Virtual Ping Pong

Ross Miller asked:


This article is for anyone interested in finding information about playing Frogger online or downloads. This game was an Arcade hit that is still popular to this day in newer games. The concept of the game is very simple like most early Arcade games. You control a frog who must cross the street and river while avoiding obstacles (most notable cars, alligators, and snakes).

Frogger is featured on many websites online with some online Frogger competition sites with high scores. This game is very addicting despite how simple the game is. Roms are also available for download online. I would recommend doing this at your own leisure due to the illegality of roms. It is not difficult to find a place online that offers this game. The game uses the keyboard as a controller to make it easier for you. It is not hard to find either the original or remade versions of this game online.

This game was featured on Seinfeld when George purchases the Arcade Cabinet and must get it across the street before the battery dies. If the battery died the high scored would have been erased. He was put in a Frogger like position in New York crossing the street with the Cabinet. It resulted with him getting to the end of the street to get the Cabinet destroyed by an incoming Truck.

The points in Frogger are determined by.

Completing a Jump Foward - 10 points

Each part of the remaining clock - 10 points

Getting a Frog Home - 50 points

Walking a Lady Frog Home - 200 points

Eating a Fly - 200 points

All Five Frogs Home - 1000 points!

For anyone who this inspired to Play Frogger, enjoy and good luck in future adventures.

Ross Miller asked:


This article is for anyone looking for information about playing Q*Bert online or about DJ Q*Bert. The Original Q*Bert game was created in 1982 by Gottlieb. It was actually created by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. It is a game involving a pyramid of tricolored cubes. You as Q*Bert must jump around changing the colors of these cubes to beat the level.

The enemies in this game are

Coily a Snake

Ugg a Purple Pig

Wrong Way a Gremlin

Slick and Sam who are green creatures who turn blocks back to their original colors

The game is available for download most places online. Be advise do this at your own discretion as rom and emulators are illegal. There are many legal places where you can play these Arcade classics from your internet browser. It’s an easy game to find most places on the internet without much of a hassle.

This game has also inspired stage name for DJ Richard Quitevis “DJ Q*Bert”. He is featured DMC DJ Hall of Fame along great Mix Master Mike. He is a very credible DJ being strongly influence by music. DJ Q*Bert has won many awards as being one of the DJ greats in the world. If you have never seen/heard his musical influence you should start today.

This game was different then most other games of the time as it featured a Votrax Speech Synthesis for each character making it more advanced sound. It was an innovative game that paved the way to many great games of the future. For the others of you who this influence to play the Arcade classic Q*Bert enjoy and good luck.

Mark Bell asked:


If your Xbox 360 has been bitten with the 3 Red Light Error like a lot of other gamers, you have two options. Send it to Microsoft for a Lengthy Repair or Fix it Yourself. If you send it back to MS, plan to pay around $150 for the repair and shipping costs and Wait up to 8 weeks before you ever see your console again! Or, if you are any sort of a handy person you can purchase a digital download repair guide with high quality HD video tutorials for less than $30 and have your Xbox 360 purring again in no time!

Fixing your Xbox 360 Yourself

Like many of you I looked everywhere for a solution or for guides to getting my Xbox 360 fixed at a relatively cheap price. I came across this site with a review of four of the best guides and all where just under $30 and they all came with money back Guarantee’s.

Once you go through easy video demonstrations for fixing your 3 red light error, you will only need less than 2 hours to repair your console. Not only will you save weeks without you xbox console but you will save more than $100 fixing it yourself!

I had a friend, Samual who bought one of the repair guides which turned out to be great, he followed the step by step guide and his X box has all green lights again! He would rather do the fixing himself than to send his Xbox back to Microsoft, especially since his warranty was expired already. So I purchased the same guide Sam had used, although I’m not as handy as Sam, it took me a little longer to get mine fixed, but I did it myself and my Xbox is still working great after 4 and half weeks.

Bottom line, if you are the least bit handy, you can save yourself the hassle of dealing with an Xbox 360 Repair Center and Repair your own xbox, save some money and be being playing your favorite games again within hours.

If you want to checkout the guides we used visit fix-my-xbox-360.com

Other Resources:

How to Fix Your Xbox 360

Xbox Easy Fix Guides & Tutorials

Mauro asked:


The old infomercials of the 1950s raved about how product X could slice, dice, chop, juice, and if need be, pick up your dry cleaning and bathe your dog too. Back then, baby boomers reveled in the victory of war, and wanted to live the life of affordable luxury, which was roughly translated into convenience. The more that could be done with less was the standard of modern living.

