Sep 22
Aion: The Tower of Eternity
Release Date:Tue, 22 Sep 2009
Sep 15
The world’s most popular ball-blasting action game is back…with a vengeance! Survive a newly evolved world of Zuma, where evil tiki bosses rule the land! Fire spheres to make matches, destroy the deadly stream of balls, and battle six imposing bosses. Slide and hop for sharper shots, and score explosive power-ups. Will you succumb to the perilous pitfalls, or can you conquer this ball-blasting challenge?
Release Date:Tue, 15 Sep 2009
Sep 15
The world’s most popular ball-blasting action game is back…with a vengeance! Survive a newly evolved world of Zuma, where evil tiki bosses rule the land! Fire spheres to make matches, destroy the deadly stream of balls, and battle six imposing bosses. Slide and hop for sharper shots, and score explosive power-ups. Will you succumb to the perilous pitfalls, or can you conquer this ball-blasting challenge?
Release Date:Tue, 15 Sep 2009
Sep 15
Set 50 years after the climactic events of the original Red Faction, Red Faction: Guerrilla allows players to take the role of an insurgent fighter with the newly re-established Red Faction movement as they battle for liberation from the oppressive Earth Defense Force. Red Faction: Guerrilla re-defines the limits of destruction-based game-play with a huge open-world, fast-paced guerrilla-style combat, and true physics-based destruction.
- Open World Guerrilla Warfare—You decide who, when, where and how to battle. Utilize guerrilla tactics, improvised weaponry, and modified vehicles to lead insurgent attacks on EDF targets. Launch attacks based on your own gameplay style, take on missions in any order you choose, or engage in destructive activities to weaken the EDF’s grip on Mars.
- Strategic Destruction—Use destruction to your tactical advantage, setting ambushes or chain reaction explosions to attack enemy strongholds and permanently modify the game environment. Leverage fully-dynamic physics-based destruction to improvise on the fly: blow holes in a wall or floor to set an ambush or escape, take out a staircase to stop your pursuers, or drive vehicles through blown out walls.
- Evolving & Emergent Gameplay—Carve your path through an ever changing landscape as you improvise your combat tactics—mixing gameplay styles, vehicles, weapons and explosives to defeat the EDF.
- Epic Sci-Fi Setting—Explore the huge, unforgiving Martian landscape, from the desolate mining outpost of Parker to the gleaming EDF capital city of Eos; then tear through the fully destructible open-world environments swarming with EDF forces, Red Faction resistance fighters, and the downtrodden settlers caught in the cross-fire.
- Multiplayer Combat—There is no place to hide when you put your guerrilla warfare skills to the test in a variety of highly destructive multiplayer combat modes.
Release Date:Tue, 15 Sep 2009
Sep 14
Victor Epand asked:
Video game systems have been gaining popularity since the very first system was introduced decades ago and their popularity continues to grow today. Now with many of these video game systems being in their third installment, these video game systems are still continuing to gain popularity with not only children but adults as well.
These video game systems have gained growing popularity around the world with the release of each new system being introduced onto the market. These video game systems have become so popular with consumers due to all of the wonderful games that they offer with their systems, which include video games in the category of sports, action, adventure, and many more. Owning a video game system brings individuals a compelling game experience that brings video gaming to brand new levels of excitement.
The video game systems that are on the market today are known as the next generation of gaming consoles. They come with a variety of hard drive capacity, which allows the individual gamer to select the video game system that is the best for gaming needs. Some gamers may need more storage space than others, which depends on the type of video games they play to enhance their entertainment needs. The hard drive a video game system has the larger the ability to download game and to be able to play these video games with other gamers on-line as well.
The operation of these video game systems create an advantage for gamers that enables them the ability to play games on a high quality definition system that gives the gamers easy interface capabilities. Some of these video game systems are now coming equipped with the incredible Blu-ray technology that gives the video games an even high definition, which is another reason their popularity is continuing to increase world-wide.
