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Last year I was sitting in a poker tournament, about two hours deep, when I was dealt a suited King and Queen. I went in with a raise, hoping to get some spades on the flop. Four others called me, and the flop comes out-a King of hearts and 7 and 8 of spades, so I’m sitting on a good draw hand with top pair. Everyone checked to me, so I made a small raise to keep the action going without scaring anyone off, and everyone called.

The turn comes out and it’s the Ace of spades. I’m playing it cool, but inside I’m doing cartwheels. Look at the community cards, checking for a possible full house, but there’s no chance, so I’ve got he best hand out there. The first bettor raised, and two players called, so I re-raised, and everyone called again…at this point I’m salivating over the pot in front of me, and I can’t wait to rake it in.

The river is dealt-4 of diamonds, and everyone checks to me. The card was no help to anyone, and I’m sure that I’ve got it so I go all in, hoping to grab a nice big chunk out of the chip leader’s stack. The chip leader called, and the others folded, and he showed his cards before me-a Jack-10 of spades. I stand and slap my cards on the table with a triumphant grin…until I saw that the King and Queen were, in fact, clubs.

Lesson learned: Take a break from reading everyone else to look at your own cards once in a while. Else you’ll lose you head and in more in the world of poker.

Sudoku puzzles have always boasted that it is a brain stimulating game that requires no mathematical skills. In essence, the statement is correct because a player does not really have to add numbers, columns or rows to play Sudoku puzzles.

However, if we look at the game of Sudoku puzzles more closely, we can actually identify some basic reference to concepts that are of purely mathematical nature. For instance, Sudoku games usually have several blocks or squares that are already filled up with certain numbers. But what if we start from a totally blank grid, meaning no given numbers at all? The question then will be how many ways can the solution be achieved given the rules set forth by the puzzle game? If we go by the simple 4 by 4 Sudoku grid, there are a total of 576 ways of arranging the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. in a square or block presentation with each number appearing only once in every row and column. However, Frazer Jarvis of the University of Sheffield was able to come up with 88 valid arrangements for the very same grid and subsequently posted his observations on the Sudoku Programmers Forum.

Clearly, logic is not the only factor at work in Sudoku puzzles. Mathematics is also a key player. Ditto with various rules. Sudoku said it only has one basic rule, but when you sit down and try to solve the puzzle, various rules as well as techniques will crop up that you can find useful as you try to uncover the enigma of the game. While Sudoku’s basic rule will help in getting the correct solution, repeated application of this one basic rule can make the game one big bore. Barry Cipra, a mathematician and writer from Northfield, Minnesota, said the Sudoku rules actually has several hierarchies. These rules get more complicated as the puzzle becomes more complex as in the case of 10 by 10, 12 by 12, and 14 by 14 grids. The basic rules, Cipra said, apply only to the standard 9 by 9 grid. Higher levels of the puzzle mean more complex rules. Nevertheless, the fun begins when a player is able to discover patterns that will trigger the application of the rules

The concept of Sudoku puzzles about no mathematics required is thus a bit flawed. What the game actually wants to say is that no arithmetic is really required, meaning no counting of 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Sudoku puzzles also say it only has one simple rule, which is, to fill in the grid with numbers ranging from 1 through 9 in such a way that every row and column will have one instance each of the said digits. Again, there is error here, because sticking too rigidly to this one simple rule will not help a player to easily solve the puzzle. Analytical methods, including the discovery of unwritten rules and tactics, are needed to see the game to its logical conclusion.

Microsoft has unveiled two molds of the Xbox 360; the premium package, for heavy-duty gamers, and the core system, a machine made for less experienced gamers thriving for success in the era of gaming. The difference is colossal and that includes the $100.00 difference in price.

What comes in each box?
Both consoles have three-core CPU’s, each running at 3.2GHz; 500MHz ATI graphics processor; 512MB memory; and built-in wireless.

The Premium box contains a console with Premium Chrome Finish, a 20GB Hard Drive, Wireless Controller, Xbox Live Headset, Component HD AV Cable and an Ethernet Cable for online gaming.

