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/
http://www.gamasutra.com/
About the AuthorDaniel Punch
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net http://www.m6.net ...
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Featured Article Game Design Software For Aspiring Video Game Designers
Author: Hitoshi Jones
If you have a passion for video games and you already know you want a future job in the game design industry, right now is the best time to start developing your skills and getting some experience. If you're not yet in a position to take college level courses in programming or design, one of the best things you can do is start working with game design software at home. Here are three titles you can start with - all of them free. 1. Crystal Space - 3D Game Design Engine This open source game engine is an excellent way to get your feet wet if you're interested in multi-platform game development. Since it allows you to develop games using the C++ programming language, it is an an excellent design software title to start with. Besides allowing you to gain first hand experience in 3D visualization, Crystal Space will also help you develop your keyframe and skeletal frame game animation design skills too. Since there are versions to download for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, anyone aspiring to get into the game design industry can gain a lot of experience by working with this on their home computer first. There is also a large support community online that can answer your questions and help you learn and develop your design skills with this title. 2. Cube - First Person Shooter Game Design Software If you're not quite up to programming in C++ yet, but still want to get a feel for game design, you should certainly download and try working with Cube. This is a first person shooter (FPS) game and game engine that is open source. If you enjoy titles like Quake and Doom, this engine will allow you to create your own game with similar action and physics. With this software, you can design your own FPS game world and learn to work with basic game design features such as lighting, textures, and other graphics. You'll also learn to program collision detection and other physics necessary to create realistic weapon functions. To top it off, the game you design can be programmed for single player and multiplayer modes. Again, this title is perfect for starting out in game design as it can be downloaded and run from a Windows PC, a Linux machine or a Mac. 3. DimensioneX - MMORPG Game Design Engine With the popularity of massively multi-player online role playing games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft, you'll probably want to get some experience with designing these types of games as well. If so, you should download and spend some time with DimensioneX. While most of the design software for MMORPGs is quite expensive, this title, like the ones above, is open source and free. DimensioneX will allow you to develop multi-player games that run on a Java servlet and use a scripting code similar to BASIC. This means that not only is the programming language easy to master, but after you create the game, you can easily upload it to a webserver and others can play it with you online. Although you can't create massive in-depth worlds with it, it will at least allow you to learn and work with important MMORPG game design concepts including maps, player communications, sounds and more. Bonus Tip: While you're learning with the free video game design software titles and preparing for your future, you might also want to get some industry experience and extra money by working as a freelance video game tester. You can learn how by visiting http://www.BeAGameTester.com right now.
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Featured Article Games - Consoles - technology evolved
Author: john
Games consoles have a colourful history, but they only really rose into the public consciousness in the '80s with the NES – the original Nintendo system. 'Nintendo' became a word meaning 'video game', and the Mario character became a worldwide sensation.
Since then, games consoles have been an unstoppable industry. Nintendo dominated for years with the NES, the Super NES and the portable Game Boy systems, only to have its dominance threatened by Sony's Playstation and later Playstation 2 and Portable Playstation (PSP). Despite the fact that the history of mass-market games consoles only really stretches back two decades or so, there have been dozens of consoles in this time, and all-out wars to capture the market. The quality of graphics has improved amazingly in this time – try looking at the original Mario next to a modern game like Grand Theft Auto or Halo – although it is a matter of some debate whether gameplay (the 'fun factor') has improved to match.
Probably the biggest thing in games consoles today is the shift towards online gaming, led by Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Online gaming allows people to play against each other all over the world using nothing more than a TV, a console, an Internet connection, and occasionally a headset to shout insults at each other.
All that could be about to change, however, as Sony prepares to launch the Playstation 3, and Nintendo works on the Wii. The two consoles are set to fight it out over the next few years, with the PS3 taking the position of being very expensive with extremely good graphics, and the Wii being more basic and cheaper, but trying to put the focus back on fun. The Internet is buzzing with Wii supporters who remember the Nintendo games of their youth, and hope for a return to simple, fun games, although it seems unlikely that the battle will be won that easily. Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com John Gibb is the owner of gamesconsole sources , For more information on gamesconsoles please check out www.gamesconsole-guides.info ...
