Call Of Duty: Black Ops Sells 7 Million Copies

CALL of Duty: Black Ops shattered entertainment records this week when it raked in $360 million in its first 24 hours on sale.

The video game’s publisher Activision said the figures made Black Ops the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever, eclipsing Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.

The record was previously held by its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which took $US310 million on its first day a year ago.

Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies in North America and Britain alone on its first day compared to 4.7 million copies for Modern Warfare 2.

“There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year’s five-day global sales record of $US550 million,” Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said.

“The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay.”

Black Ops is the seventh title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since the first version was released in 2003.

The latest instalment takes gamers on a series of Cold War-era military adventures.

It has generated a massive amount of pre-launch publicity after confirming rumours of appearances by zombie Nazis and Cold war personalities such as JFK, Fidel Castro and Richard Nixon.

Yesterday, Cuban authorities complained that a mission in which gamers were tasked with assassinating Castro was “perverse”.

Marketing firm IDC forecasts that 11.7 million copies of Black Ops will be shifted in the United States alone by the end of the year.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/gaming/activision-claims-biggest-entertainment-launch-ever-with-360m-call-of-duty-black-ops-haul/story-e6frfrt9-1225952519430#ixzz151RZzhjK

Five things to know about the DSi XL

What do you do when you’ve conquered the world? Try conquering it again, I guess.

Such is the position that Nintendo finds itself in, at least if the world you’re talking about is that of the portable gaming scene. Despite hitting shelves back in 2004, the Nintendo DS system is still totally dominating the handheld market, even managing to set a U.S. sales record with a stunning 11.2 million units sold in 2009.

But rather than sit back and bask in their success, Nintendo is moving forward by releasing the fourth iteration of the DS, the DSi XL, on March 28. Not sure what the new system is all about? Here’s what you need to know.

1. Yes, it’s much, much bigger.

Much. This is the heaviest, longest, and widest DS to date. Specifically, the DSi XL boasts twin 4.2 inch screens — 93% larger than the DS Lite and a fair share bigger than the DSi. It also packs a standard stylus alongside a fat new stylus roughly the size of a pen. See for yourself in this handy size comparison pic.

2. That goes for the battery, too.

This might be the most overlooked new feature. The supersized battery means you don’t have to charge it up as often, reportedly lasting between 13 and 17 hours on the lowest brightness setting. That’s a significant boost over the DSi’s 9 to 14 hour range. Unless you’re flying halfway around the world, chances are the DSi XL will be a dependable travel companion.

3. It’s pre-loaded with games.

Although we’re not sure they all deserve to be called “games.” Two of them are Brain Age spinoffs: one for Arts and Letters, another focusing on Math. The others? A Photo Clock (which lets you turn any picture into a timekeeper), a browser, and the Flipnote animation studio. It’s not exactly Mario Kart, but hey, free stuff is free stuff.

4. It will play all your DS titles.

Besides, you’re not going to waste time with the pre-installed software for long. The DSi XL supports all 1,000 or so DS games released over the past six years. And since it’s still technically a DSi system, you can also download DSiWare titles.

5. It doesn’t really fit in your pocket.

One of the selling points of any portable game system is, well, its portability. By most accounts, the DSi XL is a little too bulky to tote around in your front pocket. It’s not as unwieldy as an iPad, but it’s hardly as portable as your iPhone…or your standard DSi.

Via http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/five-things-to-know-about-the-dsi-xl/1395084

Is gaming good for the mind? by Ben Silverman

Remember training your brain through games? Since bursting onto the scene a few years ago in Nintendo’s hit Brain Training games, the concept of gaming our way to bigger, better cortexes has flamed out a bit, due largely to a flood of poorly-made, copycat titles and the dwindling of the belief that this sort of thing actually makes you smarter.

But while consumers have shifted away from the pseudo-educational genre, scientists have dropped it under a microscope in the hope of gleaning some insight into exactly how games affect the mind.

And according to some recent studies, it turns out that playing video games not only stimulates those synapses, but might actually make you a sharper thinker after all.

Courtesy of a $1.2 million grant, researchers from North Carolina State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology are hard at work studying whether or not video game playing can boost thinking skills and memory in the elderly. Rather than simply determining if certain games increase certain brain functions, the team is hoping to first identify the qualities that make a game good for the brain, then use that information to build a prototype brain game from the ground up.

