Archive for the ‘Gaming’ Category

Real-Time Chat with 3d Avatars

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

The old methods of talking over the internet are outdated.  Since they are all based on text, they have a lot of limitations. There is no way to properly communicate the amount of emotion that goes along with the words that are being said. Although video chat is a step up from the traditional methods such as email and instant messaging, it still has a few problems. For example, most video chat programs only allow communication for two people. This is a problem for anyone who wants to talk with more than one of their friends at once.

New Faces and New Friends

One of the wonderful features of 3D avatar games is their ability to make it dead simple to meet new people.  Compared to instant messengers, which limit you to adding people that you already know to a list of friends, these games let you enter topic based chat rooms. These chat rooms are a wonderful way to meet new people and start creating new friends that share similar interests. If you have ever wanted a convenient way to meet new and interesting people from the safety and comfort of your home, 3D avatar games are the perfect solution.

Keeping up with Old Friends

There is no reason that you can’t use this type of game to just keep up with your existing friends. Instead of being limited to chatting with one friend at a time, the chat rooms in 3D avatar games give you the ability to invite all your friends over for a group chat. In these chats you can all talk with each other without the hassles that are involved with instant messengers. Communication with your group of friends becomes much less like communicating over instant messenger and more like talking to each other when you are all in the same room. It is a much more convenient and pleasant way to interact with your friends.

Be Who you Want

3D avatars allow you to personalize your character’s appearance to match your own unique style and taste. You can dress your avatar to wear your favorite outfits. Because you are controlling it, your avatar will act essentially as a virtual version of you. It will acct just as you do, allowing you to be whoever you want to be in the virtual 3D environment. If you’re looking for an escape from reality, this type of game can be a blast.

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Nintendogs for the New Nintendo 3DS

Friday, October 15th, 2010

Way back when, during the first release of the much awaited Nintendo DS, Nintendog’s was THE game bundled with most DS consoles. Who could resist playing with cute little puppies? It seems that with the release of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendog’s is likely to release another edition of its successful franchise along-side with the release of the much awaited 3DS. Nintendog’s and Cat’s will surely send young boys and girls home happily playing with their virtual puppy or kitten.

Reception of Nintendogs

NINTENDO® 3DS (Hardware) E3 2010

Without a doubt this will be one of the best 3DS game out for a while. It is not because it is filled with action or has an engaging story line. It is because Nintendog’s has built up its own reputation in the past few years. And like the other games in the series, gives the user hours of mindless fun.

How Does Nintendogs Stand Against the Competition

Well obviously Nintendogs is not the most action packed game you would expect to play. With games such as Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy being released in parallel to the game, it’s hard to say how well the game would do in relation to them. But without a doubt the game will sell. After all the games target market is people under the age of ten. Anyone above that is just an added bonus.

What Sets This Game Apart From Previous Nintendogs?

With the 3DS’s new GPU (graphics processing unit) we can expect greater graphics for this game. We can expect to see more detail on the dogs and the environment which they live in. This adds a bit more realism to the game. With the addition of 3D, bouncing tennis balls look better and give the game a bit more excitement as it takes the gamer into the world of their dog or cat. No major features have been released and not much has been said. The 3DS’s planned release date is somewhere at the end of 2011 nearing the Christmas holidays.

In a Nutshell

With so many added features we can expect the game-play to be significantly improved. Obviously this game will use the 3DS features such as the front facing camera and the built in gyroscope and accelerometers. This will be a big step up in the world of gaming, with systems and games becoming bigger and “badder” as the years go by. This will be hands down one of the best 3ds games of the year just like its predecessors before it. As I said before, who can resist a cute ball of fur to begin with?

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Eye Toy USB Camera for your Playstation

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Motion sensing is very much a big thing now. Take for example one of the block buster movies which was just recently released. This movie goes by the name of Avatar and was directed by James Cameron. He had used a variety of special equipments to create this movie totally in 3D and most of this equipment was actually motion sensing equipment. How it worked was that real life actors would put on these motion sensing equipment and be filmed such that their movements could be captured by the computer and later these movements are animated into a three dimensional movie. Other than avatar, there have been other movie makers or directors who have been using such technology to create their movies and animation.

Motion sensing is not something new actually. Just recently I understand that Microsoft is unveiling some new motion sensing xbox game known as kinect. To play this xbox game, you would have to wear some motion sensing equipment which would be detected by the peripherals attached to the xbox console and translated into movements within the game. Then of course there is the older eye toy usb camera which has been used as a usb toy by Sony playstation for a host of their playstation games. The eye toys usb camera is used for by the Sony playstation 2. I also believe that they have created a new eye toy usb camera for the playstation 3 known as the Playstation Eye. The PlayStation Eye is a newer and updated version of the EyeToy USB webcam designed for the PlayStation 3. However and unfortunately, it does not work with PS2 EyeToy games, but the PS3 does support the PlayStation 2 EyeToy, using its camera and microphone functionalities. Of course if you have the PlayStation 3, it is best that you purchase the newer USB eye toy.

