Featured Article 10 Reasons To Buy An Xbox 360
Author: paul wilson1
Gamers and techies have waited with bated breath for advancements and innovations in gaming. To set the pulse racing and the mind thinking one needs to be challenged. This has become possible by computer technology and the wonderful world of gaming. Just as adventures and wars would have done in yester years these days it is technology that offers to quench the thirst for adventure. Microsoft has created a challenge in the form of the Xbox 360-- a visionary, super powerful, multimedia console that brings to you the GenX gaming world. Of course, the markets being competitive present so many choices.
If you need to be convinced here are a few reasons why you must buy the Xbox360.
1. There are games galore for the thirsty. Kameo elements of power, Project Gotam 3, Perfect dark Zero, and many more. All unique, with great effects and gaming wizardry.
2. The Xbox360 has wireless controllers as well as internet connectivity. The premium pack presents great delights offering freedom of movement and a superb range of over 30 feet. Ergonomically designed the controller has skip wires, tangles and boomerangs.
3. With an aim to please even the most discerning palate, the Xbox360 has an amazing variety of games. Some are exclusively designed for the box like Condemned, and Dead or Alive. Titles that have been widely acknowledge by expert gamers are: Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo, King Kong, and Condemned.
4. Amazing and most welcome is the fact that over 200 Xbox games will be backwardly compatible with the Xbox360.
5. Xbox 360 brings with it the arcade marketplace. Imagine free games, cheap games, and addictive non-stop games. The possibilities are endless and thrilling.
6. The Graphics are stupendous and bring to life the games in virtual reality. Xbox360 has three 3.2 GH processors that run with a 500MhzATI graphics processor. Whew—let's bow to power.
7. Endless possibilities with the Xbox360. Games, CDs, movies and customized music. It even connects to the Microsoft media center for a complete media sensation. You can let your creativity and innovativeness take wing.
8. The Xbox 360 is more than an everyday console. It is interactive and you can buy many things like bonus levels, episodic content, gamer specials, and gamer tag images. You can download demos, and bonus packs from game developers. A live platform with no limits marketplace for developers and publishers.
9. The Xbox360 is a keeper of records. It creates history. The gamer card becomes your identity with name, image, scores, games you like, and your aims and mottos. This takes online fraternities a step closer to one another.
10. Fulfils many dreams and fantasies. The games are the best, interesting, mind stimulating, and exciting. The Xbox 360 takes the gaming world forwards and offers options like downloads, online plays, movies, as well as a touch button marketplace for games.
The Xbox360 is a must for serious gamers. It indicates your dedication as a gamer and reflects your tastes and reputation in the cyber gaming universe. Opens up endless possibilities and takes you to the next generation gaming delights. Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1866Shopping.com , the premier online shopping directory provides online shopping, outlet shopping, retail shopping stores, offer online shopping cart, shops and store directory, online shops, Shopping Malls, shopping centers, discount shopping, shopping offers and more. He also freelances for Free Online Music Site www.1888Music.com ...
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Featured Article 10 Reasons To Buy An Xbox 360
Author: paul wilson1
Gamers and techies have waited with bated breath for advancements and innovations in gaming. To set the pulse racing and the mind thinking one needs to be challenged. This has become possible by computer technology and the wonderful world of gaming. Just as adventures and wars would have done in yester years these days it is technology that offers to quench the thirst for adventure. Microsoft has created a challenge in the form of the Xbox 360-- a visionary, super powerful, multimedia console that brings to you the GenX gaming world. Of course, the markets being competitive present so many choices.
If you need to be convinced here are a few reasons why you must buy the Xbox360.
1. There are games galore for the thirsty. Kameo elements of power, Project Gotam 3, Perfect dark Zero, and many more. All unique, with great effects and gaming wizardry.
2. The Xbox360 has wireless controllers as well as internet connectivity. The premium pack presents great delights offering freedom of movement and a superb range of over 30 feet. Ergonomically designed the controller has skip wires, tangles and boomerangs.
3. With an aim to please even the most discerning palate, the Xbox360 has an amazing variety of games. Some are exclusively designed for the box like Condemned, and Dead or Alive. Titles that have been widely acknowledge by expert gamers are: Call of Duty 2, Project Gotham Racing 3, Kameo, King Kong, and Condemned.
4. Amazing and most welcome is the fact that over 200 Xbox games will be backwardly compatible with the Xbox360.
5. Xbox 360 brings with it the arcade marketplace. Imagine free games, cheap games, and addictive non-stop games. The possibilities are endless and thrilling.
6. The Graphics are stupendous and bring to life the games in virtual reality. Xbox360 has three 3.2 GH processors that run with a 500MhzATI graphics processor. Whew—let's bow to power.
7. Endless possibilities with the Xbox360. Games, CDs, movies and customized music. It even connects to the Microsoft media center for a complete media sensation. You can let your creativity and innovativeness take wing.
8. The Xbox 360 is more than an everyday console. It is interactive and you can buy many things like bonus levels, episodic content, gamer specials, and gamer tag images. You can download demos, and bonus packs from game developers. A live platform with no limits marketplace for developers and publishers.
9. The Xbox360 is a keeper of records. It creates history. The gamer card becomes your identity with name, image, scores, games you like, and your aims and mottos. This takes online fraternities a step closer to one another.
10. Fulfils many dreams and fantasies. The games are the best, interesting, mind stimulating, and exciting. The Xbox 360 takes the gaming world forwards and offers options like downloads, online plays, movies, as well as a touch button marketplace for games.
The Xbox360 is a must for serious gamers. It indicates your dedication as a gamer and reflects your tastes and reputation in the cyber gaming universe. Opens up endless possibilities and takes you to the next generation gaming delights. Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1866Shopping.com , the premier online shopping directory provides online shopping, outlet shopping, retail shopping stores, offer online shopping cart, shops and store directory, online shops, Shopping Malls, shopping centers, discount shopping, shopping offers and more. He also freelances for Free Online Music Site www.1888Music.com ...
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Featured Article Download Full Nintendo Wii Games
Author: Edd Linham
There is now no need to go the shops, you can now Download Full Nintendo Wii games, as many as you want for the price of one game. There are now legal sites on the Internet that give you access to download full games. You have to pay a small membership fee which is usually around the price of one game anyway, then you can Download as many Games for your Wii as you like for Free. There are many sites that say you can download games, but some are simply not legal, and some sites are very expensive, charging a monthly subscription fee and or Pay per download fees. The worst place to try and download games would be P2P networks as they are usually highly illegal and can infect you computer with nasty viruses and spyware. A good Nintendo Wii download site will offer all types of media for your system, not just games but Movies, Music and TV shows all available to download for Free after joining as a member. The good sites will be 100% legal and 100% spyware and virus free. Also included in the members lounge will be easy step by step guides on finding and downloading the game or movie that you want including all the tools you need to transfer the media from your PC to be able to play on your Nintendo Wii. So remember its time to stop going to the shops to find out out your game isn't in stock, find a good site and download all the media you want when ever you want!
