Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gaming. Show all posts

FarmVille user runs up £900 debt (That's like $1400 in the U.S.)


From the Guardian:


A mother has warned of the risk of children spending hundreds of pounds on "free" online games available through Facebook after her 12-year-old son ran up bills of more than £900 without her knowledge.

The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, discovered last month that her son had spent more than £900 on FarmVille. He had emptied his own savings account of £288 and had used her credit card to the tune of £625 to pay the bills.

FarmVille, one of the most popular games on Facebook, allows members to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops, trees and livestock. New users are given virtual coins to set up their farm, and the revenue from matured crops can be used to maintain it. But those who are desperate to progress more quickly can buy extra virtual coins using real cash.

The mother said: "The first use of my card was on 14 March. I discovered it on the 29th and the card was stopped at that point. Any transactions after that date were already in the system, so what I thought was a £427 spend turned into £625 over the next few days.

"The total spend is about £905, but the credits are still rolling in. Facebook and [game creator] Zynga will not refund anything as [the son] lives in my house. Facebook has disabled his account and Zynga has unhelpfully suggested I use password protection on computers in the future."

She contacted her credit card company, HSBC, but was told she would only qualify for a refund if she reported her son to the police and obtained a crime number. "He would be cautioned and I have been told that this caution would stay with him. Obviously the idea of a stupid farm simulation jeopardising his future earnings is not something that I want to consider," she said.

She added that her son was "very shocked" when confronted with the amount he had spent, but it was clear he knew what he was doing. "When I asked him why he did it he said that they had brought out 'good stuff that I wanted'."

She does not blame Facebook, Zynga or HSBC, saying that her son was the one using the card and is entirely at fault. But she added: "I do think they need to shoulder some responsibility in this business and put systems in place to stop this happening again. The fact that he was using a card in a different name should bring up some sort of security and the online secure payment filter seems to be bypassed for Facebook payments."

A spokeswoman for HSBC said that had the credit card been used on a gambling site it would have started alarm bells ringing for "unusual usage". But because the card had been used to buy Facebook credits HSBC did not consider the transactions to be suspicious, even though £625 was spent in just two weeks.

Michael Arrington, founder of the Techcrunch blog, criticised Zynga last year for "monetising" the game, and warned that people who didn't have access to a credit card to buy extra virtual money could use "pay by mobile" companies instead.

The indebted 12-year-old has not used his mobile to pay for virtual money, his mother said, but only because his older brother lost all his credit buying a ringtone a couple of years ago.

"We sound terribly technologically unaware don't we? I wouldn't mind but I am always explaining that all of these online offers, ringtones and games are a scam designed to take money off stupid people. Kids know best though."

An Interesting Look at the Nintendo Co.

A Look at Nintendo
Via: Online MBA

Gamer Kids


Well, I've passed the gaming gene on to the kids. At ages (almost) 6 and 4, they're really "into" the gaming world. They play age appropriate games, of course, but they play them with all the vigor of a 34 year old man playing "Call of Duty"...I'm looking at you Dear Hubby.


It's so amusing to me to watch them evolve as gamers, too. I never realized how easily it would come to them. Maybe it's because the Wii is so intuitive and the DS has several titles aimed at their age group. All I know is that my (almost) 6 year old son can plop down with a brand new game, and just start playing as though it was his 100th trip into that universe. It's also extremely amused at The Boy's frustration with me when I tried to "help". Now, mind you, I've played TONS of video games, I know my way around a WiiMote, but The Boy was not impressed with my skills. He would sigh and gasp and occasionally give me the MOOOOOOOM! And I smiled.

Top 11 Gamers As Found In Real Life


There are gamers of every sort and style. With each of them comes the stigma attached by society. Well I’ve got some stigmas to attach of my own. Let’s whip out the ole soap box and cover Top 10 gamers in real life. Since lists are better as a countdown, we will rank these in order of how well they stand out as gamers and how deep they are into their madness.

