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According to some recent reports, video games improve cognitive and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination and even social skills. It seems that games are not just a waste of time, but are powerful tools and can have many positive effects we didn’t expect they could.

Video Games Improve Hand-Eye Coordination

The process of hand-eye coordination occurs when the eyes receive information and send it to the brain which uses it to coordinate with the hands to perform an activity.

Hand-eye coordination skills can be improved by practicing and exercising. One way to do so is by playing action video games. For some kids this seems to be the best way.

Video games are useful in this because the gamer must use his or her hands and fingers to respond to the information seen on the screen. Children can benefit from this practice even before they can read and write well.

As we get older some skills such as hand-eye coordination, motor skills and reflexes, need some sharpening, so it is wise to be involved in some game or sport.

Video Games Improve Social Skills

Computer and console gaming improve social interaction skills and social development. I suppose you are asking: “Where did this come from?” I didn’t make this up, it’s the conclusion of recent research reports.

There where days when gamers were seen as being social outcasts. They were lonely people with machines for friends, but now things have changed. The main factor is the internet and online games.

The researchers claim that three-quarters of gamers play against other people whether it was off-line or on-line. Gamers can work off their anger and feel relaxed, plus they don’t have to feel alone. They can work together with their gaming friends becoming more socially responsible.

Video Games Improve Cognitive and Perceptual Skills.

Researchers claim that some video games can have advantageous effects, improving gamers’ skillfulness and their ability to solve problems. They came to the conclusion that playing video games can improve cognitive and perceptual skills.

Children who often play video games like: arcade games, action games, horse games, improve their concentration and math skills. When playing on-line, gamers also discuss their strategies and thoughts, developing informal scientific reasoning practices.

Gamers deal with a number of varied tasks at the same time. They notice new enemies, follow existing enemies, and avoid getting damaged, among other tasks. Such efforts may result in improved visual skills.Video games also improve ones driving skills, because they require focus and manual agility.

Smart children might use the results of these reports and say they can’t stop playing because they are improving their skills and so improving their future.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_888865_81.html

Game companies are hiring people to test play their video games. Video game tester can work at home without traveling to the office. You can become a video game tester and earn a decent income at home. Gamer Testing Ground is a website which offers resource about video game testing job.

Gamer Testing Ground has a list of 50 game companies that are employing video game testers every months. The website does not hire people but provide everything you need to know to become a video game tester, including the application procedure, how to write a good profile for your resume and a list of job offers from game companies.

Becoming a video game tester does not require programming and graphic design skills, company wants to hire people who are seriously enjoy playing video games due the job can be extremely tedious and endure. But why did these companies want to employ outsiders rather than their game programmer and developer? Because their programmers and game developers would rather spend their time on creating and tweaking their own games, testing a game consumes many hours so they want to employ outsiders to totally focus on testing games to find any error and graphic glitches in the game.

So why do game company want to pay people to play their games? These companies are earning a billion of dollars from the sales of one video game. If there is something wrong with the game it would cause the company to lose their revenue so they employ video game tester to ensure of the game quality to avoid high refund rate. Gamer Testing Ground will update the list of companies whenever there is a vacancy available so you do not have to contact the game company asking about the job.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_752068_36.html

Ever since they broke into the 16bit era from 1989-1993, video games and consoles along with hand held consoles have been a staple of most young people’s Christmas lists. In 2006, the launch of the Nintendo Wii proved so popular that it sold out in many stores within hours sparking an online bidding war.

If you’re to ensure there are no IOUs left under the tree you should pick up one of this year’s hottest consoles as quickly as possible. Here’s a rundown of the most popular video game consoles and hand held consoles available:

•    Nintendo Wii

The successor to the GameCube remains wildly popular due to its distinguishing feature – the wireless controller, known as the Wii remote, which can be used as a hand held pointing device. This year’s hot video games include Wii Fit, Guitar and Call of Duty: World at War.

•    Xbox 360

The second video game console from Microsoft had sold 22million units worldwide by the end of September this year. It is available in three configurations: the Xbox 360 Arcade, with a wireless controller; the Xbox 360 Premium which has a detachable 20 Gigabyte (GB) hard drive for downloaded content; and the Xbox 360 Elite , the most expensive variation with a matte black finish, a 120GB hard drive, a controller and a headset. Games such as Call of Duty: World at War, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 will be among this year’s favourites.

