Category: Gaming

People often have trouble understanding the word “tradeoff”, sure enough, it’s easy enough to understand as an exchange but in today’s corporate parlance it is meant as an exchange of one commodity for a cost for another. I was playing Final Fantasy’s Dissidia on the good old PSP yesterday when I marveled at the game’s replay value, yes I have spent over 50 hours on it already, which is what this entire topic is all about.

Normally if you look at the oldest games like Mario and Dave, they had one thing unanimously common, addiction to it. Not that I am propagating obsession towards anything, however, this is what the current paradigm of gaming has come down to; a commodity. I have always been a gamer, I will not deny that and this is exactly what my contention with gaming today is. The first games had a lot of things that hooked people up but most of all it was about the level of engagement that the player had with the game environment or the “world” of the game. And this engagement has little to do with the 3D graphics or the extensive options available.

Let us take a look at the progression; first, it was the advent of the simple arcade type games which were phenomenal to a certain point. Kept players hooked and introduced a whole new boom of media into the world. This was where literally every child was begging for the Atari systems and your Pentium II and III machines had Sega and NeoGeo emulators installed (mine still has both installed by the way) and gameplay elements were about difficult commands mixed in with clever sequences. Take this forward a bit further and the same two systems incorporated decent mixed stories and continuity in the games enhance the media capabilities being explored in the two avenues. The fighting game series KOF is an ardent testament to that and from there came the further boom of turn based strategy and role playing games which became akin to “user controlled novels” on computers. This adaptability of both game-play and media can be called as the turning curve of the gaming industry.

Because this was where a lot of business heads realized that the games could be used to simulate a lot of things, pretty much everything so the potential as a business commodity was obvious even from then on. The progress from then on was about enhancing the visual effects of the game, the additives were obvious the visuals needed more work so in came the influx of investment in gaming studios and the push for 3d graphics into gaming. That apex can be called as the secondary curve because once that was established, the potential for business gain via games became second to almost none. Hollywood movies will tell you the story of boom and fall without fail but games have the replay factor attached to them irrespective of their audience size that guarantees reward.

And this replay factor was cashed in next. We all can see the online capabilities being offered by games which as also paved the way to players just buying the next powerup or update online. The concept of “buying all” is where we can point and say that gaming has devolved. So at a point where gaming was fun with added complexity like Baldur’s Gate, Ys, Metal Gear Solid, the games went on to become more about commodity value.

The biggest factor in all this is mobile gaming of course and here I point at the smartphone games which are purely centered on time killing. The problem occurs when the majority of the smartphone gamers are not regular gamers but more so there to just kill time. So when you give a game like Subway Surfers online buying advantages for the “normal” people, some level of competition envelopes between the console/PC games and the phone games. The niches are different, the categories are different, and the size is different. A game like Temple Run cannot be compared to Farcry 3 but ultimately when the games become about money then these things sidetrack and mix in.

Today you have fantastic gameplay elements being added, furnished and perfected. Complexity is a given and with that, some features sit well whilst others do not. What’s adverse to the gaming paradigm, in general, is the holistic focus on sales which often makes them compromise on a lot of things from the gameplay side. Ultimately when gaming becomes more focused on buying rather than playing than the entire reason for playing a game gets taken away.

Playing video games for a living makes one think that this is the ideal job. People who witnessed the advent of computer gaming in the late eighties to early nineties have probably dreamed of having a game testing job. Who wouldn’t desire a job that compensates personal enjoyment?

Almost everyone loves video games. The days of video games confined to clunky consoles that cannot be taken on a plane trip or any trip for that matter are long gone. When people choose to play games, they use portable gaming devices such as PSP Vita, or even their Android smartphones or tablets.

Now that video games are competing with so many other personal entertainment types, a freemium model is now widely utilized in PC games and mobile gaming, which has given video games a boost. This is great news for those seeking to be video game professionals and they are willing to do what it takes to secure their place in the industry. One of the fastest ways to gain a foothold in the video game industry is to apply for a quality assurance testing (game testing) position.

It is important to note that those testing a game are always separate from the team that codes or programs the game itself. Therefore, the bug-tracking phase is accomplished by quality assurance testers (game testers).

