One of the hardest parts of dating though has got to be finding someone to date.  Sure you can have your friends hook you up on blind dates, but how well do those usually go?  Then there are tons and tons of online dating sites that you can join.  They range from general sites where you answer questions to find compatible partners, to those more specific like farmersonly.com.  Yes, that is a legitimate dating site exclusively for farmers, ranchers, and country folk…

About one in four couples today meet through an online dating site of some kind.  Seems pretty crazy, right?  But what about online gaming?  Surely you have heard tales of men and women meeting in these virtual gaming worlds and falling in love and meeting in person and creating little gaming babies, right?  Okay maybe that is not quite how the story goes, but people are meeting through online gaming.

Check out the statistics for couples and online gaming in the infographic below.

Ever since my favorite video game channel got dropped from DirecTV, I’ve had to resort to YouTube for all my gaming information needs. What I soon found out was that Legend of Zelda fans are really special people.  Even if G4TV were still on my satellite provider’s lineup which is not really their fault, because G4′s channel lineup had gotten so bad that I could hardly find any of the top gaming shows I loved on anymore, I was planning to drop it eventually.  It seemed they were always playing reruns of some old, syndicated programming from network television, like the show COPS, of which I’m not a fan.  I decided to switch my lineup with Time Warner Cable to something that didn’t include G4TV, because honestly, YouTube was able to meet all my gaming information needs.

How I Stumbled Upon It

As I was browsing around, I discovered this crazy video with a girl dressed as Link from The Legend of Zelda games.  It’s a medley of Zelda music, and she goes traipsing through forests and fields along with the sound track, which is impressive;  I’m just not sure what to think of the video aspect of that project.  It’s very strange, and yet, I couldn’t look away.  She’s dressed almost exactly like link, and playing a violin while dancing from rock to rock, river to bank, in a way that is altogether too realistic.  It’s very cool to watch, and everyone who is a fan of the game series knows that the score to the Legend of Zelda is the classical grade music of the video game industry.  It’s really superior, in so many ways.  It just looks awfully strange to see this lithe and agile young woman dressed as Link, and prancing around effeminately (can you even use that term when referring to a female?) in a way that Link himself would never do.  Yes, he gets picked on a lot for looking a bit wimpy, but he’s really pretty tough.  After all, he always defeats the evil Ganondorf, or some version of him, at the end of the game.  Could you do that?  Not in your dreams.

So, without further ado, here it is.  Write a comment to let me know what you think about it.  I’m still not sure what I think.

I was hooked the first time I picked up a controller.  As I grew up, gaming grew with me.  The technology was more advanced, the characters were clearer.  The games were becoming more complex too.  Today, I am still in awe over the fact that there are gaming systems where you do not even need controllers to play.  That’s right your body is the controller.

This infographic shows the evolution of gaming, and it is quite wonderful.

Zelda fans like to know their lore.  Here is an infographic featuring all of the swords of Zelda, which games they appeared in, how they were used to further the plots of various games, and their abilities in the hands of our hero, Link.

1) Ignore the knockback shout.

The first shout you get will push opponents back, giving you some breathing room. If you’re up against mages or archers, this is not so helpful. However, one of the next shouts you should run across is a fireball shout, and this, at later levels, can actually kill opponents in a single hit, taking out dangerous melee opponents and allowing you to close in on those weakling cloth-wearers.

2) Read up on wiki sites.

There’s no shame in research – it’s frustrating to learn your perks are in the wrong place when fixing it means going back tens of hours and redoing weeks of play. Whether you’re playing Skyrim or partypoker, it’s best to have a vault of information you can rely on in order to go into the game with the biggest possible advantages. As long as you’re not spoiling the story for yourself, you should be absolutely fine.

3) Craft!

Learn to enchant your gear, craft new gear, and skill up in these areas. Doing so will mean that you have a far larger advantage in combat, as your armour will be better, with passive magical or physical benefits, from sneaking, to spell damage on melee weapons, to bonuses to Magicka regeneration.

4) Do what you like.