Some of the new versions of these video game systems even enables gamers the ability to play older versions of versions of video games on these new systems. This is just another factor why these video game systems are growing in popularity with so many individuals around the world. Individuals have been known to wait in long lines for hours upon hours outside of retail stores in hopes that when their doors open they get the chance to get their hands on one of these incredible video game systems when they are first released onto the market.
With the introduction of each new installment comes new technological advancements such as memory capacity, which gives the gamer the ability to download a variety of games and play an unlimited amount of on-line games as well. When a new video game system is introduced onto the market the market becomes engulfed with the overwhelming popularity of the individuals reaching out for these new systems. The main reason is due to each video game system being manufactured is an improvement over the previous version. There are a variety of manufactures producing these amazing video game systems today with some of the most incredible accessories available as well.
Low Cost Bargain
Video game systems have been gaining popularity since the very first system was introduced decades ago and their popularity continues to grow today. Now with many of these video game systems being in their third installment, these video game systems are still continuing to gain popularity with not only children but adults as well.
These video game systems have gained growing popularity around the world with the release of each new system being introduced onto the market. These video game systems have become so popular with consumers due to all of the wonderful games that they offer with their systems, which include video games in the category of sports, action, adventure, and many more. Owning a video game system brings individuals a compelling game experience that brings video gaming to brand new levels of excitement.
The video game systems that are on the market today are known as the next generation of gaming consoles. They come with a variety of hard drive capacity, which allows the individual gamer to select the video game system that is the best for gaming needs. Some gamers may need more storage space than others, which depends on the type of video games they play to enhance their entertainment needs. The hard drive a video game system has the larger the ability to download game and to be able to play these video games with other gamers on-line as well.
The operation of these video game systems create an advantage for gamers that enables them the ability to play games on a high quality definition system that gives the gamers easy interface capabilities. Some of these video game systems are now coming equipped with the incredible Blu-ray technology that gives the video games an even high definition, which is another reason their popularity is continuing to increase world-wide.
Some of the new versions of these video game systems even enables gamers the ability to play older versions of versions of video games on these new systems. This is just another factor why these video game systems are growing in popularity with so many individuals around the world. Individuals have been known to wait in long lines for hours upon hours outside of retail stores in hopes that when their doors open they get the chance to get their hands on one of these incredible video game systems when they are first released onto the market.
With the introduction of each new installment comes new technological advancements such as memory capacity, which gives the gamer the ability to download a variety of games and play an unlimited amount of on-line games as well. When a new video game system is introduced onto the market the market becomes engulfed with the overwhelming popularity of the individuals reaching out for these new systems. The main reason is due to each video game system being manufactured is an improvement over the previous version. There are a variety of manufactures producing these amazing video game systems today with some of the most incredible accessories available as well.
Low Cost Bargain
Sep 14
Brad Martinson asked:
There are countless choices in the games that kids can play. However, not all video game systems are suitable for kids. Some are educational, fun and extra entertaining for many kids to enjoy. Because of our new innovative technology and progress, even changes in the way children games have also transformed to a more realistic and virtual game playing with contents unacceptable for many kids to view.
Before, video games were invented for educational and entertainment purposes that kids have enjoyed playing even today. Most likely, parents did not have to worry about what their kids are playing because game content was safe and fairly protected from harmful contents. Like the Atari video game system, offering wholesome games such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, kids are open to have a fun and be entertained without any explicit content and away from corruption that could influence the children’s behavior. Unfortunately, changes in technology have altered the way video games are today. Games of today are more realistic and are in stilled with adult content that many game manufacturers have included in their games. Therefore, parents are now concerned on the typical game system that they want their kids to have. In fact, many parents are opting to find the best video game system that is best for their kids but away from adult contents and other threatening factors that could influence the kids.
Unlike before, Atari game system was the best video games made available to kids. Now, video game system has increased due to so many selections available to consumers especially to parents. Large selections of different types of game system such as Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s GameCube, the Microsoft Xbox and Xbox 360 video games from Microsoft are some of the selections that parents consider purchasing for their kids.
