Gaming Monogamy

Ever since I've been gaming I've been known to devote myself to games that I love. I go to bed wishing I could play longer, have vivid dreams as though I'm still playing and spend days in a row playing for as long as possible. This cycle appears endless as, in being asked to put together a list of my favourite games, it continued to appear and reappear the further my list grew, so much so that it has almost become the common denominator. Upon considering this pattern along with recent experiences, I've come to consider myself a 'Gaming Monogamist'.

Over the past month or more I've been playing more games than I can remember. This is in part due to both sales which have caught my eye and my commitments with Indie Sandwich. However, I don't think I've sunk as many hours into, nor enjoyed myself during this time to the same degree with which I have with any of the games on my list of favourites. When I consider that most of these games are described as great often both critically and among my peers there is only one factor which can explain my less than enjoyable experiences of late; I've been playing too many at once.

Perhaps I've been getting caught up in the lure of my newly found free time; attempting to get the most out of it by devouring any and every one I could get my hands on. One thing I am certain of, is that I am not enjoying myself with some games because they were simply not meant be played in short sporadic bursts. For example, Heroes of Might and Magic IV doesn't appear to lend itself to this type of play as the story is involved, there are more units or creatures than one can name off hand while all of this is intertwined into over 100 hours of gameplay. I found Might and Magic enjoyable that is for sure but nowhere near in the same degree as others simply because I haven't played it to the point where I truly know how the game works and how the story might unfold. I liken this feeling to someone attempting to become a marathon runner but only deciding to run as far as five kilometres; they are never going to understand the true experience.

Interestingly enough thinking of other games in my recent feast my monogamy began to show through again. Rayman Origins, for instance, I continually found myself going back to time and time again. This is likely due to its more casual nature or even familiar platforming setting which eased me in on each play and allowed for more instant enjoyment. Nevertheless I was excited about the game and couldn't wait for my next chance to play it until, eventually, it became the only game I was playing; if I were asked 'what game did you play this week? it was my enthusiastic answer. I define gaming monogamy as the all encompassing feeling of love for a game; it becomes all you think about, all you talk about and all you play while the feeling remains. Rayman Origins was one of the few games able to, oh so figuratively, sweep me off my feet.

As I write this article I am restlessly waiting to be reacquainted with my current love in Diablo III. I am uncertain whether others experience this phenomenon, if it could be called that, but it is clear to me that gaming monogamy is well and truly a part of my identity as a gamer and I never want to change.

Liz Threlfo - Games designer based in Sydney Australia

Website: http://lizthrelfo.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LizThrelfoGamesDesign

Twitter: @lizziefashizie

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Stop Dying and Start Winning in Diablo III's Inferno Mode

Way back in Diablo II, those that finished the game had the ability to try the game again in Hell Mode. This brutal, challenging, rigorous level of difficulty is coming back again in Diablo III but this time is called Inferno Mode. Beating this difficulty level is an indicator of an absolutely powerful gamer and this achievement is now attainable to smart gamers who take advantage of impressive Inferno Mode guides like Inferno Gamer, considered one of the best Diablo III guides.

If you really want to stay alive and come out victorious from at least a couple of the crazy battles in Inferno Mode, you will need to get a decent jump start on setting up your character for these difficult battles. Inferno Mode is going to reveal an entire new game world to you in fascinating and incredibly demanding ways, with minimum monster level fixed at 61.

The hardest difficulty level is not just restricted to a couple of boss fights. Every one of the four Acts in Diablo III are equally exhilarating and give you the opportunity to put your newly acquired skills to the test against Hell's most nasty monsters and warriors.

Possessing a properly designed system for building your Diablo III character and gearing them up as you level up to 60 will get you ready for dealing with Inferno Mode faster and more efficiently. Every single element of your character must be perfected for optimum performance. This includes not only their skill builds, but the rotations and techniques you apply, followers and artisans builds, and so forth.

