What Are Indie Games?

Overview of Indie Games

For those individuals who love to play various games in their free time and are also avid computer users, the two concepts can easily be combined to produce a wonderful result. Playing games via a computer is a common occurrence these days. Although there are a number of popular games one can play on the computer, one genre of game that is gaining in popularity is that of Indie games.

Defining Indie Games

Indie games can be defined as those games that are created independently of any large financially backed company. Indie games are ones which often come from a relatively low budget base and many of these games are ones that are only available online. These types of games can be video games, strategy games or puzzles, for example. The wide range of categories which various Indie games fall into is quite impressive.

How Indie Games Were First Developed

Indie games developed in reaction to an already established type of gaming industry. Those who create Indie games develop games which fall into a certain category yet do not have a large financially sound company which develops them. In order for Indie games to exist, there must already be a similar genre of game in existence. For example, Indie games which fall into the category of video games were developed in the 1970s shortly after the larger companies developed the mainstream video games. The Indie games which resulted from that category came into existence after games such as Pong and Asteroids hit the market.

Reasons for Online Popularity

Indie games are mainly available via online means. There are a few different reasons for this. First, those who develop various Indie games do so at minimal costs. Since it is much less expensive to provide online accessibility to these games as opposed to marketing them and selling these games in stores, one who develops Indie games makes them largely available online. Secondly, individuals who create various Indie games make them available online since it is an easy way to get the games out to the general public and enable individuals to start playing them as quickly as possible.

Size of the Indie Game Industry

The Indie game industry is one which is growing in size. As more and more individuals begin using the Internet, there are more people who gain access to Indie games. Online accessibility to games of this type is a primary reason for the growing popularity of Indie games. Indie games are developed all over the world and it is hard to pinpoint exactly how many Indie games are currently in existence at this time.

Future of the Indie Game Industry

The Indie game industry is one which will continue to grow in the future. Due to the fact that the number of Internet users continues to grow, so will the number of people who like to play Indie games online. Therefore, the future of the Indie game industry looks quite bright.

Summary

Indie games are the result of creative and innovative minds. For those who may not have the financial backing to get their games on the consumer market, developing Indie games and making them accessible via the World Wide Web is a great way for the developer to let others see and utilize their vision.

Steve is a writer for the GrandMatrix website. GrandMatrix provides hundreds of free game downloads and online games. Play and rate the latest PC games and play thousands of puzzles, word games and online arcade games with other members.

An Unbiased look at the Epidemic of Video Games in Our Youth

Since the creation of video-games, parents, and children alike have been wondering about the usefulness, and disadvantages of playing these technology-based diversions. If moderated, games can be a great medium for social bonding, and an outlet for a well deserved break. Recently many studies have been released showing many effects of playing video-games, and many times, their data is misinterpreted. Instead of taking the radical approach to denying the advantages of playing video-games, or even proclaiming them as the savior for today’s youth, it is necessary to take the middle road, and adjust it according to your own values.

On one social aspect, video-games are a great way to enhance friendship, or even make new relationships. By sitting down to a nice game of Madden 06 (A football game) or even playing co-op mode on Halo 2 (a first person shooter), you can develop bonds between you and your partner. By playing these games you are working on your teamwork, it being necessary to be corporative and work out a game plan to win. However you can also play on opposite teams in Madden 06, or even fight against each other in Halo 2. If taken too seriously, this can prove to be harmful to a relationship. Nonetheless, usually these games provide a light healthy competition, and hopefully allow the loser (and winner) to practice sportsmanship skills.

Unfortunately there are also negative effects on social behavior, almost directly linked to playing too many video-games. Many times, if gamers become too obsessed, playing some single-player games could cause social-isolation. These games (if abused) could take time away from being with friends and plant gamers in front of a screen. At an early age this could prove very harmful as kids are still learning better social behavior and skills. Becoming “addicted” to video-games could cause a child to grow up as an introvert, shy, and/or anti-social.

Another ill-affect of video-games besides the social health of gamers is there physical health. Many conditions and injuries have been linked to repetitive use of video games. Some of them include: Eye Strains, Wrist/ Neck/ injuries, Back Pain, Photosensitive Epilepsy, Headaches, nerve and muscle damage, and even hallucinations! Currently researchers are examining the effect of video-games on obesity, and whether it is a factor. Even though these alone sound like a reason enough to eradicate video-games you must look at the conditions of the studies performed to come to these conclusions. Many of these injuries are very rare, and you also must examine the word repetitively. Most of the cases of an injury or disease as a result of playing video-games happened because the person was playing too much. Therefore with moderation, one can enjoy video-games with a much lower risk of besetting one of these injuries.

Even though there are negative risks to playing video-games, there are also many positive effects on physical health brought upon by playing these games. Many studies show, including one by Stanford University, that video games have a great effect on player’s problem solving skills and alertness ([http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/spotlight/2001-01-19-video.htm]). The US Governments National Institute of Heath also recently released a study showing amazing increases in visual skills and attentiveness after playing video-games (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2943280.stm). Among these increased skills is also the better ability to follow directions. Teachers for centuries have been trying to instill the educational ideal of following directions upon students. Now with the advances in video-games player’s skills in directional following will also hopefully rise.

In additional to the capability to follow directions, come many other educational benefits to playing video-games. It is proven that many strategy games such as Age of Empires and Rome: Total War, increase logic and thinking skills. In these games, players are required to engage in critical thinking and decision making that will influence there gaming experience. In order to win, you need to think through a decision before you do it. For example in Age of Empires, choosing whether to build an archery range or a stable could influence the result of your next battle. Many role-playing games (such as Final Fantasy X) also require you to read great amounts of text scrolling fast through the screen. In fact, many American teachers have been noting improvement in spelling, reading, and even mathematics due to video-games (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-27-2004-51038.asp). Many readers may now be thinking that it is obviously more beneficial to reading skills to read a book, but how much easier is it to ask a child if they want to read a novel, or play the latest blockbuster game to hit shelves?

The content of games is also important. Today the array of genre and content of games has increased ten-fold. There are games designed for pre-teen girls, violent teenagers, sports lovers, history aficionados, anybody you name, and there is probably a game that was designed with them as demographic. The same study by the US Institute of Health also used different games as variables (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2943280.stm). They had some children play modern games, just released in the last few years (such as Medal of Honor), and grievously released games (such as Tetris). The Medal of Honor players improved there visual and attention skills significantly, whereas the Tetris players had almost nil improvement.

Regrettably, many of today’s youth are using video-games to escape the stresses of daily life. It is also ultimately one of the best tools for procrastinators. This can have a negative effect on daily life. Children will play video-games instead of doing there homework, instead of studying for tests, even instead of conversing with their own family! In addition, many video-games are understandably “addicting” and cause many “hard-core” players to lose jobs, fail school, and even lose a relationship. These qualities of video-games make them seem almost drug-like possessing some of the same social negatives as alcohol. However just like red-wine (which appear to be positive to your health (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1719675.stm)) video-games are great in moderation.

Ultimately if a player practices self control video games can be positive for them. As long as they keep track of time, choose good games, and balance their life, gamers around the world can all feel these productive effects. Fantasy is an essential part of a kids growing imagination. So as long as they do so wisely, let them play, let them have fun.

Online Games - Can We Make Money Playing Them?

