Gamers are notorious for being passionate about their favorite games, bringing it into all aspects of their lives, from wearing costumes during cosplays to collecting memorabilia. Dreams are not even exempt, with me admittedly dreaming quite regularly about fave games during the height of my gaming days back in college. With gamers more than willing to let their passion for games cross boundaries, it isn’t surprising at all if you’re into tweaking your social accounts to reflect your love of gaming.

A good way to spice up your Twitter page and tell the world at the same time just how much you like your games is by customizing your Twitter background using InstaBG’s free service. InstaBG uses Instagram photos (can be your photos or everyone’s public photos) to make a collage about any category or topic you like, including gaming-related topics such as console and The Sims.

InstaBG-generated Twitter background using “consoles” as tag

 

InstaBG-generated Twitter background using popular images for “Sims” as tag

 

InstaBG-generated Twitter background using new images for “Sims” as tag

 
As you see above, the backgrounds differ in tile sizes, spacing between tiles, colors of the spaces, and the images themselves. You can change all these and more easily on InstaBG and choose whichever option yields the collage that suits your taste. You can always preview the collage before posting it as your Twitter background so you don’t have to worry about getting an ugly background.

If you get bored easily, you can also set InstaBG to automatically update you Twitter background everyday so that the images on the collage will change without you having to anything.

Images generated using InstaBG

Got a gaming blog you need to promote? If so then I just might have found an easy solution for you – Blog Search Engine.

While you are probably computer savvy enough to DIY your blog’s SEO campaign, you’re also probably more interested in spending your time gaming instead of finding sites that will link back to you. Using services like Blog Search Engine’s will give you the luxury of focusing on your gaming while ensuring that you get the links you need to promote your blog.

To get your blog listed at Blog Search Engine, all you need to do is submit your blog details, pay the $14.99 fee via Paypal, and wait for the confirmation email. The basic package will get you’re a link on the web portal, and earn your blog a review. Upgrading your package will earn you more links thanks to their blog network, make your blog the featured blog, and even have place a banner ad of your blog on their homepage. Of course, the number of links and length as feature blog will all depend on which package you get.

Blogs listed on Blog Search Engine are also categorized depending on the topic, which will be helpful to your SEO efforts when the big search engines (i.e. Google) comes across your link via the web portal because it will help increase topic relevancy signals. This also makes it easier for users of the web portal to more easily find your blog should they choose to search for blog by topic.

Gamers, techies, and geeks are all welcome to try out Blog Search Engine’s blog promotion services.

Today the world is moving through the gaming world. Gaming generations are overcoming the other ways of entertainment and the 3D technologies have added a new taste to experience the gaming world in a new way. In pat times, there were the games that could be played on their particular devices. That is why; a specific section of the society was able to enjoy the games. However, as the technologies started growing, it also helps in the development of the gaming views and its ways.
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The popularity of games is increasing day by day and at a fast speed, as it has become the best way of entertainment. Especially the youth and the children are getting addicted to the gaming applications. Some facts are there that will shock you by their results. A wide research was done in states of USA in 2010 on the topic of that how much money is being spent by the people on purchasing the gaming consoles and results showed that 30 billion dollars were spent by the residents on purchasing the various gaming applications and system. As in the same research that was done in the year 2009, this amount was of 25 billion dollars. The fact shows how much people love the video gaming.

The latest technologies such like 3Ds has made these applications to go one-step ahead, as it is providing the most amazing world to enjoy the best features of gaming consoles. However, it can be said as the most ridiculous thing because it gives many kind of harm such like loss of eye-vision, mental weakness and many more. Therefore, I am going to tell you that how you can spare of money in spite of, collecting the gaming library.
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Eating out can be fun, but it can also be expensive. That is why a lot more people tend to spend some time in the kitchen creating their own delicious meals. Sure, it takes a little work, but it does help one relax and save money while at it. Of course, there is the anticipation for what comes after cooking – eating!