The game best suited for the job? Oddly enough, it’s EA’s critically-acclaimed Boom Blox games. Dr. Anne McLaughlin, assistant professor of psychology at NC State, believes the Wii puzzle-party franchise contains three fundamental brain-strengthening qualities — attentional demand, novelty and social interaction — key to making a great brain game.

“For example, if we find that novelty and attentional demand improve cognition, we’ll then develop a game that focuses on that,” she said.

While McLaughlin and her crew aim to help grandparents stay sharp, other are examining what effects gaming will have on the next generation. A recent article in Scientific American targets “plasticity,” or the brain’s ability to dynamically change in response to experiences. Children are more susceptible to this kind of change, which means that the kinds of games they play could have different effects on their adult skill sets.

So which games are best for kids? That depends on what they want to be when they grow up. A study at the University of Rochester indicates that playing action games can increase hand-eye coordination and sharpen vision, while playing games like The Sims 2 might improve social interactions and even make people more empathetic. So if Johnny wants to be a fighter pilot, he might want to play some Wii Sports Resort instead of Wii Music.

Plus, you know, it’s just a better game. And it doesn’t take a big brain to figure that out.

Xbox 360 Halo 3 Review

It was Bungie who developed the shooter video game Halo 3. The game is designed for Xbox version only, a shooter experience game in first person. This is the third part in the entire series of Halo games as you can determine from its name. This is the latest as well as the last part of the entire series. It is said that it is a closing sequel of the game. It is a continuous story from Halo 1 to Halo 2 as the combat evolved. With Halo 3, the story will come to an end. The ending the story has something do with the story begun in Halo 1. The Halo 3 was released simultaneously for public playing in selected countries like New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, North America, India and Singapore on September 25, 2007. The game was released in Europe the next day, September 26. In Japan, the game was also released but in a date that was not revealed. The game had sold four millions of copies in various retail outlets not to include other means of sale that is if counted will add to its sale. It is about war between the human beings and a group of alien to which the story of Halo 3 revolves, it is an interstellar war. The action of the game took place in the twenty sixth century with the United Nations Space Command as the head the humanity. Humans in combat are in struggle against the aliens known as the Covenant. You will be interested how the story of the game progresses in that century. The player of the Halo 3, the Master Chief, is a type of super soldier. He is superior in that century and the entire game is displayed through his perspective. His duty can be likened to that of a knight in shining armour that comes and strives to save the entire humanity from the encroachment of the Covenant. In this quest, the Marines (humans) along with another alien race who call themselves the Elites help the protagonist. Apparently, they are the enemies of the Covenant, too. To extinguish the Covenant, Arbiter, the leader of this race, joins hands with the Master Chief. You will be amazed in this new version of Halo 3 in a sense that the entire series of Halo games has undergone remarkable changes. The vehicles, the weapons, and even the concept executed in this game is relatively different compared to the previous versions. It is until the date of January 3, 2008, the game has sold more than eight million and no wonder about it. The game is indeed very popular and worth to play. Have you own copy, you will never regret it

Dota Hero review (Azwraith)

Pros:

• Great at harrasing
• His 2nd skill is very versitle
• Unstopable when used properly

Cons:

• Terrible mana pool
• Item dependent
• Fragile

Review:

Azwraith, the phantom lancer. One of the most feared heroes because of his very unique skill that allows him to create illusions while attacking. Now imagine 8 phantom lancers charging towards you, That creates the feeling of intimidation. I’ll give him 5 stars

Recommended Items:

• Power treads(agility)
• 3x wraithband- for stat boost during earllygame
• Butterfly
• Vladmir’s offering- I prefer using this over Helm of dominator so that I can use DIffusal blade
• Diffusal blade/Manta’s scythe
• Battlefury
• Radiance

DoTA hero review (raigor)

Pros:

• Very usefull in ganks/clashes
• Not item dependent
• Great for team plays

Cons:

• Terrible mana pool for a caster
• Targets of enemy heroes
• Bad attackspeed

Review:

Raigor Stonehoof, the earthshaker. He is one of the most intimidating heroes in the game. Having him in your team gives your team a great advantage in ganks and clashes. His 1st skill can initiate ganks, trap enemy heroes and block enemies from chassing allies making him a very versitile hero. His ultimate skill is not like any other ultimates. It gets more powerfull as the game goes on because of the increase number of creeps.

