The Game Audio Explosion – A Guide to Great Game Sound Part II: Music, FMVs and Audio Planning

Writen by Steve Kutay

V. MUSIC PRODUCTION

A. THE UNDERSCORE – INTERACTIVE VS. FILM MUSIC

Until recently, you simply could not compare game music to film music. Every aspect involved in their production, from budgets to performance, made it an impractical comparison. Today, these two media have a working relationship. Games are created to support movies and movies are made from successful game franchises. Film composers are now writing for games, and some game composers have made the transition to film. Hollywood orchestras and orchestrators are now commonly used for game music scores. Why make this comparison? Because even though the considerations involved in their creation are different, their effect and function are relatively the same.

B. STORY-DRIVEN/ROLEPLAYING GAMES

As the name suggests, the scores to story-driven games must primarily tell a story. To tell a story musically is a sublime art. A composer must be well versed in the work of his predecessors in order to understand what constitutes successful story telling using the language of music. Fortunately, centuries of music have been written for this purpose, allowing today’s composer a foundation for developing this art. We now associate certain sonorities and rhythms with specific actions, emotions or locations. Compositions like Rossini’s ‘William Tell’, Wagner’s ‘Tristan’ and Holst’s ‘Planets’ have laid the groundwork for these non-verbal associations. Film and television composers have since expanded on these motifs to help express the elements within a story.

A portion of story telling is to define the environment, both time and place. Musically, we draw influence from folk traditions for such a purpose. Through ethnomusicology we can effectively represent locations and time periods by incorporating traditional instruments, modes and progressions into the score. For instance, a tabla, tambour or sitar is appropriate for describing an Indian location. If such instruments are not available, the music may be orchestrated in such a way as to mimic these traditional sounds. A modern orchestra is greatly enhanced by the addition of folk elements for the purpose of describing a specific time and place.

Characters within a story are supported through the development of melodic themes and motifs associated with each character. Orchestrating the motifs throughout various instruments will provide a sense of character development as the game progresses. In addition, varying the harmonic support of these themes will reflect the character’s physical, mental and emotional states.

Game music for the story and role genre must highlight the dramatic events in the story as well as drive the game-play. NIS and FMVs are the primary tools for advancing the storyline and scoring to these videos is generally a straightforward process. You must consider, however, that game-play is also a dramatic event that contributes to the overall development of the story. Herein lies the careful balancing act of supporting the story as well as the action, without the music sounding repetitious. Cross fading alternate versions and transitions, or layering individual tracks that are programmatically muted and un-muted, will secure the musical effectiveness over long periods. The programming methods of manipulating music within a game are beyond the intent of this article. Further reading from game development resources such as ‘gamasutra.com’ will provide a closer look at some of the programming methods used in game music playback.

B. ACTION/ARCADE AND SPORTS GAMES

The most basic function of game music is best exhibited in ‘arcade’ style games in which the overall gaming experience is enhanced by the addition of adrenaline-surging music. The music helps to drive the action, thereby heightening the intensity of the experience. For this reason, it’s very common for these games to license tracks from well-known, marketable artists with a track record of producing music that translates to the listener. The interactive potential of this music, has thus far been very low. However, as many artists are also avid gamers, they are beginning to show interest in lending their talent toward interactive soundtrack design, if not producing tracks in their entirety. Generally speaking, the interactivity of the music in arcade-style games rarely moves beyond loops and stings. In many cases, this is all that is required. However, as the complexity of arcade-style games grow, so must the level of musical interactivity. The music for these games should support any changes in game-play. Power-ups, signature moves and multiple damage are all examples commonly reserved for the sound design to immerse the player in the action, but are appropriately expressed through music as well. A deep understanding of the game-play will reveal to the composer, new areas to interactively enhance an otherwise monotonous arcade soundtrack.

VI. FULL MOTION VIDEO (FMV)

Since the FMV is a controlled environment, it is tempting for the sound designer to elaborate on the sound effects. While in some cases, it may be appropriate to heighten the dramatic impact of the story; great care should be maintained to be consistent with the in-game sound design. An incredible- sounding FMV is surely a joy to behold, however, if the in-game sounds do not hold up to the FMVs, the playing experience will be diminished. The purpose of the FMV is to dramatically move the storyline, and to provide a break in the action. Since Most FMVs occur after completing a level, there is an inherent sense of reward when viewing the FMV. The sound design should pay respect to this as long as it doesn’t stray too far from the in-game sound. The FMV should act as a seamless transition into and out of the game play. In my opinion, it is best to use in-game sounds within the FMV wherever in-game movements or actions are present.