Olly Moss


I've got to find a way to buy merchandise with this guy's designs. His stuff is rad.

Gamers not fat loners...Not a real surprise to me



According to New Scientist, a study was done that asked Everquest II players some questions pertaining to their physical and mental fitness. It would appear that gamers are slightly more fit (physically) than the average American. The downside of that study shows that there are slightly higher incidents of depression and substance abuse. Pretty interesting stuff!

$110 AN HOUR FOR NINTENDO WORKOUTS?



From the New York Post...

Gym's Wii-zy Money

"A Manhattan gym is charging customers $110 an hour for a personal training session - with a Nintendo Wii."


On a personal note, I finally got a Wii Fit and I love it. It's become a little bit of a competition between hubby and I. Our main goal is to beat any records the other holds. Lame, but super fun.

It's inevitable: soon we will all be gamers


It's inevitable: soon we will all be gamers

50 Skills



50 Skills That Every Gamer Should Master

1. Give a game a review score without ever actually playing the game
A cursory glance from 20 paces of a grainy postage stamp-sized super lo-res scanned-in screenshot pinned to the ass-feathers of a headless chicken in a sandstorm should be all you need to confidently attribute an authoritative and infallible review score to any game. It's how professional reviewers have been doing it for years.

2. Be able to spot whether a game is running in 720p
Just by looking at it.

I remember these!

2:05 PM Posted by Loaki 0 comments

Gallery: Tainted Tie-Ins — Worst Movie Games Ever

Star Wars Galaxies Wins



Well, I think I've made a decision. Rather than pay for 2 MMO's and only play one, I realized I need to decide on just one. For now, the winner seems to be Star Wars Galaxies. Vanguard was fun while it lasted, but I've basically maxed out my character and was finding the whole thing to be getting a little boring. I am by no means dogging the game. It's a lot of fun with a loyal, if not small, community. Even though I was bitterly disappointed by SWG in the past, it's made a bit of a resurgence. The devs have tried very hard to make the game more appealing and while the game I once loved is gone forever, what they've done to "fix" it has earned a second chance from me. It's with a heavy heart that I lay Vanguard to rest, but I'm afraid I must. I love ALL the friends I've made there and I'll miss each and every one of them. I'm lucky to have crossed their paths and hopefully, we'll all reunite again. Maybe I can convince one or two to join me in the Star Wars universe. This may be a tough task as some of the friends I met in VG were SWG refugees like myself. Who knows, maybe in a year or two I'll get bored with SWG and I'll try Vanguard again (if it's still around). Time will tell.
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MMO Armageddon: What do you do when they nuke your home?
I know the feeling.
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Video games activate reward regions of brain more in men than in women
What does this say about me?
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Harrison Ford Vows Never To Return To "Star Wars"
whatev...

I'm Not The Only One


I've never had any delusions that I'm the only mom in the world who plays video games. In fact, I'm actually surprised there aren't more of us out there promoting the fact that we are "Gamer Moms". Fact is, I grew up in the perfect time to be absorbed into video gaming and so did a lot of other moms. I had an Atari 2600 (actually, I still have it), then NES (also still have it) and so forth and so on. Gaming was a huge part of my life. I'd go to school, go to dance lessons, come home and play Mario. One of the funniest photos of me as a kid is one my mom took of me playing Nintendo while still wearing my dance outfit (no I won't post it...ugh...how embarrassing). So, today I thought I'd share with you links to other "Gamer Mom" websites. We're all a little different, but there's a kinship for sure.



Gamermom.com got the best url and she's been blogging for a few years now...at least that's what I can tell from her archives.



This Gamer Mom is the "mother of all news, views and casual game reviews". While not updated recently, there is still a ton of good stuff there.



There was a nice little article on WomenGamers.com called "Confessions of a Gamer mom". At the end there are a couple of links to more Gamer mom articles as well.


Now on to your regularly scheduled geeky links...


