The Emergence of Affordable Gaming Laptops
Written by Going Pro Gaming Posted on Feb 9, 2010, 12:05 am
Ritchie Smythe asked:
It would be safe to assume that 5000-dollar gaming laptop computers have become a thing of the past. Unlike before, laptops continue to become more affordable and have definitely entered the mainstream market. The demand for extremely graphic-intensive laptops has dwindled especially because of the fact that one could actually play most of today’s 3D games on a mainstream 1,500-dollar laptop. However, there is still a sizable population of ******** gamers who refuse to settle for the mediocre-performing laptops and still insist in having the best gaming machines available. These are usually the professional gamers and unfortunately, this profession only earns so much. There’s no need to fret as reasonably-priced, high-end gaming laptops are becoming more and more abundant.
The Usual Suspects
When it comes to bringing up the total cost of gaming laptops, two usual suspects are typically to blame – the graphics card and the processor. In order to meet the high performance requirements of most 3D games in the market today, particularly powerful processors and graphics cards are definitely prerequisites. Sure, one will be able to play these games with normal processors or graphics cards, but to truly enjoy the full range of colors, to see every little detail, and to be able to play at breakneck speeds without any technical hanging, some minimum criteria have to be met.
The good news here is that processors have recently been able to meet the high standards set by graphics cards which means that quad core or Intel Extreme processors are not exactly the minimum requirements. Similar to how it has always been, the secret still lies on the graphics card.
Graphics Cards Mania
Let’s use the Radeon HD 3879 video card from ATI as an example. This particular graphics card is capable of five-digit scoring in the 3DMark 06 tests. ATI, the developers of the Radeon HD 3879, have come up with what they call the CrossFire configuration which teams up this super powerful graphics card with energy-efficient processors. The result is an excellent combination of extreme functioning and power-saving performance. Present in computer systems such as the Alienware M17 or the Xtreme Gamer M1 from Cyberware, this cutting edge graphics card is not as expensive as one would expect; both personal computers mentioned fall a little over $2,000.
Contrary to popular belief, the inclusion of such a powerful graphics card does not affect other gaming attributes of these high-end machines. Both systems mentioned above possess high-resolution screens (1920 x 1200 pixels), backlit keyboards, as well as a myriad of connectivity ports. In fact, the M1 also comes with a built-in Blu-ray player for top of the line HD entertainment.
Mid-Range Models
Mostly because of their decision to do without the 17-inch widescreens, mid-range computer systems such as the ASUS N50Vn-B1B or the MSI GT627-218US are even cheaper alternatives for those craving for mind-blowing frame rates at affordable prices. Although both use super powerful graphics card, they are also reasonably priced, neither going over the 1,300-dollar mark.
professional gaming
It would be safe to assume that 5000-dollar gaming laptop computers have become a thing of the past. Unlike before, laptops continue to become more affordable and have definitely entered the mainstream market. The demand for extremely graphic-intensive laptops has dwindled especially because of the fact that one could actually play most of today’s 3D games on a mainstream 1,500-dollar laptop. However, there is still a sizable population of ******** gamers who refuse to settle for the mediocre-performing laptops and still insist in having the best gaming machines available. These are usually the professional gamers and unfortunately, this profession only earns so much. There’s no need to fret as reasonably-priced, high-end gaming laptops are becoming more and more abundant.
The Usual Suspects
When it comes to bringing up the total cost of gaming laptops, two usual suspects are typically to blame – the graphics card and the processor. In order to meet the high performance requirements of most 3D games in the market today, particularly powerful processors and graphics cards are definitely prerequisites. Sure, one will be able to play these games with normal processors or graphics cards, but to truly enjoy the full range of colors, to see every little detail, and to be able to play at breakneck speeds without any technical hanging, some minimum criteria have to be met.
The good news here is that processors have recently been able to meet the high standards set by graphics cards which means that quad core or Intel Extreme processors are not exactly the minimum requirements. Similar to how it has always been, the secret still lies on the graphics card.
Graphics Cards Mania
Let’s use the Radeon HD 3879 video card from ATI as an example. This particular graphics card is capable of five-digit scoring in the 3DMark 06 tests. ATI, the developers of the Radeon HD 3879, have come up with what they call the CrossFire configuration which teams up this super powerful graphics card with energy-efficient processors. The result is an excellent combination of extreme functioning and power-saving performance. Present in computer systems such as the Alienware M17 or the Xtreme Gamer M1 from Cyberware, this cutting edge graphics card is not as expensive as one would expect; both personal computers mentioned fall a little over $2,000.
Contrary to popular belief, the inclusion of such a powerful graphics card does not affect other gaming attributes of these high-end machines. Both systems mentioned above possess high-resolution screens (1920 x 1200 pixels), backlit keyboards, as well as a myriad of connectivity ports. In fact, the M1 also comes with a built-in Blu-ray player for top of the line HD entertainment.