The second consideration for FMV sound is the mix of all the sound elements. All dialog, sound effects and music should be mixed at comparable levels to the in-game mix, unless there is a dramatic motivation for stressing one over the other.

VII. SOUND REVIEWS

The Beta date is just around the corner. Your sound team has worked countless hours, and is nearing the finish line. You might think it’s time to examine the sound for any necessary revisions. Well by this time it’s probably too late. As mentioned earlier, the sound team is generally the last in line to begin creating their content. Add to this, the fact that all previously missed deadlines becomes their burden to make-up. Your sound team will likely be delivering content right up to the last minute. You will need to have in place a regular and effective reviewing mechanism to stay on top of the direction of the game sound.

Using the same group of reviewers used for the demo phase (part 1 of article), create a questionnaire that rates the general aspects of the sound. Rating each individual sound would be time-consuming, so use categories of sounds and include room for comments or explanations. By assembling the various questionnaires, you will be able to develop a consensus opinion that will reveal spots that need further attention. If this is performed in a timely and periodic fashion, your sound team will be best able to manage the revisions, as they are needed.

VIII. GOT YOUR SOUND BUDGET? USE IT!

A. YOUR SIMPLE CHECKLIST Today’s games are competing with each other on every level. Sound is no exception. You must secure the best resources possible for your sound team. This will require that you use your budget wisely, and use all of it.

Prior to beginning the sound effects production, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Is your sound team complete? (i.e. sound designer(s), supervising/Lead sound designer, composer, audio director and audio programmer)
2. Is each member of the sound team assigned a specific task uncompromised by additional or overlapping roles?
3. Is your sound team assigned only to your project?
4. Does your sound team have enough time to complete your project?
5. Does your sound team have the adequate resources necessary for your specific game? These include sonically treated work spaces, equipment, software and sound effects libraries that are compatible with the needs of your game.
6. Does your sound team have a demonstrated track record of producing sound within the style and genre of your project?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, your sound design team is properly equipped, prepared and ready for production. Answering “no” to any of these questions will tell you where you will need to focus portions of your budget.

B. OUTSOURCING

If the sound team is incomplete or in any way compromised, you should consider outsourcing an appropriate amount of the workload to game audio specialists. Look for companies and people that have a strong resume of interactive sound production, and have successfully produced sound for “high profile” titles. If your game has special stylistic needs, then consider companies that have a track record of producing sound for similar titles.

C. FOLEY

The overall ‘theme’ of your game will help dictate where you may need additional resources. A historically based game will require authenticity; therefore consider obtaining fresh recordings of historically accurate weapons and vehicles. If your game focuses on destruction, a sizeable Foley session may be appropriate to produce original content unencumbered by overused sound effects libraries. A small but well organized recording session can give your game a lot of fresh spark without breaking the budget.

IX. MARKETING YOUR SOUND

Game marketing has typically focused on the creator, developer or the voice actors within the game. In many cases, sound can be used as a marketing tool as well. For “The Incredible Hulk – Ultimate destruction” we hired some of Hollywood’s finest sound recordists to coordinate a Foley session that would produce the raw destruction sounds we needed to create the sound effects necessary for this game. Our session took place at an auto-dismantling yard in a southern California desert. A giant forklift and bulldozer were used to drop, drag and tear apart cars, vans and trailers. Multiple video cameras captured the session for future use on the “Behind-the-scenes” reel. The added benefit was the marketability achieved by everyone’s dedication to producing the most destructive sounding game to date. Your ability to market your game’s sound will also help raise any additional finances needed to bring your sound up to the next level.

Steve Kutay is the co-founder of Radius360, an award-winning audio post production company, specializing in sound for film and games, located in Los Angeles, California. You may contact Steve at steve.kutay@radius360.com

Role of The Druid Wow

Writen by Hunter Crowell

Of the many different character classes in WOW, each having a different accepted role, there is one lauded as superior by those who play them, and scoffed at by those around them. There are a few responsibilities that must be filled for a group of adventurers to succeed in a dungeon. There must be a “tank,” someone who gets the attention of the monsters they are attempting to kill. A healer is important to keep the group alive. There are damage dealers who are primarily responsible for slaying the monsters in melee or from a distance. Characters in charge of crowd control stall certain targets to make taking down others easier.

