Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: July 2011

July sees Intel's ratio-locked Core i7-980 emerge, while AMD's A6-3650 and A8-3850 APUs show up at retail. In addition, the new Sandy Bridge-based Pentium G800 processors challenge AMD's sub - $ 100 gaming CPU dominance first in recent memory.

If you dont have the time to research benchmarks, or if you dont feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Toms Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of t.

Read more »

Posted in: Games,Hardware

Star Wars the Old Republic

One of the best RPG’s that I have ever played is now going MMO. Many people are calling it the ‘WoW Killer’ and with the exceptional work gone into Biowares other games like The Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect it’s hard to see how anything can go wrong. The unique and expansive world of Star Wars is a great gaming environment as we have seen in other attempts to successfully make a good Star Wars MMO. Star Wars Galaxies was the last Star Wars MMO but it failed because of poor player support.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

Dragon Age II

From the maker of Mass Effect and Baldur’s Gate comes the dark fantasy epic Dragon Age: Origins.

You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of a legendary order of guardians. With the return of an ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all.


A Stunning World to Explore

BioWare’s deepest universe to date with over 80 hours of gameplay and more than double the size and scope of Mass Effect
Travel throughout dozens of environments and fully immerse yourself in a shattered world that is on the brink of utter annihilation
An epic story that is completely shaped and reactive to your play style

Complex Moral Choices

There are no easy choices
Tailor your Dragon Age: Origins experience from the very beginning by choose from six different Origin Stories
Decide how to handle complex issues like murder, genocide, betrayal, and the possession/sacrificing of children without the security of a good/bad slider to tell you what to do

Full Character Customization

Sculpt your hero in your own image or fantasy
Elaborate character creator allows you to create your own hero unique from anyone else
Shape your character’s personality and morality based on the choices you make throughout the game

Engage in Bone-Crushing, Visceral Combat

Battle against massive and terrifying creatures
Unleash legendary powers and choose from over 100 different magical spells and skills
Experience the adrenaline rush of brutal combat, beheading your foes or casting spells that make enemies explode from within

Blood Dragon Armor

Commissioned by an infamous Nevarran dragon hunter, this armor was crafted in a time when dragons had almost been hunted to extinction. Infused with their blood, the armor gained notoriety after the hunter died at the hands of men rather than the dragons it was designed to protect him from.

Grants exceptional protection in combat
Armor will be usable in BioWare's upcoming science fiction epic, Mass Effect 2

The Stone Prisoner

The darkspawn-infested village of Honnleath holds a secret: the forgotten stone figure at the town’s heart is a powerful golem frozen in time. Free the creature and reveal a storied quest to unlock its power and mysterious past.

Download The Stone Prisoner and gain access to Shale, a mighty stone golem who can join the party and travel throughout Dragon Age: Origins. One of the most powerful characters in the game, Shale comes with a rich back story, extensive voice acting, and a unique follower quest to explore. The Stone Prisoner also includes new environments, items, and hours of additional gameplay that adds to the Dragon Age: Origins campaign.

A powerful new party member to aid in the epic quest to save Ferelden from the Blight
New areas, including the troubled village of Honnleath
New achievements, items, and unique insights into the Dragon Age: Origins storyline

System Requirements
Minimum:

OS: Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Single 1.6 Ghz Processor (or equivalent) or AMD 64 2.0 GHz Processor (or equivalent)
Memory: 1GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
Graphics: ATI Radeon X850 256MB or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater (Windows Vista: Radeon X1550 256 MB or NVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB)
DirectX®: DirectX (November 2007)
Hard Drive: 20 GB HD space
Sound: Direct X Compatible Sound Card

Recommended:

OS: Windows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or AMD Phenom II X2 Dual-Core 2.7 Ghz Processor or equivalent
Memory: 2 GB (3GB Vista and Windows 7)
Graphics: ATI 3850 512 MB or NVidia 8800GTS 512MB or greater
DirectX®: DirectX (November 2007)
Hard Drive: 20 GB HD space
Sound: Direct X Compatible Sound Card

Read more »

Posted in: Games

Test drive Unlimited 2

Test drive Unlimited 2 is sequel to test drive unlimited. It is a massively open online racing game where players can get online and share their racing thirst with rest of the world. It blends the experience of single and multi-player racing, creating a world of racing challenges. Up to 8 players can join the session at a time which further spice up the racing experience. The game is set in the Mediterranean island of Ibiza with over 2,000 miles of roadway and back roads. The game includes new vehicles with massive customization, striking locations.

