Gaming allows you to expand beyond the possible and engage in environments that are the products of your wildest fantasies. Obsessed with the zombie apocalypse and its repercussions on the world, as we know it? Play The Last of Us II, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, and Holdout, which are some of the latest titles in the zombie survival genre, and you’ll experience a rush of adrenaline going down your body, tingling at the tips of your fingers. That’s the effect gaming has on the modern generation. It reinvigorates a collective social interest and catches the eye of everyone, regardless of their age and circumstance.

Like the colors in a rainbow, gaming comprises different shades. You can play a game online or offline, on a dedicated console or a smartphone, with other players or alone. Most of the popular games these days are played online, for which the presence of a high-speed internet connection is a MUST. Cox WiFi packages have been known to cater to the needs of gamers especially with their Elite Gamer extension, which minimizes the ping rate and streamlines server response. Besides, gaming is something that has helped many people survive the pandemic lockdown anxiety and paranoia. It offers an escape from the worries of the world and is a cathartic activity, overall. With the global interest in gaming going on the rise generally, what sort of trends will you see in 2021? In fact, what is the future of gaming? Let’s check everything out below.

Next-Gen Consoles

Technological upgrades come out every year and replace the older versions of devices. The Samsung cell phone you had back in 2012 pales in comparison to the Galaxy S21 smartphone, which offers next-gen specs and a thousand times more convenience. Similarly, the gaming industry has progressed by leaps and bounds, too. Only last year, Sony released the PlayStation 5, and Microsoft rolled out the Xbox X series for high-end gamers. You can enjoy ultra-realistic graphics and the smoothest gameplay known to humankind. The latest consoles are also equipped with advanced microchips, which amplify the processing speed and in turn, boost your performance in the game. So, it would not be wrong to say that we’ll be seeing newer versions of gaming consoles in 2021 with remarkable built-in technology and excellent throughput.

Mobile Integration

We do everything on our smartphones, these days, from online banking to video conferencing. Mobile phones lend us the ease of completing our day-to-day tasks with utmost efficiency. Their compact size offers the highest portability, allowing you to multitask like a pro. Today’s mobile phones are also ‘smart’ with AI integrated into them, and internet-enabled, letting you surf the web from anywhere there’s connectivity. What’s more, you can use your smartphone for gaming, too. Research shows that at least 2.2 billion people around the world have adopted mobile phones as a medium for playing games over the last ten years. The market revenue from mobile gaming has also expanded exponentially and is expected to grow by 59 percent in the years to come. So, the trend of mobile gaming will continue to rise in 2021, as well.

5G Adoption

Along with mobile gaming, mobile internet technology has also developed to a great extent. 5G is around the corner, supporting the fastest speeds up to 10 Gbps. How does it work? 5G taps into the sophisticated fiber broadband networks and then disperses the rocket-high speeds wirelessly through a string of interconnected towers. For gamers, this is great news. With 5G-enabled smartphones, they can play heavy MMORP games on their sleek devices with a global team while only facing one millisecond of ping delay. This means that their actions will be translated faster in a game and they can compete well with professional players. Downloading games will also become seamless with 5G. Instead of an hour, you’ll be able to download a game in a matter of minutes.

Gaming is a very exciting and engaging way to spend time and it has also become quite advanced with the advancements made in technology. Nearly 2.7 billion people around the world play video games as a hobby. Some of them are even professional esports players.

The popularity of gaming consoles are also increasing day by day. Along with controllers that use wires, there are wireless variants as well. You can choose to sit at a distance and enjoy playing games on your controller.

Time flies when you’re playing video games. You won’t be able to keep track of how long you’ve been playing a particular game for if you’re too invested in it. For some people, gaming is something that is similar to a hobby, it is not just something they do to make them merely happy, or keep their mind away from things for some time. Gamers get a sense of accomplishment and they also get a sense of adventure from their gaming sessions.

Keep the controllers protected

Playing games for long durations can make your palms sweaty. This moisture may cause your controller to get dirty and it may also damage the electronic components inside your console. If you’ve been gaming with a controller for a long time now then this issue is likely to be very familiar to you. It’s right here that a game controller case would be important for you.