Last word: either you choose him first or ban him first…xD

Recommended items:

• Arcane ring- For early game
• Blink Dagger- Forinitiating ganks/clashes
• Boots of travel- For ganking
• Shiva’s guard- Added mana, armor and usefull in ganks

DoTA hero review (enchantress)

Although all Dryads are Cenarius’ daughters, Aiushtha is said to be his first and favorite. Because of her direct relation to him, she has borrowed much of his powers. This is demonstrated by her control over the shy Wisps which she uses to heal her allies, and her ability to bring an opponent under the will of the Sentinel. Preferring ranged combat to melee, she fashioned a spear that strikes with more force the further her target is away. Her agility is unmatched, and any opponent attempting to kill her will find she skips ahead of them with surprising ease.

Pros:

• Hard to kill because of her 1st skill (-90% of attack speed when you attacked her!! WTF??!!)
• Hard to harras because of her 3rd skill (can heal 900hp w/in 10 seconds!! @#!$)
• Has a very usefull 2nd skill ( can slow you up to 40% and can dominate creeps!! #@!#)
• Very irritating with her ultimate skill ( when she is on lvl 6 quickly swap lanes with and ally xD)

Cons:

• No escape mecanism
• No disable
• Prone to ganks
• Terrible attack speed

Review:

Enchantress is one of the most easy to use and one of the most recommended heroes or begginers. Because of her 1st skill, when you do an attack on her you will get a 90% decrease on attack speed. And her ultimate skill is very irritating “Gives strength to the Enchantress’ attacks, causing them to deal greater damage the further away the target is. Damage type is pure”. how the hell can you counter that? Well for me When one of my oppenents picks enchantress, I will counter It w/ Lion…lolxD

Recommended Items :

1. Support type:

• Boots of travel- For ganking purposes
• Guinsoo’s scythe- Because you have no natural disable
• Shiva’s guard- For ganking and finnishing a wave of creeps and added armor
• Linken sphere (situational)- To counter some heroes

1. Battle type

• Power treads (int/agi)- For added attack speed so you can spam impetus faster
• Radiance- Great increase in DMG
• Assult cuirras- Added attack speed and armor
• Lothar’s edge (optional)- For ganking
• Bloodstone- so you will have enough mana for your impetus

DoTA hero review (Kardel)

Kardel Sharpeye is a testament to his name and race. Using only his finely honed skills of marksmanship and his trusty rifle, he sytematically destroys his opponents from afar. Taking great care to aim for the most vulnerable of areas, he is capable of severely injuring an opponent, and with a little extra time, has been known to simply dispose of an enemy in a single shot. His rifle is equipped with a secondary barrel, capable of launching a short burst of shrapnel at close range, causing massive damage.

Pros:

• Has the longest attack range
• Great harrasin and last hitting capability
• Great for last hitting enemy heroes

Cons:

• Prone to ganks
• Fragile
• Terrible base DMG

Review:

Kardel Sharpeye, the dwarven sniper. Having the longest attack range in the game (720 max) he is able to harras enemy heroes from a distance. With his 2nd skill he is able to able to do a mini stun( 40% chance w/ 50 DMG) and can cancel channeling spells. With his ultimate skill he can hit running heroes from a distance.

Recommended Items:

• Power treads (agility)
• Lothars edge
• Helm of dominator
• Butterfly
• Manta’s scythe (optional for pushing purposes)
• Black king bar (optional for countering disablers)
• Assult Cuiras ( optional for added attack speed and armor)

For begginers, I recomend that you learn kardel as your 1st hero

Tom clancy’s Rainbow six Vegas 2

One of the coolest  game I played…I’ll give it 5stars for gameplay, sound and graphics

DoTA hero review (Centaur)

Gifted with a tremendous body and an ever-growing fortitude, Bradwarden’s courage is only matched by the size of his heart. Prophesized as a savior by the oracles of his tribe, Bradwarden is the living token of the allegiance of the centaurs to the Sentinel. He swings his axe with massive force, sometimes even hurting himself when doing so. The ground trembles every time he slams his hoof and his reflexes are impossible to surpass; allowing him to retaliate just after being attacked. Bradwarden is decided to fulfill his destiny, and he knows that the upcoming battle will become his ultimate challenge.

Pros:

• Has an area stun, great for clashes
• Has a skill that deals masive DMG and can be use for suicide
• Has return DMG skill
• Very hard to kill

Cons:

• Not much of a killer

Review:

Centaur warchief, Better known as Bradwarden. One of the best tank hero in the game. His ultimate skill adds 36 str, big increase in HP and DMG. With his 3rd skill you relfect 50 DMG to the atttacker, good for 1v1 situations. With his 2nd skill, you can Deal massivi DMG and do a suicide attack when needed, With his 1st skill you can blink in then do an area stun.