Monthly Archives: February 2009
My Rock Band 2 Review
Rock Band 2. Hmmm where to start? Well besides the songs being perfect and the option to design your character I think that’s just about all I can say that’s good about it. The hammer-ons are horrible, just about every hammer-on you have to strum. Its not even the tv cause its already been calibrated. Being that the Bass Fender Replica is garbage and it causes you to miss notes. The guitar also gives out too. I didn’t buy any of the equipment for this game used even my 360 is brand spanking new. Its just this game is flawed. Tour can get

annoying cause they make you play the same songs over and over. One time I end up playing one specific song 4 times in a row. Some of the songs are so boring it makes you not want to play it any more. I am so look forward to GHW2 (Guitar Hero: World Tour) Even though I’ve looked at their list of song and its just about the same. Being that they’re both decided to push the limits of 85+ songs. Being that this is Guitar Hero’s first. (That’s another thread)
Being also that this game is made by EA (Electronic Arts) that doesn’t help much either. Its like it has the asshole-ness (I know that isn’t a word) of Guitar Hero when it comes to crazy notes to hit but the quality of the game could of been way better. The base replica fret bar is so damn stiff it cause your arm to get sore if you don’t know what you’re doing, even when you do know what you’re doing. Its a hassle playing bass. At times my boyfriend used Guitar Hero’s guitar to relieve the stress with playing with the bass guitar. Yes that is possible at first I was skeptical but the GH’S guitar does better for that game. (No you cannot use RB2′s bass guitar for GH because of the solo buttons). It cause the green fret to stay lit without you even pressing it.
Another thing that ticks me off about this game. When you have a list of songs to play and it differs from female lead singer to male. They don’t change like they would on Guitar Hero. I hope Guitar Hero don’t make that mistake. I mean its wierd seeing lead female/male singers sing the opposite of what they supposed to be singing. Ex: A male singing Paramore – That’s What You Get or A female singing Linkin Park – One Step Closer. I guess they became lazy and decided that well no one would notice and they’re not going to care, just as long as the game plays well. NOT! I’m a female gamer and find that very off and wrong. If they’re going to put out a game at least do it right when it comes to do doing certain things. & The outfits, lets not go there with that. Its like they put an randomizer on the people and the outfits. Its a guy on the game that looks like a straight female but have the body of a man. I almost failed the song cause I couldn’t stop looking at him. Well here’s the list of songs thats on the game. All 85+ of them…
- AC/DC – Let There Be Rock
- AFI – Girl’s Gone Grey
- Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know
- Alice in Chains – Man in the Box
- Allman Brothers – Ramblin’ Man
- Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy
- Bad Company – Shooting Star
- Beastie Boys – So Whatcha Want
- Beck – E-Pro
- Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl
- Billy Idol – White Wedding Pt. 1
- Blondie – One Way or Another
- Bob Dylan – Tangled Up in Blue
- Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
- Cheap Trick – Hello There
- Devo – Uncontrollable Urge
- Dinosaur Jr. – Feel the Pain
- Disturbed – Down with the Sickness
- Dream Theater – Panic Attack
- Duran Duran – Hungry Like the Wolf
- Elvis Costello – Pump It Up
- Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
- Foo Fighters – Everlong
- Guns N’ Roses – Shackler’s Revenge
- Interpol – PDA
- Jane’s Addiction – Mountain Song
- Jethro Tull – Aqualung
- Jimmy Eat World – The Middle
- Joan Jett – Bad Reputation
- Journey – Anyway You Want It
- Judas Priest – Painkiller
- Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
- L7 – Pretend We’re Dead
- Lacuna Coil – Our Truth
- Linkin Park – One Step Closer
- Lit – My Own Worst Enemy
- Lush – De-Luxe
- Mastodon – Colony of Birchmen
- Megadeth – Peace Sells
- Metallica – Battery
- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Where’d You Go
- Modest Mouse – Float On
- Motorhead – Ace of Spades
- Nirvana – Drain You
- Norman Greenbaum – Spirit in the Sky
- Panic! At the Disco – Nine in the Afternoon
- Paramore – That’s What You Get
- Pearl Jam – Alive
- The Presidents of the United States of America – Lump
- Rage Against The Machine – Testify
- Ratt – Round & Round
- Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give it Away
- Rise Against – Give it All
- Rush – The Trees
- Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye
- Smashing Pumpkins – Today
- Social Distortion – I Was Wrong
- Sonic Youth – Teenage Riot
- Soundgarden – Spoonman
- Squeeze – Cool for Cats
- Steely Dan – Bodhitsattya
- Steve Miller Band – Rock’n Me
- Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
- System of a Down – Chop Suey
- Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
- Tenacious D – Master Exploder
- Testament – Souls of Black
- The Donnas – New Kid in School
- The Go-Go’s – We Got the Beat
- The Grateful Dead – Alabama Getaway
- The Guess Who – American Woman
- The Muffs – Kids in America
- The Offspring – Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)
- The Replacements – Alex Chilton
- The Who – Pinball Wizard
Bonus Songs:
- Abnormality – Visions
- Anarchy Club – Get Clean
- Bang Camaro – Night Lies
- Breaking Wheel – Shoulder to the Plow
- The Libyans – Neighborhood
- The Main Drag – A Jagged Gorgeous Winter
- Speck – Conventional Lover
- The Sterns – Supreme Girl
- That Handsome Devil – Rob the Prez-O-Dent
The Video Game Dictionary
Yes, I know there’s n00bs out there, this is why this type of blog exists. I’m also allowing other members of WordPress to add onto this blog if you have words that need to be on here. Please, no words and definitions you made up yourself. Thanks.