Further, game testers are asked by companies and game studios with presenting bug reports on a regular schedule. For example, if one is testing a game and has submitted only a few bug reports for all the months in the company, one should not anticipate superiors giving glowing reviews.

Since communication with the programming department is in writing, excellent written communication skills are needed. Without good writing skills, one will not thrive or survive in this field at all.

It is paramount to remember that game testers are not very special in the video game production world. The reason is that there is an abundance of potential testers, and if one leaves, another will quickly fill the void. So, if advancement is desired, one must demonstrate an above average or better game tester ability for superiors.

Here are the hard facts:

Survival Skills. In order to survive in the professional quality assurance testing (game testing) field, one will require skills of the trade that can be obtained through formal training (on-the-job training) and through continuous experience.

Paramount to playing video games is an experience. However, it is not the be-all and end-all of game testing. It is just a small aspect that will assist in the performance of a game tester job.

Most Important Asset. The most important asset of a game tester is the ability to perform on the job. How good is one in bug tracking newly developed games? One cannot astonish lead game testers and quality assurance managers just by simply telling them that as a 15-year-old one was a programming whiz. No matter how true this may be.

Game tester effectiveness lies in the capability to discover the bugs that may arise from many combinations that exist within specific game segments.

A tester is not assigned the whole game, but only a specific segment in which to discover bugs. This when tester effectiveness will be scrutinized.

Be Prepared. Being prepared will greatly improve the chances of getting hired. To gain proof of time spent and monetary investment, one should enroll in courses just before applying for a game testing position. One cannot tell employers that they are well versed on game testing through reading. Interviewers will not accept this as experience and will end in one going home with a broken heart. It is important to be aware of this now, in order to prepare for what lies ahead. It is not easy to get in, but it is not impossible either.

Professional and Passionate. One will need to demonstrate to superiors not only professional performance but also an extreme passion for video games. This will enable one to advance above the average game testers.
Stephen R. Summitt

Do you want to find sustainable employment by getting a job as a game tester? If you are here because you are serious about getting a job as a game tester, you have to deal with facts, not myths and the personal fantasies of hopefuls. Discover the truth about this field and how you can enter it.

5. Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC – 2001)

The much-anticipated sequel of the father of all first-person shooter, Wolfenstein 3D, is hard to exclude from a top five list. The game is essentially a reboot of Wolfenstein 3D from the early 1990s but offers a very modern take on the classic that still keeps up quite well with what more modern offerings have to provide. In it, players assume the role of Blazkowicz who must escape from a Nazi stronghold and investigate the secret paranormal division that’s around him. It is a linear FPS experience that doesn’t deviate from what players might already know from the original video game.

The visuals received a complete overhaul to keep up with more modern times. When played at maximum settings, which isn’t beyond the means of many computers used today, the levels become very vivid in their presentation. Although I was left with the impression that it wasn’t very “prison-like”. Instead, the levels seem rather medieval and take on a more literal meaning of “Castle” in many respects. However, this does little to detract from the overall experience of the game and it keeps to its predecessor quite well.

Overall, it’s hard to find fault with the game’s single-player mode, but the game truly shines in its multiplayer mode: experiences that were sorely missed in the early 1990s unless players had the technical knowledge to create IPX networks. Despite being over 10 years old, Return to Castle Wolfenstein still has a vibrant online community of dedicated players who are unlikely to disappear anytime soon!

IGN Score: 9.0
Personal Score: 7.0
Age Advisory: Mature (17+)

4. Battlefield 1942 (PC – 2002)

It’s hard to think about WW2 PC games and not have Battlefield 1942 come to mind. While comparably dated like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, it’s a game that’s hard to beat in the multiplayer realm due to the voluminous capacity of players who are able to take part in any one match. Up to 64 players are able to play in an individual campaign, which is set in the Pacific Theater and Stalingrad. It’s also set apart by its well-developed vehicle system. Increasingly modern games attempt to incorporate vehicles into the gameplay experience, but Battlefield 1942 still stands out as players have access to over 32 vehicles that are on land, sea, and in the air.

