Gaming and Video Games

An inter-active escape from the humdrum…

by

Owen Jones

Published by

Megan Publishing Services

https://meganthemisconception.com

Copyright Owen Jones 2022 ©

Hello and thank you for buying this book called ‘Gaming and Video Games - An inter-active escape from the humdrum…’ I hope that you will find the information helpful, useful and profitable, and that it will interest those who like arcade, video and computer games.

Why do People Like Gaming? Well, many millions of professionals and worried parents have been asking themselves this very question for at least fifty years.

When video gaming started in the Seventies, most people saw it as a bit of fun, but as the craze took hold, even in that decade, intellectuals and educationists began calling it ‘a stupid distraction’, and the gamers ‘dumb’. This continued until fairly recently, and millions of disparaging words were written about video games and gamers.

However, the tide is now turning, and ‘experts’ are pontificating on the positive aspects of gaming on gamers…even on very young ones. All the while this debate swirled around them, gamers just got on with what they liked doing the most - playing video games.

Much has been written about why gaming took the youth of the Seventies by storm, and why now, people of all ages love to play. Some like the rôle-playing, others like the virtual risk-taking, and others like to hone skills that they would not ordinarily use.

Some even dream of joining the thin ranks of the millionaire élite gamers.

Whatever your reason, may you long derive pleasure from your hobby, and may The Force be with you!

The information in this ebook on various types of games, video, computer, arcade and related subjects, is organised into 16 chapters of about 500-600 words each.

As an added bonus, I am granting you permission to use the content on your own website or in your own blogs and newsletter, although it is better if you rewrite them in your own words first.

You may also split the book up and resell the articles. In fact, the only right that you do not have is to resell or give away the book as it was delivered to you.

If you have any feedback, please leave it with the company you bought this book from.

Thanks again for purchasing this book,

Regards,

Owen Jones

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

Believe not in anything simply because you have heard it,

Believe not in anything simply because it was spoken and rumoured by many,

Believe not in anything simply because it was found written in your religious texts,

Believe not in anything merely on the authority of teachers and elders,

Believe not in traditions because they have been handed down for generations,

But after observation and analysis, if anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, accept it and live up to it.

Gautama Buddha

––

Great Spirit, whose voice is on the wind, hear me. Let me grow in strength and knowledge.

Make me ever behold the red and purple sunset. May my hands respect the things you have given me.

Teach me the secrets hidden under every leaf and stone, as you have taught people for ages past.

Let me use my strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy – myself.

Let me always come before you with clean hands and an open heart, that as my Earthly span fades like the sunset, my Spirit shall return to you without shame.

(Based on a traditional Sioux prayer)

–—

“I do not seek to walk in the paths of the Wise People of old.

I seek what they sought!”

Matsuo Basho

Table of Contents

Gaming and Video Games

Hello and thank you for buying this book called ‘Gaming and Video Games - An inter-active escape from the humdrum…’ I hope that you will find the information helpful, useful and profitable, and that i...

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

Getting To Know Online Role Playing Games

Combining Xbox And A Home Theatre

How To Review Video Games

How Video Games Consoles Work

A Video Game Environment Of Your Own

Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession

Online Gaming

Online Role Playing Games

The Etiquette Of Multi-Player Games

Skins For Your Xbox Game System

The Rise And Fall Of The Old Gaming Systems

Xbox And Home Theatre

Playing Old Games On A New Computer

What Does A Computer Gaming System Need?

The Best Video Game Systems

Why do People Like Gaming?

Contact Details

Getting To Know Online Role Playing Games

Computer role playing games are video games where the player picks a character to become from a list and is sometimes allowed to personalize that entity’s character and clothing before joining the game to interrelate with other people who have also selected to be computer fictional characters.

Depending on the game and the character, the entity might be decent or evil and may work with or against other players. Often it is just| like strolling down the street, you do not always know who the person coming towards you truly is and what he or she is like. Could be friendly, could be a terrorist, could be a mugger, could be saintly.

There will be quests and you have to complete these quests to progress through the game. In order to complete some quests, you will need to gather up experience and particular things or powers or find someone to help you, depending on the game and the situation.

The first widely-played online role playing game was ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and most contemporary games follow the game play laid down there. The modern games, or the majority of them, are more difficult than D&D, but then they have had something to copy and expand on.

The character that you adopt and develop is called an ‘avatar’ and normally, when you have adopted an avatar, you cannot swap it without restarting the game. Do not forget that your avatar will change subtly as the game advances by learning and procuring experience and tools or weapons.

Therefore, do not become tempted to change your avatar if it appears a bit wimpy at the start. Infants are not the adults that they will become, even if the kernel is already there. Your abilities will be displayed on screen somehow, so you will be able to see your strength, experience, magical prowess and what-not progress or diminish.