The Core box contains a console which is white in color, wired controller and a composite AV cable.

Why would I want the Premium Package?
In order to play an array of original Xbox games, the hard drive is required. Either the hard drive or memory unit is required in order to save games and content, play online over Xbox Live, and voice chat with friends and family. In addition to the hard drive or memory unit being required to chat online; the headset is also required to communicate.

End result here is if you want the best possible experience from your Xbox 360, the Premium package is the way to go.

Rock On!
- Cody Pirlott

There are millions of computer games out there on the market, how do you make your game best selling? What features have to be included? I have taken a look on previously best sellers trying to determine what makes a great game.

Set the player in focus

The player wants to be in focus in the game, he or she wants to feel that he can control the outcome of the game. It doesn’t have to be easy, or it shouldn’t. The harder the game is the better the player will feel when he has completed the game and won.

For example in Sid Meiers Civilization the player is set in focus and can affect the outcome of the game. She knows that it’s up to her if she wins or loose. This concept is seen in virtually all best sellers, Doom, Civilization, The Sims, Sim City, Warcraft, Command&Conquer to name a few.

This can also be done in games that are heavily built on a story. For example in several adventure games by Lucas Arts the concept of that the player can control his or her destiny is used frequently. Developers should look out for basing the game too much on what the computer does or other factors.

Simplicity

Never underestimate simplicity; a gamer does not generally like to read hundreds of pages to be able to play a game. Sure advanced features could be included, but still the player should within ten minutes be able to understand what the game is about and how it is played. If the gamer doesn’t the game will probably be turned into a dust collector in the basement.

Here the design of the menus and the interface comes in. Avoid having strange controls, like the firing button on F for example. If you were making a 3rd person shooter you would want to use the same set of controls as other games in the sector do.

The menus should be easy to understand, I have reviewed a lot of games were the menus are made out of symbols without any text. This is not recommended since the interpretation of a symbol is highly subjective; try to mix symbols with text.

Action

With action I don’t necessarily mean violence. There should however be something happening in the game, and when it happens the player should really notice it. For example killing an enemy in a 3rd person shooter should generate blood, building a police station in Sim City should reduce crime, killing the last enemy in Warcraft should generate victory, ok I guess you got the picture. Perhaps this seems quite basic, and it is, but still some developers don’t think in these terms.

Story

Never ever underestimate a game story. If you read any gaming magazine today you notice that there is an awful lot of focus on the graphics. The graphics are important but they mean nothing if the background story sucks. Of course this isn’t true if a game is ground breaking. Doom didn’t have a very well developed story but still it was ground breaking because people had never seen nothing like it before.

But generally the story is important, sometimes a player wants to feel part of something bigger.

To name a few examples we could start with virtually all role playing games. However don’t do the mistake of writing the story too complicated. A simple story or shorter story should work fine as long as the story is good.

Graphics

Yes well I have to mention it. Graphics serve one purpose as I see it; they enhance the game play and all the other factors I have mentioned. They are important in the sense that they communicate the game to the player. They don’t have to be stunning but they should serve a purpose.

A recent example of this is Command&Conquer Generals, the graphics are good, they serve a purpose and they enhance the gaming experience. However the game in question was not that long-lived for various other reasons.

There are several games with bad graphics that are still fun to play for example Warcraft 2 or Sid Meiers old classic, Pirates.

Things that people can relate to

A bestseller game has to include something that the player can relate to in some way. The Sims that is the world’s best selling game right now have several factors that people can relate to in real life. However remember that different people relate to different things.

Say that a person just saw a science fiction movie and thinks “I really want to fly a space ship like in that movie”, so the person in question starts a search for such a game. This is also one of the reasons the Warcraft series become very popular, the Orcs and other characters in the game people remember from reading Tolkien’s book.