Given the age of the game, most modern computers released within the past few years would be able to handle Battlefield 1942 flawlessly. However, the visuals do indeed show their age nowadays. They still stand out as remarkable for the time of the game but are losing their appeal as time goes on. Yes, it’s understandable than an 11-year-old game would do this, but visuals certainly aren’t what keep players involved in the game. I’d argue it’s the sheer capacity of players per match that make it one of the unique WW2 games on the PC today.

If players are into full-scale combat, then this is a game that’s hard to beat. It’s by no means the best WW2 game available for the PC today, but has stood the test of time and is still widely enjoyed by players; much like Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

IGN Score: 9.3
Personal Score: 8.5
Age Advisory: Teen (13+)

3. Call of Duty (PC – 2003)

What WW2 would PC games list be complete without mentioning the start of what later became one of the most successful war-based franchises in gaming history? Like Battlefield 1942, Call of Duty is hectic in its experience and provides an unmatched intensity that’s unrivaled in today’s gaming scene. However, it also incorporates a great deal of historical accuracy: something that many of the best WW2 games choose to neglect, especially within the FPS genre. In it, players take control of numerous American and British soldiers who work their way through various campaigns during the Second World War. This was all done with sensitivity to the time period, so players won’t find themselves making use of ray guns or other futuristic weaponry in this game.

When this game was released ten years ago, its visuals were unlike anything on the market at that point and rivaled some of the most hardware intensive games on the most powerful console at the time, which was the Nintendo 64. However, that’s not to say the game was without fault. My test rig did come across some aliased features, but it’s difficult to pin down the source. It could very well be a driver incompatibility given the age of the game against my more modern hardware.

It’s still hard to go wrong with the original Call of Duty. Much of the community has moved onto more recent COD games, like Modern Warfare and Black Ops, but there’s still a very active community who play the original game. Should it ever disappear, then the single player mode is certainly worth the experience!

IGN Score: 9.3
Personal Score: 9.0
Age Advisory: Teen (13+)

2. Battlefield Heroes (PC – 2009)

For some reason, this game is often confused with Battlefield 1942. Perhaps the name “Battlefield” confuses some players into believing they’re the same game, but they are most certainly not! Battlefield Heroes is best described as what would happen if Team Fortress 2 was involved in the Second World War. In it, players side with either the Nationals (Axis) or Royals (Allies) and attempt to obliterate one another in a comical firefight that’s very cartoon-like in its presentation. I think the more lighthearted nature of the game is what keeps so many players involved in the community, but there are also traces of historical accuracy to keep purists amused.

It’s hard to find fault with the visuals. Yes, they’re very laid back when compared to something like Call of Duty, but I believe this was the developer’s intention with the game. There’s certainly a comedic vibe to the entire experience that kept me engaged throughout the time I played the game.

Perhaps the only fault I can find with it is each gameplay session, regardless of the chosen map or opponents, caused me to be disconnected from the Internet. I’m not entirely sure what was happening, but it has affected two different routers connecting to two different ISPs. If this issue didn’t exist, then I’d have no problem putting it in the first place position, but it is a major bug with the game that holds back an otherwise top-tier contender.

IGN Score: 8.0
Personal Score: 9.5
Age Advisory: 16+

1. Call of Duty: The World at War (PC – 2008)

Yes, Call of Duty is making another appearance in the best of the list with this title, which is the most recent Call of Duty game for the PC. After a slew of releases focused on more modern military conflicts, Activision reverted back to its roots with The World at War and put players in the Pacific Theater and Eastern Front operations within the Second World War. The experience holds true to its predecessors in that it’s very chaotic throughout the single player mode and features an impressive multiplayer experience to boot.

Visually, The World at War is nothing short of a masterpiece. The stunningly detailed in-game graphics are complimented by exceedingly spectacular cinematic cutscenes that accent the player’s progress throughout the game. Movement is fluid, responsive, and I dare say lifelike in many instances. Of course, this can be speculative as my test rig was able to play this game at very high settings. The experience may differ at lower settings, which may be required of some older systems not purpose-built for gaming.

It would be hard for me to consider anything besides The World at War to be the best FPS WW2 game. It is currently unmatched in the gaming world in terms of its strengths and is likely to hold this distinction for quite some time as developers seemingly shy away from the WW2 genre on the PC. Regardless, I would be happy to make this my go-to WW2 game for quite awhile.

