End of the world or not, 2012 promises to usher in a number of breathtaking games for avid enthusiasts. Here’s a list of the top 20 games that are expected to set off gamers’ adrenaline and blow their minds.

1. Final Fantasy XIII-2

photo credit: katclay

To be released on January 31, this is the sequel of the Final Fantasy XIII. The game provides a darker mood than its predecessor. It involves some interesting elements like time travel in it. Initial reports suggest that the storyline would be a brain bending one.

2. Mass Effect 3

Check out Commander Amanda Shepard fight against aliens, trying to ruin their plans of world invasion. This futuristic game is the last chapter of the story. The game is supposed to release in March 2012.

3. Uncharted: Golden Abyss

photo credit: PopCultureGeek.com

Like the previous games of this series, it’s anticipated that this game too will deal with the adventures similar to Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. Gamers should look forward for the new touch pad motion sensor of the game console PlayStation Vita. Set to release on 22 Feb.

4. Twisted Metal

Scheduled to be released on the 14th of Feb, the latest version of the game allows four users on the console or 15 players on the internet to wipe out larger number of vehicles than the previous versions.

5. Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D

This is the ported version of the PS2 version of Metal Gear series. The release date of the game has been decided for February.

6. Syndicate

The cyberpunk game is an improved version of the game that was first launched in the year 1993. The release date of this game, a cross between Deus Ex and Crysis, has been fixed on February 21.

7. Halo 4

photo credit: felixtsao

If rumors are to be believed then this game is going to be the first game of a trilogy named Reclaim. The game will be launched in 2012, sometime in its second quarter.

8. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

photo credit: My Blue Van

The second of the three series odyssey offers exciting changes, including differences in the multiplayer gaming experience. Around 20 additional singleplayer missions are included in the game. The game will be released in the second quarter of 2012. [Editor's note: Really stoked for this one!]

9. Xcom

Earlier known as X-com, this game is a mix of a tactics game and X-files. Expected date of release is March 6.

10. Minecraft

The game considered one of the best games witnessed is now coming to the Xbox and will support Kinetic too. The second quarter of 2012 has been decided for the release of the game.

11. Far Cry 3

photo credit: shanewarne_60000

The third in the series is set back again in the tropical jungle just like the first game of the series. There is no more specific release date of the game, but it’s promised to be out in 2012.

12. Diablo III

Ending the long wait of gamers, the next sequel of Diablo will be released during 2012. This version is supposed to bring a lot many changes and possibilities in terms of online gaming and game tactics.

13. Metal Gear Solid Rising

To be released sometime during 2012, MGS Rising has been developed with more attention on action and fighting techniques.

14. The Last Guardian

The game was first shown in E3 in 2009 and since then the release of the game has been postponed many times. The developer team now has declared the release of the game in 2012.

15. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

The fourth expansion pack of the game World of Warcraft is expected to release in 2012 though there is no confirmation of the date of release yet.

16. Max Payne 3

The sequel to Max Payne 2 will be launched in 2012 after almost 10 years of gap in between. [Hope it's better than the movie!]

17. Hitman: Absolution

photo credit: Symic

The game that came with puzzles and penalties is ready with its new version with a lot of changes and modifications. There is no confirmed news on its date of release so far.

18. Grand Theft Auto V

photo credit: Joe Fakih Gomez Photography

A new version of the controversial game has been developed by Rockstar and is ready for release in 2012.

19. Borderlands 2

With four new heroes and new weapons in a brand new story, the sequel of the hit game of 2009 is ready to be released in 2012.

20. Bioshock Infinite

photo credit: zampano1212

Though it shares the name with Bioshock, it’s not entirely a sequel to the game or its second version. This fresh shooting game set in a dream-like backdrop will be ready to be released sometime in 2012.

With all these games on offer, there’s no doubt that the year 2012 will be exciting and thrilling for gamers. Whether you like to twitch your mind with puzzles or be the savior of the world, all varieties of games will be on your palate to choose from in the coming year. Enjoy!

This post was written by Alia Haley. Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology, home designing, luxury and environment. Besides this she is very fond of games. Recently an article on PCI Graphics Card attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on Android games.

Watch your favorite TV shows when you want to – in your living room, or on-the-go.

