Bin War

Racing games can be enjoyed and won in the privacy of the room, when they are played on a pc. The thrills that come along with the roaring engines, screeching brakes and real sound engines can be experienced only with a good speaker system.

To play racing games on a pc, all it needs is pc with a windows operating system, with the latest version, if possible, a mouse, a key board and a joystick. Racing games are also available in console versions like playstation2, the Xbox or the game cube.

To play games on a pc the minimum requirements are a video memory card, good CPU speed, sufficient hard drive space and a good operating system. In addition, if online games are to be played, it is essential to have a good internet connection that has the minimum required speed to handle the game.

Generally the racing games on pc are developed with windows operating system in mind but efforts are on to develop games that are compatible with other operating systems like Linux or Mac. Racing games on pc can be made more interesting by playing online with multiple players.

For adventurous players there are games like Need for Speed Most Wanted, where the gamer can strive hard to become notorious to outrun the police and other racers and boost the adrenalin of the gamer. PC games like Test Drive Unlimited lets the gamer enjoy driving more than one hundred licensed motor cycles and cars through the Hawaiian off road. Racing games offer the thrill of race and the pleasure of cruising ad unlimited fun is guaranteed.

Jun Takeuchi, the producer of Resident Evil 5, recently made a statement regarding the Sixaxis in the PS3 controller. His statement was that the Sixaxis is “not sensitive enough” for FPS aiming. With all due respect to Mr. Takeuchi, this has been proven incorrect by the developers at Guerilla Games.

Ever since Jun Takeuchi made that statement, I have been waiting for a FPS to use the Sixaxis effectively and precisely for aiming. I also had doubts of what Jun Takeuchi said about the Sixaxis due to my experience with previous titles using the Sixaxis.

Warhawk is one of these games in which you can turn the sensitivity extremely high and have it set in a way where if you have a steady hand you can control it and have great precision. Killzone 2 allows you to control the aim of the sniper rifle with the Sixaxis. Now this is not mandatory nor are you required to use this, in fact, it is used for keeping your hand steady while aiming. Though, you can in fact use the Sixaxis to aim the sniper rifle, and just because it’s a sniper rifle, it requires more precision and “sensitivity” to be accurate. I find it easier to use the Sixaxis to aim because it’s quicker in my opinion; I basically “lean into my shot”. With that said, I feel that the Sixaxis is sensitive enough to do a lot of things in videogames including aiming. I love flying games with the Sixaxis and having the sensitivity all the way up might make it hard to aim, but that is all up to the player and how steady he can tilt the controller. Hopefully more developers can use this to their advantage and bring more life to the Sixaxis. It’s there for a reason!

In the dark days of the GameCube, amidst internet rumblings of Nintendo going third-party, a little white box was being secretly developed in the inner sanctums of Nintendo. Having already launched the strange yet undeniably appealing DS, this new console had a working codename of Revolution.

Nintendo dropped that moniker for the more market-friendly and more perverse title of the Nintendo Wii. Revolutions were scary they said, revolutions were about bloodshed, terrorist organizations and babies crying. Nintendo just wanted everyone to play. Controllers are scary, like the cockpit of a flaming 747. People just want to throw around their television remotes and Nintendo happily provided. In Apple fuelled haze, Nintendo went on a marketing blitz and began to do something they haven’t done since the era of Super Nintendo; they ran commercials that targeted everyone including your dear old Grand Pappy.

Gimmicky as the Wiimote may seem in retrospect, Nintendo grabbed the attention of the media and consumer wallets with its technology and Wii Sports. Not since the SNES has a system been so ready to play out of the box. It’s that type of mass market acceptance that the other game companies would love to have.

On the outside to the hardcore set, it seems like Nintendo served up an underpowered console with a unique input device; however, Nintendo did more than that: they inverted the typical market scheme for video games. Nintendo made money on the console from the first day it launched. Gone was the razor blade marketing, loss leading tactics that Microsoft and Sony and most previous consoles used to make money. Get the player to buy the hardware and make your money back on licensing and games sales.

With over 48 million consoles sold, maybe the Wii is the unheralded revolution in gaming. If it isn’t, it very least is a huge financial success. Maybe it is too early to speculate about the next generation of gaming but you have to wonder if the Wii has started a trend that Microsoft and the Sony brands might try to follow in the years to come. It has already been widely speculated that both Microsoft has Wii-like controllers in the works. MTV news reported that Microsoft has teamed with mouse maker Gyration to produce a motion controller code-named “Newton.”

However, the issue extends far beyond waggle controllers. What if Sony and Microsoft decide to produce a new generation of consoles that have little or no graphical improvement than the current generations? What if they opt rather to explore new input devices? Perhaps the next big thing won’t be a major jump in movie realism and 7.1 Dolby Digital sound but rather it’ll be what type of 3D glasses the major companies are packing in with their game consoles.

There is a reason for the rejoicing in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. It is official – NCsoft has completely merged the two games into one game universe. All current subscribers who only had one of the games (City of Heroes or City of Villains) now have access to the features of both games. Additionally, all City of Heroes and City of Villains games for sale at retail or online will grant access to both games.