A lot has been said about video games' negative impacts on kids. The fact is, while some games are inappropriate for children and teenagers, there are video games out there that have real benefits for children. They teach valuable skills that can help young people develop socially and academically. Games can help kids learn how to concentrate, solve problems creatively and work with others to reach a common goal. They also improve hand-eye coordination and teach speed, agility and quick-thinking skills. Kids can explore new worlds while taking risks in virtual worlds that they would not dare take in real life.

I will focus on the major benefits of video games for kids:

• "Personal Characteristics" where I discuss how games can help kids improve personality development skills, build confidence as well as improve creativity and problem-solving skills.
• "Parenting" where I talk about the possible effects that video games may have on children and families in a general way.

I. Personal Characteristics

A lot of research has been devoted to the benefits of video games for kids, and there really are many. This is because a significant number of video games encourage players to develop their personal characteristics and improve performance.

Thank you Materia Collective for sending us this digital album to review!

Deus Ex was originally released in 2000 and this album was released to coincide with its 20th anniversary. While Deus Ex doesn’t look great by today’s standards, it was a revolutionary first-person shooter (FPS) for its time. The story is engaging and the ability to upgrade your augmented body adds strategy to the gameplay. While violence is always an option, you can opt to simply knock out most of the foes if desired.

The electronica background music for this title is phenomenal. I remember extracting the Unreal music files and burning it to multiple CDs since I really enjoyed the music from this game. Not all of my favorite tunes made it onto Conspiravision: Deus Ex Remixed, but most of them are there.

This album consists of seventeen tracks ranging from three to four minutes apiece and will keep your ears happy for over an hour. Alexander Brandon did a fine job staying true to the original songs while giving them all a nice tune-up.

Today, we can’t imagine a world without video games that entertain us in our free time.

We came to a point in which video games are not only for amusement nowadays. They can also help us make some serious cash along the way. 

Some in-game items can bring you a lot of money if you get lucky enough to get them from loot boxes. The most expensive CS:GO skins list has shown us that their loot system is one of the best in the current market. 

We learned a lot only by observing what Valve does so well and figured out that such a model of the economy has a high potential for making large profits.

The main question is, can you take advantage of such a system and earn some money along the way?

If you’ve been following gaming videos and livestreams over the past few years, you are probably aware of the massive Minecraft revival that occurred in 2019. It paved the way for numerous new streamers and content creators, who gained fame by jumping on this trend at the right time and introducing their own spin in these videos.

It's been two years since this event occurred and Minecraft continues to be a big part of the mainstream. Content creators today know the importance of introducing unique elements to their gaming videos, such as warzone hacks, since thousands of creators online play the same game. 

One of the best ways Minecraft gamers have made their content stand out is by creating their own versions of the game,which they either introduced to the world or played. Most of these versions have also been made available to the public by their programmers, so if you are tired of the original game, give these a try.

The World Changes Regularly by Dream 

Dream is undoubtedly one of the biggest names today in the online Minecraft community. He has 17 million subscribers and is famous for his speedrun videos. 

Thank you Loot Crate (Affiliate Link) for sending us a review sample!

Loot Crate is an interesting service that surprises you with random stuff delivered to your door for a monthly fee. There are many different themes available including gaming, anime, film/TV, and Pop Culture. Each of those themes are further broken down into sub categories for die-hard fans of particular games, movies, anime, etc. They also have apparel only crates available. Those are broken down into subcategories including hats, tees, socks, underwear, wearables, and more. The Loot Gaming Boxes we have been getting have usually included some clothing, art prints, pins, and other nifty trinkets from popular game franchises.

We recently received and unboxed the “Best of” December Crate and here’s what we found inside:

Are you a gamer? What particular game do you play? What features and qualities do you enjoy the most?

Most people, especially the youth, are fond of gaming. There are various types of gaming applications. However, the most popular one is an adventure video game. Now, what makes it so fun, entertaining, and addictive?

Almost every kid or teen is a video gamer. Perhaps, you often see a bunch of street boys going to an Internet café. There, they challenge each other, playing in real-time multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, they spend almost the entire day just playing.