The best selling game console in the market is the Sony PlayStation 2 (or often referred to as PS2), it caters to all ages while providing about 600 different types of games. These games have been rated for every age bracket to enjoy and specifically for preference of age limitation allowed for each game and level usage. For example, games rated with E are allowed for ages from six and up. Other games at this rating, however, are complicated for younger children to play therefore, rating with E10+ are advisable for children above ten years old to play. Likewise, other games for younger children below 10 are rated with EC or in other words, Early Childhood.
A popular video game system that children basically love is the Nintendo GameCube console. This game system has about 263 games that are based on children’s favorite titles like the Sega’s Sonic GEMS Collections, Mario Party 6 and Mario Tennis from Nintendo, and other game titles particularly for GameCube console that are also rated E.
Another video game system rated E is the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game with a built-in parental control. The Xbox has about 270 available games while the Xbox 360 has about 12 games and increasing with other popular releases. Although, some of these games may not only be available on the Xbox but as well, be available to GameCube and PS2 or all three video game systems mentioned. In such, the Xbox games with E rating like Astropop and Feeding Frenzy can have crossover titles that many publishers have also released and made possible to other video game system. For instance, rated E games like Eidos InteractiveLEGO Star Wars are available to GameCube, PS2 and even Xbox whereas other rated E10+ are also available to other game systems, while other games like the rated EC Global Star Software’s Dora the Explorer are solely for Xbox and PS2 only.
Choosing the best video game system for the kids is important especially if parents are very concerned in their kid’s preference in video game playing. The abovementioned video game system can help parents understand the kinds of video game system available to kids while assisting parents in finding the best video game system to give to them. Parents should keep in mind that video game systems for their kids should have parental control options on the game system to lock functions or set limits to the kind of games or titles allowed for playing or viewing. From the abovementioned video game systems, the most advisable for parents to purchase is the Xbox and Xbox 360 because it comes with a built-in parental control.
ProConsultancy
There are countless choices in the games that kids can play. However, not all video game systems are suitable for kids. Some are educational, fun and extra entertaining for many kids to enjoy. Because of our new innovative technology and progress, even changes in the way children games have also transformed to a more realistic and virtual game playing with contents unacceptable for many kids to view.
Before, video games were invented for educational and entertainment purposes that kids have enjoyed playing even today. Most likely, parents did not have to worry about what their kids are playing because game content was safe and fairly protected from harmful contents. Like the Atari video game system, offering wholesome games such as Pac-Man or Space Invaders, kids are open to have a fun and be entertained without any explicit content and away from corruption that could influence the children’s behavior. Unfortunately, changes in technology have altered the way video games are today. Games of today are more realistic and are in stilled with adult content that many game manufacturers have included in their games. Therefore, parents are now concerned on the typical game system that they want their kids to have. In fact, many parents are opting to find the best video game system that is best for their kids but away from adult contents and other threatening factors that could influence the kids.
Unlike before, Atari game system was the best video games made available to kids. Now, video game system has increased due to so many selections available to consumers especially to parents. Large selections of different types of game system such as Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s GameCube, the Microsoft Xbox and Xbox 360 video games from Microsoft are some of the selections that parents consider purchasing for their kids.
The best selling game console in the market is the Sony PlayStation 2 (or often referred to as PS2), it caters to all ages while providing about 600 different types of games. These games have been rated for every age bracket to enjoy and specifically for preference of age limitation allowed for each game and level usage. For example, games rated with E are allowed for ages from six and up. Other games at this rating, however, are complicated for younger children to play therefore, rating with E10+ are advisable for children above ten years old to play. Likewise, other games for younger children below 10 are rated with EC or in other words, Early Childhood.
A popular video game system that children basically love is the Nintendo GameCube console. This game system has about 263 games that are based on children’s favorite titles like the Sega’s Sonic GEMS Collections, Mario Party 6 and Mario Tennis from Nintendo, and other game titles particularly for GameCube console that are also rated E.
