Games and Gamers

Posted by Marita | November 14th, 2011

Citadel miniatures are one of the most important pieces that you need to start collecting if you like to be serious in table top games. These figures are outstanding in looks and they give you a more realistic experience. If you like to be an expert gamer, you need to have your own characters. They might be represented by these citadel figures. The more your mini figures are, the better, so you can freely decide what characters will be added to the game. There are stores wherein you can find such items or for ease of purchase, you can decide to purchase online.

If you love tabletop games, be an expert gamer by simply having your own citadel miniatures. Build a strong number of characters and paint them based on your own concept. There are already painted figures on sale but if you like to apply a personal touch to your characters, buy those that are not yet painted. Learn how to paint figures by watching videos, reading online pages, browsing a handbook, etc. There are also great people who you can ask tips from like avid game masters who have already developed various games for the hobbyists. Now, instead of purely imagining, you can already see colorful and attractive figures on the top of the table for you to move around. If you are a fan of fictional games then you can always have a variety of miniatures from dragons to ogres, villains, etc.

Make your table top game experience more realistic by having tons of citadel miniatures on your mini cabinet. You can even collect them easily if you haven’t experienced collecting any item yet. For sure, you’ll love collecting because aside from the fact that they can be used in your games, they can even entertain you when you are not busy. Complete the basic figures and slowly upgrade to the one of a kind pieces. Keep them in the right storage area and use them once in a while whenever you have games.

Be very imaginative with your citadel miniatures and make sure that you really put character on each. To avoid forgetting, you can always make a list of everything that you have learned. Now that you have those figures and you are concentrating on collecting them, your aim to become one of the best game masters is just at reach. Just like other games, you should always stick with the rules, know your limitations and keep on improving. Join announced games or initiate your own.

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Posted by Marita | October 17th, 2011

Full disclosure before you start reading this article; I am a PC gamer at heart. But I am also a gamer that enjoys great games on whatever platform they are available.

I currently own an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii (hey, don’t laugh, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and a Nintendo DS.

So I bear no ill will towards consoles, even though the majority of my everyday gaming takes place on PC.

It seems that as of late the PC is having somewhat of a resurgence as a major platform for “Triple A” games.

Battlefield 3 is a good example of a major release that flexes its muscles on the PC platform in comparison to the console version.

The current generation of consoles are getting pretty long in the tooth by now.
With 5-6 years under their belt, it is no wonder that game developers are trying to squeeze out the last drops of gaming juice from these partially mummified fruits of gaming hardware.

Of course, this also means that the current console generation has a huge audience by now, so there is plenty of incentive to still keep pumping out your games on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

But it does look like new games are now first shown on the PC, where developers can give a truly stunning presentation, before a more toned down version that can run on consoles is demonstrated.

This is a very natural development, as game makers will of course always be chasing those stunning visuals that will make the jaws of the public drop open and do their best “fish-on-land” impression.

Since the guts of the consoles have pretty much given all that they are going to give, it is becoming almost impossible to get this sort of reaction from simply being clever with your coding.

You need more horsepower than what you can find withering inside a PlayStation or Xbox.
Enter the PC with its constantly shifting hardware that has by now completely and utterly eclipsed that of the consoles.

This allows game developers to create those stand out visuals that will get heads turning and preorders rolling.
Even if it turns out to be a bit of the old smoke and mirror, showing off the PC version of the game on a super high end PC, while Joe Mario Kart ends up ordering the Xbox 360 version that only has half of the graphical bells and none of the whistles of the PC version.

This is something that we have seen before and it’s a cycle that I call the “PC Sisyfos problem”.

Picture the preference for PC’s as a big hill.
At the bottom of the hill is a large rock that gets pushed up to top of the hill as PC games slowly gain momentum against their console counterparts, as their technology continues to evolve.

Every new major console generation launch sees the release of hardware that is usually equal or better to most hardcore gaming PC’s that are out at the time.
Coupled with the fact that you are working with a fixed platform, this means that developers are able to churn out some games that put most of the contemporary PC games to shame and makes all gamers go “oooh, shiny shiny!”.

The rock is at the bottom of the hill

This effect starts to wane a bit, but after the first couple of years it’s not that pronounced, because developers may be struggling with hardware that is slowly becoming obsolete, but they are also learning all the tricks that they can use to cram still more power out of the box.

The rock starts slowly being pushed up the hill

Inevitably of course, this development of squeezing ever more power out of the same hardware reaches a limit.
This is when you start noticing that PC games are beginning to look noticeably better than their console counterparts, and probably where we were at about 12-18 months ago.

The rock is now very close to the top of the hill

Finally we enter a brief period, where it is evident to everyone that the PC is just punching the consoles in the face and taking their lunch money in terms of hardware power.

All the visually impressive stuff is being shown on PC’s and consoles have well and truly hit their performance ceiling.

The rock reaches the top of the hill and everyone wipes the sweat off their faces and enjoy a brief and ill advised round of “hells yeah, in your face Microsoft/Sony/Sega/Nintendo”.

This is the point where the next generation of consoles is announced.

Crammed full of next generation hardware and sporting tech demonstration videos that make PC gamers weep salty tears of envy, they immediately rally the gaming public towards this new beacon of visual splendor.

