The Future of Social Gaming

The hottest trend currently in gaming is social gaming. Social gaming is very popular because it allows you to play with your friends or complete strangers and gives you the ability to communicate via a headset. Some of the most popular social titles are games like Halo, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Little Big Planet and many more.

New innovations like Xbox 360 Kinect and the PlayStation Move are changing the way you play games. These gadgets allow you to get a group of friends together or the whole family and play a game together. The Xbox Kinect does not even require a controller, YOU are the controller. The Kinect gives you a full body gaming experience which is very cool. The PlayStation Move is not as hands free as the Kinect, as it requires a wand-like controller, similar to the Wii console. The Move is also geared for the social side of gaming and encourages the entire family to get involved.

The first person shooter games like Call of Duty and Halo have benefited greatly from this social trend. Both PlayStation and Xbox have online portals where you can sign on for any game but these titles are probably the most well-known for being social gaming titles.

Another gadget that is impacting this gaming trend is the ability to take gaming anywhere is the pico projector. Picos allow you to project up to a 60" screen which is perfect for taking your gaming to go. Multi-player titles are the perfect application for pico projectors.

According to the sales numbers reported by Sony and Microsoft, the Move is currently outperforming the Kinect. Sony is reporting that since launching in September the Move has sold 4.1 million units worldwide. This announcement came after Microsoft announced it had sold 2.5 million units in the first 25 days.

Both of these devices should be popular with the holiday season right around the corner it will be interesting to see which gadget comes out on top.

You may have heard of the XBox Kinect and the PlayStation Move but have heard of a Pico Projector?

Pico Projectors allow you to take your gaming anywhere you go and gives you the ability to project anywhere at anytime, giving you a truly social gaming experience.

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Are Motion Controls the Future of Gaming?

In our current console generation, I can see a trend towards adding motion controls to everything. With the rise of the Kinect, Wii, and Move, it seems that every new game must have either motion control support, or a token element of motion control. In Halo Anniversary, they added Kinect support in the form of voice-activated reload, grenade throwing, and an "analyze mode" where by shouting analyze, the game scans objects and adds them into an in-game codex. Now while you don't need a Kinect in order to play this game, it is suggested. Is this a marketing ploy, another bullet point for the back of the box, or is it actually beneficial to the gameplay. With Halo, a game that has been hailed as one of the most innovative and trend setting of the past decade. Does this mean that every game that has taken even a little bit of influence from Halo is somehow incomplete, less of a game than they would be if they took their inspiration form the newly Kinectified version of the game.

Currently motion controls feel more like a hindrance than they do a liberator in games. Very few of the popular motion controlled games are actually better for having these controls. Players are limited by what they can do with a Wii-mote as compared to what they can do with a mouse and keyboard or controller. The limits that they impose are greater than those that they remove.

But even with these complaints, I can see the possibilities. When they originally announced the Kinect, the first things that I imagined were the computers from Minority Report. I hoped for those kind of intuitive controls and possibilities on the Xbox, but alas, they are not quite to that point yet. But the day that they do reach that point of control, and that kind of interface, is the day that I can see almost total adoption and integration of motion controls, in almost every game, and to almost every gamer, hardcore or casual.

I love video games, but I don't want to stand in front of my TV, waving a plastic wand in the air and hoping that the character on screen does what I say. Added to that is the fact that it is impossible to not look ridiculous while playing any of these games, I'm serious. If you doubt me, look it up on YouTube, you'll know what I mean then. But the point is that these games aren't fun for me, and for many other people, so why should we have to change the way that we play just to please those of us that do like this play style.

In the end, we have to remember that we've seen this kind of thing before. Does anybody remember the Virtual Boy. How about virtual reality arcade games. If not, there is a reason for that. These things failed for several reasons, not the least of which is the limitation that the controls instill in the games. I caution the three big console companies to be wary in their design decisions, for they are not always wise. Don't put all of your eggs into the motion control basket, lest it go the way of the past several iterations of so-called "innovative" technology.

Tom Blaich is the current staff writer at http://www.games-cave.com/. He produces all of the sites content, from great reviews, to fantastic articles, news stories, and top 10 lists. If you love video games, then feel free to check him out, he would really appreciate it.

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Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - Everything You Need To Know

Future Soldier (a video game) is released on May 22, 2012 by both Xbox 360 consoles and PlayStation 3. Ubisoft published the video game and it is the fourth addition to the Ghost Recon video game series. The game's events are set somewhere in the near future when a dirty bomb kills all the members of a ghost team. After this incident, a different ghost team takes up the task of getting to the source of the dirty bomb. This tracking leads them to several countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria, Norway and Russia throughout the game.

This video game has changed from the original version. The soldiers have a futuristic look and have prototype weapons. Other additional features include the pocket sized machines which turn into cars and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The camouflage suit enables the soldiers to become invisible when crouching. These and other features in the game give the player a firsthand combat experience. The game's developers have worked hard to improve the features such as sensor grenades, heavy weapons and remote controlled vehicles. There are endless fun-filled opportunities to use these improvements when chasing the enemy with the remote controlled cars, blowing up buildings with the sensor grenades as well as marking targets and shooting them with the heavy, handheld weapons.

The future soldiers in the game have to work together to defeat the enemy, despite the heavy weaponry and the hi-tech gadgets they possess. This is to show that no battle is won by a single soldier, and the value of team work is immeasurable. The team of four can take out four targets at once using the contemplative weapons. The weapons have specific target marking propositions that add to the thrill of playing the game. When in hiding, these weapons can take out targets with utmost precision, although they prove to lose their accuracy in full combat.

The future soldiers' strength lies in their synchronized enemy- wiping shots. The game focuses on travelling to foreign destinations to fight and kill the enemy. The game is however, immensely entertaining for the players. During the game, there are some instances where group play is essential in defeating the enemy. The game has various challenge stages where the players are required to complete the stages in order for them to get new weapons. After successfully completing the stages, the players can obtain attachments from the gunsmith for their guns. There are some stages that a single player can complete, while others require a team effort. These challenges have twists, which leave the players yearning for more difficult challenges.

The game does not give the players all the necessary weapons at the beginning. Along the way they have to pick new weapons and learn new tricks up until the end of the game. After playing a few times, the player has a feeling of prowess, which he should use to tackle future challenges. The game offers the players some of the most hi-tech gadgets for the weapons. These include an underbarrel, barrel length, side rail attachments as well as a trigger pull. This gun customization mode is no doubt one of the best features of the game.

The game has some solo mission games, although it would be impossible to play alone. Some of them include the Guerrilla mode and the Survival Challenge. These two require a single player, but just to be on the safe side, another player should also play. The pocket sized UAV drones cannot bring much help when on a solo mission. The synchronized shots work better, so it would be advisable to have multiple players to finish off the enemy faster. There are multiplayer games such as Decoy and Conflict. The decoy mode focuses on attackers shooting on three objectives without knowing which one is the primary target.

Have the game? Let others know what you think, write your review for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version now.

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