Xbox One - A Great Choice This Holiday Season

Christmas, Christmas time is here. Time for toys and time for cheers! Yes, that's right! Christmas is just a month away. We are no in November and we are starting the count down until we all get the great (or not so great) gifts that we have been wanting all year long. Hot on this list is game consoles.

With Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all having next gen gaming consoles on the market, not to mention the slew of new twisty, bendy laptops and other gadgets, what is the best gaming platform?

I have always been a PlayStation man, however I did briefly own an Xbox 360 before the red ring of death got it. Then about 6 months ago, my PS3 blew up. What was a gamer to do? I did a lot of research. I found that the GPU, the unit that drives the graphics behind the 2 machines, PS4 and Xbox One, were both created by my favorite CPU/GPU creator, AMD. When AMD makes a chipset then you know it is built right. Therefore, that did not help me much in deciding.

The PlayStation 4 (PS4) does have a faster, higher grade of ram memory in it as it utilizes DDR5 and the Xbox One still uses the standard DDR4. Therefore, I was jumping at the bit to get my hands on the PS4. I am glad I did not, however.

I found a great bundle deal that had the Xbox One console, the Kinect camera, and a $60 game thrown in for the giggles. This bundle cost me $450 at Walmart and that was not during a sale such as Black Friday. That was the everyday bundle price at that time. Heck, without the game that system was running $499. By the way, Titanfall alone was worth buying the Xbox One when I did.

For starters, what may not be learned off the box the Xbox One comes with, is that the Xbox One is designed to use the cloud created by Microsoft called Azure. Being able to utilize this cloud (many, many different servers systems hooked up together) the Xbox One can harness the power of the servers it is connected to, giving the console the ability to be 4 times stronger than the hardware that is enclosed in this console. This was the icing on the cake for me.

Throw in that the Xbox One has both an HDMI out as well as HDMI in so that you can plug up your high def cable box to this console, so that you can control what you watch on TV through voice command and hand gestures, this console just gets more exciting! With a slew of Xbox One Apps now on the market for free, yes free, as of a couple months ago you no longer have to pay for a Gold Live account as you can now use the apps and play the games online for FREE!!

James Trivolette, Owner and Digital Marketer of http://www.lovemyxboxone.com has been in Search Engine Optimization for over 10+ years. His love of gaming made this site a hobby.

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Understanding The Differences Between PS4 And Xbox Gaming Consoles

PS4 and Xbox are two of the most popular game consoles in the world. Due to their popularity, many people don't know the console that they should go for. Here is a comparison of the main specifications that will help you in making the right decision.

GPU

Xbox One and PS4 GPUs are technologically very similar; however, the PS4 GPU is a little bit larger. According to the creators, the Xbox GPU is similar to the Bonaire GPU that can be found in Radeon HD 7790. The PS4 GPU on the other hand is similar to the one found in HD 7870.

Creators of PS4 GPU say that the GPU is almost 50% more powerful than Xbox one. This means that games will have plenty of available graphics power on tap. Although, this is the case, Xbox One has a slightly higher GPU unlock speed.

Other than these differences, the two GPUs are identical as they are both based on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture thus they have the ability of supporting OpenGL 4.3, Direct3D 11.2, and OpenCL 1.2.

RAM

Both consoles have an 8GB RAM. PS4 has 5500MHz RAM while Xbox uses 2133MHz DDR3 RAM. Use of this type of RAM by PS4 gives the console a bandwidth advantage. For example, the PS4's CPU and GPU will have 176GB/sec of bandwidth to system RAM, while Xbox will only have 68.3GB/sec.

CPU

Just like GPU, both consoles have similar CPUs. Although, the CPUs are virtually identical, they have a number of differences. For example, the PS4 CPU is clocked at 1.6GHz while Xbox is clocked at 1.75GHz. Since Xbox one has a larger space, it's expected to be much faster.

Setting up the consoles

It's very easy to setup PS4 as you don't have to go through the trouble of installing a power supply brick; all you need to do is to plug the power cord from the PS4 to the wall and hook up the HDMI to your TV. The good side is that PS4 is easily recognized by many TVs; therefore, you don't have to fiddle with settings.

It's also easy to setup Xbox one; however, you have to deal with the power brick that needs to be placed in a well-ventilated area in order to protect it from overheating. The power brick also gives the Xbox console an ugly look.

Conclusion

These are the main differences between PS4 and Xbox one. Which is the best console for you?

We have plenty of information about PS4 hardware specs [http://www.ps4onnews.com]. We also have comparisons of the major gaming consoles. For example, we have a well detailed comparison on PS4 and Xbox One [http://www.ps4onnews.com]. Visit the given links to know more.

