Month: May 2016

Top 10 Xbox 360 Games

Like I said there is more to come. This particular list discusses the top ten games for the Xbox 360 gaming console by Microsoft. Again, I am sure you will already have played all the games I am about to list down. Please let us know what you think about the following games and your opinions and suggestions are always welcome. Also, let us know if you think we missed a deserving game. Enjoy the read and play hard!

10. FORZA MOTORSPORT 3

You can guess by the name that it is a racing video game. Turn 10 Studios developed the game for the Xbox 360 and was released in October 2009. The game has over 400 customizable cars from 50 different manufacturers. There are over a 100 track variations and you can race 8 cars on a track simultaneously. GameSpot gave it a rating of 9.5 out of a 10 while IGN gave it a 9.4. I am not a big fan of racing games so maybe you can try this out and let us know what you think.

9. GEARS OF WAR 2

It is a third-person shooter game. Developed by Epic Games it was officially released on the 7^th November in the year 2008. The game uses the Unreal Engine 3 engine and a highly modified one at that. Joshua Ortega helped write the plot of the game. The COG continues its fight against the Locus horde in this game. They are attempting to sink every city on the planet and of course that is not desirable. The game sold over 2 million copies in its opening weekend.

8. ASSASSIN’S CREED II

The first part was fantastic, no doubt, but the second part took the experience to the extreme. Ubisoft Montreal did a splendid job with the game. You are in the Renaissance Italy and you can do whatever the hell it is that you want to do there and that includes stabbing, slicing, stealing and going places. The game is all about exploration and discoveries waiting to be made. You will be immensely satisfied with the combat too. The game will keep you hooked for a hours, believe that.

7. CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE

If you are into first person shooter games, there is no way that you haven’t already played it. The engine was incredibly refined with this game and the experience it offered was mind blowing. It provided us with a highly competitive multiplayer environment. I remember spending hours playing this game and I couldn’t get enough of it. This has to be in your permanent stash of games. This game is the definition of everything that the game is. The story gets a little nonsensical at times, but that is well, negligible.

6. PORTAL 2

Portal 2 was released on the 19^th April, 2011 and it is a first-person puzzle video game. The game was developed by Valve Corporation and I have to say, every second of the game was enjoyable. The retail versions of this particular game are distributed by EA. The game basically comprises of many different puzzles that must be solved by performing teleportation. That is achieved by the use of a weapon called ‘portal gun’. The game is highly interesting and keeps your head busy. If you are into puzzles, I suggest you play this game and also the first part.

5. HALO: REACH

If you are fan of lasers and explosions and a fantastic story line, please play this game if you havenât done it already. This game is by far the most polished one of the series and provides an excellent gameplay too. If you are playing a Halo game for the first time, I would say that Halo: Reach is the way to go. There are many new features and abilities and loads of stuff to unlock. It supports multiplayer and you will always find a match online, so whenever you are bored, put your headphones on, crank up the volume and get yourself into a match and immerse into the awesome experience that is Halo: Reach.

4. BIOSHOCK

Original ideas are not that easy to come by these days and especially so when million different games are released every year. There are very few games that actually make it a fun experience for the customer. The world provided by Bioshock was certainly not what the customers were expecting which is why it was such a big success. The game was developed by Ken Levine and the team at Irrational Games. The game does not support multiplayer, so you explore the wonderful world all by yourself.

3. FALLOUT 3

It is the third installment in the series and was released 28^th October, 2008. Fallout 3 is an action role-playing open world video game that was developed by Bethesda Game Studios. The game takes place in the year 2077; thatâs around 36 years after Fallout 2 and 200 years after the original Fallout. The game received positive reviews from critics around the world and also managed to win many âGame of the Yearâ awards. During the month it was released, it sold over 610,000 units.

2. RED DEAD REDEMPTION

The game was released on the 18^th May, 2010. It was developed by Rockstar San Diego and is an open world action-adventure. The game takes place in the year 1911 (most of it). It was the year of decline of the American Old West. It follows an outlaw who is out to hunt his former gang members. He is a bounty hunter and the government has held his son and wife as a hostage in exchange for his services. The poor guy has no choice so he sets out to bring the three gang members to justice.

1. MASS EFFECT 2

Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game and was released 18^th January, 2011. It was developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Many aspects of the game were varied compared to the first part. Long elevator rides are no longer there and it includes a very complex inventory system. In the first week of its release, Mass Effect 2 sold over two million copies around the world and it also received universal critical acclaim.

