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Archive for September, 2009

One of the favorite topics of debate for Naruto fans is the matter of who the stronger one is; Naruto or Sasuke. Now, as you may know, Naruto and Sasuke are rivals. Naruto is the orphan boy who has never had a family and Sasuke is the orphan boy who saw his whole family murdered by none other than his own brother. Naruto was shunned and looked down upon by the villagers because he was the vessel for the Kyuubi, the monster that wreaked havoc upon Konoha 12 years prior. All Naruto wants is for people to acknowledge him. Sasuke, on the other hand, belongs to the Uchiha clan, the strongest and most prestigious clan in Konoha.

Naruto would do anything to have what Sasuke so haphazardly throws away; the respect of the villagers and the love of Haruno Sakura. Sasuke is everything that Naruto is not; he is handsome, well respected, and intelligent to the point of being a genius, powerful without even lifting a finger. Sasuke is the very image of perfection. But unlike Naruto, Sasuke is cold, aloof, and uncaring. He is arrogant and too obsessed with the past and the tattered aristocracy of his dead clan. He is single minded, so driven by the thought of revenge that he takes for granted everything he has left. And that is what Naruto cannot accept. Naruto cannot understand why Sasuke cannot see what he has right in front of him. Naruto cannot understand why Sasuke is never contented. As the series progresses, Naruto becomes stronger and he starts catching up. And this is what Sasuke cannot accept. He cannot understand why someone like Naruto who was dull and did not have a kekkei genkai could be so strong. He cannot understand why Itachi would be more interested in Naruto rather than him. Of course, Sasuke did not know about the Kyuubi back then.

And so they have a rivalry and it’s the age old debate between which would win: power and attitude or power and intelligence.

Naruto

Of course, power and attitude refers to Naruto. Naruto is pure determination. He might not be the brightest pea in the pod, but he sure is the most persevering. What he lacks in intelligence, he more than makes up for in raw power. Of course, Naruto owes his brawn to the Kyuubi who lends him a huge amount of chakra and stamina and this is a huge advantage in fights.

Sasuke

Sasuke, on the other hand is power and intelligence. He wields the Sharingan; the strongest doujutsu in Konoha. He is fast and powerful. And though he might not have as much stamina as Naruto does, he makes up for it with his ingenious strategies and techniques. Like Naruto, Sasuke is determined. But his determination is directed at all the wrong things.

Who is stronger?

So, in the end, who is stronger? Naruto who has his raw strength or Sasuke who has ingenious strategies? Perhaps the answer could be found if they fought. And fight they did. In the valley of the end, Naruto and Sasuke had a definitive fight. It was a grueling fight. They both had equal power ups, Naruto with his Kyuubi stage 2 and Sasuke with his Curse Seal 2. It was an extremely close fight but in the end, it was Sasuke who won. However, let’s not forget that Naruto only had a few tails out then from the Kyuubi and he’s still got up to 9 tails to go in terms of just Kyuubi’s side of power. Besides powers from Kyuubi, Naruto has been constantly been training very viciously in the Naruto Shippuden series and now in Kakashi’s own words “surpass” Akatsuki members by himself. Although Sasuke is more powerful then Naruto, in Shippuden if they were to have a fight today it’s tough to say that Sasuke would even have a chance to win the fight while on the other hand we would expect Naruto to win, bue only by a small margin.

