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The Xbox 360 is promising to be a phenomenal console. But despite all the bells and whistles and an improved game selection, it may still have an achilles heel that keeps it from grabbing new buyers from Playstation.

Not only will the slick Xbox 360 design build on the grean and black of the original, you will be able to snap on customizable face plates for your own look. In answer to the dismay over the apparent lack of an included hard drive, it was recently announced at http://www.xbox-games.xbox-360-news.info that attachable hard drives will be available. No harm done.

The Xbox 360 will include a much hyped “Ring of Light” and Xbox Guide Button on the xbox controller. This button will ” connect you to your games, digital media, and the world of Xbox Live™ “, but I still see the controller as having a potential deal-killer. It’s about control.

The Xbox 360 controller appears to still hae the same button configuration at the previous incarnations. That setup, tho adequate for many games, doesn’t work well with one of the best selling game franchises of all time, the madden football series. Altho the xbox controller’s trigger works extremely well for 1st person shooter games, it lacks 2 additional buttons in the trigger areas, which means fewer control options.

For instance, Madden football games on the playstation consoles use the 2nd button for additional audibles, and quick decision options during any play. The Xbox 360 controller, lacking those two buttons, means any Madden player will be limited.

Let’s cross our fingers and pray to the powers that be that the Xbox 360 controller is as versatile as the Sony counterpart.

Jay Turner is certifiable nut case who is obsessed with computer games and console systems. He runs a blog dedicated to the as-of-yet unreleased Xbox 360 at http://www.xbox-games.xbox-360-news.info

Internet games use the cyber world technology for playing. Games are extremely popular and constantly evolving.

There are:

• Games played using e-mail.

• Games played on a browser window by using a web address.

• Games played using Internet Relay Chat, Telenet, MUD client, or a Web based forum.

• Games that are graphic need stand-alone software that permits players to play with or against one another using an Internet connection.

The first game, MUD, was developed in 1978, and the market has burgeoned since then.

To play, one needs:

• A reliable Internet connection.

• A personal computer or game console.

• Selected software required by specific games.

One can play simple board games like scrabble, or bingo, or games like poker, mahjong, and pool. Another popular category is simulation games—these imitate real-life situations and cover aspects like combat, city planning, strategies, as well as flight simulation.

For serious gaming the computer performance must be optimized. This can be done by:

• Running the disk defragmenter and organizing the computer files. This should ideally be done once a month at least.

• Correct folder and file errors by using scandisk—use once a week and the computer will give trouble free performance.

• Clean your hard drives—get rid of Internet files, temporary files, as well as files in the trash/recycle bin. Clear the cache and uninstall programs that are not in everyday use.

• Update the operating system software. Download any new security patches. Keep video drivers updated.

• Clear space on the hard drive—store files on a back up system.

• Clear any spyware you have inherited from websites.
• Minimize number of programs running—when playing a graphic intensive game if there are too many programs running simultaneously the graphics will become choppy and game will be slow.

• Delete add on game files—wall papers and other paraphernalia will just clutter the computer.

• Run an anti-virus program regularly but disable it when you are loading/playing games. Antivirus programs slow down games.

• Always shut down the computer properly.

The Internet allows gamers to compete with people across oceans, on the other side of the world and anywhere in the universe. Some use PCs while others use consoles. What you use is a personal choice and depends on issues like costs and so on.

Before you buy a game you must:

• Consider “system requirements” – some games can run on systems that are not exact others need specific hardware.

• Find out if the game is single player or multi-player. Many games need the Internet—and, the broadband connection is more efficient than the dial-up connection. Many like Xbox Live only work on a broadband connection.

• Find out if the game can be played using a mouse/keyboard or whether it will need a full-featured joy stick.

Be wise and try a demo before making an actual purchase. Playing a demo benefits the player as well as game developer. Many online games offer free trial periods —beta testing is a great opportunity to find out if the game suits your taste as well as pockets.

Do your research thoroughly—usually there are several games competing for players within a genre. Read game reviews before taking the final step.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for 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 the premier Computer Article Submission Directory Site www.1888Articles.com/computer-articles-11.html

There really is no shortcut to copying XBOX games. In fact, this is a mightily complicated process and has stumped some really techie people. This is evident with the prevalence of the question on copying XBOX games in Internet message boards and tech chat rooms. But why does one need to be going about there and copying XBOX games? Is this not legal?

If you have an XBOX and you have purchased original games to play on it, chances are you must have ran through a huge chunk of your savings. Original games are very expensive and because CDs are not exactly immortal, you can eventually wear out a game especially if you use it every minute of the day.

To give value to consumers, most countries allow original CD buyers to make back-up copies of their XBOX games in case their original got damaged or got lost provided that they are aware of the law against pirated software and that they actually own an original cd and are only copying XBOX games for their personal use only.

While it is relatively easy to do the copying of XBOX games, the same cannot be said in actually using the XBOX games that you have copied. Most software contain an encryption that must be met when inserted in an XBOX. Copying an XBOX game, however, does not copy this encryption. This is a protection system that most XBOX consoles have as protection against flagrant copying of XBOX games.

To be able to run XBOX games that you have copied, you need to modify your XBOX. This can be a daunting task especially to beginners who are afraid of destroying their XBOXes with their tinkering.

According to most tech experts, there are a lot of ways to modifying your XBOX in order to accommodate the practice of copying of XBOX games. Some are quite complicated and only a tech expert could do while other ways can be expensive but easy.

One is to buy and install a MOD-chip. This will allow your console to play XBOX games that you have copied as well as play imported games from other countries with perfect sound and video with no problem at all. While it may seem that all you have to do is purchase a MOD-Chip and then voila, you have another think coming. There are actually a lot of things that you should consider when buying a MOD-Chip. Most recommend the Divineo Modchips, which are purported to be really reliable. Some of the popular brands are the Xecuter 2 and 3, Xenium, SmartXX, X-bit, Alladin, Chameleon and Xchip.

Another way in copying and using XBOX games is to change the BIOS of the XBOX so that it will no longer read the requirements of the digitally-signed software. This is basically reprogramming the whole BIOS.

You might also consider purchasing a bigger hard drive and just save all your games inside the XBOX. This way, you already have copy of your favorite games inside and would no longer need to swap CDs.

The third way is to do the game swapping technique, wherein you will first boot the original CD and then swap the copy once it has already booted up. This might be very complicated and will not actually serve your purpose in copying your XBOX games… that is to preserve your original CDs.

Terry Dunn is webmaster of http://www.Copy-Xbox-Games.biz an informational resource on software to Copy Xbox Games.