Video gaming is an expensive hobby, but, as this article will demonstrate, it need not be! Most of the expense is due to the price tag of new video games and the fact that many video games have a short life span - be it a great but quick to complete Xbox 360 title or a PlayStation 3 game that simply loses its appeal quickly. This article will consider video game swapping as an alternative to purchasing new video games out right.
When you think of swapping video games, you might think of temporarily swapping your video games with friends. But, there are online communities which consist of like minded gamers who want to swap their games with other members, for keeps. A community forum enables gamers to talk with one another other to decide which games will be swapped. Once an agreement is made, the postal service is used to send the video games.
Video game swapping has several advantages over simply selling your current completed game to a local game store or via a sale such as on eBay. A brand new game will cost you up to around £40, but after a week (you could complete a game in that time!), a game store might only offer you £20 for that game and sell it on for £35! Or if sold on eBay, they will take an 8.5% cut (an additional 4% cut for taking payments via PayPal) on the final sale price. You're not even guaranteed a price on eBay and your game may actually go for significantly less than you would like. By swapping your video game, you avoid the loss in value of that game and you don't have to contribute any more money to get a new game. You get a game, for a game (or several depending on what was agreed!) After all, your game is in mint condition and some other gamer will be happy to make the swap with you. It's a great way to get new games without costing a fortune!
John Dunne has been an avid gamer for over 20 years and has setup the video game swapping website TheGameCollective.co.uk to help gamers swap and sell their video games free of charge to help us get the most out of gaming.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Video Game Kill Screens
If you've ever experienced a dreaded kill screen in your favorite video game, you may already know what it is even if you didn't know the proper name for it. A kill screen is a major error in your video game that will typically freeze or crash the game. Further progress in the game will be held up by the game kill screen, hence its name.
The errors that cause these screens can vary. Often it happens due to a programming error or some type of design oversight that causes the game to become unplayable. It may freeze and continue to freeze at that particular point every time you play the game, making it impossible to move past that point in the game.
Sometimes video game kill screens will cause the game to crash or just suddenly stop playing and then never work again. If you ever played any of the old, classic video games like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man and even some early Nintendo games, you've probably experienced video game kill screens.
Arcade games are famous for their video game kill screens. If you've ever experienced the frustration of beating your score and getting to a high level of your favorite arcade, only to have it crash or freeze up, you know how difficult this can be. Newer games try to avoid these video game kill screens but they do still occur sometimes.
Sometimes kill screens are caused by something called integer overload. This is why they were so common in arcade games. For example, in an 8-bit level counter, there can only be 255 distinct values. When you go over this, such as to the 256th level of the game, there will be integer overflow which causes the game to crash.
However, integer overflow isn't the only cause of the dreaded screens. Sometimes design oversight by the programmers or a computer bug can cause the problem. Many video game kill screens can be repaired with a patch to the game. If you are bothered by a video game kill screen, this should always be your first option to see if it is available.
Games like Donkey Kong, Dunk Hunt and Frogger were famous for their kill screens and in some games where the kill screen happens at a particular high point in the game, they are treated as a goal to be achieved. Players looked at the kill screen as the end of the game, therefore meaning they've beaten the game once they achieve it.
The errors that cause these screens can vary. Often it happens due to a programming error or some type of design oversight that causes the game to become unplayable. It may freeze and continue to freeze at that particular point every time you play the game, making it impossible to move past that point in the game.
Sometimes video game kill screens will cause the game to crash or just suddenly stop playing and then never work again. If you ever played any of the old, classic video games like Donkey Kong or Pac-Man and even some early Nintendo games, you've probably experienced video game kill screens.
Arcade games are famous for their video game kill screens. If you've ever experienced the frustration of beating your score and getting to a high level of your favorite arcade, only to have it crash or freeze up, you know how difficult this can be. Newer games try to avoid these video game kill screens but they do still occur sometimes.
Sometimes kill screens are caused by something called integer overload. This is why they were so common in arcade games. For example, in an 8-bit level counter, there can only be 255 distinct values. When you go over this, such as to the 256th level of the game, there will be integer overflow which causes the game to crash.
However, integer overflow isn't the only cause of the dreaded screens. Sometimes design oversight by the programmers or a computer bug can cause the problem. Many video game kill screens can be repaired with a patch to the game. If you are bothered by a video game kill screen, this should always be your first option to see if it is available.
