Tag: games

Top 10 Pc Games You Need To Play

In recent years, computer games are very popular among Indian gamers. The evidence is the growth of the gaming community, 

the game industry is rising faster in India with a greater number of new games, players, and esports events. Let’s check out the top 10 most popular PC games in India and see which is the hottest game in the country now. 

1. Apex Legends:

This is one of the most popular Battle Royale Games now. Although it’s also a multiplayer game, it’s pretty different from PUBG or Fortnite. The programmers of Apex Legend produced a brand new non-verbal communication system. It lets you play with strangers who do not use a mic for voice chat. If you want to conquer exciting missions in Apex Legend, players can download the game for free from the Origin store.

2. PUBG:

PUBG now is called a cultural phenomenon in India with a huge number of players. Many small or big PUBG esports event in India this year has attracted great attention of the international gaming community. In PUBG, a hundred players join in a battle for survival on an abandoned island. After landing, players start to loot weapons, ammo, armor, and supplies to fight and try to survive until the end. It’s more realistic when playing FPS mode. If you would like to join a fierce match with some realistic and thrilling action, you can try PUBG.

3. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare now is the most favorite PC game with excellent graphics, exciting gameplay, and storyline. This is an exciting multiplayer shooting game with many thrilling in-game actions. The exo-suit is a great attraction in this season. In 2019, CoD achieved great success in India with a great number of players.

4. Fortnite:

The next title in this list is Fortnite released by Epic Game. It was said to be an replication of PUBG. Thus, the developer of Fortnite made a huge change in the recent comeback. They added more things to this update, making it different from PUBG. For example, players can build their buildings for defense in Fortnite. However, Fortnite fails to offers players a life-like game that PUBG does.

5. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey:

This is the fifth title in the list of popular PC games in India and an excellent RPG game at this time. With Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you will have a totally different experience. However, the developers retain some certain elements of Assassin’s Creed game in this version. After all, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is still greatly welcomed by the Indian gaming community.

6. Frostpunk:

Frostpunk is an interesting city-building game. It starts in a post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland. Players need to lead and try to provide a group of refugees with bare necessities for survival, such as heat, food, water, and shelter. With unique gameplay and interesting storyline, Frostpunk is one of the most favorite games in India this year.

7. Nier Automata:

Nier Automata is an excellent action RPG game. With amazing and flexible gameplay, emotional storyline, exciting combats, interesting characters, and various lands to explore, it deserves one of the greatest games of the year. However, the awful PC port makes Nier Automata less attractive with players. After all, it’s still a favorite game of Indian players.

8. Divinity: Original Sin II:

Another favorite game of Indian gamers is Divinity: Original Sin II. You can play this game in single-player /multiplayer, competitive /corporative modes. Since its release, this RPG has been welcomed by gamers all over the world and in India, too. In this game, you can create your own character and choose the status, gender, race, and profile for your character. Moreover, you can join in fantastic combat and draw a brilliant plan to win.

9. Dirt Rally 2.0:

This is a fantastic racing game on PC. With better graphics and sound, this version of the rally, also known as Dirty Rally 2.0, bring players better gaming experiences. Though, the developers remain their tricky car driving skills in this version, requiring players to practice to win the race.

10. Metro Exodus:

The last game title in this list is Metro Exodus. It’s the third PC game in the post-apocalyptic FPS series based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels. In Metro Exodus, you’ll join in an exciting journey to the ruins of the dead city Moscow. It provides players with a thrilling but fantastic feeling. That’s why Metro Exodus is one of the most popular PC games in India.

Steam : PLATFORM THAT CHANGED PC GAMING FOREVER

Steam is a digital marketplace and is owned by Valve Corporation. Valve Corporation was formed by ex-Microsoft employees and after launching critically acclaimed games like Half-Life and Counter-Strike, they set out their eyes on retailing software through the internet.  

History of Steam

Steam was launched as a standalone software client in September 2003 as a channel to provide automatic updates for their games.  It pioneered the digital distribution of the software. Before video games used to be physically owned and any kind of updates and patches were very cumbersome to implement.  As owning music CDs became obsolete similarly owning games in physical media became a rare thing. As internet speeds increased, this meant that downloading games over the internet became easier, and having a single library where the users can access all their purchases has now become the norm.

Later it expanded to provide software by third-party developers to become a full-fledged distribution platform. The developer of Steam is Valve Corporation.  As of today, it is one of the most profitable privately owned corporations in the world.