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Featured Article Fun Fishing Games for Playstation 2
Author: Landreau Donovan
The weather, lack of resources, and proper venue should not be seen as immovable obstacles to your fishing goals. If you truly desire to bait, hook and catch fishes today, then so you should! But this time, you'll be doing it on TV. Wear your favorite fishing outfit if it makes you comfortable then take the best seat in the house. Choose one from the fishing games reviewed below, hook up your Playstation 2 to the TV, and you're all set to have one of the most exciting fishing challenges in your life! Reel Fishing III
Nowadays, individuals with busy careers and hectic lives are forced to spend only a few minutes fishing and do so in artificial settings. With Reel Fishing III, however, you can fish anytime, and feel like it's the real thing. Reel Fishing III provides its users with an incomparable experience of nature fishing; a few minutes into the game, and you might forget you're not really out enjoying the beauty and peace that only Mother Nature can provides us. There are several great features to look forward to with Reel Fishing III:
User-Friendly - Even if you're not an expert fisherman, you still won't have problems playing Reel Fishing III. But fishing veterans need not fear that playing Reel Fishing III would be a piece of cake; it won't be! Choice of Settings - The game provides players with a variety of nature settings to choose from, so you won't get bored fishing in the same scene over and over. Amazing Sounds - Dolby Surround Sound Pro Logic II was used in this game to give players the most realistic fishing experience. Freshwater Fish Variety - Look forward to catching all 25 freshwater fish used in the game.
Rapala Pro Fishing
If nature fishing is too tame, then you'll probably love to join the fishing tournament brought by Rapala Pro Fishing. This is, however, a one-player game so any team efforts will be restricted to the background.
Features to Look Forward to:
Choice of Settings - If you want a virtual taste of how it is to go salmon fishing in Alaska and win the tournament, this game will provide you the means to experience it. Fish and Lure Variety - Lots of fish to catch in this game; some are easy to bait while some will challenge every fishing trick you have Boat Driving - Unlike some fishing games, Rapala Pro Fishing will allow you to steer the boat Ease of Play - Even your five-year-old grandson will have no great difficulties playing Rapala Pro Fishing, which makes it a great way to bond with your family. Kids may opt for an auto-cast function if they find manual baiting too hard. Viewpoint Options - You can choose to see how you bait those beautiful fishes with the underwater or top water lure camera mode.
Fisherman's Bass Club
If none of the previous games have whetted your appetite, then maybe you'll enjoy the tough lake challenges provided by Fisherman's Bass Club. The 3D realistic fishing experience brought by this game will make catching the toughest freshwater sport fish even more rewarding.
Features to Look Forward to:
Quiz - Are you ready to put your fishing knowledge to test? You have 10 seconds to read and answer the questions. Tutorial Mode - Beginners can hone their skills in the tutorial mode until they're sufficiently able to join a tournament and become a winner. Customize Settings - You can choose what type of weather and time of the day you wish to compete
Try these games out, and you may realize indoor virtual fishing is not as bad as you thought it would be!
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Featured Article Family Friendly Xbox 360 Games - 5 Family Friendly Xbox 360 Games That Your Whole Family Wi
Author: Jared Dawson
The video game industry has taken a fair amount of criticism over the years for its violent content and for the time that the kids waste in front of the tv, isolated from their family. These 5 family friendly xbox 360 games are not only games that you can feel comfortable with your kids playing, but also games that you can enjoy playing with them. Beautiful Katamari - Rated E for Everyone For the first time on a non-Playstation console, Beautiful Katamari brings it's wacky, whimsical game play to the Xbox 360. Beautiful Katamari is a simple, addictive game that is fun for the whole family. The game consists of players rolling a large sticky ball called the katamari around the screen in order to pick up a variety of different items. If you are familiar with previous versions of the game, you will be very familiar with the gameplay, but if you are new to the series you and your family will be in for a treat. Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action - Rated T for Teen If you are looking for a change in pace from the many first person shooter games out in the market now you may want to consider Scene it? Lights, Camera, Action. Based on the Scene It? DVD game franchise, this trivia game makes its debut on the Xbox 360. The game comes with unique buzzer controllers to play the game. The game focuses on movie trivia questions and games are filled with movie clips, puzzles and multiple play modes called Party Play and Play Now. Party Play is a casual gaming mode, while Play Now is the more competitive version. While the game may not be as enjoyable for younger children, movie and trivia buffs should love the game. It is a unique game to add to your Xbox 360 collection. Rock Band - Rated T for Teen Rock Band is one of the hot releases of the 2007 Christmas season. Rock Band could be considered four games in one as it allows you to live out your fantasy of being a rock star by playing guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Rock Band