One trend that seems to be going strong is for people to patronize cooking- or food-related TV shows and web sites. The popularity of celebrity chefs has largely contributed to this, and they have not hesitated to take advantage of this. There are also a considerable number of web sites dedicating themselves to providing recipes to the average person who makes meals in his or her own kitchen.

Speaking of recipe portals, there is a newcomer in the arena: Recipe Finder. This new site is a search engine that has been designed to provide users with the best recipes that can be found online. With more than a million recipes in the collection, Recipe Finder offers users more than other recipe sites.

Recipe Finder is a breeze to use, not requiring technical knowledge from you – the user. All that you need to do is to key in the recipe name or an ingredient. There are also options which allow you to conduct a narrower search, which will give you more relevant results. For example, you can use the feature which allows you to indicate ingredients which you want to be included in or excluded from the recipe. Furthermore, you can indicate parameters such as calorie count, cook time, and the number of servings. With these features, you are assured of the best results.

Recipe Finder offers you more than discovering recipes. It also gives you some help in the organizational front via two features: the menu feature and the calendar feature. The menu feature allows you to create a fully customizable menu which can include the appetizer, main courses, and desserts. The calendar feature gives you the possibility of planning entire meals in advance.

For many people online, sharing is very important. Social networking is the key for them. Recipe Finder addresses this preference by providing sharing options using some of the most popular platforms. And if you are the kind who still prefers the feel of paper in your hands, then simply click on the print icon to create your hard copy!

What’s left for you to do is to cook!

Tags: recipes, search engines

We’ve all heard about how violent video games can bring harm to people who play them, especially the young people. More often than not, hardcore gamers get sick of these studies and proclamations of violence making players immune. That is why when I read this blog post on a study looking at the other side of the coin, I was pleasantly surprised. I was even more surprised that I haven’t heard more of this study, conducted by Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, which was actually started in 2004.

So what are the findings of the study? Dr. Olson states in an interview:

Many children in our survey, as well as our focus groups with boys who play violent games, said they played games to manage their feelings. This included playing games to “help get my anger out,” to forget problems, to relax, and to feel less lonely. Children who played at least one M-rated video game “a lot in the past six months” were significantly more likely to agree that getting anger out was one reason they played video games.

The bottom line is that adolescents who play video games are better able to manage their feelings – anger in particular. This is due to the fact that they are able to vent out violent emotions through video games. Another thing that I liked about the study is how they approached the issue – not using the premise that violent games cause aggressive behaviors. Instead, they focused on something more concrete – the reason behind adolescents playing these games.

Tags: Psychology, violence

I have heard many PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 fanboys say this over and over. These relatively new video game consoles just keep getting better and better, and for some, you have not experienced gaming unless you have used these consoles. Indeed, I know some people who would not play on anything than their favorite gaming console.

But what about the good old personal computer? Back in the day, the PC was all I played on. From Minesweeper to Hearts to The Sims to Counterstrike – the PC also has continued to evolve as a mean gaming machine. If we were to believe some people though, it would seem as if the PC as a gaming machine is all but dead. But is it, really?

Apparently NOT. A recent study by Interpret shows that 23% of gamers use their PCs as the main means of gaming. Their reason? The computer provides a far better experience than the PS3, the Xbox 360, or even the Nintendo Wii.

This is because with the PC, you can use the keyboard and the mouse for more complex controls. These peripherals also provide better means of communication, which is quite vital for online MMOs and strategy games.

You may be wondering about the sales of PC games. It is true that PC games are selling less and less – that is why video game stores are devoting less shelf space to them. However, the sales of downloadable games continue to rise.

The bottom line? PC gaming is not dead, and I don’t think it will ever be

Tags: pc gaming

I am sure that you have heard of some of these urban legends. I don’t know if you believe them (or used to believe them) but I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the biggest myths of video games.

Donkey Kong is a result of a wrong translation – it was really supposed to be Monkey Kong.
Funny isn’t it? Unfortunately, there is no truth to this. Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary Nintendo designer would be the first one to debunk this myth. He says that the name may sound funky but it was the choice at that time. It turned out to be a good choice – it is one of the most popular video games of all time.

