The Magellan RoadMate 9055 has been released for some time now, but this gadget is definitely worth a second look. This 7-inch device might just be the one thing you need to make sure that your days of getting lost on the road are over.

Inventor Spot – Inventions, Innovations, and Interesting Ideas for the Inventor in All of Us

It’s been a while since we’ve posted on Dota (or anything for that matter), so it seems like an appropriate time to catch up.  Dota 6.58 ushered in some deep revisions to items and heros alike.  Dirge and Storm Spirit have been completely reworked, and key items like the basher, blade mail, and heart have also undergone substantial alterations.  Several new commands have been added, notably “-mines” so that techies can now count how many mines he has laid, and “-switch” so that games that are plagued by leavers can be balanced.

Although the “-switch” command is a useful tool (since there are so many leavers), it creates the wrong incentive.  People that are prone to leave a game have even less reason to stay because they know that others will compensate for their actions.

Dota 6.58b, like most “b” versions, suffices to correct a plethora of bugs in the latest version.  The changelog is as follows:

* Fixed a rare bug introduced last version with Nevermore’s ultimate
* Fixed a bug with Cranium Basher
* Fixed a suicide bug with Heartstopper
* Fixed a bug with Overload
* Various tooltip fixes
* Fixed some rare glitches that could cause some abilities to malfunction
* Fixed various -switch related bugs
* Switch now works if all but one player votes for it, instead of requiring 100%
* Fixed truesight on The Frozen Throne
* Decreased Undying’s model size a bit
* Fixed conflicts between Viper Strike and Venomous Gale
* Fixed Soul Rip targetting problems on Tombstone
* Fixed -mo/-ro in -gameinfo
* Fixed a bug when picking up invisibility rune while under the Phase effect from Phase Boots
* Fixed -mr failing to be recognized as a gamemode
* Fixed Rapier damage values when being carried by a non-owning player

Video Games

Jack Thompson’s argument has one vital flaw; it’s hard to prove that violent video games ‘damage’ children, because you have to let them grow up. Finding out whether a childhood obsession with Grand Theft Auto leads to the cultivation of a hooker-beating, car-jacking, tracksuit-wearing 20-year-old maniac means that you have to both actively let a child play GTA, and then wait until he’s a grown adult. It’s time consuming, messy, morally objectionable and a bit weird.

However, there is still a way that we can find out what kids think of this super-violent alternate reality, and what their tiny innocent minds process while brutal imagery flashes through their tiny eyes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t steal a child (not after last time, and I’d let a mate borrow the cage), so it was up to one brave writer: Matthew Orona of Bitmob. This is what happens when a kid plays GTA.

You can read Matthew’s article on Bitmob.

“I egged him on to take the car in front of him which was waiting at the red light. He quickly looked up at me with disgust and refused, stating that the car was already owned by the person driving it.”

First, a general observation: 4-year-olds are right little buggers. They dribble, shout, scream, punch, grab, bite, scratch, and spill everything everywhere. However, their favourite thing by far is to claim that every single object is theirs. See that vase your Mum gave you? Theirs. Your brand new Honda? Theirs. That chocolate bar you’re eating? Definitely theirs. So, why is this child so terrified of taking someone’s car? Either he’s one of the kindest and most empathetic toddlers this side of young Gandhi, or it triggers the divide between action and principle. When in the home, it’s easy for a child to say that ‘everything belongs to them’ in front of a parent, but actually physically taking something off a complete stranger is too much for most. As far as the child is concerned, the game is synonymous to real life, and the morals that they uphold in the real world translate directly to the virtual one. At least, for now…

“At one intersection he attempted to brake, but he was travelling too fast. Instead of ploughing into the rear of the car ahead of him, he swerved to the right and popped up onto to sidewalk. In doing so, he accidently ran over a woman walking towards his oncoming car. He was incredibly ashamed of himself and profusely apologised.”

Again, just as a real life tragedy such as this would render a child horrified and ashamed, so does the video game. Children blur the lines between reality and the imaginary far more than most adult gamers, magnifying the whole experience and making it more involving, and either more joyful or terrifying, depending on the circumstances in the game.

“Only seconds later, he witnessed a policeman jump out of his patrol car to pursue a criminal of San Andreas. His eyes lit up as he asked if he could drive the police car. I reminded him that it was only a game, and it was fine to take the car. As he drove the squad car, I pressed L3 to turn on the lights and siren. He asked very excitedly if he could get the bad guys too. With a huge smile I pressed R3 to initiate the Vigilante Missions. It was as if his imagination had come to life. He was taking down delinquents left and right.”