Then, what about Christian game apps? Yes, there are. Do you know any? Let us know some of them and what makes them attractive.

Types of Gaming Apps

Educational Games

• Alphabet Games

This type of game is mostly for kids like preschoolers who are learning the alphabet. 

Thank you Loot Crate (Affiliate Link) for sending us a review sample!

Loot Crate is an interesting service that surprises you with random stuff delivered to your door for a monthly fee. There are many different themes available including gaming, anime, film/TV, and Pop Culture. Each of those themes are further broken down into sub categories for die-hard fans of particular games, movies, anime etc. They also have apparel only crates available. Those are broken down into subcategories including hats, tees, socks, underwear, wearables, etc.

We recently received and unboxed the November Crate and here’s what we found inside:

• Beast Pin
• DOOM Eternal Cacodemon Stress Ball
• Fallout Art Print
• Fallout Silicone Oven Mitts
• The Elder Scrolls Art Print
• The Elder Scrolls T-Shirt

I can definitely see myself wearing the shirt and using the oven mitts. While the mitts are functional, they’re thinner than my current neon green set. I still think they’ll handle the task of removing freshly made hard boiled eggs from my Instant Pot just fine though! The Doom stress ball is nifty and thankfully, I’m not super stressed so I don’t know how much use it will get. Given that it's made out of foam, it wouldn't survive my puppy's jaws for more than five minutes. To avoid that from happening, it looks nice on our shelf in the office along with the art prints.

Each crate is said to have at least $50 or more worth of items inside. I wouldn’t pay that much for the stuff I got, but the monthly cost of $28.95 is reasonable and I can definitely see the contents being worth that much. If you subscribe for three or six months, the cost is reduced by 9% and 11% respectively.

Any serious gamer would be familiar with the Halo series. But if, for some reason, you aren’t aware, Halo is a Microsoft-exclusive video game that focuses on the adventures of Master Chief and his AI sidekick Cortana as they battle against the alien forces of the Covenant to prevent the extinction of life in the galaxy. With its impressive performance and visuals, it is the perfect game for an Xbox or a specialist gaming PC.

The game has undergone a lot of change since its first release back in 2001, so now’s the time to talk about the evolution of Halo.

Early development

Bungie began development on a new video game in 1997 with a working title ‘Monkey Nuts’ before it was changed to ‘Blam!’. The game was planned as a real-time strategy (RTS), but Bungie soon decided the game was suited to this genre. This decision led them to change tack and go in the third-person shooter (TPS) direction.

Learning on the go has become the norm in recent years. While studying is important, it’s also important to take frequent breaks and have some fun playing your favorite games. With that, let’s take a look at some of the best gaming laptops which you can get as a student.

1. Acer Aspire E15

The Acer Aspire E15 line provides a comfortable balance of power and utility for both K-12 and academic students. It features 12-hour battery life, a dedicated MX150 graphics card, 8GB DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB SSD coupled with a 4-core processor. It is a great laptop line designed for students on a tighter budget.

1. Asus VivoBook

If you’re looking for a lightweight laptop with good gaming performance, Asus VivoBook has you covered. It comes with an AMD 4-core processor, Radeon Vega 8 graphics, 128GB SSD, and 8GB DDR4 RAM. This laptop will allow you to comfortably work on your student projects and games without issues.

1. Dell G5 15

Students with a little more money to spend should consider Dell’s G5 15 as a gaming/studying laptop. This laptop comes with Intel’s i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, 512GB SSD, and 16GB DDR4 RAM. It’s a good option for students who use 3D modeling or graphic design software.

Do you play CSGO? If you do, you will know the value of item skins in the game. In CSGO, players get to collect item skins, and the best thing is that you can also buy or sell CSGO skins online. You will see a price difference in different item skins, as some are more popular than others. You can save time and effort by buying skins online, as you will be able to get the skin of your choice directly. But is it safe to buy CSGO skins online?

If you are planning to buy skins online, it is very important to choose a trustworthy site. You can easily get scammed by someone if you don’t pay attention, and this is the last thing you would want to happen. People can run away with your money, and they can even take your account by asking for the username and password. Logging in to your account on a reliable website isn’t an issue, but if you do it on an unreliable platform, you can lose your account. 