Each class generally fills one role with ease and can switch to another if it is needed. The Warrior, for example, is first and foremost a tank. Warriors are given the most abilities to generate and maintain the focus of the foe. But in a group with two warriors, or if another class wants to try their hand at tanking, the warrior can be used as a damage dealer. The WOW Paladin, normally used in instances as a healer and support character, can generate cause enough threat to hold the targets attention.

The Druids of Azeroth, made up of the Night Elf and Tauren populations, have an interesting mix of abilities. To WOW, they are the shape shifting Jack of all Trades. They can heal the party, with efficiency topped only by the Priest. In Cat Form they can deal melee damage and sneak around their enemies with the guile of a Rogue. If shifted into Bear Form, they are capable of performing tanking roll of a Warrior. While in Moonkin Form, they can dole out massive damage by raining down arcane and nature spells on the target. This wide range of abilities makes the druid the ideal member of any party, if one person fails, the druid can switch over to the vacated role and pick up the slack.

This is not often how the party views the situation, however. In small instance groups of five people, the druid is often taken only if they are willing to be a healer, despite their versatility. A druid desiring to fill another role, especially the popular role of damage dealing, is shunned. The WOW developers gave druids certain abilities, such as moon fire or faerie fire, which are very visible spells. These spells have beneficial effects for the group, but a druid casting them on a target will often be ridiculed from the party for ‘wasting mana’ that should be reserved for healing.

The issue stems from two major problems in WOW. The first is the lack of healer classes. There is only one class out of eight on each faction that is a dedicated healer, the Priest. There are two other classes on each side that are capable of healing, the Paladin for Alliance and Shaman for Horde, then the Druid. The low amount of available healers leads to less players playing them, which feeds right into the next dilemma. The second problem being that most players are too shortsighted to see beyond the Druids healing ability. There are many people with the immutable mindset that if a druid can heal, he should heal. While they are an effective healer, they are quite effective at every other role they can fill as well.

No one would ever accuse Blizzard entertainment of being hasty with their decisions. WOW and their other games have had their release dates pushed back many times. In the past hardcore fans of Blizzard’s work know that this delay is for the best, the company labors to produce the finest quality product. The Druid went through months of internal testing and balancing before the concept became a reality. By giving the druid all the basic abilities of a rogue, a warrior, a mage and a priest, it is quite clear they had a greater intention for the class than staple healer.

Hunter Crowell is a researcher, avid online gamer, and creator of WOW Gold Price List, helping players find the cheapest place to buy their gold.

Online Games; They Are A Boon If You Have A Single Child

Writen by CD Mohatta

The good old days, when we all used to play games in a group are gone. In those days, the families used to have more than a single child and it was a joy to play games such as monopoly and others. The joy was in the games as well as the group interaction. Today with many families opting for a single child, free online games are a boon for that child and the parents.

Imagine parents worrying about their child- who will play with our child? Will he/she never play group games on board that we enjoyed so much in our childhood? Will, my kid never know the joy of the board games? Please stop worrying about that. Computer is there as a friend to play game with your child. Yes, I agree that it may not be same as playing in a group of children, but we cannot have our cake and eat it too

A child needs to play board games. a child enjoys the imagery of games such as monopoly. The imagination works wonders for a young mind. Now do that with your computer. Look for a good gaming site that offers free online games. Download few free online games and play with your child in the beginning. Once you know which games are good for your child, guide him/her accordingly.

Let the child enjoy the pleasure of playing against the skill of the computer. Slowly raise the level of difficulty and let you child develop skills and have fun. These games will not only give him/her pleasure but also sharpen the intelligence. They will also save you from the guilt of not having any body to play with your child. Online games are surely a boon for families with single child.