May 23, 2016
7 Smartphones That Could be Your iPhone Alternatives – Page 2 of 2

4. BlackBerry Bold 9700

From businessmen to teenagers, everybody loves a well-crafted BlackBerry. And this model in particular, is simply fantastic.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 has everything you would need to forget about the iPhone: an optical trackpad; a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash; 480 x 360 pixel color Half VGA resolution display; an amazing battery (17 days of battery time in standby and 6 hours in talk time).

It is 109 mm in length, 60 mm in width and 14.1 mm thick.

The operating system that runs on the Bold 9700 is the Blackberry OS version 5.0.0.405, and it is good to know that all the familiar pre-loaded Blackberry applications are available on this one, including the WordToGo, PowerToGo, WordMole, etc.

The BlackBerry Bold gets a 4/5 ranking and here are the reasons why: it has an amazing design, great usability, awesome additional features and the quality of calls is mind-blowing.

Price range: $299

3. HTC EVO 4G

HTC has the most smartphones on this list, and that certainly proves the fact that the Taiwanese company can make extraordinary phones with sleek, original design and great capabilities.

This model is the first 4G capable phone sold in the United States. It is powered by a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and runs the Android 2.1 operating system. It includes a TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen screen, an 8-megapixel camera in the rear, a 1.3 megapixel camera in the front and a HDMI port to connect to an HDTV.

Although it is said to deliver good 4G speeds, Sprint’s 4G network is limited at the time, making the $10 premium data add-on too tough to swallow for anyone outside of the coverage area. Another important thing to have in mind is that the HTC EVO drains battery rather quickly.

But it’s still one of today’s top Android devices, and with an ever-expanding WIMAX netowkr, it shows great promise.

The EVO 4G gets 3rd place with an average ranking of 4/5. Its perfect (not kidding, Google it) design makes you forget about all of the competition. Besides the look, its multimedia applications are top notch, making it better than the BlackBerry.

Price: $199.99

2. Google Nexus One

While some argue that Google should stick to search-engines, here is a smart-phone that tells us something entirely different.

The Nexus One is Google’s flagship smartphone that became available this January. It uses the Android open source mobile operating system.

It has a couple of great features, like the ability to transcribe voice to text, noise canceling and dual microphones. If you drive a lot, the Nexus would be perfect for you seeing as it has a fantastic GPS system.

What sets the Google Nexus apart from other smartphones is that it is sold unlocked, thus it’s not restricted to use on a single network provider.

The Nexus One has a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen and the raster resolution is 480×800 pixels.

The phone has a 5.0 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and digital zoom, Bluetooth 2.1, MP3, AAC+, WAV and MIDI playing capabilities.

Choosing which phone that would top the list was a hard decision. Although the Nexus One is an amazing Android smartphone with incredible design and features, we felt that the Samsung had all of these as well, plus greater Multimedia applications. But nevertheless, the Nexus One is a fantastic piece of technology.

The prices without a plan or contract are 529$.

1. Samsung i9000 Galaxy S

Samsung is probably the world’s leading cell phone manufacturers today with a huge base of people who would gladly buy their products. I have to admit that I’m one of those avid buyers. After a fantastic 2009 in which they successfully launched the teenage-oriented Corby, they’re ready again to take over the Android market with this beauty: Samsung i9000 Galaxy S.

Samsung announced its i9000 Galaxy S model in March 2010, and it is now confirmed to be an Android 2.2 smartphone. What’s so special about this model is its 1GHz processor along with 8-16 GB internal memory, a 4 inch 480×800 Super AMOLED widescreen, a touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera and also a VGA front-facing camera. Another useful thing about the Galaxy is its PowerVR graphics processor that yields 90 million triangles per second. All of this makes this Samsung the best darn Android-phone on the market.

Another great thing that would push buyers to seriously consider buying the Galaxy is its Bluetooth 3.0. It is also worth mentioning that, with its 9.9mm, it’s the thinnest Android phone available.

So, it all comes down to this, the newest Samsung smartphone – the i9000 Galaxy S. Its amazing processor, internal memory, applications, features, design, camera and, let’s not forget, Bluetooth 3.0 shoots this baby up right to no. 1 on the Top 10 iPhone Alternatives!