TDU2 will also offer free downloadable content DLC for vehicle packs, clothe packs, furniture pack and much more. You will be able to customize your avatar looks, pick different club logo, and furnish your home. New racing tricks and stunts further add value to the game. Getting your damaged car repaired manually, handling of car during racing, turning signals, exclusive vehicles, convertible roofs adds real racing experience to the game.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

Games PC Crysis 2

Crysis 2, A Sci-Fi first person shooter game developed by Crytek, is one of the most anticipated games for 2010/2011. Crysis 2 would be the first game to use game engine 3. Not to forget its predecessor, Crysis, that came up with bench-mark setting graphics and excellent game play. Crysis 2 is set in Newyork City, where players are enabled to navigate between floors and building structures, as well as destroy the cityscape. Witnessing creepiness and horrible things that had happened to Newyork city. Nomad is the main character of the game; a super soldier with enhanced combat skills and fascinating tools. Crysis 2 is equipped with freedom of large number of choices including the usage of multiple power modes simultaneously and more tactical warfare, upgraded weapons. The nanosuit has been redesigned to Nanosuit 2; which is the best technological milestone of the mankind with exhilarating new features.

The storyline is still not disclosed. Hoping the story is in continuation from the original game. The developers claim that the new game will come up with catastrophically beautiful graphics. Crysis 2 will run more efficiently then the original game, easily accommodating to lower end computers.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

EA's Downside Surprise: Gaming Isn't Recession Proof After All

The notion of technology as being relatively insulated from the credit crunch imploded earlier this year. It now appears the idea of the video segment being practically recession proof is heading for the same outcome.

Shares of Electronic Arts tumbled nearly 18% Friday, even as the broader market continued its recent rally. Late Thursday, the video game maker reported a wider-than-expected loss for its fiscal second quarter and forecast much weaker-than-expected bottom-line results for the full fiscal year.

EA was hit by company-specific issues; namely, aging titles and the delayed release of the next Harry Potter movie until summer 2009, meaning no related video game sales this holiday season.

But EA is not alone in suffering. After reporting very strong sales figures for the first half of its fiscal year, Wii maker Nintendo warned that its fiscal year profits won't meet prior expectations due to a stronger yen and weaker global economy.

As for non-consumer technology, AmEx's plans to cut technology-related spending is another blow to companies like Sun Microsystems, which fell 13% Friday after reporting weaker-than-expected fiscal first quarter results.

At this point, only IBM and H-P have been relatively unscathed by the global economy's woes. How long can that last?

Read more »

Posted in: Games,Info

Does EA Have the Economy to Blame or Itself?

So much for that "cocooning" theory that games would be the protected part of the tech economy this holiday season. Electronic Arts warned investors today that it would miss its fiscal 2009 targets, given lackluster holiday sales.

But is this a problem with gaming or EA? My guest Om Malik, of GigaOm, blames EA, and it’s reliance on big, expensive Hollywood-style games, instead of more nimble social, mobile or Wii games. "We give them too much credit for being smart just because they are big," he says of the second largest game maker. Ouch.

More on how EA could, ahem, get back in the game on the clip.

Read more »

Posted in: Games,Info

3 Tricks To Becoming A Better Gamemaster

Being a gamemaster can be a tiring, time-intensive proposition. Game preparation, especially for those of us who are older and have families, needs to be as easy and quick as possible.
This article will provide three tricks that will help you to become a better gamemaster.

What is Gamemaster?

A Gamemaster is the person who is responsible for creating an adventure and playing all of the NPCs (non-player characters) in a roleplaying game. There are variations on this idea but the most popular roleplaying games are structured so that these are the gamemasters responsibilities. While most Gamemasters enjoy the challenge of creating an adventure for the players, it can often take hours to perform. Another issue with adventure creation is that if they players decide to perform a task that the Gamemaster had not considered, much of the work that went into creating the adventure can become useless.

Trick 1: Create A Timeline

Creating a timeline is a great way to have a general layout for the adventure without detailing each and every event and character that the players will interact with. The easiest way to do this is to consider what will happen in the adventure from start to finish if the player characters were not present. Make sure you do this chronologically. Then you don't have to worry about "railroading" your players; events occur as they would if the player characters were not present and the players then decide how to react to the events.

Trick 2: Prepare Only What You Need

A common mistake of preparing for games is to try to plan out the entire adventure before the first session has begun.

DON'T do this.