consists of some of the hottest rock songs from the past 40 years. The concept of the game is similar to karaoke except it introduces the other pieces of the band into the game as well. The game consists of a guitar controller, drum controlled and microphone making it a bit more expensive then some games. Due to the nature of the game and the music in the game, the game is rated T for Teen. If you and your family are looking to try something new, Rock Band will be a lot of fun. Imagine dad on the lead guitar and mom on vocals, reliving their rock and roll fantasies from the 70's, being joined by the kids on drums and bass guitar for an evening of family fun. Rock on! Viva Pinata - Rated E for Everyone Viva Pinata is a popular animated kids television show, brought to life in a video game. The colorful 3d graphics will blow you away. From the look of the game you may originally think that this is a simple, fun game that only kids would love, but you will soon learn how wrong you are. Viva Pinata is a surprisingly deep strategy game as well. The game will allow you to start with a basic plot of land and grow it into a lively, working ecosystem. There are so many ways to play the game and so many different strategies. You and your family are sure to get hours and hours of entertainment out of this deep game. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - Rated E10+ for Ages 10+ Legos, the complete Star Wars series and video games, what could be a better recipe for fun for the entire family? Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a game that is fun and easy for the whole family to get into. It is based on all six episodes of the Star Wars series. It allows you to play through each of the six episodes of the Star Wars series by retelling each of the stories in a humorous and unique style with puzzle solving and vehicle based gameplay. You might think that a game based on Lego figures would be purely a kids game. While Lego Star Wars is easy for kids to play, it's perfect blend of action and humor make it an extremely enjoyable game for adults as well. The game gives you the ability to tear apart different parts of the Lego Star Wars universe and put them back together in true Lego style. It also allows you to play with another person on screen so it is a great game for parents who grew up during the original Star Wars years to play with their kids who have just watched the newer trilogy. If you have yet to play any of the original Lego Star Wars games then this is a must have for your video game library, while veterans of the series should find enough improvements to enjoy this title as well. If you are looking for some games to add to your home that are fun for both you and your family, any of these 5 family friendly xbox 360 games would be a welcome addition to your home. So why not start a family game night and enjoy any or all of these games. For more information about family friendly video games and additional recommendations of Xbox 360 games visit the Xbox 360 page of the Family Home Theater Guide. The Family Home Theater Guide offers a wealth of information about home theater components, Home theater design and home theater accessories. To access this information visit Jared's site at http://familyhometheaterguide.com The Family Home Theater Guide is an informative guide to home theater, with a particular emphasis on family entertainment. Jared has a wife and three children that love to experience the magic of the big screen in the comfort of their own home.
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Featured Article Download Xbox 360 Games Quickly & Easily
Author: Herb Peterson
Have you ever wondered how to download xbox 360 games? If so you aren't alone. Many games industry experts would have us believe that downloading our media directly is the way forward, so check out the rest of this article to find out exactly how to go about it. Now before you go download crazy, there are a few things you need to beware of. Knowing these facts will keep you out of jail! First of all, make sure you know the law. There are a lot of sites out there which market themselves as a legal direct downnload site for you to download xbox 360 games from, and you'll find that some of them aren't quite as legal as they make out to be. If you are in any doubt about this at all, check out the laws in your country or territory-it's really not worth going to jail over a few games is it? Another good idea is to be careful of the websites you use. As internet usage and popularity increases, so too does the number of hackers and spammers etc looking for access to your system. It's very important to keep your system up to date with the latest versions of your anti-virus and firewall software for this very reason. You can also minimize the risk here by steering clear of shady sites, and only using the best and most reputable (more on this later). It will be hard to download xbox 360 games if your computer gets ruined by some hacker! The last thing is to know what to expect when you find the right kind of site-how to tell the real deal. First of all, the genuine sites will ask you for some money up front. A lot of them these days offer unlimited downloads for a flat rate, so for example if you pay $40 or $50, you can then download as many xbox 360 games as you want, which is obviously a pretty good deal. If you can find the correct site, you'll quite often find that they will also let you download all kinds of other bits and pieces too, wallpapers, homebrew stuff, basically anything you can buy in stores for the 360. This article should give you some good guidelines to help you download xbox 360 games safely. Check out the links below to find the safest download sites.
