Why Today's Games Require More Power and Hard Drive Capacity

Over the last few years PC gaming has come a long way. As a serious gamer you need to buy a good prebuilt or custom build your own high performance desktop gaming computer optimized for the newest games. You need a powerful custom PC With the graphics capabilities, processing speeds and memory required for today's fast paced, large and visually mind blowing games. Non-gaming computers lack the necessary components. This creates a low fps, causing games to lag, glitch and for graphics to not be as sharp. When information isn't able to accessed quickly it causes today's games to not as load or update as fast and for game play to lag. Not that but it will also cause your computer to run hotter, causing you to spend more money on fans and cooling devices. This is why it is important that you have a high crisp. The last thing you want is for character to glitch out in the middle of an important game.
Up until fairly recently the main things people looked for in a gaming PC was huge graphics cards and tons of memory. Those things are still important however, over the past couple years CPU performance has become more and more important. In the past games were smaller, had fewer graphics and not as much information getting accessed from the hard drive. They simply weren't the CPU hogs that today's games are. Instead of games being 2gigs today's games are 16-20gigs. Information constantly needs to be accessed from the hard drive end processor, hard drive and the front side buss to carry everything for game play to run smoothly.

When deciding on a processor we recommend Intel's Core i7-4770K processor. The Intel Core i7-4770K is Intel's latest Haswell based quad core processor with a stock clock of 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo), 8MB of L3 cache, hyper-threading support, and an unlocked multiplier for overclocking as well. It's the flagship mainstream desktop PC CPU for Intel and it's a good value. This processor is not only great for today's games, but unlike other processors will carry you for years to come. With the release of DICE's latest game, Battlefield 4 was able to take advantage of up to 6 threads when played on a system that has the capability. On the other hand, when using an Intel Core i5-3570K, Battlefield 4 was eating up near 100% CPU utilization. Both the Intel Core i5-3570K and the Intel Core i7-4770K are quad core CPUs, the difference between the two is that the Intel Core i7-4770K includes Hyper-Threading, which doubles the amount of threads on the CPU from 4 (1 per physical core) to 8 (2 per physical core). While this doesn't bring a full 100% improvement in performance in multi-threaded applications, it can improve performance ~30%, which will be become important as games continue to get bigger and bigger.

For hard drives we recommend the Kingston V300 120GB Solid State. A solid-state drive is something that has no moving parts, and is just stupid fast. I've noticed so much of a speed increase on my computer since changing over to the Kingston SSD. Programs that use a lot of data, like my Fritz Chess program are just lightning fast compared to what they were on a regular drive. Many of you have asked 'how is game performance on an SSD?". Of course it's faster and better! When you copy your game data over to your drive, you know that it's going to have to read the information. The faster the read time - the more responsive the game is going to be. Game response on an SSD is great to phenomenal. With SATA being in its third generation, running 6 gigabits per second, your information is lighting fast.

When you're gaming, you want to keep rolling... so remember CPU performance is hugely important for today's gamer. Do yourself a favor and make sure you get a PC with an SSD and Intel Core i7-4770K.

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The Psychology Behind the Most Powerful Game Mechanics

REWARDS

In 1930, Burrhus Frederic Skinner, who was a psychologist at Harvard University, invented the Operant Conditioning Chamber, better known as the Skinner Box. This box was a chamber that had a lever a lever that an animal, usually a rat or a pigeon, can press down with the hope to obtain food or water as a reward. This reward is referred to as the "reinforcer." The Box was used for a number of experiments, most of which revolved around finding the factors which caused the animal to pull the lever more or less often (called the "rate of response").

Their conclusions have had a huge impact in a number of fields revolving around the motivation industry. This included fields such as motivation improvement, study of additions, conduct modification, employee's engagement, game design and many others.