Remember that lesson in school where you were told how the police are your friends, and PC Nicey would give a little speech on how they catch the bad people? That was cool. What was even cooler were the cars. “Ha! Look at them lights! Looks at them hats they wear! They get GUNS! Kewl!”. Being a policeman or policewoman is the height of awesome for all kids. Grand Theft Auto now becomes their way of living out this fantasy, drifting round corners and stopping the evil-doers in the name of the law. The interesting thing here is that while killing criminals in GTA is very violent, it’s violence in a good cause; you’re ridding the streets of evil. The child here displays no regrets or apologies, because he knows that the police are the ‘good guys’. This is, presumably, before the inevitable time when the kid grows up and gets pulled over for doing 41 on a 40mph road, has to fork out a £300 fine and realises that the police are nothing but corrupt and sadistic creatures of pure evil who thrive off the salty tears of mere mortals by extracting every last penny from their battered wallets.

Because I’m not bitter at all.

“In all his time with Grand Theft Auto he never once encountered any of the controversy surrounding this notorious title. He didn’t beat any hookers with a baseball bat. He didn’t deal drugs. He didn’t go on a murderous rampage. He certainly never once had a cup of hot coffee. He didn’t avoid these things because I told him he couldn’t try them. It just never occurred to him to commit these acts.”

After more ambulance and fire-fighting work, we get to the crux of the matter. The kid has killed a number of people, either by accident or through vigilante missions, but all his actions have been justified morally. He never stole a car from someone, because that’s not the right thing to do. Sure, he took the police car and the ambulance, but only because no one was in them and he hasn’t quite got the hang of property laws yet. He killed, but only for a good and righteous cause. And he never once did the sort of evil things that plague an adult’s playthrough, simply because he never thought of it. Why, in this world, should he beat up a hooker? Yes, all the necessary tools are there – weapons, hookers, dark alleyways – but there’s no reason to commit such a grievous act. If anything, Grand Theft Auto has enhanced the child’s morality; unlike most players who kill and steal for the hell of it, the kid only does what he thinks it is right to do, even if it provides him with some escapist fun in the form of a police chase. Do you really see this player growing up to kill and drug deal in later life?

Dr. Hawke has reached his conclusion. The 18+ rating is there for a reason; games are much more involving for children than they are for adults and, obviously, that means they’re more dangerous: I have no doubt the same experiment with Dead Space 2 would produce endless nightmares. But as for children immediately turning into bloodthirsty murderers: it’s doubtful. As a general rule, children shouldn’t be allowed to play videogames so violent or repugnant as GTA, but if this toddler is anything to go by, they don’t look at games with the same cynical eyes we do. As soon as you booted up GTA IV, you wanted to run someone down, didn’t you? But for this child at least, it’s just a fun way to become a policeman, and not much else.

Please don’t take this as proper medical advice, as my BSc in Medical Sciences is actually written in crayon on the back of some tissue paper, but feel free to have a discussion of the findings below, and follow our Twitter.

Disclaimer

Quotes in this article are taken from Matthew Orona’s original article on Bitmob.

Use of these quotes is for illustrative purposes only, and the Gamer’s Guide to Life Network does not claim to own, in any way, the quotes used here.

Quotes shown here may have been edited or abridged to better fit the context of this article.

Gamer’s Guide to Life.com | we.know.games

A lone, mourning violin heralds your arrival into the world of Killzone 3, greeting you with such a beautiful but sorrowful soundscape that, were it not for the Helghan writing, one might well wonder if they’d accidentally wandered into entirely the wrong piece of software. It’s an oddly serious, sombre opening to the latest in a series renowned for its straight-up shooting and un-shying goriness. The deceptive simplicity of the opening score inspires a straight-faced, somewhat austere feel that makes at least one thing clear from the very start. Guerrilla’s baby has grown up into one of that very rare breed: a serious first-person shooter.

Where Killzone 2 was a loud, egocentric teenager, flexing its not-quite-fully-developed virtual muscles with testosterone-fuelled bloodiness and shouting you down with a range of obscenities that even criminals on North London estates would struggle to recognise, its successor is a solemn, straight-faced adult, stoic and businesslike, getting on with whichever tasks are necessary with unfaltering professionalism. Whilst understated, the effort that has been put into giving Killzone 3 – or at least its online functionality – such a refined and developed feel is ultimately its saving grace; it turns a good game into something that could potentially reserve Killzone’s place in the history books of gaming.

