Investing in a good gaming headset is one essential step in upgrading your whole gaming experience. While it may seem like a matter of walking into the nearest store and picking the first brand you see, such a practice could get you regretting about your purchase. With the vast options of gaming headphones available in the market, picking one is becoming more challenging even to the veteran gamers. Going through a couple of gaming headphone buyer guides may help, but knowing the most important features to always look for is often the best tip. Do you want to know the 7 most important features of the most incredible gaming headphones? Then you are definitely in the right place.
High Quality Sound
           
The ability to hear game audio loud and crisp clear is the number one reason why gamers choose to invest in the best gaming headphones. The gaming headsets are usually made with both hardware and software technologies that ensure that high sound quality is upheld. The most common sound quality choices for these headphones include Stereo, Surround 5.1 and Surround 7.1, and the choice usually depends on the gamer’s personal preference. In terms of hardware, gaming headphones usually incorporate designs with noise cancellation technology. Some of these include closed-back designs and over-ear earpieces. While the closed-back design isolates the outside sound, the earpieces with paddings that cover the whole ear keep the sound intact, directing all or most of it to the ear canal. This results in loud, clear and high quality audios. Although, there are gamers who enjoy gaming while listening to ambient noise from their environment. If you fall under this category, the open-back gaming headphones are the perfect choice for you.
Comfortable Design
           
Apart from sound quality, comfort is another great reason why gamers can easily spend a fortune on gaming headphones. Actually, most gamers usually spend so much time playing, and comfortable headsets will not only help them enjoy gaming for longer, but they won’t have to worry about adjusting them from time to time, which may be detrimental to their performance particularly in competitive gameplay. The best headphones fit perfect especially over the ears. This is what makes circumaural headphones the most common gaming headphone design. The earpieces should be well padded to provide comfortable cushioning to the ears while sealing in sound and directing it into the ear. The head strap must be sturdy and adjustable to ensure a proper fit for different head sizes. The materials used must also be gentle to the skin such as genuine leather on the earpieces and smooth plastic on the other parts.
Diverse Connectivity Options
           
Wireless and wired gaming headphones are the most common gaming headphone designs in the market based on connectivity. Wired headphones will connect to your gaming device via a cable that transmits audio to the earpieces. However, if you are tired of connecting wires and cables every time you want to game, then wireless headphones are perfect for you, in which case you need to ensure their battery life and charge runtime is reliably long. Rather than connecting to your game devices via cables, it makes use of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or other wireless connection channels. If you want to enjoy both of these worlds, then having a compromise between the wired and wireless headphones is perfect. Some of the top gaming headphone models can connect both wirelessly and via cable, which is a great plus for any ardent gamer.
Multiple Device Compatibility
           
Imagine coming home with those fantastic gaming headphones and on plugging them in, they cannot produce a single sound. The second scenario is when your headphones only play on a few of your devices. This is very frustrating, especially for gamers who use multiple devices. The greatest gaming headphone models should have technologies that are compatible to multiple devices. It helps to inquire from the seller about the compatibility of the headphones you are looking to invest in to your device. You could also check out the different ratings and reviews of the gaming headphones from people who have used them on similar gaming device models as the ones you already own. Multiple device compatibility means that the gamer can easily use your gaming headphones on any device, even if it is away from your gaming station. In addition to the software and drivers used being multi-device compatible, the connection jack should also match the connection ports of most gaming and audio equipment.
Customizable Settings
           
Adjustability and customizability of gaming headphones are the features responsible for these headphones’ reliability and versatility. First, for the perfect sound quality at any given time, the best gaming headsets usually come with adjustable controls such as volume and bass. This ensures that even subtle sounds such as footsteps and audio cues are audible enough. The headband should also be adjustable for easier and comfortable fitting of different sizes and shapes of the gamers’ heads. Other adjustable features include foldable earpieces meant specifically for increased portability and easier storage of the gaming headphones. In addition to these, you could have removable cables whether the gaming headphones can connect wirelessly or not.
Strong and Durable Build
           
