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Infographic: Social Gaming Giant Zynga

Posted by Joanne Dolles on August 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Here is a super, if not humorous, infographic detailing the business of social gaming; Zynga style of course!

Let us know what you think!

The Rise of Social Gaming
Courtesy of: Online Schools

 






Vote On Facebook: Your School Could Win $500,000 From Kohl’s Cares

Posted by Joanne Dolles on August 3, 2010 · 5 Comments 

In celebration of Kohl’s Cares® 10th anniversary, they are donating $500,000 to 20 different schools – for a total of $10 million! You can help your local school win simply by installing the , placing your votes and then telling other friends and family.

Kohl’s Cares LLC, a subsidiary of Kohl’s Department Stores, allows anyone on Facebook who “Likes” Kohl’s up to 20 votes. You are able to vote up to 5 times per school. This enables you to not only help your own school win, but possibly one that other family members attend.

Eligible schools include operating public schools in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) that serve grades kindergarten through 12, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education, and nonprofit private and charter schools that serve grades kindergarten through 12 and are run by or supported by legal U.S. residents or a U.S. corporation.

Fans have the opportunity to post “ideas” they have about how their favorite school could spend the contest winnings should they win. In order for a school to win, it must have a minimum of one posted idea, so make sure you put in your suggestion.

This contest is being run solely via Facebook, and voting ends September 3, 2010. Be sure to head on over to , cast your votes, and share the contest details with your friends and family. Only 10 schools win – hopefully it will be yours!

 






What Makes A Great Game: A Gentle Reminder for Programmers

Posted by Guest Author on December 31, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

It's easy to get lost in all the details of building a great video or computer game - so easy in fact, that we can forget the parts of a game that make them fun to play. The following serves as a gentle reminder of what prompts players to play games in the first place. Refer to this reminder in the event that you get bogged down or distracted with confusing C++ syntax, or lines and lines of Visual Basic statements and DLL structures.

1. Remember the player is the main character. Here's a secret between you and me: People play games to gain a sense of control. If you can manage to program your game in a way that puts the player in control, then you’ve already won half the battle. This doesn't mean to suggest that the game should be easy.

2. KISS. Remember that acronym? It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. We all know that programming a game is hard business, but believe us when we say we don’t want to be reminded of it. The difficulty of programming a game should never be part of the game play so when possible, make the game easy to start, easy to navigate, and of course, easy to play.

3. Add plenty of action. And add lots of it too. The more action you add to your game, the more attention players will pay attention to it. And the more that players pay attention to your game, the more addictive your game gets. For every action that a player’s character makes, have the game react and then prompt the player for more.

4. Make the story a good one. Nothing is worse than playing a game only to wonder what you're doing and why. Purpose is and always has been a human obsession. But without it, we’re left wandering… in the darkness… wondering bizarre things like how the house would look in a coat of bright pink paint. Don’t give your players the opportunity to waste time like that. Give them a mission and make sure your game reminds them what the mission is at opportune times and why they must complete it.

5. Give us eye candy. But make it relevant. The graphics in a game shouldn't be distracting , they should make our eyeballs glaze over with satisfaction upon seeing them, and then salivate for more. Graphics should contain clues and entice us further and further into the game until we’ve beaten the thing.

6. Make it real. Fantasy games are okay, but what makes them cool is the fact that they’re realistic. It’s hard to get into something that isn’t familiar or that there’s no way we could ever experience. But if you can implement some reality into your games, players will appreciate it and relate to it on a whole new respectable level.

The author is an online expert in the aspects of roof repair, train horns business and gas fitting.

 






Play Hotel Dash

Posted by Guest Author on December 27, 2009 · 1 Comment 

Let us tell you about brand new Hotel Dash Suite Success Game.

In this game you will start off in a rickety-shack of a hotel and work your way up to the five-star treatment. When Quinn’s brand new travel business hits a snag, she needs Flo’s patented elbow grease to help renovate and run beautiful hotels all over DinerTown! Take control of both Flo and Quinn for the first time in a brand new setting with a ton of new and fun time-related action-puzzles to complete.

As Flo, you will deliver guest’s luggage, drop off room service and provide extra towels, blankets and anything else they may need to stay happy and leave big tips! Along the way you will use your tips to decorate and restore each hotel back to its original charm. Watch out for the mysterious mishaps and accidents that threaten your progress!

