Tuesday, December 9, 2008

One Leap Ahead of Other Games: XboX 360 Graphics

Xbox 360 is sure to be the most innovative product of nowadays gaming technology. With its striking qualities and design, it has become the long desired dose for all game addicts. What tends to be the most magnificent feature in XboX 360, is physics. Technological advances in physics on XboX 360 are significant. The effects are overpowering and the physics simulation is closer to reality than it has ever been with other XboX versions before. What is more, many effects are allowed to happen simultaneously, which adds to the feeling of reality. XboX 360 has another priority over other games: namely, the wireless. The wireless controller has the same speed as the wired one, and the wireless networking connects you with other players no matter where you arе. The XboX 360 Memory Unit now inserts straight into the console itself, not into the controller. Moreover, the headset cable plugs directly into the controller. The controller on its side has innovative and modern design that allows for better grasp.

Here are some other specific aspects of XboX 360.

1) The first one is A.I., which stands for Artificial Intelligence. A.I. allows non-player characters (NPCs) to behave in realistic ways. Your enemies are as evil as real, your friends are open hearted and love you so sincerely that you almost respond them. The sophisticated intelligence offers you an opportunity to command and play with large groups of NPCs.

2) Another specific feature of XboX 360 is the High Definition. Unlike the older versions of XboX, in which game developers could choose whether to support HD graphics, XboX 360 requires that all games have HD options. The resolution settings are in the System Menu on the XboX 360 Dashboard. You can use either the XboX 360 Component HD AV Cable, or the XboX 360 VGA HD AV Cable. The main thing to be put in here, is that XboX 360 offers dynamic high-definition support. If a game is designed with 720p in mind, but the capacity of your TV supports only 480p, XboX 360 complies with the best resolution that your TV offers.

3) The third aspect is Graphics, which XboX 360 is so famous with. All XboX 360 games have been edified to support widescreen formatting and 720 progressive scan. The resolution options are interchangeable. All games are able to run at 480 i that is the resolution of an ordinary TV. It runs also on 480p, 720p and 1080 i so no matter what kind of resolution your technology device offers you, XboX 360 can be fitted everywhere.

4) The GPU has a stylish appearance and highly functional design. To serve an example, the texture filtering and MSAA can be done at full rate with no performance penalties.

The other thing worth mentioning is that the full graphics potential of XboX 360 can barely be grazed here. There are many amasing innovations that you will come to discover yourself. So far, XboX 360 is the most advanced leap gaming technology has taken in the sphere of graphics. The other aspects of the XboX 360 are also incredibly developed. XboX 360 is the dream of every game connoisseur.

Article by Robbie Darmona - an article writer who writes on a wide variety of subjects. For more information click XboX 360 Graphics.

Gossip Couple Breaking Up?(E! Online)E! Online - Just how sinful is Gossip Girl? So much so that its too-cute castmembers are starting some drama offscreen. An eyewitness says they saw Blake Lively hanging out at New York nightclub Southside Friday night, hooking up with a random blond—def not dark-haired Penn Badgley, whom Blake's been dating for the past year or so.

Finding Starting Pitching Value

Finding value is the key to betting baseball and trying to find that value with big name starting pitchers is often difficult. With the season a quarter of the way completed, we can usually separate out who is going to continue to be strong and who is in for long seasons. There are special cases where we have some top starters struggling but who could be poised to turn things around. Now is the time to bite since once they get back into a groove, the value will be long gone.

Dontrelle Willis (1-5 5.12 ERA; 1-9 Team Record -8.6 Units)

Even though Willis is on one of the worst teams in baseball, his struggles are a pretty big surprise. He had a three-game stretch where he allowed 21 earned runs in just 14.2 innings and that is the main cause for his inflated ERA. Six of his other seven outings have been quality starts including his last two so he looks to be back in good form. Pitching at home has been a disaster where he has a 10.18 ERA compared to an ERA of 2.72 on the road.