An ex-Jack Sparrow spills on his life at the Magic Kingdom
Read the above article. It's pretty cool. I may or may not have mentioned that way-back-when, I worked at Disney World. While I wasn't a character, I had an unusual job and I performed all day long. Granted, I got to be myself, but still, I was in my own mini-spotlight. The oddest thing about the article is when he talks about the Annual Passholders. It's odd because I had almost forgotten about them. It's so true though, these people would come to the parks day after day and they quickly became regulars. I didn't like or dislike them more than any other guests, but I always found it a bit odd that they came to the same attraction so ofter and regularly.



Did you know there's a Pac-Man movie in development? Apparently, it's true.


And finally, 25 Ways to Tell You're Grown Up.

100!!!


How did I miss the fact that I have been floating at 99 posts for so long?!? This better be a good entry full of entertainment and special guest star appearances...

...

...

Um, well, you see the thing is, I hadn't really thought this through. I was just going to throw up a random post about the state of my video gaming life. Now, it just seems lame. Well, here are your celebrities, then you have to suffer and hear about me :)



Great! Soooo, onto gaming. I've been playing Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for over a year now. I've maxed out my main character and decided to start a new one. That's all well and good. But, it's getting a little boring. I think I've made a decision. I'm going to add Star Wars Galaxies back into the mix. I know, I know, it sucks, they ruined the game, blah blah blah. I can't help it. A good friend of mine has never given up on the game and still plays PLUS hubby would like to give it another shot. I think that now is the time to start all over with it and see what it's all about now. It's been so long since I've played that it'll be like playing a new game. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I'm actually a little excited to give it another whirl.

Oh! And on a personal(ish) note. THE RED WINGS ARE IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS!!! And, I'll be getting paid to go to the games...I love my job.

Today's Reading Assignments

I was having a good old time on the web today and came across a few things to share, enjoy!

The Top 7... Stereotypical gamers we hate


6. RPG snobs

Usually plays: Any RPG and/or "something you wouldn't understand"
Favorite snacks: Dhalmel pie, Bland grilled shark fin (STA +1)

We relish any chance to talk shop about our favorite hobby with fellow gamers, except when we're confronted by one of these - a hyperventilating nerdlinger who looks at us like we're farting Philistines for wanting to pull off the occasional headshot or kickflip. With so much time spent indoors, they don't understand how low on the social ladder they rank, and how little the cultural impact of a spell-casting cat-person in a buckled leotard matters to anyone. We'd rather hang out with the ghost of Adolf Hitler then hear about the finer nuances of Lady Yuna's Tickle Summon.

Usurping the Throne of Snobbery from the once mighty record store employee, they've also donned themselves with some kind of omniscient Gate Keeper status, using their false sense of authority to talk unsubstantiated shit about anything you can't import from Japan.

"Do you have Grand Thef-"
"Pedestrian!"

Next time, kick him in his Forgotten Scepter before he can sneer at his own, barely ironic, aside. We promise - he won't fight back.

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What Life Will Be Like In The Future - November, 2008

IT’S 8 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008, and you are headed for a business appointment 300 mi. away. You slide into your sleek, two-passenger air-cushion car, press a sequence of buttons and the national traffic computer notes your destination, figures out the current traffic situation and signals your car to slide out of the garage. Hands free, you sit back and begin to read the morning paper—which is flashed on a flat TV screen over the car’s dashboard. Tapping a button changes the page. The car accelerates to 150 mph in the city’s suburbs, then hits 250 mph in less built-up areas, gliding over the smooth plastic road. You whizz past a string of cities, many of them covered by the new domes that keep them evenly climatized year round. Traffic is heavy, typically, but there’s no need to worry. The traffic computer, which feeds and receives signals to and from all cars in transit between cities, keeps vehicles at least 50 yds. apart. There hasn’t been an accident since the system was inaugurated. Suddenly your TV phone buzzes. A business associate wants a sketch of a new kind of impeller your firm is putting out for sports boats. You reach for your attache case and draw the diagram with a pencil-thin infrared flashlight on what looks like a TV screen lining the back of the case. The diagram is relayed to a similar screen in your associate’s office, 200 mi. away. He jabs a button and a fixed copy of the sketch rolls out of the device. He wishes you good luck at the coming meeting and signs off.

