Team Balance

Archive for June, 2010

Last article that I wrote I spoke about the top RPG PC games of all time. Due to the size of the article I decided to continue over two articles. In Part I I covered the Diablo series and Neverwinter Nights, two medieval style games.

Fallout series:

The previous two games have been medieval/fantasy style, the Fallout series takes us into a post-apocalyptic future. The world has been trashed by nuclear war that has wiped out most of civilization.

Fallout and then Fallout 2 were the pinnacle of sci-fi RPG during the 1990s. During Fallout you play a character who is leaving an underground vault to find a new water purifying chip for the inhabitants. The Vaults are underground shelters designed to house communities during the event of a nuclear war and then until the fallout settled outside. During your journey you meet many delightful characters as you stumble your way through a very strange in different world (bottlecaps are the new currency).

Fallout 2 continues on 80 years after Fallout. The character you play is the descendant of the great main character from the first fallout. The explorable map is a lot bigger now and so is the level cap, range of weapons, types of armour and fun. You have much more control over the path you take in Fallout 2, you can be good, evil or just not give a damn.

Fallout 3 was much anticipated and due to problems at Black Isle, ended up getting developed and released by Bethesda (creaters of Morrowind and Oblivion) in 2008. Fallout 3 combined RPG with FPS for an absolutely fantastic game. The world map is humongous and every little bit of it is explorable. I recommend taking your time to walk as much as possible as you will find many exciting hidden points of interest that will give you a much richer gameplay. Some of the things you may come across are a faithful dog, a radio station, petrol stations and freedom fighters.

There you have it, my top list. I bet you were expecting to see World of Warcraft up there. While this game does have many awesome qualities (hence the popularity of it), it also turns people into zombies who never leave the house again. For this reason it does not make my top list of all time (maybe top of the 21st century Also it’s technically an MMORPG, not an RPG.

In general, there is one thing that separates the video game industry from all other entertainment industries. Based on the title of this article, take a guess on what that might be? Right, the cost! Let’s face it, video games are expensive. Look no further than the release of the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii as an indication of this. Not only that, but sales prices have actually increased over the cost of video game consoles the previous generation.

The Nintendo Wii may have the benefit of the doubt here, but there’s no denying the increase of prices for both the Microsoft and Sony consoles. We’re talking about investments here. Typically, people that want to be entertained are not looking forward to taking out a bank loan just to do so. Unfortunately, these high price tags aren’t limited to console hardware. In fact, even the software that’s available for each console can cost upwards of sixty dollars or more. Pretty crazy, I know! This is where the true value of purchasing used games come in.

The great thing about used games is that it’s not difficult to find them for very cheap prices. Over the last 5 years, the library of used games has increased quite a bit. Taking note of this increase, it should not be difficult to find a game in particular that you may be looking for. From personal experience, I’ve found games of virtually every genre. You may remember a game that you really wanted to play, but simply didn’t have the budget or whatever the case may be, to purchase that title. Head on over to your local game store, and see if you can find it in the used section. Chances are, you’ll also find it for heck of a lot cheaper.

There are a lot of places that sell used video games. Some of these places include retailers like Blockbuster, Micro Play, EB Games, etc. – Virtually every game related retailer carries them. You may find deals along the lines of purchasing two titles for the price of one. In my case, I purchased two games I never got the chance to play, for ten bucks – Yes, ten dollars! There may be other deals along the lines of buying two titles, and getting the second one half-price. Again, it all depends on where you shop. Generally speaking though, it’s not hard at all to find games for cheap, and in some cases (I’ve personally had many cases like this), really cheap.

It’s a great feeling. You walk into your local Blockbuster, and “boom”, your hit with this intense view of all these games you’ve always wanted to play, and for really low prices. Games you forgot that you wanted to play, and now you can. In the video game world, you may sometimes hear this word, “hidden gems.” Essentially games that have been given great reviews, but somehow didn’t catch the attention of the general public. Now here’s another reason to go back and look for those titles.

Some people may wonder about the quality of the games. In my case, I’m usually given a thirty-day money back guarantee. Basically, if within those thirty days something is wrong with my game, I have the option of returning it. I’ve purchased a ton of used titles, and had only one incident where I had to return it. So I would suspect, based on personal experience, that the titles you end up purchasing should be working fine. With the rise of increased game sales, which includes prices for both hardware and software, there has never been a better time to take a look at the used-games section at your local video game retailer. You may just find the game you’ve always wanted to play. Good luck!

The Nintendo Wii was the first company on the market with the motion sensor technology. Then the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 have each produced their own similar style of movement technology. So which is the best buy for my dollar?

