Blog about Gaming, Computers and Technology

free online games have been a craze among teenagers and tech savvy peoples who spent most of time over internet.

There are number of websites which offers online free games like flash games, action games, arcade games, shooting games, board games for those people who want to have some good time with their online friends. These sites are readily available by making simple search in your favorite search engine. Moreover, they are easy to understand and player gets the opportunities to understand each other. These website also provide the chat functions along with the games from where peoples are connected to each other.

Not all online games website requires you to create a member profile to play their online games, only some of them require a simple sign-up procedure. Creating your profile on this websites will allow player to a view your profile. They would come to know about your likes and dislikes, favorite games, movies, location and various other personal characteristics, which will help you find friends through online games.

By playing online games, you can interact with a large crowd on the internet who are having common interest of having fun and good time and not bothered about lives of others. Various forums and chat rooms that online game sites offers helps members to connect share tips, communicate, and chat and thus acts as a foundation for their friendship. Playing free action games will let you analyze the opposite person, whether he/she is aggressive or strategically minded person and so you will get an overview of his/her character.

Indeed online games like free online girl games and fun sport games are one of the best ways to stay in contact with distant friends by inviting them to an online game. Not only those at distant but those who live nearby but due to some circumstances do not get to see each other can be connected by play arcade games, thus by accepting and sending challenges through free online arcade games helps you to create a social network atmosphere where u can get in touch with old friends and also make new friends

Online games for making friends is also consider safer as all of those have common interest of playing game rather than bothering the lives of others. Despite this safety, you should be careful about not revealing your personal details online.

One more benefits of online games are that you can still enjoy playing games online with others when your friend is not available or had gone to school or college. So in a way to make more new friends.

As every one rightly said that “ All Work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. The virtual world has created a special place in every ones lives. The world wide web has given a whole new dimension to the lives of people as they can socialise, connect and even play games on this platform. The arena of games is growing by leaps and bounds in this sector. Consequently the number of online gamers are also increasing as people can spent their time in a comparatively fun manner. They compete with each other online and win some prizes as well. There are numerous online gaming sites which offers the users with games that they can enjoy playing alone or online with other people as well.

With advanced softwares like ShockWave, Java and Flash now being used in these games one can enjoy these games much more as the technology used in these are really innovative. The gaming industry have realised that this market is set to grow rapidly so its dolling out new and advanced games. These sites offer online games for all the users and different games caters to the internet of almost every individual. One can tickle their brain cells and games based on strategy and solve puzzles as well. One can pump up the adrenaline by playing games belonging to action genre. Some can also check their playing skills by playing a certain sport related game. Some social networking sites like facebook etc. have included such games like farmville, mafia wars to name a few. These games are based on the principle of the sites and they focus more on interaction than graphics.

The online games are a better option as rather than buying a Playstation one can play games for free on most of these sites. In some sites a sample game or level is there and one can have an idea by playing that level. and after that he/she can place an order for the full version. But most of the games on these sites are free so one can play these games without taking any tension whatsoever. And multiplayers can also play online on these games sitting on any part of the globe. So its really a cost effective medium to play games and to interact as well with the other players at the same time.

Many loyal players have their names listed on these sites and have separate pseudo identities while playing these online games. Most of these games create a separate identity for the person and then that person will have a specific name and his each performance will be recorded and scores are compared with other players as well. The player may get specific ranking based on the scores that he/she will get in these games. With the array of games that these online games sites have a person can experience the fun of playing each and every game with a specific interactive atmosphere. Online games have created a niche for itself in the gaming industry.

Being able to get paid to do something that you love – to make money out of your hobby – is truly living the dream. I can not personally think of anything better, and if your own hobby is playing video games on the computer or console then it is actually possible for you to do that. In this article I will explain two different ways to make money from playing computer games and described the pros and cons of each method.

Get Paid To Play Video Games – Beta Tester Jobs

There are a few websites out there now which you can join in order to find listings of the latest jobs as a video game beta tester. This basically means that you play games before they are released in order to provide feedback, suggest improvements that the developers could make, and let them know about any bugs or glitches that you come across. The disadvantages of this is that you will be working as a freelancer, which means that you will probably not be working all of the time, especially when you first start. Also you will almost certainly have to pay to join a site in order to get enough up to date information about jobs to make it viable for you. The advantages are that you get to play new games before anyone else and can usually keep any disks or online subscriptions that you are provided with in order to do your job, and you get a fixed hourly or daily wage which is usually quite a good rate.

