold plated for maximum conductivity. <P>The LoSt-CaUzE noise canceling gaming headphones themselves are attractive (sliver cans, black padded band) and easily adjustable. The cord has a built in sliding volume control, but is rather thin, which leads to occasional (rare) interference by other radio signals, more shielding and a heavier cord would have been nice, but we are already getting a deal. The noise reduction does produce an audible hiss in silent environments (where you wouldn't use it) but it is not at all noticeable in any environment where you may actually turn on the noise reduction, such as a plane, lan party, or gaming tournament. <P>The LoSt-CaUzE headphones are crisp and clear providing shockingly strong bass at low volumes. This is a mixed blessing. You certainly can hear the bass loud and strong at any level, but it prevents you from turning up the volume too loud. The thought is that audio clarity at a low level will prevent ear damage by providing bass at a low volume level, but really sometimes you want to crank up the volume, turning down the bass on the EQ helps. <P>The catch? No headset. This means that they are great for single player gaming and music, but any games that require speech will require some sort of external mic. I have been told that a version with a mic will be released in early 2008, however. </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/hardwareandaccessories/gr/LoSt-CaUzEHead.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-654142579703137736?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-69154527746140747812011-11-12T23:29:00.000-08:002011-11-12T23:29:00.831-08:00 The new $499 160GB PS3 will hit North America in November of 2008. This new PS3 will have the largest hard drive to date, but it will feature the reduced functionality of the 40GB PS3 (which is the same as some of the 80GB PS3s). This limited edition bundle will come with a copy of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (which was my pick for 2007's PS3 game of the year), a download voucher for the PlayStation Network game PAIN (rag doll physics comedy game), a DualShock 3 wireless controller (features rumble), and the 160GB PS3. <P>Unfortunately, despite the large hard drive and included games, the 160GB PS3 bundle does not feature the functionality of some of the earlier PS3 models, namely the 60GB PS3 (which may still be the best PS3 to date). <P>The 160GB PS3 in the Uncharted bundle only has two USB ports, is not backwards compatible with PS2 game disks, and does not have any flash-card support built-in. The 60GB and some 80GB models have four USB ports, play PS2 disks (the 60GB version actually has an emotion engine built in, the 80GB PS3 uses software to emulate the PS2), and a built in card reader for various formats of flash memory. Some may be upset that the premium PS3 package has less functionality than some of the previous, cheaper versions. <P>Commentary aside, here is the rundown on the new 160GB PS3 in the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune bundle. Please note that these specs for the 160GB PS3 come directly from Sony. <P><B>160GB PlayStation 3 (PS3) Specifications and Details</B> <B>Product Name</B> PLAYSTATION 3 <B>CPU</B> Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) <B>GPU</B> RSX <B>Sound</B> Dolby 5.1ch DTS 5.1ch, LPCM 7.1 ch, AAC, others <B>Memory</B> 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM <B>HDD</B> 160GB 2.5" Serial ATA <B>I/O</B> 2x USB 2.0 <B>Communication</B> Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), IEEE 202.11 b/g (WiFi), Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) <B>Wireless controller (Bluetooth)</B> DUALSHOCK 3 Controller Included <B>AV Output</B> 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p HDMI OUT x1 AV MULTIOUT x1 DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x1 <B>BD(Blu-ray Disk)/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only)</B> Maximum Read Speed: BD 2x (BD-ROM) DVD 8x (DVD-ROM) CD 24x (CD-ROM) <B>Dimensions</B> Approximately 12.75in (W) x 3.86in (H) x 10.8in (D) <B>Weight</B> Approximately 11 lbs In a press-release regarding the new 160GB PS3/Uncharted bundle Jack Tretton, President and CEO, Sony and Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) offered the following: "As PLAYSTATION Network continues to evolve with our recently launched video delivery service and more exclusive games, PS3 owners are demanding more storage capacity. Consumers also are utilizing PS3 as an entertainment hub for their digital media, placing content such as their entire music collection on the hard drive. The 160GB PS3 system addresses this growing consumer demand in a compelling bundle that delivers significant value." <P>The new bundle should be a popular item over the holiday season, however, tech-savy PS3 fans may snub the system for cheaper PS3's that feature more functionality, if they can find them. </P><br /><p><a href="http://playstation.about.com/od/hardwareandaccessories/a/160gbPS3specs.