The PlayStation 3 has just released the PlayStation move controller. You first need to have purchase a PlayStation eye. Which is a camera, that can recognize the movements of the controller. The cost of the PlayStation bundle, which includes: PlayStation move controller, playstation eye camera and sports game sells for about $100. What is the main selling feature of this controller? For many of us, who don’t have a Nintendo Wii, the PlayStation move now gives you that Wii like feel playing your PS3. Some gamers believe that the PlayStation move controller is more accurate than the Nintendo Wii’s controller. The move has better feel for many of the different movements you produce during game play, which the Wii tends to miss at times.

Not saying the Nintendo Wii by any means is a failure. It is far from that, it is perceived as a revolution in the gaming industry. The only area the Nintendo Wii fails in comparison to the Xbox and the PS3 has to be the games. The Wii is so full of nonsense games, which no one wants to purchase. At the same time, the library for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 games are relatively small in their own accounts for similar movement games. Largely in part to the fact they have both been just released, but still don’t have any games worth buying to make the cost of the PlayStation move or Xbox kinetic worth the price tag.

The Xbox 360 just released the kinetic, which has its own motion sensor technology as well. The main difference in the kinetic is, it will run you about $150 to purchase brand new. That seems an awful lot of money for a cool gadget. The kinetic does have voice recognition, so you can tell your Xbox to turning own and off. You also have the ability to go through the console commands by voice which is fabulous. The kinetic plugs into your USB port on your Xbox and needs to sit on the top of your TV very similar to the Nintendo Wii. The kinetic isn’t a controller at all, but a device which enables the gamer’s body to be the controller. This is very unique in the fact; all of your bodies’ movements make a difference in games.

The PlayStation move and the Nintendo Wii, seem very similar. They both operate in the same manor; just now you can mimic a Nintendo Wii with your PS3. The Xbox kinetic really seems like an innovative approach. It has more of an original feel, not just copying what some else has already done

Space fortress is a unique strategy shooting game. It is not just like any normal shooter game, this game has a bit of everything all in one. It has -

*Blasting enemies on an unknown planet.

*Use a variety of weapons at your disposal.

*Upgrades for weapons to make them more powerful.

*The ability to build a fortress around you to defend yourself from the invading waves of alien species.

*Many Fortress upgrade options and the ability to add automatic Turrets to your fortress!

*Hire other Mercenaries soldiers to aid you in your battle.

*Extra Premium Advantages provided via MochiCoins (if you have some spare cash).

*And lastly, perks are available for your character to increase your survivability, power and other massive upgrades to advance your fortress.

First Impressions

Starting off, the game seems a little slow, with its tutorial, slow waves of starting enemies and not much to do with your basic pistol and no fortress. But after the first few waves, the games becomes a lot deeper with more to do, more options get opened to you, and the game starts to open up to its high potential of fun.

Controls

You can either use the W, A, S, D keys or Arrow Keys to move you character about.

We found it best to use W, A, S, D and then you can concentrate on aiming with your mouse.

Number keys 1-0 can be used to change between your current equipped weapons.

Esc Key – Options Menu

Interface

The interface in Space Fortress is very cool. From left to right we have:

*Health Icon in %

*Fortress Heat Map

*Weapon Selection

*Realtime Map

*Money/Score

*Option Buttons

Gameplay

The game play is great, and is more advanced than it looks. There are 30 levels to survive through, with many enemies, weapons and upgrades getting unlocked as you advance through each one.

Unique to this game are the introduction of a wide variety of different enemies, all with different individual stats and special abilities that you need to learn and watch out for, these vary from flying, to underground diggers.

The Interface is very easy to work out, and with all the Perks, Weapons and Upgrades this game will set you back a good few hours of interesting game play.

Perks

Perks are additional extras available to help and increase your characters, fortress and weapons abilities.

*Ammo Carrier – Increase Ammo capacity by 50% between levels.

*Elite Mercenaries – Increase damage and ammo capacity of mercenaries by 25%. (PREMIUM)

*Extended Clip – Increases ammo capacity by 50% all the time.

*Firearm’s Specialist – Increase weapon damage by 50%. (PREMIUM)

*Gold Finder – Increase gold from enemies by 50%.

*Dead Mercenaries – Dead mercenaries will be healed after 1 wave.

*Powerful Towers – Increases tower damage by 35%.

*Life Regen – Increase life regen by +2 per second.

*Stronger Mercs – Increase life by 150 and life regen by +2 per second.

*Stronger Muscles – Gives you an additional +150 health.

*Stronger Towers – Increases base towers health by 50%.

*Stronger Walls – Increases wall health by 50%.

*Toughness – You receive 10% less damage from attacks.

