One Tip A Day » Gaming

Win Thousands Of Dollars In Prizes In December!!!

Tony Williams — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:56:45 +0000

Our friends over at Windows 7 News & Tips are giving away thousands of dollars in December!! Each day they are giving away a minimum of $300 in software and hardware to their readers. Prizes include:

$300 of memory from Crucial Memory
Wirelass 802.11n routers and USB adaptors from Belkin
Free Giganews accounts
Free software from Acronis, WinRar, a-squared

Entry each day is free. All you have to do is bid for the items each day in a reverse auction, where the lowest unique bid wins. Bidding is free and you can bid as many times as you want in each daily auction:

To play all you have to do is go to http://www.windows7news.com/auction and register -it’s that simple!

Find The Best Online Casinos With Five Star Gamble

Tony Williams — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:20:23 +0000

I like to have a flutter online. I’m not a regular gambler, but now and then I like to play a bit of blackjack online. When I do play online I always open up a new account as many casinos offer joining bonuses, which give you extra dollars to play with.

Finding the best deals can be hard work unless you use sites like Five Star Gamble who keep a running list of the best Online Casino offers. For instance, VIP Slots are currently offering a $777 bonus.

On the site you can find reviews for various casinos all with ratings, or if you just want to find the best joining deals the site keeps a rolling list of the top 30:

One particularly nice feature of Five Star Gamble is it keeps a list of sites that still accept US online casino players.

If you’re more of a poker player then there is a section dedicated to helping you find the best online poker rooms for all skill levels – the last thing you want to do is find yourself in a room full of poker experts who will be more than happy to take your money off you within minutes. Again, Five Star Gamble can help you find the best joining bonuses available on the internet for Online Poker rooms.

Join Pacific Poker And Get Up To 100% Bonus

Tony Williams — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:38:03 +0000

Poker is now one of the most popular games online, with millions of players playing both for fun and for a living. Many people would like to try, but are worried about entering a room where professional players may be lurking who will fleece them of their life savings. In reality, it’s very easy to learn how to play poker online and as long as you have realistic expectations you will do quite well. And, of course, have lots of fun!

To get started, you need to find a good guide to learn how to play poker games. Pacific Poker from 888.com, have a set of nice video (and funny) video tutorials that teach the basics of games such as online texas hold em. There are several sections to the poker video tutorials, including:

Getting Started
New To poker
Experienced Players
Poker Tournaments

After watching the poker tutorials, you should be ready to play a real game. To make it even easier Pacific Poker are even offering to 100% match your first deposit. Finding a game is simple as you can see in this video:

If you’re feeling bold enough, there are daily poker tournaments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the tournaments 2-40 players battle it out for big prizes. These range from $5-20k during the week and $80k on Sundays, to an amazing $3m prize for the World Poker Crown Tournament!

To get started now then click here.

Best Poker App for the iPhone

Tony Williams — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:39:33 +0000

Online Poker was a fad a few years ago, now it’s more of an institution. Hundreds of thousands of players are visiting online poker rooms on a regular basis to play either for real money or just for fun.

On the iPhone you won’t be able to gamble away any real money, but there are several good time-wasting poker apps that you can play for fun on your iPhone. Even Apple itself has developed an iPhone poker app, plainly named “Texas Hold’em.” This one is pretty good and offers a nice playing experience over Wi-Fi, but there’s no real online mode.

For those who want something more reminiscent of the ordinary online poker experience, then “Live Poker” by the gaming network/developer Zynga is one of the best alternatives, if not the only. In Live Poker you get to play Texas holdem with well over a million other players from Zynga’s gaming network, although the most interesting feature of the game is that it’s integrated with Facebook – letting you log in via your iPhone and play against people from your friend list.

If you have prior experience with online poker, the interface in Live Poker offers few surprises, which might be a good thing as you can essentially get started right away and skip the learning curve altogether. For the most part Zynga Live Poker looks and behaves like an poker room, with the added benefit of having it on your iPhone and with touch functionality.

Pros and Cons

Although not specific for Zynga, the major problem with play-money poker is that most people don’t play their best when there’s no real money at stake. Poker is based on careful decision making and the fact that you stand to win or lose real money depending on which way you go. This element is often lost in fun-money games, which then tend to become more of a lottery.