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Countdown to XBox Kinect and Playstation Move

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

We are getting down to just a couple of months now before both the Playstation MOVE and the Xbox Kinect are released and while I am really looking forward to seeing how both systems work with their respective set of games for each console, the kinect xbox games hold more intrigue for me. Sure I am interested in how the PS3 makes Heavy Rain work with a motion control device, but the MOVE controllers are so much like the Wii controllers I think I have a pretty good idea how they will function. I AM interested in how sensitive they are. Will they be better than the Wii with the MotionPlus add-on?

For both the MOVE and the Kinect I really have my doubts on whether they will ultimately be able to appeal to the hardcore gaming and modding crowd. This is especially so with regard to the Kinect. Are 16 – 30 year olds going to hop and jump and run around their living rooms playing Gear of War? Errr… I am not so sure. And even if the games work flawlessly, have best in class effects and graphics, and win tons of awards I just don’t see how the Kinect is going to bridge the divide with these types of gamers. Is there a way to look cool playing any Xbox Kinect 360 game let alone trying to do so playing Halo?

If nothing else I will be waiting on the edge of my seat to see how the game makers and Microsoft approach the task and deliver. I am sure they know what I know instinctively and have some ideas on making the twitch gamers happy. And ultimately the question of whether we see games for the hardcore crowd depends on whether the Kinect or the MOVE find success this holiday season and going forward. If either or both flop with their initial bevy of games, I really doubt we will be seeing a more sophisticated game lineup in the future.

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Fun Games For Playstation Move

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

The adult gamer is a market that has largely been neglecting even since the release of the Nintendo Wii console. But lucky for this crowd Playstation has been considering and developing the best way to push gaming into the future. In fact, both Sony and Microsoft are pushing into this game space. Microsoft has developed a camera system for the XBox 360 called the Kinect along with a long list of XBox Kinect games.

What Sony has come up with is the Playstation Move and this is a motion sensing gaming experience that will allow you to interact with games through motions that you perform in front of the screen. This is a way to encourage gamers to be more active by centering the gaming experience on the ability to move around. In addition to enjoying a game you will be able to burn a few calories at the same time, there is no harm in that since many of us don’t get enough exercise. If you want to know the different between the Playstation Move and other options, you need to look at games for Playstation Move and what they offer. The first thing is amazing graphics because of the use of HD video you will be able to see and feel more of the game while playing.

Another big bonus for the Playstation Move is the current Move games list. There are 25 games that have already been announced and this is a clear indication by companies to work with Playstation in order to create the best gaming experience possible. Children may enjoy playing other systems because they are unable to recognize things such as lag during a game or flawed graphics. But Playstation has always tried to bring the quality gaming experience that Nintendo has been lacking. Titles such as Ape Escape will be released in the near future on this platform. This is an example of the way Playstation Move is intending to bright everyone in the family together when gaming.

Playstation Move bundles are also available.  These are exactly what you need to get started with Move.  They will include the Eye, a Move wand, and a game to get you started.  Not only do the have what you need, you’re also going to save money by using the bundle.

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Play Free PS3 Games from Sony

Monday, May 31st, 2010

PS3, the abbreviated version of PlayStation 3, is one of the latest developments made by Sony Computer Entertainment in the field of home video gaming consoles. Sony now promises free PS3 games, which then completes the 7th generation of video game consoles.

One of the major features that distinguish the PS3 from its predecessors is that it has a unified gaming service or the PlayStation Network which contradicts Sony’s former policy of depending on video game developers for online gaming. Moreover, PS3 comes with robust multimedia capabilities, a high definition optical disc format – the Blu-ray disc, and connectivity with the PlayStation Portable. This really beats the Xbox and even the Xbox Kinect with any of the games for Kinect.

In fact, the players at Sony expect to dish out an online service which rivals the launching of Microsoft’s console in North America and Japan. The online network of the PS3 seeks to target live service soon. The PS3 is geared to be a design from the ground up as an online device, unlike its predecessor the PS2, which suffered a number of problems. The PS3 seeks to update your operating system so that with the addition of features or differences from the offline box, you can incorporate these in the dashboard of the console.

The fully upgradeable system of the PS3 is able to download patches over the network and apply them to its system. However, this is no groundbreaking technology for Sony which had done the same thing for the PlayStation Portable. Ever since the Portable has been launched, Sony has kept adding ample online features with the help of network updates, such as a fully operational web browser with RSS and Flash support.

The PS3 has a hard drive which is available even in a low specific configuration. Unlike the PS2 that depended on small and expensive memory cards which could easily be moved from one machine to another or be entirely lost, this console can store its configuration. At the same time, it can maintain the capacity of storing and downloading ample content. This was not possible with the PS2 which thus became crippled from an online perspective.