Developing a game about solving equations will probably not be a hit since far too few people relate to it. These are the main factors that create a good game, if these factors are followed you will probably have a pretty good game. There are of course other elements that make a difference; marketing is one of them that will be more important as the gaming scene grows.

Daniel Westerstal is the editor of:
http://www.uziana.com/
which features many reviews and other PC gaming related content.

In 1980 a little known distributor by the name of Midway released a game destined to become one of the greatest arcade classics of all time. Developed by Namco, Pacman is a maze game in which a player navigates Pac-man, a yellow figure, through a maze eating pills and avoiding ghosts.

Pacman has undeniably had a significant impact on the video game industry. Until Pacman, video games were almost exclusively “Space Shooters” – games in which a player controls a space craft that has to shoot something. Pacman was the first game to break out of that model and be incredibly successful. Since then, video games have diversified considerably and continuously branch out into new and creative areas.

The name Pacman is derived from the Japanese phrase Pakupaku which loosely translates into “he eats, he eats”. In fact, the game was originally released under the name Puck Man in Japan, but when the game was picked up by Midway to be released in the US the name was changed to Pacman for fear of vandalism that could potentially be inflicted by Americans in arcades and will include scratching the P into an F in the Japanese name “Puck Man”.

The first known “perfect Pacman game”, in which a player must complete all 255 levels, collect all the bonuses and never be caught by a ghost, was played by Billy Mitchell at 1999. Billy set the record at a local arcade in New Hampshire while employing a strategy of improvising throughout the 6 hours of game play and not using any repeating patterns or tactics. The final score was 3,333,360.

A Flash version of Pacman can be played for free at PlayedOnline.com

Xbox360, the latest version of the video game console that has been manufactured by Microsoft, was a term that was finally arrived at by the computer software company last year. This was after a marketing firm that it hired conducted a survey which asked people whether they thought the Xbox evoked a more “next generation” or “next-gen” sound. It was apparent that Microsoft was having worries at that time that sticking to Xbox2 as the name of its new video game console would make it appear or sound older or less “cutting-edge” than its main rival, the PlayStation 3 or PS3.

Keeping such a concept in mind, Microsoft recently announced that it has successfully produced a set of fresh 360 backwards compatibility update of the Xbox which the firm is scheduled to release anytime within the week. This is in keeping with the company’s commitment to concentrate on the continuous improvement of the console’s features. Peter Moore, the game’s top honcho, said the updates are presently having their final testing at Microsoft. Once completed, these will be released to the market sometime this week.

Aside from the compatibility updates, the Xbox360 is also reported to have a special feature that has the capability to perform maintenance functions in the console’s storage devices. A player, who recently purchased a copy of the video game, said the console’s cache can be cleared simply by going to the sytem blade, then to its memory. From there, the player said, one can press Y on either the HDD or the MU. The said player consequently posted his observations on one of the console’s numerous websites.

A Microsoft representative did confirm the existence of the said feature. However, he tried to make it clear to those who purchased the console that while the HDD clearing feature is a part of the game’s entire electronic processing system, it is also a part of the technical support process. Ideally, it should only be utilized in instances when technical operations are involved. Moore said that while the said Xbox360 feature, when utilized, will not really harm or cause severe damage to the console, still it is advisable that it be used sparingly and only upon proper instructions from a qualified Microsoft customer service staff.

The latest model of the Xbox is considerably much smaller in size than its predecessor. It also has the obvious looks of a 21st century set top box. In addition, the game also contains a removable hard drive that is located on the left side of the console.

In general, the Xbox360 is, for all intents and purposes, a most powerful console, a truly next generation video game that has amazing top-of-the-line and cutting-edge features. It promises to provide an amazing digital visual enjoyment. The latest Xbox has a variety of hot as well as new game titles ranging from science-fiction, to adventure, to action, to sports, and to practically anything that the human mind can imagine.

The Xbox360 is a video game console that is visionary. It competes with the Sony Play Station 3 and Nintendo Revolution. A gamers’ dream machine, the Xbox 360 is sold in two versions a premium edition that has a hard drive, a wireless controller, headset, Ethernet cable, a HD AV cable, and an Xbox live silver subscription and a core system.