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Sega Master System - How Not to Fulfil Potential

Well my friends, it all started in the Christmas of 1990...

A young me saw an advert for the MS Power Base and instantly fell in love. I'd love to be able to show you said video but the internet, despite containing 12,000,000 shades of adult material, doesn't have space for it. I'm starting to wonder whether I imagined it all. In any case, for the month of December I relentlessly badgered my father (B. Simpson would have been very impressed) to purchase the Power Base with Hang-On, Safari Hunt and Light Phaser. And credit to the man, ignoring late mortgage payments, final demands and much to the annoyance of my mother, he duly obliged. I was stunned.

I did however find this American advert for the package which at £100 seemed expensive but actually provided pretty good value for money. Plus, there was also a hidden maze game. Someone needs to bring back hidden games. I dug out my Master System a couple of months ago, which still works despite my cousin tipping coke into it (pretty sure if you breathe too heavily on an Xbox it will explode) and boy did it bring back some memories! What also struck me was how bad some of the titles were. These were games I'd played to death! The Ninja and World Soccer were personal favourites but both of them are graphically woeful. That sounds harsh given they were some of the early release titles but let me continue.

Golden Axe is the game that really stuck in my craw. The Ninja (1987) and World Soccer (also 1987) were released a mere two years before Golden Axe (1989) but if you put them side by side you wouldn't guess they're from the same console. Other popular 80s titles (e.g. Ghostbusters, California Games) and even early 90s titles (Indiana Jones, Tom & Jerry) pale in comparison to the graphics in Golden Axe. Admittedly the levels are two-tone and the rendering is baffling in places but the sprites look almost the same as in the 16-bit. The sprites are large and well detailed. The main protagonist may only have around 15 frames of animation but the swing of the sword feels smooth and true. All of this with a palette of only 64 colours compared to the Mega Drive's 512.

Most 16-bit to 8-bit conversions are terrible (the awful E-SWAT immediately springs to mind) and many positive things can be said of Sega's stance to make completely different games on the 8-bit under the same license (Sonics 1 & 2) but I invite you to take a look at Streets of Rage and Mortal Kombat. Both of these games are one-dimensional and thus creating different 8-bit versions would seem silly. The care taken with both is remarkable. There's not much that can be done with the Master System's Texas Instruments (remember them?) SN76489 sound chip but its graphics capabilities are surprising. Of the 64 available colours, the Master System can display 32 at once. This is in comparison to the Mega Drive's 64 and the NES' pithy 25. The Zilog processor in the MS runs at 4 MHz compared to the NES' 1.79 MHz. The Zilog chip was also used in the Mega Drive alongside the Motorola 68000.

The clues were there. Streets of Rage, after a night out with a few too many jars (blurry eyes an all) could be mistaken for the 16-bit version - bar the awful sound. Sacrifices had to be made, the Master System's reduced memory (albeit still double that of the NES) couldn't handle two players, but all the levels remain intact including the excellent lift stage. With Mortal Kombat more sacrifices had to be made. There are only two stages but most of the characters are there with the exception of the unpopular Kano. Each sprite is big, well drawn, and the animation works to create a fun beat em up, the likes of which European/Japanese Master System owners never saw again. Why so specific with the region? Well...

Did you know Street Fighter 2 existed on the Master System? I sure as hell didn't until earlier this year I found out that the MS is still supported in Brazil (and emulation products in China and Taiwan). SF2 is a capable beat em up and although it looks decidedly more basic (although better than the C64 version) it really makes you wonder what Sega could have done with their first landmark console. Some Master System games are also available through the Wii's online service - who on earth would have thought this of a Nintendo console back in the early nineties!

There are things that couldn't be helped. The NES' stronger game library and character recognition meant it outsold the Master System almost five to one. By the time Sega invented Sonic, the Master System was subjected to poor arcade conversations and puzzle games. The inventive Galaxy Force is the anomaly here, Sega didn't make use of the advanced capabilities of the MS until it was too late. Sonic 1 was the last MS release in the USA. Most would assume that the release of the Mega Drive is to blame for this and Sega had to do something to halt the dominance of the NES. The fact is that Sega made a superior 8-bit console to the NES but chose to go 16-bit first-off, thus inviting the inevitable Nintendo sucker punch (the SNES).

I will always love the Master System and although I'm unlikely to ever own its current incarnations I can still enjoy my Sonics, Streets of Rages (oh yes, the sequel is on there too) and Mortal Kombat. Just don't mention E-SWAT.

For this and more head to http://www.arcadeattack.co.uk

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How Good Is the TI-84 Calculator As a Mobile Console?