Price range: $99.99 – $199.99 from AT&T Wireless

Conclusion

A Smartphone offers the features you need to manage the various details of your life and business, whether that includes scheduling meetings, tracking your family’s schedule, reading email, or surfing the web. All of the above phones offer you those features. Sure, some do it better than others – I won’t argue with you there – but they are all great in what they do and they all bring something different to the table!

In the end, one thing is extremely important to have in mind: iPhone might be dominating the smartphone market, but there are a lot of alternatives. Great alternatives!

May 18, 2016
10 Most Romantic Movies – Page 2 of 2

5. PRINCESS BRIDE

The Princess Bride is staged as a book read by grandfather (Peter Falk) to his ill grandson (Fred Savage). Falk’s character assures a romance-weary Savage that the book has much more to deliver than a simpering love story, including but not limited to fencing, fighting, torture, death, true love, giants, and pirates. Indeed, The Princess Bride offers a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale depicting stable boy-turned-pirate Westley’s journey to rescue Buttercup (Robin Wright), his true love, away from the evil prince (Chris Sarandon), whom she had agreed to marry five years after learning of what she had believed to be news of Westley’s death.

4. SERENDIPITY

Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) are two New Yorkers already in relationships when they meet one another, each reaching for the last pair of cashmere gloves at a department store. Over coffee, they strike up an intimate conversation, and Jonathan thinks they should see each other again. Unconvinced, Sara arranges an elaborate series of “fate” games; if they’re meant to be together, she reasons, she and Jonathan will receive some sort of sign in the future.

3. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is on a cold streak. Not only is he writing for Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush), owner of “The Rose,” a theatre whose doors are about to be closed by sadistic creditors, but he’s got a nasty case of writer’s block. Shakespeare hasn’t written a hit in years. In fact, he hasn’t written much of anything recently. Thus, the Bard finds himself in quite a bind when Henslowe, desperate to stave off another round of hot-coals-to-feet application, stakes The Rose’s solvency on Shakespeare’s new comedy, “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter.” The problem is, “Romeo” is safely “locked away” in Shakespeare’s head, which is to say that not a word of it is written. Meanwhile, the lovely Lady Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an ardent theatre-goer — scandalous for a woman of her breeding — who especially admires Shakespeare’s plays and, not incidentally, Bill himself

2. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

Sleepless in Seattle, the sophomore directorial effort from Nora Ephron, is a light romantic comedy inspired by the 1957 film An Affair to Remember. Tom Hanks stars as widower and single father Sam. When Sam’s son, Jonah (Ross Malinger), calls into a talk radio program looking for a new mother, Sam ends up getting on the phone and laments about his lost love. Thousands of miles away, Annie (Meg Ryan) hears the program and immediately falls in love with Sam, despite the fact that she has never met him and that she is engaged to humdrum Walter (Bill Pullman).

1. CASABLANCA

It is the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a world-weary ex-freedom fighter who runs a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of WWII. Despite pressure from the local authorities, notably the crafty Capt. Renault (Claude Rains), Rick’s café has become a haven for refugees looking to purchase illicit letters of transit which will allow them to escape to America. One day, to Rick’s great surprise, he is approached by the famed rebel Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick’s true love who deserted him when the Nazis invaded Paris. She still wants Victor to escape to America, but now that she’s renewed her love for Rick, she wants to stay behind in Casablanca.

May 18, 2016
Greatest Battles of World War 2

World War II was the greatest conflict and war the world has ever known. It started in 1939 and ended in 1945. The war started in Europe and it saw around 60 million people die. The destruction was unbelievable. No war has ever been this bloody. The First World War killed around 35 million people. This list talks about ten of the bloodiest battles fought during the Second World War. The spots are based on the number of casualties.

10. BATTLE OF MONTE CASSINO

The Allies fought the Germans and Italian troops. It was one of the hardest battles in the Second World War. The Allies wanted to break through to the German Gustav Line. They wanted to gain control of Rome. Monte Cassino is a monastery that stood in the center of German defense. Rome was finally captured and both the sides lost around 125,000 men. The battle started on the 17^th January and ended on the 18^th May in 1944. The battle saw 185,000 casualties.