Powerful and futuristic the Xbox360 includes HD gaming, perfect sound, and sensational graphics. The system offers high-end gaming with several exciting possibilities. It revolutionizes video game consoles and is, in actuality, a computer dedicated to gaming. It is not just a gaming machine it is a media center that allows you to play games, network with other gamers around 360 of them, rip, stream, and download high definition movies, music, digital pictures, games, music, and play DVDs and CDs. It is what makes dreams into realities.

The Xbox360 has around 18 titles in the US including games like Call of Duty 2, Dead or Alive 4, Every Party, FIFA 06, NBA live, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, and Project Gotham Racing 3. Technically, it has advanced graphics and a 115 GFLOPS theoretical peak performance. All games support a six channel Dolby Digital Sound with no voice echo.

Apart from video and DVD playing the X box 360 live market place allows the user to connect to Xbox live even if offline. Users can view messages and game invites sent by other Xbox live members. The live market place allows download of avatars, trailers, as well as game demos.

With the Xbox360 a person can view a complete record of games played, play games downloaded from marketplace, play game demos, watch movie as well as game trailers, listen to music customized for the user, view pictures as well as videos stored on a camera or any other portable device, and activate the media center extender.

The Xbox 360 has backward compatibility and so, users can play games originally developed for the earlier versions of the box. Wireless connectivity and wireless controllers offer great freedom and connectivity at large distances. And, you can download and play arcade style games using the Xbox Live Arcade. Game demos and trailers are offered free but full versions of games have to be purchased using Xbox Live Marketplace using Microsoft points which can be bought through Live or via game cards sold retail.

Technically a few small glitches have been reported. There is what is known as the Xbox360 screen or death which is an error screen. This stops the console and the user is requested to contact technical support. Another problem is that of the Xbox 360 freezing due to overheating. To solve this, users are requested to ensure proper airflow and a cooler environment. If the Xbox is moved from its vertical to its horizontal position while reading a disc, the movement causes the pickup assembly to brush against the disc resulting in radial scratches. Often the Xbox displays red lights instead of a green ring of light to indicate errors.

The X box360 transforms gaming experience into something futuristic and exciting.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com , the premier website to play thousands of free online games including arcade games, action games, card games, flash games, strategy games, puzzle games and more. He also freelances for http://www.1888SoftwareDownloads.com.

Mining is very important, as ore pretty much fuels the game. If there was no mining, then there would be a much less diverse variety of weapons and armour available, making the game pretty dull.

That’s why it’s important to get your mining skill up.

From level 1-20 you should mine copper from the south varrock mine
From level 20-40 you should mine iron from the mine near rimmington or varrock

When you reach level 40, it should be much easier to mine coal. You can mine coal at level 30, but it will take much longer, besides, if you level up with the other ores, you can either make money by selling them or you can keep them and maybe use them later (I recommend this method, it’s more profitable).

I also recommed that you buy and adamantite (Or adamantine I always forget how you spell that) or rune pick axe.

A good place for paid runescape members to mine coal, is at the mine near ardougne, which also has a bank fairly close by, this will speed up your mining and make you more efficient.

If you’re a free runescape member, you can mine coal in the dwarven mines, however there isn’t a bank nearby, so you wont be very efficient.

Now, mine coal until you’re level 60

Since you’re level 60 you can go to to mining guild to mine coal until you’re level 85

And now that you’re mining level 85, you should go and mine rune in the wilderness or from the heroes guild (Much safer). Rune seller for between 10,000-15,000 per piece, so I think you’ll agree that it’s certainly worth the effort to do it.

When following the steps above, I strongly suggest that you keep all of the ore you get and smith it into something useful. Otherwise, feel free to sell it and see some immediate return for your efforts

I hope you enjoyed this quick tip. If you’ve subscribed to my newsletter, you’ll recieve the next quick tip tommorrow.