Mid-Range Models
Mostly because of their decision to do without the 17-inch widescreens, mid-range computer systems such as the ASUS N50Vn-B1B or the MSI GT627-218US are even cheaper alternatives for those craving for mind-blowing frame rates at affordable prices. Although both use super powerful graphics card, they are also reasonably priced, neither going over the 1,300-dollar mark.
professional gaming
Article Category: General
Tags: breakneck speeds, card, dollar, gaming, laptop, laptop computers, mainstream market, powerful graphics, professional gamers, Ritchie Smythe, sizable population
Gaming Economics
Written by Going Pro Gaming Posted on Jan 25, 2010, 5:11 am
Adi Moga asked:
Most people consider gaming to be something that’s eating your time, money, and – if you exceed a certain level – even your health. There were even some extreme gaming cases leading to death, most of them happening in Asia. The interesting part is that we have a lot to talk about regarding gaming economics, and there are two sides of this story – the one regarding gaming companies, and the one about “gaming for money,” even though this is something that usually leads to your account to some MMORPG being terminated, if discovered. Today, I will try to reach both these subjects, although I don’t have accurate statistics available. After all, there’s the past to look at, and there’s the global economic situation, so we’ll try to look into the future…
There are people earning a lot of money from gaming, and you don’t believe this until you meet one. I am not talking about professional gamers who usually have sponsors behind them, enter tournaments, and so on – those are only a few, but since there are probably at least a few thousands trading in-game items for real cash, even when this is officially forbidden, they are the ones to talk about.
To become one of them, you need to be very good at some MMORPG, of course. As far as I know, Lineage and World of Warcraft are the best choices for making money. Unfortunately, becoming very good with them takes some time, and – as I was saying before – this item trading thing is all about the gaming’s black market, and once you get caught, you can say bye bye to your account. Considering these, best choice for you would be to talk with someone who did it already, because Google won’t be able to provide the best answers to your questions, probably.
Next, and last for today, we have the “real game economics,” involving gaming companies, and hardware manufacturers. While the global economic cooldown lately started to look like a crisis in many countries, the gaming industry has its own problems, and most of them are related to the lack of originality and games under development that are being discontinued because there’s a very strong competitor already on the market. If you read about the Midway shooting, you can get a better view of the situation, at least as it looks for some developers.
On the other hand, gaming companies have to handle the excellent opportunity that is the chance to enter emerging markets, and also the opportunity given by the age of this industry. Collectors editions and reissues of older games are also very interesting items for a lot of people, especially for those that grew up playing pirated games, and got to a point in their life where they consider that it’s better to do it later than never, and would like to buy those games that took over their lives a decade ago. Obviously, this is leading us to the same markets that I mentioned above – emerging countries, but it’s a fact worth being mentioned.
I guess this is all, but to get a better view of the entire gaming economics system, you need more than just to watch. You have to be there, play the games, talk with those working in the field, get to know better how the black market for in-game items works, in a word: explore! What I have done here was only to point you in the right direction and tell you what to look for, but the rest is up to you!
More Ways To Make Money From Home
Most people consider gaming to be something that’s eating your time, money, and – if you exceed a certain level – even your health. There were even some extreme gaming cases leading to death, most of them happening in Asia. The interesting part is that we have a lot to talk about regarding gaming economics, and there are two sides of this story – the one regarding gaming companies, and the one about “gaming for money,” even though this is something that usually leads to your account to some MMORPG being terminated, if discovered. Today, I will try to reach both these subjects, although I don’t have accurate statistics available. After all, there’s the past to look at, and there’s the global economic situation, so we’ll try to look into the future…
There are people earning a lot of money from gaming, and you don’t believe this until you meet one. I am not talking about professional gamers who usually have sponsors behind them, enter tournaments, and so on – those are only a few, but since there are probably at least a few thousands trading in-game items for real cash, even when this is officially forbidden, they are the ones to talk about.
To become one of them, you need to be very good at some MMORPG, of course. As far as I know, Lineage and World of Warcraft are the best choices for making money. Unfortunately, becoming very good with them takes some time, and – as I was saying before – this item trading thing is all about the gaming’s black market, and once you get caught, you can say bye bye to your account. Considering these, best choice for you would be to talk with someone who did it already, because Google won’t be able to provide the best answers to your questions, probably.
Next, and last for today, we have the “real game economics,” involving gaming companies, and hardware manufacturers. While the global economic cooldown lately started to look like a crisis in many countries, the gaming industry has its own problems, and most of them are related to the lack of originality and games under development that are being discontinued because there’s a very strong competitor already on the market. If you read about the Midway shooting, you can get a better view of the situation, at least as it looks for some developers.
On the other hand, gaming companies have to handle the excellent opportunity that is the chance to enter emerging markets, and also the opportunity given by the age of this industry. Collectors editions and reissues of older games are also very interesting items for a lot of people, especially for those that grew up playing pirated games, and got to a point in their life where they consider that it’s better to do it later than never, and would like to buy those games that took over their lives a decade ago. Obviously, this is leading us to the same markets that I mentioned above – emerging countries, but it’s a fact worth being mentioned.