No matter how small a product you purchase is, the ultimate goal for everyone is getting one that can last longer. This applies to gaming headphones too. Strength and durability all depend on the materials used and the quality of the construction. The materials used in impeccable gaming headphones have to be strong and sturdy to ensure resistance to wear and tear, making them last longer. The quality of their construction should also be high quality, with every connection being strong and secure. You should always avoid headphones that look flimsy and cheap.
Excellent Microphone

During gaming, it is essential for the gamer to communicate with his opponents or teammates. For this to be effective, the gaming headphones should have an inbuilt high quality microphone. This will ensure perfect recording and transmission of the gamer’s voice, which will result in a crisper and clearer audio heard from the receiver’s side. This is very important, especially in competitive gaming where instructions, responses and other communication should be fast and very audible.
Conclusion

As you surf different websites over the internet, I am sure you have found different resources regarding the most reliable gaming headphones in the market. Most of them will promise you heaven, only for you to purchase them and regret your decision. Apparently, all you need is this reference of the main features of the perfect gaming headphones. Once you go through these, you will have no problem finding the ideal gaming headphones to cater for your needs. All you need thereafter is a budget and a gaming accessories store of your choice.

Do you enjoy playing Minecraft? We bet you do, but since you are reading this article, we can’t help but think that you are getting bored with the default character skins (yes, Steve, we’re all looking at you right now). While there’s certainly nothing wrong with playing the original characters, Steve or Alex, they just don’t feel very personalized and are bound to make you wonder whether they can be “upgraded” at some point. Fortunately, they can, and there is a huge variety of alternative character skins available online. In this article we are going to show you how to download a skin on Minecraft Mac and PC editions, as well as guide you through the following steps required to make your Minecraft character “wear” the custom skin.

So, first of all you’ll have to choose a skin you like and download it onto your machine’s hard drive. There’s a multitude of custom Minecraft skins that you can get online for free, but if you feel like going for something extra fancy, you can invest some money into the game and purchase a themed skin pack, or even pay a designer to have an original and unique Minecraft character skin created just for you. Assuming you prefer to go with the free skins (for now at least), we recommend that you check out skins4minecraft.com, as this website has got a great selection of cool custom skins available for free downloads and usage.

You may be wondering what exactly is a Minecraft skin, how you are going to download it, and whether you need any additional software to work with it. A Minecraft skin is basically an image, which is usually in PNG format, and if you open it with your computer’s default graphic viewer, you’re going to see a jumble of various body parts on a white background. Minecraft skins tend to look like unassembled paper dolls, but don’t let bother you - when you’re done with the skin “installation”, it is going to look exactly as presented on the website where you downloaded it. Downloading a skin is easy - just click on the respective link or button, and the skin will be saved in your downloads folder just like any other file. You won’t be needing any software for the skin installation, and in fact, you don’t even need to view it as an image, unless you’re curious to see what it looks like “unassembled”.

What is a Nintendo emulator? It is the easiest way to play Nintendo retro games on your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. But how do emulators work? Is it a complete substitution for a console?

Basically, the emulators are hardware or software that enables your computer's system to behave like another system, which you're trying to emulate. The most frequently used forms of emulators are game emulators for popular old-school console systems from 90's and 2000's. One of those systems is Nintendo. To get a NES (or Nintendo) emulation software on your tablet, PC, or smartphone, you have to download it from the Internet. Today, there are a lot of specialized websites which provide free access to all existed emulators and ROMs (games). For example, you can get a nintendo emulator on romsmania.com with a full pack of games for it. If the emulator and the ROM files are chosen based on your OS requirements, they will perform as closely as possible to the original system. So, how to choose a concrete Nintendo emulator and Nintendo roms download files to get the most out of them?

Nintendo Emulator and ROMs: Downloading and Installation Process

As we have already mentioned above, you have to find the proper Nintendo emulator download files depending on your computer's operating system and parameters. This information is always mentioned on the websites, which provide Nintendo files. Pay attention what other users say. Picking the emulator by the rating is a good choice too. As the older device you have, the higher chances that some programs will lag or work too slow on them. So, keep it in mind. If it is a low-level emulator and a very modern and powerful device, they may not perform well together. If you want your Nintendo games run smoothly on your PC or laptop, you always have to pick those files which are created to work together.

When it comes to ROMs, you also have to match them to the emulator you download. For example, for Nintendo you can choose something among:

How to Get the Best Skins in Dota 2?

