Thursday, July 29, 2010

Google in talks with online gaming companies to develop Facebook rival


Internet giant Google Inc is in talks with several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social networking service that could compete with Facebook, says a media report.
Attributing to people familiar with the matter, the ‘Wall Street Journal’ reported that Google has been in discussions with top developers like Playdom Inc, Electronic Arts Inc’s Playfish and Zynga Game Network Inc, a company in which Google recently took a financial stake, to offer their games on a new service it is building.
However, it is unclear when Google may launch the new gaming offering and the plans are not finalised, the report noted.

Indian animation sector set to grow at 21.8%, says report

India is the sweatshop for the global animation and gaming industry, expected to grow at an estimated 21.8%, but hurdles like dearth of quality talent and studios are issues affecting the nascent industry.

According to PricewaterhouseCooper's Indian Entertainment & Media Outlook for 2010, the industry is estimated to grow at Rs 23.8 billion with an increased usage of social gaming and online gaming.

According to the report, India continues to leverage its low cost advantage combined with the entreprenuerial drive of its companies to position itself on the global front but issues that are acting as hurdles include dearth of quality talent in animation and VFX, piracy affecting gaming industry, expensive hardware delaying the penetration of console gaming and lack of quality studios for high-end animation.

An out-of-this-world experience in gaming

The days of gamers going to small, crowded gaming cafes in bylanes near their houses are over. Alienware, a company famous for its premium gaming PCs and laptops, has started a top-notch gaming cafe in the city that promises to be the new hot-spot in town.

The gaming cafe, named the ‘Alienware Spaceship’, will have around 16 systems and will also have a store within. The company expects to boost interest in gaming with this new initiative.

“We’ll be offering mostly new games, not any of the older games that other cafes offer. We won’t be having Counter Strike 1.6, which is found in every gaming cafe, but the newer version of it, Counter Strike: Source. Also we are expecting a lot of gamers to come here to play games that require high-end systems such as Call of Duty. Also, three of the systems will let gamers play in 3D,” Suhas J, Brand Manager of Alienware, says.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Are PC gamers better than console players?

Rahul Sood, who started Voodoo PC and is now an exec at HP, is never one to shy away from bold statements. In his latest missive, he claims that Microsoft has killed a project that would have pitted PC gamers against Xbox fraggers in online play.

Why? According to Sood, Microsoft expected the Xbox players to cream PC gamers, but the opposite occurred: the top-notch Xbox players the company used would repeatedly lose to what Sood describes as “mediocre” PC gamers.

It’s unclear why Microsoft would have pulled the plug on such an experiment, but Sood — a long-time advocate for PC gaming — speculates that if the company had implemented the PC-Xbox gaming bridge with its Live online environment, the Microsoft’s Xbox team was would have been embarrassed.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

1 in 10 internet users in South Korea addicted to online gaming

About 2 million South Koreans – nearly one in 10 internet users in the country – are addicted to online gaming, according to the government. While the number of teenage addicts has fallen from more than 1 million to 938,000 in the past two years, those in their 20s and 30s have risen to 975,000, with the unemployed and university students considered at greatest risk.

South Korea's status as the world’s fastest and most developed broadband nation gives the online gaming addicts the technical wherewithal to fuel their addiction. Many spend every waking moment immersed in role-playing games, in which players form alliances to guide their characters through mythical worlds, collecting extra powers and other items as they go.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Four Reasons Why Gaming is Good for Couples

It gives the two of you an excuse to spend time together

So many girls complain about their boyfriends being hopelessly addicted to video games. What’s so understand about it: video games are FUN!

Besides, these are the modern days. Video games are created for every demographic one could possibly imagine! Developers have thought of everything and everyone. After all, games like Bejeweled aren’t created with unbelievably intricate controls and levels, simply because the developers knew that this would be what the type of game that target audience wanted.

It is this simple concept of fun that makes gaming a great way to spend a couple of afternoons or evenings with your partner.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Teen Do panch card Game, 3-2-5 card game

Teen do paanch (3-2-5) is a very popular card game with kids in India; also because teen do panch is considered to be a game for kids as elders like to play games like bridge and rummy. Teen do panch or 3-2-5 game is played by three players and with 30 cards.

Players in teen do paanch card game: There are 3 players in any teen do panch card game.

Dealer in teen do paanch card game: Usually, a quick lottery is done which could be a high card or a low card lottery and the dealer of the game is decided.

Hands in teen do paanch card game: There are in total 10 hands in any teen do panch card game where the dealer has to make 2 hands and the other 2 players have to make 3 and 5 hands respectively.

Cards distribution in teen do paanch card game: Teen do panch card game is played with 30 cards. You have to take out Ace to Seven of Spades and Hearts and Ace to Eight of Diamonds and Clubs out of the standard 52 cards deck.

After shuffling the entire deck of cards, the dealer deals 5 cards to each player.  After dealing 5 cards each, 
the player who has to make 5 hands announces the trump.

Trump in teen do panch card game: The player who has to make 5 hands has to announce the trump from the first 5 cards that he receives. If this player is not sure on what trump to announce, he can randomly open one card from the next 5 cards and that suit becomes the trump for that particular teen to panch game.

How teen do panch card game is played?

The player who has to make 5 hands starts the game. The objective in any teen do panch card game is to make as many as hands as possible. If the turn is of spades, then the players have to play a card of spade. If any player does not have a card from spades, the player can make the hand by playing a card from the trump. If at this time the player does not have a trump card, he/she can discard any card that is less useful.

At the end of the game, if any player has made more hands than required, he/she gets the benefit in the next teen do panch game i.e. if the player X that had to make 2 hands made 4 hands at the end of the game, than player X can pull 2 cards (one at a time) from the player who made less hands than required in the previous game. After pulling 2 cards, X has to return 2 cards to the other player/s.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Eat Food and Play Card Games

A few enterprising restaurants and cafes in the city have started keeping board games, giving youngsters a new reason to visit


In the world of restaurant chains and quick service, the biggest loser seems to be the corner coffee shop that serves sandwiches, or the once-popular ice-cream parlour down the road. With their ambience – both decor and music – and the speed with which they serve customers, the proponents of fast food are attracting a large number of youngsters, who constitute a major chunk of the 'eating-out' market.


However, the small cafes and restaurants, unwitting victims of the merciless rise of food chains, have never given up, and lately seem to have stumbled on to the jackpot – a sure-safe way of attracting youngsters: keeping games in the establishment.

Google Pumps $100M into Zynga for Google Games

Google has pumped at least $100 million into online gaming power Zynga, TechCrunch reported. Zynga would serve as the centerpiece for Google Games when it launches later this year.

Just days after supposition that Google could get into gaming, TechCrunch reported that Google has pumped at least $100 million into online gaming power Zynga, whose Farmville and Mafia Wars titles captivate millions of Facebook users.

In a strategic deal, Zynga would serve as the centerpiece for Google Games when it launches later this year, the top tech blog said.


21 Cards Rummy