The author CD Mohatta recommends http://www.yourfungames.com/ as a big resource of free online games of all types. Download them and play free for as many hours as you want. You can also send free ecards from http://www.ecardunivers.com/ and play free quizzes and tests on http://www.funquizcards.com/

Best Practices For A Warrior In World Of Warcraft

Writen by Hunter Crowell

The Job of the Warrior is to get relentlessly beat upon. While there are a handful of classes in World of Warcraft that have the capability to tank, the Warrior stands above them all with more talents, abilities and equipment geared for the role. In a group setting, if the warrior dies first, they died knowing they did their job to the best of their abilities. Some players are better at holding the agro from the monsters than others, but it’s a common adage that effective tanking is 10% gear, 10% talent build and 80% skill.

A large part of effective tanking is outside the hands of the warrior. One common fallacy held by the players of World of Warcraft is that if a tank loses control of a monster, he’s a bad tank. While this very well could be true, the case could actually be quite the opposite. There is a limited number of things a Warrior can do to generate threat on a creature. Assuming that the skill, talents build are in place and the gear collected, he can build a lot of threat. There is an upper limit to the threat obtainable.

When a character is assigned to tank, he will not be generating the majority of his threat from dealing damage to a target. Outside of the Warrior class, dealing damage is the best way to increase threat on a monster. Over a period of time, the threat from damage caused by another character can overcome the threat generated by the tank. In such a situation, as long as the warrior was using all his abilities to their maximum effectiveness, there’s nothing else he could have done to keep the focus of the enemy. A party who knows this, and can manage their own threat makes the tanks life that much easier. At lower levels, the group tends to blame the tank if he loses control of the monster. In the end game forty man instances, the smart groups tend to blame the player who pulled the target for not managing his own threat.

Warriors are very dependant on the sort of gear they use. If the goal is to play the higher intensity raid instances, a lot of time will be spent gathering up the equipment. For a tank, there are three main things to look at while gathering gear: Stamina, Armor Rating, and Defense. Stamina gives the character ten hit points per point. That may not seem like a lot, but just like pennies in a piggy back, it starts adding up. Armor Rating lowers the incoming damage percentage. Defense ups the skill of the same name, and lowers the chance that enemies will critically hit the tank by a percentage point for every twenty five points of defense. Thankfully, World of Warcraft offers many different dungeons to crawl in order to gather equipment with all of these perks. On epic pieces of armor, players will find bonuses to blocking skill or dodge percentages, and those are nice too, but those will only come after time spent tanking. There will be a long time when the characters will be relying on uncommon and rare equipment that is much easier to obtain.

Of the 51 talent points World of Warcraft offers its players, eighteen of those should be dedicated to the protection tree. For a tank to excel at his job, it is in his best interest to send points on the talents Defiance, Toughness and Last Stand. Neither five point talent on the first tier of talents a warrior can access truly outdoes the other, one raises the chance to block with a shield, the other raises the characters natural defense. Both are good options, yet not required for optimum tanking. On the second tier, five points in Toughness gives you ten percent more armor contribution, and at the high armor ratings a warrior can achieve this talent can decrease all incoming damage by up to five percent. Also on tier two is the Improved Bloodrage talent. This two point talent is useful, but not required to tank. It is required to gain access to the tier three talent Last Stand. Last stand increases the warriors current and maximum hit points by thirty percent for twenty seconds, great for the times when that heal is coming just a second too late. Lastly, the Defiance talent raises the threat generated by the warrior by fifteen percent. Without all these talents, the warrior is not able to tank to the best of the class’s ability.

The gear is in place, the talent build is good, but the most important thing to tank effectively is the skill. Its not hard to tank. It just takes knowledge. Sunder Armor is the staple of every tanks retinue. It is the most efficient way to gather rage early in a fight, and it makes the enemy easier to kill by lowering its armor rating. Another ability widely used is Heroic Strike. Some tanks use these two abilities and they manage to control the monster. In a prolonged fight, this will not be enough. There are three abilities other than sunder armor that allow the tank to gain as much agro as possible. Shield block, while not an threat generating ability in itself, it guarantees a block, which in turn allows the tank to use the Revenge ability. Revenge is the lowest cost and highest threat generating ability in the game.

Finally, Shield Bash, a high threat producing ability used primarily to stop a spell caster from casting can be used liberally on non-magical foes to generate high amounts of threat. Each of these abilities should be used when they are cooled down and available. Once the basics of tanking are understood, each individual player can add their own flavor to the game and improve on their own abilities.

