harald wachtel's blog

last updated on: 30/10 10:03AM

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Kids Online Games: Get Phat!
[October 30, 2008]
New ¡®Heroes V¡¯ Offering Outshines All Previous Versions
[October 30, 2008]
That desperate
[April 10, 2008]
that doesn¡¯t make any sense to me
[April 10, 2008]
40 is the new 70!
[April 10, 2008]

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[30/10 10:03AM]

Kids online games are games that kids can play when they are connected to the Internet using either a computer or a video console [Examples: Playstation 2, Xbox]. Kids love games, and with kids getting net-savvier by the day they have latched on big-time to online games. If you compare today's kids online games to how kids used to assemble together to play board games, you will be surprised to see how fast kids are growing and how rapidly they are maturing. Kids Online Games: Devices And Games Kids can play online games using – (1) A computer: In this case the games are most likely to be browser-based, simple, fun or educational type, involving sports (racing, baseball), knowledge (Hangman, Scrabble), arcades (Space Invaders, Mario), etc. Many kids cannot play massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) because there is a monthly subscription involved. However, companies such as Disney have started developing MMOGs for kids. (2) A video console: Kids really freak out on a video console. They just love video console gaming because the learning curve is easy and there are not too many buttons to push (as in PC online games). Pros And Cons Of Kids Online Games Online games can keep kids entertained, and apart from that, improve their knowledge too if they play educational games. In fact, the University of Victoria is developing a game called ""Let's Face It"" that teaches autistic kids to recognize faces. While playing MMOGs kids can learn real-world skill concepts such as commerce, barter, mining, chemistry, all of which can be useful in real life. Kids online games also teach them interactivity, and also how to talk to strangers and how to make friends. The flipside is that if playing these games is not controlled then kids might get addicted to them and this addiction is dangerous – almost as dangerous as taking a banned substance or even as dangerous as smoking. If kids squat for a long time playing these games, they might get obese. Some browser-based games can be graphically violent and leave a deep impression on their psyche (e. g. some browser games may involve shooting a politician). While playing multiplayer games online, a kid might get in contact with a stranger who might be up to no good. Many video console games feature too much graphic violence and that is not nice for a kid at an impressionable age. Conclusion There is a silver lining to this dark image depending on how you look at kids online games: statistics show that 62% of the video console and 66% of the PC game market customers are over the age of 18 years. Also, stricter laws related to kids and online games are slowly being passed across the major game-playing nations. And sooner or later, the entire hullabaloo is likely to settle down. " "The game of chess has come a long way with computers and software programs getting an upper hand over amateur players and even experienced grandmasters. It was a dream of some chess enthusiasts to have a machine play this game which represented pure thinking in action. Ãâ·ÑÍøÂçÓÎÏ· It seemed like only a human could play meaningful chess and win. The advances in software and computer hardware have made chess playing machines commonplace, so much so that now one can play the game on small handheld devices as well. Another aspect of chess playing software is the use of Internet for playing the game. ×îÐÂÃâ·ÑÍøÂçÓÎÏ· The Internet has made the world a close-knit community, with real time chatting and emails widely used everyday by millions of people around the world. It is now possible to play the game of chess sitting at home or your office with people located anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This is a marvelous thing that has happened to the game of chess, and gaming in general. ×îÐÂÍøÓÎ For before the internet, one could hardly imagine anything like this happening in the future. What is it like to play chess online. Simply find out the website that allows you to play the game, and register with a username. Download some files and log in. Locate a player and start the game. Invite the player with some introduction.

[30/10 10:02AM]