That being said, Zynga Live Poker is still a highly enjoyable game – and the possibility to connect with your Facebook friends is quite ingenious. Although there are several other good poker apps for the iPhone, see more here, there are really none that come close to this one in the multiplayer department.

Free Friends List Manager for Xbox Gamers

Umar — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:06:33 +0000

I have a few friends who own an Xbox 360 and they have always been connected with their friends via Msn Messenger while they are online or in a game. Recently I’ve confronted a new exciting software for Windows that is specially designed for Xbox 360 fans.

XB List is for those who have become habitual of playing on their Xbox or Xbox 360. It is like an enhancement to the Xbox, as it brings Xbox Live friends to your desktop. The list comes in a format of a buddy-list; the one that we all have been using in the Live Messengers.

This new software updates the Xbox user about any activity of your Xbox friend right on the desktop and displays both Gamer cards and Gamer pictures. However, an Xbox Live account is must to use this application. This tool has been designed especially for those who love to spend more time on their Xbox.

In addition to that XB List include constant updates about the live friends, Halo emblem for each friend, pop-up notifications for sign on and off for all friends, an alert display for new messages and easily accessible friend’s Xbox.com profiles. You can also compose messages and manage your friends list right from the Windows desktop. It also shows you the friends whom you can join on Xbox Live. You need to have at least .

Key features include

Constantly updates to show which friends are playing what games
Displays the Xbox Live Gamer Picture or Halo emblem for each of your friends
Popup notifications when friends sign on and off, as well as on other events.
Displays an alert whenever you have new Xbox Live messages.
When
you hover your mouse over a friend XBList shows their Gamer Card, with
extra info about when they last signed on and what they’re playing. It
will also show their Halo emblem if they don’t have a Gamer Picture or
you prefer Halo Emblems.
Easily access your friends’ Xbox.com profiles, Halo stats, and compose messages.
Manage your Friends List right from the Windows desktop – add and remove friends, and accept or reject friend invites.
Shows friends that can be joined on Xbox Live in blue.
Shows friend requests.

The only requirement to use XB List is .NET Framework 2.0. You can get it from Windows Update or directly from Microsoft.

Download XB List

Video Game Recommendation: Call Of Duty 4

Tony Williams — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:38:01 +0000

I’ve recently picked up the gaming bug again after months of neglecting my Xbox 360. I think what has swinged it is two of my good friends finally getting Xbox 360s and also picking up copies of Halo 3. For the last couple of nights we’ve been teaming up online and kicking some serious ass.

The experience has made me start looking for another Xbox 360 game to buy, and I think I’ve found a winner in Call of Duty 4. The reviews I’ve seen of the game have been very good and the graphics look so lifelike.

Here’s what Test Freaks have to say about the game:

This game conveys good frame rates and has good and easy-to-use multiplayer setups. In many ways, some players feel that it resembles these same features on Halo 2 & 3, by even having matching playlist…..The game’s multiplayer mode is like a hidden treasure waiting to be unlocked. High-quality story mode is such which create the thrills and unexpected moments to its players. ….The quality of its content in the campaign is top notch while its multiplayer is the best around. In other words, the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a truly superb package.

Sounds perfect for the next challenge for my Xbox crew!

Friday Game: Google Earth Flight Simulator

Tony Williams — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:51:42 +0000

Did you know that there is a flight simulator game built into Google Earth? I was stunned to read about this on

Playing the game is simple:

Download and install Google Earth
Press CTRL+ALT+A after starting Google Earth for the first time to enter the flight simulator.

Once you’ve done this you get to choose between two planes, a F-16 and a SR22 whcih can be flown between several airports. Joystick support is also available if you are a serious gamer.

It’s amazing to see what the microsoft team get up to when they should be working!

Source: Ghacks

Download Command & Conquer Gold For Free

Tony Williams — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:44:05 +0000

Can you believe it’s been 12 years since Command & Conquer Gold was released? This was one of my favorite games of all-time.

To celebrate the landmark, Electronics Arts are making a Windows XP version of C&C available for download for free. I’m a bit nervous about downloading the game as I have so many happy memories, that I don’t want to see how dated it is now.