Some sites as for personal details that aren’t even required, and sharing your personal info with an unknown third-party service provider can be an issue. There are a lot of ways in which you can get scammed; however, you are unlikely to face any issues if you choose the right site. But how to choose a trustworthy CSGO trading site? In the next section of this article, we will discuss how you can find a safe platform to buy, sell, or trade CSGO skins. 

Visit GameZod to find a safe CSGO trading site

On GameZod, you will find lists of various gaming-related sites, and there is a category for CSGO on the homepage. In this category, you will find the best CSGO trading sites, and you will also find sites where you can buy or sell item skins. If you choose a site from the listing on GameZod, you are unlikely to face any of the above-mentioned issues. 

Believe it or not, but running a game review site isn’t all fun and games.  Surprising right?  Streaming first impressions is mutually beneficial for our reviewers and visitors.  Our reviewers can refer back to the video for the game’s story and their first impressions.  Our viewers can see if the game is interesting enough to consider buying.  Since I don’t like showing too much of a game without spoiling it, I try to only stream the first hour or so to avoid going into spoiler territory.  While this approach is thoughtful, it’s counter-productive. 

By providing several streams a week we’re trying out several new games and not getting enough time to go back to finish their reviews.  Currently, I have thirty-five games assigned to myself (Yikes!).  I like to compare these streamed games to boxes of cereal.  I keep opening up new boxes of cereal and need to finish them up before they go stale.

To help me catch up on these backlogged games, I’ll be taking a break from regular streaming until next year.  There’s a lot on our plates and many of us are working full or part time jobs while still maintaining this site.  If you are blessed by the work we do, please consider supporting us on Twitch (we currently have 0 subscribers and Amazon Prime members can subscribe for free!), Patreon, Subscribe Star (Nobody has used this yet!), Ko-fi, Paypal, or Giving Grid.

Thank you UberStrategist for sending us a screener to review!

Insert Coin is a documentary about the rise and fall of the popular arcade game making company, Midway. Though Midway has been around since 1958, this film covers the 80s through their bankruptcy in 2009. The 1981 acquisition of Bally is also discussed with their rivalry with Williams. These companies combined are well known for their pinball and early video games like Defender, Joust, Robotron 2084, and Rush. In the mid-80s people were getting tired of the copycat and low-quality games and as a result, the industry was losing its audience.

In 1988, the recently re-branded Midway released Narc which was an arcade hit and stirred up some controversy with its bloodiness and dismembering of body parts. Smash TV did well in the theaters but Midway had to learn from a mistake of teasing the gamers about a nonexistent hidden area (Pleasure Dome) and shipped out ROM chips to actually add it to the game. Countless quarters were spent trying to find that mystical area.

It’s interesting to know that a successful arcade game was one that generated $700/week. NBA Jam was such a success that the arcade machines were deemed defective because their quarter holders were filled to capacity! Their most popular franchise, Mortal Kombat is covered in detail with its over-the-top violence and backlash for it. The film adaptation is also covered. Mortal Kombat was so edgy that Nintendo removed the blood from their SNES release. SEGA left the game intact to attract an older audience.

Gift cards are quickly becoming a popular gift idea. If you don't know what a person will like or they already have everything you can think of, the perfect solution is a gift card from Gift Card Summit. There is something for everyone on your Christmas list, even if they live across the country. Gaming, movies, live stream services, and general cards that can be used at almost any location, gift cards from Gift Card Summit offer you the chance to give a gift that everyone will be happy with.

Great for Gamers

Whether it's a new piece of gaming equipment or a software addition, gamers are always looking for the next step up that will give them an advantage over other players. When it comes to this type of gift, odds are, if you aren't a gamer yourself you will buy the wrong thing. This is when a gift card from Gift Card Summit for your favorite gamer will come in handy.

Ideal for Shut-Ins

Gift Card Summit gift cards are an ideal gift for shut-ins who do much of their shopping online. General gift cards are are easy to purchase as a gift for a loved one and even easier to use especially online. Gift Card Summit gift cards can be used to buy a special item for fun or leisure, or they can be used for basic necessities. The beauty of gift cards is that the recipient is in charge of what they buy and when they make their purchases. 

