Gadzooki

Gimme Golf: Combining Golf, Gaming and Social Networking

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Golf is not just a game. Business deals are often made over a few rounds between associates and business partners. Friendships are strengthened. So basically golf is a social network–though not the usual online social network one would imagine.

Web app developers have been finding interesting ways to combine the power of social networking and the niche interests of Web users. And in terms of golf, Skill Technology has developed Gimme Golf, where users can compete with other online users, with the possibility of playing tourney (and winning prizes!).

Gimme Golf

The grass just got a lot greener for casual gamers. Gimme Golf, a new online golf game from Skill Technology, allows players to connect with friends and compete in tournaments for cash.

The socially interactive site allows players to experience several 18-hole golf courses featuring hand-painted graphics that create a never-before-seen golfing world.

During a 20 minute lunch break, players can compete in a foursome with friends, or in a tournament of up to 50 people. Entry fees start as low as $1 and cash winnings can be up to $1,000, although the game can be played anytime for free as well.

“We wanted to create a site that would combine the best of both worlds,” said Jeff Clapper, president, Skill Technology. “Gimme Golf offers players a virtual golfing community and the option of playing for real cash.”

To add some flair to the fairway, a cast of highly stylized, in-game characters feature real world quirks, diverse golf skills, and distinct personalities.

Best Games of 2007

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Here are the list of the best games for 2007, I have some favorites on the list that’s why I’m so excited to share it to you.

  • Best Action Game Nominees

    • Assassin’s Creed (my pick)
    The Orange Box
    Super Mario Galaxy

    Winner
    Super Mario Galaxy

  • Best Shooter Game Nominees

    • Bioshock
    Call of Duty 4
    Halo 3 (my pick)

    Winner
    Bioshock

  • Best Online Multiplayer Game Nominees

    • Call of Duty 4
    Halo 3 (my pick)
    World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

    Winner
    Halo 3

  • Best Party Game Nominees

    • Guitar Hero III (my pick)
    Rock Band
    Warioware: Smooth Moves

    Winner
    Rock Band

  • Best Racing Game Nominees

    • DiRT
    Forza Motorsport 2
    Project Gotham Racing 4 (my pick)

    Winner
    Forza Motorsport 2

  • Best Role-Playing Game Nominees

    • Mass Effect
    The Witcher
    World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

    Winner
    Mass Effect

  • Best Strategy Game Nominees

    • Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
    Supreme Commander
    World in Conflict

    Winner
    Supreme Commander

  • Best Sports Game Nominees

    • FIFA 08
    Madden NFL 08
    skate.

    Winner
    skate.

  • Best Original Game Nominees

    • BioShock
    Mass Effect
    Rock Band

    Winner
    Bioshock

  • Best Overall Game of 2007 Nominees

    • Bioshock
    Rock Band
    Super Mario Galaxy

    Winner
    Super Mario Galaxy

Best Games of 2007 according to Yahoo! Games

PC Gaming Rules!

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They say that the Death of PC gaming is coming. With the kinds of games that are coming out to the market and into the shelves of retailers, Most which are graphics intensive and need a tons of resources if it’s to be ported to the PC, but what consoles lack is what PC games excel in, and that’s playability and the replay value. Games like Sid Meier’s Civilization, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto.. etc.

I’m a gamer, I own a couple own of consoles (xbox 360, PS2, PS3) it has it advantages and disadvantages, specifically my Xbox 360 has RROD problems even after the repairs has been done, my PS3 didn’t not come into terms with the hype and there’s not enough games. My Ps2 well, it didn’t even gave me problems. ohh I forgot, I trashed about 23 controllers and still My PS2 is working.

Now the Advantages of PC Gaming

  • Controls: A keyboard and mouse combo is the best way to go especially on First Person shooters, try aiming or sniping with a Dual-Stick Controller unlesss you’re used to it, it might take some time to aim or even frag an enemy, remember every seconds count on FPS games.
  • Mods: What I like about PC Gaming is that you can create mods and/or add mods other users created out. Remember the Batman Begins Mod for GTA, I like that, can you do that with the console version, I think not!
  • Tweaks: Tweaking is art, and if you apply that gaming you can push the limits your PC for that added performance boost.
  • HEX Editing: PC games are notorious for cheats done by hex editing either the savegames or the main application by changing the numerical values kinda reminds me of my old-school gaming habits when I used to play Might and Magic 3. I’d fire up my hex editor and search for the hex value for my experience points so that I can boost my stats,skills to near-GOD status, and I still do it (hex editing) when I’m playing Fallout 2.
  • Free Online Multiplayer: Playing online for free! Need I say more, there are lots of free online multiplayer games that I enjoy like Freestyle Online Philippines for example! Although Xbox Live is great and all you still have to choke up added cash. On the PC, you can play against opponents and have a LAN party.