Hunter Crowell is a researcher, avid online gamer, and creator of Buy WOW Gold A site that helps players find the cheapest place to buy their gold.

Scintillating PS2 Game Cheats

Writen by Wycliffe Williams

I love ps 2 game cheats. Wellno one loves a cheater. But when it comes to discovering video game cheats, cheating isn’t what you’re doing. I prefer to think of it as discovering shortcuts, tips and tricks, or video game hints.

Most ps 2 game cheats have gotten really complex since the days of PacMan. The game authors have even thrown in back doors and shortcuts to make life interesting for the player.

The problem is most of these back doors are too well hidden. The authors are forced to give information on their whereabouts or no one would ever find them.

Many video games offer game cheats. “Finding Nemo” is a good example. Did you know that there are at least six video game cheat codes hidden there? If you play a video game online, like XBox Live, there are a whole slew of video game hints available.

Of course ps 2 game cheats and game hints are sort of useless if you don’t own any video games. And that’s where video game web sites come in.

Any web site worth visiting will not only have video game reviews and cheats for you to peruse, but they will also have game walkthroughs. Video game walkthroughs differ from cheats in that they actually “walk you through” the process of achieving some goal.

Video game cheats, on the other hand, are often cryptic one or two liners like enter xx312 in the password field.

Professional video game reviews are typically written by paid reviewers who work for video game magazines. These are generally well-written, in depth, and definitely worth reading.

The other most common writer of video game reviews are the actual end users. If purchasing ps 2 game cheats, the key point to remember is that you don’t want to invest in a video game until at least a couple of people have taken the time to write a review of that game.

The video game industry has been participating online. As more and more video game systems opt for Internet connectivity, you’re likely to find that you never have to play video games alone again.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Review

Writen by Carl S. Richardson

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was hailed as the “killer PSP game”. The popular GTA series had to make its way onto the PSP sooner or later, and it’s PSP debut is great.

The game takes place, as the title suggests, in Liberty City, which is the city that Grand Theft Auto III (the series’ first 3D game) is also situated in. Rockstar Leeds simply converted the city onto the UMD, and changed a few things to make it look more modern, as LCS is set after III. Having said that, the only real changes are shops, which have different names and styles, which is quite disappointing. A new city to explore would have been much better.

You play as Toni Cipriani, a no nonsense guy who’s willing to do anything and remove anybody in his way. Unlike GTA III, he can talk, which makes the cutscenes better. The basic story mode consists of missions that do tend to get repetitive. You’ll go to a guy on your map, he’ll give you a mission that usually involves killing someone, and you get paid once you’re done. Once you’ve completed enough missions, you’ll move on to the second island of Liberty City. There are three islands in total, and you unlock them over time. It’s a good incentive to complete the missions, but for people who have played GTA III, there’s nothing really new.

Though the game focuses on missions, the free roam ability is truly magnificent. You may find yourself playing it over and over again, and rarely getting tired of it. There is no free roam mode, in fact there are no modes, the game simply loads when you turn it on. Whether or not you choose to engage in a mission is up to you. If you choose not to, you can roam freely around the city, causing havoc, or just exploring. You can also collect a number of weapons, ranging from pistols and UZI’s to rocket launchers, flamethrowers and sniper rifles. You’ll also have melee weapons such as knives and baseball bats. Or, if you want to do some damage from a distance, use a grenade or Molotov cocktail.The amount of weapons in the game is similar to the PS2 versions, which means there’s loads.

The cops are still present, so if you blow off too many heads, you’ll get some heat on you. The cops are divided into levels with the usual system. You have 1 star at the beginning, and if you keep blowing things up, eventually it will increase to 6 stars, and you’ll have the army after you.

The vehicles in the game are again similar to previous versions. Veterans will remember the Patriot, Cheetah, Infernus, Banshee and so on, although some have redesigns which look more modern. You can also have motorbikes, which have never been seen around Liberty City before Motorbikes are generally faster and have better handling than the cars, and make it easier to perform unique jumps, and such. There are no bicycles in the game, which was a nice addition to San Andreas. As you progress through the game you will also have the chance to ride boats. It’s not as fun as it sounds, and it never really has been in any of the GTA games. Boat handling is sluggish and it’s not fun to drive them. You can no longer fly. Anything. Not a thing. The Dodo was a plane on GTA III that was located in the airport, which you could fly, or at least try to. This time there is no Dodo, no helicopters, no planes whatsoever. It really feels like a missing factor, although in one of the missions it is possible to steal a helicopter, so the physics and controls are still technically in the game. Why there are no planes to fly is confusing. The police still have choppers following you, so watch out.