Willis is not getting good run support as he has received just four runs total in his last three starts and he is getting just 3.1 rpg on the season. Playing on a bad team is tough mentally but as long as he keeps plugging along, he will be fine. He has been an underdog in his last four starts so the value is there but it been a lost cause. Its just a matter of getting into the win column. His next start will be at home against the Mets on Friday so expect to se a big dog price on his shoulder.

Andy Pettitte (3-5 5.03 ERA; 3-7 Team Record -6.5 Units)

Pettitte has been inconsistent this season following a spectacular 2005 season. With Roger Clemens not on the roster, he has some added pressure as the now number two guy but it should not be affecting him this much. His big struggles have come on the road where he is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA in three starts. Seven of his 10 outings have come at Minute Maid Park and there is value there. In his first two starts at home, he was a -225 and -190 favorite while his last two he was a favorite of -145 and -115.

Pettitte is allowing a ton of baserunners and that has been the biggest problem. He has a WHIP of 1.58 on the season compared to a WHIP of 1.03 last year. He had 41 walks all of last season and he is already at 22 in 2006 and is coming off a 5-walk performance against Texas over the weekend. The control will likely get better and that will put some Ws in the column. He will be pitching at Washington on Thursday and that could be the break he needs as he is 3-0 with a 2.76 ERA in five career starts against the Nationals.

Livan Hernandez (2-5 5.51 ERA; 2-8 Team Record -6.5 Units)

Hernandez has been dominant the last three seasons but has started very slow out of the gate this year. His 5.51 ERA is higher than what he has finished at in any year throughout his career so either he is going the wrong way or he is bound to turn things around. Im guessing its the latter and he looks to be heading that way already. His ERA was close to seven at the beginning of the month but his last two starts have been very solid and he will look to feed off those recent outings.

He is playing on a team with one of the worst offenses in the league and it shows in his run support. He is receiving only 3.9 rpg and has gotten three runs or less in five of his last six outings. RFK Stadium is not a hitters park yet his ERA at home is a whopping 6.84 but that should continue to decrease. On the plus side, he has allowed only two home runs in his last six starts after giving up nine long balls in his first four. He squares off against the Dodgers next time out.

Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm

In this April 18, 2007 file photo, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks at the 45th Annual Illinois Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Springfield, Ill. Authorities in Chicago have arrested Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich on federal charges. U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn says both Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008.  (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)Politico - A visibly disgusted FBI special agent Robert Grant stood at a podium in Chicago during a press conference today announcing the arrest of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and hurling his contempt at the entire political culture of the state of Illinois.

Overlord Planning on Dominating the Wii

Overlord was last year's hit from Codemasters, a game which puts you in control of a fellow of a great many evil deeds, who in turn controls quite a few minions. The hook for this game was that while you controlled the Overlord directly in order to spread your chaos and destruction throughout the land, you had no direct control over your minions. Instead, you had to rely on specific commands you could give the Overlord, which would in turn command the minions in where to go. This often lead to some humorous battles ending in smashed pumpkins on minion heads, sheep being set aflame, and many other funny scenarios.

Climax Studios is working on a sort of prequel for Overlord which will be a Wii-exclusive release. Dark Legend plants you in the boots of the Overlord yet again, but this time in his younger days of commanding minions to bring death in destruction. Along with the new platform, Dark Legend will bring new gameplay mechanics. The game looks quite a bit like the original Overlord, which is quite the accomplishment given the Wii's hardware compared to that of the 360, or PC. However, the gameplay has changed quite a bit. Paths in the original Overlord were pretty linear and guided you through the game, but this is not the case in Dark Legend as it has more open spaces for your to explore. Dark Legend also gives the player direct control of the minion, with the ability to point them in the precise direction you want them to go with the Wii-mote.