When we refer to online games we are normally referring to video type games that we play on a computer via the internet. Some video games are played over the internet using mobile phones and video consoles, but generally speaking online games means computer games that need an internet connection to be played. Simple text-based multiplayer games were the first of these types of games as internet connections were slow and expensive when these games were first introduced in the 1980s. Gradually these games became popular in the 1990s, with today's online games featuring virtual communities, realistic graphics and multiplayer games where people can even play one to one or in knock out tournaments for cash prizes. We all know that the internet is the fastest growing market place in the history of the world but did you know that there is an online games sector that is growing 4 times faster than the internet overall! Yes! and it's the "Online Skill Games" market.

There are many styles of Online Games

Some of the different types of online games that exist:

1. Real time strategy games: This type of game is all about strategy where, for your army to fight successfully against the other internet players you need to develop a game plan by building lots of resources

2. First person shooter: Here the players compete with each other one to one. In most first-person type games, the online game allows the death match or arena style of play. In this style of game play the view you see is the one seen from your character's eyes.

3. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG): In this type of game each person has to keep trying to reach the next highest level until he has reached the top one written for that game and these online games can have, simultaneously, thousands of players from every part of the globe, playing in a giant virtual world interacting against or with each other. Gamers can keep playing these types of games for months or even years!

4. Browser type games: These are pastime games that are quick, simple and small that are played in your browser. The popular Java and Shockwave technologies are used to develop these games.

5. Online skill games: An online skill based game is a web game played in tournament format or one to one. Each player pays a cash entry fee to play with a cash or merchandise prize going to the winner or winners. The outcome of each competition is based on the player's ability and performance not luck.

How Do Online Game Companies Make Money

All games today, are playable online. How do we make money? This is the question that companies making the online games have to ask themselves. The majority of companies make single-player games that are played at home and in this the player has to beat the artificial intelligence of the enemy. Today these games normally include an online multiplayer version which can be played against or with other Internet players. By selling their game DVD/CDs is how these companies earn their profit e.g. Warcraft 3 and Counter Strike. Advertising and promotions is how browser game companies make their money. MMORPG companies generally charge their players a monthly fee and continue to add content by programming new scenarios etc in their games e.g. Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft. Some don't, but survive because their DVD/CD sales are high e.g. Guild Wars.

What is the future of online games?

Soon there will be a new entry into the online skill games market. According to their Free Online Games Market Report they will be the first company with their new online skill games platform, to launch a business that encapsulates three of the newest phenomena on the internet today. Online Games Entertainment, Social Networking using web 2.0 and a new way of marketing which has been described as Social Marketing 2.0. One of the core differences with this new platform over the conventional models is that we the players can if we want share in the profits while we play our games. With the market today (2007) worth approximately $5.2 billion USD and predicted to rise in the next 3 years to over $13 billion USD that's $412 per second and with social networking sites already reaching 45% of web users and the 4 major Instant Messengers having more than 400 million users between them this potentially could be a whole lot of money.

Ian Woods

To read the Free Online Skill Games Market Report mentioned in the article above you can view or download it from [http://www.uVmeGamesMaster.com]

Island Tribe 3

All games: strategy games: Island Tribe 3

After making a wish before the altar of wishes, settlers are found on their home island again. The great volcano no longer threaten their well-being, a bright future awaits and the dream of perpetual peace seems to have come true.

The leader of the tribe fell in love with one of the girls and decides to marry her. The wedding should take place in an ancient temple, whose doors were locked for generations. In order to open them, the islanders will find pieces of magical runes. On top of everything else, the bride gets stolen by an evil shaman!

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Choose the Best Gaming PC for your Needs

Computer game technology is a rapidly-increasing field. In terms of both hardware and software, companies are constantly striving to push the envelope and increase performance. As the intricacy of individual games increases, however, it becomes important to select a computer gaming system that will best fit your particular needs. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of gaming PCs available on the market. How, then, do you select the best gaming system? By answering several questions about your gaming and financial needs, you can determine which direction to turn in terms of a proper gaming system.

What Kinds of Games do you Play?

The specific types of games that you tend to play will help decide which hardware configurations will best meet your needs. All games are not created equal, and depending on the genre developers will devote more of their energy to different aspects of the title. Strategy and simulation games, for example, tend to be less graphically-intensive than other types of games and thus can be run on a less powerful gaming system. As a point of reference, the specifications for Civilization IV, a lush and detailed strategy game, are as follows:

-1.8GHz Intel or AMD processor

-512MB RAM

-128MB video card

Compared to many of the newer gaming computers on the market today, the demands for running Civilization IV are not all that high. As with many strategy and simulation games, a greater weight is placed on AI and game calculations rather than graphics, and raw hardware power becomes less important to run the title effectively.

Conversely, first-person shooters (FPS) and action titles tend to rely more heavily on graphics and physics to create the proper ambiance and environment. As such, the system requirements for these types of games are usually significantly higher than other genres. Titles like Half-Life 2 and Quake 4 bombard the player with graphically intensive scenes, and the physics of the game are precisely calculated to create the most realistic scenarios possible. In contrast to the specifications listed above, the recommended system configuration for F.E.A.R., one of the more advanced FPS titles in terms of graphics prowess, are as follows:

-3.0 Pentium 4 or equivalent processor

-1GB RAM

-256MB video card

Although F.E.A.R. and Civilization IV released at roughly the same time last year, the recommended system requirements for the former are nearly double those of the latter. This is often the case with FPS titles; because developers largely intend these games to be "showcase" pieces of a particular technology or graphics engine, a more powerful gaming computer is usually required to run them in their full graphical glory. The graphic rendering takes enough resources, but when you figure in the requirements for precise real-time physics calculations, these get bumped up even further. As you can see, the types of computer games that you play invariably affect the hardware that you should purchase.

Must you have the Best Graphics?

Genre alone is not the sole deciding factor in determining which gaming PC to purchase, however. Many titles, including such showcase pieces as Half-Life 2 and Doom 3, provide the player with the option of scaling back the graphical effects in order to run the game smoothly on a less-powerful system. While FPS and other games often require a behemoth of a system in order to run with all graphical effects turned on, they will generally run adequately on older rigs. If you can live without such taxing effects as particle shading and frame rates in the hundreds, chances are that you can spend less on a gaming computer and still be able to play the latest games.

What's more, in many cases game developers and players will discover ways to make a game run more smoothly and stably shortly after it releases. It is generally expected that, in the rush to hit the marketplace, many games are not truly "finished"; that is to say, the code behind them could stand to be optimized slightly more. Therefore, developers and publishers will usually releases patches or updates in order to fix certain technical problems. In the case of F.E.A.R., many players reported shortly after its release that the frame rate would often drop down to unplayable levels mid-game, chugging along even on powerful gaming systems. Once the game was patched, however, this shortcoming was largely rectified. Similarly, avid players or members of a gaming community will often find ways to improve a game's performance on their own through hacks or tweaks. When this happens, their findings are usually released online in short order, and a game that might have taxed your gaming computer beyond its capabilities may suddenly become playable. Again, it's not always necessary to have the absolute best hardware in order to play the latest games.

How Much do you Plan on Spending?

Naturally, all of this technology comes at a price. As the adage goes, you have to pay in order to play. Everybody aspires to one day own an ultimate gaming computer; the specifications are mind-boggling, and there is no shortage of companies offering monster gaming rigs. However, the cost of owning one of these machines is often prohibitive. Keep in mind that the newest and most powerful video cards tend to hit the market at the $500 price point. Additionally, the most powerful processors can be priced at $1000 or more. When you design a system around these top-level components--a system that can take the latest game releases, chew them up, and spit them out--you can expect the cost of it to soar. It's not unheard of to see dedicated gaming PCs priced at $4000 or more for the tower only.