Skins for Dota 2 became an object of obsession for millions of gamers all over the world - this is one of the reasons why the competition is so high when it comes to acquiring skins. Skins vary by quality and rarity and the higher are these indicators for the item the higher is the demand for it among players. That is why many players are interested in the best ways of acquiring rare items.

One option is available for you if you have a few skins and want to convert those in real money to purchase rarer ones. The easiest option for you would be to sell items you have in a skins marketplace as there you can make a prompt deal free of fraud. And the more skins you sell the higher would be the price for each new item sold. Actually, this is a good way to earn some cash and it is up to you how to spend it afterwards.

Track Special Events

Games that can be played in browser are our salvation when we’re bored, regardless of our location. As long as there’s WiFi and you have a device that supports a modern Internet browser, you could be at work, caught in a long commute, or bored out of your skull at a conference and still have entertainment options due to these wonderful creations.

The history of browser games started in 1995, with the birth of Macromedia Flash (now known as Adobe Flash) and Action Script and evolved to HTML5 games, that don’t require you to install Flash as a browser extension. The cool thing is that browser games cover a wide range of genres and they can be both single and multi-player. Even more, these games are highly portable and can be played on different devices and browsers, some even offering a persistence feature (where your game progress is saved).

Throughout the years, you can observe an ascending trend, with flash/browser games becoming more complex and diverse. Thus, both the level of action and the graphic quality evolved so nowadays, games like DOOM, Dragon Ball Z Online, and Infinite Mario Bros, can be played in browser (of course, there are more cool examples to check out).

But what will happen next? Is there more space for development when it comes to browser games? Let’s see what we should expect in 2018.

Thank you Mobile Edge for sending us a loaner backpack to review!

The CORE Gaming Backpack was successfully Kickstarted in September 2017, exceeding its $30,000 goal by $4! As of this review, the backers have received their products and most of them are satisfied with the results.

As an owner of a 15.6” gaming laptop it’s rather challenging to find a laptop bag big enough to fit my laptop let alone the accessories I like to tote around with it. Granted some of the items I carry around are not your typical fare, but I like to keep it all together if possible.

I’m happy to report that my laptop does indeed fit in the checkpoint friendly pouch. This is great for easy access and airport security checks. The fleece pouch for tablets is super soft and won’t scratch the screen unless you add something sharp in there along with it.

There were some nice add-ons like a USB charging bank which I did not get to review, but this backpack does make it easy to charge accessories with its built in USB cable. Another add-on was a Samsung Gear VR. Again, this was not included with the backpack, but, my first generation Samsung Gear VR fit nicely in the middle pouch. While I was able to store my SteelSeries controller, Oculus Touch controllers and sensors, I could not get my Oculus Rift to fit inside the backpack with all of my other accessories. My current laptop bag can fit everything.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the most family friendly games we have reviewed in 2017. 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.

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Buying a gaming desktop or laptop is a big commitment. However, if you get a machine powerful enough, it can provide years of entertainment. Desktops are cheaper and easier to upgrade so if you don’t need portability, you can get more machine for your money that way. No matter which route you go, the advice in this article is applicable for both systems.

Generally speaking, with gaming laptops, you have the classic 'pick two' rule: Power/Specs, Size/build quality, Affordability - pick two. The slimmer and lighter something is, the less powerful - unless you are willing to pay more for it. There are relatively affordable gaming laptops that are significantly less expensive than the thin and powerful variety, but they are usually an inch thicker or more. It's only on the very high end where no matter how much you spend it won't be thin (like SLI video cards and such).

All system types discussed herein are assumed to be Windows computers. Macs can play some games, as can Linux, but they are sadly limited. And while Linux can actually use much of the same hardware as Windows, so most of this guide still applies (with the caveat that OS and hardware support is all on your own), you are still limited on game selection (though you may learn other useful technology skills!). On Mac, you are limited to the maximum of a midrange gaming GPU - for their top of the line Macbook Pro prices. Typically, I would say that people who purchase Mac computers do not or should not choose them with primarily gaming in mind. This is something that Apple Corp. has simply chosen to ignore; they do have the power to fix it if they so choose. Instead, Apple has pre-chosen size and build quality as their sole focus, which is dandy, but they do not make gaming capable laptops, and what they do offer is extremely expensive.