Another video game system rated E is the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game with a built-in parental control. The Xbox has about 270 available games while the Xbox 360 has about 12 games and increasing with other popular releases. Although, some of these games may not only be available on the Xbox but as well, be available to GameCube and PS2 or all three video game systems mentioned. In such, the Xbox games with E rating like Astropop and Feeding Frenzy can have crossover titles that many publishers have also released and made possible to other video game system. For instance, rated E games like Eidos InteractiveLEGO Star Wars are available to GameCube, PS2 and even Xbox whereas other rated E10+ are also available to other game systems, while other games like the rated EC Global Star Software’s Dora the Explorer are solely for Xbox and PS2 only.
Choosing the best video game system for the kids is important especially if parents are very concerned in their kid’s preference in video game playing. The abovementioned video game system can help parents understand the kinds of video game system available to kids while assisting parents in finding the best video game system to give to them. Parents should keep in mind that video game systems for their kids should have parental control options on the game system to lock functions or set limits to the kind of games or titles allowed for playing or viewing. From the abovementioned video game systems, the most advisable for parents to purchase is the Xbox and Xbox 360 because it comes with a built-in parental control.
ProConsultancy
Sep 14
Victor Epand asked:
On the market today there is now available some crazy and zany video games that can enhance the video gaming experience for gamers. These incredible video games have the ability to cause the villains within a video game to begin dancing to disco music.
The most bizarre of these newly bizarre video games are produced by Insomniac Games, who also produced the Ratchet And Clank Future – Tools Of Destruction video game. Within this video game was the introduction of the Transformer that had the ability to turn enemies into tiny, little penguins and the Gelanator that could trap its enemies in ice cubes that were made of lime gelatin. Their whimsical look on video games has enabled the majority of their video games to become top titles on the bestseller charts by the gaming industry.
The magical and advanced technology that is used in creating special effects in many movies are the same ones that are used to create the realistic graphics and life like animation within many video games produced by Insomniac Games. Insomniac Games is one of the few independent video game developers that are still battle for their place among the big league names of Activision and Electronic Arts Incorporated. Already two top independent video game developers, Pandemic Studios and BioWare Corporation, have sold out to Electronic Arts Incorporated.
Insomniac Games is a company that has reserved the rights to keep to their roots as a goofy and informal company that can focus on creativity and fun. This company was founded in 1994 and has been going strong ever since they released their very first video game demo entitled, Disruptor. However, it only sold close to two hundred thousand copies, which is not great, but for a first time video game it is not too shabby either.
The second video game that they released was Spyro the Dragon, which featured a friendly purple dragon and it was a runaway hit. This video game was so incredible that between 1998 and 2000 there were three more video games created that were based on the Dragon Spyro. The sales of these video games reached close to twelve million copies actually being sold.
Then in 2002, they created Ratchet And Clank, which was about a furry yellow creature and his robot sidekick. This video game was such a huge hit that it sold more than twelve million copies. The major video game they released was a more mature type of video game known as, Resistance – Fall Of Man. This video game became one of the best selling video games for Sony and its Playstation 3 video game system.
Insomniac Games develops video games for only Sony, and since the Playstation 3 video gaming system has fallen way behind the sales of the Wii and Xbox-360 they have truly been affected. However, they are not considering selling out to the larger video game developing companies. In fact, they will consider developing video games for other video game system manufactures first.
They have created such fabulous video games as Spyro the Dragon in 1998, Spyro 2 – Ripto’s Rage in 1999, Spryo – Year of the Dragon in 2000, Ratchet & Clank in 2002, Ratchet & Clank – Going Commando in 2003, Ratchet & Clank – Up Your Arsenal in 2004, Ratchet Deadlocked in 2005, Ratchet & Clank Future – Tools of Destruction in 2006, and Resistance – Fall of Man in 2007.
Video Games
On the market today there is now available some crazy and zany video games that can enhance the video gaming experience for gamers. These incredible video games have the ability to cause the villains within a video game to begin dancing to disco music.