Games like Donkey Kong, Dunk Hunt and Frogger were famous for their kill screens and in some games where the kill screen happens at a particular high point in the game, they are treated as a goal to be achieved. Players looked at the kill screen as the end of the game, therefore meaning they've beaten the game once they achieve it.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
June Video Games Sales Drop
Video Game Sales fall a fourth straight month as of June. This 4 month decrease in sales within the video game market makes largest year to date decline the industry as seen in nearly nine years.
According to market researcher NPD Group sales of computer game hardware, software and accessories dropped 31 percent from the same month as last year.
This decline marketed the fourth straight month to see a decline in sales this year, even though the gaming industry promoted its products as a cheap form of entertainment. However because of the recession consumers are cutting back on spending, which as a result has also seen less hit game launches in recent months verses the corresponding period in 2008.
Even though sales have declined, the video game audience has grown. But many of these audience members are playing games online for free.
Hardware sales in June tumbled 38 percent to $382.6 million from $617.3 million. The Nintendo Wii not surprisingly was the month's best-selling console system with 361,700 units sold, and the Nintendo DS was the top selling handheld gaming system with 766,500 sold.
Video game sales dropped 29 percent to $625.8 million from 4875.8 million. The best selling video games included Prototype for the Xbox 360, fighting game UFC 2009 for the Xbox and the fitness game EA Sports Active for the Nintendo Wii.
So in all industry sales are down 12 percent in a year to date comparison of last year. According to researchers a strong performance in the back half of the year could create a break even to a higher sales increase from last year.
According to market researcher NPD Group sales of computer game hardware, software and accessories dropped 31 percent from the same month as last year.
This decline marketed the fourth straight month to see a decline in sales this year, even though the gaming industry promoted its products as a cheap form of entertainment. However because of the recession consumers are cutting back on spending, which as a result has also seen less hit game launches in recent months verses the corresponding period in 2008.
Even though sales have declined, the video game audience has grown. But many of these audience members are playing games online for free.
Hardware sales in June tumbled 38 percent to $382.6 million from $617.3 million. The Nintendo Wii not surprisingly was the month's best-selling console system with 361,700 units sold, and the Nintendo DS was the top selling handheld gaming system with 766,500 sold.
Video game sales dropped 29 percent to $625.8 million from 4875.8 million. The best selling video games included Prototype for the Xbox 360, fighting game UFC 2009 for the Xbox and the fitness game EA Sports Active for the Nintendo Wii.
So in all industry sales are down 12 percent in a year to date comparison of last year. According to researchers a strong performance in the back half of the year could create a break even to a higher sales increase from last year.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
How to Save Money on Video Games For Any Console
Whatever system you play video games they all have one thing in common - the games themselves are far from cheap. The average hot new title for a video game for any of the major systems - PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, costs over $50.00. Even older titles can rarely be found for under about $25. That means that building up a great game collection can be a very expensive process, and in today's economy who can really afford it?
There are some ways around the dilemma though. The first solution to the problem is to rent games. Some offline video stores offer game rentals. The difficulty there however is that the selection of games available is often very limited, and keeping the title for more than a day or so can prove to be very costly. An alternative is an online game rental site such as Gamefly, which, for a monthly fee, allows you to keep between 1-3 games out at a time and keep them until you have "beaten" the game. This works very well for two main reasons; just because a game review says a certain title is a great game does not necessarily mean it will suit your tastes. Renting means you do not have to lose $50 to find out that a certain title is just not what it was cracked up to be. In addition you have the time to beat the game at your leisure; you do not have to return it half way through a mission or campaign. Gamefly has a massive selection of titles for all systems and you can reserve a copy of a particular game well ahead of its release date.
There are many gamers though who like to own their own collection of video games. Many titles are absorbing enough that you want to keep them around to play them again and again. There are economical ways to make that desire a reality too. Several "game swap" websites have popped too, which provide a forum for gamers to swap titles they are finished with for new games. One does have to make sure that the site they are signing up for is reputable though to ensure that they will be taking in part in fair swaps. Game Swap is probably the most reliable and well managed site on the Internet for game swapping.
There are some ways around the dilemma though. The first solution to the problem is to rent games. Some offline video stores offer game rentals. The difficulty there however is that the selection of games available is often very limited, and keeping the title for more than a day or so can prove to be very costly. An alternative is an online game rental site such as Gamefly, which, for a monthly fee, allows you to keep between 1-3 games out at a time and keep them until you have "beaten" the game. This works very well for two main reasons; just because a game review says a certain title is a great game does not necessarily mean it will suit your tastes. Renting means you do not have to lose $50 to find out that a certain title is just not what it was cracked up to be. In addition you have the time to beat the game at your leisure; you do not have to return it half way through a mission or campaign. Gamefly has a massive selection of titles for all systems and you can reserve a copy of a particular game well ahead of its release date.
