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| Reviving Old Computer Games
Remember the good old days of gaming, when there were only 5 pixels in
the protagonist and your imagination could turn them into a heroic
figure of Schwarzenegger proportions? When the enemies and the heroes
were distinguished by colour and you only needed one button on the
joystick? Well times have changed and technology has moved on. Pulling
my old Commodore 64 or Atari out of the back of the cupboard and
setting them up often takes more time than the nostalgic pang lasts.
I've also noticed that some of my old disks are starting to age and
become corrupted. Enter the Internet.
The wonderfully technologically gifted and giving Internet populace is
out in force in their attempts to preserve the older side of gaming.
Remakes and Emulators for almost any old machine can be found around
the Internet. Emulators act as a layer between old software and new
hardware allowing modern PCs to run programs that such hardware was
never meant to see. Commodore 64, Amiga, NES, Master System, Arcade
Machines and more have all been emulated and the necessary programs
placed online for download, usually for free.
Emulation is not a new idea. I had a hardware emulator for the VIC20
that plugged into the back of my Commodore 64 and allowed the use of
the older VIC20 cartridges with the new hardware (I never actually
owned a VIC20 or any programs for it but that's another issue).
Emulator popularity has been fading in and out for many years, only
coming into many people's attention with the release of Bleem!, a
Playstation emulator for PC that was released while the PSOne still
held a dominant share of the video game market. Bleemcast (a
Playstation emulator for the Sega Dreamcast) soon followed causing one
of the more interesting video game legal battles as Sony fought to have
the emulator shut down. However, the emulators have a strong following
and very active user base.
Emulators are easy to find and download. Simply search for the system
you want and add the word emulator to the end (e.g. "SNES Emulator")
and you'll probably come up with a lot of hits. Be slightly wary as
some emulator sites will either be false links or may contain
pornographic ads. Setting the emulators up to run is usually fairly
straightforward and there's a fair chance that you'll be able to find
some documentation and help. Some of the newer systems require a BIOS
image to be installed with the emulator. This is to get around the
legal issues raised by Sony in the Bleem! legal battles by requiring
you to be in possession of a Playstation BIOS (and hence, presumably, a
Playstation) in order to play the games on your computer. Making a BIOS
image to load into your computer will most likely be beyond your
technical expertise, but a quick check of your console's case will
reveal the file you need to get and then it's as simple as searching
the internet for a BIOS image that matches the BIOS you already own.
Of interest are the PC emulators now available. Windows no longer has
very good support for older DOS-based games so there are a few
emulators out there now to emulate the DOS environment. DOSBox
(http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/) is probably the best known of the
crop. There are also game-specific emulators such as ScummVM
(www.scummvm.org) or DOOM Legacy (http://legacy.newdoom.com/) that
focus specifically on certain games and hence are able to improve the
experience for those particular titles.
Once you have yourself an emulator you'll need to get yourself some
programs to run with it. These programs are called 'ROMs' and are
images of the original storage device that the program came on (be it a
cartridge, tape, floppy or other). The process of creating a ROM is
probably far too technical for the vast majority of computer users so
you're probably going to have to find a 'backup' from somewhere to
download. This is where the venture gets slightly foggy. Basically the
deal is that you can only have a program ROM if you own the original
program. So if you have boxes of old Amiga disks, NES cartridges, or
other old gaming programs stored away somewhere, you're in luck,
otherwise you're treading on legally shifty ground. While it can easily
be argued that the downloading of a 1987 computer game is of no real
consequence to the company that has in all likelihood closed down,
copyright doesn't actually expire for 50 years and computer games just
haven't been around that long.
Online 'emulation' is a new area now being explored. The idea is that
you simply play the game in your browser through a Java applet or Flash
application. These might not always strictly be emulated programs but
many remakes are feature perfect with the originals. The graphics,
sounds, and game play remain intact. One excellent place to look for
online games is Every Video Game (http://www.everyvideogame.com). While
the site does not in fact contain 'every video game' it does have a
very large list of old games from the arcades, GameBoy, NES, and Master
System all playable through your browser. Many remakes can also be
found at Shockwave's site
(http://www.shockwave.com/sw/actiongames/arcade_classics/).
Some of the old games have even been remade and updated for this modern
world we now live in. Try doing a search for remakes of a game title
you particularly enjoyed and you may be surprised at what you find.