The setting for the role playing game (RPG) could be anything, but the most popular are fantasy, space and historical, so you could be in ‘Middle Earth’, on Mars or in ‘Merrie Olde England’ for example, depending on the game.

Most games involve magic, but not all and some RPG’s permit you to re-enact real battles with your own strategy to see whether you would hove won or lost - the Battle of the Little Big Horn, for example.

During the game, you will be required to complete quests or missions. Completing these quests usually takes certain abilities or tools or even other people, so you will have to think about how to do it. This is like a chess game where check or checkmate can be obtained with just one piece, but more frequently it takes a number of pieces of certain ranks.

Not all the avatars that you meet will be managed by other players, Some, the non-role players (NRP’s) will be computer-controlled and might be there to help you, normally with information or a present, or to hinder you by blocking your passage or fighting you. Some of these can get beaten and some cannot, so you could expend lots of time and energy on them, but you will not know without experience.

Combining Xbox And A Home Theatre

There are several video game systems on the market, but if you are looking for a game system that also can be utilised with a home theatre entertainment, then the best choice has to be the Xbox game console.

Often it is the situation that children will want to play games during the daytime on vacations and before bed during the week, whereas parents will want to watch films at night before going to bed. Therefore, the two age classes need not clash often with their use of the home theatre system.

Therefore, if you can buy a piece of equipment that fulfils both the functions of playing games and playing films, you can save some money. The Xbox game system fulfils this function, because the Xbox is one of the new generation of video game consoles that can also play films on DVD or whatever disk format.

The Xbox is really a very hi-tech piece of equipment, something that non-game players may not have realised. It fits easily with a home theatre system because it has wide screen video capability, HDTV screen resolutions and Dolby Digital and DTS sound support, making it a ideal home theatre system component.

The Xbox is also a good looking piece of kit, which will match any existing black home theatre apparatus you may already own. It does not look like just a plastic toy.

It was developed by Microsoft and has a sturdy, stylish look. The Xbox’s case is black with an X on it and a green Xbox logo resembling a jewel.

The Xbox is essentially a cut-down computer as it has many components of a personal computer such as an Intel processor, NVidia graphic chips and an internal hard drive among others.

PC’s are general purpose tools, whereas the Xbox is designed for playing DVD’s in more ways than one. In other words, it is a dedicated computer. It is dedicated to the job of playing DVD’s and it does it incredibly well.

However, it also has four controller sockets in the front of the box for connections and it has an Ethernet socket for multi player games that permits other gamers on the Internet to take part in the game.

The Xbox system includes as standard: the controllers with a 9 ft cable, a standard AV cable, and an AC power cord. It also ships with a DVD loading tray and a multi signal audio-video connector for easy connection to televisions and other home theatre equipment.

The Xbox will transform the fashion you think of games and how you play them, because it is so dedicated to making interactive games a reality and as exciting as they can. Games are written particularly for it such as the Dead or Alive series and the Halo series as well.

However, their are sports simulations to be had too such as football and Formula 1 motor car racing. The graphics, sound and overall reality are remarkable. Finally, for parents who are worried about what their kids are watching, playing or doing, there are parental controls built into the Xbox.

How To Review Video Games

Playing video games, or gaming, is probably the most popular pastime in the world. Children do not play football in the street t as often as they did, they sit in their bedrooms or in video cafes playing computer games. This means that there are always millions of kids playing computer games, discussing video games or reading about them.

Reviews of computer games are everywhere, but still there is a colossal demand for more. If you would like to write reviews on computer games, you will find ready publishers on Internet gaming sites and if the reviews are decent, you may get them published in gaming magazines too. So how do you go about composing a review of a computer game?

The first thing to do is establish your target audience. Gamers are on all sorts of levels, but in essence you can say that there are beginners, hobbyists and experts. So who are you capable of writing for. Naturally, an expert will be looking for a more detailed review than a beginner.

What is your own level of expertise? You will find it almost impossible to write on a level far higher than that and still be credible. If you attempt to fudge it, people will see through it and know that you do not truly understand what you are writing about, so review to your ability / knowledge of the game and attempt to increase your ability / knowledge.

Each game attempts to be different, but they share a commonality nevertheless. So, there is a basic set of questions that has to be addressed no matter which game you are reviewing.

The questions include: does it load quickly? Is there a selection of characters? What are their powers? Is the action smooth and fluid? Are the colours true? Is the action fast? Does the game crash? Can it be played by more than one player at a time? Can you play it on line?

Players on every level would like to know the answers to questions like those. Other vital information is: which machines can it be played on? What specifications does that machine or PC need to run the game at top speed - CPU speed, RAM, HD free space and screen