This is not the game you’ve played before. And yet, it’s familiar. Ubisoft Entertainment’s new revision of the Might and Magic saga—Heroes of Might and Magic V—offers players a stunning new 3D realm in which to adventure. It’s partially the concept that gamers have known over the years, but the graphics, gameplay and overall feel have been upgraded to reflect a more mature, more engrossing single or multiplayer game. From the start of the first campaign scenario to the endgame, consumers old and new will be drawn to this exciting offering. The Gist Apart from the quirky Might and Magic games of the 1980s came the Heroes of Might and Magic series, generally designed as a single player campaign or multiplayer head-to-head game. The key player moves between captured cities building an army and taking on the opposing side(s), depending upon the scenario. Between cities and battles, the hero will learn spells, skills and navigate a world of traps, monsters and challenges both above and below ground in his quest for ultimate domination. Sometimes the overall goal is elimination of the opponent, sometimes the achievement of a specific capture such as a teleporter or other in-game element. That’s the gist of the game, but that’s like saying gardening is basically using a shovel to move some dirt around. HoMM5 is much, much more. An Improved Landscape Sure, past versions of the game have offered a dynamic landscape, and certainly, the changes between HoMM2 and HoMM3 were a clear evolution into modern graphics. However, the limitation was set in viewpoint—only the overhead or three-quarter views were available to the player. With HoMM5, we see a new generation of graphics that not only change the entire look of the game, but create an eerily real landscape in which the player—if he so desires—can pan right down into the action as his hero treads the world. In addition, combat scenes are no longer simple animations where one figure gives another a whack with a sword or tosses out a spell, but complex mini-movies in which the player can see his or her hero or minions truly combat the opposing creature. The game’s creators claim that the step toward 3D graphics allows a darker, more intense world with breathtaking scenery. They are not making empty boasts, however, there’s always a downside to vastly improved graphics. Most are created to run well on today’s machines but to perform with aplomb on future machines that will make the modern graphical processor look like the proverbial 98-pound weakling at Muscle Beach. Thus, the requirements to have the game run smoothly are considerable. Exciting new gameplay It is worth noting here that Ubisoft has probably broken a barrier here with some of the best turn-based gameplay options on the single-player game market. The overland and subterranean movement cues are clearly defined and most operations are key-bound for those who are more comfortable with tapping keys rather than using the mouse. In conjunction with the mouse, however, the keyboard provides a way to pan around the landscape and change camera views in order to plan the player’s routes. Once in combat mode, however, the game really shines as a tactical interface comes up with a grid (also expandable through skills the hero can obtain) allowing the player to rearrange minions for each battle. For movement in combat, the game no longer uses the familiar system of travel dots for each creature, but uses an ingenious turn palette and grid. Ä§ÊÞ At the bottom of the screen, the player can see the order in which each minion will act, adjusted on the fly based on low or high morale. When a minion gains a turn, a movement grid will spawn giving the player all of the options available. This allows for a much more strategic placement and usage of troops. ÍøÂçÓÎÏ· Incorporated features Many of the skills former players enjoyed are brought back in this incarnation, though some have been reworked to coincide with the new version of the game. All told, heroes have access to some 200 skills and 40 spells. This is offset by 180 creature abilities, giving players a nice challenge on the field of battle. ÍøÓÎ Further, city building has evolved in a new way. As players work through building the various enhancements to their cities, they will see a megatropolis appear before them in rich detail and with a strong development tree. Perhaps one of the nicest features for the consumer lies is in the multiplayer option for the game. ÓÎÏ· Players will find that though the game is turn based, there are options for simultaneous play that open up the world to the players on a real-time basis. This is a first for the series, despite similar developments in other game systems such as Starcraft where players can go head to head from the moment the game opens.

[10/04 09:50AM]

"I’m already a little leery. I’ve messed with my UI a lot since then, so I have no idea how my bars are set up, etc. I take a few minutes to make sure the important stuff is there, and I get ready for my first real work with him in awhile. Looking at the group, I’m not so worried anymore. If I was going to run a heroic with a character I hadn’t played in 9 months, this is the group I’d want to roll with. I don’t need to get into particulars, but other than me it was like a dream team. Well geared Warrior, Pally, Priest and Mage. Then me. With Valanos. Without a scope. Blackflight arrows. wow gold 329 bow skill. Of course I was iffy at first. I never used macros, so I couldn’t lean on any fancy shot rotations. My pet management was way off. He died probably 10 times for the whole run. Poor little dude. wow lvl service I also didn’t realize till halfway through that I had growl on…it didn’t seem to be a problem for our tank– but it may explain all those deaths. Since the overall group was so strong, the Priest and Pally were both kind of running hybrid. Half DPS, half healing. They both out DPSed me, I’m sure, though I don’t run meters. Overall, it went ok. wow gold We only wiped once, on the trash leading up to Warp Splinter. I always seem to wipe there. I got a nice blue ring off of the boss before Warpsplinter, my first five badges, and the purple epic AP/Stam gem. The best thing, though, was I got the Nether I needed for my Engineering shades. Not bad! I also managed to get my bow skill up to 349.

wow leveln I had a lot of fun, it was good to get back in the damage game a bit, and now I think I’ll start running five mans with him to get geared. Here I had been searching for a good complement class to my 70 Druid, and my 70 Hunter was just sitting out there. Sometimes you just can’t see the forest for the trees, ya know. " "Well, not necessarily pavement, per se. More like dirt, grass and the other fauna that populate the zone. wow level service Last night was my first foray into ZA, it was short and full of…well…death. In the last couple of weeks I finally met my guild’s minimum requirements to participate in ZA runs. Sadly, they run them Monday and Tuesday nights, and I can almost NEVER make those times. I bowl in a league on Tuesday nights, and I just plain generally can’t play during prime time hours.play a game That’s when I spend time with the family. Anyhow, as of last night I didn’t know when I’d be able to go. But my wife was quite tired and fell asleep about 8:30 last night, and the baby was already in bed. When I get an opening, I log on immediately. Sure enough, they were losing a DPS and were looking for a replacement just a bit before the Dragonhawk boss. To fit me in they had one of the healers switch over to DPS and I filled the healer slot. Up until now, I have never been to the zone. I wouldn’t even know how to GET there.