There are a lot of things an addicted gamer would prefer for his game console. Regardless if this is a PlayStation, Nintendo, Gamebox or personal computer games, add-ons in the form of steering wheel controllers, dance pads and higher capacity memory cards will always be available for expansion.

Some people would be content by merely having the basic gaming unit and satisfying themselves with the available options a game would have. But sooner or later, depending on the game genre that they are looking at, upgrades and improvements to their current setup will surely ensue.

There is no question that a gaming experience would increase the ante of requirements to play the game at a higher level. Such an occurrence will only be normal because this is what game developers aim to achieve. Higher requirements in the form of required controllers and hardware requirements will only be normal. The advanced a game becomes, the higher the need for advanced requirements as well.

Tags: Nintendo, PC-games, PlayStation, Xbox

Next Generation lists its top 100 games of the 21st century. While we think of game preference as a purely subjective topic, the market would usually dictate what’s hot and what’s not. And Next-Gen.Biz came up with its ranking of games of PlayStation 2, X box, GameCube vintage based on unit sales. According to the site, the analysis includes revenues made from game sales, review scores, review commentaries (again, subjective), and the number of spin-offs from the title series, among others.

So what’s the number one game? Action-, violence- (and sex?) packed Grand Theft Auto Vice City!

GTA has spent this whole generation as a juggernaut, but Vice City did everything right at exactly the right time. It polished the superlative gameplay of its smash-hit predecessor. It perfected controversy marketing without being pulled from shelves like its successor. It even managed to ride a wave of 80′s nostalgia right as the decade was having a minor renaissance courtesy of VH1 – no wonder its sales reigns supreme.

Sorry parents and prudes in Congress. It seems that violence still rules when it comes to video games. Perhaps people do need some way to unwind from the stresses of real life, and perhaps stealing cars and killing cops along the way is part of this de-stressing. Let’s just hope this doesn’t extend into real life. We’ve had enough of real life violence in the news, especially with the wars in the Middle East.

Talk about people having nothing better to do! A group of researchers released a report regarding how game console branding affected the psychological responses of children. For boys, they compared the effects of Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation. For girls, they compared the effects of Barbie and Bratz dolls.

The results of their study showed that the Xbox affected the little boys more strongly in that they felt more empowered and self-confident. On the other hand, after viewing the Xbox system, the same boys also became more distrustful as compared to the boys who viewed the PlayStation. It was not disclosed if there was a difference between the Xbox, Xbox360, PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3.

The conclusion? Psychology plays a key role in branding and marketing. I was wondering, though. How would you translate these findings in the real world? Would boys who use the Xbox be really more confident in their daily activities? Would they also be really more distrustful of those around them? Another thing, I wonder what their findings would have been if they had the little girls play with the different consoles rather than the dolls? Last, I wonder how parents would react to these findings?

Oh by the way, these little boys and girls may not be little after all. The research group didn’t give any details as to their age group as well as to the number of subjects they carried out the study on.

This gives me an idea. Why don’t we try a little experiment on our own? Try playing with the Xbox and the PlayStation and see how they affect us?

Tags: consoles, PlayStation, PS3, Xbox

Pokemon may not be as red hot as it once was a few years ago but a big fan base still eagerly await any new Pokemon releases. Pokemon Emerald may have been released almost a year ago but this GBA game is still being played by many Pokemon fans because it is such a joy to play. Below you can find some secrets to the game that you can exploit: The Mystery Gift.

In order to get the mystery gift, visit the pokemon mart and press A on the paper that you will see on the counter. You should then try to insert the phrase “LINK TOGETHER WITH ALL.” You can press select in order to more easily locate the words. When you have done this the store lady will request to talk to you. She will tell you that the mystery gift has been unlocked.

Hatching eggs – how to make it go faster

This is pretty simple. All you need to do is to place a pokemon that possess the Flame Body or Magma Armor ability in your team. Do this and you can cut the number of steps that are required to hatch an egg.

Swarm’s second ability

Swarm is a pokemon ability that basically has two distinct effects. The first effect is to increase the Bug type attacks 150 per cent when the player has been weakened. What is new to Pokemon Emerald though is that it causes pokemon to cry in the background with more frequency.

Raising weak pokemon

There is an easier way of raising weak pokemons. Put the pokemon on the first slot. When there is a battle quickly choose that pokemon. When the battle finishes, the pokemon will get half of the experience points.

Tags: emerald, pokemon, secrets-GBA