A new mode of transportation is the ferry. It’s basically a slow boat ride and you don’t get to drive the boat. You even have to pay for the service. It is a quick way of getting from island to island though, and you do get to keep your car.

The general controls of vehicles is good. Sports cars have great speeds and handling, and slow cars have reduced turning capacity. The controls on foot have been changed dramatically. You use the small analog style stick to control Toni, and vehicles. The directional buttons are used for changing weapons and starting various side missions. Of course the PSP has less buttons than the PS2 controller, so condensing everything was not an easy task. Sometimes the controls do feel very fiddly and it can be frustrating when you need to target things quickly.

Adding on to the “Toni Can’t” list, is the ability to swim. Implemented in San Andreas, this feature is absent. It’s only really missed when you fall off a cliff into the water, as you could swim to the side and get out. Instead, Toni simply drowns. All of the abilities to increase stats are no longer present, but it’s not particularly missed.

Toni can change clothes, and there are some nice options. He is unable to change specific body parts, instead you choose from full suits. Though changing clothes is a small part of the game, you probably would never notice this option if it wasn’t required for some missions.

If you don’t want to do any main missions, you can engage in some of the side missions. Famous in all PS2 GTA games, these usually involve Taxi missions, in which you act as a taxi driver and deliver passengers before time elapses. Ambulance missions, where you take sick people to hospital. Firetruck missions, which involves putting out fires like burning cars. A new side mission is the dump truck mission. You simply need to collect all the green trash cans within the time limit. All these missions are basically the same repetitive actions. The rewards are worth the effort though.

There are also hidden packages throughout the game in various locations. Nothing new to the series, but collecting all 100 adds weapons to your hide out. Unique jumps are large jumps where the camera changes and it goes in slow motion. When you successfully complete a unique jump, you’ll get money for your effort. While these things are by no means new additions, they are nice to have, and it expands the game.

We all know that the PSP has wireless capabilities, and Liberty City Stories takes advantage of that. The wireless multiplayer action is staggeringly good. You must have friends with PSP’s and copies of the game, but if you do, you’re in luck. The game allows for total free play with your friends. There are many different game modes which adhere to the capture the flag premise. Most of the games work in this way. Liberty City Survivor allows players to play against each other. This is the mode you’ll be playing none stop. Even after you have finished the game, it is unlikely that you will get bored of the multiplayer action.

Liberty City Stories has the same radio themed soundtrack. When you enter a vehicle you can choose from a number of radio stations, all of which have different styles of music. The soundtrack has some known tracks from the era, but nothing too impressive. In comparison with the Vice City and San Andreas soundtracks, this is sub-standard.

The graphics throughout the game are fairly cartoony. The series was never meant to be a simulator, but some smoother graphics would have been nice. Sometimes it can seem that Toni has several legs when you are running. Also, at times the frame rate has trouble keeping up, but only when there is lots on the screen at once. For the most part, the frame rate holds up well. The loading times are acceptable. There is a loading period at the start and then as you cross between islands, a loading screen will appear, but only for a few seconds.

Overall, it’s a great addition to the Grand Theft Auto series, and the PSP line up. You can’t help but feel it’s just a watered down version of a PS2 GTA, or simply an expansion pack, that doesn’t expand on much. Nevertheless, the action in single player, and in particular, multiplayer, is well worth the purchase.

http://www.articlecore.com was created to provide articles on a number of different subjects ranging from PSP game reviews to Science.

The site is owned and run by Carl S. Richardson and Joe Denison, who are also known for a number of other websites including http://www.rawpulse.com a Playstation gaming website.

Beware: Wholesale Playstation 3 Price Scams

Writen by Joaquin Reveron

It is impossible to get a brand new and virtually not touched PlayStation 3 at a real wholesale price, despite what many scams would have you believe- if wholesale is to be consider 50-90% of the current retail value of the first 2 years of life of the item. If you try to get a PlayStation 3 in this way, the best scenario is that you will most likely get it slightly cheaper than the retail price, but with a lot more hassle and worry.