A century ago, the term ‘games’ would have referred to either field sports or games like Chess. With the advent of technology and more recently, the Internet, the term has taken a new meaning. Online gaming has gained massive popularity over the last few years. People no longer play games in the comfort of their homes but also in cyber cafes and, as techies will vouch for it, in offices!
Online gaming offers a lot of flexibility to gamers – flexibility to decide where to play, when to play, what to play, with whom to play. With this kind of gaming, gamers do not need to install games on their computers or game consoles anymore. Furthermore, most of the online games are available for free. Online gaming is becoming increasingly popular as it sets a stage for social networking. Multi-players games make gaming competitive, hence more interesting. The latest trend in online gaming is community gaming. This April, Cafe website opened a social gaming service.
In August last year, Park Associates, a market research and consulting firm, published a report from its research on online gamers in the US. Based on its findings, the firm categorized gamers into six segments, namely, occasional gamers, incidental gamers, leisure gamers, dormant gamers, social gamers and power gamers. The report also declared that online gaming will become a 4-billion dollar industry by 2010 in the US alone.
The interactive world of the Internet was revolutionized by Flash and Java, making online gaming a lucrative and rewarding activity for netizens. The standalone computer games and video game parlors though still hold their ground, it is online gaming that is gradually cementing its roots in the ground.
Most of the online game portals generate their revenue from advertisements. Is it easy to host games online? Have you noticed the video game consoles lined up outside restaurants or in shopping malls? Have you even been to a game parlor? The coin-operated machines there are the original arcade game units. With the advent of the Internet, they took shape into online games, now easily facilitated by Flash, making it easier for websites to host such games.
Recently, big-shots like EA Sports have entered the online gaming market. Social networking websites are adding games to their features to attract gamers. Last year, in a report by the market research company, NPD Group revealed that sixty-two percent of all gamers play games online. In a recent report, it revealed that forty-two percent of the US population plays games online.
According to a February 2008 report by MMOGCHART, World of Warcraft, an online game devised by Blizzard has continued to dominate the subscriptions in the online-games’ market, with 62.3 percent of the subscriptions market share, with RuneScape following next with 6.9 percent.
Currently, with one-fourth of online gamers in the age group of 2-12, it is evident that this segment of gamers will demand more advanced and innovative games in the years to come, promising a tremendous rise in the online gaming market.

Reminiscing the 80s would never be complete without mentioning about 80s arcade games. An arcade game is a coin-operated gaming machine that you would usually find in entertainment centers, video arcades, and even in restaurants. Popular arcade games are redemption games that give players rewards based on their score in the game; computer-controlled video games; and pinball games wherein the player manipulates one or more metal balls on a playfield.

Flashback

Arcade games began to be so popular in the early 70s. Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney made Atari that released the Pong video game (based on ping-pong or table tennis) that became almost everyone’s favorite. The success of the Pong video game spawned lots of imitations and created more and more avid video players. Eventually video game arcades abounded through the 80s. They can be found in the malls, department stores, bars and even in restaurants and movie houses. They’re everywhere in the United States

Popular 80s Arcade Games

In the 80s, arcade games became even more popular. Some of the most influential 80s arcade games were the following:

Space Invaders – This game, one of the predecessors of modern video games, was created by the Japanese Toshihiro Nishikado. It was first released in 1978 in Japan. This arcade game mimics a shooting gallery with a movable laser (resembling a cannon) placed below the video screen. There were video aliens that were designed to disrupt the game by passing across the screen and by raining bombs and rays that are deadly. The goal of the player is to avoid those deadly rays and bombs and shoot the aliens so that they won’t reach the bottom of the screen or else, he or she will lose in the game.

Pac-Man – This was created by Namco and was first distributed in 1980. It game remains to be popular today though it has already taken new forms. Compared to many 80s arcade games, Pac-Man was not violent, was easy to play and was enjoyable, which explains why it clicked both to young and old, girls and boys alike.

The yellow circle with a mouth called Pac-Man makes people remember this game so well through the years. The game is played by maneuvering Pac-Man through the maze, letting him eat small dots and different item prizes along the way. Ghosts named Blinky, Inky, Pinky and Clyde on the other hand chase Pac-Man.

Donkey Kong – Another video game that emerged so popular among other 80s arcade games was the Donkey Kong. It was made by Nintendo and was introduced in 1981. Basically the game is played by maneuvering the chief character, Mario (formerly Jumpman),across a series of platforms. As Mario goes through the platforms, he has to get rid of obstacles that prevent him from rescuing a damsel in distress from the hands of Donkey Kong.

The abovementioned are only some of the most popular 80s arcade games. There were also the Battlezone, Pengo, Tron, Tetris, Rubik’s cube and many others. The craze for 80s arcade games only began to subside in the late 80s when newer forms of entertainment were being introduced such as advanced home video game consoles but 80s arcade games didn’t totally die out until the coming of fighting games like the Street Fighter ll that required two players.