Make Money Writing Video Game Reviews

This method will see you working even more independently because you are self employed rather than freelance. You write about what you want, when you want, and then publish your work online using websites that share their advertising revenue with publishers. The disadvantages of this are that it takes a long time to build up a good income. Most new writers make very little in their first 3-6 months, and it may well take you more than a year to build up any siginificant income, let alone enough to have a good lifestyle using it as your main source of income. The advantages are the freedom it gives you, not only in regards to when you work and how much you work, but also in that you can write about your favorite type of games rather than having to look at what you are given. Also, if you stick with it, you can build up a very good income in the end.

Conclusion

If you want to do this as your main job rather than as a way to make a little bit of extra spending money then I suggest that you do both of these things. Also I would strongly recommend that you start off doing them part time and do not quit your day job until you have become established enough to make a good amount of money. Doing both and putting in some real effort you should be able to do this within a few months and certainly within a year.

Have you ever had to make excuses for playing video games? Certainly when I was younger I had to give all kinds of reasons for wanting new games, or to carry on playing rather than doing something else such as the fabled “tidying of thy room.”

I’ll bet anyone reading this has been in the same situation and felt the need to explain themselves. When you get older this becomes a game in itself. You start thinking: what kind of excuse can I give now I’m twice the age of the target market for this game?

10: Because if I don’t the [insert bad guys here] will conquer the [insert here kingdom/planet/universe] and I’ll never rescue [insert damsel in distress here] which would be really bad!

I’ve found that if you get into even more detail than this it’s even more effective! Girlfriends and wives get exasperated with too much gaming detail and if you’re lucky you’ll get the “Yeah, whatever – just go play!” response. You may also get the “Yeah whatever, go do the dishes anyway!” response but it’s worth a shot I always think.

In some ways it was easier when I was younger. Older games, being less sophisticated and without quick disc access made it easier to give valid excuses to carry on playing! Even if for just a bit longer. The most obvious being:

9. I can’t save here! I have to get to a save point!

Which was nearly always true. In many cases, especially on the Spectrum (my first computer with games), you could never save your game and you had to start from the beginning every time you reloaded or lost. This excuse still works today for some titles where, inexplicably you can’t quick save at any point. Nintendo are still buggers for this and are unlikely to change their approach for some time.

“Almost” valid excuses don’t end there, there are still other ways to try to convince parents or spouse that playing games is a necessity rather than just obvious fun. One of the earliest excuses I remember is:

8. It helps my hand eye co-ordination!

Does it? Does it really? I can’t say I’ve ever noticed any improvement in myself from playing games. In fact I often play a little game to see if I can throw a pen in the air, making it spin round and catch it. Often I do it without thinking and work colleagues have started to count how often I manage to catch the pen again. I have an embarrassingly small percentage of successful catches, so I can’t help but disagree with this excuse. Of course I would never admit that to my parents back then, nor my fiancé today!

I suppose you could argue something similar, something that can be applied to nearly any game these days.

7. It’s Educational!

There is actually some element of truth here. For instance, time management games help teach time management skills, hidden object games help with visualisation and shape recognition, while Grand Theft Auto 4 helps with…um…crime based skills? Okay maybe not the best example, but what almost every game does help teach is problem solving. It would be hard to argue a case against that, especially if you have kids who are asking for the latest Professor Layton game!

These kind of excuses can be pushed a bit far though. There’s a threshold of acceptability where the receiver of the excuse will see right through your veil of lies. And you can’t get more blatant than this…

6. It helps keep me fit!

Which is probably going to become a more common excuse in the future, especially with the popularity of the Wii balance board and the soon to be released “Project Natal” on the xbox. Both have the goal of making the human body more of the controller, Natal more so as it requires no physical contact with the controller at all.

Unfortunately it’s a fact that only a balanced diet and plenty of exercise can get you fit, not a computer game. I’m sure it can help but it’s not an excuse that’s going to wash with many parents! It’s not that parents don’t understand these days, I’m sure! Many parents probably want to get their kids off the console and off to bed so they can play their own games too! In fact that leads to a whole new area of excuse creativity.

5. I want to see what all the fuss is about!

Which I have to tell you only works once or twice per game. Once your wife or girlfriend remembers the name of the game (they’ll never remember what it looks like so feel free to lie about that too) you’ll have to give another, more elaborate excuse for subsequent gaming time.

