Great New Gaming Site

Big Fish Games is a new site that lets you both download games and play online plus chat, all for very low prices. You can pick games that are just for fun or that help you develop skills. One that I've been playing a lot lately is MYSTIC INN: you're a waitress (oops, I mean waitperson) who has to take care of magical folk's drink orders in a timely manner if you're to make your own goals. It's great for learning time management, organizational skills and taking care of business. It's also great fun.

They have new games added all the time so you have plenty to choose from. Check them out if you get a chance.

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HELLO KITTY - Serious Threat or Seriously Silly?

Sanrio has come up with its own MMORPG based on the highly beloved (and commercial) HELLO KITTY characters. They're hoping to parlay their worldwide popularity into an online gaming system that can take on World of Warcraft as the predominant MMORPG across the globe. (Always good to dream big if you're going to dream at all, eh?)

I don't know about you, but people who want to sling spells, dream of dragons, outwit wizards, topple trolls and eviscerate evil-doers generally aren't the same ones who want to see a penguin named Badtz-Maru wander the streets of the Flower Kingdom happily playing his guitar. (Or maybe they are???)

I have the feeling both systems have their places and will each fill a niche rather than directly compete for the same audience. (Personally, while WoW is supposedly 'family friendly' with everyone being able to play, I'd much rather have young children learn to play 'nicely' with each other in an RPG world like HELLO KITTY before they learn how to fight evil - and each other - in WoW. Just my opinion...)

Since HK is currently in Beta testing (with over 30,000 people already running the characters and imaginary locations through their paces), we'll see what, if anything, Blizzard decides to come up with in the meantime to combat Sanrio's efforts to grab a chunk of their MMORPG market. (A cute little side kingdom of friendly elves or fairies? LOL)

Head Tracking Using the WiiRemote

Here's a really cool video on how to create Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote:



"Using the infrared camera in the Wii remote and a head mounted sensor bar (two IR LEDs), you can accurately track the location of your head and render view dependent images on the screen. This effectively transforms your display into a portal to a virtual environment. The display properly reacts to head and body movement as if it were a real window creating a realistic illusion of depth and space. By Johnny Chung Lee, Carnegie Mellon University."

The illusion of 3D even on a screen watching a screen is amazing!

Life Imitates Art - ENDER'S GAME

In August 1977, Orson Scott Card's novelette ENDER'S GAME was published in ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION AND FACT and it caught the imagination of the sci fi world with its tale of very young, extremely smart, children trained to play war games for an upcoming battle with an alien species called the Formics.

Finally, more than 30 years after the story was released and a host of expanded and sequel novels were published (XENOCIDE, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, CHILDREN OF THE MIND, FIRST MEETINGS IN THE ENDERVERSE), Orson Scott Card has given Chair Entertainment Group the exclusive license to create games based on the books.

They plan to offer the games on all next-generation console, hand-held and PC platforms. With Card's help, Chair Entertainment will begin development later this year on a game inspired by the Battle Room, the mainstay of ENDER'S GAME. The first version is expected for release via downloadable platforms.

In the meantime, while we wait for a chance to train at Battle School to see for ourselves how we'd stack up against a bunch of precocious kids, Director Wolfgang Petersen (TROY) is currently working on a film version of the book series with Orson Scott Card writing the screenplay, hopefully insuring a movie that stays faithful to the books. (Can you say 'tie-ins'?)

Be All You Can Be - Play America's Army

Meet Paxton Galvanek, online gamer and hero: In November 2007, the twenty-eight year-old helped save two North Carolina accident victims from an out of control SUV that had rolled over about 5 times. As the first one on the scene, in fact, having watched as the accident happened, he managed to run across the highway, safely remove both people from the smoking SUV and properly assessed and treated their wounds, which included bruises, scrapes, head trauma and the loss of two fingers.