Armoury

There are 11 Weapons to buy and choose from.

dps = damage per second

*Laser Pistol (start pistol with unlimited ammo) – 8dps

*Rifle – 15dps

*Crystin – 26dps

*Shotgun – 45dps (PREMIUM)

*Auto Rifle – 31dps

*Flamethrower – 86dps

*Plasma Rifle – 37dps

*Sniper – 68dps (PREMIUM)

*Flak Cannon – 102dps

*Missile Launcher – 75dps (PREMIUM)

*Minigun – 76dps

Fortress

You can start building a fortress when you reach $7700. The fortress has 4 towers in which you can place an automatic turret. There are 3 Turrets to upgrade. Turrets are a must for higher levels, they will help you a lot!

Mercenaries

There are a total of 10 Mercenaries which you can hire to aid you in your battles.

*John – 15dps – Wave 1

*Machim – 26dps – Wave 3

*Jason – 45dps – Wave 5

*Turk – 31dps – Wave 8 (PREMIUM)

*Pyscho – 86dps – Wave 10

*Dabor – 37dps – Wave 12

*Chuck – 68dps- Wave 15

*Everton – 102dps – Wave 18

*Vabolt – 75dps – Wave 21 (PREMIUM)

*Matheus – 76dps – Wave 24 (PREMIUM)

Premium Features

And then if you have some spare cash to burn on MochiCoins you can get the premium extras!

*Unlock Premium Features – 1400 Coins

*500,000 Money (also applies for all other new campaigns) – 400 Coins

*Cheat Level – Skip a Level/Wave – 200 Coins

Overall

As you can see, Space Fortress is an advanced full feature game with plenty to do, plenty of items and upgrades to achieve and 30 waves of intensifying battles! You will be entertained for hours in this graphically advanced strategy shooter.

Online strategy games refer to the genre of games that can be played online, and where players are placed in a position where their decision making skills are put to the test. The outcome of the game is ideally influenced by the decisions that the player will make along the way. In fact, some of the more sophisticated ones have several side stories and endings, requiring players to go back to previous levels if they want to explore and finish all the quests.

Today, however, it has become difficult to delineate real time strategy games from other game genre, as most other game genres also contain strategic elements. But the distinguishing characteristic of these games is that there is only a small amount of luck or chance involved. Neither are special skills or knowledge relevant. All players in strategy games have the same sets of skills and knowledge. They only need to be sharper than the next player in order to make the right decisions in their interactions with the other players, and win the game in the end.

In contrast, chance-based games rely on statistics and probability for their outcome. But if you come to look at the mechanics of games, they do strike a balance between chance and skill, although such games lean more towards skills than chance. They involve complex planning and anticipation skills.

Online strategy games are also called massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) because they serve as an online platform where a great number of players can log on to play from whatever part of the world. This enables real-time interaction between players through their avatars, or their game characters.

There are several sub-genres of real time games. One of these is the abstract strategy game, which usually does not have any link to reality, thus the name. The object of abstract games is usually to solve the puzzle using logic and strategy. Examples of these are Backgammon, Sequence, Mentalis, Stratego and Octiles.

Another sub-genre is the simulation strategy game. This type covers those games that are based on reality to some extent, and that try to imitate real-life conflicts, issues, activities and situations. The object of the game is to take a character, explore the world within the game, find out the consequences of every decision and action you make as you work to complete your task. Examples of these games are Abalone and the classic Lemonade Tycoon.

Finally, another popular strategy sub-genre involves those war and military tactical games. These games imitate military conflicts, battles, ambushes or entire campaigns. They are also predominantly simulation-based, but there is a lot of strategic thinking involved. The earliest versions of war strategy games were limited to miniatures that player controlled across terrain models and against other miniatures from their allies or enemies. But the more recent games now give players the opportunity to play the game using the first-person perspective. Some of the more popular free online strategy games under this sub-genre are Territory War, Age of War and Fall of Rome.

The Nintendo Wii is a very popular gaming console. It would probably be your most prized possessions and you certainly would never want to lose it for any damage, scratches or breakdown in the disk. The good news is that now it is no longer impossible to copy these games. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy one and simply copy the game. It means that it is always convenient to have back up copies if the original one runs any problem.

These disks are more prone to break down due to the excessive use. Wii being expensive, it’s not advisable to spend those bucks to buy the same thing. These games come in the form of disks, which look much similar to your normal music disks. However, you cannot copy them the way you copy movies and songs. The reason is that these disks come with copy protection. That’s why roxio, nero and other burning programs cannot copy these disks. The copy protection on these disks doesn’t allow your PC to read them.

But now it’s possible to burn Wii. There’s software that makes these disks readable for your PC. Once your PC is able to read them, it can easily copy Wii, without any difficulty. Here are some simple steps to burn Wii games and make as many backups as you want.

Install the software in your system.
Insert the original disk.
Instruct the program to burn the disk.
Insert a blank DVD.
Copy the content in the blank disk.

The procedure is not different from copying music DVDs. All you need to have is the right software. Just by these simple steps, you can make a number of backup copies. Once you have installed the right software, you will be able to burn a number of games, not just Wii.