by : Emma Climate Change

A New Wave of Indies Are Using Games to Explore Climate Change

As the world is changing and climate change is becoming a global cause, the indies have come out to support a good a cause and using games a way to educate the youngster about the damage caused by the change in climate and how and why to save it.

Nature is not something that has been used in a game for the first time. The Naturae of behemoth and sprawling cosmopolis has already used this as the common cause of the destruction of the earth and the destruction of the natural world due to human carelessness.

In most of these games, nature is just used as an element without forwarding any real message to the people. But now, game creators have started using a world in gamers who are just a mirror image of our world. The real message of these game developers is to educate the people about the injustice being done to the natural climate which is taking this world to a phase of the climate crisis. Let us have a look at several games which are made to educate people about the climate crisis.

Beyond Blue

In 2016, BBC approached the developers at E line media to start work on a game named as Beyond Blue. The senior producer of games, Mr. Kelvin Jorge later said that the game Never Alone was a game which was pointed towards the native Alaskans caught their attention and therefore they came up with this idea.

Kelvin, who is also an interactive at BBC Studios said that he was influenced by the idea of developing a game whose root cause was to educate their players about the principles aligned as the conservation of nature. So, he started chatting and the same time a documentary which was based on marine life was being released by BBC, blue planet II, which also grabbed a lot of attention from the media and worked as basis of conversation for the other projects.

The thing that struck BBC most was the Never alone, a short cultural insight from the native of Alaska community. The co-founder and CEO of E-Line Media, Michael Angst himself sat and discussed with the creative team and found out a way of storytelling from the perspective of elders and developers who created the game.

And when the BBC’s Blue Planet II was a hit, it brought a new era of development and conversation to a larger audience. Now, they have started searching for developers who can bring about this change keeping in mind providing information about nature in more creative and new ways.

Furthermore, BBC has been creating content of 60 hours of length every year on nature, provoking the issues about the planet. Angst says that it is important for us now to raise big issues through our games and produce games based on reality. He thinks that nature is complex but more beautiful that the imagined world we used to create.

Games coming in near future

Games like Abzû and Subnautica, based on underwater world have already proven the engagement of players. The structure of Beyond blue is also going to be the same where players will be given time to relax in a natural environment.

So, E-Line Media will now be developing soundscape and waterscape modes to show the beauty of nature to its players The games must have dead zones and darkness but at the same time adding a little blue to the games certainly take the gaming experience to a new level.

The game scientists that actually suggested that the future we should create and aspire but at the same time show the reality of our ocean and how they are going towards a crisis.

Wrapping it Up

The world is going towards a natural crisis. We are abusing each and every natural resource without thinking about its future results. The flow of waste and plastics in the ocean is making many marine life of the sea on the verge of extinct. I have seen several news when the waste materials have been found in the stomach of sea fish and several other creatures.

It is the time, either we make the world good for our future generations or put their life at risk without having any natural resource. We have already see the impact of global warming and the rise in temperature due to this. Several glaciers are becoming extinct.

So, if we have a little hope in educating our young generation about this problem then I think we would create a change in the mindset of people around us. Anyway, to live on earth, we need to preserve nature. So, we must start as early we can because the more time we take, the more impact we will have on our lives.…

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by : Emma Product Reviews

Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite Gaming Mouse Review

Corsair introduced its first Scimitar gaming mouse in 2015 and for most of the players, it was a great choice. However, there were many critics who disliked this amazing mouse with 17 programmable buttons. Most of them said that that was too big to hand with one hand and some of them said that so many buttons on the side of the mouse is not effective.

This was really a bold move by a company and fitting 17 programmable buttons to the side and one scroll wheel too in the middle. Now it’s been five years and still the original mouse is on sale giving a bold reply to its critics.

And now, Corsair is coming with its latest Scimitar RGB elite, a lighter and faster than its predecessor. You can clearly have an idea of why Scimitar has gained so much popularity. There are many games in the market that require MOBA and MMO’s compatible mouse. The corsair 12 button mouse is really famous among them as they provide easy access in controlling and aiming.

Since these were already popular, corsair must have thought of making the mouse for the games which are played online or you can say that online streaming games and launched its 17 programmable buttoned mice.

Let’s have a look its features one by one:

Features

The regular Scimitar mouse comes with an optical sensor with 12000 DPI whereas the going to be launched Corsair RGB Elite has PixArt Sensor (one of the best in the industry) with 18000 DPI. Therefore, you would be seeing more precise and accurate control on this mouse while playing games which require precision and great control.