Obviously, the first two questions influence the third quite a bit. If you don't play many graphically-intensive games, or if you are willing to live with slightly degraded in-game graphics, it is simply not necessary to spend that kind of money on a gaming system. There are plenty of computer companies that have in their lineups midrange setups that are perfectly capable of playing the majority of games on the market today--and at a significantly reduced price. Don't despair if you can't afford the latest and most powerful computer technology; while economic means may be the most influential of all deciding factors, it won't necessarily prohibit you from playing the games that you want.

Jordan Hall, the editor of [http://www.best-gaming-computers.com] is an avid computer gamer and technology enthusiast who enjoys providing consumers with advice concerning gaming computers and gaming laptops.

Internet Games

Computer games have radically changed the way we seek entertainment. Now, with internet games, digital gaming has an all new face. With broadband connectivity and super fast computers, mobile phones and game consoles becoming the norm of the day, anyone can today play a game of chess or a round of poker, even while staying separated by half the earth.

It is such an amazing fun to be able to play any number of games of almost any type with people you are never likely to see. online games, coming in hundreds of variety amuse players and fill the pockets of several thousands of game developers. Not all games are made alike. Some games are more fun than others.

There are different genres of games, America adventure games, India epic themed games, Japan Manga games, etc attach richness to the whole scenario. Choice of a game depends on the general mental makeup of the players and the state of mind during the selection of the games.

Internet games, many of them ask you to pay a subscription fee to be able to play the games. There are also a few sites that offer games online absolutely free of cost. There are trial versions or games available at the websites that offer games on subscription. Players get an idea of the nature of the full version game. It is always advisable to play the trial version before subscribing to the full version of the game. It will be very bad, if you see the game not up to your mark, after you pay the full amount.

Online games are quite addictive. From preteens to old age people, everyone who uses internet and are stuck to internet games find themselves spending hours together at different games sites, without taking a notice at the hours that fly by. Nothing apart from the game's progress attracts their attention, while they are in the game. It is so amazing and so enthralling for the gamers, but for onlookers it can be some crazy stuff.

Variously themed internet games to fill your hours with endless fun and excitement, all you have to do is log in to the internet and pick your game from the thousands available out there.

With almost any type of game, especially multiplayer games, you can also chat with the gamers, while playing the game. It is fun way to make new friends with similar gaming skills and interests.

War games, strategy games, close encounters, puzzle solving, speed & control games, etc come in large numbers and in infinite variety. Sometimes you may also have the problem of too much of choices available before you. Each game is good and you will be at a fix, switching to the right game. Within a single genre, there will be hundreds of gaming vying for your attention.

Subscription games are of two types. Paying a fixed amount for a month's subscription and pay as you go games, i.e. each game you play costs you £ 1 - £ 10, depending on the type of game. If you consider betting games, the costs can go over the roof.

Online games are mainly browser-based Java-Flash games. Developers of internet games work to develop variously themed creative games that stay stable in different environments.

If you think it is time to check online for some fun, playing games alone or with someone else from another city or with some from the other side of the earth, rest assured that internet games wait for you, with unlimited fun, entertainment and time pass.

For information on internet games check out http://internetgames.me.uk

Choosing The Right Game Table For Your Home Game Room

Buying a game table for your family game room can be a daunting task. But after reading this article you'll be up to that task!

Let's talk about the tables and features and which table or combination of tables would be perfect for some good old fashioned, family fun!

Air Hockey Game

An Air Hockey Game gives you what every sports fan wants, high-speed and intense competition. It's arguably the fastest table game played even more so than table tennis. But is it the right choice for your family?

There was a "basic" air hockey tabletop game in my home growing up. It did get some use and it was fun for short periods of time. Needless to say during get-togethers the table was put away to play pool and not seen again for weeks at a time. Though if we had a standalone air hockey table then I'm sure it would have been used more often.

Each manufacturer offers something a little different in their tables. One example would be the width, is it 2-player or 4-player. Also the tabletop colors and designs vary. Usually they're blue or white and the table may or may not be painted to look like a real ice rink. Another fun feature is electronic scoring. Some cheer and boo while others only tell the score and have overtime play features.

In my opinion air hockey game tables are a plus to any game room. But they are not good enough to be the "only" game if you'll be having a lot of large get-togethers.

Billiard Table

Billiard Tables in recent years have improved. The designs and colors can be custom made to suit your desires and to match your home game room.

I grew up having a pool table in our home game room. It was a basic 7-foot bar room sized green felt table. Nothing too fancy but it didn't matter because it was used often especially on the weekends.

Some billiard features are really neat. For example some manufactures will let you decide the color felt you'd like. If that's not enough you can also get a table that has a University Logo, MLB Team Logo or NFL Team Logo in the middle and you can get matching billiard balls.

When it comes to designs you can find solid wood tables, laminate tables and other contemporary table designs. There are indoor and outdoor styles available also. If you want something really different you can buy a black light pool table, a Harley Davidson themed table or even a NASCAR themed table among others.

But they're not just about looks they're also about family fun. With a pool table you can play a wide variety of games. Also children learn how to make cuts and bank shots. And there's a thought process involved with every shot that only Shuffleboard comes close too. It's a strategy game that's fun for the whole family.

In my opinion pool tables are a game for the whole family. They can also be the only game in your game room. Because of the skills involved and the variety of games that can be played, a pool table is a great choice for good old family fun get-togethers.

Foosball Game Table

Foosball Game Tables are great for kids of all ages. Not quite as fast as air hockey or as strategic as billiards, foosball is still a great game. It does however have a speed value that billiards doesn't have. It basically has a bit of everything in it.

I never had a foosball table but a friend of mine did. We'd play for hours and the good part was that it was big enough for 4 players at a time. You can be the goalie/defense or the front scoring line or both if playing by yourself. You really need quick reflexes to be tops in this game.

What does a foosball table offer you? The quality of the wood or player colors can be changed but you basically just have your four legs and the table. Some tables are oval instead of rectangular and this makes it safer for young children. Also look for tables that have raised corners on the playing surface so the ball won't get stuck like in the older versions.

Are they great family fun? In my opinion it depends on the age of the players. For older kids and adults they can be a lot of fun but definitely not for younger children. It's too hard to switch handles and younger children need something to stand on to play. It's easier to swing at a puck or hit pool balls. If you're children are older then a game room sized foosball table would be a great addition. If you have a pool table already then foosball would be a great second game.

Shuffleboard Game Table

Now here's a game table that has been overlooked for years. So let me be one to say that shuffleboard is a game for everyone.

When it comes to the designs and colors of shuffleboard games there are only a few differences. One difference is table length ranging from 9 to 22 feet. There are also features like bumper rails, which make the game easier to play for children. Plus depending on the table you may have a triangle scoring zone or a basic 3 or 4 line, scoring zone. This game does have some nice family friendly features.

The playing of the game offers up strategy. You can use your pucks to block shots, score points or to knock opponents pucks off the table. Also you can play one on one or with teams.

In my opinion this is the only other stand alone game for a home game room besides a billiard table. It's similar to pool in that strategy is used to win. Also it's easy to play for all ages, although adults seem to enjoy this game more than kids. Kids tend to get bored from the slow action. Definitely find a place to try this game out with your family before purchasing.

Table Tennis / Ping Pong Tables

A Ping Pong Tables is great fun. Adults love to play, kids love to hit the balls around and everyone has a laugh. But is it the best table game for your family? No.

