Did You Know a Gamer's System Is More Prone to Malicious Online Hacking Than Anyone Else's?

Have you ever considered the fact that your computer and your privacy could be at risk when you go online? If you are into gaming, you would know how many endless hours you have to sit in one session when a game is going on. If someone tells you to secure your computer, you would probably think: What do I have that I would like to protect? To understand why and what is the need of such a protection, read on. The following is a brief overview of what wrong can happen when you go online and leave your data unprotected.

The Biggest Breach in Gaming History

Valve Corporation was founded by two Microsoft employees in 1996 and became hugely popular for its "Half Life Series". "Counter Strike", "Team Fortress" and "Day of Defeat" are a few of hugely popular games. Its social network Steam delivers games to millions of people around the globe. And millions are active members of its message forums. Such a huge corporation with such a huge database and such stupendous following was hacked! Yes, even the big names in the industry get hit by malicious attacks. That breach made Valve's users to go offline for a very short time yet it made a huge impact.

The head of Valve told people that all their information was accessible to that attacker. This information included names, phone numbers, billing addresses, usernames and passwords, date of births and the scariest of them all: credit card information. With passwords and username, they can get into your social networking accounts and just imagine how much information they can obtain from there! No need to tell what credit card information can do. So, if a huge name like valve can get hit; just think where you stand!

Another Major Breach: Sony PlayStation

Even a bigger online breach was Sony PlayStation that affected even double the number of internet users than those that got affected from Valve breach. In 2011, Sony told its users that their private data could have been invaded and that data included all that that is mentioned above and more. It was such a huge blow that it was like a giant kneeling down in a matter of a few seconds.

All these examples clearly explain why there is a need for online security for gamers as they log on to their favorite sites, leave their information there, purchase games and leave their credit card information there. In short, gamers are at more risk than the average user and need to protect their data from malicious attempts of online hackers.

Scrabble Dictionary: Helping Hand for Scrabble Players

The Scrabble dictionary is an important tool in the game of Scrabble; In fact it is inappropriate to start a game of Scrabble without one. This is because in the course of the game, one might need to 'contest' a word by another player; a word which appears to be forged. Such situations usually arise in a Scrabble game hence players as a rule agree on a particular it to use in contesting such words.

Using a dictionary for Scrabble when you are not contesting a word by an opponent is usually termed cheating. Players are expected to study the tough words prior to the game but as the game starts, the Scrabble dictionary is only consulted when an opponent's word is being contested. If such word is not found in the dictionary, it is rejected.

So which is the best dictionary for Scrabble? There are standard Scrabble dictionaries today but what gives one an advantage over the other is its word bank. Scrabble dictionaries accommodate a number of 'not-too-regular' words. These might be missing in the everyday dictionary but must be contained in the non standard dictionary to make up for the numerous consonants in the game. So don't be too bothered when you find some words in the Scrabble dictionary but not in your everyday dictionary.

Players who are unable to get the standard dictionary for Scrabble can use any available dictionary but must note that some Scrabble words might not be found there otherwise, they can refer to various online Scrabble dictionaries while playing. This is advisable as these dictionaries guarantee a massive bank of words that will give players the liberty to form words they believe is right.

The use of the Scrabble dictionary is indispensable in a game of Scrabble. Players are advised to ensure they opt for dictionaries that are rich in words but if such is not handy or available, they can refer to the internet for help. For the player who always 'contests' the words formed by an opponent, he must also realize that he loses his turn if the contested word is found in the dictionary.

Scrabble dictionary is a good helping hand for Scrabble players who seek the good guidance for improving the game. It is a source of increasing vocabulary which is so essential for scoring high points in this game. It is so good for educational point of view as well.

Assassins Creed 3: Game Review

To start off, I am a fan of the Assassin Creed games and think that they are one of the highlights of this generation of gaming. I thought the first Assassins Creed was a very ambitious game, but sadly didn't reach its full potential. The second game in the series was a huge improvement! Brotherhood (the third game), is probably the strongest entry of the first four. The fourth, Revalations, was a bit of a let down.

Now lets talk about Assassins Creed 3! Well, its absolutely an amazing game. The franchise has been taken a new direction, to America. Taking place during the Revolutionary War. You play as Connor, a native American. This game takes you on an emotional journey that concludes Desmond's story arch. Switching back and fourth from Connor to Desmond was the best as its ever been and wasn't a dread. The story is pretty much Desmond trying to save the world and he can only do so by discovering certain things in his ancestors memories. This is by far the most interesting Assassins Creed game and I found myself actually caring for Connor.

The game play is for the most part, super identical to all the other Assassins Creed games before it. You hold down a button to run and climb on things, a button to jump, a button to attack, and a button to counter. Even though its the same, its the most fluid. The fighting is still not that big of a challenge. Most enemies wait their turn to be killed. This isn't a complaint, because its very fun watching yourself rake down enemies.

The graphics are a huge highlight in this game. They are clearly a lot better then all the other games in the series. All the textures look smooth and the lighting is pretty great, it makes the game look a whole lot better. Most character models look great, although some look very bland. The only problem with the graphics I had was with the shadows. For example a shadow on your face that your nose would cast onto your cheek, because of the way light is hitting the characters face. Sometimes it would glitch out and move a lot. But other than that, this is one of the best looking games this generation.

The game took me 12 hours to complete. I only played the main missions and a few side missions. But I'm sure if you tried to get 100% memory sequence and do all the side missions, this would easily be a 25+ hour game. I also played the Benedict Arnold missions (exclusive to PlayStation). Its a very dull side mission, that only take about 30 minutes to complete.