Killzone 3 is simply a more mature game all-round. Amongst first-person shooters, for the grimness of war to be effectively put into game form is both a rarity and a pleasant surprise (a complete antithesis considering the gravity of the subject matter). Throughout my time on the beta, however, I’ve found Killzone 3 to continually surprise me with its adult, mature approach to the overdone war-game format that serves only to increase the feeling of immersion one enjoys when playing it. Small details like the bodies which litter the map during a game, the brutal mêlée animations, the increased sense of teamwork and tactic and the lovely interjecting cut-scenes in Operations mode make Killzone 3’s online mode feel more grown-up and – despite the fact that the horrors of war still aren’t quite accurately or fully portrayed – make Killzone 3 feel generally more involving that its predecessor or, indeed, other first-person shooters.

The quality is evident throughout the beta, but there are drastic differences between the three game modes. Whilst Guerrilla Warfare and Warzone mode are fantastic for a twenty-or-so minute blast, providing some fast-paced shootouts and the typical Killzone online action that series connoisseurs have hitherto enjoyed, it is the new Operations mode that is the star of the Killzone 3 show. Operations (and Warzone, but to a lesser extent) both boast a real sense of tactic and teamwork that is largely missing from modern first-person shooters, and it is this tactic that is key to taking objectives and winning matches. Whereas Guerrilla Warfare feels like a free-for-all, with every player gunning for themselves and for the top-spot on the leaderboard, Operations and Warzone have a sense of team cohesion that increases the game’s engagement of the player, and requires a level of skill and intellect in order to effectively win over your objectives (be that defending as the Helghast or attacking as the ISA). This sense of combined effort and unity is ultimately what makes these modes more rewarding than Guerrilla Warfare; in Operations, covering frontline infantry as a marksman from far behind the lines, to go on and successfully gain ground or an objective is hugely satisfying, whereas whilst Guerrilla Warfare is a speedy blast of fun there is never the same sense of satisfaction. In this lies the issue with Guerrilla Warfare and the winning factor for Operations and Warzone: Guerrilla Warfare provides no reward and therefore no incentive to continue playing, whereas Operations and Warzone provide rewards in the forms of won objectives, and so will ultimately end up being the more popular game modes.

The key thing with Operations is it provides new aspects that haven’t been seen before in Killzone and are still largely novel across the online gaming world, no matter what your console of choice. The intermittent mid-match mini-cutscenes are a lovely touch that give some sense of a story or situation to an online match, something that barely any other games hasten (or even bother) to add. Guerrilla ought to be praised on the idea to feature the best players from each operation are the characters featured in the cutscenes; it is a reward which not only increases your sense of involvement in the match, but also serves as a nice way to quench the thirst for bragging rights and recognition, and encourages clever, tactical play so one can be featured in these miniature scenes. The mode’s system of completing objectives to push forward, unlocking new areas of the map, will be familiar to players of EA’s recent Medal of Honor reboot, as they use a similar system; it works well as not only does it provide an impression of progression through the level, but it also means the game can end at any of the objectives depending on whether or not you play well, and so you have a real drive to play well to maximise the game length (and therefore your chances of winning the most experience points).

Broadly, however, there isn’t a mode which is unenjoyable, due to the smooth-flowing, much-improved combat and game mechanics. The trademark ‘heavy’ feel of previous Killzones has, for the most part, been dumbed down and lessened, largely through smoother movement animations and the increased speed with which one can aim, reload and take down an opponent in battle. Whilst this makes the action much speedier and smoother, due to the less labourious and unfamiliar style of movement compared to other FPS titles, it does make Killzone 3 feel different to its predecessors. And whilst I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, it will be something that die-hard fans of Guerrilla Games’ series will have to get used to.

In some ways, the changes that have been made enable the game to be more accessible to newcomers. One of the major problems that I found with Killzone 2 was that, whilst it was by no means a badly developed game, the way that it handled and the foreign-feeling control scheme meant that those uninitiated with the original Killzone were much less likely to find the second title an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. With the Killzone 3 beta, however, this seems to have been addressed. Old weapons return in order to ensure those migrating from Killzone 2 don’t find the experience entirely detached from its foregoer, some new weapons have been thrown in to increase variety and the weightiness of the weapons has been highly varied in order to bring the feel of the game more in line with recent and upcoming games in the same genre (Killzone 3’s shooting mechanic, for instance, has a similar aura to Splash Damage’s Brink, and regular readers will know how much I enjoyed that). The controls have been made more approachable for new players, with it being much more obvious how to use various functions than in the previous game. All the small tweaks to the gameplay serve to make Killzone 3 an all-round easier-to-play game than Killzone 2, and whilst veterans might not like that, it is certain to boost sales and chart rankings when the game releases later this month.

