http://www.realpoor.com/ Where Internet drama can cost you your job! 2009-11-20 17:27:57 -0500 With the rapid growth of the internet, we are experiencing a change in the way we interact the world. There is a trend toward making everything freer, more open, and easily accessible. Just try and imagine what you would have said to me ten years ago if I told you that in the future you d be able to browse the internet on your phone, download music, movies, and digital books instantly via high-speed Wi-Fi at McDonalds, or stream your favorite TV shows the day after they air. You would have told me I was nuts. So why then are gaming developers, some of the most important vanguards into the new and expanded digital realm, clinging to selfish old ideas, petty rivalries, and one-upmanship? The answer s simple really: money. Until they all get with the program and go the way of digital music, we ll just have to dream of cross platform blockbusters. To pass the time I ve compiled a list of the top ten console games that should be released on PC. Metal Gear Solid 4 Metal Gear has one of the longest lineages in gaming history. The first game appeared in the U.S. on the NES in 1987 and American gamers just couldn t get enough of it. Since then, Snake has gotten a lot more badass, and a lot older but the fanboys still love the original stealth action master. With the release of Solid Snake 4, the family of games has reached an unequivocal crescendo. Not only is the gameplay the best it s ever been but Snake looks better than he ever has. However, while the Playstation 3 may be able to dance circles around the 360, there s no way that Sony s box can outperform a serious gaming PC. Just imagine how great the Metal Gear Solid 4 would look (and play) if a hardcore gamine machine could sink its teeth into it. God of War Series Another Playstation exclusive series that really should find new homes on other systems, God of War puts ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Great_Console_Games_that_Should_Be_Released_on_PC_a264.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Great_Console_Games_that_Should_Be_Released_on_PC_a264.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Great_Console_Games_that_Should_Be_Released_on_PC_a264.html Robert Palmer 2009-10-01 05:50:03 -0400 When home gaming systems landed in people s living rooms in the early eighties it was only a matter of time before some enterprising fellow with an eye for exploitation decided he could sell those prehistoric gamers piles of useless gadgets and gear to feed their new-found addictions. Ever since, companies have been churning out tons of various controllers, add-ons, and even fashion accessories most of them completely useless or broke from the get-go and we ve been handing them money hand over fist. From game-specific keypads for the Atari 2600 to Xbox 360 cooling units that catch on fire, the retail market is full of useless crap. The following is just a short list of some of the most useless console gaming peripherals of all time. The Nintendo Power Pad I wasn t lucky enough to have a NES growing up but my 4 cousin s did. When their mom brought home this flashy floor mat, we played Track and Field for weeks. Though the Powerpad looks an awful lot like the illegitimate great-granddaddy of the DDR pad that college kids and closet Fame wannabes destroyed by the thousands, this distant relative never was worth the price people paid for it. There were only a handful of games that anybody could even contemplate using the pad for (Mario was not one of them) and the sensitivity/reaction time of the pad s sensors was way out of whack. Most of the time we just ended up laying on the floor, pounding the thing to death with our fists and getting yelled at because we were being too loud. I suppose that s better than having a houseful teenage boys sweating the behinds off sans-shoes. Power Pad in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlkO-x6jANo Wii 8-in-1 Weapons Bundle I spotted this particular item on the dusty shelf of a discount clothing retailer the season after the Wii s sales peaked and everybody but yoga moms and wannabe wizards had forgotten abou ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Most_Useless_Console_Gaming_Gadgets_of_All_Time_a259.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Most_Useless_Console_Gaming_Gadgets_of_All_Time_a259.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Most_Useless_Console_Gaming_Gadgets_of_All_Time_a259.html Robert Palmer 2009-09-19 04:12:21 -0400 Though I was a console gamer back in the day of Atari and SNES, I strayed from the course for a while and flirted with PC games for a long time. So when people started talking about modded consoles I was kind of blas about the whole thing. I mean, I d seen gaming PCs with liquid cooling systems, LED lighting, and custom cases for years so what was new about that, right? However, I was thumbing through my favorite gaming mag at the time (now defunct) and came across a viewer submitted picture of an X-box console shoved inside a vintage Millennium Falcon vehicle. It blew my mind. Ever since then I ve felt a perverse pleasure when I see a particularly well-destroyed console. Here are a few of the best of the best and since my interest in modding was sparked by a visual mod, we ll start there: 1) Gears of War 360 Love Gears? Love the 360? This mod will definitely get you excited. DFW Monkey decided to show his love by crafting this exquisitely disturbing mod complete with glowing Gears logo! 2) PS3 Steampunk Steampunks around the world decry the sleek look of the black PS3 console and its uber-futuristic good taste. Fear not, for the PS3 has been totally punked by Maduncle and you can see its glory here: 3) The Suzuki 360 mod Yup, you heard me right. You may have seen Xzibit do some pimping on TV a while back and slap a few 360s in people s cars but you ve never seen anything like this. This guy took the whole mobile gaming idea to the next level and built a 360 console and controllers into the dashboard and steering wheel of his Suzuki. Not bad but I can t say it would improve his insurance premium. 4) Half life 2 360 case mod I m all for anything Gordon Freeman and this case mod by the shadowy man named PinPoint is excellence. The color scheme and graphic placement are dead on and the box looks l ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Crazy_Game_Console_Mods_a256.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Crazy_Game_Console_Mods_a256.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/10_Crazy_Game_Console_Mods_a256.html Robert Palmer 2009-09-12 04:16:23 -0400 A new skin disorder has been identified by skin specialists and it s been apparently caused by excessive use of games consoles. Doctors in Switzerland issued a warning that prolonged gaming sessions can result in the development of lesions on the hands, a condition they have named PlayStation palmar hidradenitis, which is also described in the British Journal of Dermatology. The condition was identified in a 12-year-old girl in Switzerland who developed lesions on her hands after playing for several hours every day. Doctors who examined her at the Geneva University Hospital concluded that she had a condition known as 'idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis', a skin disorder that generally causes red, sore lumps on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. These lesions have been previously found on the soles of the feet in children who engage in jogging and other intensive physical activities, and they re caused by excessive sweating. However, it is very unusual for this condition to appear on the hands. Unusual symptoms Doctors probably scratched their heads when they saw lesions on the hands only, especially when they found out that little girl had not participated in any sport or physical exercise recently, and could not recall any recent trauma involving her hands. However, her parents ratted her out, telling the doctors that she had recently started to play a video game on a PlayStation console for several hours a day, and had continued to play even after developing the sores. It s not necessary to say that idiopatic eccrine hidradenitis got a new name in that moment, and Playstation was first suspect for little girl s condition. Although symptoms had initially been thought to be psychological, doctors actually suspect that the problem was caused by tight and continuous grasping of the console's hand-grips, and repeated pushing of the buttons, alongside sweating caused by the tension of the game ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/New_Skin_Condition_Caused_By_Excessive_Gaming_a196.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/New_Skin_Condition_Caused_By_Excessive_Gaming_a196.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/New_Skin_Condition_Caused_By_Excessive_Gaming_a196.html windshell 2009-02-25 05:35:56 -0500