Steam’s business model is very similar to the model that Apple uses in its app store. It operates a commission-based business model. Steam takes a percentage cut from all the sales made on its platform (30%)

How Steam grew from its initial years?

During In its initial years, Steam provided a freemium model.  It offered its games for a free-to-play model. It helped Steam to reach a wider audience and increase its growth.

Steam has benefited a lot with its network effect. As more and more game publishers and smaller indie game developers joined the platform. Steam increased its titles library. New developers got a medium to publish their games without the hassles and cost of hosting and maintaining the games. With the help of free games and new value units being added all the time, new users joined the platform at an ever-increasing rate as well.  Now consumers could access their whole game library in a single place. Thus benefiting both these sides of the core interaction.

Currently Steam has 100 million monthly active users and over 30,000+ games listed on its platform.

In the initial years Steam solved its chicken and egg problem by providing free games and free demos of games. The strategy of seeding by providing free updates and discounts that were not available in physical media helped Steam to become a viable option. The Same strategy is also followed by the Fortnite developer and Steam rival Epic Games Store which was launched in 2018. It gives away a free game every week. This has helped Epic to get a significant foothold in the market dominated by Steam. Even though Epic games store lacks in the number of feature layers that Steam provides. Valve had realized that its user base is a very valuable asset. To increase the engagement in the platform it added community forums. Where fellow users could discuss and help each other with any topic. Steam also introduced many new features including statistics tracking system and friend list. Now Steam was shaping up like a social media platform over its core interaction as a mere platform.

In 2008 Steam introduced a filtering system. That helps users to better find their desired product. Now the catalog could be browsed according to the genre. In 2012 Steam introduced Steam Guard.  This included two-factor authentications to curb frauds and also launched its mobile app. In 2012 Steam introduced Steam Guard.  This included two-factor authentications to curb frauds and also launched its mobile app. In 2016 Valve introduced the support for VR headsets. It collaborated with HTC to introduce the Vive headset.  Later extending support for Oculus Rift.

Present and Future

Recently Steam launched a new VR title, Half-life: Alyx with the introduction of its new VR headsets. It’s one of the best virtual reality applications to date and the game received critical acclaim from reviewers and users alike. Valve is again trying a paradigm shift for pushing Virtual Reality to the mainstream and so far they have been successful in it.

Steam was one of the first digital marketplaces and they are continually working on improving their platforms. Even with new competitors, Steam has been a relevant force for over 15 years. New technological ventures and platforms can learn a lot from Valve with its drive to be innovative and ambitious in its approach.

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gaming- TYPES, GNERES AND CAREER

Gaming, a word which is shifting its meaning specifically towards electronic games. The technology is becoming more accessible. Internet prices are becoming low. And this field is becoming more and more familiar.

THERE ARE TYPES OF GAMES

  1. Arcade game: These type of games are typically seen in malls, refreshment parks and restaurants. These are usually coin operated. Pinball machines, videogames and electromechanical games are some of the games you might have seen. They have short levels in games with simple controls. players will rent the games to play. popularity of these games decreased with introduction of PC games.
  2. Console game: This type of game will provide interactive multimedia experience through a display device. A handheld control device is used to play games. Computer runs the game`s software. These games may come in a disk or can be downloaded directly from the internet. These are also played in specialized computers.
  3. Cloud game: This game resides on the company server instead of the users device. The gamer only have to install the client program. The client program will access the server to play games. These games will not require large storage and and processing power to play. The provider can also easily update the game.

POPULAR GENRES IN GAMES

  • Action games: Action games challenge the player`s physical capabilities like reflexes, hand and eye coordination, reaction time etc. These will have a great visuals to treat the player as well as give a punch of adrenaline rush while playing. They deliver a unique experience to the player. Innovations in these genre are frequent and dominating the other genres.
  • Sports games: This genre is present since the beginning of the gaming culture. Traditional physical sports are simulated here. The opposite team is controlled by Bots or by artificial intelligence. Some games will have actual sport tactics and rules. FIFA series is the best example to give here which has a record as fastest selling game.
  • Adventure games: These games involve storytelling themes with action and great visuals. These visuals take gamers on an adventure. Action-adventure games are also developed. The games will have adventure tasks like item collecting, puzzle-solving and explorations. The legend of Zelda is a good example for this genre.
  • Role playing games: These games showcase visually rich 3D experience. The gamer plays or controls a fictional character which goes on a quest. There will be a fantasy world for the character. The tasks assigned to the character are done by the gamer.
  • Simulation games: These games will create a simulation about the tasks of the real world or something near to that. These games try to copy various activities from the real life. These can be used for training analysis or prediction. These games will have more freedom of action within the game. sim city is an simulation game.
  • Battle royale games: This genre puts the player in exploration, scavenging and survival of the players character. This involves dozens of hundreds of players. Players start with minimal equipment and go on exploring and eliminating others. Winner is the last player to be alive. PUBG the game which took the gaming world with a storm is of this genre.
CAREER AS PROFESSIONAL GAMER