I don't hate the game of ping-pong. We had a tabletop version in our home growing up. We played it more in our teenage years but as children we'd just end up chasing the ping-pong balls. If you're a professional player then you'll disagree with me but for the average family player it's a game for older children and adults.

The features are all pretty much the same including the size of each game. You do however have a choice of tabletop colors, (green, black or tournament blue). And you can buy fold up tables to give your room more space when not using the table. Also paddles can be different colors and balls come in many colors and fun designs but that's about it.

In my opinion ping-pong is a challenging and fun game. It can be a very fast game for more advanced players and it definitely takes a lot of good hand-eye coordination. Is it a good stand alone game for your game room? Obviously I think not but it is a great third game. Wait until the children are older before adding one of these unless it's your game of choice.

In closing a combination of a billiard table or shuffleboard table, air hockey or foosball and ping-pong would work well. You'd have a nice selection of games to please everyone. Also the skills needed to play each game are different, from making bank shots and using strategy to using quick thinking and reflexes you'll get a bit of each with a combination of games.

If you're still undecided have a look at "combination game tables". Just remember that no matter which you choose you'll have hours of fun and game tables only add and never take away from your home game room!

Visit http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com/game-tables.html to find more useful information on selecting a family fun game table.

Or visit the http://www.game-room-decorating-ideas.com home page to get started on creating the ultimate home game room.

Custom Gaming Laptops - Five Things You Must Consider When Building a Gaming Laptop

Gone are the days when you would have been laughed at if you walked into an all-night LAN party carrying your trusty laptop and expecting to hang with the giant computer towers standing at everyone's feet. The gaming laptop computers of today sport huge, crisp LCD screens, cutting-edge video cards and full-size keyboards. Not only can these gaming laptop computers hang with the standard clunky computer tower, but they can also be ordered fully custom to meet the exact specifications of any gamer.

Since there are so many customizable components in these laptops, a standard practice has been to create what some call a "system builder." This is the page where you get to add and subtract components through drop-down menus in order to create the best gaming laptop computer for your needs and your budget. This type of page can be overwhelming to someone just starting the gaming laptop shopping process, but it is very manageable if you take it just one component at a time.

The Gaming Laptop GPU

This is the heart of a gaming laptop computer. The GPU (graphics processing unit) is a component that will make or break your gaming experience. If your GPU isn't up to snuff, your games won't play.

Without getting into specific models since they change all the time, the key is that the graphics card not share resources with the computer. A gaming laptop video card must have its own memory on board. Generally speaking, standard off-the-shelf laptops will not have this feature. The two current makers of laptop video cards are nVIDIA and ATI.

Without the Screen, You Don't Have Much

What good is a gaming laptop without a screen that can actually render your games? Now certainly, you can connect an external monitor, but if you can't actually play on your gaming laptop without that external monitor, then your laptop isn't all that mobile.

While the technology and terminology for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) could take up an entire article in itself, there are a few key points to keep in mind when choosing from available LCD options for your new gaming laptop computer: native resolution, aspect ratio, rise and fall time, contrast, viewing angle, and size.

Native Resolution. The native resolution is simply the setting at which your screen will render the clearest images. Since games are constantly in motion, slightly soft edges may not bother most gamers, but keep in mind that while this is your gaming laptop, you will likely also use it for other things like surfing the Internet. If the resolution isn't comfortable, you aren't going to enjoy using it.

Aspect Ratio. As you probably know, a movie theater screen and a TV screen have different proportions. Likewise, there are widescreen format gaming laptops and there are laptops that have a standard aspect ratio -- like that of a TV. A widescreen format gaming laptop (a 16:10 ratio) has advantages and disadvantages. Many games today do not have a widescreen mode. This means that the game may stretch across the screen and become distorted or you may run it with black bars that fill in the sides. There are ways to get around this, but if you want an out of the box perfect experience, the widescreen format may not be for you.

That said, a widescreen LCD does offer plenty of screen real estate for web surfing and other type of computer activities, and a game played in a wide format setting offers an expansive field of view. For this reason, there are some very loyal widescreen-loving gamers out there.

Do your best to find a balance between current and future technology and what your computer habits are beyond gaming. Even with its limitations, the widescreen format is found on most of the best gaming laptop computers.

Rise and Fall. The phrase 'rise and fall time' is used to describe how fast the LCD can respond to changes. In the past, LCDs have been plagued with the inability to render images as fast as computer games can spit them out. This presents a major problem for laptop gamers because if they can't see the images properly, they can't play the game properly. This lag can mean the difference between playing to win and barely playing.

Fortunately, gaming laptop LCDs have come a long way and they are only getting better. While once it was impossible to game on a laptop screen, the gaming laptop LCDs of today offer 25 milliseconds or less rise and fall time while generally off-the-shelf laptops have 40 milliseconds or less rise and fall time.

Contrast. If a gaming laptop LCD has poor contrast, that means that the black areas aren't quite as black as they should be and the white areas aren't quite as white. This is important to a laptop gamer because you have to see the game properly -- as it was intended to be seen -- in order to compete effectively. Look for a contrast ratio of 400:1 or higher in a custom gaming laptop computer.

Viewing Angle. This is an often-overlooked LCD feature, but it must be considered if you are building a gaming laptop computer. Many high quality LCDs on the market are difficult to see clearly at any angle other than straight on and at the right height. This can be a big drawback to gaming on a LCD screen because a screen with poor viewing angles won't allow others to watch the screen as you play and also hurts your view when doing something as simple as adjusting your seating, which can require you to then adjust to position of your laptop screen to see it properly again.

But gaming on a laptop does not mean that you are doomed to have poor viewing angles. There are LCDs on the market that have amazing viewing angles -- up to 120 degrees. These screens not only allow gaming onlookers, but they also allow you to use that giant, crisp screen to do things like play movies and even make presentations.

Size. In a gaming laptop computer, size is everything. Most gaming laptops are large, robust pieces of electronics. Having a machine of this stature means you also get to have a large screen. The best gaming laptop computer LCD screens out there are at least 15 inches. A crowd favorite is a 17 inch widescreen (even with the challenges that widescreens present). Largr 19 inch laptop screens are just starting to be talked about with consumers expecting to see 19 inch or even large models on the market in the near future.

The best way to really get a feel for what laptop LCDs are all about is to take a trip to a local box store and play with the LCDs on the display laptops while keeping in mind what you have read here. While these laptops are not custom gaming laptops, you can see what the sizes really look like, what different resolutions look like, and what the viewing angles truly are so you can start to develop your own preferences.

The RAM - What Type and How Much?

The RAM (random access memory) found in laptops is called SODIMM (small outline dual inline memory module). The RAM is responsible for your processing power. If you are shopping for a custom gaming laptop, you will generally be offered DDR2 RAM with the choice of how much you want in your computer. Most high-end games being released today need 1GB of RAM for optimum, lag-free game play. Some people are going with 2GB to ensure that they can run multiple applications along with the game and not experience any slow down in response time. This is a large investment and you want to be able to use this gaming laptop for some time in the future. Most custom laptops are user upgradeable, but this should be left up to professionals.

The CPU - Not Just Mobile Technology

The CPUs (central processing units) found in many custom gaming laptops are identical to those found in desktops. These chips require a great deal of cooling power, which in turn can make your laptop louder than light weight, lower power ultra portables when the fans kick on and it can become somewhat warm to the touch. Don't be alarmed by this -- it is normal. And with these desktop processors comes screaming power! Don't waste your money on the latest CPU release that likely has an inflated price tag (and that price will likely come down before long). Stick with a current CPU speed that is offered by a reputable custom gaming laptop reseller, and you really can't go wrong.