The thing that I liked most is its programmable buttons. Yes, it’s true that you need some time to master it, I used it and I also had to spend a lot of time mastering the Thumbpad. However, the two other buttons that are present at the scroll wheel are the game-changer and provides the control on sensitivity while flying.

Considering the price of the mouse which is just $75, you get a lot which you won’t even think of in a mouse with the same price.

Design
While I saw a lot of changes in the new corsair RGB there are lot more things that has remained unchanged and therefore you might get the same look in the mouse. I played several hours and found it as little chunks. The rest that is provided for the ring finger is textured patterned and after a long playing session you would find it irritating. However, if you don’t play for long hours then you won’t feel any problem with it.

I would certainly give the full credit to its design team which designed all the buttons to the left-hand side of the mouse. All the buttons have an alternating texture and it really helps you in navigating without looking at the buttons.

There could be a problem with people having big hands like me. I am 6’3’’ and therefore my hand is also big. For me, the buttons are really smaller and sometimes I click two buttons at the same time by mistake.

As far as the RGB lighting is concerned, it’s awesome. If you really like RGB you can also change the light by using iCue software, which comes with the mouse. The main areas of RGB lighting are Thumbpad, Scroll wheel and Corsair logo.

Performance

When I started using Corsair Scimitar RGB, I was very uncomfortable while using. I started using with MOB and MMO’s, in less than 7 days, I started using all the keys like a pro. So, it is true that you won’t find it very comfortable while using it for the first time but when you invest a little time using this mouse, you find it much more comfortable.

In just 7 days, I was using this mouse with 100% accuracy while shooting and moving in games much faster than ever before.

It’s really very nice to have all controls under your thumb. You don’t have to look out for W, Shift or 8 while playing. I would really say that this is the best contender of the best gaming mouse in this series as far as accuracy and abilities are concerned.

The cable is really good and durable making this exceptionally best hardware for games.

Wrapping it Up

Speaking honestly and truly, if you play MOBA’s and MMO’s then you must use this mouse. For shooting and other competitive games where you need to present yourself better than others with accuracy, using the Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite will definitely keep you ahead of your competitors.

But if you don’t play these types of games then ask yourself! Do you really need a mouse with 17 programmable buttons? If your answer is “Yes” then go for it.…

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by : Emma Product Reviews

Acer Predator Helios 300 review: Excellent gaming performance at the push of a button

Acer predator series has always been a target for the gamers. The look and feel with the design and quality it gives is all that we want in a gaming laptop.

I bought this laptop quite a few days ago. I have always been a fan of the Predator series and whenever it comes with a new add on to its series I cannot stop myself to get it. Let me talk to you about my first time when I opened Predator Helios 300, it was the same almost but I found a new button. I couldn’t be able to get it that what that button was for. So, I just pressed the button.

The button was present at the top left-hand side of the keyboard and was named as “turbo”. I really couldn’t get it and just pressed the button. The moment I pressed it, the two fans present inside the laptop started with full throttle. That was like a Jet sound coming out of my laptop.

After some time, I came to realize that I must have switched on the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti chip for the graphics and all the 59 blades of the two fans were overclocked with full throttle to keep the system cool.

Features

Price $1100
Display Screen 15.6 inch
Screen resolution 1,920×1,080
CPU 2.6 GHz core-i7
Graphics 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
Storage 256 GB
Operating System Windows 10 Home (64 bit)

At $1100, this is something you don’t get anywhere else except in Acer. An overclocked GPU in a system as thin as Helios 300 can never be imagined but it is true that this laptop delivers more than its price.

Let me tell you one thing that you can just buy this laptop for one single feature-the the turbo button. I can do it multiple times.

What I Like

I really liked the screen resolution, at 1080p you can clearly see everything in a game and aim at great precision.

The Turbo button and the Predator sense button keeps this laptop one step ahead from its competitors. Also, both of them enhances the performance of the game to a great extent.

The memory (RAM) and the storage (SSD) can be easily upgraded according to your requirements. If you need more space, then upgrade the SSD of the laptop and enhance the speed.

What I don’t like

The first thing that I don’t like about this laptop is its keyboard. The light keeps bleeding out from the keyboard. The backlit could have been better.

Another one that I didn’t like is the storage capacity. With a laptop with such a powerful performance, we just get 256GB SSD which doesn’t sound enough.

Acer Predator Helios 300

The Acer Predator Helios 300 has many variants but I reviewed the version available at $1100. I didn’t find anything wrong with this system apart from the small storage space of 256GB. However, there is an empty slot to install the second SSD but nowadays, PC games take much more space and some of them even take up to 50GB of space. Suppose if you play 2-3 games that take space of 50GB or more then you don’t have storage for other things and even your laptop performance will go down because of no available space.