If you missed C&C the first time around then head on over to EA to download your free copy.

More: Free C&C Gold

Friday TimeOut: Play The Original Lemmings Game Online

Tony Williams — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:01:23 +0000

If you are over 30, then you will probably remember the amazing Lemmings game that that came out in the 1980s for the Commodore Amiga. If you’re not then don’t worry, as you can now play Lemmings, one of the best games of all-time ,online.

The aim of the Lemmings game is to guide enough Lemmings through each level alive to make it to the next level. It may sound very easy, but some of the levels are unbelievably hard.

Thanks to Martin for discovering this game

Improve PC Gaming By Disabling Windows Key

Tony Williams — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 20:11:37 +0000

Mr Byte has produced a very clear guide to disabling the Windows key on keyboards. If you’re a keen gamer, this guide could prove handy as the Windows Key is right bang in the middle of important gaming keys like CTRL and ALT, so it can be easily pressed. Pretty annoying if you are in the middle of a fire-fight and suddenly your PC switches to the desktop.

If like me you never use the Windows Key, then here is how to disable it:

Goto Start -> Run and Type Regedit and press Enter (In Vista, type ‘Regedit’ in Search Box under Start)
Browse to ‘My Computer\ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Leyboard Layout‘
On the right hand side pane, right click and move over ‘NEW‘ and Click ‘Binary Value‘
This would have created a new entry with the name ‘New Value #1‘ with Type ‘REG_BINARY‘ and Data as zero-length binary value.
Right Click ‘New Value #1′ and rename it to ‘Scancode Map‘
Right Click again and click ‘Modify Binary Data’ and enter ‘00000000000000000300000000005BE000005CE000000000‘
Close everything and restart your computer.

if you want to restore your Windows Key, then just delete the new entry that you’ve just created.

6 Amazing Free Online Games

Tony Williams — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 10:22:44 +0000

If the weather outside isn’t as gorgeous as it is here, then check out this list of 6 Free Online Games.

Whether you’ve only got 5 minutes or an hour to play then these games will keep you hooked. They can all be played through your browser and don’t need any plugins etc to be installed.

My favourite is SinkMyShip as it allows you to play against other players. The game is similar to battlship and it brought back lots of happy memories.

Get Bejeweled Deluxe Free Until Weds

Tony Williams — Mon, 14 May 2007 21:01:40 +0000

PopCap.com are giving away the deluxed version of Bejeweled, which normally costs $14.95, for free until Wednesday as part of a Mother’s Day promotion.

To get your free copy of Bejeweled Deluxe do the following:

Go to the Bejeweled Deluxe site and click the Buy Now link located on the middle of the page.
Once you get to the checkour page enter the coupon code coupon code FREE4MOMS

Once you’ve done this you will get a download link. Remember to write down your order number as you’ll need it to register your software.

thanks to CyberNetnews for the great tip.

Why You Should Buy a DirectX10 Graphics Card

Tony Williams — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:13:49 +0000

If you’re a big PC gamer then you really should consider upgrading to a DirectX10 Graphics Card. Rather than baffling you with performance figures, I’m just going to post these pictures that highlight the vast difference between DirectX9 and and DirectX10.

Microsoft Flight Simulator in DirectX9

Microsoft Flight Simulator in DirectX10

Age Of Conan DirectX9

Age Of Conan DirectX10

If you need more prrof then look at these shots from the upcoming DirectX10 game Crysis and the real-life places they are based on (on the left). Absolutely awesome!

Thanks to TigerDirect for the pictures.

Don’t Waste Money Buying Expensive Digital Video And Audio Cables

Tony Williams — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:58:15 +0000

Many of us are slowly building our dream home AV setup, although a few lucky individuals are able to purchase a complete setup in one-go. Buying a plasma, home entertainment center, receiver, Xbox 360, PS3 etc isn’t cheap, and unfortunately the cables don’t tend to be cheap either.

However, many retailers take advantage of naive consumers and force them to buy expensive HDMI, optical, Component, co-axial cables, promisng better quality video and audio on their shiny new equipment. This happened to me just today, and I had fun with the sales assistant as I asked him to explain why a $100 cable was better than a $5 on eBay.