The rock tumbles headlong down the hillside, crushing any PC fanboys foolish enough to try to stop it.

Right now we are just coming up on the hilltop.

The PC is markedly stronger than the consoles and we have yet to see a response from the big two console makers (Nintendo has pretty much already given up on trying to create consoles that are hardware powerhouses).

So to all my fellow PC gamers that are pushing the rock alongside me I say; Enjoy our brief moment of glory and spot in the sun.
It’s been a fun ride and I’ll see you all at the bottom of the hill next Christmas.

If you like this article, then you’ll probably like my site, which you can find here:

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Posted by Marita | October 14th, 2011

There are various genres of games available today and among them the puzzles are always addicting and interesting as they mainly focus on the conceptual and logical challenges. Sometimes the puzzles might also involve a timely pressure or some other action elements in the game play. Some of the games packed with action and adventure also involve some puzzles when acquiring some objects that are hard to find but the true puzzle games will focus only on these types of activities completely. Some of the famous addictive puzzle games are the Call of Atlantis, Bejeweled, Treasure Island and more. One such addictive puzzle game is the Apple Life, a new game launched for iPad.

If you are one who likes the puzzle games and love to play an addicting one than the usual games here is it for you. Get the Apple Life downloaded to your iPad free of cost and enjoy the game and its game play. It is time to leave behind all the adventurous games and the action games and start involving into addictive ones like this. The iPad always brings a new approach of playing games and this game is quite worth it to play. This game and its game play are sure to win your heart in the first try itself as it has a lot of interesting elements that make it addictive and attractive.

The game has a game board filled with apples of several colors and varieties on one side and the score board and game elements on the other side. The main challenge that this game puts forward to you is to clear all the apples that are in the game board by creating matches using same ones. You can exchange the apples in adjacent positions to make matches and thereby eliminate them from the game board. There is one criterion in making the matches and it is that there should be at least three apples of the same type in a chain for it to disappear. There can also be more than three apples or more than one chain of apples at the same time for which you will get more points.

There are some surprising elements in the game play of the Apple Life game of iPad and they are very useful for the attractiveness of the game. The game play not only has the stationary apples that are available in all the games of this type but also apples that can revolve and add an appealing 3D effect while you play. There are various types of game elements like normal apples, rainbow apples and rotten apples and all these prove very challenging in their own way. The rainbow apples will act as joker and are capable of clubbing with apples of any type to make them disappear while the rotten apples are dangerous and if touched they will explode and eliminate all the apples and so they must be tactfully moved to the bottom of the game board.

Apple Life also has other game elements or bonus elements like the Baskets, Group Baskets and Apple Bombs. These elements are quite challenging and are purchased with the points that you earn as you progress with the game play. The Baskets can eliminate a row of apples when tapped on while the Group Baskets can eliminate the apples that are available in the vertical and horizontal positions of the row. The Apple Bombs are the ideal for effective game play as they eliminate all the apples once tapped. You can buy up to 100 Baskets, 40 Group Baskets and 20 Apple Bombs through in-app purchases.

I work as a Technical Writer for an iPhone app development company and my passion is to write reviews about gadgets and recent technology.

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Posted by Marita | October 10th, 2011

The Nintendo Famicom console, or Family Computer, was released in Japan in 1983. Over 1500 games were created for the Famicom during its 20 or so year run. If you are looking to buy a Famicom, keep in mind that this gaming console is nearly 30 years old. Even though it is fairly bullet-proof, there are a few things to keep in mind when buying.

1. Power supply: the Nintendo Famicom draws a scant 4KW of power, but requires 100v input. If you are in the US, Europe or not in Japan, then using a step-down transformer is always a good idea. You can easily fry the motherboard if you plug your console into a socket without a step down transformer. Now, FCs will play if you plug them directly into an outlet in the US, but you’ll be stressing 30 year old components. Use a step-down transformer!

2. Make sure the console works before purchasing. Buying untested retro gaming hardware is a recipe for 8-bit disaster. Have the seller connect the unit to a TV and power it up. Will it play a game? Often, old FCs will simply display a solid colored screen or a matrix-like jumble of letters. To avoid this issue, make sure the seller has tested the unit (and a good cleaning would always be appreciated, too) with a game cart. You want a unit that will play most games right from the start. Family Computer games should load instantly.

If you do receive a Famicom that doesn’t work, don’t despair. Try cleaning the contacts on the game cartridge with a q-tip dipped in ammonia. If the q-tip gets dirty and black, keep cleaning until the contacts are shiny and a fresh q-tip doesn’t come out black, then after drying, try the game again.

3. The infamous yellowing issue. Make sure you aren’t buying a unit that is super yellow (unless you really like yellow!). The older Nintendo consoles will range from super white to yellowish green in color. The plastic on some consoles yellow a little bit more than others. Usually boxed units that have been protected from the sun and air will stand the test of time a little better.

When buying online, it’s a bit difficult to tell exactly what shad of white the unit really is. Ask the seller to place a white sheet of paper next to the console so you can tell exactly how white, or yellow, it is. A unit that is sitting alone can sometimes look a lot whiter than it actually is. Be careful.

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