•    Sony PS3

The PlayStation 3 has been on the market since March 2007 and had sold 1.4million units in the UK alone by the end of September 2008. This year’s hottest PlayStation video games include Cal of Duty: World at War, LEGO: Star Wars, EA Sports FIFA 09 and MotorStorm Pacific Rift.

•    Nintendo DS

Nintendo’s iconic Game Boy is old news now that the Nintendo DS is in town with the new Nintendo DS Lite including dual screens and touch screen interaction. This hand held console will fit perfectly in Santa’s stocking with Disney School Musical , Dr. Kawashima’s More Brain Training and Lego Star Wars Trilogy among the hottest Christmas releases.

•    Sony PSP and Sony PSP 3000

The PSP (PlayStation Portable) is a hand held console that gives you access to games, video and music anywhere and anytime. The device has been upgraded with the introduction of the Sony PSP 3000 with a built-in microphone and messenger capabilities. There are some great bundled games available including Buzz: Brain Bender and LEGO: Star Wars Trilogy and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, as well as a range of console colours like white, black, pink or turquoise.

Games consoles such as the Nintendo Wii , Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3  are very popular and are expected to continue selling very well this Christmas.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_704545_47.html

Home video games consoles have been around since Magnavox first released the Odyssey console in 1972.  Since that time, the video game console has overcome its share of adversity, surviving two periods of uncertainty and market crashes in 1977 and 1983, which cast doubts over the future of the industry.

In recent years however, the video games console industry has gone from strength to strength, and the competition between developers is fierce.  New technologies have driven games consoles away from the game cartridge format, as used by such consoles as the Nintendo SNES and Sega Megadrive towards a compact-disc format as used by today’s generation of consoles – a technology pioneered by Sega’s Saturn system.  However, it was the launch of Sony’s Playstation console in Japan in 1994, and Europe a year later which really made home video gaming popular.

Since then, there have been three major developers in the games console market.  Nintendo are perhaps the most well-known of the three, having been designing and developing games consoles since the 1980s.  From their SNES and N64 systems through to the Gamecube and today’s Wii console, Nintendo have earned a hardcore following among video gamers and are perhaps the dominant entity in the handheld console market since the launch of their Gameboy system and more recently the Nintendo DS.

Having seen phenomenal success with their Playstation console, Sony has become almost synonymous within the video game consoles market.  Their Playstation 2 console was released in 2000 and has been the most commercially successful and fastest selling home console in video game history, with over 120 million units shipped worldwide by May 2007.  Following a delay, Sony released their latest console – the Playstation 3 – in March 2007, and it became the fastest-selling home games console in the UK, selling around 165,000 consoles in its first two days of availability.

The third company, Microsoft, are seen as the newcomers in the video games console market, having launched their Xbox console in 2002 as a competitor to Sony’s Playstation 2.  The Xbox was seen by many to bring desktop computing and games consoles together, with the console being the first to employ an internal hard-drive for storage instead of removable memory cards, as well as other similarities with its hardware specifications when compared with a personal computer.  Although it proved popular, it was unable to make much of an impact against the Playstation 2’s market share. In late 2005, Microsoft launched the new Xbox 360 into the marketplace.

For many, the latest ‘Console War’ has only just begun and it is not yet possible to determine which, if any, of the three major consoles – Sony’s Playstation 3, Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 – will come to dominate this new generation.  The Xbox 360 has gained an early lead in terms of market share, but this is due in no small part to having being launched a year before its rivals.  Sony’s Playstation 3 has Blu-ray capabilities, which allow it to show high-definition video, and both consoles appear to have been aimed towards the hardcore gamer.

At the expense of cutting edge graphics, Nintendo’s Wii console utilises a wireless, interactive controller which can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions.  The controller also plays sound and includes force feedback, allowing the user to experience vibrations that mimic feelings experienced during the game.  Despite some quarters dismissing the Wii as ‘gimmicky’, Nintendo have found themselves being unable to make consoles fast enough to satisfy demand.  Since January, it has outsold both the Sony and Microsoft consoles due to its mass appeal among casual gamers, as well as its ease of use.

The audience for games is bigger than ever, with the game industry enjoying a record year.  In the U.S, revenues during 2006 increased by 20 per cent to $12.5 billion, with predictions for 2007 rumoured to outstrip that figure.  Even so, it’s too soon to tell how the latest ‘console war’ will fan out.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_177007_10.html

The Nintendo Wii is one of the most popular games consoles out to day. People have been queuing outside stores since the early hours, hoping to get their hands on this coveted item. Unfortunately there is so much demand for the console that the supply just cannot keep up! However, there are places to get your hands on the Nintendo Wii if you know where to look.