The first step in purchasing a gaming machine is to determine your budget. Faster machines are more expensive and there is no way around that. Most laptops come with Intel graphics but if you want to do some serious gaming, you’ll have to pay a premium for AMD or Nvidia graphics. If you plan on doing VR with your system, you’re going to want a GeForce GTX 1060 at least. Anything faster is, you guessed it, more money.

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

I reviewed Undertale shortly after its 2015 release date and this game continues to stay popular, with many kids still talking about and playing it. I can see why since it’s a fun game. While I did beat the game once, I haven’t had the time (or determination) to revisit the other endings. What impressed me most about Undertale was the wonderful soundtrack composed by the very same game developer, Toby Fox. Although the game was gifted to me, I purchased the soundtrack and Ferdk’s symphonic metal rendition as well. As great as those are, I truly feel that String Player Gamer’s digital album, Undertale: Strings of Determination, is the definitive soundtrack to buy if you have to choose one. Of course, I recommend picking up all three!

The violin and guitar work is top notch and the production quality is as good as it gets. The songs don't stray too much from the original soundtrack, but the instrument work really does stand out. In total, there are forty-six songs and they are all well done. All of the tracks are arranged by Diwa de Leon and the song ‘Temmie Village’ has a guest acapella singer, Tera Catallo aka TeraCMusic on YouTube. It’s hard to believe that this album was made by a couple of people!

The asking price is a very reasonable $14 and this album can be listened to and purchased on BandCamp, Spotify, and on iTunes. Before this complete album was released, String Player Gamer released four Undertale volumes so if you only want a few of the songs, that’s a cheaper option. Each of the volumes cost $6 so getting the complete set is still a better deal. I now consider myself a fan of String Player Gamer’s work and will continue to follow and look forward to his future masterpieces.

The GDEX was our second conference and it was much bigger than Gamer Grace. We enjoyed our stay in Ohio and felt at home there. I arrived on Friday and got our booth set up as much as I could given the 30-minute unloading time limit and lack of power. Since I had some time to kill before I could check into the hotel, I decided to try some local cuisine and was introduced to fried corn nuggets - those were yummy! Once checked into the hotel, I was planning on utilizing the swimming pool, but some kid threw up into it and it was closed for a few hours. Despite some obnoxious neighbors and kids in the hotel (not mine), I did manage to get some much needed sleep until Jay arrived at 12:30am. Thankfully, on Saturday we had enough time before the doors opened to the public to finish setting up our laptops and Oculus Rift.

Even though they had a nice VR exhibit with several games, our VR setup got a fair amount of use on Saturday. On Sunday, the attendance in the exhibitor hall was much lower and it was only used once or twice that day. I don't know how many people attended the seminars but the exhibitor hall didn't seem to have 4,000 people as advertised. On the other hand, the classes were scheduled back to back and didn't give guests much free time without sacrificing a class to attend.

One highlight of the conference was meeting one of our reviewers, Gamer4Christ, there. Until this year, she never heard of GDEX! We also met a couple of developers (Hullbreach Studios and Schell Games) whose games we have reviewed (and they were still happy to see us!).

There were a lot of exhibitors present and many promising games being shown. Some charities like Extra Life and Able Gamers were there as well. We were not the only gamer reviewers present and we handed out plenty of business cards and made some new contacts. Our review queue has grown because of this conference! That’s a good thing though as many of these games are family friendly and deserve to be promoted.

Many Christians stopped by our booth and offered appreciation and encouragement for what we're doing. We were not the only Christian exhibitors as representatives for The Bible Project were two booths down from us. Some of the game developers we got to know are Christian too!

As many of you are aware, we’ve been preparing for various gaming conventions and finally attended our first one, Gamer Grace, this past weekend. It was quite an experience and we’ve learned a few things along the way.

The Oculus Rift was a hit and many people enjoyed their first VR experience with it. Watching a six-year-old think he was falling in space was priceless. I kept the headset sanitary by using mask covers and offering disposable shower caps if anyone was interested in head lice prevention. Our family dealt with head lice and it was a total nightmare. Only one person bothered with the shower cap. I’m open to suggestions on what to do with the leftover shower caps.