The most bizarre of these newly bizarre video games are produced by Insomniac Games, who also produced the Ratchet And Clank Future – Tools Of Destruction video game. Within this video game was the introduction of the Transformer that had the ability to turn enemies into tiny, little penguins and the Gelanator that could trap its enemies in ice cubes that were made of lime gelatin. Their whimsical look on video games has enabled the majority of their video games to become top titles on the bestseller charts by the gaming industry.
The magical and advanced technology that is used in creating special effects in many movies are the same ones that are used to create the realistic graphics and life like animation within many video games produced by Insomniac Games. Insomniac Games is one of the few independent video game developers that are still battle for their place among the big league names of Activision and Electronic Arts Incorporated. Already two top independent video game developers, Pandemic Studios and BioWare Corporation, have sold out to Electronic Arts Incorporated.
Insomniac Games is a company that has reserved the rights to keep to their roots as a goofy and informal company that can focus on creativity and fun. This company was founded in 1994 and has been going strong ever since they released their very first video game demo entitled, Disruptor. However, it only sold close to two hundred thousand copies, which is not great, but for a first time video game it is not too shabby either.
The second video game that they released was Spyro the Dragon, which featured a friendly purple dragon and it was a runaway hit. This video game was so incredible that between 1998 and 2000 there were three more video games created that were based on the Dragon Spyro. The sales of these video games reached close to twelve million copies actually being sold.
Then in 2002, they created Ratchet And Clank, which was about a furry yellow creature and his robot sidekick. This video game was such a huge hit that it sold more than twelve million copies. The major video game they released was a more mature type of video game known as, Resistance – Fall Of Man. This video game became one of the best selling video games for Sony and its Playstation 3 video game system.
Insomniac Games develops video games for only Sony, and since the Playstation 3 video gaming system has fallen way behind the sales of the Wii and Xbox-360 they have truly been affected. However, they are not considering selling out to the larger video game developing companies. In fact, they will consider developing video games for other video game system manufactures first.
They have created such fabulous video games as Spyro the Dragon in 1998, Spyro 2 – Ripto’s Rage in 1999, Spryo – Year of the Dragon in 2000, Ratchet & Clank in 2002, Ratchet & Clank – Going Commando in 2003, Ratchet & Clank – Up Your Arsenal in 2004, Ratchet Deadlocked in 2005, Ratchet & Clank Future – Tools of Destruction in 2006, and Resistance – Fall of Man in 2007.
Video Games
Sep 14
John Hinkle asked:
The ability to rent video games from home without leaving the house has always been a true dream of mine. Not only does renting video games online keep you busy, but it can be very satisfying knowing you can rent as many titles as you want at anytime and generally receive them within a day or two.
Here are some Video Game Rental Statistics you might find interesting: •”U.S. consumers spent $633.6 million renting video games in 2001, and a record-breaking $6 billion buying video game software (including PC software).”
But why are people renting video games instead of buying? I guess I can’t say gamers are not buying video games. “The U.S. computer and video game software sales grew four percent in 2004 to $7.3 billion — a more than doubling of industry software.”
But why rent games? I would estimate that people rent for 4 primary reasons. 1.The convenience 2.Its cheaper 3.Able to test games 4.Time sensitive
Convenience is truly a luxury worth having these days. People are looking for ways to save time and effort. Everything these days has to be fast and easy. Online video game rental companies provide that and much more. First of all and most important they deliver the game right to your front door. No more wasting your gas going to your favorite rental store, only to find out that the game you wanted is no longer available and won’t be available until you make that drive again. Gas is too expensive these day, who wants to spend all that money driving to a video store when you can easily accomplish the same task on your home computer?
Second of all it’s simple alot cheaper. The average video store charges from $4.00 to $6.00 dollars per video game rental. That could get expensive, specially if you’re renting numerous titles per week. Most of the well known game rental clubs like GameFly, Gottaplay, Intelliflix and RentZero only charge $12.95 to $19.95 per month for unlimited video game rental. So let’s say you rent 2 titles per week at the local video store. That equal around $30.00 dollars per month compared to $12 to $13 dollars per month with the online alternative. This is a large savings at the end of the month.