This is the final step needed in preparing the IP for future projects, to be announced later this year. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have always been a part of the same game universe. When City of Villains launched in 2005 as a stand-alone game, it did not launch with an extra subscription fee, so there has always been this feeling that they are closely related. What’s different here is that NCsoft has taken down the barrier where players had to have a City of Villains serial code to make a villain, and vice versa. Now, it doesn’t matter if you bought Heroes or Villains, you can make characters from either faction and experience their unique game content. Additionally, Heroes now have access to base building, which was previously only available if you had purchased City of Villains.

“In setting the stage for our upcoming plans for the IP, we felt the time was right to truly consolidate the City of Heroes and City of Villains universe,” said Brian Clayton, General Manager and Executive Producer. “We have removed all restrictions that were created when City of Villains launched in order to make way for some really cool content and features we have in the pipeline. This is an evolution of the IP that lays the foundation for what’s to come.”

The most recent game update, Issue 12: Midnight Hour, launched in May and included a wealth of features, including a new Greek and Roman inspired zone, Villain Epic Archetypes, Powerset Proliferation, as well as more character slots so that players can try out the new character powers and Archetypes.

“We know that character variety is one of our greatest strengths and that’s why our players love to create new characters” said Matt Miller, Lead Designer. “Even former players who reactivate will be pleasantly surprised to see new open character slots waiting for them.”

Uniting the City of Heroes universe enables the development team to focus on other features slated to come in future installments. Improvements to Supergroup Bases and raids, an offline character reward system, and the previously revealed Mission Maker are just some of the systems that will see the benefits of a unified City of Heroes game.

Platform: Wii

Rating: Everyone

Content descriptors: Mild Cartoon

This is an arcade-style game in which players use nets to catch fish that fly out of a lake. Players must also avoid
“cartoony” crabs, sharks, and fire-breathing dragons that try to get in their way. During the course of the game, a crab can clasp onto the player’s head, and the shark can swallow the player with one lunging bite.

Both inFamous and Prototype are sandbox style games that offer a protagonist with special powers. inFamous’ main protagonist’s name is Cole, who has been bestowed with the power to control electricity and is also very agile according to reports. Prototype’s protagonist’s name is Alex Mercer who has the ability to shape shift. Prototype appears to be the darker of the two games but inFamous gives you the choice to either be bad or good. Both games have similarities but they also have just as many differences.

inFamous is a first party exclusive that is being released by Sony Computer Entertainment and Sucker Punch, while Prototype is a third party multiplatform game developed by Activision and Radical Entertainment. Many people are interested in either one or both of these games, but what will each game contain that will ultimately tip the scales in its favor in the eyes of gamers?

In Prototype, Alex Mercer is a man who wakes up not knowing who he is. He somehow has the ability to shape shift after being genetically mutated, and he wants to know what has happened to him, so he goes on a search through New York City to try and find out. You have the ability to progress through the game by completing the given objectives without shaking things up, or tearing someone a new one on your way to finding out who you are. This is a very appealing gameplay element that I believe could provide more replay value for the game. Prototype is set to release on June 9, 2009 in the United States.

In inFamous, you take control of Cole, a man who was the only survivor after a large explosion in Empire City (my guess is that it’s a fake New York City). Cole is a messenger who was delivering a message to the building that exploded. He awakens from a coma, the city is being attacked and some people think he had something to do with the explosion. The entire story is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I do know that you have the ability to either be bad or good based on a karma system that keeps track of your good vs. bad deeds while progressing through the game. You can choose to help people or be a rebel and rip through everything. inFamous initially had a June 2009 release date but has been moved up to May 26, 2009.

With both games being in the same genre but only one being an exclusive, I think that inFamous has more potential, with the power of the PS3 and Blu-ray to back it up. Prototype is appealing to me mainly because of the powers that Alex has. Prototype seems a little more interesting to me right now, but I will more than likely buy both games since the experiences and stories seem very different. When both games were first announced, I started to worry that they would be too similar, but after learning more over the last 6 months about both games, I am convinced that the opposite is actually true.

Both inFamous and Prototype look like very, very interesting games and it looks like I will be buying both. Since inFamous and Prototype initially had a June 2009 release date and inFamous is now being released in May, I think there is a pretty good chance that Prototype could also move up on the calendar for an earlier release. I am not sure how far along they are in the development process, but obviously they are nearing completion if Prototype is being released June 9. I think Sony and Sucker Punch made a good move here by enabling people to get their hands on inFamous as early as possible since Prototype seems to have a little more hype from what I have seen and heard around the internet. Sony’s strategy will allow people to play inFamous first and see if the game is really all Sony and Sucker Punch say it is going to be. Both games look amazing and I think it may give inFamous some much needed momentum before Prototype is released.

Linden Lab have released their figures for Second Life for Q1 2009, showing growth in virtually every respect.

Unfortunately, most of the figures lack definition and meaning, and their nature or relevance can only be guessed at. The few that are clear, however, do show solid growth, which is good for Linden Lab and for Second Life. We've got a breakdown of the highlights for you, such as they are.

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