The Gaming Laptop Hard Drive

This is the final component to consider when building a gaming laptop. Laptop hard drives come in a variety of speeds and capacities ranging from 4200 to 7200 RPMs and 40 to over 100 GBs. For the most part, this is user preference. Whenever possible, go for a 7200 RPM hard drive, but if you need a capacity not offered in this speed, it's okay to go for the 5400 RPM drive. Take a look at your current computer, and buy your capacity based on this. Also keep in mind that with many custom gaming laptop manufacturers, you have the ability to upgrade or add another hard drive at a later date.

At the end of the day, gaming laptop computers are all about power. Don't expect a twelve-pound notebook with a desktop processor, numerous fans, a giant heatsink, and independent video card to last on battery power all that long. But do make sure to enjoy the jawdrops that you'll get as you walk into your regular LAN party location with your new, screaming-fast gaming laptop computer. Crack that puppy open, fire it up, and stand clear of the drool as you take on your favorite game with fellow gamers gathered around to take in the action. Gaming is not just for desktops anymore!

Laura Alter works side by side with the gaming community everyday at http://www.pctorque.com -- a recognized authority on custom laptop news and technology. Visit PC Torque to learn even more about building the best gaming laptop computer.

Please feel free to reprint as long as article and bio stay intact.

Dream Sleuth

All games: hidden object games: Dream Sleuth

Dreams are considerable. Scientists still can't explain what happens when people dream, which is why we have them or because people see them. There is also quite convincing evidence that mammals and birds even dream. Shamans, medicine men and wise sages of various cultures around the world believe that dream is a trance-like State of being, during which a person feels that both connected and one with the universe.

They believe that in this particular state you can unlock secrets from over: how the universe works or see fragments of past or future. Normally after the awakening, the average person can't remember what they dreamed or just have a vague memory of a surreal scene or some cloudy fragments of what happened.

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Create Computer Games - Get Started on Creating Your Own Virtual Worlds

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!

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/

Daniel Punch M6.Net http://www.m6.net Daniel Punch is a university student learning how to make a living through having fun.

Board Games - The Best Selling Board Games Of All Time

It must have been a crushing blow. It was 1934, the depths of the Great Depression. Charles Darrow was unemployed. But, he had an idea. Actually, he had a board game. He called the game Monopoly. He liked the board game and felt it was his ticket to financial success and out of the desperation of the depression. Darrow had taken his game to the famous Parker Brothers game company to publish and help him sell.

The Parker Brothers had agreed to look at the board game for Darrow. They were not impressed. Formed in 1883, by 16-year-old George Parker, the game publishing company had been making and selling games and puzzles for 51 years. During that time they had seen success and failure. Parker Brothers knew the game business. They knew what worked and what didn't. They knew what sold and what didn't. Representatives of the giant game company found 59 reasons why they did not think Darrow's game could be successful.

Charles Darrow simply didn't agree. He believed. He decided to publish Monopoly himself and market it through department stores. He had 5,000 copies of the board game printed.

Hope was scarce during that harsh Christmas of 1934. Money was even scarcer. And, Monopoly was a hit. Nearly all 5,000 copies of the board game sold. Within a year Parker Brothers was publishing the game. It was the best selling game in America by 1936.

Monopoly is now published in 89 languages and over 200 million copies of the board game have been sold. More than 500 million people have played the game. It has also been adapted as an electronic game. Monopoly is firmly entrenched as the best selling board game of all time.

Monopoly is a relative upstart compared to other popular board games.

The oldest known board game is called "The Royal Game of Ur" or the "Game of 20 Squares". This game was discovered in a 4,500-year-old tomb in southern Iraq. This game was played throughout the Middle East for perhaps 1,000 years or more. In fact, the rules of the game have been found in cuneiform tablets. Game aficionados can play this ancient game yet today, even though it has long ago faded from popularity.

Perhaps the oldest board game still popular today is chess, which first appeared in India by the sixth century A.D. By the year 1,000 it was being played throughout the Middle East and in Europe. The rules and game board design have evolved somewhat over the centuries, but the game is still very much the same as the ancient Indians played it. They could hardly have dreamed, however, of the world-class chess match play or the electronic versions of the game we enjoy today.

Another very old, yet immensely popular board game is checkers, also known as draughts. A form of checkers was being played by the Egyptian Pharaohs as early as 1600 B.C. This game has also evolved over the centuries. By the 12th century the game was adapted to the 64-square chessboard. Four hundred years later the rules involving capture were added, yielding essentially the same game we play today.

There is simply no way to tell how many copies of chess or checkers have been sold or how many people have played these games. If the numbers were known, they would have to be truly staggering.

Popular Board Games Share Common Traits

Other top selling board games include Yahtzee, Scrabble, Mahjong, Trivial Pursuit, Battleship and the Risk game. Most of these games were developed during the 20th century and all are still big sellers and tremendously popular.

These popular board games share some similar traits. Most of them involve specific strategies of play. When these strategies are employed successfully, the games are fun, challenging and intensely rewarding as players attempt to capture portions of the board and/or each other. Another common element in most of these board games is chance, or luck. Luck is introduced usually by drawing cards or rolling dice. The element of chance opens up possibilities for even more strategies of play. A final important trait of these games is that in one way or another they reflect the lessons of life. They teach competition and sportsmanship. They teach strategy and the lesson of never giving up.

Perhaps that is why Charles Darrow was so attracted to Monopoly. He believed that success comes by employing sound strategies to following a dream and never giving up. We are glad that Darrow didn't give up. We are glad he didn't throw the board game with 59 things wrong in the trash bin as he left the Parker Brothers plant in 1934.

About the author: Royce Armstrong is a successful freelance writer with a business and banking background who believes consumers should get the best value for their money when shopping for board games [http://www.a1-in-toys.com/board-games.html], family games [http://www.a1-in-toys.com/electronic-games.html] and learning games [http://www.a1-in-toys.com/index.html].

Detective Stories: Hollywood

All games: hidden object games: Detective Stories: Hollywood

Tinseltown in lurch in Detective Stories: Hollywood! A famous actress, 10 million dollars in cash and the only copy of one of the most anticipated films of the company are all gone!

The film company has hired Angela, a famous Hollywood detective, to work on the case. Help you through this website intrigue by solving 160 stellated levels. Work with familiar faces in Hollywood how to search for missing items and decode logic puzzles to piece together the mystery behind Detective Stories: Hollywood!

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Alienware vs Rockdirect vs Dell : Finding the Best Gaming Laptop

So you want to buy a gaming laptop.

But not just any old gaming laptop, you want to buy the best

gaming machine on the planet, the best gaming machine money can

buy -- the fastest, the most powerful, the ultimate kick-ass,

take no prisoners, meanest motherboard of all gaming laptops.

Well, there's some good news for you, things have really changed

in the laptop world. No doubt you are probably aware there have been

some major developments in laptop construction and technology

in the last year or so. Technology that puts the gaming laptop

on par or near par with its main rival, the desktop PC.

Recent changes in technology have really brought gaming laptops

into the spotlight with a whole list of new Technologies:

PCI Express, Sonoma Chipset, SLI, Hyper-Threading, Dual Graphics,

Better RAM, and now Dual Core gaming laptops. Gaming notebooks are

just now entering the specs and performance arena which was exclusively

reserved for the bulky yet much more powerful desktop PC.