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Featured Article Don't Buy Used PS2 Games - Download New PS2 Games Online
Author: Lewis Waller
The more consoles that get released the cheaper the old ones get. This is also true for the games on those consoles. With the release of the playstation 3 the games for the older playstation 2 immediately dropped in value. Which meant us; the gamers get to afford more of those classics! But what's the point in walking down to the shops and paying for each and every game when you can pay a small one time fee, which is about the amount of one game anyway, and get access to playstation 2 games for life? These days it's a lot easier to join a site on the internet that does this when not only do they have playstation games, many of them have games for other platforms, music and movies as well. There are a lot of these sites out there and many of them can be scams. Some have slow download speeds and only a small selection of games, many of which are old and out dated. But there are a few sites out there that are way above the rest. With up to date databases full of games, music and movies all ready to be downloaded at the click of a mouse. Once the Ps2 Games are downloaded they can be easily burned to CD and played on your console straight away. Play one game whilst you're downloading another! They also have person to person networks as well as there only databases, making the amount of games varied and ever expanding.
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Featured Article Don't Buy Used PS2 Games - Download New PS2 Games Online
Author: Lewis Waller
The more consoles that get released the cheaper the old ones get. This is also true for the games on those consoles. With the release of the playstation 3 the games for the older playstation 2 immediately dropped in value. Which meant us; the gamers get to afford more of those classics! But what's the point in walking down to the shops and paying for each and every game when you can pay a small one time fee, which is about the amount of one game anyway, and get access to playstation 2 games for life? These days it's a lot easier to join a site on the internet that does this when not only do they have playstation games, many of them have games for other platforms, music and movies as well. There are a lot of these sites out there and many of them can be scams. Some have slow download speeds and only a small selection of games, many of which are old and out dated. But there are a few sites out there that are way above the rest. With up to date databases full of games, music and movies all ready to be downloaded at the click of a mouse. Once the Ps2 Games are downloaded they can be easily burned to CD and played on your console straight away. Play one game whilst you're downloading another! They also have person to person networks as well as there only databases, making the amount of games varied and ever expanding.
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Featured Article How To Copy Wii Games - Copying Games For Nintendo Wii
Author: Steve Somerton
With the launch of the new Wii console, it has caused many of us to wonder if we can actually copy Wii games. With a quick search online, it turns out there are not many options to choose from. However, all is not lost, because the software that is out there, works fantastic! Doing this in games and burning these games used to be a dreadful task just a couple of months ago, Now all of the headache has been removed and now you can literally copy wii games in three simple steps. A good burning program will offer both the option to copy and burn your games. Not only this but it must be easy to use. The support for classic Nintendo games means that you now have the ability to copy your older favorites, as well as the latest and greatest games. If you want to begin copying games, find some reliable software. In order to copy Wii games, you are required to download special software for copying and to burn your games. This software will allow you to read and copy Wii games discs. Also, the software will allow you to burn any game your copy onto a DVD disc. Remember, to copy the games, you will have to use a software that can read Nintendo wii game discs. If you don't have any software that can read the disc on your computer, your computer will not recognize the disc as it should. Once you have your software, you can begin the process to backup your games. This can be accomplished in three simple steps. Step 1: Insert your game disc to be copied. Step 2: Insert a blank dvd to copy the game onto. Step 3: Enjoy your new backup of your game. How much more simple does it get? If you want to do this, it's easy to find software to burn them. However, choosing the software that will be able to actually read is the hard part. It is recommended that you use a software program that allows you to both copy, and burn wii games, instead of using separate software. Look carefully at all the available sites offering software for copying games before you pick one. You could be copying and making backups of your games, within a just a few minutes of registering.
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Featured Article How To Become A Computer Game Or Video Game Programmer
Author: Kingsley O. Tagbo
So you'd like to become a computer game programmer. If you want to be a computer game programmer or a video game programmer, now is the best time to venture into the industry. The industry is hungry for new talent that can bring a lot of new ideas and perspectives on the table, what with the accelerating development in computer technology and with the success of previous best-selling games like Half Life, MYST, The SIMS and Starcraft leaving consumers hungry for more. The computer gaming industry is as competitive and as challenging as it has never been before. The challenge and the excitement of being a computer game programmer or a video game programmer has attracted many people into thinking of building their careers in that direction. If you are one of them, you should ask yourself first if you have what it takes to survive in the industry and if you are willing to put out the hard work needed to build up the skills that you lack. Areas of Computer and Video Game Development First consideration, programming is not the only function in video game development. There are video game designers, artists, animators, producers and testers too. Before diving into the programming area, make sure that this is the aspect of game development you are interested in. Job Description A computer game or a video game programmer is generally responsible for generating computer code that is supposed to make the game function smoothly. A typical job for a computer game or a video game programmer has him or her working with a team for ten to 12 hours in a day, with workdays sometimes stretching to a whole week. Most of that time is spent writing code and checking for possible bugs. Pressure can be intense. A lot of times, computer game or video game programmers are also found playing games, usually their competitors products, not for fun but to sniff out competition and to keep themselves updated with the latest trends. Pay or Salary The pay scale for a game programmer can be anywhere between US$40,000 to US$125,000 a year, averaging US$70,000 annually. Getting Started To be a successful computer game or video game programmer, you will need to be well-versed in various programming languages and methods. You will also need an exceptional understanding of how gaming engines are built. Being a regular programmer first before elevating yourself to the level of computer games will help a lot because it will let you hone the skills that you need. A college degree is not really required to land you a job as a computer game or a video game programmer as long as you possess the necessary skills in plenty. However, with the tight competition nowadays, holders of a degree in computer technology, animation, design and in related fields have an edge on those armed with only high school diploma. But beyond the skill, you will need to learn to be able to work as a team. Teamwork is a must in the computer gaming industry because it takes a team to develop a highly complex game that sells. With teamwork come exemplary communication skills, initiative and the capability to complete tasks with minimal supervision. In order to land a good job as a computer game or video game programmer, the best way to start is to get into internship programs at gaming companies. Another good way is to attend job fairs and to leave your resume in headhunter websites specializing in careers in computer technology. Or, if you have a specific company in mind, visit their website and see if they have openings, or simply email them your resume with a great cover letter. Kingsley Tagbo is a Contract Computer Programmer/Software Developer, an IT Career Coach and Author of the book on "How to Master High Paying, Highly Sought-After Computer Programming Skills Easily and Quickly". Kingsley has helped many people become computer programmers from scratch. Visit his website at http://www.becomeacomputerprogrammer.net for information on starting an IT Career in three months or less. Copyright 2007 - Kingsley Tagbo. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.