PS2s – thousands of them – were purchased by Saddam Hussein to create a supercomputer for his military.
Not! Why would Saddam make use of PS2s to create a supercomputer? I am sure that a man of his means would have had access to more powerful processors. This hot piece of rumor didn’t stay alive for long – government officials officially debunked the myth soon after it circulated online.

A man has died playing video games.
Alright, this one has truth to it. I remember reading about it several years ago. This Korean man played for 50 hours straight and died of a heart attack. That was in 2005. Another Korean guy died of exhaustion after playing straight for 86 hours. The moral of the story is this – get some rest while playing video games!

Want more of these urban legends? Read Yahoo’s feature on them.

Tags: gaming culture, urban legends

The answer would depend on who you are asking. Well, according to some game developers, they do. I ran across an article talking about this topic and I thought I’d share excerpts with you:

For years I’ve heard from gamers and game developers who relish the stories in “Final Fantasy” games or in the adventures made by Canadian developer BioWare. But at the Game Developers Conference last month, I heard something else. I heard game developers grump about the state of storytelling in video games.

I heard Dave Jones, president of development studio Real Time Worlds and one of the original architects of the “Grand Theft Auto” series, telling an audience: “I like to leave story to books and movies.”

I met with Denis Dyack, the ever-outspoken president of Silicon Knights to talk about the ambitious and heavily story-driven action game “Too Human,” which his company will be releasing on the Xbox 360 this year. And he trashed game stories too. He said the current quality of game stories is “just not acceptable.”

Here’s what he told GameFile (it’s classic Dyack, the kind of commentary that has won him legions of fans and detractors): “I think stories like [the ones in the books] ‘Hyperion’ or ‘Altered Carbon’ or very serious science fiction — we need to get stories to that level in the video game industry. … Bubblegum stories are OK, but there’s no reason we can’t aspire to do more for those who want to do more. Certainly there’s room for everything. If ‘Too Human’ can say anything, it’s that it can be done, and we should at least attempt to try.”

Author Stephen Totilo ends:

So what was the greatest story a video game ever told? A “GTA” game? “Mass Effect”? “Planescape: Torment”? Was the greatest gaming story ever told even a great one? Or should developers not bother trying to tell a great one? At GDC, the answer wasn’t clear. But the restlessness was evident. Games don’t tell great stories yet, the game makers told me, and maybe they never will.

Sad but true.

Tags: plots, story lines

I have never played a video game while drunk – well, as far as I can remember. I ran across this funny post detailing the top 5 games you are better at when you’re drunk. I guess the effects of St. Patrick’s Day drinking had not worn off yet when Jenn Frank wrote this post. It’s an amusing read – here’s the list:

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – DS
While you might not think booze and detective work go together (although, come to think of it, there is a certain Sam Spade appeal there), the truth is, point-and-click adventure puzzles seem to go down a little easier with a glass of wine.

2. WarioWare: Smooth Moves – Wii
With alcohol, it’s easy to coerce your friends into doing things they would never ordinarily do. Turn that negative into a positive! Nothing feels quite so right as finding four of the burliest, manliest dudes you can, moving the Hummel figurines out of arm’s reach, and bringing out the Wii Remotes.

3. Guitar Hero – PS2, 360, Wii, Mac
With “beatmatching” rhythm games and alcohol, there’s a dramatic bell curve. You’re invincible after a beer, but after one too many, you’re so kicked out of the band. The reason you can play games after a whiskey is actually the same reason you don’t drive after a whiskey: Slightly impaired judgment means you’re more confident, more daring.

4. Rez HD – 360
Perhaps games like Breakout benefit from alcohol consumption because they do rely on visual abstraction. Modern shoot-em-ups like Rez also seem to benefit from beer buzz: The half-awake, primal brain focuses on nothing in particular, and yet, as if automagically, you manage to rack up a phenomenal score.

5. Breakout – Atari 2600
Breakout is a very twitchy game that requires fine, precise movements and astute snap decision-making. In that regard it’s practically a sobriety test.

What do you think? Want to try one of these out after a night of drinking?

Tags: humor