Setting up the Rift didn’t take much time, so in the future I think a half hour of prep time should be sufficient for placing our tablecloth, Rift, business cards, t-shirts, and Bibles. We offered Bibles to people but didn’t force them. The last thing I wanted to see was them in the garbage can. Although we couldn’t give any away (didn’t realize how hard this would be), we did sell an Action Bible. One thing we will add is a whiteboard to explain that the Bibles are free. I was thinking of writing this on our future whiteboard:

Free Bibles!
Great for:
Reading
Salvation
Changing lives
Bookshelves
Night stands

We had one mother consider buying a t-shirt but her son seemed rather indifferent about it so it never happened. We do have some shirts available online if anyone wants one. Hopefully, more people are interested at future conventions.

So the sequel to the popular Middle-Earth: Shadows of Mordor has micro-transactions. They are loot boxes; for folks who may not know, they are randomized rewards. You have no control over what you'll get. Now you'll find opinions, fact articles and many other thoughts on the sequel in general and micro-transactions. Yet here I want to talk about gambling. No matter your stance on gambling, I feel this will slowly become a more prevalent thing in mainstream gaming, adding random loot box prizes or card packs. So here we are going to talk about gambling from a faith based and business perspective.

Luke 12:15: Take heed and beware of covetousness - for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. It is this quote that fits gambling best I would say. Too often people associate gambling to the slot machines and roulette wheels only. Remember, no matter your stance on gambling, it will lead to covetousness: you will want that skin, that rare card. Those who delve into this vice will risk becoming enveloped in the sins of envy and greed. Do not write it off as a phase just because it's not gambling for money.

Whether you feel gambling is a vile thing or not, understand that activities that involve playing the odds in anything requires a certain amount of mental toughness. If you let yourself get addicted to gambling, you won't have any medicines or physical therapies you can do to get it out of your mind. Gambling is a very strong addiction if you let it become one. Yet whatever's making money is going to follow in business. These game publishers know people will pay to make a game faster and they will exploit that without a care about someone's risk to gambling addiction. On record I’ll say that I am against loot box style micro-transactions in retail priced products that are not cosmetic only. These randomized rewards are usually designed into the game to test the gamers patience in earning them by grinding in game. Also on record, keep in mind whether you hate gambling or not, casinos are regulated in many ways including age restriction and government regulation to make sure the casino isnt cheating folks out of their money. The exploitation of those who will spend money to take a gamble at getting that "legendary" prize will most likely become more common in the games industry.

However, if you're a parent with a little gamer, keep these things in mind if they are spending that allowance on any loot box micro-transaction no matter the game.

Talk to your kids about the odds and reality: teach them that unlike buying a in-game skin or toy directly, they might not get what they want if they take the risk. Tell them if they spend their whole allowance on a loot box or card pack and they don't get what they want, that's on them. Don't let them expect an extra twenty if they didn't get the prize they wanted. Make sure they understand as well, unlike a investment or solid item, if the game shuts down, all that money they invest in randomized digital items gets flushed down the toilet.

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was truly innovative on many levels upon its launch. So many great games were available on that console and given the success of the recent NES Classic, gamers still love them. Besides the fun gameplay, many of the most popular games had stellar soundtracks to go with them. Stemage has done something interesting in their recently released digital album, Retrogression: Vol.1.

In Retrogression: Vol.1, Stemage plays four popular theme songs backwards and then reverses them (individually) so you can recognize them again. To stay true to the NES’ limitations they used drums, two guitars, and one bass. The songs performed backwards are really well done and are fun listening to, even if I’ve only played 3/4 games being represented.

The four games paid homage to include Ghosts N’ Goblins, Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Brothers, and Tetris. Since the album is available on Bandcamp, you can listen to each track individually and pay what you want for it. The songs are available to download in MP3 or FLAC format. Since you can set your own price, I won’t complain about the length of the album as it can be heard in its entirety in less than fifteen minutes. While the reversed/forward songs are neat, I would have loved to hear the jazzed up songs played in their proper direction. Other than those minor nitpicks, I recommend picking up this album if these NES games hold a special place in your heart.