Today, we demand our technologies to simply be capable of so much more. A cell phone can’t merely take calls; it requires a web browser, video player, GPS tracking and a music player. And if said cell phone doesn’t have a digital camera, it might as well be used as a doorstop. The electronics we use today are either convenient or obsolete. And unlike the puritan 1950s, it isn’t luxury that dictates the efficiency of our devices, it’s time, or lack thereof.

Now, somewhere between the 1950s and today, home video game systems boomed in popularity and accessibility. And for a good 15 years, your video game system was good for playing video games and nothing else. Insert game, turn on, play game, shut off: a fairly simple concept.

Then the Sony Playstation came.

The genesis of the Playstation was that it was supposed to accept new Sony designed video games and Nintendo classic cartridges. In other terms, it would be able to play both kinds of games. The Sony/Nintendo marriage eventually fell apart, but Sony did keep something from the divorce proceedings: an idea.

That idea was to create a single unit that could perform a variety of functions. In the case of the Playstation, Sony realized that the popularity of the music CD was at an all time high (this was 1994), that video games on CD would yield higher quality games, and that DVD movies were just around the corner. One unit that could play all three formats would enhance the gaming experience not for convenience or for time, but for convergence.

If video game players never had to abandon their Playstation in order to listen to their favorite CD or watch a movie, then Sony has that gamer’s complete attention, and that the gamer is completely reliant on the Playstation for all his basic entertainment needs: watching, playing and listening. The Playstation, when launched, instantly transformed the idea of the entertainment centre. Instead of a multitude of wires, cables and connections, one tiny console could do it all. It could slice, dice, chop, puree and more.

That big bang set off this era of everything in one. The internet, once thought to only be accessed by phone line, is now available on a Blackberry that can also play music, create presentations, keep track of important dates and maybe even handle a phone call or two. Video game systems are now conduits for downloading movies and cell phones are libraries of information. Everything does everything and is capable of doing everything else too. And where did all this modern technological unity begin?

That’s right, with the Sony Playstation.

There once was a time where cell phones received and made calls only. When televisions only projected programs. When video games provided gaming entertainment and nothing else. Where there wasn’t one appliance that could whip, flip and nip. An era where there was just one tool for one job. Those days are long gone.

We have become so accustomed to having all this technology at our fingertips that we forget the dark ages where things weren’t as automatic and as accessible as they are today. In terms of technology, the dark era ended when the Sony Playstation was born.

Michael Connelly asked:


Thirty years ago the fledgling video game business was struggling to make a name for itself as it competed with toys, playing cards and board games for customers. The early games like Pong, Pac Man and Donkey Kong were very basic in terms of technology, and they had very little creativity involved with their designs and functions. Today, the computer game industry is a multi billion dollar extravaganza that has progressed dramatically, and it is starting to steal some of the spotlight from the glitzy and glamorous motion picture industry.

With technological advances like next generation motion capture systems, high definition graphics, Dolby Sound and Motion Sensor Remote controls that enable the players to actually get up off their chairs and get some exercise as they kick, swat, punch, jump, fish, golf and dance their way through sessions, video games have become more than just toys. They are an escape that offers a whole new reality. Kids and adults alike are playing Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii games more than ever before and the industry itself is growing bigger every day.

You only need to look at the recent Video Game Awards on Spike TV to see just how far they have come. This televised show was an awards ceremony much in the spirit of the Oscars or Emmys, but with more attitude. It was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, a major Hollywood movie star, and throughout the show several other celebrities like Michael Irvin, Method Man, Eva Mendez and Seth Green showed up as presenters. James Gandolfini even showed up on the live satellite screen to accept an award for the Sopranos computer game.

Celebrities are starting to notice that video games are getting a lot of attention these days. If there is an awards ceremony that is televised, you can be rest assured that they will show up to get some face time. They are like moths to a porch light with that sort of thing. While the celebrities at the recent Video Game Awards were not quite on the Hollywood A-list, it will not be long before the ones that are will be showing up. They are already starting to license their names for the games, so it only makes sense that they will all be showing up at this event in the future to accept their awards.

The Video Game Awards show began this year with a big-budget open that looked like something out of a Jerry Bruckheimer film. Samuel L. Jackson made his way from his dressing room to the stage as he encountered various strange characters along the way, much like a video game. When he arrived on stage he picked up a laser gun and began to shoot the members of the classic rock group Kansas as they played their signature song Carry On My Wayward Son. There was impressive choreography, elaborate lighting and laser effects. Guys were being shot with laser guns and flying off the stage on harnesses, and the whole thing looked like a high-tech computer game that had come to life.