We’ve all been there – we have to make the difficult decision to choose between a TV show or work. Or a TV show or a function. Or a TV show or a social event. In most cases, the choice is obvious – and TV is put on hold. If you’re regularly choosing TV over these alternatives, I’ll be glad to prepare a lecture on how there’s more to life than just sitting on a couch.

Either way, it’s a tough decision – so why make it? I learned over this summer how to keep control over TV while still enjoying TV more than I ever did before.

It all started with a show called Entourage (God bless Ari Gold). I’d heard a lot of good things about it, so I decided to give it a try. The only problem? I didn’t know when it aired, and I didn’t want to pay for a season DVD. I could easily have borrowed them from a friend, but I decided to try exploring my options. I opened a world of media that I had never known about before. And the best part – I never had to watch a single frame on a computer screen, but on a nice TV screen (not that big actually, just 32-inches – but bigger than a computer screen nonetheless).

Here, I already assume you’ve got your TV shows on your computer. The method you decide to acquire them with is entirely up to you – buy (or borrow) a season DVD and rip it, illegally download your TV shows season by season (this is extremely popular), or purchase them off iTunes (or other websites). Either way, after we’ve got the TV shows on our computers, the issue is how to bring them to our TV. Who wants to watch it on a small screen anyway?

1. Computer

A lot of people have old rigs lying around – if you do, then congratulations. All you need to do is buy a TV tuner card (typically $50) and install it in your unused computer. Then, simply transfer the files from your computer to your TV – I simply dragged and dropped them to my external hard drive, then plugged it into my PS3 and played it like that. You will also want playback software – nowadays, VLC is light and covers a huge spectrum of file formats. If it’s media center software you want, I hear some good things about MediaPortal (and it’s free!).

More info: http://lifehacker.com/298408/turn-your-windows-pc-into-a-media-center-powerhouse-on-the-cheap

2. With a PS3 or Xbox 360

I’d already mentioned this, and it’s doubly simple with a PS3 or Xbox 360. A lot of people use these simply as gaming consoles and nothing more; little do they know that these little consoles double as excellent media hubs! I am very pleased with the PS3’s playback interface, as I find it very streamlined. Again, simply drag and drop the files from your computer to your external hard drive, then copy them onto the PS3 or Xbox 360 hard drive (PS3 users, the triangle button comes in handy). Easy as pie.

PS3: http://www.us.playstation.com/

Xbox 360: http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/?fbid=u8aEteIsElN

Another method using a PS3 or Xbox 360 would be to stream the media from your computer to your console (this can also work with a Wii and Orb software). I used Vuze to stream my media to my PS3 – but I wasn’t pleased with the result. My home’s Internet has excellent download speed, but mediocre upload speed, which lead to very laggy and unresponsive playback, with load times and all. I was much happier with the cruder method.

3. With a PVR

This is probably the easiest, but the most traditional and restrictive route; nowadays, tons of cable companies offer customers free PVRs and such for service – so take advantage and get one! PVR’s can tape shows off cable (this is a blessing, as you won’t need to acquire any media files – but unfortunately, you can’t put any on either) and save them onto the PVR’s hard drive, then play them back later on. Undoubtedly, you will probably have heard of this method already.

Of all these methods, I prefer the second one most – the $400 PS3 or $300 Xbox 360 are both excellent investments in entertainment, and open up not only a huge world of gaming, but also excellent media opportunities.

On-the-go

4. Slingbox

This solution has boomed in popularity since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. Slingbox basically streams your media files from your computer to another computer or another device that has a connection to the Internet. I believe that a major issue (as with all streaming) would be the limited upload speed of home Internet, but Slingbox has worked for some people (why would it be selling like hotcakes if it didn’t?).

More info: http://www.slingmedia.com/

5. Digital Media Player/iPod

A lot of us commute to work or school, and the time is wasted staring out the window. Why not do some homework, catch up on sleep…or watch a TV show? Simply download Videora iPod Converter (or your respective converter for your digital media player) and convert the files to iPod format, and drag and drop them into your iPod via iTunes. Ta-da, you can now watch your favourite TV shows on the go.

I hope that these instructions serve you well, and if you have any questions or concerns then fire away!