I guess this is all, but to get a better view of the entire gaming economics system, you need more than just to watch. You have to be there, play the games, talk with those working in the field, get to know better how the black market for in-game items works, in a word: explore! What I have done here was only to point you in the right direction and tell you what to look for, but the rest is up to you!
More Ways To Make Money From Home
Article Category: General
Tags: accurate statistics, Asia, extreme gaming, gaming, gaming companies, global economic situation, google, lot, market, money, professional gamers
Xbox LIVE – Security
Written by Going Pro Gaming Posted on Jan 15, 2010, 2:42 pm
Patricia Hartley asked:
Online gaming is on a high swing these days. Since the craze for gaming has shown an abrupt rise, people keep on buying the elite features of the gaming services and the games. For this purpose, you have to enter your credit card or account details as per the mode of payment. Hence it is a wise concern whether the details of your account will remain confidential. Are the security measures strong enough to avoid any sort of breach? Well this is a serious concern because your real life account is put to stake.
Not only this, most of the professional gamers are more concerned about their game profile which if hacked, can result in the loss of all the achievements thus far and would leave the passionate gamer in all sorts of despair. The article focuses on the security measures and concern for Xbox LIVE (XBL) service which is one of the big guns among the leading online gaming services.
Well Microsoft has implemented numerous tough security procedures on the XBL service to ensure a high level of reliability to the customers. Two years back, it banned the “suspected” consoles from using the service. Such consoles with unknown origin or modified firmware could not use the service anymore. This was done in order to protect the partners as well as users. The initiative also prevented the access of the service from modified machines which were earlier reported to skip the security barriers successfully.
Despite a lot of intensive efforts of Microsoft towards improving the security measures, recently there have been a lot of rumors arising regarding the security breach of Xbox LIVE. These rumors are yet to be confirmed officially by the Microsoft although many users claim in their blogs that Microsoft has admitted the breach. Many users complain about their Windows LIVE email ids and gamertags being hacked. However the truth behind the curtain is not yet unveiled whether such breaches have occurred due to the blunder of the users or there is some serious flaw in the security of Xbox LIVE.
The bottom-line is despite many efforts of Microsoft, cases of security breaches are being observed. However most of the techies are of opinion that more than half of such cases arise because of the users’ negligence. So it is really wise to be cautious before entering into this virtual ultimate gaming experience to save yourself from dents it may cause in your real life. After all this is all what an end user can do and let the company to do its own job. So Happy Gaming!
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Online gaming is on a high swing these days. Since the craze for gaming has shown an abrupt rise, people keep on buying the elite features of the gaming services and the games. For this purpose, you have to enter your credit card or account details as per the mode of payment. Hence it is a wise concern whether the details of your account will remain confidential. Are the security measures strong enough to avoid any sort of breach? Well this is a serious concern because your real life account is put to stake.
Not only this, most of the professional gamers are more concerned about their game profile which if hacked, can result in the loss of all the achievements thus far and would leave the passionate gamer in all sorts of despair. The article focuses on the security measures and concern for Xbox LIVE (XBL) service which is one of the big guns among the leading online gaming services.
Well Microsoft has implemented numerous tough security procedures on the XBL service to ensure a high level of reliability to the customers. Two years back, it banned the “suspected” consoles from using the service. Such consoles with unknown origin or modified firmware could not use the service anymore. This was done in order to protect the partners as well as users. The initiative also prevented the access of the service from modified machines which were earlier reported to skip the security barriers successfully.
Despite a lot of intensive efforts of Microsoft towards improving the security measures, recently there have been a lot of rumors arising regarding the security breach of Xbox LIVE. These rumors are yet to be confirmed officially by the Microsoft although many users claim in their blogs that Microsoft has admitted the breach. Many users complain about their Windows LIVE email ids and gamertags being hacked. However the truth behind the curtain is not yet unveiled whether such breaches have occurred due to the blunder of the users or there is some serious flaw in the security of Xbox LIVE.
The bottom-line is despite many efforts of Microsoft, cases of security breaches are being observed. However most of the techies are of opinion that more than half of such cases arise because of the users’ negligence. So it is really wise to be cautious before entering into this virtual ultimate gaming experience to save yourself from dents it may cause in your real life. After all this is all what an end user can do and let the company to do its own job. So Happy Gaming!
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Article Category: General
Tags: big guns, gaming, gaming services, intensive efforts, Microsoft, Patricia Hartley, professional gamers, security, security barriers, security breach, service
Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition
Written by Going Pro Gaming Posted on Jan 12, 2010, 2:54 pm
cultofrazer asked:
Redefine your gaming experience to an unprecedented level. The Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition is basically everything the award-wining Razer Lycosa is- and more. The Razer Lycosa, the preferred gaming keyboard of professional gamers worldwide, now comes with an awesome new look. Featuring a revolutionary high gloss mirror finish keytop, fully-programmable Hyperesponse™ keys with extensive macro capabilities, backlit illumination with a unique WASD gaming cluster lighting option, the …
Make Money from your Tweets!
Article Category: Videos
Tags: cultofrazer, gaming, Lycosa, macro capabilities, mirror finish, professional gamers, Razer, tweets, wasd