Gear is a crucial aspect of building your character in order to be ready for Inferno mode, with rare items contributing to the necessary strength to defeat incredibly damaging demons. Gems, weapons, potions and armor each have their purpose in readying your character for Inferno's dangerous battleground.

Every one of these issues are addressed and solved in the Inferno Gamer guide, with its impressive strategies and superb focus to detail. You will find out the best way to level to 60 quickly, but also how you can transform your character into a winner that will only die every few minutes, instead of continually over and over again. Furthermore, it contains techniques for playing through Inferno Mode and extensive information on the best way to generate gold or real cash with your winnings while enjoying at ultimate Diablo III experience.

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Game Copy Wizard Download

Game Copy Wizard in my opinion is the best thing... and let me explain why. If you are an avid gamer then you must knowing how important it is to have backups of your games available. Although it's your legal right to have personal back up copies of your gaming files and other information attached with the games. Like me, many of you must have gone through the consoles Xbox 360, Nintendo, almost all PlayStations, GameCube and many more down the line.

What is Game copy wizard?

It is a great game discs back up system. After a deep study and research it has been voted out that game copy wizard is one of the best game copy software on the market today. The wizard works by allowing you to produce the amazing quality back-up or copy of your favorite games for absolutely any type of game console. Copy Wizard uses a DVD burner and is very different from many types of software. How so, you ask? The best thing about Copy Wizard is it also enables you the opportunity to create a backup of your movies, videos, series and music too. Visit its official website in order to grab your download today.

Advantages of Game copy wizard:

- With it, you can backup games from just about any console present on the market. It even works for PC games.
- The best thing about the game copy software is it is easily available online and can be downloaded. With it you can backup your files even in less than $30.
- Game Wizard creates copies of videos, movies, music, and DVDs
- It is easy to use wizard, get regular free updates and get perfect 1:1 copies.
- The Wizard gets through the latest and most protected games easily and lets me burn these games onto any regular blank CD or DVD.

With the help of Game Copy Wizard, you can copy any video game in your personal collection. You can also copy many of your games directly onto writable media without any issue. It is yet to come across a built-in protection program on a game that is too difficult for Game Copy Wizard to break through too. I have been playing games that are long gone thanks to this excellent software. Even old records remain in my play list because of this new technology.

If you are like me and you want to save those most precious games from your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and GameCube this software is the best way to go!

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Munchkin: The Card Game

"Kill the monsters. Steal the treasure. Stab your buddy."

These three tenets, emblazoned on the box to the dedicated card game Munchkin, is a fairly accurate assessment of what you can expect when your group of 3-6 players sits down to play a game. Munchkin is essentially a dungeon crawling style role-playing game, just without the pencils and paper, heavy rulebooks, and role-playing. Much of the seriousness is removed as well, since nearly every card is dripping in satire lampooning traditional D&D styled games. Humor which is only built upon with cards brilliantly illustrated by John Kovalic, best known for his Dork Tower comic series.

So if you take all that boring stuff out of a role-playing game, what does that leave, you ask? Namely a faster paced game filled with monsters, loot and experience levels. In a race to be the first player to reach level 10, you and your friends will find yourselves teaming up to take down bigger monsters, all the while screwing each other over on a regular basis. The comical nature of the game helps in defusing resentment when a player starts to feel picked on, but the right crowd could still find themselves in heated debates over the occasionally ambiguously worded card. Don't take it too seriously though. Munchkin publisher Steve Jackson Games certainly doesn't, with rules like, "Any disputes in the rules should be settled by loud arguments with the owner of the game having the last word" and cards like Cheat that let you break established rules and equip items that you normally wouldn't be able to.