War Games refer to a collection of game types in Halo 4 in which you play competitively against other human players. These battles are training simulations performed by Spartan IVs onboard the Infinity, which they use to improve their abilities for Spartan Ops. There is no computer controlled enemies in War Games; every single ally and enemy is a real human player.

War Games offers an interesting dynamic to Halo 4 quite different from either the Campaign or Spartan Ops. Because you are playing against real players, you get an opportunity to fight enemies much more intelligent than those in the Campaign or Spartan Ops. Therefore, some of the strategies that I provide for the Campaign do not work nearly as well in War Games. There is no single “best” strategy, so experiment with many different tactics and choose one that best fits your strengths and plays style.

Leveling System

In War Games and Spartan Ops, you receive experience after completing each game. This experience is used to level up your Spartan-IV character. As you level up, you unlock new equipment (such as weapons, armor abilities, and perks) and new armor. Each level requires more experience to unlock, so you will level up quickly at first and slowly later on. After you reach level 20, you will have unlocked all equipment, and any levels past that will have little effect on your gameplay.

There are 3 ways to gain experience. The primary way is to complete games in either War Games or Spartan Ops. After each game, you will be rewarded a fixed completion bonus and a much smaller bonus based on your success during that game. In general, you will receive around 2500 experience from shorter games (slayer, oddball, etc.) and 3000 experience from longer games (Spartan Ops, Big Team Battle, CTF). The second way to gain experience is by completing challenges. There is an assortment of War Games, Campaign, and Spartan Ops challenges that you can complete gaining extra experience, with rewards ranging from 1000 to 20,000 experience depending on the difficulty of the challenge. Challenges come in many variations, such as killing a certain number of enemies in a certain way, winning a certain number of games, or completing a certain campaign mission on a certain difficulty. New Challenges are added periodically. Finally, you can gain experience by completing commendations. Commendations are similar to challenges, but they have no time limit and new ones are never added. There is a large assortment of over 100 commendations, each with between 5 to 7 stages of completion. Every time you complete a new stage of a commendation, you receive a certain amount of experience. You can also gain new armor and weapon skins by completing the highest stage of certain commendations.

After you reach level 50, you can choose from 8 different Spartan specializations. Each specialization requires 10 levels to complete, and you unlock new armor with each level. After completing the final level of a specialization, you unlock a new perk. While these new perks only have a minor effect on gameplay, they do offer useful bonuses such as more experience per game, faster assassinations, or longer overheat times on vehicles. Once you complete all 8 specializations and reach level 130, you have completed the leveling progression and will no longer level up.

Throughout the leveling process, you will unlock numerous pieces of armor, all of which can be accessed from the “back” menu. This allows you to customize the way your Spartan IV looks in both Spartan Ops and War Games but has absolutely no effect on gameplay. You unlock new armor by reaching new levels, completing commendations, and completing armor-specific challenges.

Loadout

Unlike in the previous Halo games, you can create your own loadout in Halo 4. Each loadout consists of a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, an armor ability, a grenade type, and two perks. You can have 5 different load outs at one time, allowing you to develop different combinations for each situation. These 5 load outs are used in both Spartan Ops and War Games, so I suggest that set allocate 2 load outs for Spartan Ops and 3 for War Games.

Below, I discuss which equipment to use in your War Games load outs. However, these are only my opinions; you should develop a loadout that fits your play style the best.
Primary Weapon: I highly suggest that you use a headshot weapon as your primary weapon, as headshot weapons have a much longer range and kill enemies faster than any of the assault weapons. I suggest that you use either the DMR, Battle Rifle, or Light Rifle. Of these Options, the DMR is the most accurate, the Battle Rifle deals the most damage when not zoomed in, and the Light Rifle deals the most damage when zoomed in.

Secondary Weapon: You should always use the Plasma Pistol as your secondary weapon, no matter the situation. Although the Plasma Pistol and headshot trick do not work very well against human players, you can still use the Plasma Pistol to stun and jack vehicles and to remove people’s shields and melee them. The Magnum is inferior in damage and accuracy to the headshot rifles, and the bolt shot does not deal enough damage to be worthwhile.