Aside from the controls, Dark Legend seems as if it will play quite a bit like the original game. You'll be completing a variety of different quests in the same fantasy world, with your minions causing chaos and wreaking havoc along the way. Another great aspect of Dark Legend is the ability to choke your minions. You can pick a minion from your horde and violently choke him until his eyes glow yellow. After you let the minion go, he'll act as a sort of rocket, which will automatically hone in on any nearby enemies and detonate on impact. As with the older game, the color of the minion will have an effect on what the bomb does when it detonates. Regular brown minions will detonate like a normal bomb, while your colored minions will have added effects such as healing and area effect explosions with napalm effects.

Overlord: Dark Legend is scheduled for release sometime in 2009.

Find out more about this and other upcoming Wii releases at Are you a Wiiener?

In this Dec. 3, 2008 file photo,  Oprah Winfrey attends the Alvin Ailey 50th Anniversary Opening Night Gala in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)AP - When it comes to her weight, Oprah Winfrey has always been straightforward.

Why Use Cheat Codes On The Wii?

The Nintendo Wii game console was created for people that were growing increasingly alienated by the complicated game play and instructions for the newer video games. In many occasions, video games have turned into movie like sequences where the player was allowed to only perform limited tasks. In these types of games all of the imagination, skill, and fun had been removed from the games.

What the big games console manufacturers say is state of the art, others say are big steps backwards in the gameplay arena. Nintendo however have solved many of these problems by bringing interactivity and simplicity back to the gaming market. Nintendo actually took the level of gaming interactivity to be something much bigger and better than anyone every expected.

Never before had people been asked to be so involved in their video game play and never before had people been forced to get off the couch to play their video games. The Wii truly was a revolution and it was something completely new in the world of video gaming. However, it was inevitable that this new revolution would soon get bombarded by Wii cheat codes for anyone that wanted them.

So what are Wii cheat codes?

A cheat code is a special sequence of controller buttons or characters that you can use to alter the game you are playing. Entering a code will provide you with special features or abilities in a game. This allows you to cheat your way through a level, or gain special abilities, such as unlimited ammo or unlimited lives.

When are cheat codes a bad thing?

Wii cheat codes can take much of the fun out of Wii games. This is because the gamer will miss the whole purpose of what it means to play games the way they are meant to be played. Games on a Wii are based upon interaction between the player and the game, so using cheats to try and get an false advantage just so you can finish a game faster is something that true game players should not ever do. It can ruin a game and takes most of the entertainment and challenge out of it. If you abuse Wii game cheats for this purpose then you will miss out on many skills and challenges that Nintendo designed the Wii to do. Not only that, but video games can be expensive so cheating to finish a game sooner is wasting your hard earned cash.

When are cheat codes a good thing?

All gamers at some point have been stuck on a level of game that they just cannot get past. You may only be half way through the game and no matter how hard you try you just cannot get to next stage. In these occasions, a game cheat can assist you to finish the level before carrying on without using the cheat, therefore allowing you to get much more game play than otherwise possible.

Trying Not to Cheat

Wii games are designed for optimum player interaction and Wii cheats are designed to give someone an unfair advantage. It really makes no sense to get involved with Wii cheats just for the sake of it. Remember that the Wii was designed to be the ultimate in game play interaction. Remove the interaction and you have nothing left.

I would recommend you avoid cheat codes for the Wii, unless you really struggle to get through a level and need a bit of help. You should always try and play the games the way they were meant to be played and cheating just for the sake of it takes most of the fun away.

Get the latest information on Wii accessories such as the Wii Fit, cheat codes, games, downloads, and much more at WiiFirst.net.

Smoke rises from a fire after an F-18 military jet crashed into a suburban neighborhood in San Diego on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008. An F-18 military jet approaching Marine Corps Air Station Miramar crashed near a busy highway in a densely populated San Diego neighborhood Monday, causing at least one house fire.  (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)AP - Residents near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar are accustomed to loud, low-flying military jets, but they immediately knew something was wrong when they heard the skies thunder. The explosions came moments later.