There are many gamers though who like to own their own collection of video games. Many titles are absorbing enough that you want to keep them around to play them again and again. There are economical ways to make that desire a reality too. Several "game swap" websites have popped too, which provide a forum for gamers to swap titles they are finished with for new games. One does have to make sure that the site they are signing up for is reputable though to ensure that they will be taking in part in fair swaps. Game Swap is probably the most reliable and well managed site on the Internet for game swapping.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Copy Any Video Game - The Easiest Way Possible
Are you looking to copy your own console games so that they don't get badly damaged? Then welcome to this article, because I am going to teach you how to copy any video game you would like to in the easiest way possible, after all who would like to use outdated methods that can destroy not only your game but your game console to, I know I wouldn't.
So if you're like me and you would like to know how you can safely and easily copy and video game you would like then please keep reading. First of all if you want to copy a computer game you will need specialist software that will allow you to do so, if you don't have this don't worry there's many affordable ones available that work amazingly. You will also need some blank disks with enough memory to store a video game on and you will also need a computer and the original game disk, which I'm willing to guess you already have otherwise you wouldn't be able to read this article.
Once you have all of the above you will need to install the video game copying software, you can do this by installing the software on your computer by either installing it via disk or if you downloaded it from online by clicking on it. Once the program is installed you just have to double click on the icon which should be placed on the desktop.
Once you have done this you are nearly complete and you will only have to click another two or three buttons. The computer will then do the rest of the work. Within minutes you would have successfully copied a video game, in the easiest way possible.
So if you're like me and you would like to know how you can safely and easily copy and video game you would like then please keep reading. First of all if you want to copy a computer game you will need specialist software that will allow you to do so, if you don't have this don't worry there's many affordable ones available that work amazingly. You will also need some blank disks with enough memory to store a video game on and you will also need a computer and the original game disk, which I'm willing to guess you already have otherwise you wouldn't be able to read this article.
Once you have all of the above you will need to install the video game copying software, you can do this by installing the software on your computer by either installing it via disk or if you downloaded it from online by clicking on it. Once the program is installed you just have to double click on the icon which should be placed on the desktop.
Once you have done this you are nearly complete and you will only have to click another two or three buttons. The computer will then do the rest of the work. Within minutes you would have successfully copied a video game, in the easiest way possible.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
5 Tips to Purchase Video Games
The Video games industry is one of the fastest going markets in the USA. In USA people are more conscious about the selection of the games.
The games are available online as well as from the local retailers. You must have to follow the steps to select the games of your choice.
1. There are local Video games store provide various types of games available like Video games and PC games for different age of the customers. You must have the wider choices to get game of your choice and at discounted prices. It is believe that the video games available online are overprices. The main benefit for purchasing the local video games from the stores are if you have any difficulty in video game set than you can easily replace.
2. You must see the demo of the video game so that you have better idea about the video game is customer friendly or not.
3. The video game company provides online stores for purchase online games. There are many video game companies as well as major online customer stores like eBay and other stores. You get wider choices of thousands on games as well as game demo and review available so that it is the best choice to select the video game from the online stores. The online video game stores and online customer websites offer different payment options like Pay pal, credit card etc.
4. There are many sites offer reviews of the latest released video games and rankings. It will give you perfect idea about purchase of the video game.
5. You must have to review the prices of the games online so that you can get the proper idea of the prices.
There are many company offers various discounts.
The games are available online as well as from the local retailers. You must have to follow the steps to select the games of your choice.
1. There are local Video games store provide various types of games available like Video games and PC games for different age of the customers. You must have the wider choices to get game of your choice and at discounted prices. It is believe that the video games available online are overprices. The main benefit for purchasing the local video games from the stores are if you have any difficulty in video game set than you can easily replace.
2. You must see the demo of the video game so that you have better idea about the video game is customer friendly or not.
3. The video game company provides online stores for purchase online games. There are many video game companies as well as major online customer stores like eBay and other stores. You get wider choices of thousands on games as well as game demo and review available so that it is the best choice to select the video game from the online stores. The online video game stores and online customer websites offer different payment options like Pay pal, credit card etc.
4. There are many sites offer reviews of the latest released video games and rankings. It will give you perfect idea about purchase of the video game.