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The Top 10 Video Game Easter Eggs

The Egg: When you start the game type in “Zelda” as you character name to unlock the 2nd quest mode.
The System: NES
Don’t expect to breeze through this game these monsters are tougher and items are more difficult to get.

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Top 5 Botched PC Game Launches

4. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

Books could be written about everything that went wrong with Vanguard, and that's before you do any real digging into the early development mess, where the money bled off to, what EverQuest co-creator and Sigil CEO Brad McQuaid was doing through all of it, and what happened in the parking lot afterward. Shoved out the door way too early for what were admitted to be financial reasons, the game was just plain half-baked, plagued by enough bugs, missing content, and instability to compete with the very best of the worst. From little things like a "display hoods/helmets" option that didn't do anything because none of the hoods or helmets in the game even had any graphics to frequently previewed back-of-the-box features like flying mounts that didn't make it into the game until long, long after release.

Vanguard staggered away from its absolute train wreck of a launch and slowly, steadily recovered. These days, it's pretty well healed up and finally living up to promises that were made and broken long before. But it's still hard to forget that, until lately, players were paying for the privilege of participating in a really, really long beta.

Star Wars Galaxies

OMG, I used to love this game. I spent hundreds of hours playing. It was awesome! I could play however I wanted. I started as an Entertainer, making it to Master Dancer/Master Musician. Then there was the ability to change classes…whenever I wanted. So I moved to Master Doctor/Master Pistoleer. Holy crap, that rocked!

THEN, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) decided that the game wasn’t fun…not sure how they decided that, but they did. So, they introduced the “Combat Upgrade” which was quickly followed by the “New Game Experience”, later called “New Game Enhancements” aka NGE. That’s when they broke the game. They removed professions, they introduced a numbered leveling system and they forced you to group…on just about everything. OK, OK, grouping is fun. BUT, if there is nearly NO WAY to go out and solo, it’s very frustrating. There were times when I just wanted to go complete some missions on my own and I didn’t always feel like wasting an hour standing around yelling to form a pick up group (which almost always resulted in having some idiotic douche ruin it). The changes were so bad that TONS of subscribers left…immediately. I stuck it out, I had hoped it would get better, it didn’t. After a few more months of trudging through the game, I finally let it go. It was tough. I had tried a few other games of the MMORPG variety, but didn’t find anything I liked much. I’m currently playing Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and it’s really cool. I have fun and I’m able to solo or group and pretty much play however I want. But, you know what? If SWG were ever changed back to the original version of the game, I’d go back in a second. I miss it.


Call of the Day summed it up very well:
"StarWars Galaxies was groundbreaking when it was released - it didn’t continue to flood the monotony that was the “run here. Kill/collect/deliver this. Run back. Repeat.” MMO market. It instead allowed you to do whatever the hell you wanted - some folks would never ever be caught in open combat. They’d simply stick to setting up resource refineries, selling on raw materials, building weapons, building houses, training creatures, joining bands - everything. And of course, if you wanted it your way, you could run around shooting everything in sight. And it was perfect. There was no set level system - everything experience related was down to how you played. You could be a master rifleman within a month, and stick with that if you were happy. And for those wanting a true grind - there was the Jedi quest. People have spent over a year on this grind, to finally be rewarded with an all-powerful character slot - the basic idea being that they can literally change the whole course of the game if they worked this hard.

And then SOE decided this system wasn’t working. Let’s make it “more iconic” they said. People like World of Warcraft. Let’s give them that. And so it started. Most of the non-grind classes were just removed from the game. The set levelling system (ala level one to seventy) took over. The results were so catastrophically bad that SOE have infact released a public apology for ruining an otherwise good game, and offered refunds to many players. Starwars Galaxies has now gone from one of the most populated games online to one that is slowly making its way towards retirement."

