Game consoles have been produced for quite some time. We used to use simple primitive (I say primitive since in comparison to today, console video games have improved much since then, in measures we can’t even grasp) TV consoles, like ATARI, SEGA and more, it started during the 1970’s. You can find some info here at this website that I discovered, on historic video game console, so see for yourself.

The Xbox has been competing against the Sony’s PS2 (Sony PlayStation 2 – which is one of the most common being used out there), Nintendo GameCube, WII and Sega. Microsoft chose to get into the TV video game consoles, since it also was developing Microsoft computer games and wanted a piece of those comfortable living room family gaming system.

The Xbox Live, enable online gaming between Xbox users, where you could use the internet connection to join forces and play the games together. When the Xbox was revealed to developers on the year 2000, its technology amazed many.

Microsoft Xbox Live – This unit was launched in November 2002, and was designated for subscribers to play against other Xbox subscribers worldwide using online connection. There was a huge amount of subscribers at first, around Quarter of a Million and at the year 2009 it reached over 20 million subscribers. The online gaming worked only with broadband internet connection. The Xbox live support has been discontinued since April 2010 and old units instead of being repaired will be replaced by the Xbox 360.

Microsoft Xbox 360 – “List of games suitable for the Xbox 360” – This video game console had a larger storage capacity, audio and video capabilities over the old Xbox and was a very usable console by many. This Xbox unit was supporting old Xbox games and had a DVD player unit.

You can find additional Xbox information on those websites:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox
2. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/
3. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live
4. http://www.microsoft.com/xbox/
5. http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/gaming/productdetails.aspx?pid=091

You can find a list of the top 10 best Xbox Games at this link as an example of what type of quality games are out there for Microsoft Xbox: http://xbox.ign.com/articles/506/506934p1.html

The technology of computers is all around us, we are living with them, using them, play with them and also study from them. The children are using computers, they are aware computers are there and we tend to let them play on the computer from an early age. There are many educational games and programs that the children can benefit from and of course, get entertained as well.

There are advantages and disadvantages of children using computers. There is no arguing it is fun, children get amazed by the colors, the sounds, and the attraction a computer gives them and like very little babies, children are thrilled by the discovery of new things. They are learning to use a mouse, a keyboard, and to react to the happenings on the computer by doing the appropriate action that is required from them. So, they are learning.

The advantages are that the computer is a whole world in one box, one place. They can sit down in front of the computer for hours and even for days, and learn so many things including having fun. They can learn school materials, they can read online, they can play computer games that challenge their knowledge, they can find anything they need on the internet (It is the larger “library” in the world), learn on different countries, learn history, learn mathematics, learn how to take care of their pets, etc… So, we
can see that the computer is a really good teacher for our kids.

The disadvantages are that the computer prevents them from doing kids’ stuff like we used to do before computers. They might not get out playing with other kids, play ball games, run around, chase each other and just take out a lot of energy (that they have as kids) and of course by doing that do some fitness to keep healthy. By sitting down in front of the computer all the time, they damage their eyesight, they might get fat (since they do no exercises), even though you can contact others using the internet, there is no replacement for face to face chat, fight, game playing, feeling each other, etc… and not just cyber do it .

Summarizing, I have to say that there is much good at computers, but like anything else, it has to be in the right dosage. Like anything else you exaggerate with and might cause damage, the same is with computers, we need to make sure they still do the old ways of enjoying life, and the company of other kids, by actual playing with others, going out to get some sunshine, absorb life, and from time to time benefit from the advantages the computer can give us, by using it for fun, games and of course as a teacher, to learn new things, use its resources to discover more, and find the information we need.

Everyone loves games, we used to play games when we were young, and we still wouldn’t say no to a nice game. We might like playing games with friends, having some fun playing poker, pool, going bowling, etc… We might just want to enjoy a nice computer game, either just a simple card game online, or a computer game with much violence, blood, and action. Maybe just play an adventure computer game, where you have to follow the clues to solve the quest, maybe find the treasure, or save the princess 🙂

There are many types of games out there and they are basically divided into 5 types of computer games:

1. Strategic games
2. First-person shooters
3. Third-person views
4. Racing games
5. Sport games

1. Strategic games
Games like Red Alert, WarCraft, Command & Conquer, Sim-City, Farmville (online), Ikariam (online), etc… These types of strategy games require planning, patience, calculated moves, and caution. When we were kids there used to be adventure games, where you had to solve problems in order to continue on your quest, at first it was followed with text and pictures (you had to visualize the rest in your mind) today you get to move your player through the mazes, through the obstacles, fight enemies who try to prevent you from continuing on your quest, and would prefer better to kill you unless you kill them first.

Giving an example is like when you play “IKARIAM“, you are building a city, then buildings a storage building to store all of the minerals you collect by working in the minds (if it’s a Mine island) and chop woods at the quarry. Each Island has its own minerals and you need to at least get a city at 4 different Island to achieve the 4 types of minerals you can collect. Those minerals are needed for different types of buildings, like the scholars who study new technologies, so you could build newer and stronger war machines, armor, weapons, etc… The process of collecting the minerals, waiting for a building to finish, takes time, so you need to be patient, while you also need to be cautious against other city players who want to loot your minerals (faster than collecting them). So you need to plan, develop and maintain the balance between building, guarding and money collection since everything like in life costs money, like sending soldiers, or war ships, buying trading ships, etc…

2. First-person shooters
Games like: Call of duty, Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Left 4 dead, Half-life 2 and of course many more. Those are the most common games, which are enjoyable, and of course who wouldn’t want to become an excellent soldier, walking through the battlefield without getting hurt for real, just kill the enemy and win the war. These are games from a first-person view called first-person shooters, which resembles as if you are playing and it gives a sense of experience that enable you to simulate as if you are the one making all of the shooting.