There are games that have been updated to be 3D, such as some old
favourites of mine: Pac man
(http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f1292.html) and Barbarian
(http://www.dgdevteam.tk/), and while these might not always be
brilliant games or remakes in their own right, the thought and effort
put in often leads to an enjoyable diversion. There are also more
traditional versions of games that have just updated the code as well
as possibly the graphics so that they can still be run.
So if you're feeling nostalgic or just can't get the hang of these
new-fangled games that require you to push fifty buttons in a precise
configuration just to jump, you may like to check out the emulation and
remake scene. It's surprisingly entertaining to go back in time to when
games were simple yet fun.
Daniel Punch
M6.Net Web Helpers
http://www.m6.net
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Games are not just for fun they have an effect on the player. Studies
have shown that games do have a positive side and that they promote
learning as well as help heal. On the other hand games are known to
become an addiction just like alcoholism or drugs and affect the mind
in a negative way.
Research indicates that playing violent games like Doom
or Mortal Combat increases aggression in players in both everyday
settings and laboratory studies. Since games are interactive they
involve participation of the player and this tends to influence
thinking as well as intuitive reactions. This being so, violent games
are more harmful than violence in movies or television.
Psychologists like Craig Anderson and Karen Dill have noted that
aggression escalates in players who already have an in born tendency to
aggressive behavior and that repeated exposure to violence is like a
conditioning and over time, the person becomes trained or conditioned
to be violent. Craig Anderson is dedicated to the issue and in depth
information on different aspects of gaming can be found at
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~caa/ .
Violent games and the creation of violent behavior
has received mixed reactions from researchers but when analyzed using
meta-analytic techniques the result is consistent in that playing
violent games leads to “ increased aggressive behavior, thoughts,
increased physiological arousal and decreased levels of helping
behavior.” It is an established fact that consistent exposure to
violent games leads to delinquency, fighting in school and outside, as
well as criminal behavior.
John Murray of Kansas State
University found that gamers became less sensitive to violence after
repeated exposure and that exposure to violence activated the amygdale
a small part of the human brain that controls fight/flight impulses.
Studies show:
1) Playing violent games teach the gamer that success can be had from being violent.
2)
That since gaming rewards violence, gamers tend to start believing that
violence can be rewarding. The positive outcome of violence in games
increases the impact in the minds of gamers especially kids.
3)
That playing games hone point and shoot techniques and soon a child or
adult gamer will have no second thoughts in pointing and shooting
should such a situation arise in real life. Repeated point and shoot
actions in gaming helps humans overcome the hesitation or reluctance to
point and shoot.
4) That violence in
gaming tends to teach gamers that violence is the way to solve
differences or conflict. Repeated gaming increases a gamer’s aggression
and tendency to fight, argue, and use physical force to win an argument
or settle differences in real life.
Rene Weber of
Michigan State University has presented an in depth study of violence
and gaming in Media Psychology in January 2006. In the work she
explores the influence of violent games on brain function and thought
and concludes that although gaming has a positive side such as
enhancing learning, social skills, and improvement of physical
abilities it is imperative for society to examine in detail and
thoroughly the negative side of gaming. According to statistics, of 70
odd top selling games more than 49 per cent contained serious violence
and in the US every child and adult plays video and computer games for
at least 30 minutes every day.
Gaming has two sides and one must be aware of the positive as well as negative affects
About the Author:
Aaron Brooks is a freelance writer for 1888FreeOnlineGames
, the premier website to play thousands of free online games including
arcade games, action games, card games, flash games, strategy games,
puzzle games and more.
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FORECASTS of an inflation spike are cause for concern and
highlight the need for tight Budget discipline, Treasurer Wayne Swan
says.
The TD Securities-Melbourne
Institute monthly inflation gauge for November released today rose by a
further 0.3 per cent for an annual rate of 3.4 per cent, well above the
Reserve Bank's two to three per cent target range.
Mr Swan said tonight he was adamant Labor's election promises would
be implemented – including $31bn in tax cuts – despite concerns public
spending was fuelling inflation.
"Dealing with inflationary pressures in the economy is our No. 1 priority," he said to ABC television.
"But we can also meet our election commitments because expanding the
productive capacity of the economy is very important ... in terms of
the fight against inflation."