Like previous dash games, players will have to work against the clock to meet costumer satisfaction by bringing them everything necessary to make their stay at the hotel an enjoyable one, including gift baskets, floral arrangements, and a bevy selection of other hotel accoutrements.

Hotel Dash is a really great fun game! Do you have what it takes to keep everyone happy, or will the mysterious shadow halt your success? Watch out for the mysterious mishaps and accidents that threaten your progress in this fast-paced Time Management game!

In Hotel Dash Suite Success Game players will find:

  • Over 90 upgrades to purchase for bigger tips
  • 50 levels to try and master
  • five VIP rooms to decorate to make guests happier
  • 5 great hotels to renovate for Quinn’s guests
  • Gripping gameplay
  • Unlimited Play Time

Download Hotel Dash Now!

Hotel Dash game was developed by PlayFirst Inc and is available on Windows PC and Apple Macintosh platforms.

 






War Games Are Rapidly Becoming A Huge Factor In The Online World.

Posted by Guest Author on December 27, 2009 · 1 Comment 

As we all know there are many niches around the Net. Lately I ‘ve seen a genre that we all know and cherish, but yet never really dig in too- War games. War games are everything that includes action, shooting, strategy, RPG and even Zombie killing games, all of those genres can be categorized under war games category.

We may suggest that war games are the inverted replicas of the old timer shooting and fight games. The differences would be that except that the fact shooting location is usually part of a big war going on, it can be battle against zombies, against aliens or any creature your mind can imagine. The main goal in those games is not finding clues or friends, it’s usually (except the complex strategy games) is to kill anything on sight.

While the grown up crowd usually prefer tower defense and complex war games, the younger crowd usually relates better to the easy action games, sniper games and even zombie games. Anyway, both young and old can relate to war games as they award us with lots of content and options to entertain.

Most likely war games can appeal to all ages, but it’s a known fact that men gamers prefer this genre a lot more then the female section, that usually prefer more relaxed gaming without war and blood.

So, whether it’s a present battleground, futuristic battle or even a remote alien world, they all have the same linkage- war games battle grounds. It’s up to you pick your favorite one from the available genres. I personally prefer the RPG and sniper games, as the first one offers character build up and long game play, the other one offers a pure shooting fun, with an emphasis on patience and logic problem solving , as many of the missions require patience and logical abilities.

War games are becoming one of the intriguing categories on the online games industry, awarding gamers the chance to practice vast war or playing the role of an exotic assassin in a sniper game, it doesn’t really matter what you prefer, cause war games can and will deliver it.

 






The New Forza 3 Rocks!

Posted by Guest Author on December 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

This article is written by a Guest Author.

With Forza 3 being released last month I thought it would be a good idea to talk about why it is easily the best driving game experience that has ever been made.

Forza 3 is the higly anticipated follow up to the Forza games and features way over 400 cars from over 50 manufactures as well as having 100 tracks. The car detail in this game has been heavily improved upon with 10 times more polygons been put into each one since Forza 2.

The New Bits

Well apart from the much improved graphics and a lot more cars added in, there are several other parts the game that have been added into it. The in car driving view is something that has been wanted in this game since the first Forza and is something that I am using a lot. Another great thing is the fact that you can have one button assisted driving and full vehicle rollover with heavy details on the undercarriages. Real simulation drifting and SUVs have been added into the series too. It is possible to paint all of the cars in the game as well as being able to create your very own videos to put onto the Forza Site.

The game itself comes with two discs but can be all be played on the first. The reason the second disc exists is because it holds a lot of different and new cars as well as holding a few extra tracks. The season itself has had some major improvements added to it in the form of a personal calender that you get to organise yourself and over 200 events are playable including oval, circuit, drift, drag and timed events. Apprently no two calenders will ever be the same.

In reality a car does not always have to be expensive, Honda Car Lease can be a good way to do things.  This can also be done in the form of Audi leasing as well as leasing vans.

 






Learn Some Basic Online Gaming Terms

Posted by Guest Author on December 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Online gaming has been around so long that it has even developed it’s own sub-language, which includes various terms and abbreviations. Whilst this is no bad thing, and it is to be expected really, it can easily confuse newcomers to the world of online gaming. With that in mind, here are some of the most common online game terms and abbreviations…

P2P – This is an abbreviation of pay-to-play which is used to describe online games which you must pay the creator of the game to participate in. This payment can be for a set number of hours or, more often than not, on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.