I’ve recently developed a philosophy of using things to their fullest potential: originally, I was forced to replace my older gadgets with new versions repeatedly. It wasn’t until a short while ago that I decided against my consumption for a variety of reasons:

• It wasn’t a healthy way of gaining happiness (an interesting topic on its own).
• It wasn’t a wise way to spend my money — I already had an iPod Video, why did I need an iPod Touch? I could be saving up for that Macbook I always wanted.
• It wasn’t satisfying me anymore. I think I’d exhausted all satisfaction that I might’ve gotten originally from buying gadgets. That’s the problem with consumerism.

Don’t get me wrong — I still buy new gadgets: but now, my new gadgets typically are used to replace something thats been lost/broken/malfunctioned, or for the sake of convenience (combining two gadgets into one). Or to introduce a whole new concept into my life (I’m looking into getting a PSP…we’ll see how that works out, haha).

But I’ve discovered an alternative to the constant consumption and re-consumption of gadgets — using basic computer knowledge, a keen eye, and a spirit of adventure to find out how to leverage your gadgets and use them to their fullest potential. I’ve done what I’d thought was previously unimaginable — my deeds (so far) include:

• Putting Leopard 10.5.2 on my Dell Inspiron 6400 (I don’t advise you do it if you are of the faint of heart — I should also mention that it’s against Apple’s agreement you have to click in order to use Leopard, because you’re installing Leopard on non-Apple hardware). Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t easy, and I only recently figured out how to do it to near-perfection, with sound and dual-monitor support.
• Installing Android on my HTC Touch. That one turned out to be a fail (fail used as a noun — yep: an event where one fails miserably and hilariously at an attempt; http://failblog.org), as everytime I tried starting Android up (I installed it as a .cab file so it can be easily installed and removed) I was left with a white screen or my phone would turn off. Fail.
• Tweaking my iPod Video 5.5G so I could play Pokemon Red on it. I also installed other themes on my iPod 5.5G so I could make it look ‘fresher’ — like an iPod Touch, if I may. Both using custom firmware (which might void iPod warranty, so be careful with that — I figured since my iPod was so old anyway, I might as well give it a shot, haha).
• I’ve also managed to make my Wii play .mp3 files, .mp4 files, homebrew games (that should give the secret away), and even — DVD’s. That’s right — and I didn’t even have to touch the hardware.

photo credit: You Are The Conductor..

I’m no expert. I’m just an ordinary guy — probably a bit nerdier, but still pretty ordinary. And if I can do it, you most definitely can — so here are a few lessons that I learned along the way.

• Google will be your best friend. That’s right. You’ll get by just typing in ‘(insert gadget name here) modifications’ or ‘(insert gadget name here) hacks’.
• If you fail once, brush yourself off and try it again. And if you fail again, then change something. Or Google it again.
• Forums will be your second-best friend. Register if you have to (I registered anonymously on InsanelyMac). Use their search functions regularly, because you probably won’t have been the first person to experience a certain kind of problem.
• Don’t try modding new gadgets. Unless you can afford to replace it — because typically warranties don’t cover that kind of stuff.
• Don’t be afraid to push it! I remember when I was installing OS X, I installed a bunch of incorrect drivers that eventually required a format. It was discouraging, and I had to start over again, but I remembered that I used to live without it just fine, and so I can continue to live without just fine. If you can’t live without it, then you might want to pay for it (legitimately — not that leveraging is usually illegitimate).
• Not all gadgets can be leveraged — here’s the Herbert rule: if it has a screen/screen output, it can be leveraged.

I’m not sure if anyone’s ever associated the term ‘leveraging’ with ‘gadgets’, but I recently learned of the term in a business course and I wanted to use it. That and the word ‘synergy’ really jumped out at me. If the public demands it, I will begin posting general guides on how to leverage gadgets, so it can be a learned process (these won’t be step-by-step though, I don’t like writing comprehensive stuff — sorry). And even if the public doesn’t demand it, I think I just might.