The Most Thrilling And Mind Blowing Video Games Of 2017

What was just considered as a hobby a few years back that some freaks used to play sitting in their living room or any other place is now an art that every human being in the world enjoys participating. Whether it’s your friend next door or your elder brother who is working in a firm, everyone is now playing the astounding video games.

So, with reference to the sneak peaks and the interesting early gameplay footage, 2017 launched many breathtaking video games and is proved to be one of the best gaming years of the era. Moreover, the well-known technology stores around the world also made it sure that you can grab the latest games at any point of time as soon as those are launched in the market. So, you can find these stores always updated with their stocks.

But with so many games around you, it might be too perplexing for you to choose the one that stands out. Thus, without further hassle, here are the top and mind blowing video games which you’ll be much excited to know about.

• Platform PS4

It is one of the most surprising and striking video games of the year which is a sequel to the very famous Vita adventure. It leads you to battle evil in a captivating imaginative world with an ability to turn the world upside down. The Gravity Rush 2 walks through with a creative streak which runs across the two heartfelt heroines of the game i.e., Kat and Raven. And moreover, the fascinating land of Heskeville will be a wonderful place to explore.

When you work for any games publication, you're gonna play a lot of games. Shocker right? As games have evolved over the years, one of the biggest game changers is story. Long gone are the days where you simply had to pretend the pixilated dots on screens are airplanes and missiles. Sure we have great indie games that can draw you in with even the most minuscule or goofy plots on a meaningful level, yet how much of it is the gameplay and not the story? Likewise, can a game be ruined by a mediocre story, or can the gameplay carry the experience? I thought I'd do a few look overs of older games and see if they are worth playing purely on gameplay vs story. The first game I will look at is Fallout 4. This title has already been reviewed by our big boss lady Cheryl Gress, you can look at said review here. Today is just a journey to see if this game is good as a game despite supposed controversies of the story.

So let's start with the game's story. Long story short? It wasn't fun. In previous Fallout titles, whether the early top down RPG games, or Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, you can easily pretend your character is whoever you wanted it to be. Yet Fallout 4 decided to do a fully voiced protagonist with a large backstory. It doesn't pan out well. The more you give a character a face, the more you have to put effort into emotional investment. Allowing me at least 10 minutes to enjoy my apparent married status and child before the nukes are dropped doesn't help me get invested in my fake family. Sure I am a married man in real life, so I tried to pretend that I was playing as myself and it did nothing to help the investment. Trying a different character file did nothing to help immersion either. Whether I was male or female, I was a lone parent hunting for my child that might not even be alive.

Some people may say, "wait were the previous stories in Fallout games really that good?" If they were stand alone books or movies, no, they would be rather mediocre. Yet by giving the player choice on how to approach a game you manage to bring that much more interest in the investment of the story. Previous Fallout games made you the story; Fallout 4 does not. Wide focus doesn't work for a book or a movie, yet we have many famous games that tell rather fun or compelling stories when it allows you to choose how much you want to care.

The reason character builds in previous titles helped define the character was due to that use of imagination. When I made the person with one strength but 10 agility in Fallout: New Vegas, it was not about playing optimally or providing a challenging. It's because I was playing as the skinniest, weakest gunslinger in the post-war west. No matter what gender, shape, or build I had in Fallout 4, I was a concerned parent that had to get by while dealing with other people's problems. It doesn't help that unlike the other games, you'll have to deal with most of these problems from other people whether you like it or not. If the game is still a ”RPG” then at the very least let me find my son first.

Now let me do another long story short. As a game Fallout 4 is still a top notch experience. I find the settlement management side of the game rather relaxing for when I don't feel like exploring. The loot system is fun, crafting is a joy and the game combat is enjoyable. Exploring the world just to loot and survive is still just as fun as in previous Fallout games. This is a case where I can say the weak story did nothing to prevent me from enjoying a game  as a game. Maybe one time I'll run through Fallout 4 on mute with my own music and I will just make up my own dialogue for the characters.

The way of the knight is a path of honor, duty, and cute graphics. At least that's what it is according to Battle Princess Madelyn. This knight in training and her kingdom fall under siege to the forces of a cruel wizard. With her ghost dog Fritzy, fight, jump and bite your way to saving your kingdom.