Gaming was once restricted to recreational purposes. But now this taking a form of a stable career. As it is a budding industry and not everyone is familiar with this field. But the professional side is picking up quickly. A professional gamer in India can earn between 5000 rupees to 45,000 rupees per month once they tie up with the e-sports company. Obviously the paycheck will depend on the performance and skills.

To become a gamer professionally one should find motivation and interest in playing e-sports. There are plenty of games out there but which game you are choosing to master on will also matter. Anyone who can play a game will not become a professional gamer. To be a professional gamer you have to practice the game you have to make a career in day and night. play and replay the levels so that you will master the levels. Participate in competitions happening around and get noticed by the e-sport companies. Make your own team and become a pro player.

Playing games is a fun task and a successful career from will be more fun. There are many gaming streamers in YouTube platform and game play has become one of the major content. Future will have more professional gamers and a big E-sports community will be built. There is no doubt that younger generations are obsessed with these games and we will definitely see E-sports as a mainstream sport throughout the world.

Video games and Education : How to bridge the two

Videos games have become a significant part of our culture for over half the century. They have also lead to many leading artistic and technical endeavors including many innovations in all these years. People have started to recognize the importance of these games as culturally important and the need to curate and store them properly. 

Education is one of the areas that have gone through a transformational change in 2020 and forward. The learning space has transitioned from a physical space to a space that has gone digital. The convergence of various technologies and modalities has given birth to a new space in the education system.

When it comes to Computer games, many used to scoff at them as a mere product for brief entertainment, but the increased proliferation of digital in every individual’s life means that Video games have a more significant role to play than ever before. The increased visual fidelity with better computing power has signified more immersion in the digital world. Online education has been given a push from governments around the globe. The majority of the higher institutions are teaching remotely with the help of different online tools. One of the major challenges that many educators face is the problem of engagement on par with the physical class.

Instead of just looking at online education as an alternative for the physical classes, we have to look at online education as a means of learning that can enhance the experience and engagement of the students than the physical classes as well. The technologies in 2021 clearly indicate that various tools and measures can be added into the experience of not just online learning and but also in the space of cultural heritage and digital tourism. Video games are an important tool that educators can leverage to fulfill these requirements.

Engagement and immersion can be the key factors that can drive the education system forward. There are many instances where students skip a certain subject even before attempting to learn it. This can be due to a poor and unfavorable experience with a certain instructor or wrong assumptions about the difficulty of that subject. Engaging interfaces in the form of creative games, virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality can help alleviate these types of issues.

Human-Computer-Interaction is an important field where the aspect of design and technology converge. This area not just deals with technological issues but also with the psychological and socio-cultural problems while designing/building a product or an interface. The interface is an important area that is often overlooked on many platforms. Many Educational platforms don’t offer the freedom that can help students, but they rather use the stingy design philosophy and force the users to a particular behavior while using it. Therefore the interface of games becomes equally important. Games can be used to create a more participatory environment for both the teachers and students alike while increasing the experimentation and systematic thinking in the class.

Video games are usually played to win or accomplish a level. Players are motivated by winning these challenges and this is the key to stay engaged. Games motivate through fun, which is part of the natural learning process in human development with instant and visual feedback.

We can conclude that the implementation of video games in the realm of education can make online learning more engaging and intuitive for learners. This is still a novel field of research and we have a long way to go but we cannot dismiss the numerous possibilities that games can provide us in this area.  

WORLD CHESS DAY: Move in silence, only speak when its time to checkmate

Move in Silence only speak when it's time to say checkmate

Every year on July 20, International Chess Day is celebrated to honour the founding of the Federation Internationale des Echecs, also known as FIDES, in the year 1924. Since ancient times Chess has been a popular game and has been played around the world. ‘With the time Chess game and its rules are evolving. As per reports, Chess became a game of class and only upper class were able to afford this game in a long way. However, the merchandise class later went on to introduce this game to the rest of the people while travelling around the world.