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Featured Article Download Xbox 360 Games - How to Download Games for the Xbox 360
Author: Edd Linham
To buy Xbox 360 games regularly can cost quite allot of money, So people are wanting to know how to Download Xbox 360 games. If you do a simple search in Google then you will end up with many many results, so that leads us on to where to Download games. The are a few different types of download site available, firstly there are the totally free sites which are supported by advertising, this means that before you get to the download page you will be bombarded with pop-ups and advertising banners, which can leave lots of adware on your computer, then when you finally download the game it is very slow and can take days, in my opinion i wouldn't even bother with these sites. Secondly there are sites which say they offer free game downloads, but you actually have to pay a monthly subscription, or a pay per download fee, they only say the game is free because your not actually paying for the game, you pay for the service. Thirdly there are sites which require you to join as a member, the membership fee is usually around the price of one game from the shop, but when you've paid the one time only membership fee you then get access to unlimited downloads for life, theses are my favourite sites because there great value for money. The site i use regularly to download Xbox 360 games is very easy to use with all the online help to get you going as well as 24/7 online customer support, plus it also offers downloads for other platforms such as the PS3 and Nintendo Wii as well as Music, Movies and TV show downloads, it even has all the tools needed to transfer and burn your games ready to play, you can read my review of this site by clicking the link below.
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Featured Article Download Xbox 360 Games
Author: Patrick Kaa
Buying games for your xbox 360 can be a costly task and when you do buy them you run the risk of scratching or damaging your games meaning you either have to buy another one or borrow it from your friend next door!! but there is one other option thats has become very popular amongst the gaming community (thats if you dont have a moral conscience). Gamers or Hackers as they are more commonly known have been able to develop software to download xbox 360 games!! What this means is that people can now for a small fee download games for their xbox 360 using a program like napster. However these games need special thrid party software to run them. This software is called firmware or customised firmware that can play Xbox 360 games that are burned to a disc or downloaded from the internet into hard drive. They can come in .iso or .zip format depending on what you prefer. The Xbox 360 is usually flashed (reprogrammed) so it can play these backup xbox 360 games on the fly as they describe it. There are many sources the internet today that provide services like this for other consoles like the PSP or PS2 where you can download games and burn them onto disc. The providers allow unlimited access and fast downloading too for exclusive memberships. Updates are available and users can get all the latest games.
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Featured Article Download PS3 Games Right Now
Author: Herb Peterson
Download PS3 games may well be the answer to most PS3 owners woes about the price of games etc. In this era of superfast internet and on demand content for just about anything, it seems only right that you can download PS3 games. Check out this article to find out how... Before you can download PS3 games, or anything at all for that matter, there are a few things you will need: 1- A computer-Sony are too clever to let you download games directly onto the PS3 itself, so for the time being they have to go onto the computer first. It may change in the future, but for now you're stuck with it. 2- An internet connection-The faster the better. Like duh. 3- A big list of games you want to download. You won't believe the choice you have, so it's a good idea to make a list. When I found out what was available I was so dumbstruck that I couldn't think of a single game that I wanted. 4-This is the most important thing-you need a reliable and trustworthy place to download PS3 games from. This is tricky as people that know about sites like these tend to keep them to themselves. And by the way, I don't mean some kind of shady torrent or P2P site. Those are illegal and will probably kill your computer. Torrent sites are a real hacker's paradise, so if you have used sites like that in the past, it's a good idea to get your computer checked. The kind of sites that are safe are the newer sites that are emerging these days. They work by offering a very limited membership-you make a one off payment to gain access to their database of software, and then you have access to it for the rest of your life. It's usually pretty reasonable, less than $50, and you will not only be able to download PS3 games but you will also be getting things like movies, music videos and TV shows. All unlimited, and at a high speed. Sites like this can really change the way you view your console! Hopefully this article will help you realise that download PS3 games instead of buying them in a store is a reasonable alternative. Click the links below to see some of the best download sites on the net.