If you want to buy a Nintendo Wii console then you will not always want to drive right into town to do so. And even if you do, you might not be able to get one! This can be extremely time consuming, not to mention frustrating if you are unlucky and they’ve sold out! There is nothing worse than spending your whole day driving around stores searching for a Wii console that just isn’t available in all the stores you check!

You could try to stay at home and phone all the stores, but there is no guarantee that you will find your console. If they have one in stock, they probably won’t reserve it due to the high demand – and by the time you go to pick it up it’s very likely that it will just be sold out again!

Another way to try and get your hand on a Wii console is to use the classified ads. These can be useful, and if you are lucky you could pick up a bargain. But when it comes to finding a Wii you are not going to have much luck. If you do find one, there is always a chance that it’s broken – in which case you will be left out in the cold, unable to get a refund. And since the Wii console is so popular, most people selling them in classified ads will not reduce the price. Therefore, you’ll simply be paying the complete retail price. This makes classified ads a pretty poor alternative.

Of course, the last way to find your Wii console is to search online. There are now a number of websites set up to help you find out just where the Wii is available. However, the problem with many of these websites is that they are not updated frequently enough. Many of their listings sell out just as quickly as the retail stores! If you want to buy a Wii console then your chances of finding one online are just as slim as they are for finding one in a store, or in classified ads.

By far the best place to find your Wii console is to buy from eBay. eBay always have a number of Wii consoles in stock that are ready to send. You might find that the price is a little higher, but it saves all the hassle you would have experienced from driving around searching in stores. eBay are also a great way to buy online, as they have systems in place to protect the buyers in the event that the system won’t work.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_919284_32.html

When you hear people say PlayStation, you primarily think of great games on a great game console. You think of Sony as the developer of a one-of-a-kind high quality game console and you also think of a gaming console that changed the way people think about home entertainment systems.

Today, one of the most enthusiastically awaited game consoles in the market is the PlayStation 3. This gaming console promises to yet again, revolutionize the way people play games on game consoles all over the world. With features that are considered as state-of-the-art and integrated technology that are highly advanced, people will really want one for their own home.

Aside from the sleek and attractive looking outer shell, PlayStation 3 packs one of the best technologies in the gaming console world. This particular gaming console is expected to be one of the greatest gaming consoles ever developed and released in the market.

PlayStation 3 has a powerful graphics chip together with a powerful 3.2 GHz CPU and 512 MB of RAM that will make you experience a one-of-a-kind game play. Another contribution for maximum enjoyment is the Blu-ray drive. The Blu-ray disc can handle data 5 times higher than your conventional DVD. This means that game developers will have more leverage in designing PlayStation 3 games and this will result in more realistic characters with detailed and also realistic environment.

Because of this, games will far more be realistic and detailed than ever before. In fact, Playing PlayStation 3 games on blu-ray discs will make you feel as if you are a part of the game itself and not just a person on the outside world playing with some game.

PlayStation 3 can definitely give you that extra spice you want in a game.

Another great contributor in PlayStation 3 is the game controllers. The game controllers for PlayStation 3 games are Bluetooth capable. This means that you can play PlayStation 3 games wirelessly. This will give you more freedom when playing with your PlayStation 3 games. For example, if you like football or soccer, you can literally run around your room like a football or soccer player who just scored a goal while holding your PlayStation 3 controller.

PlayStation 3 controllers are also integrated with the multi-axis motion sensing system technology that will allow you to control the game in real time and with maximum precision. With this system, the game controller will virtually become a natural extension of your body.

PlayStation 3 also has a backward compatibility feature. This feature will enable you to play with your old PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games in this console. This means that your investment in your old games will not be wasted. With PlayStation 3, you can play all your PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 games. In fact, because of the HDMI features of the PlayStation 3, it will even further enhance your old games.

Not only that, PlayStation 3 will enable you to play your DVD movies, and Audio CDs. PlayStation games aren’t the only discs that this game console can play. It is a game console that is also a DVD player and CD player.

So, investing in this game console is definitely not a wasted investment at all. So, watch out for it when it is released on November 2006 in Japan, United States, and Canada and on March 2007 in Europe and Australasia.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_864987_45.html

Gaming consoles and online games enjoy bit of a competition. When there were no online games, the gaming consoles were a favorite with the gamers. In the age of gaming online, they still hold a place of interest. Comparing and likeability factor of both of them depends on the preference of the user. Both games are special in their own way. Let us look at how they fare.