If you want to learn more about how to make a ton of gold on runescape and get several free tips delivered to your inbox right away, click the link below http://www.marketershandbook.com/articles/rune-tip.htm

or sending a blank email to runescape-tips@getresponse.com

There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the years. In less than forty years we’ve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6 for the Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasn’t always meant better games. Just because a game has flashier interfaces and better graphics, it doesn’t necessarily make for good gameplay. That’s the reason that many PS2 and Xbox games are doomed to linger in discount bins at your local game store, while classics like NHL ’94 and Tecmo Super Bowl continued to be obsessed over by sports fans. Here’s my Top 10 of all time:

10. Jordan vs. Bird (NES) - Was the one-on-one gameplay that great? No, not really. But the game was innovative with the three point competition and slam dunk contest long before it showed up anywhere else. For that alone it deserves a spot in the Top 10.

9. Madden 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GC) - The jump from ‘04 to ‘05 was HUGE. ‘05 introduced the hit-stick control and defensive playmaker to bring the defensive control on par with the offense. Franchise mode is pretty much the same as ‘04, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My favorite thing to do is build a team from scratch. I love taking the worst team in the league and building them into a powerhouse. You can move them to a new city and build a new stadium, then draft real college players from NCAA ‘05. Overall, I liked this game more than any other Madden. 2006 just didn’t improve upon this game enough for me.

8. Punch-Out (NES) – what kid born in the late 70’s or early 80’s DIDN’T spend hours on end trying to beat Tyson with Little Mac?

7. Madden ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) - Based on memory this game was awesome. I remember being able to play with all the NFL teams and a bunch of classic teams. It was one of my favorite sports games growing up. That said, I played it recently and it sucks. It can’t even come close to holding it’s own against Tecmo Super Bowl. The passing is unrealistic, and the running consists of repeatedly hitting the spin button while tacklers bounce off your runner. It’s this high just because of how much I remember enjoying it as a kid.

6. NBA Live ‘95 (Genesis, SNES) - This game might not have been realistic at all, but it was insanely fun to run up and down the court firing up threes and throwing up alley-oops. The fact that it was the first NBA game by EA with every team and every arena also scores it points. Not to mention, this was the first game with the 3/4 angle camera.

5. NFL Blitz (Arcade) - The football version of NBA Jam. Fast scoring, late hits, and crazy rules like being able to throw multiple forward passes behind the line of scrimmage make this game great. The arcade version was waaaay better than the PS or N64 versions.

4. NBA Jam (Arcade) - Between the arcade version and the console versions, I’ve played a ton of NBA Jam. It is one of the most unique games ever. Who didn’t enjoy beating the crap out of people in mid-air or hitting three after three when they were on fire? This game totally rocked. The best part was getting all of the codes and playing with mascots and Bill Clinton.

3. Little League Baseball (NES) - I don’t know why this game doesn’t get more attention as one of the best NES sports games. The gameplay is the best of any NES baseball game - pitching, hitting, and fielding all are simple and feel relatively realistic. Plus there’s just something fun and unique about playing with little leaguers. As far as I know this is the only little league game ever, although I could be wrong. Adding to the excitement, certain teams are significantly better than others. Want a challenge? Try winning a tournament with Italy, the worst team in the game. The replay value of LLB is unbelievable; I still play it to this day.

2. NHL ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) - I love modern NHL games as much as the next guy, but this game is the best ever. I still play it ALL THE TIME. The quality of play is amazing. Take away the easy wrap-around goals and the gameplay is amazingly real, especially considering how old this game is. Oh, and for the record, they are playing NHL ‘93 in Swingers but talking about the removal of fighting in NHL ‘94. Weird huh?

1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) - This game was far ahead of it’s time - editable playbooks and season long stat tracking were so cool back then. The gameplay is far from realistic but amazingly equal. For that reason, the game is still popular and there are tons of people who still play in online leagues. The advent of emulators has allowed for the editing of rosters - I’ve played versions of the game with rosters from as recent as 2004. There are also versions with college rosters and USFL rosters. The weird little gameplay quirks like Bo Jackson being impossible to stop, fumbles bouncing all over the place, choosing defensive plays by guessing the offensive play, 100 yard passes, etc make the game MORE fun. This game will never, ever get old.