The most basic level of results showed the pigeons were more likely to push the lever more often when there was a 50% chance that they would receive a reward. What was strange was that this happened even more often than when they received one 100% of the times. This is called an intermittent reward schedule and it is one of the most powerful game mechanics used to engage players. They also found that the most effective reward schedule was a variable ratio reward schedule (where the result was 50% of the time, but they could possible get 3 rewards in a row and then nothing for 5 lever pushes) as opposed to a fixed ratio reward schedule (for example, where they would get a reward every 2 lever pushes no matter what).

Basically, the combination of unlocking the reward just 50% of the time together with not knowing exactly when the reward is going to be unlocked, inserts a level of randomness into the equation such that there could be many pulls of the lever with no payoff, but the average payoff is set and somehow can be intuited. This combination is irresistible and produces both the highest rate of responding and the greatest resistance to extinction.

So what does this mean for us? Animals (and humans) can be persuaded to perform an activity more often simply by giving us a chance of a reward instead of promising us a guaranteed reward. We tend to know this intuitively, which is why many people enjoy gambling.

Thousands of games use these principles. Slot machines will intermittently reward you with money, Farmville will randomly give you gifts (usually items to be used on your farm), and World of Warcraft mobs only drop the loot you need for quests some of the time and not all of the time.

LOSS AVERSION

Loss aversion is a behavioural characteristic of the human nature demonstrated by the psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman in 1979 as a part of their prospect theory). It describes how people are intrinsically afraid of losses when they choose between probabilistic alternatives that involve risk. Basically, instead of looking at the "big picture" or the final outcome, we look at each loss as its own event, which makes those losses irritate us more. We dislike losing more than we enjoy winning.

Prospect theory says that there are two stages in the decision process: editing and evaluating. During the editing part of the decision making process, people will look at their choices and then set a goal or reference point. Then, they will look at that point during every event; in relation to that reference point, they call the negative outcomes "losses" and the positive outcomes "gains."

In the evaluation phase of decision, people will chose what they perceive to be the best option; this is usually the option with the most utility, which is based on the potential outcomes and their respective probabilities when it comes to obtaining that outcome. For example, let's look at this: if someone gave you 2 options; the first one, you are given the offer of $50 with no stipulations. The second one gives you the chance of winning $100, just by flipping the coin. Which of them would you choose? Both options are mathematically equivalent, but most people would choose to get the $50.

Loss aversion is the most powerful game mechanic present in many games. For example, in FarmVille, you don't return, your investments die and you will feel like you wasted your time and money. Loss aversion is also present in poker, when a player decides to bet less money that he should (based on his odds) just because he doesn't want to risk all his chips and get knocked out of a tournament. The idea of losing everything has more weight than the potential amount that he could win on this particular hand.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Achievements are, in short, a representation of a specific accomplishment. In some cases, they will give you something that helps you progress in the game. In other cases, they're just a great way for you to brag to your fellow gamers about your accomplishments. But why do people love achievements?

How do they drag us even further into our virtual experience?

That's where Abraham Maslow comes in. His research revolved around something that he called the "hierarchy of needs".

The needs on Maslow's hierarchy work from the bottom and go upward. The concept is, in short, that we have all of these needs in our lives. As life goes forward, the needs that we have become much more complex in nature and they also become much more difficult to attain. We feel accomplished when we ensure that these needs are taken care of; we feel as if we have achieved something in our lives.

Achievements are the 4th step of any individual's needs. We like to feel as if we accomplished something. If you defeat a raid boss in World of Warcraft, you feel as if you have accomplished something, and it gives you a feeling of satisfaction and pride. But, what if you are a player that doesn't raid? How can Blizzard help you to feel accomplished? The achievements that they provide give you little "bread crumbs" that tempt you to come back and achieve those things. Some of them may seem trivial; others are incredibly difficult. Either way, you feel as if you have accomplished something, and the need for esteem has been fulfilled by the achievement system.

So where do we see achievements?

In World of Warcraft, achievements give you something to strive for while questing and raiding, by asking you to do something differently than you would have; you accumulate points which you can show off to your fellow gamers. In the Pokémon series of games, you earn badges when you defeat gym trainers. Consoles like the Xbox have even put achievements into everything you do on your account, from playing particular games to performing certain actions while on the console. Achievements are everywhere, and they can bring a challenge to games that we wouldn't have otherwise.