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Featured Article How To Become A Computer Game Or Video Game Programmer
Author: Kingsley O. Tagbo
So you'd like to become a computer game programmer. If you want to be a computer game programmer or a video game programmer, now is the best time to venture into the industry. The industry is hungry for new talent that can bring a lot of new ideas and perspectives on the table, what with the accelerating development in computer technology and with the success of previous best-selling games like Half Life, MYST, The SIMS and Starcraft leaving consumers hungry for more. The computer gaming industry is as competitive and as challenging as it has never been before. The challenge and the excitement of being a computer game programmer or a video game programmer has attracted many people into thinking of building their careers in that direction. If you are one of them, you should ask yourself first if you have what it takes to survive in the industry and if you are willing to put out the hard work needed to build up the skills that you lack. Areas of Computer and Video Game Development First consideration, programming is not the only function in video game development. There are video game designers, artists, animators, producers and testers too. Before diving into the programming area, make sure that this is the aspect of game development you are interested in. Job Description A computer game or a video game programmer is generally responsible for generating computer code that is supposed to make the game function smoothly. A typical job for a computer game or a video game programmer has him or her working with a team for ten to 12 hours in a day, with workdays sometimes stretching to a whole week. Most of that time is spent writing code and checking for possible bugs. Pressure can be intense. A lot of times, computer game or video game programmers are also found playing games, usually their competitors products, not for fun but to sniff out competition and to keep themselves updated with the latest trends. Pay or Salary The pay scale for a game programmer can be anywhere between US$40,000 to US$125,000 a year, averaging US$70,000 annually. Getting Started To be a successful computer game or video game programmer, you will need to be well-versed in various programming languages and methods. You will also need an exceptional understanding of how gaming engines are built. Being a regular programmer first before elevating yourself to the level of computer games will help a lot because it will let you hone the skills that you need. A college degree is not really required to land you a job as a computer game or a video game programmer as long as you possess the necessary skills in plenty. However, with the tight competition nowadays, holders of a degree in computer technology, animation, design and in related fields have an edge on those armed with only high school diploma. But beyond the skill, you will need to learn to be able to work as a team. Teamwork is a must in the computer gaming industry because it takes a team to develop a highly complex game that sells. With teamwork come exemplary communication skills, initiative and the capability to complete tasks with minimal supervision. In order to land a good job as a computer game or video game programmer, the best way to start is to get into internship programs at gaming companies. Another good way is to attend job fairs and to leave your resume in headhunter websites specializing in careers in computer technology. Or, if you have a specific company in mind, visit their website and see if they have openings, or simply email them your resume with a great cover letter. Kingsley Tagbo is a Contract Computer Programmer/Software Developer, an IT Career Coach and Author of the book on "How to Master High Paying, Highly Sought-After Computer Programming Skills Easily and Quickly". Kingsley has helped many people become computer programmers from scratch. Visit his website at http://www.becomeacomputerprogrammer.net for information on starting an IT Career in three months or less. Copyright 2007 - Kingsley Tagbo. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.
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Featured Article How Kids Learn to Cooperate in Video Games: A Lesson for Parents and Teachers
Author: Marc Prensky
How Kids Learn to Cooperate in Video Games: A Lesson for Parents and Teachers
By Marc Prensky © 2004 Marc Prensky
"The three words that best describe me are 'athletic,' 'smart,' and 'GameBoy-addicted.'"
– A 10 year old
A great many parents are concerned that the electronic games their kids play are teaching the kids "negative" messages such as aggression, violence, and isolation from real people. I want to illustrate here how computer and video game playing, can have positive effects on kids. This includes even the "addictive" game playing associated with many of these games. The learning from these games is well worth the effort the kids put in playing them, and kids typically sense this at some level, which is one reason they fight so hard for their games.
One key lesson many of their games is teaching them is the value of people working together and helping each other. To illustrate how this occurs, I will use one particular game, Toontown, as an example.
Toontown (www.toontown.com ) is the Walt Disney Company's entry into the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) category. For the non-initiated, that means a computer game that supports thousands of players online simultaneously, all of whom can see and interact with each other. A key feature of these worlds is that they are "persistent," meaning that the worlds continue to exist and change whether or not you are there, just any other place in the real world.
[Note: There are two types of multiplayer online games, both of which have their advantages. One type, the "multiplayer" game, lets you interact with a limited group of people, such as those on your team or squad, in a game world that typically exists for only the time you are playing. The game America's Army is a good example of this. The second type, the "massively multiplayer" game, lets you interact with everyone you meet in the ongoing world. Massively multiplayer games like EverQuest, Asheron's Call, and Dark Age of Camelot have captured the time and imaginations of hundreds of thousands of US teenage and older players. The Korean massively multiplayer game Lineage has over 4 million registered users, often with up to half a million players on-line at once. The players typically meet in relatively thinly-populated areas of very large and often interconnected virtual worlds, so even with these huge numbers, it is not like pushing your way through Times Square on New Year's Eve.]
Toontown is the first massively multiplayer game designed specifically designed for younger kids (pre-teens, I think, though they don't specifically say.) In addition, many older kids and even adults enjoy playing it. In the game you create, name and dress a character, and then you take it out to play in the virtual world. Your character is the representation ("avatar") of you playing in the world – it is the "you" that other players know.
Although if you wanted to you could spend your entire time in Toontown merely running around the virtual world, the "object" of the game is to defeat "Cogs," members of the evil gang that wants to take over the town. The Cogs to fight come in many varieties and strengths. To defeat a Cog you employ "gags"– such as squirt bottles or pies in the face – that you purchase with jelly bean currency that you earn in a number of ways.
In your early days in Toontown, when you have earned relatively few gags, you typically run around alone, deciding when to confront a low-level Cog you pass in the street. (You do this by running into it.) You and the Cog then square off and do battle, taking turns throwing gags at each other. If you defeat the Cog, he explodes and you are rewarded with points towards additional gags. If the Cog defeats you, you "die," which means you lose all your gags (although, importantly, you do not lose the "experience" you attained – i.e. the types and levels of gags you are allowed to purchase and use.)
There are a lot of other twists, but that's essentially the game: Earn and buy gags, use them to fight Cogs.
But here's where the cooperative part comes in. As you move to higher experience levels, the tasks you are required to accomplish become more and more difficult. You often have to "rescue" buildings that the Cogs have taken over, buildings that have multiple floors filled with high-level, hard-to-defeat Cogs.