The worst case is that you might not get your PlayStation 3, and some unscrupulous crook will get your money the easy way. Beware of early sign of supposed wholesale for Playstation 3.

Why? The first answer is simple market economics. The reason wholesale prices get to be low is because of the cost of dealing with individual customers. Any company, which is selling to individuals, will have to encounter these higher costs, and so will not be able to offer wholesale prices in the most likely events. The why of that is simple? Yes indeed, the majority of the wholesalers and distributors play the game of bulk, and only a few get to do business in single these days. These are the facts, but such kind of distributors and wholesalers are still available.

The second reason is the shortage of units of the PlayStation 3. Sony manufacturing center in Japan and China have been unable to produce enough units to flood the market at launch. Anybody who does have access to a wholesale PlayStation 3 has a strong incentive to sell on to a retailer, who will be able to get a good price for them. Finally, Sony exerts control over the pricing of the PlayStation 3 in the US market, as things are slightly different in Japan, where retailers are allowed to set their own prices. They have the legal and economic power to ensure that the PlayStation 3 is sold only for the official prices – that is, $499 for the standard version, and $599 for the premium version.

So, what are all these outlets offering the PlayStation 3 at wholesale prices? Mostly, it is just a marketing gimmick. Some of them may really be wholesalers who are trying to break their agreement with Sony and sell the PlayStation 3 direct to customers. If that is the case, they are likely to be in legal trouble fairly soon, and they are not good people to be trusted with your money as you could also be in headaches as a buyer of such possible scam.

Where do you go if you cannot get the PlayStation 3 at wholesale prices? Look for hidden distributors like most eBay power sellers and online powerhouses do. People who devote their time to wholesale businesses spend countless hours searching for such hidden distributors and single unit sales with such sources. Their prices might seem a lot higher than those of the wholesalers, but in fact some will probably be offering bundles that give you good value for your money most of the time.

You will probably be looking to get extra games and controllers anyway, so why not let shops include them in the package for you? That is the way to get your PlayStation 3, not through the wholesale 50-80% discount scam. For people who breathe and live the wholesale tangible sell- at least for now, it would be impossible to find real wholesale Playstation 3 in brand new conditions and definitely in my 7 years of experience online and with my disclaimer point of view that is, importantly.

Mahjong Sets

Writen by Josh Riverside

Mahjong is a traditional Chinese game, which literally means “the game of a hundred intelligences” (in Chinese). There are various versions of mahjong today: the Chinese, the Japanese and the American, each with its own set of rules. Mahjong is a game that involves skill, intelligence, estimation as well as luck. It has been traditionally a gambling game and is still played today in clubs and special mahjong houses.

There are also international mahjong tournaments held across the world. Ma Chiao, Mo Tsiah, Ma Cheuk, Ma Jong, Ma Chiang, Ma Chong, Man Chu, Mah Diao, Pung Chow, Mah Chong, Ching Chong, Mah Cheuk, Ma Chiang, Kong Chow, Mah Deuck, Lung Chan, Mah Lowe, Pe Ling, Baak Ling are other names for Mahjong.

A typical Mahjong set contains 144 tiles, 2 season tiles, 4 “red 5″ bonus tiles, 1 table wind Tessera, 4 dice, scoring tallies, storage trays and a carrying case. The set may contain 136, 144, 148 or 152 tiles though the most common are the 136 and the 144 tile sets. The most common tiles are: the circle suit (contains circles), the bamboo (contains bamboos), character suit (Chinese characters representing ten thousand coins each), wind tiles (representing north, south, east and west), dragon tiles (red, green and white), flower tiles (containing art work) and joker tiles (used like a wild card, as a substitute for any tile).

The tiles are made of ivory, ebony, white bone, wood or plastic, depending on the quality and the price. The case is also made of oak or teak wood. Good quality mahjong sets made of ivory or oak are priced at hundreds of dollars while normal plastic or white bone tiles in tin or faux leather boxes are cheaper, starting at $20. A traditional box contains a cabinet with four drawers for storing the tiles. Modern boxes just contain one box with four trays inlaid in the box.

Each tile is around 1 1/2 inch x 1 inch x 3/4 inches in size and rectangular in shape. They have hand-engraved designs etched on them and painted in colors. These tiles are of 34 kinds, in five different suits or designs – wan, circle, bamboo, wind and prime (4X34=136) and 8 flower tiles.