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Featured Article Download PS3 Games Right Now
Author: Herb Peterson
Download PS3 games may well be the answer to most PS3 owners woes about the price of games etc. In this era of superfast internet and on demand content for just about anything, it seems only right that you can download PS3 games. Check out this article to find out how... Before you can download PS3 games, or anything at all for that matter, there are a few things you will need: 1- A computer-Sony are too clever to let you download games directly onto the PS3 itself, so for the time being they have to go onto the computer first. It may change in the future, but for now you're stuck with it. 2- An internet connection-The faster the better. Like duh. 3- A big list of games you want to download. You won't believe the choice you have, so it's a good idea to make a list. When I found out what was available I was so dumbstruck that I couldn't think of a single game that I wanted. 4-This is the most important thing-you need a reliable and trustworthy place to download PS3 games from. This is tricky as people that know about sites like these tend to keep them to themselves. And by the way, I don't mean some kind of shady torrent or P2P site. Those are illegal and will probably kill your computer. Torrent sites are a real hacker's paradise, so if you have used sites like that in the past, it's a good idea to get your computer checked. The kind of sites that are safe are the newer sites that are emerging these days. They work by offering a very limited membership-you make a one off payment to gain access to their database of software, and then you have access to it for the rest of your life. It's usually pretty reasonable, less than $50, and you will not only be able to download PS3 games but you will also be getting things like movies, music videos and TV shows. All unlimited, and at a high speed. Sites like this can really change the way you view your console! Hopefully this article will help you realise that download PS3 games instead of buying them in a store is a reasonable alternative. Click the links below to see some of the best download sites on the net.
Article Page Main Games Sites
Featured Article Download PS3 Games - How to Download and Play PS3 Games
Author: Edd Linham
Are you still buying PS3 games from the shops? Well now you don't have to, there is a much more convenient way to get all your PS3 media. Downloading games online has become very popular for other consoles such as PlayStation 2 and PSP, and now you can download all your PS3 games online too. Game download sites are a new service that allow you to download and play all your PS3 media, for a one time only membership fee, which is around the cost of one PS3 game and you can download as much as you want for life. You can download all types of media for your PS3 such as music and movies, software and more, then play them on your PlayStation 3 immediately. You'll never be bored again, especially if you don't like spending extortionate amounts of cash on game after game. Game download sites have all the features you need, 24/7 online customer service and a 30 day money back guarantee. There's no monthly subscription fees or pay per download fees, just a one time only membership fee. There service include all the tools you'll need to help you find and download the media you want and then transfer them so you can play on your PS3, with all the online help and easy step by step instructions, downloading PS3 games has never been easier or cost effective. They also have media downloads for other platforms such as Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, I'm my opinion there is not a better way of getting new release game, and whats more its 100% safe no spyware or viruses, and 100% legal!
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Featured Article Download PS3 Games - Download Your PS3 Games Online
Author: Lewis Waller
Do you want to download your PS3 Games from the internet? No more walking to your local games shop only to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a game you might not even enjoy playing? It's now possible to download all the latest PS3 Games online at any time you want! But when downloading games from the internet it's easy to get confused. There are so many sites out there to choose from and a lot of them are scams. So where should you download from? And which sites should you avoid? There are a few simple rules you can follow that will assure you find a great site to download all your PS3 Games from. Firstly, although it's tempting to download games from 'torrent' sites (file sharing sites) its best to avoid them. The files on these sites aren't regulated and a lot of the time can contain viruses and spyware that even anti-virus software can't detect. Its best to join a paid site (which should only charge a small one time fee) and have access to there database of games for life. These databases are always being updated and so have all the latest games ready for you to download. Next, you should choose a site which has all forms of media available to download, not just PS3 Games. The best sites will have music, movies and TV shows as well as games for all consoles (Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PS3) so check for this before you join. Finally, make sure the site offers a customer support service in case you have any problems or questions you need answering (the best sites offer 24/7 customer support) and that the site also has a money back guarantee in case your really not happy with the quality of their service.