Luckily I have the answer here, something which I’ve used well to my advantage before and is almost certain to work at least once. I got the idea from a Dilbert comic (Wally is my Hero!) where they need their boss to make the right decision on a product name. The method they use is to give the boss two options, one good option and one really, really bad option. The boss obviously wants to feel important and make a management decision so they choose the good option, which is what the team wanted in the first place rather than days spent discussing it and over analysing it. Therefore I give you this:

4. Would you like to play a multiplayer game?

Which works fine as long as you suggest a multiplayer game that they would never ever want to play. Gears Of War is good for this, as is WiiPlay if you have either of them. Otherwise anything you’re good at and they’re not works too.

More than 90% of the time I get the response “No, it’s ok – you go and play.” Which is obviously the intended response and even better it’s their suggestion! There’s also a powerful variant of this that is worth sharing and is even more similar to the 2-choices method mentioned earlier. This is:

3. Shall we or shall I go play for a while?

Obviously if your girlfriend is a hard worker and loves cleaning the house or going out shopping you may have to think more carefully about what the task is. For me cleaning the house works very well as it’s vary rarely tidy or even tidy-ish.

There’s also a good suggestion for everyone co-habiting with either their wife, girlfriend or even their families. Something I’ve started using this year, cleverly disguised as a New Years Resolution. It would probably work even better for people immune to the previous two reasons and it’s to do with scheduling! This year I don’t want to let any of my commitments slip, so I devised a schedule for each evening to make sure I spent the right amount of time on each. It’s worked out very well for the previous two weeks and I expect it will continue to work, but it had an interesting side effect. Here is my schedule:

Monday – iPhone programming (I’m writing more apps this year!)
Tuesday – blog and article work
Wednesday – Finish this week’s review
Thursday – Wedding Planning(1hr min) and iPhone programming (1 hr min)
Friday – Decide on next review game, Date night with fiancé
Saturday – Friends/Family visits
Sunday – Day off for anything (usually more review time!)
It’s not set in stone and if I ever manage to do this full time it will certainly change, but that’s how it’s worked generally so far! So when it came to Wednesday night, where my fiancé is usually at college I was able to say…

2. It’s review/gaming night!

How can you argue with a well-defined schedule! Well, quite easily as it turns out – but at least you can play guilt free that you’ll meet all your other commitments as well as having something to look forward to every week!

And that’s almost it, those are all the clever and not so clever excuses I really know of. I know the last one is kind of boring and negates the point of playing games rather than doing real life important things. And I don’t want to ruin the whole thing with some kind of “Internet addiction is a real thing!” warning, so I won’t. Then maybe the simplest of excuses, and the most childish or stubborn of all is the greatest of excuses:

1. Because I want to!

Thank you Billie Piper…

Other more specific options exist of course; such as “Because I run a gaming blog” (hehe) and “Because I’m writing a game, I need inspiration.” This means that you then have to prove it by creating and contributing to the blog, which is more work than it probably looks!

Perhaps the point here is that if we need to make excuses for games they’re not as important as other things in life? Maybe we should all stop and take a look at the wonderful world we live on in all it’s splendour and reflect on the beauty that surrounds us all…

…Just as soon as I’ve completed this level…

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There are two types of playing games, the first one is by playing with a game console, and the second one is playing with a personal computer. This article will be showing you some of the key points and advantages of playing games from a console and a PC.

The first and most important factor to consider is the cost. The cost of game console is a lot cheaper compared to gaming PC. You need to modify your computer in order to play high definition games, whereas game consoles are specially designed to run high-end games. You don’t have to upgrade the specs of your game console, unlike your computer that should be kept updated with new hardware releases.

The second thing is the way games are played, and whether it will work or not. Every time you buy games for your game console, you can expect to get the same results – you will be able to play it. Games for PC do not always work, and regardless of how upgraded your computer is, there are games that simply won’t work.

When it comes to technicality, computers require a more technical approach. Game consoles are very simple to operate, simply turn it on and play. Some gaming computers need a few configurations before you can play your games, and this would require technical knowledge.

Before the online networks for game consoles were released, PC gaming is more preferred when it comes to multi-player games. But with the release of the latest features for game console, playing with friends online is better with consoles.

If you are going to ask me, I would say that game consoles are better than gaming PCs. Games for personal computer may also be a good source of entertainment for people, but if you are looking for a deeper and better gaming experience you need to go with game consoles.