While the format of the show was very much like a Hollywood award show, it had a certain independent feel to it with a bit of a raw edge. Presenters and award winners were constantly saying things that needed to be bleeped out, edgy, young bands played loud music and Samuel L. Jackson seemed like he was infused with the energy of the crowd as he scream-talked his way through the night.

Being true to the Hollywood awards ceremony format, there were clips of video games that were played throughout the show. This was one of the highlights of the show, for it allowed the viewers to see glimpses inside the worlds of these games. I am quite certain that many viewers who had never seen any of these new games before suddenly had a new found respect for them. They even had clips of games that have not been released yet, like the new one by Tom Clancy called Ghost Recon and another new one called Big Shock that is due out in the spring of 2007.

It is not by accident that the video game industry is starting to look like the film industry. Sony, who makes Playstation 3, also makes movies for Hollywood. They have incorporated many of their filmmaking techniques into the production process of their video games, as have the makers of the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii games. The result is that you get games that seem like movies. The camera angles, storylines, lighting and sound effects are very similar to what you would see with a big budget Hollywood movie that plays in theaters.

All of the old classic movies like Scarface, The Godfather and Star Wars have all been turned into video games. A lot of the old actors like James Caan and Al Pacino were actually involved with the making of these classic movie games in which they offered their voice-over talents.

But there is one great advantage that video games have over movies, and that is that they offer interaction. You can actually be involved with what is happening on the screen, instead of just watching it like you do at a movie theater. This gives one a feeling of empowerment that one just does not get from watching a movie. These games offer more than an escape, they offer a journey into another world where your actions have no real negative consequences on yourself.

Video games have come a long way since the days of Pong, Pac Man and Donkey Kong. While the Video Game Awards are not quite the Oscars yet, they are certainly on a pace to give them a run for their money in the future in terms of publicity. Celebrities are starting to notice that the spotlight on Hollywood is being shared by a newcomer to the world of entertainment, and they are following the light, as they do naturally. It is an inevitable natural progression, much like the relationship between a whale and a pilot fish. Big celebrity names are starting to integrate into the computer game industry, and as this happens it only means more publicity for both parties involved. This is ultimately good for gamers too, for as the industry gets bigger and bigger, the games and the consoles will only get better and better.

Ross Miller asked:


This article for those of you looking for 1982 title Dig Dug online game information and more. The concept behind this game was that you (Dig Dug) are suppose to destroy all the underground monsters by dropping rocks or inflating them. By inflating them so much you can eventually pop them destroying them. You can also kill yourself with any rock that falls on you. The music only plays when you are moving or digging. The controls and game are very easy to learn. You will learn the patterns and enemy movements in a round or two.

You can lose a life one of three ways. If you get touched by a Pooka (red monster), get fire breathed by the Fygar (green dragon), or drop a rock on yourself. It is very easy to lose a life so be careful. If you eliminate all the monsters in the level except for one it might run away. You don’t have to kill it but you can if you want the points.

Other ways you can earn points in Dig Dug is by simply digging ahead (each spot 10 points). The further down you are in the dirt you get more points. Each dirt level get darker down and each row is worth +500 points. Enemies earn you more points than fruit in Dig Dug if you play correctly.

The most you can earn from a fruit in one version of Dig Dug is from a Pineapple. That is worth a whopping 8000. The best way to earn points is by dropping rocks on enemies. The first enemy you drop a rock on is worth 1000, the next two 1500, and any others 2000 points. Even though the purpose of points of this game is useless.

For those of you who this inspired to play Dig Dug have fun and good luck.

JJ Hendricks asked:


Copyright (c) 2007 JJ Hendricks

Hundreds of games were released for Playstation 2 during the console’s lifetime. There are so many, that it can be hard to choose which you want to buy for your collection. Below is a list of the ten must own games for the PS2 and why they should be in your collection.

10. Final Fantasy X - The first Final Fantasy game on Playstation 2 successfully evolves the best selling RPG franchise. FFX has a very deep battle system with even more complex stat upgrades. Your characters can literally take on hundreds of combinations of skills and abilities.

9. Guitar Hero - Live your rock and roll dreams in Guitar Hero. Use a real guitar controller to play all your favorite rock ballads and guitar solos. Hours of songs to play, multiple difficulty levels for even master players, and a song list with tons of classics. This game is great for casual players because it is so easy to pick up, but will keep you coming back with the steady increase in difficulty.