As the world progresses towards better technology and improved skills, we are experiencing a massive gaming industry transformation. Faster internet, better consoles, and the gaming community's growth have made 2020 one of gamers' best experiences.

With a whopping 164 million people hooked on online gaming, primarily due to COVID-19, it is increasingly becoming one of the mainstream industry of the year 2020. Let's see below how the gaming industry is evolving and what are its latest trends.

The following are the lastest online gaming trends for the year 2020:

Guide to Picking Lane in League of Legends

When you start playing League of Legends, you will face many questions, such as which lane to pick, which champion to choose, and how to play. Let's start!

League of Legends has many heroes, and it takes a lot of time and energy to learn about all the high-level champions and play them.

You will rarely see players playing all the roles in a game. Usually, the players choose roles and stick to them, mastering several heroes at once. 

In case you don't want the hassle of playing through the basic and unranked matches, we've got your back. You can buy league accounts through secure payment methods. Here are some of the perks of buying LOL accounts!

Saving Electricity Costs While Gaming

If you’re an avid gamer, you know that playing video games can deplete the energy of video game consoles fast. Even when you’re not using them, certain features like connecting to the internet, wireless consoles and movement sensors can use up energy still. Nearly every household has some sort of a gaming set, because who doesn’t like to have fun and be entertained? Yet such forms of entertainment have become and will continue to require more energy in order to deliver the state-of-the-art technological features that these games possess. From the speed to the graphics, all of these take up a lot of energy and power.

However, this doesn’t mean you have to quit your gaming habit. You can save energy just by changing some habits so you don’t waste as much energy. If you would like to know how to become more energy-efficient, here are some tips for many types of gaming consoles you can refer to!

Need to save on your utility bill? Learn more about how your bill is calculated with the current electricity tariff.

Xbox One

Common gaming consoles like Playstation and Xbox One require around 300 kWh of energy, which is actually three times as much as gaming consoles of the past in a year. This costs you about $80 in your annual bill. Furthermore, Xbox One is functioned to turn on instantly. What this means is that it never actually gets turned off, but only switches to low-power. So your Xbox One is actually still consuming energy and power even when you’re not using it! In fact, 44% of all energy used by this device is from being on low-power mode so that it can be instantly switched on by voice commands.

Here’s our 2020 Christmas buying guide! Below are our favorite gadgets and family appropriate titles we have played throughout the year. More reviews can be found on ChristCenteredGamer.com! Each game is given a gameplay score for the overall gaming experience and a moral score for how suitable it is for younger gamers. The Amazon and Humble Store links will benefit Christ Centered Gamer by giving us a small % of the sale.

There are a lot of computer games that are out and enjoyed by many people. One of the most popular multiplayer online battle arena video game is the league of legends. It has been one of the in-demand and highly downloaded games as of today. A lot of people can vouch that it is fun and entertaining to play league of legends. If you still haven’t tried it yet, then you better download them now on your phone or even on your computer.

Just like any other online game, you need to make an account in the league of legends before you can play. But there is nothing to worry about since it is easy and you can immediately play them without a hassle. Although there are people who don’t like or don’t have much patience when it comes to starting up an online game since you need to follow a lot of instructions and guide for you to fully understand how to play the game. So if you are one of those people who are very familiar with the game, then you can simply choose to buy league of legends accounts immediately. Good thing this article will talk more about the different perks that you can enjoy when you buy a ready-made account in the league of legends. If you are interested and wanted to know more about it, then all you need to do is to read the rest of the article here.

You can instantly enjoy and play the game without any hassle of playing the tutorial part

Usually in the league of legends, before you can play and rank up with other players, you need to finish the tutorial games most especially if you are just a beginner and not very familiar with the game. But if you are already familiar with the game, you can just immediately scratch it off and directly play the rank game. This will save you time since you don’t have to go over the tutorial part. There are a lot of legit online websites that allow you to buy league of legends accounts so make sure you purchase from a legit store so that you don’t have to worry about getting caught by the system and have problems logging in. Elo boosting can be a great consideration in this regard.