Just plan enough to cover the amount of time you have to play in the session. The players will inevitably do things to change your plans so it makes no sense to map out twenty sessions in advance.

Trick 3: Adjust the Timeline to Player Actions

Once you have a timeline, it can aid you in dealing with your players driving the game in a direction you didn't plan for. Often, this can be dealt with simply by rearranging events in the timeline you created. It also provides a "skeleton" that can be used to make improvisation easier.

Conclusion

While being a gamemaster can be a time consuming task, it doesn't have to be. By following the tricks outlined in this article, you should be able to shorten the time it takes to prepare for a game and spend more time on the important part - having fun!

Read more »

Posted in: Games

FIFA 11- GAME ANALYSIS

Maybe not everything is perfect in the series of this generation. In fact there are several points we criticized in the past and they are still present. Something that had convinced us that it has become the house's own label is the system of dribbling with the right stick and its management.
Users complain that the game is not intuitive, which sometimes gives a lot of sense of randomness in terms of what we are trying to stick and what actually happens on screen. They have also criticized the headers and long shots.

Overall this FIFA 11 does not lead to completely fill ... how? Have you included Pro Passing the Personality +, the option of playing with the porter, and improvements in career mode? Yes, but ... something has changed in the direction being taken in the saga, and the feeling of being in a great game has not made much progress as it should.
FIFA 11 comes this time with specific improvements visually, with new features in specific areas and details to customize the stadiums and players on the pitch, but the essence is the same that has made this series the best of this generation in terms of football.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

All About Free Online Games

There are so many conveniences the internet has provided us with. A lot of them even come with money-saving benefits. Through free online games, having fun need not burn a huge hole in one's pocket. They can be easy to access. All you need is a PC and an internet supply. There are so many of them around nowadays, finding one that fits you to a T can actually be a very simple task.

Most of them are in Adobe Flash format. The application used for coming up with such file types originally was designed for creating animations. Soon enough, programmers also employed it for creating online ads, as well as for coming up with simple games. One feature of the said file type is the uncomplicated coding, which allows for quick loading time.

Loading of Flash files also require only your preferred web browser. There's no particular software to purchase or download, and install on the computer before you can play with them. Such lets you kick boredom out of the picture right away as soon as it shows up. Just launch your chosen web browser, look for these freebies on the web, and start having fun instantly. Available genres are extensive too.

It's rather easy to find one. Just type in some related keywords using your trusted search engine. You can be more specific with the hunt by including the kind of game you're looking for - action, strategy, puzzle, shooting, RPG, sports, multiplayer and others. People of all ages will surely find one they like; running out of something to go for is unlikely.

These freebies can help you effectively combat stress. They often come with simple yet entertaining gameplay. They're unlike some counterparts which come very violently, bloody and noisy. All these can in fact make you more even stressed out. There are also some highly suitable for kids as they're educational. There are those related to math or words, taking good care of pets, and so much more.


Right now, you might be asking how websites offering them can afford to stay in business if you don't pay anything at all. Some websites require you to sign up first and pay a specific amount of money. Obviously, it's how they manage to stay in business. But those with free offerings get their income from advertisers. It's for this reason why you can usually spot advertisements on such websites.

Let's tackle other benefits of taking advantage of them, aside from not costing a thing. As earlier mentioned, Flash games come with uncomplicated coding. Other than being easy to load, they don't consume much of your computer's power. This only means it's possible to run other applications in the background. Your PC is unlikely to slow down.

Since you don't have to download and install any software, there's no hard disk space wasted. There are a lot of people wary of downloading online stuff as some of them can come with Trojans, viruses and the likes. But in accessing Flash files, encountering them is unlikely, just like in video streaming too. Due to this, you can have peace of mind while having fun playing with free online games.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

PES-2011 GAME ANALYSIS

We thought that Konami and PES Team will learn from the mistakes of the past. An acclaimed series like this should not suffer from this lack of respect by their creators. Was it the lack of budget to create a new graphics engine? It may be, the fact is that with the tools they had, they could only get passable results. However, Konami can be proud of their loyal buyers, who held aloft the series every year with millions of records sold. They are still investigating and exploring the technical possibilities to provide more and better with so little. But it is impossible to fight in a war of sports games (NBA 2K, FIFA, ...) with a title as dynamic as the game of football
It is a curious case of the PES series. It is one of the few games that earns more in static displays on the move. Seeing the images can deduct a lot of things, some are true and pass reality to play, but on the whole loses much of its value. For starters, the menus have won many points with the new proposal. The pre-party are much more visual, more user friendly. They have become more understandable both on the main screens and submenus. Special mention to the tactical and strategic options, with some icons and a few options really well thought out and designed for speed and immediacy take ownership of our fingers as we put players and choose the tactics. In this sense, we say that Konami has done a great job.