The game is played with two different types of cards, door cards and treasure cards. All players start as a level 1 human with 'no class (heh heh)' with two of each type of card in your hand. A player's turn begins by entering a new room in the dungeon by 'kicking down the door' (by drawing a door card face up). Door cards often consist of curses/traps, monsters, or cards that modify the player's class or race. If the player isn't forced into battle by drawing a monster face up, they can go 'looking for trouble' and choose to fight a monster by playing one from their hand. There's a wide array of monsters, ranging from a level 1 Potted Plant to a level 20 Plutonium Dragon. Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew, though. Opposing players can make your fight tougher by playing cards on your monster that gives it bonuses such as Enraged or Intelligent, increasing its fighting power.

Defeating a monster in combat will net you an experience level and some treasure. Treasure cards are usually items that modify your combat rating such as the Mace of Sharpness or the Big Rock or special cards like Bribe The GM With Food, which allows you to immediately go up one level. If you're unable to defeat the monster, you'll have to roll the die to run away. Fail to escape and you are forced to face the Bad Stuff, consequences of your defeat that are unique to each monster. Lose a fight to a level 10 Floating Nose and you might only lose a level. Go up against a level 18 Bullrog and fail and you might get killed, forcing you to start back at level 1 and draw a new hand of cards. If you're in a tight spot, you can try to convince someone at the table to help you in battle, adding their battle rating to yours, but they're not likely to help you out for free, and you might need to watch your back.

The game is published by Steve Jackson Games, a company that has created and published a myriad of card, board and role-playing games for over 30 years, including Car Wars, Chez Geek, and GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System). Since its original publication in 2001, Munchkin is far and away one of SJ Games' best sellers. No wonder, since it's such a fun and amusing game, and good for small to medium groups. In addition to multiple expansions, there have also been several spin-offs such as Munchkin Conan, Munchkin Zombies, western-themed The Good, The Bad and the Munchkin, and the upcoming Munchkin Apocalypse. Several Munchkin titles are available at your local Slackers today, and according to SJ Games, all spin-offs and expansions are compatible with the original Munchkin base game.

Visit http://www.slackers.com/ for more great reviews!

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Why Play HTML5 Games Instead of FLASH?

The first reason is that flash games aren't always made for mobile phones. This is the sad truth that not many people even know about. So many people assume that once you get a mobile phone such as an iPhone or something similar you can access any game you want. Sadly, you can't always do that. You only have a limited space and generally many games require the addition of flash applications in order to work like they are supposed to. That's means more waiting for you. Plus if you are in an area with little service for your phone, you won't get that application at all.

The second reason is you can take your arcade with you no matter where you are. The idea of having your favorite HTML5 game with you where ever you go is a fantasy for many many people. All you need is just a browser and internet access. And now with addition of free mobile games, you can have your arcade with you every where. Many times you only are required to download the game once and play it anywhere without the need to have internet connection.

The third reason is that HTML5 games are normally free and don't cost you a cent. This is considered the best part to most gamers. Mobile HTML5 games are normally free. There may be a handful that cost a dollar or so but those games tend to be more advanced. The fact that you have the choice of millions of free mobile games is amazing. This means your personal arcade can be massive.

The fourth reason is that there are a wider range of games to play online then ever before. Because of the popularity of tablets, advanced phones and even eReaders, there are tons of free arcade games online. Plus more games are added daily to fill every possible gaming need you have. The possibilities are basically endless.

The fifth reason is that it's simply just more fun and much easier than any other option. Why spend money on flash games when HTML5 games provide the same quality of entertainment without the added stress or expense. You don't need to sacrifice fun any longer because free mobile games are much more fun to play any way.

As you can see there are tons of reasons why playing HTML5 games is the better option for you. The flash games simply aren't made for mobile phones all the time. Your arcade will travel with you, the games are normally free or very low cost, there is a wider selection of arcade games than ever before, and lastly mobile HTML5 games are simply more fun.