This is the final and most important piece of advice we have to give you. Have fun. Don’t stick to the main quest if you don’t want to. If you want to make the game entirely about hunting and selling what you skin or loot, then good for you. Don’t succumb to completionitis if that’s not what gets you excited in videogames. Skyrim is a very open-plan game compared to most, so find your groove and settle into it. Enjoy your time in Skyrim!

When you are a serious gamer you get to know all  of the games better and know the tricks to crack the code on each one. Saying this, you also will come up with a favorite game and other top online games that follow it. What makes a game your favorite? Is it the website that you are playing on, or is there something more. Do you love a game, because it’s challenging, or easy for you to master level after level? Is it the thrill of completing the mission or  cracking the code to the puzzle?

Whatever the reason may be everyone has their own games that they like more than any others that they have played.

What are the top online games right now? They have a wide variety of content and mission to accomplish. The number one game according to GameHouse is, Plants vs Zombies. This is a game where you plant plants to defend yourself from zombies that want to come eat you.

The second best game on the web right now is Bejewled 3. To get a feel for the second most popular online game available, I decided to give this one a try and report back to you on my personal enjoyment and opinion on the game. To my surprise it wasn’t too different from some of the games that I have played in the past although by no means would I call myself a gamer, I dabble in things here and there to get a feel of the action everyone around me is always talking about. This game is one of those games that you can either play blindly and hope for the best or you can try and strategize, but there is always the factor of chance when new jewels appear.  I tried to play somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and found the game quite interesting.

The third, fourth, and fifth most popular online games are letters from nowhere 2, youda fisherman, delicious- Emily’s tea garden. As with all popular items things are constantly changing so the most popular online games are always changing ranks.

1:  Get a PC.  You can buy a PC pretty cheap that will run Skyrim.  Here are the recommended system specs for the game:

• Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
• Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
• 4GB System RAM
• 6GB free HDD space
• DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher (i.e GTX550Ti); ATI Radeon 4890 or higher).
• DirectX compatible sound card
• Internet access for Steam activation

Stores like BestBuy sell laptops that meet these specs for less than $600 USD, so if you are looking for a Windows laptop to kick around anyway, and you want to play Skyrim, this could be the best bet for you.

2.  Buy a console.  This is a touchy matter for a lot of people, since there are some who simply do not enjoy playing games like The Elder Scrolls on a console.  It was originally written for PC, and you lose touch with some of the controls when you go console.  Still, it’s an option you will need to investigate if you have a Mac but want to play Skyrim.  You could opt for the Xbox 360, or PS3 if you decide to go the console route.

Remember: a game system will still run you a few hundred dollars, so when weighing whether to buy a console or a PC laptop, you need to think about how much total value you will get out of each option.  Shop for this system just like you would shop for directv deals.

So how do you play this more than fantastic computer game?  It is super easy, especially if you are a walking dictionary.  The game loads with fifty-two random letter tiles and starts at Level 1.  You link the tiles together to create words so that you can accumulate enough points so that you are able to move onto the next round.  You might notice that one or more of the new tiles that drop down after you create a word are on fire.  To get rid of the fire before it reaches the bottom, then you must use that letter tile in a word.  If the fire tile reaches the bottom of the tiles, then the library will catch on fire and the game is over.  To eliminate fire tiles, try to create words that are longer than four or so letters.  For more points, you can use the green and gold tiles in words or you can create the bonus word that the game provides you with.

Once you start saving the library from catching fire in Bookworm, you will not be ready for it to end.  The game is so addicting, challenging, and just plain fun.  It is an online game for everyone!

Today’s smart phones are fully capable of allowing gamer to play a number of games. They also offer these games in the mobile store so you can purchase and download any games that you like while you are on the go. People no longer have to sit in an airport with nothing to do or on those long car trips when they are stuck in the back seat. Mobile gaming is becoming one of the most popular attractions. The mobile game “Angry Birds” has become such a hit that it has been featured on tv commercials as well as created toys and stuffed animals for children to play with.

Mobile games have taken the world by storm, but is this really a good thing? It’s true that it provides entertainment when you are on  the go, but what about when you are at work, in a meeting, in class, shopping, walking? There is bound to be  a line that should be drawn to the use of mobile gaming. It has become so popular that game stores are seeing a decline in sales due to the convenience of mobile gaming. Take a look at these statistics for mobile gaming.