And you can't do this alone, no matter how much experience you have. So you begin to learn to play the game with others. The game encourages this, with "friends lists" and built in "speed chat" menus consisting, for kids' protection, of a limited number of phrases you can use. For example, you can invite your friends to help you defeat a building (or, if you prefer, you can just wait outside for others to show up.)
But it gets subtle. Just because someone is your friend (or wants to be) or happens to show up, doesn't mean he or she has the experience to defeat the higher-level Cogs. You can check out someone's gags when they are in range to help you decide whom to work with, but success depends not only on the level and number of gags one has, but also on knowing how to use them in battle. You learn over time what players you want on your team to achieve success in particular situations. Sometimes, to be sure all of you survive, you have to reject players who ask to work with you on a certain task. One of the things you can say through the speed chat is "I think this is too risky for you." Just as in the real world, such advice is not always well-received, and the game gives you the opportunity to learn to deal with this.
In the midst of any battle – players typically fight higher-level Cogs in groups of four – a player can choose, rather than to throw a gag at the Cogs, to instead give his or her fellow players additional "laff points" (i.e. health). Doing this helps prevent them from "dying" and dropping out of the battle. One skill typically gained from frequent play is knowing when to help your teammates versus when to attack the Cogs. This is not trivial. One adult player described her first battle with ultra-high-level Cogs as "extremely nerve wracking," and characterized the strategies she had to employ to work successfully with the other players as "the most emotional experience I've ever had in a game." And this is the version for kids!
And there is yet another way Toontown players learn there is value in cooperation. Some of the tasks available to higher-level players allow them to earn jelly beans by helping out new players. When these experienced players see a Newbie fighting a Cog on the street, they can join in and assist. When the Cog is defeated, both the experienced player and the Newbie get rewarded game at their own level.
Is it Boring?
Still, while the tasks at the start of the game involve defeating only one Cog at a time and the tasks at higher levels require players to defeat hundreds of Cogs on their way to liberate bigger and bigger buildings, the battles are very similar. "Isn't that boring?" I asked one "addicted" player. "After all it's basically the same thing over and over – fighting Cogs."
"I like going up the levels," she replied. And of course the only way she can do this is by learning to cooperate well with real people, in real time – while sitting at her own computer.
I encourage readers of this article to try Toontown, both with your kids, and even on your own. (You can go to www.toontown.com to get started.) See how far you can get. If you happen to enjoy the experience, you can go on to the aforementioned "older players'" games, where the enemies are fantasy monsters and the buildings castles to storm, yet where the principles of cooperation are basically the same. If you actually get addicted to cooperative play, don't blame me – these games are designed to reel you in.
But even if you don't get hooked yourself – and the more you are from the "Digital Immigrant" generation the less likely it is that you will – hopefully you will have learned this important and generally-overlooked lesson:
What keeps the kids playing these games is not the violence (that's all fake and the kids know it), but rather the ability to work together with others to achieve more and more difficult goals.
Can you think of any skill more useful for children to spend their time learning? I can't.
About the Author
Marc Prensky is a thought leader, speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer in the critical areas of education and learning. He is the author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill, 2001),and founder and CEO of Games2train, a game-based learning company . More of his writings can be found at www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp. Contact Marc at marc@games2train.com .
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Featured Article How Does The Xbox Differ From The Xbox 360
Author: Tucker Osbert -
How does the Xbox differ from the Xbox 360? This is probably one of the biggest questions for people who either own the late model and are curious about the new one. Also, this question would be plaguing the minds of those who do not have either, but are thinking of purchasing one.
We can definitely cite quite a number of differences between the Xbox and its later model. But whether these differences would count at all, would really matter mostly on the individual characteristics of the consumers. It really depends on whether the person asking this question is somebody who simply wants to be able to play a video game at home during his past time. Or, whether this person is a total technological fan who is always out to get the latest model of gizmos.
First of all, the Xbox 360 is the latest model of Microsoft's gaming console. One might naturally expect that some of the features found inside the latest model would not be found in its predecessor. They would definitely not want to release something supposedly new that is basically the same as the older model, would they? That's the fact for every new edition of something that has been created before, especially regarding technological equipments and devices. There is always something added to it.
Improvement is always something that comes along in a new innovation. If you are a person who is quite meticulous about details, you would surely be able to notice slight differences between the computer graphics offered by the Xbox and its newer version.
The design of the new Xbox 360 is supposed to be able to work better with HDTVs. These matters are really to be able to go along with the other technological marvels in this day. They would naturally want to keep up and become as compatible as possible with the current state-of-the-art.
However, tests have been conducted using the Xbox 360. What they found was that, without the proper equipment to match the specifications of the game console, all the new innovations in its features would simply go to waste. If for example you connect it to a television set that only has an RF connection, you would basically get a quality of graphics that is probably 10 years behind what is being offered by the modern day.
Some of the other features that you would want to take into consideration are the wireless controllers available for the Xbox 360, its network gaming capability via a broadband connection, hard disc storage, and USB compatibility. It's basically a home entertainment system on its own. You would be able to view pictures and video from a digital camera, play music, etc.
Backwards compatibility is also an added feature that would allow you to play old Xbox games using the new game console. If you have the older one, then you would not be able to play the latest games that are to come.
As for me, I think that both of the units would be able to perform just as well. If you are satisfied with the conventional features of the old model, then go for it. It isn't really that out-of-date you know. But if you think that the difference between the Xbox 360 and the older version Xbox is that big, then go for it! You would definitely be getting some more great features out of the newer version. That is, of course, worth some extra money. Or you could simply wait for about a year and extend your patience until the prices go down. But by then there would probably be a 720 version of it. Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com For more valuable information on xbox360 xbox please visit www.xbox360-blogger.com ...