Humanity has a knack for getting bored. We'll get bored in the car, on a plane, or in our math classes. No one would really blame us for being bored in a math class though. Math can be tedious and dull. That's what probably led to some people picking up the Texas Instruments 84 calculator and saying "I could work with this".

And thus began a unique corner of the gaming world, one running on a device originally used for graphing functions or helping solve equations. The TI-84 Calculator harkens back to the original Game Boy, in both graphical and mechanical limitations.

The TI-84 Calculator harkens back to the original Game Boy, in both graphical and mechanical limitations.

The TI-84 has limited screen-space and not the smallest of pixels, forcing developers for the system to be particularly crafty with how they designed a game. Some tend to use either single screens at a time or single screens the player either couldn't leave. This way the player knew what they had to deal with without the risk of being introduced to something new with the inclusion of poor screen transition blur or sometimes lag.

Much like the GameBoy, the TI-84 Calculator still had different aesthetic styles despite it's lack of pixel detail. Games had to have a balance between detail and size. In order for a sprite to be detailed they would have to be big, and thus take up more room on the screen. Despite all of this, games still look appealing, unique with each game.

Controls are a weird story when it comes to the TI-84 Calculator, as it is a calculator. For starters, there are a lot of buttons to works with, but not all of them are in a good position, or at least not a comfortable one. This is due to the placement of the D-Pad. The D-Pad it has is on the right, which is different to normal systems. Not only that, but it is also placed high up on the device. With most of the buttons being much lower than the D-Pad, it would be awkward holding it if developers decided to make use of those buttons.

In order for a sprite to be detailed they would have to be big, and thus take up more room on the screen.

It's a good thing they don't. The buttons used the most are the 2ND and ALPHA buttons, with some games making use of MODE and other ones just left of the D-Pad. Most games are forced to be simple, and because of that utilize simple controls. Some games use these buttons for things like jumping, shooting, or selecting, while other games only use these buttons to open the game and then the D-Pad does the rest.

Now what really makes a gaming system great is the games available to play on it. While there are ports of games like Tetris and home-brews of franchises like Mario and even Portal, there are also a whole slew of original titles, some of which I love dearly. Platformer games like Swords 2, arcade games like Uncle Worm, puzzle games like Pegs and the classroom-famous Block Dude, and so on. The TI-84 has been around for a while, so it has a fair amount of fun games on it now.

With all of this being said I just want to say that, after playing it a whole bunch, the TI-84 Calculator is an underrated gaming system. Unorthodox? Yes. A pain to get games on? Yes. Allowed in math classes? Yes.

Dan is the owner of Mangotron which is an Indie Games news website. Mangotron covers indie game news views, interviews and much more.

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Tips On How To Choose The Right Gaming Console For You

Gaming today has become a way of life for many people. They start and end the day by playing their favorite video and online games. A lot of people actually consider gaming as addictive: they just won't feel right or complete without firing their virtual gun or building a digital home or fortress in a day.

But to feel completely satisfied and happy with your gaming experience, you need to have and use the right gaming console. To make sure that you will be choosing the one that's right for you, below are some helpful tips you can follow:

Have some sufficient knowledge about the different gaming consoles - Do some research about the various gaming consoles available in the market today. Every one of them is uniquely different from each other. Use the Internet and read up on their specs, features and capabilities. Also, before buying at a brick-and-mortar or an online store that sells gaming consoles, ask the sales staff for their recommendation. Many of these sales persons are gamers themselves and can give you some valuable insights and advice.

Consider the console's versatility - Most, but not all, gaming consoles today can also be used as a Blu-ray DVD player. As such, a device that has this capability can allow you to have a console that doubles as an all-purpose media hub. This option also enables you to cut down on the amount of media devises you'll need to buy and store.

Find out which kind of games a console offers - There are some games you will only find on certain consoles and not on others. Be sure that the games you really want to play are available for the console you are hoping to get. There are also various styles of games such as first person shooter, racing, and platform games. And if you are primarily interested in racing games, make sure that whatever console you decide to go with provides a good variety of the style of game that you enjoy.

Determine how many people will be frequently playing or using the device - Ask yourself: is it going to be for just one person? Or will your friends or family be playing with you on a regular basis? Keep in mind that each gaming console also caters to each of these requirements differently.

Consider its online capability - Finally, not all consoles have the capability of being accessed or played online. If you want to play online with other gamers, pick a gaming console that supports this feature.

