Sunday, August 10, 2008

Get A Game Controller That Suits You

With the rise of game consoles such as Play Station 3, Nintendo Wii and XBOX 360, the gaming experience has been taken to the next level. Now, you’ll be able to experience high definition visuals and powerful actions. But your game experience won’t be complete without the right game system controllers.

Game controllers are the input devices. With these game controllers, you can precisely control where your character or machine goes. Every gamer should have a suitable set of game system controllers.

Aside from the gamepads, paddles and joysticks, there are also special game controllers with platforms for specific games. Examples include light guns used for games which involve a lot of shooting and steering wheels for games with driving.

The most common type of game controller is the gamepad which can consist of a few buttons to even a dozen. It also has several omnidirectional sticks. With so many buttons and control sticks, the player can control the game hero more precisely and easily. Gamepads also allow movement in three dimensions.

Gamepads are held in both hands, using the thumbs to provide input. The right side of the gamepad contains the action buttons while the left side has the direction controller. This setup, however, is somewhat unfriendly to those who are left handed.

Modern gamepads also boast of internal motors which provide force feedbacks whenever you are playing action packed games. There are also buttons, which are called shoulder buttons, strategically placed on the edges of the gamepads. The good thing about these gamepads is that most game consoles and video games support gamepads.

An older type of controller is the paddle controllers. They feature a few fire buttons and a single round wheel. This wheel is primarily used to control the game hero’s movement on one axis in the video screen. When the paddle and ball kinds of games lost their popularity, these analog controllers also died out.

The steering wheel can be considered as a larger version of the paddle controller. The steering wheel is typically used for driving or racing simulations. Most of the steering wheel controllers also have an internal motor which provides force feedback. This allows a gamer to experience the realism of driving a car.

The light gun controller is limited to shooting games. They are used to shoot the targets on the screen. Most game systems have specific light guns for use in their games. These game controllers are vital in giving you the kind of experience you want when you’re playing your favorite videogames.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Buy Your Game Consoles Online

Gone are the days when you had to spend a fortune just to play your favorite video game in mall arcades. Now, modern video game systems are available. Children of all ages can enjoy their favorite video games at home.

There are a lot of popular game consoles such as Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s XBOX 360. Modern technology allows a gamer to experience high definition visuals and impressive combats.

These popular consoles come with a price, of course. They don’t come that cheap. Good thing that like other electronic products, we can order our favorite gaming systems online. With the help of the internet, you don’t have to go through the hassles of personally going to the department stores.

There are several websites that you could use where you can order a game console online. Auction web sites such as amazon are probably the right place where you can get a game console.

Of course, you could also try to visit the websites of the game system’s manufacturers. From there, you’re sure that you’ll get the warranty that should come with a new purchase. You’ll also be paying the official retail price of the system.

The best part of buying online is that you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home when comparing prices. Just browse through the different websites using your favorite search engine and then make the purchase.

The first thing you need to do is to some research. Check that the website you’re going to purchase from is secure. In making a purchase, you have to provide your credit card information, thus, ensure that you’re not providing any personal information to some bogus companies.

Next, since you’ll have access to hundreds of websites selling all the gaming systems available, you can make sound judgments on what kind of gaming system would best fit your needs. You’ll have to take into consideration not only the features but also the price of the game consoles.

And finally, after you’ve made the choice, you’ll then pay for it. Shipment usually takes less than a week. After then, you can enjoy playing your video games. If you’re not satisfied by the built-in games that came with your system, you can always purchase more games online and also have them delivered to your place.

With modern technology, everything seems so highly digitized. You can always get something hi-tech so conveniently.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Online Gaming Safety for Your Kids

With Nintendo WII and xbox 360 now released, when could be the best time to take responsibility for making sure that your kids stay safe while engrossed with online gaming but now, right? With the emergence of online gaming's popularity, gone are the days when your kid could stay in your living room playing all by himself or maybe with you. Now, the Internet made it easy for your kid to play with anyone around the world. And that means being exposed to just about ANYONE's bad behavior.

So just how do you make sure your kid doesn't get harmed while playing an interactive game? The following tips can be of great help:

1. Internet Safety Training

Look for your local government's efforts to make kids safe while using the Internet. Usually, these programs, which are implemented by police departments and schools, include online gaming safety lessons. One example of these programs is Teenangels. These are teens who are FBI-trained about Internet privacy, safety and security. After training, Teenangels help develop programs and help them implement to other teens and parents in their community.

2. Inform your kids about the safety features of their gaming systems.

Xbox 360 has a safety feature that allows one to report offensive or abusive players. Also, a voice masking feature is also available to avoid other online players to prey on kids, who can easily be known by their voice. These will help kids from succumbing to online harassment.

3. Teach your kids safety basics.

One basic way to stay safe when playing online games is to not reveal any information to strangers. Tell kids not to tell anyone who has been playing with them any important details about them. And always remind them that they can turn to you if anything or anyone bothers them in any situation, which includes while playing online games. Make sure that they understand the consequences of their actions if they reveal anything about them to online strangers. Also, don't forget to make them realize that a stranger who would want to meet with them will most probably not do them any good.

Those tips and being updated with other safety measures that the online gaming system creators want to make their players learn should alarm us enough in keeping our kids safe. But a responsible parent should never just rely on any measure, always be on the lookout for your kid's safety.