A Brief History of the Home Video Game Console

10:38 AM Posted by Loaki 0 comments

Cynical-C had a link to this today. The 2600 was my first system...and I still have it! Here's the entry for this system:

Atari VCS 2600
Released in 1977
The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. It was originally known as the Atari VCS, for Video Computer System, and the name "Atari 2600" (taken from the unit's Atari part number, CX2600) was first used in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200.

The initial price was $199 with a library of 9 titles. In a play to compete directly with the Channel F, Atari named the machine the Video Computer System (or VCS for short), as the Channel F was at that point known as the VES, for Video Entertainment System. When Fairchild learned of Atari's naming they quickly changed the name of their system to become the Channel F.

Atari expanded the 2600 family with two other compatible consoles. The Atari 2700, a wireless version of the console was never released due to design flaws. The Sleek Atari 2800 released to the Japanese market in 1983 suffered from competition from the newly-released Nintendo Famicom.

There are tons of systems described, check it out and see how many you had!

I got started on consoles, but most of my gaming is limited to my PC now. I still love my Wii, though! I remember when I was young, I was SO jealous of my friends who had Intellivision, Colecovision, or any type of computer.

In order, I had/have:
Atari 2600 (still own it)
NES (still own it)
Sega Genesis (still own it)
Super NES (traded in to get N64)
Nintendo 64 (still own it)
Playstation2 (still own it)
Wii (of course, still own it)

How about you?

Hardcore Gamer Granny


OMFG, you’ve gotta see this. There’s a whole blog about her. How did I miss this?

Ah, the interweb


The internet is a dazzling place, full of wonder and sparkle. It's a funny place, though. There are rules and guidelines and tutorials. I'm still amazed that after having the internets around so long, my parents are still SO CLUELESS. My parents manage to completely break their computers once every year or so and because of this, I have to "reconnect" them to the interweb. The funny thing is, they don't have a network, and they don't have dial-up...they have DSL. They refuse to believe me when I tell them that with DSL they are always online, too! My mom insists that she will need the latest version of AOL so she can get on the internet and check her email. NOTHING I say can change her mind on that. She is right and I am stupid...which is why I have to hook them back up to the internets.

How to Behave on an Internet Forum


Unwritten Internet Rules
(I'm sure I've broken some of these)

Unwritten Rule 1: When in doubt, create a link that reads "click here."

In the Internet's early days, when people were trying to create momentum on a Web page, it was necessary to instruct people what to do and where to do it. So, the "click here" hyperlink was born. It's overstayed its welcome.

People know what to do when they see a hyperlink. Telling them to "click here" is equivalent to placing road signs every couple of yards that read "Stay on the road."

Example following the rule:

The X-Arcade 2 Player is guaranteed for life. To read our lifetime warranty, click here.

Now, let's break the rule:

See how your X-Arcade 2 Player is guaranteed for life.

Unwritten Rule 2: Use lots of "more info" links.

People want more info, right? But info about what? It seems adding a few extra words to the "more info" hyperlink is cost-prohibitive. No one seems willing to tell me what info I'll get when I click the link. Do those extra few letters cost money?

Example of following that rule:

Microsoft Word is the industry-standard word processor. It has a seemingly endless number of features, each designed to help you be more productive while creating and revising documents. More Info

Let's break the rule:

Microsoft Word is the industry-standard word processor. See Microsoft Word's seemingly endless number of features, each designed to help you be more productive while creating and revising documents.

Which is more persuasive?

Unwritten Rule 3: Use as many vague hyperlinks as possible, such as "read more," "continue reading," and "next."

Same as rule 2. What will I be reading more about? Why can't you tell me what will happen when I click?

Instead of "Read more," why not "Read more about how this Magic Widget can help you work smarter and faster"?