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Recommended Pro Gaming Products

Being a pro gamer is not a cheap thing to achieve. There is plenty of equipment to purchase and it is not the cheapest, but also not too expensive. You are getting your moneys worth for what you pay for. In my detailed post I mentioned gaming equipment, I am going to go into more detail on the different equipment a pro gamer should have. First things first is a controller. Now you can use just a standard controller or you can use what most pros use and that is a Scuf controller. You can either buy a Scuf controller and add some customization to it our you can mail in your own controller and customize it and have it mailed back to you. By customization I mean adding a skin design to the controller, adding grip, changing the kind controller stick, and or adding paddles. Now the skin design is just what covers the base of the controller, so instead of having a plain black controller you could have a red and black controller. It just makes the controller look cooler. The grip is just so you have a better grip on your controller, so it does not slip out of your hands.

There a two kinds of controller sticks you can use; concave and domed. Concave is where the center of the stick is caved in and the domed is where the stick is in the shape a dome. They do not necessarily make you play better, it is just your preference for what you would want to use. The paddles are designed for button mapping. By this I mean having the paddle replace a button so you do not have to use that button.

These go on the back of the controller. For example let's say that the A button is used to jump, when customizing the controller paddles you can assign one the paddles the A button. So instead of always having to press A to jump you can just push the paddle instead. Now the paddles can be assigned to any button you want, just do what fits your style of play. You can have up to four paddles, which means you can have four buttons remapped for the paddles.

The next thing you will want to get is a gaming headset. The top two companies are Turtle Beach and Astro Gaming. These headsets allow you to hear game audio and chat audio in the headset. It is up to you to figure out what levels you want each audio at. Each person has their own preference but majority of the pro players use Astro gaming. Also, each person will say that one is better than the other based on what headset they have. I have had a Turtle Beach headset before but now have an Astro Gaming headset. I personally think Atros are better because they are designed better, and I think they have better quality.

You want to have one of these brands because they will help you in-game. It will help you hear things at a distance and it helps you hear people coming up behind you. Do some research, look at reviews, and talk to your friends about them and buy what you think is best. The last main thing you will need is a monitor. There are a lot of companies who make monitors, just like headsets each person has their own preference of what brand they use. Major League Gaming uses BenQ monitors. They even have a specific monitor that is used by the pros at events. You can find these by just Googling them. These have the best quality and the lowest lag response time. The picture is so clear, colorful, and is nice because there is no lag which means everything that happens, happens in real time with no delay. Another thing that I would recommend is a recording a device to record your gameplays. You can get an El Gato or and Hauppague HDPVR.

These are the only two that I know of, but I am sure there are more. Before purchasing one these make sure your computer or laptop reaches and or exceeds the specifications of the device. These are not necessary to be a pro gamer, but it is nice to record your gameplays and makes videos out of them and post them to YouTube. Basically every pro player makes YouTube videos from their games. You can get fans to watch and subscribe to your YouTube channel. This is not necessity but it is a nice thing to have to show to others. These are the products that players in general and pro players use. I highly recommend looking into all of these. Theses would be an investment, a one time purchase that would last a very long time. I hope that these help you guys out. Happy gaming.

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What Is the E3 Expo?

Every year at E3 huge games developers come to show off their biggest and best titles to the point at which they've been developed. Some games are still in the very early stages of development and only a small part of them can be shown as it has been specifically perfected for the E3 event. Everyone from the gaming media industry visits E3 and records every detail they can in writing until they return home where they can write a full report. All of these details are important for readers of gaming magazines and websites, and much of the industry's news is spread through this process of holding events and having journalists write about them.

E3 brings together the biggest names in games development and gives them a space from which to showcase the games they're most proud of. In 2012 games such as the well-known Far Cry 3 and the first instalment in the new Halo trilogy Halo 4 were shown, giving games journalists a wealth of information simply from a few minutes of video footage. The advantage of playing a demo or showing a video at E3 as opposed to having one to one interviews with games journalists, is that everyone gets the same source information, but they need to interpret it in their own way.

Companies such as Sony and Microsoft also feature themselves at E3, not due to a game they're developing, but more due to a new console which they are hoping to release soon. These two giants can set the stage for the rest of the exposition, with new consoles being announced alongside the games which will feature on them. The biggest and best E3 expositions are always the ones where new consoles are released, as the new games being made for them use better technology which creates games that are more advanced than anything seen in current generation consoles.

Ultimately the E3 Expo achieves a worldwide event for the gaming industry, an event which will set the tone for games to come in the current year and the first half of the year to follow. The job of developers at E3 is to amaze games journalists with their demos and cinematics of new games which are being developed for near future release. The job of games journalists is to then amaze the public by featuring videos and writing their views of them for everyone to read online and in their physical publications should they produce them.

Katie Woodson regularly follows the E3 expo, she uses it as an example for her writing about exhibition draping because there's always a lot used, and she loves watching the new games get revealed.

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