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Featured Article Copying Xbox Games
Author: Terry Dunn
There really is no shortcut to copying XBOX games. In fact, this is a mightily complicated process and has stumped some really techie people. This is evident with the prevalence of the question on copying XBOX games in Internet message boards and tech chat rooms. But why does one need to be going about there and copying XBOX games? Is this not legal? If you have an XBOX and you have purchased original games to play on it, chances are you must have ran through a huge chunk of your savings. Original games are very expensive and because CDs are not exactly immortal, you can eventually wear out a game especially if you use it every minute of the day. To give value to consumers, most countries allow original CD buyers to make back-up copies of their XBOX games in case their original got damaged or got lost provided that they are aware of the law against pirated software and that they actually own an original cd and are only copying XBOX games for their personal use only. While it is relatively easy to do the copying of XBOX games, the same cannot be said in actually using the XBOX games that you have copied. Most software contain an encryption that must be met when inserted in an XBOX. Copying an XBOX game, however, does not copy this encryption. This is a protection system that most XBOX consoles have as protection against flagrant copying of XBOX games. To be able to run XBOX games that you have copied, you need to modify your XBOX. This can be a daunting task especially to beginners who are afraid of destroying their XBOXes with their tinkering. According to most tech experts, there are a lot of ways to modifying your XBOX in order to accommodate the practice of copying of XBOX games. Some are quite complicated and only a tech expert could do while other ways can be expensive but easy. One is to buy and install a MOD-chip. This will allow your console to play XBOX games that you have copied as well as play imported games from other countries with perfect sound and video with no problem at all. While it may seem that all you have to do is purchase a MOD-Chip and then voila, you have another think coming. There are actually a lot of things that you should consider when buying a MOD-Chip. Most recommend the Divineo Modchips, which are purported to be really reliable. Some of the popular brands are the Xecuter 2 and 3, Xenium, SmartXX, X-bit, Alladin, Chameleon and Xchip. Another way in copying and using XBOX games is to change the BIOS of the XBOX so that it will no longer read the requirements of the digitally-signed software. This is basically reprogramming the whole BIOS. You might also consider purchasing a bigger hard drive and just save all your games inside the XBOX. This way, you already have copy of your favorite games inside and would no longer need to swap CDs. The third way is to do the game swapping technique, wherein you will first boot the original CD and then swap the copy once it has already booted up. This might be very complicated and will not actually serve your purpose in copying your XBOX games… that is to preserve your original CDs.
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Featured Article Cool Playstation 2 Games
Author: Morgan Hamilton
Do you remember the really cool video games that started it all? I'm talking about those classics from the 80s. We had the ever-popular Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Centipede. Those things were really fun to play in cutting-edge technology to be sure. I thought playing pitfall on my Atari was about as cool as it can get. Man, was I wrong. It's got a whole lot better. The quality of PlayStation 2 games that are available now are mind blowing. The storylines and graphics are incompatible. It's nonstop adventure. For example, check out some of the more recent playstation 2 games. Wow, what a difference from the old-school Atari. I mean, the game depths alone are amazing. People around the world enjoy these new-age playstation 2 games on a daily basis. Do you have the latest ones? Do you have PS2? It's incredible how popular it has become, but it doesn't surprise me. I was astounded when this console came out. The big pitch didn't only concern the playstation 2 games, but also the DVD option. Your PS2 can also be used as a DVD player to play any of your favorite movies. Folks loved this convenient option. Suddenly they didn't need to purchase a DVD player. It was an all-in-one deal. Not a bad deal at all. I can remember being at my uncle's house to check out his PS2 and his new playstation 2 games. I hadn't really paid much attention to video games since my days with Nintendo so I was really blown away at the realistic graphics and hot sound effects. These new playstation 2 games are incredibly lifelike. It's so far removed from those simple Atari figures that we cut our teeth with. No more stick men. There was everything from martial arts games to sports games to adventure games. I fell in love with the playstation 2 games. Millions of children across America fire up their playstation 2 games every day and escape into their fantasy world. They can even compete with other players had to head, and battle the bad guys for as long as their parents will let them. One of the great benefits of the PS2 is the versatility. Regardless if you had a PS1, you can play all those old games on your PS2 as well. How cool is that? If you're on the lookout for new playstation 2 games, you can browse your local Best Buy and Target stores, or just go online and have them delivered right to your door. On the Internet you can buy used PlayStation 2 games for a fraction of their original costs. With the world at your fingertips, you will surely find that playstation 2 game that will keep you on the edge of your seat for many hours to come. Morgan Hamilton offers his findings and insights regarding the world of teens. You can get interesting and informative information here at Playstation 2 Games |
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