Instead of "Continue reading," why not "Continue reading this article"?

Tell people specifically what happens next: "Next: enter your billing information."

For more Rules, READ HERE :)

Oldie But a Goodie


The 10 Commandments of Gaming

GamerHelp 666:10, 1st Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Be Offended by Harsh Language
It's going to happen. Somewhere, somehow, in the future, someone you're playing a game with online is going to say "holy flying greased Jesuses, we're being attacked by flying ass-rapists from the abortionist dimension!" Or something like that. Anyone who's ever been on Xbox Live knows that 90% of the words in the English language either begin or end with the F-word.

Therefore, it is entirely pointless to get offended by anything anyone says during gameplay. For Christ's sake, we're all playing games in which we blow each other into little bloody bits, does it really make sense to be offended by cursing amidst the carnage?

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GamerHelp 666:11, 2nd Commandment
Thou Shalt Keep Holy the Sabbath
Sunday, SUN-day SUNDAY! To hell with church. Sunday is for gaming. It is only day of the week when you can really assure yourself that you've got nothing else going on from morning to night. Or at least, that's the way it should be. Saturday nights are for drinking, Friday nights are for chasing tail, but Sunday is for staying in and shooting zombies.

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GamerHelp 666:12, 3rd Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Take Bad Endings Lightly
No longer must we suffer from craptacular endings like the ones we once endured on the NES. The credits certainly fit in well at the end of the game, but if all you get when a game is over is a long list of the people who made it and a sappy love song, then it's time to write an email to the developers. For too long have we humans put up with shitty endings in our video games. For developers, this is usually done because they're rushing to complete other aspects of the game before ship date. But for players, it's the ultimate insult to all of our efforts. It's not as though adding in a few clips or jokes at the end is impossible or all that time consuming.

Take Capcom's God Hand. Rather than just playing the credits at the end, this game gives us credits AND clips of the game's characters dancing away to the theme music. Adding in this type of clip didn't take a whole lot of effort: just clip the character models to the body joints of a motion-captured dancer, and voila! These endings don't have to be over the top or exceptionally long. But they should show a little bit of creativity, god dammit! Think Pixar's out takes. think Star Control II's final interviews with each of the space races. Think ToeJam and Earl wandering around Funkitron! Think of something other than "You Win. Game Over!"

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GamerHelp 666:13, 4th Commandment
Thou Shalt Gloat
Halo players know that the ultimate in defeat is being tea-bagged. When you've killed someone in an online game, it's not just time to turn around and hunt for the next victim. It's time to turn on the mic and laugh triumphantly, like a retarded janitor with a bagel in his nose. Don't be afraid to hit the taunt button, or to run over to that dead Heavy Weapons Guy, and do your little Pyro happiness dance. While it's certainly not recommended that you start getting your racist on, or to joke about their mom, it is entirely appropriate to say that they've been "0wnzor3d."

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GamerHelp 666:14, 5th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Rig
Not all of us can afford a $3000 computer. Neither, too, can we all buy a 360, a PS3 and a Wii. Rather than drooling over your friends' good fortune at having all of these things, the true gamer simply goes to GameStop or the local Goodwill to find some last generation goodness for 5 bucks a hit. Why, there are thousands of games out there that you've never played, and most of them aren't current generation technology. Better still, go online to a site like Abandonia or the TheUnderdogs.com to download abandoned games for your PC for free. Or, even better still, go get an emulator and try out those NES games you never got a chance to play as a kid. Thou shalt not waste rent money on an Xbox 360 when thou can just as easily buy 30 games for the original Xbox for the same price.