Just in case you have had your head buried in term papers and study

sheets lately -- hey, it happens! Here's a brief rundown of these

new technologies that will give you the fastest gaming laptop:

Graphics Cards: these are the real heart of any gaming machine. They

are getting faster and more powerful. We also see the use of dual

graphics cards and better transfer of data with new pipelines

and buses.

PCI Express: is a new standard for expansion cards that comes in

different versions. Presently, we have the x16 and x1 lanes, they

offer increased bandwidth. For example, x1 lane offers 500MB/sec

instead of just 133MB/sec for PCI.

NVIDIA SLI: SLI stands for Scalable Link Interface, technology

that lets you use a couple of GeForce 6800 graphics cards together

with PCI Express X16. Basically, SLI will speed up graphics on a single

monitor by deploying two graphics cards. It also lets you combine

4 GPUs in one system for the fastest graphics yet.

An alternative system would be ATI's CrossFire which

is a SLI-like configuration using 'Master' and 'Slave'

cards to combine two Radeon GPUs for improved and faster

graphics.

Hyper-Threading: Gives processors better performance

especially when combined with dual-core processors,

capable of handling four software threads which will put

a smile on any gamer's face.

Better RAM: DDR3 SDRAM (Double Data Rate Three Synchronous

Dynamic Random Access Memory) this new DDR memory standard

will use 40% less power and run at speeds up to 800 MHz.

Don't confuse this with GDDR3 (in Graphics Cards) which is

a totally different technology.

Dual Core: just as the name says, you put two CPUs into

a laptop for more power and faster computing. Rockdirect's

Xtreme 64 was one of the world's first dual core notebooks to

hit the market.

Also be on the lookout for Intel's Dual Core Notebook

Chip dubbed Yonah, it will be somewhat different in that

this notebook chip will not only have two cores but these

cores will share a 2MB cache which will greatly boost performance.

In most cases, keeping ahead of all these developments and

improvements can be a pleasurable chore for most gamers but

it can sure eat into your gaming time. And as the notebook

technology evolves, the gaming laptop will get even more smaller

and more powerful, offering a real alternative to the gaming

desktop PC even for the most die-hard Power Junkies.

Serious gamers will also know laptop or notebook gaming technology

is constantly evolving and mutating. Therefore, most gamers will

only purchase a fully upgradeable open architecture notebook, they

look for a laptop design which can be easily upgraded with the newest

and latest technology, if at all possible.

Despite this option, as laptop gaming technology steadily improves,

gamers are still left with the choice of which gaming system to buy.

Just in case you have be hibernating for last five years -- hey, it

happens. Here's a quick rundown of the different systems on the market

...Voodoo, Alienware, Mayhem, Vigor, Sager, ASUS, Rockdirect,

M-Tech, Dell...

Despite the fancy lapels, serious gamers know that most laptops are

made by the same two or three companies in Taiwan! The same components

and mainframes are assembled under different brand names and marketed

to the public.

Not to get too cynical, but sometimes it's the laptop with

the better paint job or the better advertising that will

win your purchasing dollar. Not that savvy gamers are easily

fooled, perish the thought, but packaging may rule the day,

performance may be the same or negligible in gaming

machines with basically all the same components and specs.

Regardless of this sober reality, gamers are still left with the

choice of which gaming manufacturer has tweaked these components

into the best gaming laptop on the market. There are numerous gaming

specialists that make high quality machines well worth your

consideration but because of limited space here we will only examine

three major gaming manufacturers, sometimes for entirely different reasons.

These three are Alienware, Rockdirect and Dell. All produce serious

contenders for the ultimate gaming laptop. Here's a brief rundown on

all three makers and their gaming laptops which may be of some help

to anyone looking to purchase a high-end gaming monster.

Alienware Laptops

First, we will start with the most distinctive looking gaming

laptops on the market. Those coming from Alienware, a company

founded by two avid gamers, Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, in

1996. It has become one of the leading producers of revolutionary

gaming PCs and Notebooks. It has also won raves and rewards from such

top industry publications as CNET, PC Gamer, Computer Games and

many more.

Their flagship model is the Area-51m 7700. This scary monster

can be outfitted with an Intel Pentium 4 Processor with

Hyper-Threading Technology - (2.8GHz - 3.8GHz, 800MHz FSB,

1MB Cache, Socket 775) Intel 915P + ICH6 chipset with NVIDIA

GeForce GO 6800 ULTRA with 256MB DDR3. It has a 17 inch WideUXGA

1920x1200 LCD Display and 4 dedicated SO-DIMM slots for

Dual-Channel DDR2 Memory. Warranties can be purchased for up

to 4 years.

The Alienware Area-51m 7700's base price starts at around

$2000 but if you want to max out this system, be prepared

to double that amount. High price for high performance.

Runs quiet and cool. This one is dressed to kill.

Rockdirect Laptops

Next, we go across the pond, for a company that produces some

high priced yet powerful gaming machines. Rockdirect gaming notebooks

are another group of machines that many gamers should consider.

Rockdirect, formerly known as Rock, is a British company that's

on the cutting edge of notebook technology. They have had a long

history of making high quality laptops for business and gaming.

Rockdirect laptops are expensive, there's no way to get around

that fact.

Rockdirect's Xtreme 64 is one of the world's first dual core

notebooks using AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ processors and twin

100GB 7,200RPM hard drives. With NVIDIAGeForce Go 7800 GTX

graphics and a 17 inch WSXGA+ (1680x1050) display with X-Glass

for better viewing. Around 2,300 pounds or $4,000 USD.

Three Year Collect and Return Warranty.

Dell Laptops

Hey dude, this can't be a DEll?

Dell with the introduction of its XPS second generation gaming

laptops has to be considered by the serious gamer. Don't laugh!

With the introduction of the XPS Gen2 laptops, Dell entered the

gaming market for real. A lot of people stood up and took notice.

Even more people stood up when Dell introduced the XPS Renegade 600

desktop gaming system with 4 NVIDIA 7800GTX GPUs at the

CES this year. Now that's putting SLI to some good use!

Dell's top Notebook Model is the XPS M170 powered by

Intel Pentium M Processor 780 (2.26 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)

and 2GB1 Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm Memory on

a 100GB 7200rpm Hard Drive. It uses 256MB NVIDIA GeForce

Go 7800 GTX and has a 17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA

Display. Priced at around $3,896 with a two year warranty

and longer warranties may be purchased.

Show me the Facts!

Anyone can pick a top gaming notebook and say its the fastest

in the world. However, you have to prove it or back it up.

That's where benchmark testing enters the picture, these are

standard tests that rate the performance level of your

gaming laptop. Hey, tests are good for something!

One good site that has performed a whole slue of tests on

the gaming laptops mentioned above is http://www.hexus.net.

You can see the different Benchmark tests here:

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=4188

Testing for memory bandwidth and latency, picfast,

cryptography, raytracing, realistic render, encoding and

so on. The dual core Rock XTreme 64 showed impressive

numbers, even beating out an Athlon 4000+ Desktop in

many areas.

WildCard Entry: M-TECH!

There's another laptop maker many novice gamers don't consider

when buying their ultimate gaming machine. It may not be as

well known as the ones above but the real wildcard entry is

M-TECH. This is basically the American equivalent of Rockdirect,

although the companies are in no way connected. They just have a

similar philosophy of working with and using cutting-edge technology

and firms to produce some superior gaming machines.