Basically, there is no difference. Remember that the signal being transmitted down these cables is a digital signal i.e. a data stream that tells devices what sound or image to play or display. The same message will be transmitted using ‘cheap’ cables as via ‘expensive’ cables i.e. the quality will be exactly the same.

So, don’t waste your money on expensive cables. Instead, save your money and put it towards something fun like a Nintendo Wii!

Sony Launch Website Showing European PS3 Backwards Compatibility

Tony Williams — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:03:24 +0000

I made a wise move by ordering my PS3 from Play.com who offered guaranteed launch day delivery in the UK on March 23rd. Unfortunately I’m not going to be in to welcome the latest addition to my family, but hopefully I’ll be able to pick it up over the weekend.

Unfortunately to save money Sony took some vital pieces of hardware out of the European PS3s, that means they aren’t compatible with as many games as their American or Asian cousins. To try and make amends Sony have launched a website where you can see whether your old PS1 and PS2 games will work perfectly, or with a few tiny problems or will only with major problems.

My PS3 is coming with MotorStorm,Genji and Resistance: Fall of Man. What additional PS3 game do you recommend I buy first?

Europe: Pre-Order Your PS3s Now!

Tony Williams — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:34:37 +0000

If you want to avoid scenes like in this picture then if you live in Europe you’d better get your skates on if you want to order a PS3 as there’s going to be a mad rush on, now that the launch dates have been confirmed.

If you haven’t pre-ordered then this will be your only option as only 1m units will be available:

Launch date: March 23rd
Price: £425
Units: 1 million, 60GB model only, with the 20GB model to follow later
Line-up: 30 games, including disc-based and network titles

To be honest I’ve had my Xbox 360 since day one and I think this is a much better bet than the Playstation 3. Yes the specs are lower, but what use is power if you don’t know how to use it? ;-) Xbox Live will win the war for Microsoft IMHO.

Best Console And Arcade Emulators

Tony Williams — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 23:22:28 +0000

I’ve had so much fun this weekend playing classic Arcade and Console games. A cousin of mine pinged me via IM trying to find the classic SNES game Gods for his wife to play. We couldn’t find it, but we found so many other classic games to play that it didn’t matter. The Xbox and the Playstation may have have some great games like Halo, but sometimes you just can’t beat the classics for gameplay and sheer fun.

We managed to play all of these games using free Emulators that ran on our Windows PCs. Here are the best Classic Arcade and Console Emulators that we managed to find, all of which are freeware.

MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator)

MAME is nothing short of amazing. This amazing piece of software allows you to play over 3000 classic arcade games. It doesn’t just replicate the games, but plays the actual original game roms so everything is just how you remember it. You even have to ‘insert credits’ to play the games.

I have so many happy childhood memories of playing games like R-Type, Raiden, 1941 and 1942 in arcades. In fact I met my first girlfriend playing Slapfight (pictured). Not only was she hot, but she was a top gamer – should have married he! It’s a real pity they don’t make shoot-em-ups anymore as I rocked at them. I’d meet more girls then!

Anyway, to install MAME go to this page and download the latest version (currently mame0111b.exe). Once you’ve installed MAME just do a Google search for ‘MAME Roms’, or go to this site.

Amiga Emulator

I think the Commodore Amiga deserves a place in the computing halls of fame. This PC was so groundbreaking and I don’t think any other PC has ever had such a dramatic effect on me. The Amiga was the first time I’d seen a GUI interface, a mouse and 3.5 inch disks. Oh, and it also had cracking graphics and amazing sound capabilities which made it ideal for games.

How To Get Onto The Halo 3 Beta Trial

Tony Williams — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:00:43 +0000

There’s not much longer to go now…Halo 3 is almost here for the Xbox 360. If you want to become a beta tester, Kotaku has some advice for you:

Just participate in at least 3 hours of Halo 2 multiplayer sessions via Live between Feb. 1, 12:01 a.m. EST and Feb. 3, 11:59 p.m. EST and then be one of the first to register at the www.halo3.com site.

The first 13,333 users will get a place on the Beta 3 program. It’s only available to US gamers, but don’t worry other countries will be added later. The multiplayer beta will go live this spring.

More: Kotaku