Once we play, we see that there are small issues that have been improved, some maintain their good level and sadly we also see how the main section retains its large moon, away from the optimism of the other improvements. To begin somewhere, it must be said that players are more slender, more "athletic" in their scale, and the volumes of the players are better recognized in long distance, with more styles of different players. It will be easier to recognize the large cracks in the selection (Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, ...) for their corpulence or personal details of some of them with custom animations at different times.

Read more »

Posted in: Games

New Games by Capcom for the Year 2011

Capcom is a leading developer of console and mobile games. The company recently launched its new line of games IOS. In the next couple of months will see the following games: Resident Evil VS, Devil May Cry 4 and Café Zombie. All games are aimed at the IOS platform for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

VS Mercenaries Resident Evil is a classic game of zombies. It comes with the mercenary way that can be found in game consoles that is available only as Resident Evil 4 and 5. It also provides the opportunity to play as any character. You will be able to pick up fallen objects and then combine them to create new tools that can be used in the attacks.

Are you a fan of the game as well as handling the sword, you must wait for Devil May Cry 4. It is the first game of the franchise which will be available for the IOS.

Devil May Cry 4 can be considered as an example of understanding the company's growing mobile market. Features such as acrobatic combat, great soundtrack and visual effects, indicates that it is a great version of Devil May Cry. The game can enable shooting mode, as well as in swordsmanship, is actually one of the best video games for exercise without moving due to the large dose of action it has. Thus there is no doubt that Capcom will have their hands on a very popular title.


Finally, Zombie Café is another game that is available for the iPhone IOS platform. You act as owner of a food service business. The grace of the game is that all their employees are not technically alive. You have to control all the zombies, decorating the cafeteria, and cook food for customers.

On the other hand, you have the opportunity to send zombies to attack other cafes to get their favorite recipes secret. The game offers a lot of fun and interesting things. The good news is there is a chance to play the game for free.

We have with us most comprehensive of the game guides including tips and tricks for most of the games. Check us out at Video game guides

Read more »

Posted in: Games

World of Warcraft Warlock Leveling Tips

"Damage per second" classes in World of Warcraft are often more difficult to level up, due to the nature of dungeon finding systems. Warlock leveling tips, as such, may not involve much instance play and require more world questing. Warlocks are a "cloth class," meaning that they absolutely cannot take damage or else they will be quickly killed. Unlike mages and priests, however, warlocks have the advantage of summoned units, so that they (like hunters) have a "buffer" against attacks.

Any warlock leveling tips start with the racial choice at the beginning of the game. On the Alliance side, most warlock classes choose a gnome or human race to begin the game. Gnomes have the advantage of escaping from traps, while humans gain additional mana regeneration from their spirit boost. The new worgen class, however, may be the best of all, because it allows the equivalent of a free mount at level 20. While mounts are not nearly as expensive as they have been in the past, it saves valuable gold for skills, professions, or items.

On the Horde side, undead races gain the valuable cannibalize ability, which can be used in addition to life tap for extra health and mana. Orc warlocks get temporary boosts to damage, while Blood Elf warlocks use mana tap for additional spell casting abilities.

The initial area you start in will go a long way when thinking of warlock leveling tips. Warlocks have no speed skill to compete with hunters or mages, making them reliant upon questing in large numbers rather than going from zone to zone. The Horde side of Barrens offers dozens of quests that can easily go to level 30, while the Alliance side of Darkshore and Ashenvale are right next to one another and will provide all the experience needed for awhile.

Warlock leveling tips do not always include professions, because professions usually take time out of the leveling process. All warlocks, however, should research First Aid for health regeneration. Cloth classes benefit from Tailoring: this is a stand alone profession, so they can complement it with a gathering profession (such as Herbalism or Mining) for extra money, or use it in tandem with Enchanting for extra stats boosts. Tailoring and Enchanting are the two most popular profession choices in World of Warcraft due to the number of cloth wearing units.

Dungeons allow for fast leveling, but they are a calculated risk. At nearly twenty minutes waiting time on some servers, a warlock DPS class will not quickly jump from instance to instance. Ensure that you have enough quests on hand to gain experience while waiting on dungeons.

Read more »

Posted in: Games