Now here is the greatest part. Have you ever purchased a video game and just hated it. You can’t just return the game, you’re stuck or you have to exchange it in for store credit. So you just have to **** it up and move on to the next game, which might not live up to your standards. Renting video games online gives you the chance to test the game first before you purchase. The companies will even allow you to purchase the games at discount rates and just keep the game if you enjoy it that much.
You can keep the games as long at you like just pay the monthly fee. If you want to play 6 to 7 games a month or more you can just pay the one time monthly fee and be done with it. You don’t even have to pay for postage. That’s a deal that I can get use to.
Failed Experiment
The ability to rent video games from home without leaving the house has always been a true dream of mine. Not only does renting video games online keep you busy, but it can be very satisfying knowing you can rent as many titles as you want at anytime and generally receive them within a day or two.
Here are some Video Game Rental Statistics you might find interesting: •”U.S. consumers spent $633.6 million renting video games in 2001, and a record-breaking $6 billion buying video game software (including PC software).”
But why are people renting video games instead of buying? I guess I can’t say gamers are not buying video games. “The U.S. computer and video game software sales grew four percent in 2004 to $7.3 billion — a more than doubling of industry software.”
But why rent games? I would estimate that people rent for 4 primary reasons. 1.The convenience 2.Its cheaper 3.Able to test games 4.Time sensitive
Convenience is truly a luxury worth having these days. People are looking for ways to save time and effort. Everything these days has to be fast and easy. Online video game rental companies provide that and much more. First of all and most important they deliver the game right to your front door. No more wasting your gas going to your favorite rental store, only to find out that the game you wanted is no longer available and won’t be available until you make that drive again. Gas is too expensive these day, who wants to spend all that money driving to a video store when you can easily accomplish the same task on your home computer?
Second of all it’s simple alot cheaper. The average video store charges from $4.00 to $6.00 dollars per video game rental. That could get expensive, specially if you’re renting numerous titles per week. Most of the well known game rental clubs like GameFly, Gottaplay, Intelliflix and RentZero only charge $12.95 to $19.95 per month for unlimited video game rental. So let’s say you rent 2 titles per week at the local video store. That equal around $30.00 dollars per month compared to $12 to $13 dollars per month with the online alternative. This is a large savings at the end of the month.
Now here is the greatest part. Have you ever purchased a video game and just hated it. You can’t just return the game, you’re stuck or you have to exchange it in for store credit. So you just have to **** it up and move on to the next game, which might not live up to your standards. Renting video games online gives you the chance to test the game first before you purchase. The companies will even allow you to purchase the games at discount rates and just keep the game if you enjoy it that much.
You can keep the games as long at you like just pay the monthly fee. If you want to play 6 to 7 games a month or more you can just pay the one time monthly fee and be done with it. You don’t even have to pay for postage. That’s a deal that I can get use to.
Failed Experiment
Sep 14
Lily Morgan asked:
Setting guidelines for video games can be difficult. Most kids would play for hours – at least until the bathroom or the refrigerator calls them away. So how do you determine what is fair and safe for your child?
Time Limits
Your child may prefer to spend every waking moment plugged into a video game console, but healthy kids need a balanced schedule. Homework, chores, outdoor play, and family time need to take precedence over video games. Video games are a reward for completing tasks. Set a time limit for each day’s maximum gaming time.
A good guideline for children aged 5-10 is 30-60 minutes a day, with a few extra minutes allowed on weekends. Up to two hours per day is appropriate for teens and pre-teens, as long as homework and chores are completed.
An egg timer is a good tool for tracking game time. The timer begins once play starts. When the bell sounds, the child must save and exit the game immediately. Parents may be tempted to allow the child to finish the current game or level when the alarm sounds, but some children are crafty. They take advantage of this lenience to extend playing time.