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Featured Article HD Loader - Play PS2 Games From Your Playstation 2 Hard Drive
Author: Steven Fields
Any serious Playstation 2 (PS2) gamer knows the frustrations when it comes to playing the most graphically intense games. There is often a tremendous load time associated with getting from the point of putting the PS2 game disc into the console, and having it load the game. Not to mention the time it takes to load between levels. Or how about those times when you're on a mission to thwart he bad guys, but you see the rendering getting choppy or freezing up for a second or two. We used to blame it all on game glitches or bugs. You know, those little "mistakes" that were just never fixed, because the game itself was working as it should. I know I thought that was the issue. Until I got my hands on the Playstation 2 HD Loader disc, and all of a sudden, my games were "glitch" free, and load times were a thing of the past. Let me start by explaining just what the HD Loader actually is. Utilizing exciting new technology, The HD Loader allows you to install and run your Playstation 2™ games directly from a hard disk drive connected to your console (Sony PS2 Network adapter™ and compatible hard disk drive required). The HD Loader is a revolutionary piece of software which allows you to store games on any modern high capacity IDE Hard Drive connected to your PS2 (Sony Network adapter required ). Now you can install, delete and manage your games and files on your HDD with just a click of a button. The simple and intuitive multi lingual user interface allows easy navigation and selection of files stored on your Hard drive. Games are executed at lightning speed and accessed directly from the HDD, no need to insert your game disc. Just launch HD Loader and select the game you wish to play. The HD Loader essentially turns your Playstation 2 console into what could be called a portable hard drive. Except that it not only allows you to store the games and the game data on the hard drive, but it also lets you LOAD those games directly from the hard drive too. And just what does all of this mean for you and me, the gamers? It means that once we've copied the game from the disc, onto any old IDE hard drive plugged into the Playstation 2, we're able to put in the HD Loader disc, and select whichever game we want to play, a game we've already put on the Hard Drive. You see, the Playstation 2™ is capable of reading data from a hard disk drive much faster than it can read from a CD or DVD. Using The HD Loader to run your games from a hard disk drive leads to significantly reduced game loading times. And updating as your on a level or load times between a level become things of the past. Never again will you need to endure painfully slow loading times which sadly plague so many Playstation 2 games. This applies for old and new games alike. One of the things that either Sony or game developers never really "worked on" was game loading time on the PS2. Take for example the same game title on either an Xbox or a PS2 console, and if you sat and times load times, you would notice a very big difference between how quickly a game loads on an Xbox (especially between levels) and how much faster the load times are than that same game on the Playstation 2. The reason for this is actually quite simple. The Xbox loads parts of the game data onto the built in, internal hard drive. Because the game data is already on the hard drive, it is essentially ready to "go" when the next level is loading, and it loads at lightning speeds. Until the HD Loader was released, Playstation 2 gamers were envious of their Xbox counterparts. What the HD Loader does though, goes even beyond the simplistic level loading or reducing load times. It actually allows you to put the ENTIRE game, on the hard drive. And not just one game, as many games that will fit on to the hard drive you have installed into your PS2. So you'll not only be able to have faster load times, but you'll also be able to store the actual games, digitally, on your Playstation 2 hard drive, without having to damage your game discs in the process. There is no need for the discs to be used, so you can put them away for safe keeping. In fact, you can keep them as good as new because you'll be loading the entire game from your hard drive, and not the disc itself. I keep making mention of the fact that a PS2 Network adapter is required, if you want to use the HD Loader. This is in fact true, but the reality is, the Playstation 2 can NOT have a hard drive connected without a Network adapter. You see, the Network adapter acts as your IDE converter. While it is designed to let you get online, and play online games, it also has a plug on the inside, which allows you to connect a Hard Drive to the game console. This was developed mainly for the Final Fantasy game, which actually required a Hard Drive to play, to store and load content from the hard drive. Now before you go thinking that you'll be stuck with a 40 gigabyte hard drive, the one that comes with the Final Fantasy game. It's important for me to state that while you could use that 40 gigabyte hard drive, the HD Loader is compatible with both standard IDE hard disk drives and the official Playstation 2™ hard disk drive.. So you won't be stuck with just 40 gigabytes, you can go right up to 120 gigabytes or 250 gigabytes of space. Any standard IDE Hard Drive will work, something that was also impossible before the HD Loader. But much more than just playing games from your hard drive, you can also load MP3 music, your digital pictures, and a wide variety of other "data" on to the hard disc, and have access to it on the fly. If you're thinking "That's great, I've got games on my Hard Drive, but how the heck to do I load them, or even see what's there" then you're in luck. The HD Loader user interface is designed with simplicity in mind – just boot up the HD Loader and begin playing your games without wasting any time navigating through a complex user interface. The interface lists all of your games and options, in an very easy to use and easy to navigate manner. The intuitive user interface allows easy management of games currently installed on your hard disk drive. Adding or removing games is as easy as pushing one of the buttons on your controller. In short, the HD Loader is the ultimate Hard drive storage and management solution for your PS2 game console. Not only will it get rid of those awful load times, but it also offer you a chance to protect your expensive PS2 game collection, but storing the games on the Hard Drive while you're playing them, and keeping the original games safe from scratches, dirt, or dust. So if you're tired of long load times, and want to get into the action right away, then the HD Loader is probably THE must have item on your list for the holidays. Steven Fields is an avid gamer and has written numerous articles and help guides for all the major video game systems. His specialty is rare and hard to find games and game accessories as well as do-it-yourself modding of your game consoles. To find out more about the HD Loader for the Playstation 2, make sure to visit www.ps2cover.com/hdloader.shtml
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Featured Article HD Loader - Play PS2 Games From Your Playstation 2 Hard Drive
Author: Steven Fields
Any serious Playstation 2 (PS2) gamer knows the frustrations when it comes to playing the most graphically intense games. There is often a tremendous load time associated with getting from the point of putting the PS2 game disc into the console, and having it load the game. Not to mention the time it takes to load between levels. Or how about those times when you're on a mission to thwart he bad guys, but you see the rendering getting choppy or freezing up for a second or two. We used to blame it all on game glitches or bugs. You know, those little "mistakes" that were just never fixed, because the game itself was working as it should. I know I thought that was the issue. Until I got my hands on the Playstation 2 HD Loader disc, and all of a sudden, my games were "glitch" free, and load times were a thing of the past. Let me start by explaining just what the HD Loader actually is. Utilizing exciting new technology, The HD Loader allows you to install and run your Playstation 2™ games directly from a hard disk drive connected to your console (Sony PS2 Network adapter™ and compatible hard disk drive required). The HD Loader is a revolutionary piece of software which allows you to store games on any modern high capacity IDE Hard Drive connected to your PS2 (Sony Network adapter required ). Now you can install, delete and manage your games and files on your HDD with just a click of a button. The simple and intuitive multi lingual user interface allows easy navigation and selection of files stored on your Hard drive. Games are executed at lightning speed and accessed directly from the HDD, no need