According to several rumours, an early release of Wii U came in context with the ever dropping profits of the company. The release of new consoles is closely linked with the company’s policy to give a boost to its sales. Nintendo’s decision, not surprisingly, has come in the same context where perplexed by the future of consoles, the company is dealing with the fear of gaming consoles becoming a thing of the past. Amongst many its competitors, Nintendo finds itself in direct competition with all the smartphones and tablets, which have grown to become the latest craze.

To fight off the charm that is held by tablets, Nintendo’s new Wii U console is rumoured to feature a hand held controller which is akin to tablets, with a built-in screen. The company which, according to stats, expects a total annual loss of $575 million has decided to go into the battle of its survival with all of its big guns. Although the news regarding its Wii U is only expected to be released at sometime in May this year but according to rumours, Wii U will be twice as powerful as its predecessor. Whatever the future might hold for Nintendo’s Wii U, one thing is for sure that online gaming has kind of erased the need of gaming consoles.

There are many universities, which are offering traditional BSc degrees in games development and designing but none of it as part of their distant learning programme. Keeping the increasing trend of games in mind, now universities are offering online BSc (Hons) degrees. This bold step will further enhance the games development and a new era of games will soon be started.

Even though many people are sceptical about the future of online degree in games development, however, the fact is that your portfolio matters the most and if you are able to come up with impressive samples then you will be the adequate job candidate regardless of your degree. If you think that you are an extreme gamer and want to take your talent, expertise and imagination beyond the game play then online games development degree could be quite beneficial for you.

In recent few years, games sector has grown at a fast pace and its monetary value has also increased in a dramatic way. Gaming sector is now considered one of the biggest job producing industries, which is why an online degree in games development has presented itself as a worthy option for distant learners.

Enrolling for an Online Degree

First, you will need to find a university, which offers accredited online degree in games designing and development. Accreditation ensures that the university meets proper standards and is recognized. If you are taking an online course for the first time, then you should familiarize yourself with how it works. Different programs conduct their studies and classes in their own way. Some offer synchronous classes while others have asynchronous learning opportunities. All you have to do is to choose what is best for you.

As a distant learner, it is important to have self-discipline and determination so that you are able to submit assignments on time. In order to achieve that, you can dedicate a separate area for your study and schedule a particular time to study regularly.

Course Outline

The online degree in games development and designing is meant for students who want to be programme games as well as are able to work outside the gaming industry. Keeping this point in view, the course merges the technical aspects of game programming and artificial intelligence with organizational and project management principles with quality assurance. Other topics related to games such as creative designs, character animation, level design and storytelling are also covered as part of the programme.

The duration of the degree is three years. Roughly, the degree comprises of Game Design, Game Development, Mobile Computing, Software Development and Software Engineering. During first year, the focus is on game play, which includes the study of character creation, narrative, issues related to hardware, games genres, business and social context of games development. In sophomore year, the focus is shifted on 2D games programming and mobile communication.

In final year, 3D-games programming techniques and work with games engines are taught to students.  Additionally the learners also have to choose some extra specialization courses and then after final project, the online degree will be completed.

The online degree offers an equal learning opportunity for all. Learners who were unable to attend regular varsities would now be able to take this course, just like many other programmes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Almost all of the gamers must have played call of duty but Modern Warfare 3 is surly a refined and improved game with completely new experience and graphics. It can be played on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Modern Warfare has adopted latest technologies to ensure the highest quality of graphics with in depth detail of everything. The game is quite complex and completely new player will take time to understand full controls. The game is developed after experimenting on real time warfare. The player will be playing role of a soldier fighting infantry fight, driving through dangerous routes, dropping supplies through aircrafts and much more. This is a must play game for every gamer.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is the latest installment in the Elder of Scrolls Series. The player is thrown out to fantasy land in northernmost country in the very middle of the earth. The developers have created a superb fantasy land where dragons are flying and other monstrous creature are dwelling. This is a full adventure game which keeps the player alert at all times while fighting with beastly creatures.

Dark Souls

This Christmas no game like Dark Souls is released. This game is full of crumbling clock towers, knights in tarnished armors and ferocious fights. The player is literally spell bound by the game really feels like he have travelled times and now in medieval age where skeletons are patrolling and ice giants are gate keepers. Player has to collect souls of the enemies he kills as a currency and once killed himself all currency is lost. This game really challenges the player and no newbie can easily play this game. To succeed in this game the gamer had to have guts.