World Chess Day history:

In the fifth century, chess was invented in India. It was called “Chaturanga” at the time. Chess is one of the most ancient games of the period. This game was then spread to Persia. When the Arabs invaded Persia, Chess became an important part of the Muslim population’s life and from there it spread to Southern Europe. Chess evolved in its current form in Europe during the 15th century. And by the late 15th century, it took the shape of a modern game. And beginning on July 20, 1966, the International Chess Day began to celebrate FIDE’s establishment.

CELEBRATION:

World Chess Day, celebrated around the world, is now also recognised by the United Nations. According to reports, UNESCO proposed the idea to celebrate this day as the International Chess Day, and it has been marked as such since 1966 after it was established by FIDE. However, plenty of professional chess players around the world already celebrate the day. A survey published on FIDE reveals that a surprisingly stable 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point during their lives. In countries as diverse as the US, UK, Germany, Russia and India, this number holds approximately the same amount.

CHESS RULES:

The ultimate aim in the chess game is to deliver a checkmate – trapping your opponent´s king. The term checkmate is an alteration of the Persian phrase “Shah Mat”, meaning literally, “the King is ambushed”, and not “the King is dead”, that is a common misconception.

The chessboard is made up of eight rows and eight columns for a total of 64 squares of alternating colors. Each square of the chessboard is identified with a unique pair of a letter and a number. The vertical files are labeled a through h, from White´s left (i.e. the queen side) to White´s right. Similarly, the horizontal ranks are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from the one nearest White´s side of the board. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number. In the initial position setup, the light queen is positioned on a light square and the dark queen is situated on a dark square. The diagram below shows how the pieces should be initially situated.

chess rules clip
Chess moves:
  • King can move exactly one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. At most once in every game, each king is allowed to make a special move, known as castling.
  • Queen can move any number of vacant squares diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
  • Rook can move any number of vacant squares vertically or horizontally. It also is moved while castling.
  • Bishop can move any number of vacant squares in any diagonal direction.
  • Knight can move one square along any rank or file and then at an angle. The knight´s movement can also be viewed as an “L” or “7″ laid out at any horizontal or vertical angle.
  • Pawns can move forward one square, if that square is unoccupied. If it has not yet moved, the pawn has the option of moving two squares forward provided both squares in front of the pawn are unoccupied. A pawn cannot move backward. Pawns are the only pieces that capture differently from how they move. They can capture an enemy piece on either of the two spaces adjacent to the space in front of them (i.e., the two squares diagonally in front of them) but cannot move to these spaces if they are vacant. The pawn is also involved in the two special moves en passant and promotion.
Castling:

Castling is the only time in the chess game when more than one piece moves during a turn. This chess move has been invented in the 1500´s to help speeding up the game and improving balance of the offense and defense. During the castling, the king moves two squares towards the rook he intends to castle with, and the rook moves to the square through which the king passed.

Castling is only permissible if all of the following conditions hold:

  • Neither king nor rook involved in castling may have moved from the original position
  • There must be no pieces between the king and the rook

The king may not currently be in check, nor may the king pass through or end up in a square that is under attack by an enemy piece (though the rook is permitted to be under attack and to pass over an attacked square)

En Passant:

En Passant may only occur when a pawn is moved two squares on its initial movement. When this happens, the opposing player has the option to take the moved pawn “en passant” as if it had only moved one square. This option, though, only stays open for one move. The En Passant move was developed after pawns were allowed to move more than one square on their initial move. The idea behind this rule was to retain restrictions imposed by slow movement, while at the same time speeding up the game.

Pawn promotion:

If a pawn reaches the opponent´s edge of the table, it will be promoted – the pawn may be converted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight, as the player desires. The choice is not limited to previously captured pieces. Thus its´ theoretically possible having up to nine queens or up to ten rooks, bishops, or knights if all pawns are promoted.

First of all, One of the oldest games that is still in existence and is very popular so it tells how humans used to think back then and what’s the difference now.Earlier it was used to make war strategies . Now it enhances your problem solving capabilities. Nowadays whatever we do, whatever place we work in, the most important thing required to grow is the problem solving skills.

Chess improves the logical part of the brain. Every time you learn a new move, a new neuron is developed in your brain, which increases the size and capability of your brain’s neural network thus making your brain fast. So, in simple terms a person playing chess from his childhood will be grown up into a smarted person who will be good with logic, remembering stuffs and numbers.