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Steps to Become a Video Game Designer

1. Be passionate!

Passion takes people far and if passion can be transparent in the work produced then skill becomes secondary. Employers look for people that know games inside and out.

2. Be a problem solver

There is a lot of potential for something to go wrong in video games like bugs and dysfunctions and employers absolutely need someone who are quick on their feet and comes up with solutions.

3. Keep up with the fast pace

The game industry works at a rapid pace. Although patience is required it is also very important to be efficient and meet deadlines.

4. Get the proper training

People cannot expect to work as a designer without the proper education in the field. There is very specific training that is involved with designing video games and most of it can be learned in school specialized in game design. Becoming educated about the industry and how the process works will be help people translate their knowledge and apply that to real world applications.

5. Gain experience

Knowledge is definitely important in any industry but what is most important is applying the knowledge to real world applications. To become a video game designer it is vital to apply the skills to test design capabilities and get more familiar with programs and applications. This can be done through internships or jobs where shadowing someone with more experience. Self teaching applications and doing projects for fun will also be good practice and add to the portfolio. Use websites and resources to take in as much knowledge as possible.

6. Build Portfolio

Create a killer portfolio and resume to be the best candidate for the dream position. The resume should include creative, marketing and business skills used for games that have been designed. Explain the game genre, target demographic, marketing hooks and business model for the games. Compile the work produced through schooling, personal endeavors, and professional experience in an online and print portfolio to showcase the work.

What will make you stand out?

Be able to communicate your design in a simple way, both verbally and in writing. Understand core game loops and break them down. Have the knowledge to explain exactly what makes a game fun. It is vital to understand disciplines you might work with. Be able to adapt to limited resources, time and budget. Most importantly, be excited about games and your work. Translate passion in anything and everything related to games.

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New Gamers: Tips for Getting Started

When people start out with gaming, they might not want to tell other people that they have started gaming because they don't want to feel stupid about not being so good on the consoles.

They might start playing a game and start chatting to their friends about it, but the friend knows a lot about the game and they make comments about how slow their progress it. This could lead the new gamer to quit and stop playing the games.

If this sounds like you and you want to start out with gaming, then you should read further into this article, for some tips on how to become a great gamer.

Pick a Console

This year, the two new major consoles have been released - Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. You might be tempted to just run out and buy both but think about what you can use them for.

One is more a complete entertainment machine and the other is aimed at gamers with better graphics. If you buy them both and you don't like gaming, you can re-sell them but you will lose money on them.
You might be better starting out with the one that can be used as a full entertainment system and then you will get some use out of it, even if you don't use it for gaming.

Social Networks

Once you have made a player profile on your console, have your gamer tag listed on your social networks and your current friends will add you. They will already know that you are a beginner and they are more likely to help rather than ridicule.

Practice Makes Perfect

Once you have bought a game and you have played it a few times, you will start to learn the controls and have a better idea of what you are supposed to do. You will start to notice a change in the way that you are thinking. For example, if you are starting out with Dead Rising 3, when you first play it, you will follow the story and run around killing zombies.

But, you will start to notice that you can pick up things on the way that will benefit you. These things might be food for energy or new weapons, or you might even jump in a car so that you don't have to run everywhere. You will think about surviving in the game and not just running around wondering where you are supposed to be going.

Stuck?

There might come a time when you are stuck and you have no idea how to get further on in the game. If this happens to you, then you should not worry; there are options that you can take.

In the old days, you would just have to figure it out, but with advances in technology, you can search for solutions on the Internet and even watch walk-through videos on YouTube. Once you have played more games, you will find that you will figure more things out and you won't have to go looking for help as much.

Play Online

Once you have played some games and you feel a bit more secure about your ability, you should start playing online against other players. This is a brilliant way to make friends and gaming will become more of a social activity.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8294779