The first thing this game says is that it is heavily inspired by the Ghosts and Goblins franchise, and this is true in every step down to the way Madelyn runs. While she tosses spears, she can either have her dog shoot balls of energy to stop her foes or she can channel his power to charge at enemies to devour them whole. 

The first impressions are great so far. The story isn't trying to be some deep and complicated trek into Madelyn's world and yet I was invested into the introduction of the game. The combat was simple, but it felt satisfying and fun. My spear wasn't too weak and the trusty ghost dog didn't make the enemies in my way super easy. The artstyle is visually pleasing; people may say doing retro graphics is a lazy indie trope, yet the team behind Madelyn worked hard to make sure the world pulls you in. 

The most important aspect of these sorts of games is the challenge. Despite my own experiences with Ghosts and Goblins, I had a hard yet fair adventure with Madelyn. The enemies were paced well, I didn't get to a point where I felt I could just rush through the game. The enemies were varied and unique. This game doesn't suffer from “enemy recolor number 1000” syndrome. I started my journey with Madelyn in a unkempt graveyard. I had to climb through an Underground Mausoleum and it ended with a boss battle with a giant skeletal knight. When a game is challenging, the satisfaction of beating a level or a boss is all the sweeter. 

I can't completely critique a game that is far from finished so I’ll talk about what should be improved or what I hope stays strong. The music for the first few stages was not what I’d call memorable. While the artstyle pulled me in despite being based on retro graphics, the old school music just didn't do the same thing for me. I hope that the rest of the tracks are more immersive as the game progresses. While the enemies were varied in my playthrough of Madelyn, I hope this stays true throughout the game's development. Recolored enemies can make or break a game; that's why I hope enemy design remains unique throughout the levels. 

For being a loyal My Nintendo member, I was offered two tickets to attend the Chicago Nintendo Switch demo event.  My husband and I planned on going without our kids since tickets were limited.  Thankfully, 360 PR was able to let us bring our three kids along and they had a blast testing out the upcoming console and launch titles with us.  The turnout was good, and I’d guess that there were three hundred or so people there.  The staff members were easy to identify with their red Switch shirts and warm smiles.  They were also very knowledgeable about the game demos and were happy to teach and assist if you got stuck in a game. 

Out of all of the launch games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the most in demand and you had to grab game session tickets to schedule your twenty-minute play session.  Headphones were provided to help drown out the loud electronic dance music that the DJ was playing, as well as the substantial crowd noise throughout the event.  I really enjoyed my time with the game, though like many open world games, twenty minutes was barely enough time to get a good feel for it.  I was very impressed with the art style, the beauty of the world, and how much there is to do.  The clearly less than 1080p pixels on TV was rather annoying, but you do get used to it.  It looks gorgeous on the small Switch screen.  Combat was also fun, and there is a lot of variety as well.  You constantly pick up new weapons either found outside, or as dropped loot.  Items, including weapons, wear down and break, which is a bit of an adjustment from previous games.  Arrows also seemed hard to come by, but I can understand that given how powerful they are.  I definitely look forward to playing this game more once we get it, since we pre-ordered it along with our Switch.  

Some classic games like Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers and Sonic Mania added retro feels, but didn’t show off what the new console system was capable of doing visually.  ARMS was fun and looked good on the flat screen TV/monitors we played it on.  I thought it was one of the highlights of the show, but it's hard to say if it is worth full price, since it's somewhat of a one trick pony.  Some games like Splatoon 2 were playable on TV/monitors as well as the Switch itself.  In all honestly I was disappointed with the pixelated visuals of this title on the TVs there and while there are new weapons, I don’t think it’s different enough to warrant buying it at full price.  On a positive note, this did spark some interest in our kids playing the Wii U version we already own.

Since the dawn of time, humans have strived to build vast civilizations on earth. Rulers have sought to leave their mark on history by making advances in construction, culture and technology and by taking as much stuff from their neighbors as possible. The civilization series depicts this struggle from the Stone Age through to the modern era and beyond.