A source of Classic Nintendo Games

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I unearthed my old Nintendo System from my parent’s attic when I came to visit them. Even though it’s not working anymore.. I’ll try to fix it and see if I can revive this baby. Seeing it alongside my PS2, my Xbox 260, my Xbox, and my Wii, makes me teary eyed with joy. Along With it came Gaming Gems like Super Mario Bros., Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Battle City and So on…
Upon seeing those games I pondered on the thought that if I started playing again I would lose all concentration on my work and just play everyday. I found a site that would serve my daily game craving and it’s easy.. just go to the site, choose a game, and play it, no installations needed. I found myself sneaking and going to the site every 15 minutes, just to satisfy my game cravings.

Here’s what I played

The list continues, I could go on and on rambling about my favorite games but try it for yourself, It’s a perfect time waster, plus a relaxing change after an exhausting day of blogging and/or working.

Play WoW using your Xbox 360 Controller

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I’ve been using my Xbox 360 Controller to play every game installed on my Vista Laptop, starting from Doom3, Civ3, Oblivion, Half-life 2, Halo, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Battle for Middle Earth 2, Etc.. Even Using it on a few MMO’s like Freestyle Online, and World of Warcraft.

And the experience is great, better than the feeling of messing up my laptop keyboard, because of frustrated keypresses that leads to smashing your keyboard. Plus the neck strain because you have to be close to the monitor and keyboard at the same time.

Now for Other games I used the Pinnacle Game Profiler Software,which is free to download but costs you if you want to upgrade it. For the game, World Of Warcraft I specifically use Switchblade which is fully configured to use your Xbox 360 Controller wired or wireless to play World of Warcraft. Yippeee, its free to download, but you also have to register for xfire gaming service. But it’s still cool, what a little bit of typing mean if you can comfortably play WoW, with a great Controller right. Now the only thing that is missing are the free chips and dips.

The Gap Between Generations

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One of the things that came up recently in conversations with my older relatives was exactly what I did for a living. This has changed from something extremely technical (working for an Affiliate Network) to something slightly less technical though nonetheless highly skilled – working as a marketing and PR exec for a nutritional supplements company.

I have a variety of tasks that I perform day to day, including looking after the website we run as well as creating ads and press releases. Said relatives understand some of this, however other parts of it just completely are beyond their understanding. Which is what brings me to the eponymous title.

I’ve ran a few blogs and been contributing to others for a very long time. My folks are aware I do this, and I’ve shown them the backend of blogger for instance, so they can see exactly how I put content on the web. It still eludes them though, as there is no way they’d be able to do the same for themselves.

My mother was lucky enough recently to win an Ipod. It wasn’t a huge video Ipod but just a nice little Ipod Shuffle. However, I still had to come along, install Itunes, put some songs on there and even show them the play button. To the best of my knowledge, play has remained the equilateral triangle on its side for the best part of thirty years now. Seems strange that they have to ask me which one it is then!

Being unfamiliar with technical gadgetry is one thing I suppose, given how fast things can and have moved recently. However, I suppose this all points to a gap between generations in the form of the amount of information and new technology we have to adapt to every day.

Let’s look at a quick straw-poll list I’ve gathered:

  • MP3 (and players)
    DVD (including writers)
    GPS
    New types of fuel
    Computers (both new and old)
    Various versions of Windows
    Games consoles
    Sky TV/Cable
    Internet
    Mobile phones

    • The Internet perhaps points to the greatest change of all. Younger generations keep in touch faster, play together more (WOW and Live to name just two), get news faster, listen to Podcasts and much much more. They are far more adept at picking up the stuff they want to know about, as well as letting other people know about it. It’s no surprise then that families sometimes have concerns!

    Of course, in this ‘information age’ there has been a great deal of change in how we do things. This governs work (imagine not having access to the net to work – well I couldn’t do at least part of my job as outlined above) or even a powerful computer – to create the high-res for print ads I make would take all day! Play has changed too. We’re now well into consoles that can create almost real worlds for us to play in, define as our own and change, as we’d like.

    It’s not all doom and gloom however. One of the things I’d always recommend is ensuring we try to follow at least some of the tenets of Web 2.0 – and part of that is making it an accessible experience for all. Everyone should be invited to this seemingly smaller, smarter and generally better world. Let this be an exclusive world – exclusively for everyone. When we achieve this, all of the modern technology we have will truly come into its’ own.

    Halo 3 Issues

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    The long awaited game Halo 3 from the developers Bungie Studios, officially last launched Tuesday, September 25, raked a record-breaking $170 million on its first-day sales. Remember the date September 25 the biggest day in US entertainment History.

    But still that wasn’t smooth sailing, yes it did cause some minor problems and lots of frustrations with all the publicity Halo 3 racked up. There are also the issue of the scratched Limited Edition Halo 3 disks, which has been answered with a promising news, You can send it back for a free by filling out a form and send in their scratched limited-edition discs for a free exchange through the end of December. Just Click this Link for the Disk Replacement.