5. You must have to review the prices of the games online so that you can get the proper idea of the prices.
There are many company offers various discounts.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Video Game Testing - The Actual Work
Testing video games and making money off of it sounds like an awesome jobs doesn't it? It is, if you really like video games. I've been testing games for a couple of years and I can honestly tell you this, testing video games is not for everyone!
What most people tend to think when testing games comes to mind is that they'll be playing video games all day.
People this is far from true!
Let's be real people, it wouldn't be a job if it was just playing video games. Video game testers have to go through a lot of boring, repetitive, similar work to test for bugs.
These tasks can be such a pain in the you-know-what. But it beats working at a restaurant or a retail store :D.
The tasks they give you are set up daily by the project leader. So everyday you have a different bug to look for. For example, you may have to go around through the whole game and write down any curse words and how many times they say it. (This is such a pain for Gears Of War)
One thing that most game testers have to do no matter what is play through the game, make sure all the weapons and items work properly, with no glitches. You also have to test the limits of the game, walk around to places you normally wouldn't think of going.
You need to get the mindset that, hardcore gamers will try to reach every part of every level, and so should you. If you can manage to get this through your head every time you test, you'll find so many bugs, putting you in a good place with the boss.
Video game testing isn't all just fun and games, it's a real job so there are it's downsides. I've been doing this for a while and it's been a dream job for me.
I just love playing video games, but from my experiences I wouldn't advice anyone to go into this without knowing what they're getting into. If you want to know more video game testing or if this job is for you visit http://www.squidoo.com/gametester-atwork.
What most people tend to think when testing games comes to mind is that they'll be playing video games all day.
People this is far from true!
Let's be real people, it wouldn't be a job if it was just playing video games. Video game testers have to go through a lot of boring, repetitive, similar work to test for bugs.
These tasks can be such a pain in the you-know-what. But it beats working at a restaurant or a retail store :D.
The tasks they give you are set up daily by the project leader. So everyday you have a different bug to look for. For example, you may have to go around through the whole game and write down any curse words and how many times they say it. (This is such a pain for Gears Of War)
One thing that most game testers have to do no matter what is play through the game, make sure all the weapons and items work properly, with no glitches. You also have to test the limits of the game, walk around to places you normally wouldn't think of going.
You need to get the mindset that, hardcore gamers will try to reach every part of every level, and so should you. If you can manage to get this through your head every time you test, you'll find so many bugs, putting you in a good place with the boss.
Video game testing isn't all just fun and games, it's a real job so there are it's downsides. I've been doing this for a while and it's been a dream job for me.
I just love playing video games, but from my experiences I wouldn't advice anyone to go into this without knowing what they're getting into. If you want to know more video game testing or if this job is for you visit http://www.squidoo.com/gametester-atwork.
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- I'M DRAMATIST ADEWALE ADEBAMBO. I WAS BORN SOME YEARS AGO IN LAGOS NIGERIA,I WAS EDUCATED AT THE PRESTIGIOUS NEW TOWN PRIMARY SCHOOL AND IFAKO COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL, ALL IN LAGOS. I'M A GRADUATE OF IYABO OYAWALE'S E-WEALTH TRAINING CENTRE AND THE CIRCLE OF STARS THEATRE. I LOVE TO MEET NEW PEOPLE ALMOST EVERY HOUR OF MY DAYS. I LIKE PEOPLE THAT BELIEVE IN GOD NO MATTER HOW DEVASTATING THEIR SITUATION MAY BE. MY HOBBIES ARE: ACTING,READING AND TRAVELLING, BUT OF RECENT I FELL INLOVE WITH THE COMPUTER AND THAT'S WHY I BECAME A PRODUCT OF THE E-WEALTH TRAINING CENTRE. MAY BE YOU SHOULD VISIT, http://adebamboontheweb.blogspot.com http://adebambo-humanbehaviour.blogspot.com http://librarybookshome.blogspot.com http://playstationbase.blogspot.com I BELIEVE BEING A BLOGGER IS ANOTHER MEANS OF TEACHING OTHERS WHAT YOU KNOW AND PROBABLY WHAT THEY DO NOT KNOW. PART OF MY TEACHING LIVE AND REAL STORIES OF LIFE IS WHAT MADE ME TO GET THE TOP JOB OF THE DRAMATIC AND CULTURAL CLUB OF MY SCHOOL IN MY DAYS. I'M ALSO A MEMBER OF FACEBOOK,NAIJAPALS,NAIJANETWARRIORS,URBANCHAT.COM AND A HOST OF OTHERS.
