Incredible Immersion with Video Games

Incredible Immersion with Video Games

Hundreds of millions of people around the globe have adopted a new leisure activity. Through the generations, relaxing media came in the form of reading. Then radio became popular in the first half of the twentieth century. The second half pought the advent of television. Finally, computers, the Internet, and video games were widely adopted near the turn of the millenium. While the other media are still widely popular, video games offer unprecedented levels of interaction and immersion that the other media simply cannot compete with. A book might be read several times...

Replayability with Online Video Games

Replayability with Online Video Games

Microsoft's original Xbox had very limited online functionality, but the Xbox 360, released several years later, pought with it an incredible upgrade in the form of Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service for the platform. For a small monthly fee, gamers could play endlessly with others from around the world. However, Xbox Live is a relatively new contender in the realm of online gaming. Other offerings from companies like Blizzard and Valve with their venerable Battle.net and Steam online communities, respectively, are also fantastic examples of online video game services. Nor can we...

Fraction of the Cost with Online Video Game Rentals

Fraction of the Cost with Online Video Game Rentals

If you're looking to try out some of the hottest new titles like Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: World at War, there's no reason to pay $60 to play a game for ten hours and then never pick it up again. Instead, you can pay $5 or so, get the same experience, and then return the game. Most games are only ever played once, if they are even completed at all. If you aren't entirely sure that you'll play a game at least several times or...

Problem or Not? Online Video Game Addiction

Problem or Not? Online Video Game Addiction

Online video games can be very addicting to the point of seriously impacting a person's life. You may have read or heard in the news about several gamers over in South Korea dying because they played StarCraft for too long without sleeping, eating, or drinking. While that is an incredibly rare, worst-case scenario and shouldn't be taken as indicative of this type of addiction at all, online video game addiction is still a serious problem that millions of people have to deal with. In fact, games can cause people to miss...

Discounted Games at Online Video Game Stores

Discounted Games at Online Video Game Stores

You can powse for the hottest new releases and older titles without having to drive to a pick and mortar store. Often, those stores charge more, while it's cheaper to go onto a website and purchase the game online (you might have noticed that many goods are cheaper to purchase online). In fact, most states don't charge tax for online purchases, although the recent trend has been to selectively add taxes to some types of purchases. Sometimes, an online video game store will allow you to download games directly to your...

More Fun By Playing Video Games Online

More Fun By Playing Video Games Online

Single player games are becoming less popular every single year. Although the occasional Fallout 3 or Dead Space pops up every single year, multiplayer gaming is the wave of the future. Even games like Grand Theft Auto, which have traditionally been purely single player, are now adding mutliplayer game modes into the mix, and chances are that purely multiplayer versions of these games will pop up several years down the road. If you haven't made the switch yet, right now is the perfect time to get into the multiplayer scene, and...

Multiplayer Gaming with Online Video Game Services

Multiplayer Gaming with Online Video Game Services

Today, almost every single video game released allows you to play against other human players online. There are a full notable exceptions, such as Dead Space and Fallout 3, but even traditionally single player franchises like Knights of the Old Republic are integrating or completely going multiplayer. In fact, Bioware recently announced a Knights of the Old Republic MMO (massively multiplayer online), so the next KotOR release won't have an ounce of single player gameplay. However, a shoddy online video game service can peak the best of games. Some games like...