No, I’m not another Playstation/Sony fanboy. No, I don’t own a PS3. No, I don’t have a Blu-Ray player. But I have to admit – doggone it, Sony seems to just have the formula for success. A year ago, the name PS3 would bring stenches of failure and skepticism. Now, the PS3 carries a much more appealing vibe – but how did Sony do it? From what I’ve seen and thought about, I’ve come up with 3 main factors:

 

Source: http://blog.chip.de/xbox-ps3-watch-blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/meri-final-fantasy-xiii.jpg

1. Exclusive AAA Games

• God of War III
  • Planned to be released exclusively for the PS3 in 2009, you can definitely expect God of War III to cook up a few hundred (or thousand, even) units being sold.
• Gran Turismo 5
  • A friend of mine very recently ditched his Wii for a new PS3 (traitor). I asked him why he’d make such a ludicrous decision, and he told me that his favourite game Gran Turismo 5 was coming out for the PS3 soon. I guess that’s a valid choice on his part – after all, he did end up spending $300 on a steering wheel and a set of brakes. Wow.
• Final Fantasy XIII
  • My personal favourite will have to be Final Fantasy XIII – I played Final Fantasy X and that really drew me into the genre. Either way, it’s still a definite force to be reckoned with and I think that it’ll be something to look forward to. Hopefully some of you out there will agree with me.

 

Source: http://z.about.com/d/playstation/1/7/U/6/Img3669_tif_jpgcopy.jpg

2. Blu-Ray Player

With HD-DVD out of the picture, and Sony consistently marketing the PS3 doubling as a Blu-Ray player, the PS3 will definitely sell a lot more units. Being amongst the most affordable Blu-Ray players on the market (sadly), the PS3 could very possibly be the media-powerhouse of “next-gen” consoles. Heck, even Microsoft plans to integrate a Blu-Ray player into the next generation of their Xbox 360.

 

Source: http://www.cheaplaptops.org.uk/wp-content/laptopimg/2007/09/ps3.jpg

3. Pricing

The most major factor in this the transformation has to have been the change in pricing. By halving the price and the overkill specifications, as well as the drop in hardware prices, Sony has been able to manipulate the prices so that they become more affordable – somewhat in the range that the Nintendo Wii resides in. I find that this reason alone made it all the more appealing for me to entertain the idea of purchasing a PS3 – and thus, I think that this is the killer reason to get the PS3. The introduction of the 40GB version really popularized the PS3, and it earned a new place on the shelf next to the Nintendo Wii. Heck, I might even get a PS3 thanks to the price drop (I’m a starving artist, despite what you think).

Not only did Sony prove the general public wrong, they also retained their established position as a household, widely-known, mainstream household brand. By turning the PS3 around, they’ve found an alternate method to continue to generate income, and also continued the reputation of the Playstation legacy. Despite being a Wii supporter, I’ve owned a PSone and PS2 before, so it’s very possible that I continue my own Playstation journey with a PS3.

As my GameSpy newsletter got delivered (I’ve been subscribed for a couple of years now, actually), I glazed over it just the slightest bit. Scrolling past the GTA IV hype, something piqued my interest. Was that the guy from Assassin’s Creed, or was it just me? I clicked the hyperlink which led me here. I found myself instantly wishing:

• I had an Xbox 360.
• I had a Playstation 3.
• I had a more powerful PC.

From what I’ve made out of the videos so far, Prototype is centered around a single protagonist who has had experiments performed on him by the military, which ended up mutating him and transforming him. He can grow spikes from pretty much anywhere on his body, can generate armour, and is pretty bulletproof. I haven’t even got started about the best parts of the game yet.

The environments: from what I’ve seen, Prototype is something like a modern-day Assassin’s Creed. It’s got the guy in the hood (tip of the tongue, forgot his name), it’s got the melee attacks, and it’s got the really next-generation city interaction where you can kill/absorb pretty much anyone in order to get those goals accomplished. The city is basically a replication of New York City with 110 of their most significant buildings – definitely more than enough for me.

Of course, just watching it won’t sell it. A few more things need to happen:

• It needs to break through with a better storyline and less repetitive gameplay than what I’ll now refer to as its ancestor, Assassin’s Creed.
• It has better marketing than Assassin’s creed, which was already pretty hyped.
• It gets ported to the Wii. For me, if not for the other people who will buy it.

Words can’t describe as well as a video, so watch it. Anyway, that’s enough out of me for one day. I’m going to sit back, relax, and see how this folds out. Hopefully it does get ported, but I’m going to doubt that. Since when does a little blogger like me get listened to?

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