8. Katamari Damacy - A very strange premise, but very fun game. Roll a ball around a level. Smaller objects get stuck to the ball making it bigger, then you can roll over bigger objects. You have to grow your ball to a certain size to clear every level. Tons of replayability, random and funny cut-scenes, and solid game play make this a very unique but great game for the Playstation 2.

7. Ico - The game didn’t sell very well, but has great story, good puzzle design, and environments that make you forget you are playing a game sometimes. You play as a boy who is destined to be sacrificed to appease the Gods. He must make his way through the world and solve puzzles or face his grim fate.

6. Kingdom Hearts - Square Enix combines the Final Fantasy and Disney characters into one role playing adventure. You play as Sora but fight along side Donald and Goofy and meet Ariel, Aladdin, and other great Disney characters along the way. Kingdom Hearts is great for RPG fans and fun for Disney fans too. You will love all the cameos from the Disney movies and cartoons.

5. Metal Gear Solid 2 - The sequel to Metal Gear Solid for the original Playstation. Play as Solid Snake as tries to stop a resistance group from gaining control of a high-tech weapon. Unlike other action games, you have to use stealth and planning to get through the game. You can just kill everything. In-depth story and great cinematics help solidify its place in the top ten.

4. Grand Theft Auto III - The smash hit that went on to create it’s own genre. In GTA 3, you can do almost anything you want. Want to follow the story, go ahead. Just want to steal cars and get into police chases, you can do that too. It led to multiple sequels and countless copycat games and helped spark the massive success of the Playstation 2 during its first year.

3. Resident Evil 4 - Originally released as a Gamecube game, Resident Evil 4 for Playstation 2 has all the same features plus more levels. Its an action packed, heart pounding horror game as Leon tries to save the President’s daughter. With a 95% review score from gamerankings.com it is the best reviewed PS2 game of all time.

2. Gran Turismo 3 - Hands down the best racing simulator. Gran Turismo 3 is a realistic racing game with real cars, real tracks, and real life attributes for all of them. Racing a VW Bug will feel different than racing a Corvette. Different accelleration, speed, and handling for each car and track. And I didn’t even mention the impressive graphics yet. If you love cars, this is the best racing game you can get.

1. God of War - Great graphics, epic story, nearly perfect controls. This is the best game on Playstation 2 and one of the better games released the past generation. Play as Kratos as he makes his way through ancient Greece fighting mythological creatures and using his fallen foes powers to vanquish future enemies. A best seller, highly reviewed, and all around great game.

If any of these games aren’t in your Playstation 2 collection you should buy them. All ten games of these games are great gaming experiences that every gamer should experience.

Sandra Stammberger asked:


The Sony Playstation is one of the best consoles. With a solid reputation for graphics, the console has a wide variety of games available. But there a number of uses and abuses that apply to the console.

The most infamous Playstation abuse is modding it. Like most electronics that use compact discs and DVDs, the Playstation is sold in terms of region; CDs and DVDs from one region will only play on players from the same region. Unfortunately, Japan and the United States are not in the same region, which annoys game players and anime fans, as that means that some of the best games and anime would require someone to own two Playstations (one for the United States region and one for the Japanese region).

[The twin issues are that a lot of anime DVDs are not imported into the United States, and a lot of great Japanese games are available only in Japanese. A United States Playstation won't play either.]

However, by illegally modifying the Playstation, it is possible to make the Playstation play anything from any region. There are a number of ways to do it, which generally involve flashing the BIOS of the Playstation. However, in light of the new Playstation 3’s ability to play anything from any region, this is not needed anymore.

Another illegal way to abuse your Playstation comes from copying games. Pirated games are illegal, yet they end up on sites all the time. The various sites are doing what they can, but pirating still happens.

Another abuse of the Playstation involves the various cheating devices. By using them, the Playstation becomes capable of doing anything in any game, form infinite lives to having maximum statistics to being invulnerable. Although not ethical by any means, the various cheating devices are popular.

However, some gamers have found practical use for the Playstation, as a way to make money. There are a number of tournaments for gamers, and some of the players are professionals, at least in the sense that they train and make a reasonable wage from tournaments. They train and study their game, becoming masters of their chosen distraction, and using that experience to win at tournaments, placing well enough to pay their bills. Strangely some of these virtual warriors are even sponsored by various companies, who pay their expenses while the players are on the tournament trail.

These champions are even have a fan following, and are interviewed just like minor celebrities. Some are able to sell advertising on their blogs, and even write articles on their respective games. They are able to use their modicum of fame to pay the bills.

There are a lot of ways to abuse your Playstation. Most aren’t exactly kosher, but there are ways to make money from it. One day, Playstation abuse will stop, and tournament players will find other ways to make money. Until then, one can only hope that the abuse will taper off.

