Gaming Topics

Further Reading: Gaming

Atari Lynx ... The Lynx was also the first gaming console with hardware support for zooming/distortion of sprites, allowing fast pseudo-3D games with unrivaled quality at the time and a capacity for drawing filled polygons with limited CPU intervention...

Game.com ... Many of the Game.com's extra features had only limited functionality compared to later portable devices such as the Nintendo DS. The touch screen had a fairly low sensor resolution along with no backlight, so it lacked precision and made it hard to see the on-screen controls...

Dartball ... Dartball rules and board configurations vary from league to league, but generally teams comprise either seven or nine players plus possible alternates. Dartball teams are usually formed by churches, often playing their games during fall and winter months in church basements or common areas...

Role-playing Game Theory ... In 1994-95 Inter*Active, (later re-named Interactive Fiction) published a magazine devoted to the study of RPGs. In the first issue Robin Laws called for the creation of a critical theory for role-playing games...

Dart Golf ... Dart golf games use golf-like rules and scoring. Dart Golf rules and board configurations vary from league to league, but are generally played single, head-to-head or with teams...

N-Gage ... This was unsuccessful, partly because the buttons, designed for a phone, were not well-suited for gaming and when used as a phone the original N-Gage was described as resembling a "taco"... Instead of using cables, multiplayer gaming was accomplished with Bluetooth or the Internet (via the N-Gage Arena service)...

Game Boy Advance ... Around the same time as the release of the Game Boy Micro, Nintendo released a new backlit version of the SP (model AGS-101) in North America (commonly referred to as the "GBA SP+", SPII, or SP2). The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than the original Game Boy Advance SP's screen), and "bright", an intense brightness level similar to an LCD television set...

PlayStation Portable ... Several gaming websites were impressed by the handheld's computing capabilities and looked forward to the system's potential as a gaming platform...

GP32 ... The console has a four-way mini-joystick controller, two main buttons ('A' and 'B'), two shoulder buttons on each side of the SMC slot ('L' and 'R') and two other menu buttons on each side of the screen ('SELECT' and 'START'), made from a softer, translucent rubber. The console also has a USB 1.1 port for connection with a host computer, a serial expansion port, a 3.3 V power adapter input, a headphone connector and a rear compartment which holds two AA sized batteries...

Special Versions Of The Nintendo DS ... In Australia, the DS Lite was also only available in white (Polar White) at launch. On September 21, 2006, the Jet Black (Onyx) color was released...

Role-playing Game ... There are several forms of RPG. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop RPG, is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing games (LARP) players physically perform their characters' actions...

Redemption Game ... A variation on the ticket-based redemption game is the merchandiser, which directly displays and dispenses merchandise, rather than dispensing tickets which are then redeemed for prizes. Redemption games can be seen as the modern successor to carnival games, as the same general principles apply...

Parimutuel Betting ... The parimutuel system is used in gambling on horse racing, greyhound racing, jai alai, and all sporting events of relatively short duration in which participants finish in a ranked order. A modified parimutuel system is also used in some lottery games...

Gizmondo ... With fewer than 25,000 units sold, the Gizmondo was named by GamePro as the worst selling handheld console in history. By February 2006, the company discontinued the device and was forced into bankruptcy...

History Of Video Games ... In 1949–1950, Charley Adama created a "Bouncing Ball" program for MIT's Whirlwind computer. While the program was not yet interactive, it was a precursor to games soon to come...

Razer Switchblade ... They started a project, codenamed the "Switchblade", which is a portable gaming device that "would revolutionize the future of gaming"... When asked about the development of the Switchblade, Razer's CEO, Min-Liang Tan, believed that the development of the Switchblade started from a small gaming peripheral company, into a well-known corporation that would develop the first full portable PC gaming console... He said "Razer isn’t just about bringing innovation to the PC, but creating products that will change the future of gaming...

Sports Betting ... Bookmakers usually hold a 11-10 advantage over their customers—for small wagers it is closer to a 6-5 advantage—so the bookmaker will most likely survive over the long term. Successful bookmakers must be able to withstand a large short term loss...

American Darts ... Embedded in the board are thin steel wires that separate the board into scoring sections, as opposed to the wider steel dividers placed onto the surface of traditional boards. On those English boards, the wider steel makes it much more likely that the dart will hit the steel divider and bounce off onto the floor...

Live Action Role-playing Game ... In 1981 the International Fantasy Gaming Society (IFGS) started, with rules influenced by Dungeons & Dragons...

Nintendo DS ... On March 2, 2006, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Lite, a redesign of the Nintendo DS, in Japan. It was released in North America, Europe, and Australia in June 2006...

History Of Video Game Consoles (sixth Generation) ... Dreamcast Sega's Dreamcast was the first console of the generation and introduced several innovations including Internet gaming as an optional feature through its add-on modem, and a web browser...

History Of Games ... The extinct Chinese board game liubo was immensely popular during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE). Early Chinese records indicate that liubo was already a popular game by the Warring States Period (476 BCE – 221 BCE)...

Tapwave Zodiac ... The product was designed to be a "high performance mobile entertainment system” centred on games, music, images, and video, aimed at 18 to 34 year old gamers and technology enthusiasts. By running an enhanced version of the Palm Operating System (5.2T), Zodiac also provided access to Palm’s personal information management software and many other applications from the Palm developer community...

Problem Gambling ... According to a logical study conducted by Alec Roy, M. D. formerly at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, norepinephrine is secreted under stress, arousal, or thrill, so pathological gamblers gamble to make up for their under-dosage...

Gamemaster ... History and variants of the term The term gamemaster and the role associated with it could be found in the postal gaming hobby...

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