All these games will add thrill, adventure in your cold Christmas celebrations and warm you up for next year.

The plot of the game is also adrenaline packed, as the player will be in shoes of the hero Jack who is in heavy debt of underground mafia. He is also declared as most wanted person by police, which makes him in troublesome situation as he have to run from mafia lords, police and other crooks. To pay all his debts and settle matters with police, he needs a lot of money. In order to get money, jack participates in an illegal off-the-grid race worth $25 million across the country from San Francisco to New York.

This is the first time that NFS has used real locations like Denver, Los Vegas, Detroit, New York, San Francisco and much more. The player races through different kinds of terrains and types of races. There are races through dense urban traffic, sloppy icy mountains, narrow and breathtaking canyons where racers race at breakneck speeds and even a second’s mistake can make them loss their lives, cars and off course race.

Need for Speed: The Run is powered by Frostbite 2 engine, which makes it the first non-shooter game. Graphics, visuals and car physics of this game are extremely high and the player is meant to feel what it is like to race under great pressure in real world. This game has employed a large number of real world vehicles including racer cars, muscle cares, exotic cars and street race cars.

This is the first time in NFS history that players are allowed to travel on foot, attack, sprint, run and jump in certain situations and missions. Game has also included three exclusive cars, Lamborghini Aventador, Porsche 911 Carrera S and Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Racing and sports cars’ enthusiasts are eager for the arrival of this game, as people just cannot wait to get their hands on Need for Speed: The Run.

While the game held its charm for most fans for a long time but a few really disappointed parts prove to be a kill joy even for the most ardent fans. The release of The Dark Angel back in the early 2000s was no less than an excruciating experience for the lovers of the game which completely buried the whole theme of the game. With the release of Legend however, developers were successful in lassoing Lara Croft back to the ruins and out of the corporate buildings, elevators and offices.

Crystal Dynamics was really able to inject ecstasy in the veins of fans of Classic Tomb Raider with the release of Anniversary. The stellar graphics and the too good to be true game play made it an almost addictive adventure. This not only rejuvenated some of its previous glory but also gave the fans some new hopes for the upcoming parts.

But as ill luck would have it, Underworld popped the bubble as it completely failed to live up to the expectations of the fans. The trailers released for the upcoming Tomb Raider seems promising enough and it has been successful in rekindling the fire amongst the stirred fans already. The game is scheduled to be released in the third quarter of 2012 which is a long way but the very idea of seeing a much younger version of Lara Croft, lost and bewildered is enough to keep the gamers hooked.

The question arises here is if the franchise will be able to meet the expectations of the fans and regain its lost glory? We will have to wait and see.

As it is a known fact that in the days of recession, the crime rate around the world surges. The recent statistics however show a decline in the crime rate over the last two years. There has been a talk relating reduction in crime to playing violent video games. The idea has been supported by the notion that violent video games have been able to channel the frustration in the youth and other to be criminals. As the new video games not only involve the players into themselves but also have a lot of fire power to gust out the aggression. This may make things easier for the violent game video makers, which usually face a lot of public criticism for the ever-increasing violence in their newer released versions.

The flip side of the coin is the struggles that concerned circles of society are making to ensure that violent games are not sold to minors. In U.S, California’s governor Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted to stop the sale of the violent video games to minors by signing a law back in 2005. The attempt had been unsuccessful because of the opposition met by the case from the video game industry. The law was abolished as an infringement on the law of free speech. It was also argued then that a rating system based on the violence of the games and some other key characteristics was already put in place so there was no need to put additional measures on that.

The decision of the court was appealed against but the court retained the original decision of the first court. At last the state has gone to the Supreme Court which has decided a hearing of the case in spite of already made court decisions. The video game markers are sceptical about the hearing as they fear that the decision might turn against them because they think that if court had been satisfied by already made decisions it wouldn’t have asked for another hearing.

The BSc degree in computer games development aims the students who want to be gaming programmers but also need sufficient grounding to work outside the games industry. That’s why the course adopts software engineering to games development and combines the technical aspects of games programming and artificial intelligence with project management principles, organizational management and quality assurance. Other topics related to games such as creative designs, animation and storytelling are also covered as part of the program.