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GamerHelp 666:15, 6th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Name Thyself After Thy Own Birthday
Gamer tags aren't so easy to come up with anymore. With thousands of gamers out there registering their nicknames with Xbox Live, or in your favorite MMO, it's a fair chance that your first choice of nickname is already taken. But while all the good ones may seem to have been taken, that is no excuse to name yourself "Steve71685" or "Robert1013". These types of names only make you look like an inbred newbie from West Virginia. There are plenty of good names left out there, and only the ones in Leet Speak, or mimicing a license plate need to have numbers in them. Try using names like "BiscuitOfRage" or "MonkeyButtLuv" or "HalfALoafUvKungFu" or "StonedGnome" or "BackPimplesRossario" or "St00pidDoucher" or "StudBeefPile" or "LunchBox" or any of the thousands of other possibilities! Get creative! Do something original. And for god's sake, keep your f**cking birthday out of your name!

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GamerHelp 666:16, 7th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Use FAQs Unless Thou Art Stuck
For GamerHelp, it's all about the FAQs, of course. But you should never go running through those FAQs unless you are specifically stuck somewhere. There is no form of life on this Earth that is lower than that dood who buys a new game and the walkthrough guide at the same time at GameStop. First of all, FAQs are free online, idiot. Second of all, You're probably one of those assholes who sits in front of the TV with the game running and the walkthrough open to page one. It's not a f'ing game if you just read what to do next every time you complete a task, dumbass. Close the book, and figure it out yer damn self.

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GamerHelp 666:17, 8th Commandment
Thou Shalt Watch Your Buddy's Back
When playing games online, don't let your buddies get back stabbed. It's not cool and it's not friendly. What's the point of playing online with other people if you can't even trust your own teammates to keep you from being being pistol whipped from behind? Keep those eyes open, and watch those corners. You know it's going to happen at some point, and even if you can't stop the guy from attacking, you can at least call out to your pal and say "look out behind you!" Remember, this online gaming thing isn't really worth a damn if the people you play with run off into the enemy base every time they respawn, like some digitized Rambo with a chip on his shoulder.

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GamerHelp 666:18, 9th Commandment
Thou Shalt Not Take Gaming Too Seriously
We've all been there: you're on a server playing with a bunch of people you've never seen before. The enemy team captures your flag, and someone on your team blows up in a screaming rage over the lack of teamwork. This man (and they are always men) is way too involved. Games are supposed to be fun, not work. If you're really that worried about how the red team does in the next round, spend your time talking strategy, not yelling into the mic about how "Joe3216" is a complete idiot who shouldn't be playing the game at all. This isn't pickup football on the playground, and we don't get to pick teams. You're always going to be saddled with some douche-bag who has one arm and no ears, so just resign yourself to sitting down and trying to work with what you've got. Besides, the feeling of accomplishment is much greater when you win a round knowing that your team is made up entirely of 12 years olds with no thumbs and cleft palettes.

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GamerHelp 666:19, 10th Commandment
Thou Shalt Save Early, and Save Often
There aren't too many games, these days, that remove points or bonuses from the player based on the number of times they save. This used to be something of a common practice, back when game developers saw the player as a toy with which to play and squeeze. But today, developers know better. They know we all hate running through the same corridor 33 times and dying on the same jump over and over again. That's why they offer more save spots, save-anywhere features, and on-the-fly difficulty adjustments. With all these wonderful helpers, however, there are still gamers who like to live on the edge. When the scene ends and the level is over, they say "NO" to "Do you want to save?" They don't use the save rooms, and they never turn the machine off. These are the maniacs who try to beat Final Fantasy XII in one sitting. And these are the people we do not want to emulate. Save early, save often. You never know when the power may go out and you'll be stuck trying to kill the same goddamn monsters over and over again.

How did I forget this gem?




New Schtuff

Zipping around the web and found a few things for your enjoyment...enjoy.

Everyday Normal Guy 2


7 Internet Fads Made Into Video Games
Complete with Links with info on the fads in case you don't live on the web like some of us.
Star Wars Kid's Lightsaber Battle Arena
In this action-packed Wii title, you'll do battle with the dictator of dweeb, the pinnacle of putrid, the figurehead of failure... no, not Carrot Top, we're talking about the Star Wars Kid! In his first appearance since Tony Hawk's Underground 2, SWK's LBA finds the Kid angry and defiant, challenging all his French-Canadian classmates to battle after his mammoth online embarrassment. As Pierre, the student who posted the video initially, you are SWK's greatest nemesis. Join with your mates and battle the Kid in the first First Person Lightsaber game for the Wii!