Monitoring Video Game Content
A standardized rating system tags each video game to levels of appropriateness for different age ranges. This rating system is a general guideline only. Just because a game is rated “E” for everyone does not mean the game is free of offensive language, actions and themes.
Each family must decide what is unacceptable. Discuss and draft these family guidelines with your children. Spell out clear consequences for violating guidelines. These guidelines apply to the child whether the game is played at home or at a friend’s house, as well as when other children bring games into your home.
If you are unsure of a video game, rent the game and play it when the child is not present to preview the content. Most salespersons at gaming stores are very knowledgeable of many of the games they sell. They can usually tell you if a particular game violates your family’s guidelines. You can also check the annual Video Game Report Card produced by the National Institute on Media and the Family. The Entertainment Software Rating Board website contains in-depth information about the video game rating system as well.
One of the best ways to monitor your child’s video game habits is to play with them. Plug in an extra controller once a week and spend a few minutes appreciating your child’s video game skills. This can be a period of bonding even into the troublesome teenage years.
Video games do have some redeeming qualities. They are entertaining for your child, encourage fantasy play, build imagination, increase eye/hand coordination, teach strategy, and can be educational. They also teach younger children to share, lose, and win gracefully. Time spent with a video game controller also strengthens the small muscles in a child’s hands, resulting in better handwriting and small motor control.
Video games are a popular pastime for children, but they require parental supervision the same as other areas of your child’s life. Become involved, get informed, set limits, and reap the benefits of your child’s love of video gaming.
Photoshop Life
Setting guidelines for video games can be difficult. Most kids would play for hours – at least until the bathroom or the refrigerator calls them away. So how do you determine what is fair and safe for your child?
Time Limits
Your child may prefer to spend every waking moment plugged into a video game console, but healthy kids need a balanced schedule. Homework, chores, outdoor play, and family time need to take precedence over video games. Video games are a reward for completing tasks. Set a time limit for each day’s maximum gaming time.
A good guideline for children aged 5-10 is 30-60 minutes a day, with a few extra minutes allowed on weekends. Up to two hours per day is appropriate for teens and pre-teens, as long as homework and chores are completed.
An egg timer is a good tool for tracking game time. The timer begins once play starts. When the bell sounds, the child must save and exit the game immediately. Parents may be tempted to allow the child to finish the current game or level when the alarm sounds, but some children are crafty. They take advantage of this lenience to extend playing time.
Monitoring Video Game Content
A standardized rating system tags each video game to levels of appropriateness for different age ranges. This rating system is a general guideline only. Just because a game is rated “E” for everyone does not mean the game is free of offensive language, actions and themes.
Each family must decide what is unacceptable. Discuss and draft these family guidelines with your children. Spell out clear consequences for violating guidelines. These guidelines apply to the child whether the game is played at home or at a friend’s house, as well as when other children bring games into your home.
If you are unsure of a video game, rent the game and play it when the child is not present to preview the content. Most salespersons at gaming stores are very knowledgeable of many of the games they sell. They can usually tell you if a particular game violates your family’s guidelines. You can also check the annual Video Game Report Card produced by the National Institute on Media and the Family. The Entertainment Software Rating Board website contains in-depth information about the video game rating system as well.
One of the best ways to monitor your child’s video game habits is to play with them. Plug in an extra controller once a week and spend a few minutes appreciating your child’s video game skills. This can be a period of bonding even into the troublesome teenage years.
Video games do have some redeeming qualities. They are entertaining for your child, encourage fantasy play, build imagination, increase eye/hand coordination, teach strategy, and can be educational. They also teach younger children to share, lose, and win gracefully. Time spent with a video game controller also strengthens the small muscles in a child’s hands, resulting in better handwriting and small motor control.
Video games are a popular pastime for children, but they require parental supervision the same as other areas of your child’s life. Become involved, get informed, set limits, and reap the benefits of your child’s love of video gaming.