    And the experience of game play problems on Xbox Live such as screen freezes, inability to access Xbox Live and a weird game update that would lead to a very frustrating error message, which was due to the part of the Halo 3 and that these “minor issues” as Microsoft claims is due to the uber amount of traffic caused by the notorious Halo 3 (you sneaky devil) and is dubbed the “most active Xbox Live gaming day in history”. Yeah I was one of the unlucky dudes the experienced those problems, I wanted to play it so badly, I almost cried when I couldn’t login to Xbox Live, but luckily for me, my Limited Edition Halo 3 disk has no scratches on it (yehey!).

    Weird, addictive online games

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    Weird but still addictive Online PC games

    There comes a time, when I’m bored and/or tired from a day of blogging I usually relieve my stress with these weird but highly addictive games. It keeps my mind rolling and satisfy my gaming urges.

    Desktop Tower Defense
    I love this game especially when I’m blasting those “creeps” away. You know how this works, build startegic towers to destroy those creeps and when you have enough to upgrade your towers do so to continue blasting those creeps.

    Warning : May be highly addictive.

    Bash Your PC

    With a catchy welcome note before you play.

    Welcome,

    Are you angry with your personal computer?
    Don’t destroy it. Relieve your stress here. Safely.

    Roll over items in the office to find all six ways
    to destroy the computer.

    Enjoy!

    Sounds logical rather than attacking your PC which would end up costing you money to buy a new one, Why not try it on this weird game

    Design your own Weapon – a clever twist by allowing your artistic talent to wander by designing a weapon of you dreams.

    Drop Kick the Faint – These punk. see if you are accurate enough to send these punks off the stage

    3D Logic – Test your IQ with this fun game Complete 30 lovels to earn achievements. See if you can connect the right color to each other in a 3d puzzle box.

    Are You A True Warrior? – not actually a game but a quiz see if you’ll end up a a dragon slayer or the dragon’s lunch 🙂

    Better Face it: Your Addicted

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    It’s time to face it. You know you are Addicted to Gaming. Because of the progress and evolution of gaming these past few years, many people have taken gaming to a whole new level and some have even really integrated gaming into their daily lives and would freak out if they can’t play a single game or even go “cold turkey” like all addicts do when deprived of their addiction.

    Basically I am an addict, too. I love gaming and can’t seem to live without it.

    Gaming recently found its way into the media spotlight through gaming addictions. Mostly related to MMORPG’s, my gaming addiction involves more than just one game and it runs deep in my veins because as we all know games are designed to be addictive.

    Let’s put it this way I have an uber amount of gaming paraphernalias, ranging from consoles, handheld portable gaming devices, my PC and laptop. Heck even my PDA is filled to the brim with games.

    At first, gamers like me don’t even know that we’re addicted until it’s to late. But it seems that the key to any addiction is accepting that fact the your addicted and I’m proud to say I am an addict : a gaming addict from MMORPGs or even offline games I’ve tried. What started out as a simple form of entertainment evolved into a contest on who gets to finish the game first, who get the higher level and achievements first, who’s the most insanely strong character that nobody can beat–from a simple warrior (newbie) to a hardcore deathknight.

    Gaming it’s not just an Addiction it’s a way of life

    Being in a gaming trance I can go on for days just playing with nothing else in my mind. It’s better to be addicted in gaming than being addicted to something else (like drugs), but still being addicted to coffee ain’t that bad too. And here’s a fact: games can actually ruin social relations and personal relationships. I remember that scene, when I started playing games such Everquest and Oblivion my girlfriend for 3 years broke up with me and left me, because I’ve been spending too much time with gaming rather than her. She even threw my Playstation (not touching my other game consoles) out of the window (it was the first thing she saw luckily I fixed my apartment earlier) because I wouldn’t listen to her. But it’s all changed I just adjusted my schedule and my life to incorporate gaming as a part of my real life: work and blogging, and my personal life.

    If you can’t beat em, join em

    Now to help other gamers come out of their shell and face the real world. Remember (yet again): the key to it is moderation, and anything that is taken or used or played too much is addicting.

    You can’t have too much of everything!

    Chore Wars: Do Your Chores, Gain Experience Points, Be More Creative!

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    This game might just make you (or your kids) realize how fun it can be to do some household chores.

    Chore Wars is a web-based role-playing game. But instead of fantasizing you’re a blood-sucking vampire or a white-haired wizard, you’re yourself, in a party, doing chores.

    Wait! Think of the possibilities! Each chore is a new adventure. Say it’s cleaning your own room. You can get other people to help you out with it, or do it by yourself. And what could possibly be exciting about that?

    Chore Wars

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