Grenade Type: I suggest that you use the Frag grenade as your grenade type. You can bounce Frag grenades around corners or up gravity lifts, allowing you to kill players that are out of your line of sight. When used in combination with Promethean Vision, this can be a very effective tactic. However, if you are very good at sticking your opponents, you may wish to use the Plasma grenade.

Armor Ability: In my opinion, Active Camouflage and Promethean Vision are the two best armor abilities for War Games. Promethean Vision allows you to see your opponents before they see you, allowing you to get the first shot and the element of surprise. It also allows you to easily see players using Active Camouflage. Active Camouflage allows you to stay hidden while snipping or sneak up on enemies, which is especially useful when using shotguns.

Perks: There is a large assortment of perks that provide minor bonuses. You should choose whichever perks complementing your play style the best. Some of my personal favorites include extra ammo, more frequent ordinance drops, and faster armor ability regeneration.

Ordinance Drops

In order to obtain non-loadout weapons in War Games, you will need to rely on Ordinance Drops. Ordinance Drops are a new game mechanic implemented in Halo 4, replacing the previous system of weapon spawns. Weapon crates are dropped onto the battlefield from above and can contain either a weapon, a power-up, or two grenades. There are two types of Ordinance Drops, and they are as follows:

Map Ordinance Drops appear throughout the map at the start of the game and redeploy after a certain amount of time. These drops usually contain a tier 2 (Shotgun, Saw, etc.) or a Tier 3 (Rocket Launcher, Binary Rifle, etc.) weapon, though they can also contain grenades or power-ups. Any player can access a Map Ordinance Drop simply by walking up to the weapons crate and pressing x, just like swapping with a weapon on the ground. When you are near Ordinance, it will show up as an icon on your HUD. This icon displays your distance from the drop and what equipment is in the drop, so it is a useful tool for judging if it is worth taking the Ordinance. Drops of higher value take longer to redeploy.

There is nothing to beat the popularity of video games, with newer versions appearing quite frequently. Because of the never-ending demands for such products, the industry offering them has no option but to keep pace by producing additional varieties to replace the older editions. Much to the benefit of gamers, the market is flooded with an extremely large variety of games and the dynamic gaming industry has undergone many technological developments. Undoubtedly, gamers never had such a wide range of quality products to fulfill their rising requirements.

Everybody interested in these games has personal preferences and can surely find some that never fail to meet their expectations of wonderful gaming experiences. Following you’ll find an introduction to different types of the most popular games available in present market, keeping in mind the interactive features they contain and the genre of the basic gameplay they offer.

FPS – FPS stands for First Person Shooter. This is largely centered on the player, who plays it only as per his perception. These games frequently involve different kinds of guns and bullets and other weapons, though there are many unusual games like Samurai plus other warfare styles that incorporate the use of swords and knives. Since these games require a moderate level of concentration, these are well accepted by amateurs, as well as experienced players.

RPG-RPG, meaning role-playing games, are among the most popular types of games that the present gaming industry offers. The games are designed to prompt the player to act in a role-playing manner that is supported by an appealing storyboard, having varying missions to be achieved as the game progresses. One of the most popular RPG games is the Final Fantasy Series.

Real Time Strategy (RTS) – The player that enjoys getting challenged mentally will surely get hooked on the games in this series. Real Time Strategy games are here to defy players’ logical aptitude and sense of reasoning. There is a large variety available for players to select from. However, the one that enjoys utmost popularity is StarCraft II, depicting a spellbinding war of the twenty-sixth century.

Massively Multiplayer Online Games or MMOGs – the Internet-savvy generation of today is frenzied by these games. The underlying principle of this game is the online interaction of a large number of players. Their operational code may include Role-Playing Games, First Person Shooter games or Real Time Strategy games and much more. These games necessarily require a couple of players who are online simultaneously. The most preferred varieties of MMOGs are available in 3D, which really provides an awesome experience to gamers in real life.

Other than the above mentioned highly popular genre, you can also find video games in the adventure, action and racing genres. You can explore the thrilling world of gaming by indulging in different types of games and thus get informed of the newest trends and technically highly advanced games, which are frequently released these days. But be warned, you’ll surely find some favorites and fall for them.