The course is roughly compromised of 5 computing programme themes such as Game Design, Mobile Computing, Game Development, Software Engineering and Software Development.  The degree comprise of 3 years of duration time divided in three parts. In 1^st year the course mainly focuses on games and game play. The content also include the study of character creation, games genres, narrative, issues related to hardware, social and business context of games development. In the 2^nd year, the course starts its focus on 2D games programming and mobile communication studies. It also includes project management and software engineering.

In third and final year, the students are taught 3D games programming techniques and work with games engines. Students will additionally have to choose two more courses such as Software Systems Development, Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Software Applications and Architectures, etc. In nutshell, it can be stated that this new level of gamming could make the games more enhanced and sophisticated then ever.

City of Heroes:

City of Heroes is a massive multiplayer game that is in operation since seven years. The developers are enjoying this long term success by continuously adding new contents into it and updating the older version. Its developers unveiled several challenging tasks in it this time to make this game more interesting and attractive for new players as well. The game is updated by step wise challenges in form of “weekly strike target” and developers have added animal body parts in it so that players can enjoy the thrill by being tiger men or bird-headed men. Players will be able to explore high level areas such as the Behavioral Adjustment Facility with multi players ranging from 12 to 24. The game is celebrating its consecutive seventh year of success.

Prius Online:

Another wonderful, free to play with massive multi player game named as Prius online will be available soon for all. This game is formerly known as Anima online and was launched in 2009. It is celebrating its success continuously from two years because it has achieved this status by every time giving something interesting to players. This online game can be distinguished from other online games easily because it is quite colorful and focused on a story and centered around characters rather than other commonly available action games. The main character of this game is a cute girl named Anima along with a massive giant pet having great combat powers. Anima is a sweet character that will join you in the beginning of game and stay along. Anima is not designed with any super combat abilities but the character can do several things on your behalf like gathering crafting resources and picking the loots while you busy in battling with monsters. You will be able to get this game in May 2011.

I feel like this is all for today. We will update you soon with more interesting games, more updated versions and more fun-to-play games soon.

FarmVille is an exciting farming game available on the largest social networking portal Facebook. Currently it has over 62 million active users. In this game the player starts with an empty land provided with farm coins. Through the game the player have to plough the farm for harvesting and when the farm is ready to reap then the items are sold and the player gets farm cash. Gradually the level of the game increases with the land for harvesting. As the game goes on the player gets more options like buying livestock, trees, plants, bushes, etc. As it is a social networking game so it also has options to invite other friends to become neighbors, send gifts and decorations.

“Soldiers” is a real-time strategy game of military combats and war. It is a very simple game with short levels and military strategy. The game gets interesting and difficult as the level enhances. In the game Soldiers, you will play the role of company commander and will control your unit as well as your own player and will execute attacks while surviving from fires from the other end. In it you will firefight with the group of rogues and terrorists.

The next popular game is “Carbon Theft Auto” in which you will play the role of best car thief in the country. Your ultimate aim is to steal the cars and become the richest and the best person of the world while the city cops are on your tail and watching your every movement. Carbon Theft Auto is an interesting game in which you feel like you are a thief and police is chasing you.

Let’s look at what we would require to become a successful entrepreneur in video gaming business using the drop shipping channel to our advantage.

First video games business can be effectively managed by people who sleep, eat, and drink video games. Someone who just doesn’t know about the video games shouldn’t experiment with his money and feelings.

You should have a fair idea of what your local customers want. You might be thinking that with advent of technology you should go global immediately. We won’t recommend you to take that risk for your video game business. You should start small and local before going for something really big. Search through the market segment available and see the demand for the local video games. This will let you know where to put all your money. For example you might be living somewhere, where people don’t like a certain type of console and have preference for some other console. You would definitely like to buy and sell video games for that particular console. This is the demand side of the business. The more you research, the better you know about your customer. This is a must exercise for survival, success, and profitability.

Next we are going to talk about the demand side. You would have to locate the local wholesalers which can provide you with the games you are looking for. Exceptionally important is the amount and variety of stock that wholesaler is keeping. Wholesalers with low levels of inventory can be very bad for your business. They have low profits because of lower sales volume and thus charge more margins. You can also get yourself into trouble if your customer is demanding something that the wholesaler isn’t able to provide in time.

Once you choose a wholesale distributor, be clear to straighten out the details in advance. The details might include type of video games you would buy. The price competitiveness shouldn’t be compromised at all. Titles should be original and the delivery time should have a maximum number of days in which a video will be delivered.

Again, start with small investment and gradually pour in more investment with increased learning. Best of luck for your video game drop shipping business.