to insert your game disc. Just launch HD Loader and select the game you wish to play. The HD Loader essentially turns your Playstation 2 console into what could be called a portable hard drive. Except that it not only allows you to store the games and the game data on the hard drive, but it also lets you LOAD those games directly from the hard drive too. And just what does all of this mean for you and me, the gamers? It means that once we've copied the game from the disc, onto any old IDE hard drive plugged into the Playstation 2, we're able to put in the HD Loader disc, and select whichever game we want to play, a game we've already put on the Hard Drive. You see, the Playstation 2™ is capable of reading data from a hard disk drive much faster than it can read from a CD or DVD. Using The HD Loader to run your games from a hard disk drive leads to significantly reduced game loading times. And updating as your on a level or load times between a level become things of the past. Never again will you need to endure painfully slow loading times which sadly plague so many Playstation 2 games. This applies for old and new games alike. One of the things that either Sony or game developers never really "worked on" was game loading time on the PS2. Take for example the same game title on either an Xbox or a PS2 console, and if you sat and times load times, you would notice a very big difference between how quickly a game loads on an Xbox (especially between levels) and how much faster the load times are than that same game on the Playstation 2. The reason for this is actually quite simple. The Xbox loads parts of the game data onto the built in, internal hard drive. Because the game data is already on the hard drive, it is essentially ready to "go" when the next level is loading, and it loads at lightning speeds. Until the HD Loader was released, Playstation 2 gamers were envious of their Xbox counterparts. What the HD Loader does though, goes even beyond the simplistic level loading or reducing load times. It actually allows you to put the ENTIRE game, on the hard drive. And not just one game, as many games that will fit on to the hard drive you have installed into your PS2. So you'll not only be able to have faster load times, but you'll also be able to store the actual games, digitally, on your Playstation 2 hard drive, without having to damage your game discs in the process. There is no need for the discs to be used, so you can put them away for safe keeping. In fact, you can keep them as good as new because you'll be loading the entire game from your hard drive, and not the disc itself. I keep making mention of the fact that a PS2 Network adapter is required, if you want to use the HD Loader. This is in fact true, but the reality is, the Playstation 2 can NOT have a hard drive connected without a Network adapter. You see, the Network adapter acts as your IDE converter. While it is designed to let you get online, and play online games, it also has a plug on the inside, which allows you to connect a Hard Drive to the game console. This was developed mainly for the Final Fantasy game, which actually required a Hard Drive to play, to store and load content from the hard drive. Now before you go thinking that you'll be stuck with a 40 gigabyte hard drive, the one that comes with the Final Fantasy game. It's important for me to state that while you could use that 40 gigabyte hard drive, the HD Loader is compatible with both standard IDE hard disk drives and the official Playstation 2™ hard disk drive.. So you won't be stuck with just 40 gigabytes, you can go right up to 120 gigabytes or 250 gigabytes of space. Any standard IDE Hard Drive will work, something that was also impossible before the HD Loader. But much more than just playing games from your hard drive, you can also load MP3 music, your digital pictures, and a wide variety of other "data" on to the hard disc, and have access to it on the fly. If you're thinking "That's great, I've got games on my Hard Drive, but how the heck to do I load them, or even see what's there" then you're in luck. The HD Loader user interface is designed with simplicity in mind – just boot up the HD Loader and begin playing your games without wasting any time navigating through a complex user interface. The interface lists all of your games and options, in an very easy to use and easy to navigate manner. The intuitive user interface allows easy management of games currently installed on your hard disk drive. Adding or removing games is as easy as pushing one of the buttons on your controller. In short, the HD Loader is the ultimate Hard drive storage and management solution for your PS2 game console. Not only will it get rid of those awful load times, but it also offer you a chance to protect your expensive PS2 game collection, but storing the games on the Hard Drive while you're playing them, and keeping the original games safe from scratches, dirt, or dust. So if you're tired of long load times, and want to get into the action right away, then the HD Loader is probably THE must have item on your list for the holidays. Steven Fields is an avid gamer and has written numerous articles and help guides for all the major video game systems. His specialty is rare and hard to find games and game accessories as well as do-it-yourself modding of your game consoles. To find out more about the HD Loader for the Playstation 2, make sure to visit www.ps2cover.com/hdloader.shtml
Article Page Main Games Sites
Featured Article Guitar Hero Review ( PS2 )
Author: Henning Hoffmann
Guitar Hero is a fun music based game for the PS2. The developer of Guitar Hero, Harmonix, had previously created Amplitude and before that Frequency. All three of these games are music based games where you have to strum or button your way through a song. Frequency was the first, and in my opinion (and that of my friends) better than the sequel Amplitude. While Amplitude had a much better shared multiplayer view, the songs weren't as good and the sense of actually playing the music was much decreased in Amplitude. So when the guys come over to play games at my place, we usually plop in Frequency and not Amplitude. Guitar Hero carries on the tradition, and I think is an improvement over Amplitude. It actually includes a guitar controller, which is a half-size plastic guitar with five coloured buttons on the neck. You "strum" a two inch long lever, and the guitar even includes a bendy bar. But you don't have to use this peripheral if you don't want to. Using the controller feels very much like Frequency or Amplitude, except that you sometimes have to hold down the notes over time, which wasn't a feature in the previous games. But the guitar peripheral makes it so much more fun, you'll want to use it. The joystick ability really only comes in handy when you play in two-player mode against a friend and can't afford to buy a second guitar. But how do you actually play a song? Easy to learn, difficult to master. The coloured buttons on the neck correspond to coloured dots on the moving score of the song. The score actually approaches you, and as coloured dots approach and cross a line right in front of you, you have to have the correct coloured button held down as you strum the guitar. Then the note will change to a different one, so you have to change your fingering before your next strum. It is easier than it sounds. Check the IGN website for Guitar Hero videos. How is it? Fun fun FUN! This is one great game with great songs, and great multiplayer action. I've only played it multiplayer with a controller, but getting a second guitar in there would be even more of a blast. I had my friends over to play this game and they all raved about it. If you like listening to music and have a PS2, then you owe it to yourself to at least try this game. Problems? Yes, a few. My biggest complaint (though not that big in absolute terms - this is a great game) is that the mapping of music tracks to game tracks isn't as fun as many of the tracks in Frequency and Amplitude were. In those game you'd really get into a groove and really enjoy how the tracks were arranged by the developers. Guitar Hero doesn't have quite the same creativity when it came to laying down the tracks. As well, the game ramps up in difficulty way too fast. The hardest setting is clearly impossible for everyone without a genetically enhanced metabolism. (This was also a problem with Frequency and Amplitude.) But don't let those things distract you from what is otherwise a very fun game. And if you don't want to splurge on the full price right away, you might want to try Frequency. It's an older game so is now in many bargain bins. It's a true gem, and you can try out this style of gameplay for less than $10. Henning Hoffmann is the publisher of PS3Blog.net, a great resource for PlayStation 3 news and opinion.
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Featured Article Great Video Game Jobs - Could You Be A Game Producer?