There WIFI is still the previous one 802.11ac but it should have the latest 802.11ax. Also, the laptop has USB C port which must have been upgraded to Thunderbolt 3.

Speed and Battery

If you leave the small storage space, you would find that performance-wise this laptop is a monster at this price. I played, Need for speed, Battlefield 5 and even the Fortnite, the performance was great and the system never lagged at any moment.

If you keep the quality settings on high, you can reach upto 144fps with ease.

However, the amazing performance of the laptop has an adverse effect on the battery life. If you stream videos, then the battery can last approx.  4 hours. However, if you only play games then the performance of the battery life will even be less than 4 hours.

I don’t raise a finger at this laptop’s battery performance as most of the gaming laptops have less than 3 hours of battery life.

The laptop has the Predator sense button by which you can keep an eye on its performance. The button opens a window from where you can directly monitor the system and battery performance and can even control the fans.

Wrapping it Up

As far as the performance and the design is concerned, you get more than what you pay for. The company has come to a step ahead from its Nitro Series and came up with something which is sturdy, has overclocked GPU and 144Hz display.

So, you don’t buy a laptop, you bring a monster to your home with Acer Predator Helios 300.…

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by : Emma EA

EA reassigns future Need for Speed projects to Burnout Developer Criterion Games

Need for Speed, the game which really made the gaming experience to a new level. I am 32 now and I still remember the age from when I started playing back in 1994 when it was launched for the first time. I was just 4-5 years old and since then I had been a great fan of its developers.

Need for Speed

In 2014, a film named “Need for Speed” was released worldwide which was based on this video game series.

For those, who still don’t know this game let me tell you in brief. Need for Speed is a racing game that is going to be developed by Criterion Games. However, this game has been developed by many developers but EA Black Box and Ghost Games were the most popular ones as they brought this game to a new user interface and better graphics.

The recent series of this game was Need for Speed Heat which was released in November 2019. The game was first published 25 years ago but still, after so much time it is still one of the best racing games.

What’s New with NFS?

According to the latest news by gamesindustry.biz, all the coming games in the series of Need for Speed (NFS) will now be developed by Criterion games. It’s big news as this game has been developed by Ghost Games for a long time. When asked to EA, they said that the new is true and now the Ghost Games will be working as a support studio for various projects under EA games.

With this information it is difficult to say that whether in the coming Need for Speed series we would be seeing the same user experience or will it change? With a change in the developer, the experience of a game also changes. I know, I am being a little skeptical but at the same time I am waiting for the next series of Need for Speed.

Criterion Games

Criterion games is not a new developer of games, if you are an NFS lover you must have played the popular 2010: Need for Speed-Hot Pursuit and 2012: Need for Speed-Most wanted. These two games were developed by the Criterion Games.

There are other series too which was developed by Criterion games like the Burnout Series. The Most wanted series that came out in 2012 had a lot of connection to the Burnout series. I have played burnout and the Burnout 3: Takedown was the best series of racing games and one of my favorites too. Therefore, I am eagerly waiting for the new series of Need for Speed by the criterion as I would love to see the same graphics and performance that I saw in Burnout 3.

EA and Criterion

In 2013, the development shifted from criterion to Ghost Games and Criterion was supposed to be working on another racing games project. Most of the developers of Criterion games were shifted to Ghost Games UK. The unnamed game was supposed to be revealed to the public on 2014 but the co-founders of the company Alex Ward and Fiona Sperry left the company at the beginning of 2014 and therefore, the project went to a box.

Since then Criterion spent all its time in supporting the developments of Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Battlefront 2 and most recently Battlefront 5.

The Ghost Games are well known for the 3 series of Need for Speed they developed. The Need for Speed Heat’s was one of the best games that attracted players on the launch as per Official Twitter’s account of game. However, Blake Jorgensen, the Chief Financial Officer of EA games said that only 3-4 million copies were sold and was not much successful.

According to CitizenElder, a game player, “Hot Pursuit 2010 is still his favourite game in the series. He will see what Criterion comes up with next, but he does’t have high hopes: it’s not the same Criterion in 2020”.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)

The series Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit was developed by the British game developing company Criterion Games. The game was published by Electronic Arts also known as EA in 2010. The games were designed in such a way that you are chased by police and busted if caught and there was nothing for car customization. The game was well recognized and got several awards. In E3 2010, it also got the award for the best racing game which was the second award for the NFS series after the original Hot Pursuit Version.

There were just 60 cars available for both the police and the racers and the racing track was designed in a rural area known as Seacrest Country. The game also has weapons which were available to the police and some of the racers.

Overall, the game developed by Criterion was a hit and we are looking for the same in future.…

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