F2P – This term is a shortened form of free-to-play and describes those games which can be played online without the need for any paid subscription. The fact that they are free doesn’t mean that they are low quality though; indeed, some of the best and most popular online games are F2P.

Bots – Some people who want to level up even when they are not playing often use what is called a bot. A bot is short for robot and is a program or script that commands your character to do certain tasks, like kill others players in an area and pick up loots, to either level up by itself or to make money with loots that you pick up. A lot of games have outlawed bots but some games still allow these auto-players.

NPC – This term means non-player character and this pertains to all harmless and non-monster characters in the game. These are usually the characters you approach to buy and sell weapons and armors from in the game, get quests from and learn in-game tips from.

Mobbing – This usually means that a player is killing huge numbers of monsters in a certain part of the game map to level up.

Loots / Drops – These are what characters drop after they have been killed. There are different kinds of loots or drops and the harder a character is to kill, the better the drops or loots usually are. You will find that some games have what is called rare drops and these are often dropped by special characters that take a longer time to kill.

Farming – This term is related to mobbing and loots / drops, in that it applies to a situation where lots of characters have been killed in a short space of time, in a specific area of the online map, and, as a result, there are lots of items that can be picked up. So, a character that is farming is basically going around collecting lots of items from characters that have already been killed.

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Online Strategy Games – Hugely Popular

Posted by Guest Author on December 2, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

There are loads of various online games but the genre that has got everybody hooked is massive multiplayer online games. The social aspect, with being able to interact with other players that are actually human, has been a significant contributing factor to massive multiplayer online strategy games increase in popularity.

A major plus to massive multiplayer online strategy games is that a lot of them are free allowing anybody to get up and playing quickly and interacting with other players.

A number of multiplayer online games have become available via social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. These sites allow you and your friends to compete against each other or join up to take on other players thereby taking the social aspects of multiplayer online gaming to the next level.

Mafia Wars – Increasing in Popularity

Mafia Wars is an prime example of a multiplayer online game that has grown in popularity due to being made available via social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Mafia Wars uses the ability for you to invite your friends and other people on Facebook or MySpace to join your mafia to complete jobs and fight against other mafia. Leveling up is the key objective to progressing through the game and you can’t do this without the help of your friends or other players

Mafia Wars has now got to the point where players are taking the game so seriously that they are actively exploiting various Mafia Wars cheats to progress at a faster pace. It’s clear that there are strategies that need to be implemented to be successful within online multiplayer games.

You may find that if you are serious about Mafia Wars it will be a good idea to keep a look out for a good cheats guide. Check out this Mafia Wars Wizard review to get you headed in the right direction and then get you through the game at a much faster pace.

The social aspect of being able to play with friends and people all around the world is what makes a game like Mafia Wars so great. Get out there, build your mafia and be a part of this craze.

 






Revolutionizing Everyday Communication: Social Media Sites

Posted by Guest Author on November 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Social Media websites have grown phenomenally in recent years. Millions of people use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. to connect with their virtual friends and share important tit-bits of their life. Wikipedia estimates that 1. 5 billion people use social Media websites. This speaks of the enormous power of social sites in terms of its reach.

While websites like Facebook, Twitter etc, have become a global phenomenon regional social media sites are not far behind. It would be difficult to believe but Japan occupies second place in terms of Twitter community. QQ, the largest social networking site of China has more than 300 million active members who form a vibrant community.

It is no wonder that large corporations have begun taking notice of social networking sites. They are actively utilizing the power of social sites to communicate with their customers. It is easy to spot a dedicated group for a particular product or a brand. The raw power of social sites can be gauged from the fact a simple application on Facebook can become viral and reach millions of users in no time. Which other medium can boast of such power in terms of reach and effectiveness?

Social networking sites have become integral part of social life. It does not matter if a person is a customer, producer or a marketer. If he is not using social site he is risking losing his business to his competitor.

Marketers have begun using the social sites to broadcast their message. There have been cases where the company whose product failed initially was able to re-launch the product successfully with the help of social sites.

Large corporations are not behind either. Dell Corporation successfully utilized Twitter to promote its promotional campaigns. The company created a special offer exclusively for Twitter users. It is believed that Dell Corporation was able to generate revenues to the tune of $ 10 million from Twitter alone. This example demonstrates the viral power of social sites which can catapult a brand into top league in no time.

There is much more scope for innovation in the technological interface of social networking sites. As the technology progresses we may witness the complete integration of various applications within social networking sites.

 






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