So what type of medical background did Galvanek have? None - unless you count hours playing the computer game America's Army. As a medic in the game, players must sit through extensive medical training sessions based on real-life classes - Galvanek managed to pay enough attention throughout and learn enough that he was able to 'triage' the patients on the scene, helping to first control the heavy bleeding caused by the missing fingers, and then go on to check out any other injuries while waiting for additional help which, ironically, came in the form of an Army medic.

Just goes to show that some online gaming and certain types of characters can really pay off in real life... According to the US Army, this is the 2nd time someone has been able to use the online medic training to help save lives in an emergency.

So even if you don't feel any need to join the real Army or to play war, but wouldn't mind having a bit of useful emergency medical training, check out the game for yourself at www.americasarmy.com Play and learn something valuable at the same time!

World of Warcraft Hits 10 Million

Congrats to Blizzard on hitting its newest gaming milestone: 10 million players worldwide. According to their website, approx 2.5 million of those players are from North America with the bulk of the remainder in Asia. That's a LOT of internet traffic!

Guess this means they're here to stay for a little while, eh? Wonder who pushed them over the big 1-0? William Shatner? Verne Troyer? or someone else who hasn't done a commercial for them yet... LOL

How To Pick The Right MMORPG - A Quick MMO Games Overview For Newbies

How To Pick The Right MMORPG - A Quick MMO Games Overview For Newbies
By Fredrik Komstadius

There are lots of different online rpg games out there and picking one that suits your need can be a daunting task if you are new to the MMORPG scene. In this article I will give you a brief overview of some of the more popular games, these will be categorized to reflect playing styles. Ok, let us start shall we?

The Casual MMORPG Player
If you don't want to spend half your life developing your online persona there is a couple of games that will suit your needs just fine. Quick access to fun game play elements and nice rewards for little time invested are two corner stones for this category. Most MMO games do however require extensive gameplay to really make your toon powerful, these games will let you feel like you have achieved something in just a quick play session.

World of Warcraft
This is the worlds most popular MMORPG and can be extremely complex and time consuming if you really dive deep into it. But if you're just looking for a couple hours of online fun now and then, this game will suit you perfectly. Is allows your character to progress the instant you log in. Leveling is at your fingertips all the time and WoW is filled with fun quests and stuff do to. I can promise you that you will never be bored!

Guild Wars
Not as easy to get into as WoW but still a quick fix for the hungry player. Featuring instantiated gameplay and NPC teammates you can start exploring the various world of Guild Wars almost right away. Guild Wars also features some pretty extensive PVP game play.

Other games worth mentioning in this category are:

- Archlord (free to play)

- Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

- Lineage II (filled with bots)

The Time Investing MMORPG Player
If you really want a complex and time consuming game with a lot of rewards for the hardcore player, there are a couple of nice advanced MMORPGs out there.

Eve Online
If you ask me, this is the best online game ever made. I have played it since 2003 and I am still in love with it. Featuring a breathtaking universe to explore with over 6000 star systems. This game is really to big and complex to describe in full here. Let's just say it's an space opera that will make you want to live in New Eden permanently. If your ever played Elite I can almost promise you will absolutely love this one! CCP is offering a trial for this game so try it out!.

Everquest II
Although you can get your quick fix of monster mashing here too this game is a bit more complex than the ones described in the casual category. The learning curve is steeper and group play is more in focus here.

Final Fantasy XI
A very popular MMORPG that's been around for a long time now, this game almost forces you to play in groups if you want to get somewhere. This requires a lot of time on your behalf. Well worth it though if you ask me!

Other games worth mentioning in the category are:

- Dungeons and Dragons Online (group play is a must here)

- Unification Wars (100% free)

Summary

Well then, I hope I have given you some nice tips on which MMO game is right for you. However, there are tons of more games out there and these are just some of the more popular ones. Free MMORPG Games are a dime a dussin these days.

Fredrik Komstadius has a Masters Degree in Social Science and works as a PHP programmer. In his spare time he is managing the site MMO Corner - MMORPG, News, Free MMO Games and Betas

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