M-TECH, a Michigan company, started in 1995 and has close

strategic partnerships with Tech firms in Silicon Valley. It

is favorably reviewed by many industry magazines such as

Laptops, Mobile Computing, CNET, PC TODAY and others.

M-TECH produces some powerful low priced (relatively speaking)

gaming laptops such as the D900K and the D900T:

You can configure your D900T with two 100GB (7200RPM) SATA HDD

Hard Drives with Pentium 4 3.8GHz 2MB L2Cache with a RAID setup.

With Nvidia GeForce Go 7800 GTX w/256MB DDR3 and a 17 inch TFT WSXGA+

Glassview LCD display for around $3500 USD. One year warranty,

longer warranties may be purchased.

When buying your laptop, keep in mind, just because a gaming

laptop has a lot of style doesn't mean it has sacrificed performance.

It is not a matter of style over substance, it just means

you have to pay highly for all that style/advertising/packaging.

If you can afford it, go for a higher priced gaming laptop.

People buy Ferraries don't they? There's no accounting for how

people spend their money, if you want one of these dual core

laptops from Rockdirect and you can take a little bit of heat

and noise with your games, go for a Rockdirect Xtreme 64 or

the older Xtreme Ti.

If you want a dressed to kill Alienware laptop, go for the

Area-51m 7700. If you're on a budget, look closely at the Dell

XPS M170 or the other XPS systems and watch for special Dell

coupons and discounts. Dell is known for giving some great

discounts so keep your eyes peeled. And if you really want to

go against the mainstream, why not check out M-TECH. Especially

the M-TECH D900K or the D900T, ultimate performance at a good price.

No matter which gaming system you go with, try to pick one

that has a fully upgradeable open architecture structure so

you can easily upgrade when the time comes. Keep in mind,

laptop technology is changing so fast by the time your

dream machine is configured, it is probably already out of date.

Sobering thought but more true than any of us would like to

believe.

Finding the fastest gaming laptop may be an on-going process

of outfitting your dream machine with the latest technologies

and hardware as they come on stream. Hey, nobody said life would

be simple.

Just wondering how you can fit Quad SLI with 4 GPUs

into a laptop. Hey, it can happen and probably will!

For more on the best gaming laptops click here: Gaming Laptops. For information on upgrading your gaming laptop click here: Laptop Memory Upgrade. Titus Hoskins Copyright © 2006. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

The World Within Or Online Multiplayer Games In Depth

For most of the 20th century, life used to be rather simple for most people. There was school, college, work, retirement. Along with that you had hobbies like cars, bowling, or gardening. The former was more or a less of a chore, the latter the fun stuff you did in your free time, usually together with local friends from the same neighborhood. This was basically the same as a thousand years ago. For a few lucky people the two areas overlapped and they could do the stuff that they liked as their main job.

Now, in the last 10 years of the 20th century, as well as in the first few years of the 21st, this has been changing rather dramatically. The reason is the rapid technical progress, both in the wide area network and computing power areas. Contemporary hardware can animate very detailed and realistic graphics fluently, and transfer data on the movements and actions of hundreds of objects and characters around the world in milliseconds (although, unfortunately, the speed of light still remains a limiting factor). This has led to an explosion in the availability and quality of online games, with the newest generation like Counter-Strike and World of Warcraft becoming a phenomenon no longer limited to any particular social class, but rather an all-encompassing cultural element in the industrial countries.

Increasingly, parents find that their children spend a lot of time playing some of those games, and more and more people come in contact with them. This leads to people wanting objective information, which is in practice not easy to obtain. Most articles about these games are either written by rather clueless journalists who have never or hardly played the games in question and therefore mainly focus on scandalous negative side effects, or by enthusiastic fans who dive deep into the technicalities and don't mention the real world consequences much. This article tries to bridge the gap - it describes the currently most important types of online games and looks in detail at the social relationships behind them. The authors have been longterm players for years and therefore hope that they can address the issue in considerably greater depth and detail than most journalists (however, you won't find detailed technical facts here since it is not in scope of this article).

There are basically three main types of multiplayer online games:

First-person shooters (FPS) where the player sees everything through a (usually temporary, just for the online session or less) character's eyes and his gun's barrel. This category still remains predominant in total worldwide player numbers (according to Valve, Counterstrike is currently still the most popular online multiplayer game). Some of the other examples include Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Doom3.

Strategy games are the the second main category. Usually similar to FPS games in the round/session-based style of play, in these games the player usually does not have any single entity, but rather commands a number of troops of some kind against other human opponents. There are also various options where one can both play with other humans against the computer etc. Games of this kind include Starcraft, Warcraft III, Age of Empires and many others.

The last group, the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games), is the area which popularity has really exploded in the last few years. Here, the player obtains a permanent character (or entity) or several which can evolve and be equipped with various gear, and undertakes adventures in a large world full with other players. This is probably the most promising group since it resembles the real world most, and it has also been the fastest developing recently. The currently most prominent games in this category are World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Everquest II and Lineage II.

FPS

In first-person shooter games, the basic principle is simple. Shoot or be shot, kill or be killed. Starting with the original Castle of Wolfenstein and Doom, these games have developed to a level of frightening realism mainly for men living out their ancient predatory and fighting instincts (according to some surveys, there are about 10 times as many male as female players in average FPS games). One of the recent milestones in this category, Doom 3 is a game which is psychologically scary even to adult men with the highly detailed and realistic monsters suddenly attacking from dark corners. However, once these games take to the online multiplayer stage, their focus shifts a little. The goal is no longer to scare the pants off the lone player in his dark room, but rather to provide a fun platform for competition between many players of different skill. The most popular online game in this category is still without doubt Counter-Strike - a game which has received much negative fame because of various school shootings done by Counter-Strike players, yet still remains a highly captivating pastime for millions worldwide. It is a fan modification of Half-Life, a Valve game, and a team game in its core: one team is the "terrorists", the other the "counter-terrorists", and the play is round-based: at the start of a round, each team member receives an identical (except for clothing) avatar, picks some weapons, and the the two teams clash in combat until either a bomb is placed or everyone of one team is dead (there are also variations like "capture the flag" etc).

There are numerous reasons for the massive popularity of Counter-Strike. The game rounds are short-term in nature and don't require much time. It is comparatively realistic - weapons existing in reality like the M-16 or AK-47 are used in the game, and even one shot may be enough to kill. Also, it is easily accessible - almost everyone can install and run a Counter-Strike server, and there are many thousands of them in the world online at any given time. Although the basic game does not lead to social interaction deeper than a quick chat, the grouping of people around some specific favorite servers and the wish to play better, which inevitably requires solid teamplay, has led to the phenomenon of so-called "clans", or dedicated player groups, which usually have their own server where they train. A competitive clan will usually have requirements for people wanting to join - a certain skill level, or some minimum playtime - and most serious clan players play at least several hours a day. Dedicated clans will also sometimes meet in real life to discuss strategies and generally have fun, which is not much different from most other groups of people with similar hobbies, like e.g. stamp collectors or RC model builders. Since many servers are regional, mostly there are same-country and often even same-neighborhood people on the same server, which of course makes meeting in real life easier as well.