Overall, I felt like Connors story was very developed. You play with him from his early childhood all the way to him being an adult. I thought his story was well told and well concluded and had a fantastic ending. Desmond's story on the other hand, was a bit of a let down. The mission with Desmond include, finding these batteries to open a doorway. The missions just throw you a whole bunch of enemies and gives you a pretty easy path to follow. I thought the end of his story was a cop out. Its sad when Connors story is told and ended in one game and you feel more for him, when Desmond's story spends five games and you don't really give a crap about him.

Final Score: 9.0

What NHL 13 Could Offer You During the Lockout

If you enjoy watching hockey games but also enjoy video games then NHL 13 is the game for you. More so than ever this game provides rich content, graphics and gameplay sophistication. There is almost every hockey league there is in this game whether you are looking to play a junior team or a KHL team, its there. It's probably a good thing they have all those leagues in this game because the 2012 NHL lockout won't offer much desire to go into dynasty mode or playing another NHL team online. It's still pretty exciting to play as an AHL team, especially if online roster updates include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins playing for the Oklahoma City Barons or Ryan Johansen donning the Springfield Falcons uniform. The speed of the game will be slightly slower because of the lower overall skillset but if you're the type who likes to be taken over by curiosity then playing the AHL season mode ( Or just AHL games in Dynasty Mode ) will be the thing for you.

If you go to a gamer website like Gamespot or 1up they haven't rated this newest version of the NHL series as highly as previous releases but that is only due to the unmastered Artificial Intelligence and player rating inconsistencies but that is only minor, the user ratings are still a bit higher than the critic scores. For once they are not being criticized for the lack of innovation after every annual release because they have a revamped player skating engine that makes the skating of each player far more realistic than previous games. It also changes the concept of passing because players deep in the offensive zone perform many tight turns and side steps with the puck to look for an open player to pass to. This makes the experience much more fulfilling because it gives an element of unpredictability into the mix.

You can really set your ego into new heights by creating your own player and have him play as a junior and work his way into NHL stardom. You can customize everything like gameplay style such as a dangler, power forward or even a butterfly goaltender. You can also even customize the brand of your equipment like deciding to wear a CCM helmet or choose to stick handle with a Reebok stick and theres also a performance enhancing option for your stick and your skates. For your stick you set the angle of your curve, keeping the curve flat will enable you can shoot low and perform better backhand shots or you can go right to the other side of the barrel by having a very curled blade so you can pick your favourite spot to shoot at more definitively but the drawback to that is you have higher chance of missing the net. The only thing you can do with your skates is set the blade length on your skate. A short length will make you more agile and a long length will make you execute longer skating strides. A length in between the former two is desirable as well.

If you have feelings of loneliness or depression because you miss hockey but you don't want to go out to the local rink or refuse to take up interest to another league then you can get your fill by playing this great hockey simulation which is made by a great company Electronic Arts which by the way had been making these games for almost 20 years and show no signs of quitting soon. Being able to adapt is key to overcoming any adversity. I hope you enjoyed this short article and I will blog again soon.

GameStop After Digital Downloads

We all know that the digital age upon us, and with the new generations of consoles pushing to go digital, I was wondering what will happen to video game retailers like GameStop and PlayNTrade, who mainly deal with used games sales. GameStop and its friends' make a majority of their profits on the used gaming market, by letting us trade in our used games and selling them for cheaper. Customarily, GameStop will allow you to trade in a new release, and receive less than half of the price back, and then turn around and sell it 5 dollars less than full price. Now is that fair? No but that is for another day, today we are going to talk about GameStop after Digital Downloads.

GameStop has earned a yearly profit that is worth up to $1.8 billion a year, mainly because of the selling and reselling of used merchandise, and the developers only get paid once. So the developers and the gaming companies have found a way for them to maximize their profit, and make the games cheaper for the gamers. This move could be what is need to help combat against the rapid decline in video games sale. To help quell the assumption that the used games don't hurt the developer profit, GameStop has gone on record, saying that 70% of the profits of used games go back into the buying new games, but what will happen when that stops? How will they be able to maintain the well-oiled machine that is GameStop? Well who knows there are many of ideas that I have but only one seems to stick out, and to me it will be the most profitable.

GameStop has done a few things that to stay ahead of the curve, it has started taking in iPod and iPhones and selling them used. This is in direct correlation with the new consoles push for digital games and DLC. It is a smart move on their part, and gives them a big profit margin with the selling of used Apple products. It has also been confirmed by TGA that they will be selling cell phone plans in the future. With the addition of selling of cell phones, GameStop will now gain revolving profit. As long as consumers pay their bill every month, GameStop will get a check. So what will GameStop become?

It seems like GameStop is preparing to change their brand over to become a "used stop". UsedStop will be a place where you can trade in all your used gaming and electronics. People will be able to trade in their old TV, computers, Blu-Rays Player, and others to get all of the new products that will be coming out. UsedStop will keep to its old philosophy but will change their products to hit all spectrums and stay a force in the retail game. I believe that UsedStop will still stay gaming oriented, with the game informer and gaming products, but will have to change with the times to stay relevant, i.e. RadioShack.

With all that being said downloading games will be the way of the future and those that think the used game market will survive it won't, and GameStop and its friends' will change to stay in the market. UsedStop in my mind will be the future for GameStop so look out