An example of such a game is if we look at Crysis, there is a unit with special suits that enable special abilities, that is sent to recon a high situation at an island only to reveal there are aliens forces on that island. During the mission, you fight against local Korean enemy forces, and then the aliens as they reveal themselves using your suitability to cloak, move quickly, jump high and shield you. You can also find equipment to improve your weapons and of course new types of weapons to choose from. This is a high action fighting game, who uses strategy, stealth, and many flying bullets :).

3. Third-person views

Games like: Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 4, Grand theft auto, Gear of wars, MDK, Star Wars: Battlefront, Assasins creed, etc…
Third-person shooter (TPS or 3PS) are games where you can see the player from a distance, at different perspective angels. These third-person shooter games enable you to be the puppeteer by controlling your player from afar, moving him, make him fight, shoot, run, jump and climb things, in short just do whatever you desire in order to continue on your mission, and avoid or pass through obstacles, maybe shoot your way through.

A good example would be, if we look at Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider game series, she is sexy but vicious, she can do almost anything like swimming, jumping, riding bikes, shooting pistols, guns, shut guns, and all that while using acrobatic performance. She is a treasure hunter, like Indiana Jones if you favored the movie series only she is a female. She has an amazing body figure and she uses technology, fitness tricks, and accurate shooting to pass through the obstacles she encounters in order to achieve her goal, and finish her mission.

4. Racing games

Games like: Test drive, Gran Turismo, MotoGP, Need for speed, Burnout paradise, Race driver – GRID, Motor-storm, Motor-Sport, etc…

These racing game simulators, enable you to feel as if you are the racing driver of your dreams as you join those racing drivers on the grid, and take part of trying to beat them while driving at blazing speeds, trying to make the turns perfectly without being thrown out of the track.

There is much excitement in these games, who wouldn’t want to feel the need for speed, with the comfort of being safe at home? without risking everything by doing a small mistake that could cost you !!! These games enable you to feel as if your there, behind the wheel or the handlebars of a sportbike/dirt bike, and just blaze away at high ridiculous speeds, without the fear of getting hurt. You might crash, but it is only a game, so you won’t really get hurt (not really) 🙂

5. Sport games
Games like: Virtua tennis, NBA 2K10,  NHL 2K10, FIFA 10 Soccer, PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) 2010, Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, etc…
These games enable you to be the sport professional as you might have dreamt. You can join the team and play while feeling you’re at the top of the world, playing with the best, if its individually as a tennis player or as a team player in soccer, basketball, baseball, and any other group sport you might think of, there is a game for it.

You might just enjoy skiing against the best, in winter games, or swim quickly at the Olympics, no matter what type of a sporting dream you might have had, you can fulfill it by playing your desired sport game, without sport injury, without even breaking sweat (even though you might sweat during the game as the stress of beating others dominate you).
There are many great sports games out there, with amazing graphics, so you could feel as if your there, playing others who look almost real enough to believe you really among them, as real as it gets.

Enjoy

Who doesn’t like to play games?

Since we where little we were playing games, and in this advanced age, the games just passed to the computer, well not completely true, there are still regular games that you can play as you used to, using your hands, moving game pieces, but computer games, well… they are something else.

You can find computer games in many different types, and on different subjects. Computer games on science, science fiction, space flying to space or fight using space ships, detective plots trying to solve unsolved crimes of sort, adventures, races, race simulations where you drive almost any type of vehicle dirt bikes, motorcycles, race cars or even top sport cars that we have today without paying the price they cost , fighting games either in the ring or on martial arts sort of fighting games, flight simulators that enable you to fly a combat jet, helicopter or just simulate that you are the pilot of a commercial airline airplane and your flying passenger around the world. There are computer games that simulate life which enables you to play a person in a family that conduct their day to day life of going to work coming home to eat dinner etc… and just learn how to date women/men or how to live with roommates.

Those kind of games enable us to simulate life, who wouldn’t want to be a fighter pilot and fly assignments, bomb cities, do dog fighting with other enemy fighter planes and all that from the comfort of your home, without getting hurt. Computer games enable that, you can just sit back, turn on your computer, run your favorite game, and enter a character of your choice, and just play, enjoy it and have fun.

Kids have computer games that enable them to study, learn languages, study mathematics or increase their knowledge in different areas, and all that while playing computer games, enjoying the popup characters that talk to them from the computer, teaching them and all that while they are having fun. Who wouldn’t want to learn new things while having fun? we probably will learn much better while we enjoy ourselves.

Computer games are being sold at stores, and you just buy them, install them on your computer and you’re in business, the fun can begin. We can also find free computer games online, there are many websites that enable us to play online games using a web browser. Those websites have so many online games, that you most likely won’t have a problem finding a computer game that you like, and with the quality and the higher speed of the internet today, we can enjoy online games that work smoothly, load faster and let us enjoy the fun and games from anywhere, when all you need is just an internet connection, and you don’t need to install anything to be able to play.