Author: Hitoshi Jones
The video game industry is loaded with different game jobs and careers, opportunities to become involved in one of the most interesting, diverse fields around. For those that want to be at the top of the mountain no matter what they do, overseeing the production of vast projects and making the decisions that will bring on the future of the video game industry, the role of game producer might be right for you. The game producer is an integral part of any studio's production. The structure can be confusing, with both external and internal producers. An external producer will work directly with a publisher, overseeing the work being done from an executive level. An internal producer on the other hand will be more involved, often working house with the developers and designers to see to the completion of multiple projects. Whichever kind of producer you aspire to be though, the video game industry is one of multitasking and massive production. Your job will be to oversee multiple projects and hundreds of people, often in a role that designates you a representative of the publisher's financial interests. A game producer's job is going to be much more business related than any other position in the video game industry. You'll likely find yourself attending business school and gaining experience in lower, entry-level jobs before you are qualified for this position. But, if you can get in with the game industry on the ground floor, it's a great opportunity to work your way into a producer's role. While a game producer must have ample knowledge of the process and what each job entails and is actually doing, your job will be to maneuver them, keeping the project on schedule, on budget, and contract. You make the final calls on a lot of major decisions that might gravely affect a game's final product. You will negotiate contracts and sign new talent. You will establish testing schedules and localization for overseas projects. You are essentially the business man of the video game industry and because of that had better be willing to spend a great deal of time making sure everything is running smoothly. This a perfect job for anyone who enjoys being in charge, making things run smoothly and having an entire team of game designers working beneath you, crafting the next great wave of video games. But, the role of video game producer might not be the perfect fit for everyone interested in getting into the video game industry. It's a stressful role, one that the artistic or the quiet might not find to be a perfect fit. It involves long hours and taking responsibility for multiple game projects at once. The final product is an amazing accomplishment, but for those that want to get in with the video game industry and work on an actual game, the role of game designer, or any of the lesser, more involved roles would be a wonderful fit. The possibilities in the video game industry are endless if you only look. BONUS TIP: If you're just starting out in the video game industry and want to get your foot in the door, you might want to learn how to become a video game tester You can start now by grabbing your FREE game tester report at: http://www.BeAGameTester.com
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Featured Article Google's Next Move – Video Game Ads?
Author: Adam McFarland -
Since AdWords was launched in 2001, Google has expanded to image ads, video ads, and print ads, and has frequently been rumored to be entering radio and television. While many think that television ads (ala Spot Runner) could be Google's next major move, they may be neglecting a potentially larger opportunity: in-game video game advertising.
Earlier this year Massive Incorporated, a video game advertising network, announced a landmark deal with Major League Baseball and 2K Sports to provide dynamic advertising in the popular video game Major League Baseball 2K6. According to their press release, "Massive's Network and technology allow MLB Advanced Media and 2K Sports titles to leverage dynamic advertising for ever-fresh brand messaging in their games, mirroring the rapidly changing and expanding advertising opportunities in the live action sports industry."
Why Should Google Care?
The Entertainment Software Association put U.S. sales of video game hardware and software at $7.3 billion back in 2004, a figure that rivals Hollywood box office revenue. In-game video game advertising is nothing new for the booming game industry – large companies have been buying static advertisements in games for years. What is new is the expansion of online gaming into the mainstream. Once reserved for only PC Gamers, console gamers have now discovered a whole new world of competition over a broadband connection.
In a recent interview with TechNewsWorld, EA's John Schappert, who oversees the largest interactive game studio in the world, was asked about in-game advertising: "In-game ad integration is a growing business where we see both advertisers and consumers looking for more. It's an additional revenue stream that is still small, but growing. There's the potential for scalability in this area with dynamically-served ads. It's still in the early stages [in terms of] how in-game ads will grow in significance."
Starting with Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PS2, and continuing into the next generation of online gaming with Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's PS3, it has become a virtual certainty that nearly all gamers will be playing while connected to a broadband connection. With that broadband connection comes an advertising opportunity that's hard to ignore.
Is History Repeating Itself?
The potential flaw in what Massive Incorporated does is that their ad network still only includes the large advertisers. Massive's website gives no specific information regarding how to purchase advertising, only mentioning that "blue-chip" advertisers can work with their "veteran" sales team to start an account. I think it's safe to say that small businesses aren't their target market. So while they are implementing dynamic ads, those ads are still only affordable to larger businesses. Anyone familiar with internet advertising can see the potential for history to repeat itself.
Way back in 1996, long before Overture (now Yahoo! Search Marketing) and Google AdWords, a company called DoubleClick pioneered website advertising. Their downfall, however, was that they required a formal sales contract, limiting their potential client base to only large companies. Overture and AdWords made it easy for the small advertiser and small site owner to participate in their ad networks, essentially opening their service to anyone on the web. Several years later, one would think that Google is keeping a watchful eye on what's going on over at Massive Incorporated. Massive may be the first to enter the market, but it's hard to ignore the fact that the small business owner remains shut out. Could Google make Massive the next DoubleClick?
How Would Google Do It
There's no doubt that with the best programmers in the world Google is capable of developing and improving upon the technology that Massive has. It's also not hard to imagine advertisers paying per thousand impressions (PPM) for their text or image ads to be shown in specific games, much like they do now for specific sites. The tough part for Google, however, would be the distribution of those ads.
As opposed to signing up websites to display their ads by copying some code on to their site, Google would have to work with game programmers throughout the development process. This would be much more time consuming and would be a much larger risk for Google. In the same way that Massive signed the contract with 2K, Google would have to sign large contracts with game developers and work with them for several months to integrate their ads.
This enforces the fact that the main difference between what happened with DoubleClick and what could happen with video games is that it would probably be more work for Google to distribute their ads over multiple channels (i.e. more games). Since each game is programmed differently, there is no game equivalent to the JavaScript used in all AdSense ads. Every game would need to be tailored to Google's ad network individually. Difficult: yes. Impossible for Google: no way.
When Will They Do It?
In my opinion it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. The potential revenue from the gaming industry is too big for Google to ignore. Oh, and if you still aren't convinced, consider this: Microsoft, one of Google's main competitors, also produces the Xbox 360. If Microsoft decided to integrate their newly launched adCenter into Xbox games, would it really surprise anyone if Google countered by announcing a deal with Sony or Nintendo to integrate in-game dynamic advertising for the PS3 or the Wii? Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com Adam McFarland owns iPrioritize - simple to-do lists that can be edited at any time from any place in the world. Email, print, check from your mobile phone, subscribe via RSS, and share with others. ...
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Featured Article Get Started in Game Creation
Author: Daniel Punch
I've always loved video games, ever since I first played them on a friend's computer in the afternoon after elementary school. There's something almost magical about the fact that we can move images around and interact with virtual worlds, a living fantasy presented for us to interact with however we please. I've also always wanted to make games myself but, until recently, didn't have the technical knowledge to do so. Now, I'm a second year software engineering student, so if I weren't able to code a game without too many dramas there'd be something drastically wrong. But what about the common person: the person for whom the term 'memory leak' conjures up images of their grandfather, 'pipeline' is where the water flows, and 'blitting' is unheard of? Well, everyone can get in on the game creation process, and you don't even need to learn 'real' programming to do so.