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8517881408838881746-6915452774614074781?l=gamez150.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>mmdouh yahiahttps://profiles.google.com/114620520440327260892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8517881408838881746.post-85389373785253874772011-11-12T22:28:00.000-08:002011-11-12T22:28:00.764-08:00 Confession time. Kinectimals was my most wanted game heading into the Kinect launch. I've got a soft spot for cats, and Kinectimals hit the mark. Sure, it is so cute and sweet it'll probably give you diabetes, but it is hard not to have a huge goofy grin on your face for the whole time you play it. Kids and girlfriends will love it. Male gamers will like it too, even if they won't admit it. Kinectimals is silly, cute fun.<B>Game Details</B> <B>Publisher</B>: Microsoft <B>Developer</B>: Frontier Dev. <B>ESRB Rating</B>: “E" for Everyone <B>Genre</B>: Virtual Pet <B>Pros</B>: Pretty graphics; cute, fuzzy kitties; Invader Zim ('s voice) is your guide; genuinely fun and satisfying gameplay <B>Cons</B>: Your cat has ADD; too many carbon copy "throw stuff at stuff" minigames; minigames overall only so-so <P>Kinectimals has your character showing up on anisland populated by cute wild kittens. There is a cheetah, lion, tiger, panther, and more, and they are all adorable. You choose one to raise as your own, give it a name (you speak its name out loud and it will recognize it from then on, my cat's name is Richard, by the way ...), and then set out to play and explore the island. The island is actually pretty large, and your ultimate goal is to fill out a map and find any hidden treasures the island might hold. To open up new sections of the island you have to play with your cat, play minigames, and complete specific objectives. Along the way, you earn credits you can spend at a shop to buy new toys and items for your cub, as well as new furniture and decoration for your hut. <P><B>Gameplay</B> <P>The game is equal parts minigame collection and virtual pet simulator. It is all pretty fun, but the minigames aren't quite as good as they could be. A lot of them are variations of throwing objects at targets, which gets old fast. It works fine with Kinect - I've found follow through is important to throwing things exactly where you want, you generally target whatever your hand ends up pointing at - but it gets repetitive. </P>Other minigames have you running in place, jumping, ducking, and weaving around in front of Kinect to guide your cub through obstacle courses. These sections are pretty hit and miss as there is some definite lag between what you do and it actually showing up on-screen. You also get to drive a little R/C car around ("hold" the steering wheel in your hands to turn, push out to go fast, pull in to reverse) and it can be fun. I kind of wish there were less minigames and more goofy playing with your cat, because those parts are awesome. <P>Raising your cub is the highlight of the game. It is so ridiculously cute to just sit back and watch, but how it reacts is fairly believable ways as well. When you pet it, it purrs and arches its back and rubs against you. It can play fetch (or you can throw balls at its head, which is also fun). And you can teach it to do tricks like sit, lay down, roll over, "do a barrel roll", jump, and more. The tricks use hand and body motions as well as voice commands, and work pretty well. It is surprisingly satisfying when your cub learns something new. You also have to clean your cub (they get really, really filthy if you don't brush them), feed them, give them water, and more. Your cub usually tells you what it needs by bringing whatever it wants over to you, but you are free to access the menu to select whatever toys or food or care items you want at any time. The game is just silly fun, but you do get attached to your cat. </P>A couple of additional gameplay comments. You have a guide of sorts on the island in the form of a cartoonish flying lemur thing named Bumble. He is sort of awe