9. BATTLE OF THE BULGE

This battle was the last major offense from the Germans on the Western Front. The objective was to split the Allies into a group of two and capture Antwerp during followed with the destruction of Allied forces. The battle did not go as planned at all. The battle went against the Germans. This battle saw around 840,000 troops from the States. It was the largest army they used in the Second World War. The battle started on the 16^th December in 1944 and ended on 25^th January next year. The battle killed around 186,369 men.

8. SECOND BATTLE OF KHARKOV

Kharkov was of strategic importance. It is a city in Ukraine. Germans had captured the city in 1941. The next year, the Red Army launched a massive attack to take the city back. The Germans defeated the Red Army killing nearly 280,000 men and destroying around 650 tanks. Got to hand it to the Germans. They took the attack full-on when they were not expecting it. This battle killed around 300,000 soldiers and was a short battle. It started on twelfth May and ended on the twenty eighty in 1942.

7. BATTLE OF LUZON

Luzon is the largest island in Philippines and it was of strategic importance to the States. Japanese took over the island though and then came the States to take it back. Both the sides suffered great losses; Japanese in particular. The fighting was intense and fierce mostly because of the Japanese kamikaze pilots. Come 11^th February and the States captured Manila. Japanese resistance was heavy and they took the States for a while until the battle ended on the 15^th August 1945 rendering almost 332,330 to 345,330 people dead. The battle started on the 9^th January 1945.

6. BATTLE OF KURSK

It was major victory for the Soviets. It was perhaps the biggest clash of armored tanks in the history. Germans wanted to eliminate the Kursk ‘bulge’. It was created after the Germans were defeated in Stalingrad. The Red Army was ready for the Nazis. The Germans are said to have lost around 550,000 men (death, imprisonment, injuries). This battle was a major turning point in the war and the Soviets ended up freeing most of Ukraine. The battle started on the 5^th July and ended on the 23^rd August in 1942. Around 388,000 men lost their lives.

May 17, 2016
Top 10 Bermuda Triangle Theories

The Bermuda Triangle or ‘The Devils Triangle’ is an area in the North Western Atlantic Ocean infamous with the unexplained disappearances of a number of aircraft and ships. The corners of the triangle lie in Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, making the space vast and completely comprised of ocean. As a result of the alleged disappearances for which the area has become notorious in the last half century, many theories have emerged as to how and why the triangle poses so many unanswered questions. Ranging from the acutely scientific to the other worldly and the supernatural, let’s have a look at some of the most popular explanations.

10. Human Error

I’ll get this one out of the way first due to its mundane nature and lack of imagination. Some theorise that the loss of vessels and aircraft alike in the triangle is simply down to the errors of those controlling them. Nothing supernatural about it at all, simply a huge area which is geographically difficult to navigate and a whole load of spontaneous tropical storms just to make sure you get well and truly lost.

9. Rogue Waves

A step up from number 10, but still rather boring, the theory that huge, unbridled waves are to blame for the stacks of disappearances reported in the triangle is as popular as any other. It was only in the 1990’s that this freakish category of wave was confirmed to exist, since then they have been known to take down ships and even oil rig platforms. Don’t see how they could account for the disappearance of aircraft though?

8. Gulf Stream

Essentially a huge river that runs beneath the ocean’s surface, stretching from the gulf of Mexico all the way through the Floridian straits and up into the desolate surroundings of the North Atlantic, the Gulf Stream has been known to have a rather imposing velocity at times. Certainly capable of carrying stranded ships and downed aircraft on its current, I suppose it’s not too far-fetched to suggest they may eventually be enveloped completely by the sea.

7. Methane Gas Hydrates

Originally put forward by American geochemist Dr Richard McIver, this theory puts forwards the idea that the levels of methane gas emitted through the seabed and up to the surface may come into play. As these deposits escape the ocean floor they compromise the integrity of the landscape, in turn causing underwater landslides which go on to release more gas causing a huge decrease in the density of the water itself. Effectively causing the sea to swallow ships whole, the highly combustible gas is also likely to travel upwards with the ability to ignite a plane’s engines, causing an explosion and bringing it down to share the ships fate.

6. Souls of Slaves

As the area in which the triangle lies is scattered with former slave colonies, it would be naïve to believe that it is not grave to a captive or two- especially given the disgusting fact that it was common practise to purposefully kill slaves in transit to claim insurance later. What may be labelled as naïve too however, is the theory that the souls of these unfortunate Africans haunt the triangle in search of whatever revenge they can get.

May 16, 2016