Labor's agenda of lifting workplace participation, investing in
skills and removing infrastructure bottlenecks would all help put
downward pressure on inflation, he said.
"But over and above that, strict Budget discipline is very important."
Mr Swan said he took inflation warnings very seriously and was determined to find further savings in government spending. Read more here : Swan wary of global economic storm clouds
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| British Academics May Boycott Israel
LONDON (AP) -- Britain's largest union of
university and college teachers voted to hold talks on an academic
boycott of Israel, a spokesman said Thursday. The
University and College Union, which represents around 120,000
employees, voted Wednesday to allow local branches to make a final
decision on imposing a boycott on cooperation with Israeli academics. Union
members voted on a motion asking them to note that "Israel's 40-year
occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society
through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and
restriction of movement." It called on British academics to condemn the "complicity of Israeli academia in the occupation." Any
future boycott would aim to prevent Israeli and British university or
college staff from working on joint projects or assisting each other in
their work, union spokesman Dan Ashley said. "Every
member should have the opportunity to have their say," the union's
general secretary, Sally Hunt, told an annual meeting in Bournemouth,
southern England. But Hunt said she did not believe most members would support a boycott and that it would likely be difficult to enforce. Unison,
Britain's largest union, will debate a similar motion at its annual
meeting in a few weeks, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity in
line with union policy. The motion, which was put forward by an
individual branch, calls for economic sanctions and a boycott to be
applied to Israel, but the final wording was not immediately available. Israeli
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said any boycott would be
targeting the only "Middle Eastern country that has fully free and
independent academia." "We find it strange that British academics single out the Jewish state for special discriminatory treatment," Regev said. Britain's ambassador to Israel, Tom Philips, told Israel Radio that the British government would not support a boycott. Read more news here : British Academics May Boycott Israel | | |
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Knowledge is an ocean and all must be able to access it. And, that's
what e-learning has done it has revolutionized education and the way we
learn. Learning has moved out of its box and thanks to e-learning can
benefit not just the young but the older ones too. With e-learning one
can get on with life and learn for pleasure or for work reasons. And,
companies today encourage their work force to further their skills
through e-learning.
A study by Skillsoft discovered that: 87.5 % find e-learning easy to use; almost 525
share what they learnt with others; 93.5% enjoy the courses; 73% think its
interesting, and 98% will recommend e-learning as an effective way to learn.
There are umpteen benefits to e-learning and of these the 10 greatest are:
1. Learning never need end. You don't have to go to learning, with e-learning
knowledge comes to you. You can study when you want and however you want.
2. Leaning frees your mind and improves your thought processes. E-learning allows you to
update skills, further your career, and learn for the sheer pleasure of learning.
3. Since e-learning is a world-wide phenomenon it puts every student in touch with others
all around the world. There are no restrictions and interactions are world wide.
4. E-learning improves computer skills as well as communications. Learning goes beyond
course work and books. It becomes hands on and active. There are forums, chat rooms,
and project groups. Learning capabilities are enhanced and enjoyable.
5. E-courses are not restrictive and learning goes beyond the specific field. So, a person
can choose to learn a subject unrelated to his education or work. One can learn a
language, or choose to study art-history or literature. The cyber world is a canvas and
the computer key board the palette.
6. With online courses learning is multi-pronged. It is more than audio-visual. And
e-learners have access to a mind boggling range of resources.
7. Since e-learning courses are self-paced students can avoid the tension and stress
presented by regular courses. With e-learning one can take exams when one is ready and
many courses have a huge component of project work.
8. E-learning is different it is interactive and innovative. Often a lesson may be taught
through quizzes, questionnaires, or games and often learning is done unconsciously.
9. E-learning inculcates team work and interactions. And since learning involves extensive
use of technology you unconsciously become tech savvy.
10. Builds curiosity and creativity as students are encouraged to browse through the World
Wide Web and find, understand, and complete a set of assignments.
The tools of e-learning go beyond the traditional and since students are not in a class
room environment learning takes on new hues of independent thought, individualized
pace,and creative approach.
The world of e-learning has created a new world where learning is eternal and there are
no limitations.
About the Author: Aaron Brooks is a freelance writer for
Online Colleges, the premier website to
find top ranking colleges online directory including topics on public colleges, private
colleges, online college, college course online, information on college costs, financial
aid, degrees awarded, enrollments and more.
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