Here are some more points about why HTML5 is better than flash:

- new technology
- faster
- multi-platform
- support apple devices
- still evolving
- no additional player needed (e.g. flash player)
- no download required
- required HTML5 supported browsers

Sakgames.com provides a wide variety of HTML5 mobile games. Why not check it out? Its fun, free and addictive. Play games now on mobile devices @ http://sakgames.com/

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Marketing Video Games - Get Help To Maximize Your Revenues

As an indie manufacturer of video games, you will have a great time using your creativity. However, you'll find it quite difficult to earn money out of your passion because the market for these games is quite saturated. Besides, it is quite difficult to compete against large production houses that have immense budgets at their disposal for marketing video games. You'll need to find a solution to this problem or else you will find it very difficult to stay in business.

The most popular way of marketing video games is to go through an agent. Agents generally have lots of contacts with game portals and will work towards ensuring that your games are featured there. A new development in the industry is the insistence of many game portals of only dealing with agents and not with games developers. You do have to pay money to the agent in lieu of his or her services but the results are generally worth it because you won't have to worry about earning revenues.

An important aspect of marketing video games is building interest for them on the internet through websites and blogs. You'll need to work on search engine optimization in order to ensure that the game is highly visible on the internet. You'll also need to advertise your product in sites where your target market will see them. Marketing is not always an easy job, especially if you prefer to focus on the production aspect of your business. In fact, you probably will miss out on business opportunities if you decide to handle marketing on your own.

It is sometimes a good idea to tie up with companies that take on the entire responsibility of marketing the video game for you. These companies generally offer you comprehensive marketing services on a profit share basis. If you feel that you can handle certain markets on your own but require help for certain types of portals or entire geographic areas then you can opt for limited assistance. Some of these companies will also offer you training and consultancy for a fee so that you can handle marketing on your own.

As you can see, there are many marketing options available to your video game production house. You will be able to choose one that suits your needs the best. Your revenues will get maximized and you will have plenty of time to develop a great many more games.

Get help for marketing video games so that you earn plenty of revenue for your business. You'll then be able to expand your business further.

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The Secret World Character Progression Overview

In an any role-playing game, one must know how to develop a character in order to progress deeper into the game. However, unlike most of the MMORPGs, the upcoming game called The Secret World does not have classes nor levelling systems. Instead, Funcom has created a game that allows players to build their own characters through their own choices of weapons, skills, and abilities with the help of talismans, gears, and other consumable items. So what will the player's joinery be like?

Player's progression in reference to the Secret World leveling guide depends on the amount of experience points that players acquire. Players receive experience points mainly by killing monsters, winning in PvP battlefields, completing missions, and crafting items using transcribing system. These experience points are shown at the bottom of the screen in the experience bar. When one third of the bar is filled up, the player receives an ability point. This ability point is to be used to purchase abilities in the ability wheel. There are 525 abilities available for all players, and a player can potentially learn every single ability in this game. However, player must pick 7 active abilities and 7 passive abilities. There are tons of combinations of weapons and abilities that players could try. Using those combinations, players can move further into the game's storyline.

On the other hand, when a player fills up the whole experience bar, the player receives a skill point. A skill point is used to specialize in a weapon. The weapon skills in The Secret World guide contains a levelling system starting from 1 to 10. Players may equip up to two weapons at a time. Each weapon has two roles, where one role is always to damage the target. Second role varies from healing ability, supporting ability, and to player's survivability. For example, weapon skills of hammers include survivability skills such as mitigation buff and increase in health. Whereas, blood magic includes healing ability such as blood shield, which creates a shield-like barrier that helps restore the target's health. By increasing the weapon skills, players may equip stronger weapons, and may develop one's own form of gameplay.

The amount of experience points needed to gain an ability point or a skill point is set statistically by the developer. However, there are tons of battlefields, war zones, and missions that will provide players with experience points. There are xp-bonus for players who have successfully kills a strong monster. There is a coloring system that tells if a monster is lower, equal, or higher than oneself; monsters will be colored green, yellow, or red respectively. Gain as much experience points as possible to build one and only one character in the world.

The Secret World is a recently released massively multiplayer online game developed by the video game developer, Funcom. Learn more about it by visiting http://fycgaming.net/tsw-the-kingsmouth-code-walkthrough-guide/ right now.

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