You’d get to use the very latest techniques available – and in computer game development, as in other areas of computer animation and design, new ideas and techniques are becoming available all the time. When Andrew Adamson directed the 2005 movie of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, he said he was using techniques simply not available just a few years before. The same is true of computer game design. Every year, games are more realistic, more innovative, more gripping to play.

You might love to play computer games but never imagined you could design them. After all, playing games takes no special skills, but developing them surely takes many skills and lots of know-how, right? True; but you can acquire those skills through distance learning.

With distance learning, you can take game courses from the comfort of your own home. That’s a lot easier, and a lot cheaper, than attending a college to study computer game development.

It’s also likely to be more use to you. Because it is such a fast-moving industry, conventional college courses can be at a real disadvantage. They can be effectively out of date before they’ve even been introduced to the syllabus. A home-based study, on the other hand, can be updated far more easily, keeping you abreast of developments as they happen.

Another big advantage of home-based game courses is, if you choose the right one, it will be put together by games developers for future games developers. In other words, it will have been designed by people who have been trained up in the industry and know exactly what games companies are looking for.

Good course providers, again, will be fully recognised and accredited by the key games industry bodies. They will give you access to trained professional tutors, who will guide you, assess you and help you at every stage as you progress to an industry-recognised exam in computer game development.

And there are no formal entry requirements; you don’t have to have qualifications in maths, science or computer design, for instance. All you need is a real love of your subject, a willingness to learn – and that sense of wonder.

That’s what makes playing computer games lots of fun – and makes being games developers even more fun!

There’s nothing better during the day, to just sit down and relax by having your favorite snack beside you while you start playing your favorite console games, whatever is your favorite one (Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Wii, etc) or even you favorite handhelds (PSP, Nintendo DS, etc).

If you like video games like me, then you’ll want to know the benefits of playing console games.  I know that many people would dream that; if they could make money playing video games that would be a dream turn into a reality.  Imagine that, getting paid for playing video games while you are sitting at home or when you are in the road.

I have great news for you, that dream I mention is not a dream anymore but a reality, because you can get paid by playing your console games. The benefits of playing console games and getting paid can be accomplished by being a game tester. A game tester is a gamer that has the responsibility of trying games from different companies, because these companies need to make sure their games are top quality and the best rated.  Game testers run an important role on the games that are going to be released, because by giving their opinion they can make sure that the games meet their standards.

Now is it time for you benefit from playing console games and making that dream a reality. You are going to have the chance to try out the games before they come, you would get paid by just having fun and the best thing in your contribution to the gaming community, because you’ll be responsible from making sure that we have top quality games in the market.

So you like to play video games? OR do you love to play video games? IF you love playing video games this article is for you. You have probably been reading it all over the web already, but this article about becoming a video game tester might convince you. There are several reasons to become a video game tester and here are mine.

I have been playing video games for a long time! Started with the classic nintendo playing donkey kong, maria kart and many other classic video games. Now I moved on to the playstation 3, xbox360 all the latest consoles! But these games are quite expensive and I was spending most of my money buying video games. So I used google to search for cheaper video games, where to find cheaper video games even how to get free video games and I ended up reading a article about video game testing. At that point I thought I would never be able to become a video game tester, but I also thought this was my chance to get a lot of free video games and I would be the first to get them.

So I desided to mail the big video game companies with my information but never got a reply. Then I tried sending them actual letters! and still nothing. I almost gave up until I found a website that helps you step by step to become a video game tester. But then again you hear so much about websites that just want your money. I desised to give it a try it! The money I paid was arround 30$ so that’s not even a new video game. The next minute I recieved a mail from that website with my login details! I was excited to see if it was worth my money. And it was, the website had handsfull of information about how to become a video game tester, and they make sure you will be testing video games no matter what! I was still skeptical about it since I have been sending mails, letters to the video game companies. I took some time off playing GTA and followed the information listed on the website.

The next morning I recieved a call from several companies but the one that most suprised me was Rockstar! Wow MAN that was just awesome! They wanted me to sent my information over, and sent me a form to fill in. They wanted my bank ID, and tax number? Where they actually going to give me money testing there video games? And that’s my second reason to keep on testing video games I am earning money with it!

BUT don’t think it’s just playing games you actually have to analyze the games and make sure you keep the companies happy. In the end of the day it’s a real job. I have been testing video games for over 2 years now and with several of my friends that are doing the same we made a website about it. Feel free to check it out and get some more information about video game testing!