Who knew there was a market for the Rarest and Most Valuable N64 Games?






ESPN Adds Competitive
Video Gaming to Its Lineup
Holy Crap! I would love to see this! Better than watching Professional Bowling any day.


Apparently, this is what I'd look like as a Simpsons character.
Simpsonize yourself!

Gaming is Fun

Loaki Hootill Character Sheet


















I love playing video games...in case you hadn't noticed. I play Vanguard: Saga of Heroes daily. I've been out of the console mode for a while now. The last one I played with any true fervor was my N64...until I got my Wii. I friggin' love that thing. It's a cool system that anyone can play. My 3 year old is currently 4-0 against his dad in boxing. Yes, I'm a breeder of gamers. With all that in mind, today is all about gaming.

Ten Golden Rules of Online Gaming
I love #5, although all the rules are dead on. I've experienced all of them.

5: If you are losing, it is because of lag:

Following on from the cheapness laws, you will soon get to learn that nothing is ever your fault when it comes to gaming. Lag is a process whereby everyone in the game becomes better than you thanks to the Internet helping them become cheap. The Internet does this a lot, but never affects the enemies you kill yourself, because you have skills.

Nearly every death you ever suffer in a game will be due to lag of some kind. The Internet hates you that much, even though you are so good.

Chocolate Milk

If my kid ever acts like this one, smack me. (I know this isn't new, but it's a classic)




Everything I Need to know, I learned from Video Games

1. There is no problem that cannot be overcome by violence.

2. You can overcome most adversaries simply by having enough quarters.

3. If it moves, KILL IT!

4. Operating any vehicle or weapon is simple and requires no training.

5. "Bosses" always hire henchmen weaker than they are to do their dirty work.

6. If you find food lying on the ground, eat it.

7. You can smash things and get away with it.
a. Smashing things doesn't hurt.
b. Many nice things are hidden inside other things.

8. When someone dies, they disappear.

9. Money is frequently found lying on the streets.

10. All shopkeepers carry high-tech weaponry.

11. You never run out of bullets, only grenades.

12. Ninjas are common, and fight in public frequently.

13. Whenever huge evil fat men are about to die, they begin flashing red or yellow.

14. When you are born, you're invulnerable for a brief period of time.

15. Although the enemy always has more aircraft than you, they fly in predictable patterns which makes it easier for you to shoot them all down.

16. All women wear revealing clothing and have great bodies.

17. The enemy always leaves weapons and ammo laying around for no other reason than so their bitter enemies can pick them up and defeat them with it.

18. You sustain injury if you shoot innocents.

19. Gang members frequently all look the same, and often have the same names.

20. When driving, do not worry if your vehicle crashes and explodes. A new one will appear in its place.

21. Anyone that can't jump over six feet high probably can't jump at all.

22. Even the lowest lifeforms such as worms, slugs, and slimes carry money.

23. A good way to hurt someone is to do the following: 1. Hold up your hands, 2. (optional) Stomp the ground, 3. A large object (like a rock) falls from the top of the screen, 4. Catch the large object, and 5. Throw it.

Fett's Vette
This is a video made using Star Wars Galaxies by Balgosa Windspire.
I used to love this game and I played it daily until they jacked it up.


What Pre-1985 Video Game Character Am I?


What Video Game Character Are You? I am Mario.I am Mario.


I like to jump around, and would lead a fairly serene and aimless existence if it weren't for my friends always getting into trouble. I love to help out, even when it puts me at risk. I seem to make friends with people who just can't stay out of trouble. What Video Game Character Are You?



Posting and you
Actually about posting on forums, but most gamers do the forum thing, too...