Matches themselves are more varied. The new brutal mêlées increase the hardened ruthlessness of the games new, more adult feel, and the XP reward (alongside the savage animations, none of which are overdone) make you as the player want to use mêlée function more, which makes for a more vibrant combat experience. The range of weaponry is much increased, with the new class- and skill-based system making for more choice when deciding on your killing tools; and the roster of side arms is more fully-featured than before. Furthermore, weapon choices have to be made carefully, as the balancing of the weapons has been very well done, meaning certain weapons are more suited to some situations or uses than others, and put together these few new additions make for an overall more tactical experience. My only gripes with the combat were that occasionally, (particularly at the beginning of a match, and most noticeably when playing as the ISA) the enemy tends to respawn far too close to your original basecamp, which prevents the battle from effectively spreading across the map; and that grenade aiming and throwing was largely hit-and-miss, and the system could do with tightening up in order to make it more intuitive and effective.

On some basic points, the single map which is playable on the beta is quite extensive – much larger than the average FPS map you might have played on before – and is well designed, with some lovely little nooks-and-crannies to hide in, some semi-secret passages and action over (at one point) five storeys. The game feels more brutal and is gory (if not as much as Killzone 2, then more so), but sometimes the gore effects can feel unrealistic and superfluous, less a well-considered component of the overall experience and more a mere party popper once the birthday banners are up (if you’ll excuse the metaphor). The game automatically puts you into an open match slot using the evermore-popular matchmaking mechanic and, whilst it is (for the most part) quick and efficient it can also mean you are sometimes allocated to a game that is late on in proceedings, meaning you’re destined to end the match with little XP and an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction. Killzone 3 is graphically nice: the visuals have been improved on since Killzone 2, and whilst the visuals on a large scale are still a little underwhelming, the small detail such as the slight blur effect of the reflex sight’s crosshair when changing your angle of aim is what is most striking. Lastly, ranking up is quick if you play the game for extended periods, particularly if you’re a regular of games where XP is gained for completing objectives, and despite the fact that there are many ranks players may find that they reach the top ranks with little difficulty and with minimal effort.

For a moment, though, forget everything about the tweaked feel and the combat and the graphical prowess that I’ve already imparted because, although they certainly all make Killzone 3 the beautifully-formed package that the Killzone franchise was always going to naturally form into, for once they’re largely unnecessary in summing up what makes this beta so awe-inspiring. Killzone 3 – or at least the beta – is the turning point for the series, because it is drama, not melodrama. When you enter the beta, right from that very first bereft, quavering violin chord to the moment you leave the console, there is such a striking sense of thought to the whole thing. Where Killzone 2 was a good game, this is an excellent experience. It has the depth, the foresight and the development of the detail that Killzone 2 just didn’t have enough of. You can be walking the alpine expanses of the dam base one moment, the silence almost deafening when combined with the omnipresent danger, when suddenly gunfire explodes from nowhere with a roar like a wild animal. It is a refined, perfected, perfectly-glossed product that, if the single player mode and the final online functionality are as good as this beta has been, will be one of the titles best-recognised for its achievements this side of the next console generation.

You can download the Killzone 3 Open Beta now from the PlayStation Store, through 15th February. The Killzone 3 single player demo will be released onto the PlayStation Store on 16th February.

Killzone 3 is released in the United States on 22nd February, and in the United Kingdom on 25th February.

Gamer’s Guide to Life.com | we.know.games

Solitaire Games

Solitaire Games

style=' float: left; padding: 4px; margin: 0 7px 2px 0;' class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-25416" title="dont drink and drive app" src="http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/dontdrinkanddrive-e1298321589676-300x200.jpg" alt="Don't Drink and Drive for iOS" width="300" height="200" />

Don’t Drink and Drive! is a new educational game for the iPhone, intended to discourage drinking and driving. Straightforward and well-intentioned as this sounds, it is not what you’re expecting. Made in collaboration with the Romanian police, Don’t Drink and Drive! is very strange indeed. At worst, it’s buggy and designed in a counterintuitive, possibly counterproductive way. At best, it’s diverting and unintentionally funny.

The game consists of four levels of increasing intoxication, and the goal is to drive around for as long as you can without getting in a wreck. I have to use the term “game” loosely; a game is a test of skill, so that you can progress to the next level only after you have achieved something or completed some challenging task. In title="Don't Drink and Drive! on the iTunes App Store" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/do-not-drink-and-drive/id408932120?mt=8&partnerId=30&siteID=saW0nB/fQ6o" target="_blank">Don’t Drink and Drive! the action only moves forward after the player loses.

Read the rest of href="http://www.appcraver.com/dont-drink-and-drive/">Don’t Drink and Drive! Simulates Driving in a Drunken Stupor

AppCraver.com, 2011. | href="http://www.appcraver.com/">Best iPhone Applications | href="http://www.appcraver.com/picks/">Top iPhone Apps