Become A Video Game Tester

http://become-a-video-game-tester.com

A few years back, computer games became a hit all over the world especially among kids and teenagers. Instead of playing tag or any kinds of sports outside with the sun?s rays shining down on their healthy and tan bodies, youngsters now prefer to stay inside the house, slouched on a couch while playing computer games. Sometimes, children do not want to go outside and interact with ?real people? and neglect their families, studies or jobs because they are too busy with their ?virtual? lives. They do not want to be disturbed most of the time and they tend to hide inside their virtual shell. They are irritable and they shrink their duties. Can this be called computer games addiction?

There are debates going on about computer games addiction. Despite researches about the topic, it is not yet clear whether it is a psychological disorder or not. Some experts say that playing computer games could make one addicted to it but right now, it is not considered as a mental disorder. However, there is a possibility that it may be considered as a mental disorder come year 2012.

Being addicted to computer games is the same as being addicted to other things such as alcohol or drugs. It could also be compared to compulsive gambling. However, addiction to computer games is much more related to youngsters than other kinds of addiction.

Last year of April, a survey was conducted and it found out that around 8.5% of the children and teens that play computer games are already ?clinically addicted? to computer games.

Computer games that are especially addictive are the ?massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

Why are these computer games addictive? There are things that motivate a person to play computer games. Playing computer games is not just about fun, emotional reasons could also affect it such as rewards, freedom, and interaction with other players. In real life, we have problems and most of the time we cannot do anything about them. In virtual life, we can control our lives and when we commit mistakes or die we can have another shot at it and try again.

You can check if a person is addicted to computer games by observing their behaviour. Like what was mentioned previously, people who are addicted to computer games tend to withdraw socially. They are sulky and they feel depressed. If these behaviours harm their relationship with other people, then you should be alarmed.

Moreover, they are giving very little attention to, if at all, their responsibilities like studies and homework for students and job for employees and businessmen. People who are addicted to computer games also tend to lie more. They also cannot refrain from playing computer games even if they feel very tired and unhealthy. There are also physical signs that say if a person is addicted to computer such as very dry eyes, headaches, loss of appetite, disregard personal hygiene and overall physical condition.

Three-quarters of Australian parents consider video games have a positive influence on their children.

Of more than a thousand parents with children aged between five and 12, half of them however, are divided on whether video games are a true social education for children.

The analysis, commissioned by video game makers THQ, discloses 97% of Australian families own one or more video game consoles and 60% of parents take an average of up to two hours a week playing video games with their kids.

Social demographer Mark McCrindle said four out of five video games are played as a family with the same number of parents saying they enjoy playing video games with their children.

The positive effects of video games can be seen where youngsters, who are undergoing painful treatment for ailments like cancer, can use video games to distract themselves from the pain for extended periods.

Certain video games that are used as part of a comprehensive program, can help autistic children and others with developmental disorders.

Studies have shown that video games can improve mental faculties, such as hand-eye coordination. More intelligent games such as strategy and puzzle games can also augment problem solving, and access intellectual stimulation as well.

Some people however, justify violence in video games, elevates violent behavior among viewers. Studies show that video games can encourage violent behavior and emotional eruptions and decrease inhibitions.

People, playing high-aggression games, were significantly more nervous than others who play only mildly violent games.

Akio Mori, professor at Tokyo’s Nihon University, separated 260 people into three groups: those who seldom played video games, those who played between 1 and 3 hours three to four times a week and those who played 2 to 7 hours each day. He monitored “the beta waves that indicate liveliness and degree of tension in the prefrontal region of the brain and alpha waves, which often appear when the brain is resting”

The results disclosed a higher decrease of beta waves the more one played video games. “Beta wave activity in people in the highest amount of video game playing, was constantly near zero, even when they weren’t playing, showing that they hardly used the prefrontal regions of their brains. Many of the people in this group told researchers that they got angry easily, couldn’t concentrate and had trouble associating with friends”

The decrease of beta waves after the video game was turned off, implies a lasting effect.

The study shows that a lack of use of the frontal brain, or ‘video-game brain’, can change moods and could account for aggressive and reclusive behavior. If the brain is so impacted by video games as to create behavioral changes, does that mean that the brain perceives the games as real?

The final conclusion is that video games have both negative and positive effect on health, depending on the type of game played and its frequency and the balance of a healthy lifestyle.