The System Software of PS3 is equipped with an active internet connection so that the updates are directly downloaded from the PlayStation Network to the PS3 for installation. With an active internet connection, players can check automatically for software updates every time the console is started.

With the help of an external PC, the user is able to download the update from the official website, have it transferred to portable storage media and install it in the system. Some of the game discs are available with software updates due to the requirement of a game update for running. In this case, the game can be installed from the disc.

The PS3 uses a graphical user interface with 9 diverse options such as settings, users, video, game, music, photo, network, PlayStation Network and friends. This is somewhat identical to the PlayStation media bar.

With the above features, online gaming buffs will definitely find the PS3 from Sony a console to try out.

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Can Microsoft Unseat the Wii with Project Natal?

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Microsoft’s new Project Natal is set to hit the market for the holiday season 2010. Microsoft looks to compete with the wildly popular Nintendo Wii and in turn gain some of that crossover market that has made Nintendo so popular. It will be a challenging task to unseat a popular console like the Wii; however, Microsaft thinks they have developed the key to unlock the answer.

The Nintendo Wii has become so popular because they have been able to cross the boundaries between traditional videogame players and the casual users. Many people have bought a Wii that would never consider buying a traditional gaming console. Nintendo accomplish this by offering games that appeal to the masses such as bowling and baseball. They also capitalized on the fitness craze by developing the Wii fit.

Project Natal will have some differences that Microsoft hopes will give it an advantage over the Wii. The biggest difference between Project Natal and the Wii is the fact that the Natal will not require the player to use a controller. Microsoft’s technology utilizes a 3-D camera which picks up full body motion and translates that to the screen. In addition, the software will contain voice-recognition so the player will be able to communicate with the game and be recognized. They have also incorporated facial recognition. The game will recognize the player without any input from the individual themselves.

Whether or not Microsoft will be able to overtake the Wii is still in the air. The Wii has been phenomenally popular the last few years. This has given Nintendo a tremendous head start. Nintendo has done a great job of targeting their video game console to nontraditional purchasers. Many of these nontraditional gamers have already purchased a Nintendo Wii very recently and will more than likely not be in the market for a new console for many years.

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Cheap PS3 Online

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Finding a cheap PS3 online is a pretty easy job to take on.  In fact, finding any game console like the PS3, or the XBox Kinect is not a difficult task. There are a lot of different ways to do it, but before you start you need to know some tips that will help you figure out if something is actually cheap or not.  In this post I want to show you some of these to find out if you are actually getting a good deal when shopping for a PS3 online.

The base price of the 120gb PS3 Slim is $299.99, so use that as a benchmark while shopping around.  Nobody ever buys just the system, you also need a game and probably another controller as well.  That would bring the price to around $410 ($299.99+$60+50).  Any deal that you can find that costs less than $410, once everything is calculated, is going to be a good deal.

One of the biggest benefits of shopping online is the lack of sales tax in most states.  Sales tax at 8% would add another $31.80 onto your $410 purchase, so figuring out a way to not pay tax is key.  Free shipping is also a huge bonus.  Playstations are pretty bulky inside the box, so shipping is fairly expensive.

Finding “bundle” prices can also help you save some cash.  These are packs that come with the system, along with various games, controllers, and cables.  Finding the bundle that has everything you need usually isn’t too tough to do, so be sure to dig deep!

To add all of this up, the best way to find a cheap PS3 online is to get bundle that has all that you need, with free shipping and no sales tax.  You don’t have to risk buying a used system to save a lot this way, and get the benefit of a warranty with a new system.  The best place to start with your research is Amazon, they will usually cover all three of the money saving tips that we covered in this post!

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The PS3 Slim

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

The PS3 slim, or the PS3 CECH-2000 as it is formally called, is the newest form of the Sony PlayStation 3, which is part of the newest generation of console gaming systems. It is currently the only model that Sony produces.

The system comes with a 120GB or 250GB hard drive. In addition, the unit’s casing is 33% smaller and 36% lighter. It also consumes almost 34% less power than its big brother. In addition, the cooling system has been redesigned in order to facilitate better cooling, which was a big problem of the older PS3s. The unit’s processor has been redesigned in order to use a 45nm manufacturing process. The system sold over a million consoles during its first 3 weeks of existence.

The PS3 slim features BraviaSync technology, otherwise known as CEC. This technology allows the console to be controlled through HDMI with a variety of devices. This model also runs quieter and cooler than its big brother as a result of its smaller cell processor. In addition, this model does not feature a main power switch like older models. This is due to the notion that it is not good for power to be frequently cut from the system, just as it is not good to switch a power strip on and off frequently.

The model was officially release on September 1, 2009 in the United States, and two days later in Japan. Some retailers began selling the console on August 25,2009. The console is slated to get a facelift soon, with a white and pink model coming out to support the release of Final Fantasy XIII. In addition, the 250GB model will be available soon. This model will be sold as a standalone unit exclusively in the United States. No other countries will sell the model by itself.

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