The picture is roughly comparable in the other FPS multiplayer games like Quake 4 and Unreal Tournament, with the main difference between that the latter are less realistic and include sci-fi weapons like laser guns and such. They are also typically much faster, with frantic movement (means, being hard to target) being highly important to survival, which is a concept rather different to Counter-Strike where sometimes the top scorers just sit in one place with a sniper rifle. However, a thing common to all FPS, mouse control is highly essential. Skilled FPS players develop extremely good mouse control (conventional mice no longer being good enough for them led to the development of a whole new segment of gaming mice) and have reaction times below 0.1 seconds. The numerous stress peaks and drops, lack of time between rounds, and the frantic gameplay often leads to additional addictions, though - many of the hardcore FPS players are chain smokers, fast-food eaters, coffee addicts, or all of it combined. There are worldwide tournaments held for most of the established FPS, and the current champions are mostly from Europe or the US.

Strategy games

The picture is a bit different with strategy games. Usually they are less frantic and leave much more room for logical thinking (of course, the classic board games like chess or Go also have major online playing facilities nowadays, but they cannot really be called multiplayer games since there is little to none team aspect, it's just one-on-one most of the time). A typical example is Warcraft III, which is the most recent in the Warcraft realtime strategy game series by Blizzard. It is played on the so-called Battlenet, a major online gaming hub by Blizzard, which also serves other strategy games like StarCraft. In Warcraft III it is possible to play both random opponents matched to you approximately by skill, either one on one or in teams of up to 4 on 4, or play others in pre-arranged teams. As in FPS games, there are also clans in Warcraft, which in this case are even explicitly supported by Battlenet. This and the very immediate visibility of someone's skill level (basically, his win/loss ratio) gives rise to much competition between dedicated players for the top ladder (ranking) spots. Unlike geographically uniform games like Counter-Strike with tens of thousands of servers, Warcraft has just a handful of large servers, each for a certain area of the world (e.g. Americas, Europe, Asia). Interestingly enough, most strategy games are dominated by Asian, especially South Korean, players, where online multiplayer games have been a very major part of the culture for years already. The professional South Korean Starcraft and Warcraft tournaments are major events with hundreds of thousands of live spectators, played on an extremely competitive level, and broadcasted on TV, and the top players have practically celebrity status and incomes in the six-figure range and higher.

Since the popular strategy games are usually also just round-based, there is not very much room for social interaction apart from an occasional chat. Strategy players are probably a bit older than FPS players on average, mostly between 16 and 35 in the Western societies.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games

MMORPGs are the final and by far the most complex group in our classification. They are something like little worlds within themselves, often resembling scaled-down copies of the real world, yet different as well. The two leading MMORPGs as of the time of writing are probably World of Warcraft (WoW) and Final Fantasy XI (FFXI) , each with millions of active players worldwide. The distinctive difference between MMORPGs and the other kinds of online multiplayer games is that RPGs are not round-based, and do not have a time limit or any specific goal to achieve. They are just there to be explored along (or sometimes against) other players. The key concept is that each player chooses a single virtual avatar which is at first rather weak (low-level) and starts in some safe basic area of his choice. The current MMORPGs all offer a rich palette of races and locations to start with. Usually, to be able to explore the world, the character must be made stronger, which is typically achieved by killing some kind of virtual monsters repeatedly, at low levels usually alone, later in a group. You can also do "quests" - tasks given to you by an in-game character - for various rewards and with various degrees of difficulty.

Current MMORPGs are very large and highly complex. Even fully exploring their worlds can take years, and trying out all the playstyles and options is almost impossible. There are lots of different strategies for doing quests and winning difficult battles, and organizational and managemental skills become essential in major conflicts where sometimes hundreds of people are involved at once. Those large-scale groups already resemble something like real-world armies, with a defined command structure and squads with some special tasks each. This is something entirely new - nothing of comparable scale and complexity has been there until just several years ago - and the scale is likely to become ever greater.

An impressive fact is the extreme internationality of MMORPGs. A little less obvious with WoW, since it is also Battlenet-based and uses the regional server concept, it is highly apparent with Final Fantasy XI, which does not distinguish any regions - each of its servers has people from the entire Earth. Most players come from Japan (where the game originates from), many from the US and Europe, but it is possible to meet people from too many countries to list here, almost every corner of the world being represented. An interesting side effect is that one comes in contact with numerous cultures and customs and many different languages. Some anecdotal stories from the authors' own experience include a maid coming in to clean an Egyptian player's room at the wrong time, relaxed Moroccan players sipping on a water pipe in an Internet cafe while playing, and a Canadian PhD student surveying the attitudes of gamers for her thesis work.

Another positive thing about MMORPGs is that they encourage making friends and teamplay very much. It may be possible to do a lot alone (although not in all RPGs), but a well-matched group can do much more. Therefore, social skills like making contacts and keeping them are substantial in MMORPGs. Since the player is hidden behind his avatar, the threshold to approach someone you don't know is a lot lower than in real life, which makes them a good playground for shy people. The authors know of several real-life relationships that initially started with the players liking each other in the game and then finding out they liked each other in real life as well. Of course, the chance for a mess-up is much higher here as well - after all in real life it's unlikely you date someone who looks cute for a while, only to find out he's a chain smoking guy in his 30s. However, still, interestingly enough, MMORPGs are relatively much more popular with women when compared to FPS or strategy games. That is probably because there's a lot of social interaction within them - you make friends who you see and adventure together a lot, and there's a lot of talking and personal information being exchanged - something almost entirely missing from most other multiplayer games.

The clan idea from FPS and strategy games is even much more emphasized in MMORPGs. Guilds in WoW and linkshells in FFXI are major social entities, with their members meeting each other daily for years. The real-life meetings of large guilds or linkshells are worldwide events, with people coming together from many different places. Linkshell friendships sometimes last for years. On the downside, this means that one can get hurt as well in the game - a fact that many people unfamiliar with the whole phenomenon often fail to understand. "It's just a game", they say. On the one hand, they're right. Yet on the other hand, if it is possible to make new friends through these games, who become real-life friends as well, one should realize that it is quite possible to get friendships broken by them as well, for instance when being disappointed by people one had trusted. This is also something almost unique to MMORPGs - there has never been so much reality in a virtual world before. Talking of that, one should mention another peculiar aspect of those games - the equipment hunting. As the avatars are the same (or similar) for everyone, the gear or equipment that a player has basically measures his social status, much like a car or money in real life. Players with very rare, "godly" gear, are admired and envied by many people with regular equipment. Since that is something most people like, and, as mentioned, the thresholds for doing things are so much lower than in real life, many nasty things have been done in order to obtain gear. Again, here the RPGs are almost like a mirror of real life, condensing down the more hidden similar issues there to a more compact and visible form. In a way, it is a pretty interesting experience and can teach one a lot about people. It just becomes clear much faster who is worth what. A related trait of these games is the emerging RMT (Real Money Trade) industry, which basically thrives on selling virtual game money and items for real money, and for some games has reached revenues comparable to the per capita gross national products of European countries. Here one can see the blurring of the distinction between work and playing - many people don't play for fun anymore. They earn money by "camping" (sitting at the same spot all day) special monsters and selling the dropped items. It turns out it is possible to earn sizable amounts with that - more than a regular hard job in some countries would pay.

To summarize, online multiplayer games are a very large and ever increasing phenomenon. Very addictive, and easily able to occupy a player for years, they are perhaps becoming the major modern escape-from-reality tool of the next generation. Certainly, they have their drawbacks, and not too few. However, if seen as an alternative to TV, MMORPGs are definitely more worthwhile, in the authors' humble opinion.

The authors are experienced gamers and alongside with their work as co-founders of a web design and development company ([http://www.s-kaze.com]) still enjoy an occasional round of play.