The PC versions of Civilization have given me more than a few bouts of ‘one more turn’ fever over the years. They are compelling classics that are epic in scope. But what of the trimmed down version for consoles and mobile devices? I played Civilization Revolution 2 on the iPad to see whether it could recreate the complex joy of the PC experience.

The game starts as all Civ games do. You control a group of wide-eyed settlers looking for the perfect spot to found their first city. Once the foundations of your soon-to-be great civilization are laid, it’s time to turn to the serious business of world domination. Explore your surroundings, choose technologies to develop, train units, and build municipal buildings for your city. The choices you make determine how quickly your civilization develops, scientifically, culturally, financially and militarily. Each of these four areas can lead to victory, so it is important to decide where to focus your efforts.

You encounter rival civilizations along the way with which you can trade, swap technologies or fight. Most of the fighting occurs as a result of direct competition for land. Everyone is vying to found their cities in the juiciest spots, and this is where friction arises. There can be rewards in combat - If you manage to capture all three enemy capital cities, you win the game. But it also comes at a great cost - war is expensive, after all. Get bogged down in a long, protracted war and more peaceful civilizations will outstrip you in other areas of the game.

Though stripped down from the PC version, Civ Rev 2 manages to pack in a lot of features. Games can last for many hours and there is great pleasure in seeing your people rise from stone huts to build great wonders and powerful cities. There is a lot of replay value with many civilizations to choose from, each with their own bonuses and special troops. You earn achievements for winning in various different ways and unlock new civilizations to play with. There are also a variety of scenarios to play through that change the gameplay up, such as focussing solely on the space race, or defeating barbarian hordes.

Thank you Riverdale Ave. Books for sending us this e-book to review!

When Micky Neilson was eight months old he was kidnapped by his schizophrenic father and lived as a nomad in the desert.  He didn’t attend school until the seventh grade and his only socialization with other kids was in Boy Scouts. Although Micky thought his father’s stories and notions were strange, he loved him regardless.   

Sometimes Micky and his father would take refuge in Mormon churches, but religion didn’t last with Micky.  His life was pretty rough with being asked to steal or even point a gun at someone from a distance.  Before he was a teenager, he was in a foster home and would continue his relationship with his father via letters.

Micky goes into detail about his experience at different foster homes, jobs, serving in the Gulf War and even his love life.  As a gamer I found his experience at Blizzard Entertainment to be the most fascinating, though his pranks as a teenager are pretty hilarious as well.  I like the prank where he swapped out his boss’ telephone number with a customer's and had a new hire at the telemarketing company call him.

Some of the language in the book is a bit much for children to read and there is some mature content in terms of the war experiences and Micky’s first time with a prostitute.  There are also several references of drinking and partying.  Though Micky got baptized as a teenager his faith didn’t last long and he dabbled in using the Ouija board with his friends on several occasions.  

Microsoft has celebrated the anniversary of the backward compatibility feature for its Xbox One consoles by adding a fan favorite to the list of available games. Anyone who owns a physical or digital copy of Skate 3 by EA Black Box can now play the classic 360 game on their Xbox One or Xbox One S console. Check the ‘games’ screen of your console for more information on this and other available backplay titles.

When backward compatibility for Xbox 360 games was announced at the E3 segment, there was an instant demand for Skate 3 to be among the available titles. The third installment of this cult EA skateboarding series instantly became the most popular yet upon its release in 2010, plus the game had something of a revival in 2014 after YouTube boosted its popularity. It rose to become one of the most demanded titles in fan forums for the backplay feature, and is a very welcome addition to the growing catalog of compatible 360 games.

Grab a copy if you missed it the first time

Backplay is available to any Xbox One owner - if you didn’t own a 360 game originally, you can still pick them up for just a few dollars in second hand gaming stores or online. Research Team at Frugaa (a leading coupon provider in the USA) saw a sudden surge in searches for deals on Skate 3 games right after the update was announced, and the game also became a featured product on Amazon’s front page for a short time, because of the boom in demand.

Not only is the game included in the list of compatible titles, but you can get to all the DLC extras as well! From extra tracks and courses to fun merchandise and additional tasks, many of the add-ons have been free to Xbox 360 users for some time and can be added directly from the menu when you load up the game. Some versions of the game include all of the extra features within the disk - these can be ordered online or found in most gaming stores.