Ross Miller asked:


This article is for anyone interest in playing 1979 Atari Title Asteroids online. This game had no real story or plot other than shooting asteroids and flying saucers in an asteroid field. Hence the title Asteroids. You have the option of changing direction, using thrusters (moving you forward), shooting, or traveling into hyperspace.

Hyperspace will move you to a random spot on the screen possibly killing you. It is good move in a tight squeeze though. You just need to be fast so you don’t land on an Asteroid (killing you).

The game is available to play live at a lot of websites because they are remakes similar to the original. Since original copyrights still apply to the game. That is why the next option of using roms is at your own discretion. It is a form of internet piracy. It is not difficult to find a version of Asteroids online that will meet your approval.

It is possible to play it on classic Atari and Nintendo consoles. Some Arcade Lounges have classic Cabinets like Asteroids. This option will cost you a quarter compared to buying the Arcade Cabinet. The Cabinets becoming harder to find by the day because of wear and tear. Playing it through an Arcade Machine is the best way to relive this Atari Hit title.

It’s not a hard game to learn but the controls might be confusing the first time. On top of that it is very easy to die as simple as hitting an Asteroid. For those of you playing this Arcade classic enjoy and the best of luck.

Michael Connelly asked:


Their shelves are stocked with items that a lot of people really want, even though they will never be able to touch them. Services are rendered by characters that were created on a computer. With the recent increase in popularity of online video games and virtual worlds there has been a whole new cottage industry created that sells virtual items and services to gamers who spend a lot of time and money in Cyberspace.

They are called Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs and they are a genre of online video games that over 15 million people worldwide are now playing. Participants pay a subscription fee and a one time fee for game software and then they connect to a server and interact in a 3D landscape using the software. The players do not seem to have any ultimate goal of winning, but rather they are encouraged to just continue living inside the virtual world spending time and money there. Victory is not as important as developing your character into one that has fame, fortune or status. A lot of money can be spent on this pursuit with things like character enhancing item purchases and monthly subscription fees.

The cost of designing, developing and creating an IMMORPG is about 10 million dollars. It requires many people with many different skills in game design, 3D animation, computer engineering and database architecture to name a few. It may be costly to get an online game or virtual world up and going but the profit margin is extremely high and this helps to ensure that investors will make their money back with a great profit in relatively no time at all. In 2006 this particular genre of video games grossed over 1 billion dollars and it is only growing bigger every day.

In the world of interactive video games and virtual worlds it is not uncommon for a player to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on items that enhance their playing experience or build their status. A person can spend a lot of money buying such things as clothing, vehicles, weapons and real estate as well as a whole host of services and experiences. For example, a virtual apartment can cost anywhere from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars. Participants spend real money on these 3D items which are all considered to be real monetary assets.

A whole new economy has been created because of online video games like World of Warcraft, Everquest and Second Life. With over 7 million subscribers World of Warcraft is the most popular of these games. It is a classic fantasy themed battle game in the tradition of Dungeons and Dragons.

World of Warcraft has a full menu of items you can buy to enhance or improve your online gaming experience. Gamers have the choice of buying a variety of different types of armor, weapons, costumes and equipment. It is up to each player to decide what kind of items would help their chances at winning in this contest of online video game battles. Some people buy their equipment based on function and some buy it to present an imposing look for their character in battle which can build a reputation and status. As you achieve higher game levels and player status more products and services become available to enhance your experience.

Second Life is an online virtual world where people can go and live another life inside Cyberspace. It is a subscriber based website that has 5,887,280 members from all over the world. Once a participant enters this virtual world there is a variety of items, experiences and real estate at their disposal. They are encouraged to explore this three dimensional landscape and find a good place to buy real estate. The strategy is to set up a home or business and forge relationships with other participants that can help you gain success. Millions of US dollars are spent each month with the transactions that take place inside this virtual world.

From auctions, to banking to mail service there is a rapidly growing industry that is making a living catering to those who really like to play video games online or spend time in a virtual world. These games offer a different experience from Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP and Nintendo Wii games in that they are less predictable with more interactivity. Also, the content is free from government regulation because they operate in the wild world of the Internet.

Since 2004 the worldwide grosses for the genre of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games has doubled each year. From 500 million dollars in 2005 to 1 billion dollars in 2006 this industry is expected to continue thriving and gross well over 2 billion dollars in 2007. As more and more people around the world look to online video games and virtual worlds for recreation and escapism the future looks brighter every day for those who sell virtual products and services.