Disagree? Rate and review sports video games at Games.SportsLizard.com. Adam McFarland owns the SportsLizard.com Network - a network of sports sites including collectibles, movies, books, and more.

Here is a list of the most import simple things World of Warcraft Horde players can do to make there game more enjoyable.

1.) You will end up in the Barrens - accept it.

Throughout the beta process, the one zone that everybody complained about the most was the Barrens, a level 15-20 zone that is quite literally in the center of everything for the Horde. As a result, this zone has the dubious distinction of undergoing almost constant revisions. The good news is, it’s much better than it was - the bad news is, it can still be long and tedious. The thing is, most Horde quest lines eventually send players to the Barrens and it contains access to one of the neutral towns where Horde and Alliance players can get together, so the place is absolutely crawling with players. While that can be good for making friends, it’s also the place that’s the most hunted and overcrowded on the Horde side. Unfortunately, the Barrens is just a fact of life for Horde players - better to go, do what needs to be done, and get out.

2.) Want to get to level 10 quickly? Visit dead people.

More accurately, visit Undead people. Since Quests aren’t race specific, players can accept any level appropriate quest regardless of their race. That means that Horde players have access to a slight shortcut to level 10 similar to the one enjoyed by Alliance players. In the Horde’s case it means hightailing it to the Orc hub city of Orgrimmar as soon as you can survive the trip and catching a zeppelin ride to Tirisfal Glades. Head south from the zeppelin tower to the Undead town of Brill and start looking for quests. Like Teldrassil for Night Elves, the quests in Brill are a bit easier and can usually be solved without a tremendous amount of traveling, significantly shortening your trip to level 10.

3.) The Horde has the best and worst hub cities in the game.

Both sides in World of Warcraft have three hub cities designed for players to congregate, buy and sell items, and deal with NPC vendors and trainers. The Horde is blessed with the best and cursed with one of the worst hub cities in the game. The best city to do business with NPCs in is the Undead Undercity. If you have a choice of heading to one hub city, this is the one to pick. It’s the smallest major city, meaning you don’t have to do a tremendous amount of running to get to the shops you want. The city is also basically a circle - meaning it’s almost impossible to get lost. Orgrimmar, the Orc hub city, on the other hand, is incredibly confusing, with twisting paths that sometime loop back on themselves. Orgrimmar means a lot of running and it’s all too easy to get lost. It’s also kind of the center of the universe for Horde players, so you really do need to learn it if you hope to use the auction or make new friends.

4.) Tired of fighting for elbow room? Join the Horde!

For some odd reason, players seem to choose to play as Alliance characters far more often than as Horde characters. The good news for Horde players, though, is that fewer players mean fewer people jockeying for resources. Even the Barrens, probably the most crowded Horde region, never sees the problems with “mass extinction events” that routinely plague the Alliance. If you’re interested in questing and not interested in hanging around with ten other people (at peak hours) waiting for a monster spawn, join the Horde.

5.) The Undead are just psychotically cool

While everyone has their own opinion, mind is that no World of Warcraft race gets as many “coolness points” as the Undead. First, the character models are just a riot with hairstyles, there physics and a facial customization options are straight out of the Velvet Dungeon. The designers also clearly had a ball putting the Undead lands together because every area and storyline within the Undead zones is filled with clever asides and subtle (and not so subtle) humor about the Forsaken’s unusual situation. Role-players will also enjoy playing the Undead since they’re as close as any World of Warcraft race comes to being “evil”. True - they are an oppressed minority, but they’re also planning universal genocide, so you make your own call.

Mark MacKay is a researcher, marketer, and an avid online gamer, including World of Warcraft and also the creator of the WOW Gold Price List Guide, a web site setup to help WOW players find the cheapest place to buy their gold.