Photoshop Life
Sep 14
Tom Bak asked:
For many, working as a video game programmer at a famous development studio sounds like a dream job. You get to design and build fun new games all day. Here are some tips for making this dream a reality.
Know what you’re getting into
Before you dive into becoming a video game programmer, spend a little time to research what working at a video game studio actually entails. You don’t want to spend time and effort becoming a video game programmer only to realize that it’s not what you were hoping for. Working as a video game programmer takes a lot of effort. The work hours and deadlines can get stressful, especially near the end of a project. Talk with people who are in the video game business, either in person or online, about any questions you may have about the business.
Create your own games
Try your hand at making your own games at home to see what it’s like. You can start with simple projects first, such as basic text games or simple shooters. Grab a book on video game programming at your local bookstore (there are many to choose from) and dive in. C and Java are good programming languages to start out with. Don’t try to create something too big or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. The purpose of this is to learn what it’s like to make games and get a little experience, not to develop the next award winning MMORPG. Development studios will be more likely to hire you if you have a good project or two that you can include with your resume.
Go To College
Currently video game development studios are hungry for programmers. They spend a lot of money using headhunters to help them locate new people to hire. The good news is that once you are in the video game business, there are many opportunities for companies to work for. There are many different projects and locations that you can choose from. The bad news is that the studios can be very picky about hiring new employees with no previous video game programming experience. Therefore it can be very hard to get your foot in the door. Going to college for a Computer Science degree and getting excellent grades is one of the best ways to show video game studios that you will be a competent and committed employee. The classes will also give you many of the skills that you need to work. There are schools now that specialize in video game degrees, such as DigiPen. They are still relatively new and it’s not clear whether they increase your chances of getting a job in the video game industry.
Play Games
Know your games! The video game industry is changing at a breakneck pace, so it’s important to stay up to date with the new products. Play many different games every month to see what companies are doing now with video games. Development studios want to make sure that they only hire programmers that are devoted to video games. Staying up to date with videogames is an excellent way to demonstrate this.
Good luck!
Collecting Comix
For many, working as a video game programmer at a famous development studio sounds like a dream job. You get to design and build fun new games all day. Here are some tips for making this dream a reality.
Know what you’re getting into
Before you dive into becoming a video game programmer, spend a little time to research what working at a video game studio actually entails. You don’t want to spend time and effort becoming a video game programmer only to realize that it’s not what you were hoping for. Working as a video game programmer takes a lot of effort. The work hours and deadlines can get stressful, especially near the end of a project. Talk with people who are in the video game business, either in person or online, about any questions you may have about the business.
Create your own games
Try your hand at making your own games at home to see what it’s like. You can start with simple projects first, such as basic text games or simple shooters. Grab a book on video game programming at your local bookstore (there are many to choose from) and dive in. C and Java are good programming languages to start out with. Don’t try to create something too big or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. The purpose of this is to learn what it’s like to make games and get a little experience, not to develop the next award winning MMORPG. Development studios will be more likely to hire you if you have a good project or two that you can include with your resume.
Go To College
Currently video game development studios are hungry for programmers. They spend a lot of money using headhunters to help them locate new people to hire. The good news is that once you are in the video game business, there are many opportunities for companies to work for. There are many different projects and locations that you can choose from. The bad news is that the studios can be very picky about hiring new employees with no previous video game programming experience. Therefore it can be very hard to get your foot in the door. Going to college for a Computer Science degree and getting excellent grades is one of the best ways to show video game studios that you will be a competent and committed employee. The classes will also give you many of the skills that you need to work. There are schools now that specialize in video game degrees, such as DigiPen. They are still relatively new and it’s not clear whether they increase your chances of getting a job in the video game industry.
Play Games
Know your games! The video game industry is changing at a breakneck pace, so it’s important to stay up to date with the new products. Play many different games every month to see what companies are doing now with video games. Development studios want to make sure that they only hire programmers that are devoted to video games. Staying up to date with videogames is an excellent way to demonstrate this.
Good luck!
Collecting Comix