So where do games start? With an idea. Games, like all fiction, require an idea to be successful. Sure, in the same way you can just sit down and write a story without foresight, you can jump on in and slap a game together. However, unless you get ridiculously lucky, the best works are usually the ones that have been well thought out beforehand.
There are two methods of planning a project. You can start from a known technological standpoint and build your project on top of that or you can just go for the design, add as many features and ideas as you like, and then remove the ones that you can't use when you've decided on the technology you're going to implement the game with. In general, the second type is probably the best one to go with when designing games. When you're first starting out however, the first option will save you many headaches.
So, for a first game you're going to want a pretty simple idea. Don't get me wrong, crazy-go-nuts game ideas are fantastic, and there should be more of them out there, but you're not going to be able to create a real world simulator with fifty billion virtual people all interacting real time with your actions having a butterfly effect on the future of the virtual universe when it's just your first game. Really. Many people try it; none that I know of have succeeded. Imitation is the best way to start out. Simple games such as 'Space Invaders', 'Tetris', 'Pacman' or even 'Pong' are great places to start. All are largely simple to create but have some inherent challenges. 'Pacman' for example, requires path finding for the ghosts. I recommend that you start even simpler than that for your very first attempt. 'Space Invaders' is a nice point to jump in. You can make a simple, complete game without much effort and it's almost infinitely extensible.
If you're stuck for an idea, pick a genre that you enjoy. Do you love adventure games such as 'Monkey Island', 'Grim Fandango', 'Space Quest', 'King's Quest' etc.? Design one of those. Are you into fighting games like 'Street Fighter', 'Tekken', 'Soul Calibur', 'Mortal Kombat' and so on? Come up with an idea for that. Do you like first person shooters such as 'Quake', 'Half Life' or 'Doom'? I don't recommend it as a first project, but you can always give it a go. Feel free to be as generic as you like, this is a learning experience after all.
Now that you have your idea it's time to flesh it out. Don't worry about the technology or the fact that you may not know how to actually implement a game just yet, just grab yourself some paper and a pencil and go crazy with ideas. Describe the main characters, game play, goals, interactions, story, and key mappings, anything you can think of. Make sure you have enough detail so that someone can read through the notes and play through the game in their head with relative accuracy. Changing game design during the coding process is almost always a bad idea. Once it's set, it should remain set until the tweaking phase (I'll go into this more later) or you're likely to enter 'development hell', where the project goes on and on; more and more work is done with less and less outcome.
At the end of this period of your game creation, you should have the following:
-A written outline of the game's characters and possibly a sketch or two (be they space ships, yellow circles, cars or the prince of the dark kingdom of Falgour, you need to know who or what the player will be and who they will compete against)
-A written outline of the story (if there is one, this isn't too vital for 'Space Invaders' or 'Tetris', but for 'Uber Quest: An Adventure of Awesomeness' it's a really good idea)
-A description of game play, written or storyboarded. Storyboards are visual representations of ideas. Draw your characters in actions, with arrows showing the flow of action and short written descriptions detailing the events occurring in your image (because some of us aren't fantastic artists and our images can be a little… open to interpretation…)
Now that you have a fleshed out idea, it's time to work out how this will all get put together. If you've gotten to this point and are worried that you're going to have to spend years learning complex programming languages in order to implement your idea, fear not! Others have already done the hard yards for you. There are many RAD (Rapid Application Development) Tools available for game creation, a number of which are available for free online. Some of them still require you to learn a 'scripting language' (a simplified programming language made for a specific task) but in general this isn't too complicated or involved. I've compiled a brief list of some of these I have found at the end of the article. The free ones are listed first, organized by game genre.
Well, that should be enough to get you started in the creation of your game. The most important thing to remember once you've gotten this far is that you need to complete your game. Many people start a project and then lose interest and it fails, or they keep moving on to one new project after another without finishing anything. Start small, build a working (if simple) game that is, above all else, complete. When you get to this stage you will always have a huge number of things that you wish to change, fix etc. but you'll get a great feeling from knowing that it is, in its way, finished.
From this point, you can start the tweaking phase. Play your game a few times and ask others to do the same. Take note of what isn't fun or could be better and change things here. At this stage, it is more important than ever to keep backups of previous versions so that if a change doesn't work you can go back and try something different without losing any of your work. It is at this point that you can add all new features, improve graphics and sounds, whatever you please, safe in the knowledge that you're working on a solid foundation.
When you're happy with your game, why not share it with the world? There are many cheap or free places out there for you to host your files on and then you can jump on link lists and forums and let everyone know about your creation. Well, I hope that this has been a helpful introduction into the art of creating games. It's a great deal of fun, and can open whole new avenues of creative expression for you to explore. Jump in and have fun!
Daniel Punch
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Links:
General Game Creation:
(Tools that allow easy creation of many different game types)
Game Maker: http://www.gamemaker.nl
MegaZeux: http://megazeux.sourceforge.net/
Adventure Games:
(Games such as Monkey Island, King's Quest, Space Quest etc.)
Adventure Game Studio: http://www.bigbluecup.com
AGAST: http://www.allitis.com/agast/
3D Adventure Studio: http://3das.noeska.com/
ADRIFT (for text adventures): http://www.adrift.org.uk/
Role Playing Games (RPGs):
(Games such as Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Diablo)
OHRPG: http://www.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce/
RPG Toolit: http://www.toolkitzone.com/
Fighting Games:
(Games such as Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Soul Calibur etc.)
KOF91: http://sourceforge.net/projects/kof91/
MUGEN (unfortunately the site is largely in French): http://www.streetmugen.com/mugen-us.html
Side-Scrolling Games:
(Games such as the 2D Mario Games, Sonic the Hedgehog, Double Dragon etc.)
The Scrolling Game Development Kit: http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/
There are many others available as well. One particularly useful site for finding game creation tools is: http://www.ambrosine.com/resource.html
Also of note, although not freeware, are the excellent game creation tools available by Clickteam at: http://www.clickteam.com/English/
Klik and Play and The Games Factory in particular are the programs to have a look at and download the free demos of.
If you really want to do things right and program the game yourself, there are some excellent programming resources available at the following locations:
Java Game Programming:
http://fivedots.coe.psu.ac.th/~ad/jg/
http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1262.asp
http://javaboutique.internet.com/tutorials/Java_Game_Programming/
Visual Basic Game Programming:
http://markbutler.8m.com/vb-tutorial.htm
C++ Game Programming:
http://www3.telus.net/alexander_russell/course_dx/introduction_dx.htm
http://www.rit.edu/~jpw9607/tutorial.htm
General Information:
http://www.gamedev.net/
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About the AuthorDaniel Punch
M6.Net
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