Mahjong sets are available in most stores that have sports and games equipment. They can also be bought online through the hundreds of websites that provide comprehensive information and details about mahjong sets.

Mahjong provides detailed information about mahjong, mahjong solitaire, mahjong tiles, mahjong online and more. Mahjong is the sister site of Free Online Casinos.

Online Darts Games

Writen by Ross Bainbridge

There are many sites that offer free dart games that can be played online. In addition to this, a click of the button allows dart game enthusiasts to download the game into the computer, and to have the pleasure of enjoying their favorite game at their leisure. The advantage of online dart games is that they let the player experience the joy of the game without having to go outdoors or to the local recreation center. Also, there is the added excitement of the whole game being a virtual one.

The virtual game rules are the same as those of a standard game of darts. There are numerous dart games that can be downloaded from various sites. Smile Games – Darts is a very realistic dart game that does not take long to load; in this game, there is no computer to play against, so it goes without saying that there should be somebody else to play with. Other interesting online dart games are “Darts 4 Cash” and “Let’s Play Darts.” The Net also offers free multiplayer online dart games such as “Click Darts,” where it is possible to play games like 301, 501, and Cricket. Playing in groups is also allowed, with “Cutthroat Cricket” and “Freeze.” The game “Click Darts” allows the player to just point and click the mouse; where the dart lands is determined automatically by the website. FreeWorldGroup.com, mostdartgames.com and crowsdarts.com are some of the popular websites that offer online dart games.

Tournaments are also held to enable darters all over the world to compete and win. At present, there are two tournaments starting every weekend. Since all the people that want to take part are not all online at the same time, tournaments can take a couple of weeks to complete. It is possible to monitor the progress of the existing tournaments and to look for any upcoming ones on these web sites. The World Professional Darts Championship, a tournament of great prestige, is held in the month of January, at the Lakeside Leisure Complex, UK.

Darts provides detailed information on Darts, Lawn Darts, Darts Rules, Online Darts Games and more. Darts is affiliated with Chess Sets.

The XBox 360, Not Just for Video Games

Writen by Amber Lowery

On November 22, 2005, Microsoft released the long awaited XBox 360, the next generation of its popular XBox gaming console. The XBox 360, however, goes farther than any game system that users are currently accustomed to. The XBox 360 is more like a fully functional, broadband connected entertainment gadget that appeals to gamers but is equipped to entertain the whole family.

Although smaller than the original XBox (The 360 weighs in at a mere 7.7 lbs), this version packs so many nifty features in a small package. If you also happen to own a HDTV, you will truly be able to appreciate the advanced graphics features and support for windscreen (16:9) format. Of course, the console will work on regular television as well, but the depth of the graphics will be particularly stunning on more advanced televisions. The XBOx 360 carries a ATI graphics processor and 10MB of embedded DRAM. This setup allows the XBox 360 to draw up to 500 million triangles per second for the ultimate in realistic graphics.

The XBox 360 unit also has a 12x dual layer DVD Rom drive that serves the dual purpose of playing XBox games as well as ordinary DVDs. There is also additional support for surround sound audio for the ultimate home theater experience and realistic gaming.

For game save and other media storage, you can optionally purchase a 20GB external harddrive which also serves to make the XBox 360 backwards compatible with original XBox games.

The XBox 360 goes well beyond the range of gaming and video with its built-in Ethernet port that allows users to connect via their broadband connection to XBox live (available in various flavors). XBox live will allow you to play live over the Internet, use voice and even video chat and, of course, purchase additional goodies for your XBOx. In addition to ethernet connectivity, you can optionally purchase wireless adapters that comply with the standard wireless 802.11 protocol for integration into your existing wireless network. For other data transfer tasks, such as uploading of your digital photos, digital home movies, and music, you can use the integrated USB 2.0 port. With all of these features, it is a piece of cake to stream all of your digital files.

As you can see, the XBox 360 offers a little something for everyone. Kids can enjoy the futuristic gaming capabilities (check game ratings for age appropriateness), and Mom and Dad can enjoy the file sharing, music and video streaming, and home theater features.

To find the best deals on the Xbox360, check out the XBox page at http://www.iWebshopping.org