Gaming Consoles: The cost of the gaming consoles are priced at moderate rates, which means they are affordable to both young and adults alike. To continue playing, one needs to pay monthly fees. The gaming consoles enjoy some mind-blowing graphical presence, which gets heightened if you have high quality and high resolution television set. Setting up the gaming consoles is a matter of few minutes.

It is also a good way to socialize with family and friends over a bucket of chips and popcorns. A problem that gaming console users face is the updating part. When new games come into the market, they usually do not suit the technical features of the previous games. As a result, you have to buy new games. For some people, this increases the expense factor, especially for those who are addicted to games.

Online Games: Search the internet and you will see thousands of games available to play online. The basic requirement for online games is that you should have high speed unrestricted internet connectivity all the time. Most of the online games are free to play and some are also free to download. The free online games mostly attract the players. An easy downloadable option makes the games available 24 hours a day at your disposal. Note that for the games to work on your system they should be Java and Flash enabled.

Online games arouse the competitive spirit within the players. Online games give the players the chance to interact with other players throughout the world. It is more of a socializing thing and some of the sites even have chat features enables for better interaction. However, there are some sites for which you need paid membership for downloading games. Not to mention that the fees are very less!

Other than that, there is no restriction on free online games, no obligation to pay at all. Undoubtedly, online games are very addictive. Choosing to play online games or with gaming consoles depends on individual choices resting on convenience, availability, and interests.
To know more about pc online games and of play arcade games, you can visit our site.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_997811_81.html

Although there had been gazillion brilliant inventions by that time, it was not until 1949 that video games consoles were ever considered. It was in that year that Ralph Beer got the idea to create a kind of game that was built into the inside of a television. However, it was to be a further 18 years before Beer’s idea started to really catch on.

It was then, using a kind of an oscilloscope, that Willy Higginbotham created a game similar to tennis which could be played on something similar to today’s TV. Realizing this was a great idea, very quickly lots of people got in on the act, developing all kinds of video games.

Soon the big boys got a clear view of the enormous potential of these games. Soon, video games were getting mass produced. One of the original and most celebrated of these video games consoles was the American company Atari. The hugely successful Sega was to originate in that era also, as did Nintendo, one of the most successful video games consoles manufacturers ever.

It was not to be long before a new era of video games technology was to begin. This new era was to be marked by the dawn of the video games system. Video games consoles, also known as video games systems, are bits of high-end electronic technology that are designed specifically to do one thing – play video games using TV or computer screen.

With a video games console, the controller acts as the main input device. Controllers comes in all shapes and sizes. They may be steering wheels, joysticks, light rays, guns … you name it. There have been any number of types of controllers. They are all used to direct the action of the video game.

It was in 1972 that video games consoles began to take a hold of the market. Coleco Telstar and Magnavox Odyssey were two leading lights back in the day, but it would not be long before the Atari 2600 had its day in the sun, literally transforming the video games consoles industry with their awesome cartridge based 8-bit console systems.

Under pressure from competition that included Intellivision and Vectrex, there was soon to be another big jump in technological advancement when the Sega Nomad was released. This 16-bit system became ‘the daddy’ for a while despite intense competition from such excellent bits of kit as the Phillips CD-I and Supervision.

This reign lasted until the release of the 32/64 bit consoles of the Nintendo 64DD and the ill-fated Apple Pippin. Hand-held video games consoles were becoming more and more popular as the big boys of the industry began to take control. Soon ‘the majors’ were stepping in. Microsoft, Sega and Sony were beginning to take control with their Xbox 2001, Dreamcast and PlayStation respectively.

This is swiftly taking us all the way up to the present day with the technology of the modern portable video games consoles. These days, Microsoft’s Xbox-360 and the Sony PlayStations rule the roost, arriving fully loaded with increasingly stronger, larger, faster,  in-built hard drives. As these units get more and more powerful, so the video game designers can do even more incredible things with the medium.

We are now in the era of the Xbox Elite and the PlayStation 3 video games consoles. It is almost impossible to choose between these two great video games consoles. The end of this article is not the place to start in on that subject. Suffice it to say, these cutting edge devices that take no prisoners. So, if you are about to buy a new version of one of these two video games consoles, lock and load and get ready for the ride of your life!

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_844558_32.html