Are you a newbie in the gaming world and wondering which are the most popular video games? Or maybe you are an experienced, passionate player but you need lists of popular video games so you can choose your next adventure? No matter the answer, we can help you anyway. Visit our website.

The game is an integral part of human’s life. Latest psychological researchers have proved that game isn’t just what small children do with their toys while the parents are busy. The game is an important cultural mechanism helping pass experience between generations and orientate in the world. By playing games, humans learn how to behave in their environment and acquire its values, beliefs and conduct patterns. But even after they’ve grown up, people continue playing psychological games by performing roles in their private and social life.

However, the game has received one more essential sense recently. It has become not a way to adapt to the world around us and to act there, but rather to escape from it. More and more people replace their real needs, achievements, friends, and even lives by virtual ones and disappear in game worlds. This phenomenon called game dependence is widely discussed, and psychologists are trying to explain and to overcome it. That article uses some results of these researches and takes a closer look at psychological aspects of people’s gaming motivation. It considers what basic human needs can be transferred in the area of virtual games and satisfied there.

The particular topic of this article is mobile games. It should be noticed that the situation with mobile gaming is not as acute as with computer gaming. People don’t tend to spend a long time with their smartphones, and it’s good so. That is the reason why this article won’t instruct people how to make a “bomb” stealing gamers from their families. It should rather be a guideline for mobile software developers to help them create an involving and exciting product being able to “hook” users.

Human needs that can be satisfied in a mobile game:

1. Need for achievement.

One of the most significant temptations of a game is giving usual people the possibility to become anyone they want to. The opportunities of game plot and its characters are endless, and the likelihood criterion is only optional. So, an unremarkable manager comes home, turns his PC on, launches the game – and becomes an incredible God in a fantastic universe. The longer he plays the more skills, experience, and points he earns; and these rewards are highly valuable for him. A game gives its player a possibility to become something else, a better, more important person, and to be more successful than he possibly is in its real life. Achievements in a mobile game are more “salient” than in real world: they can be made more quickly and easily than in reality; and their results are much more visual (unfortunately, no one receives golden coins or stars after having performed something well in his real life). This attractive process of gathering game achievements can be considered as a kind of substitute for real world self-development.

Why is this aspect important for a mobile software developer? By creating a game, he should reward the user for his progress generously. Stars, coins, additional resources, bonus levels etc. make players feel their success, enjoy it – and return to the game again and again in order to refresh these feelings.

2. Need for respect.

Being respected and appreciated by other people is an important side of people’s social life. Playing alone is good. Playing with other people, demonstrate achievements to them, win different competitions and being admired and regarded by other players is just perfect. Winning feels especially good. There are two main kinds of competitions in mobile games: direct and indirect. In a direct competition, players fight with online enemies or play matches against online opponents face-to-face. In an indirect competition, the game is performed in a single-player mode, but there are leaderboards showing the names of the best players. In that way, a person can always estimate his game success and compare it to the progress of his friends.

But even apart from any competitions, online games have a very significant social side by creating virtual communities. Being part of a clan or detachment evokes a strong feeling of belonging and cooperation. When we do something for the cause, perform our work well, and contribute to the general prosperity by this, we are respected and appreciated.

So, a mobile game should contain as many social features as possible. Leaderboards, online multiplayer modes, creating communities, social sharing buttons – everything connecting the player to other people matters.

3. Need for knowledge.

Learning new things is cool. It doesn’t mean that a mobile game should immediately become a branch of school on users’ smartphones. But gathering new experience, finding out exciting facts, discovering a foreign world, or exploring an interesting topic is fun. Thirst for knowledge has always been pushing humanity forward; it is in the human nature. That’s why the process of solving problems and puzzles and any other kind of intellectual activity can be an important source of gaming motivation.

This need can also be satisfied in a mobile game, especially in a strategy, RPG, or quest. Filling the game world with mysteries, puzzles, interesting facts, and secrets will turn a user to a discoverer learning things not because he has to but because he wants to.

So far, three important human needs that can be satisfied in a mobile game have been considered. Taking them into account and creating a mobile game on this basis will help it “hook” the users and settle down in their smartphones for a very long time.