FYI: Some of the links will send you to the actual site to check them out more. Others will send you to either a video game you can play online or to see trailers and such. XD
Action → An action game requires players to use quick reflexes and timing to overcome obstacles. It is perhaps the most basic of gaming genres, and certainly one of the broadest. Action games tend to have game-play with emphasis on combat. There are many sub-genres of action games, such as fighting games and first-person shooters.
Fighting → Fighting games emphasize one-on-one combat between two characters, one of which may be computer controlled. These games are usually played by linking together long chains of button presses on the controller to use physical attacks to fight. Many of the movements employed by the characters are usually dramatic and occasionally physically impossible. Combat is almost always one-on-one, though there are some exceptions such as the Super Smash Bros. series and Guilty Gear Isuka, pitting up to four combatants in the fight at one time.
Platform → Platform games (Platformers) are a sub-genre of action game. These games involve traveling between platforms by jumping (very occasionally other means are substituted for jumping, like swinging or bouncing, but these are considered variations on the same mechanic). Other traditional elements include running and climbing ladders and ledges. Platformers frequently borrow elements from other genres like fighting and shooting (such as the Castlevania series, which incorporates role-playing). They are most often associated with iconic cartoon mascots like Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, and Rayman, though platform games may have any theme.
Shooter → A shooter game focuses primarily on combat involving projectile weapons, such as guns and missiles. They can be divided into first-person and third-person shooters, depending on the camera perspective. Some first-person shooters use light gun technology.
- First-person Shooter → First-person shooter video games, commonly known as FPS‘s, emphasize shooting and combat from the perspective of the character controlled by the player. This perspective is meant to give the player the feeling of “being there”, and allows the player to focus on aiming. Most FPS’s are very fast-paced and require quick reflexes on high difficulty levels. Since the release of Doom, most FPS games now have a multi-player feature to allow competition between multiple players. Counter Strike: Condition Zero and Half-Life 2 are some of the notable games of the past few years in this genre. Examples of first-person shooter games include: the Halo series and the Half-Life series.
- Light-gun Shooter → Light gun shooters are a genre of shooter genre designed for use with a pointing device for computers control device for arcade and home consoles. The first light gun of this type was used on the MIT Whirlwind computer. Some “light gun” games actually use guns mounted on joysticks, giving the illusion of using a light beam, but all control is transferred through the movement of the stick; notable examples of this include T2: The Arcade Game and Revolution X. Examples of light-gun shooter games include: Time Crisis and Duck Hunt.
- Shoot em’ up → A shoot ‘em up (or shmup for short) is a genre of shooter game in which the player controls a vehicle or character and shoots large numbers of enemies. During the peak of their popularity they were commonly called simply shooters, but with the emergence of first-person shooters, shoot ‘em up has become an inclusive term to describe various kinds of non-3D shooter games. Examples of shoot ‘em up games include: the Star Fox series and Ikaruga.
- Tactical Shooter → Tactical shooters are variations on the first person shooter genre (though also, less often, on third person shooters). Some are similar to existing games, but modified to increase the realism of the original game. These games emphasize tactical play such as planning and teamwork (for example, co-ordination and specialized roles), whereas more conventional first person shooters tend to reward individual skill and heroism. In single player modes, the player commands a squad of AI controlled characters in addition to their own; in multi-player modes, players must work in teams to win the game. Also, in multi-player games, winning a match is likely to be dependent on capturing an objective of some sort rather than gaining the most kills (as is often the case in more conventional first person shooters). Examples of tactical shooter games include: the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series and the SOCOM series.
- Third-person Shooter → Third-person shooter video games, known as TPS‘s or 3PS‘s, emphasize shooting and combat from a camera perspective in which the player character is seen at a distance. This perspective gives the player a wider view of their surroundings as opposed to the limited viewpoint of first-person shooters. Furthermore, third-person shooters allow for more elaborate movement such as rolling or diving, as opposed to simple jumping and crouching common in FPS games. Greater interaction with the player’s environment is often possible. The emphasis remains on shooting, however; these games lack the platforming and puzzle elements of action-adventure shooting games. Examples of third-person shooter games include:Gears of War and Max Payne
Action-Adventure → Action-adventure games combine elements of their two component genres, typically featuring long-term obstacles that must be overcome using a tool or item as leverage (which is collected earlier), as well as many smaller obstacles almost constantly in the way, that require elements of action games to overcome. Action-adventure games tend to focus on exploration and usually involve item gathering, simple puzzle solving, and combat. Action-adventure games are often confusingly called “adventure games” by console gamers. Examples of action-adventure games include: The Legend of Zelda series, the Tomb Raider series, and the Grand Theft Auto series.
- Stealth → Stealth games are a somewhat recent genre, sometimes referred to as “sneakers” or “creepers” to contrast with the action-oriented “shooter” sub-genre. These games tend to emphasize subterfuge and precision strikes over the more overt mayhem of shooters. Most have first- or third-person shooter elements, but there are some exceptions like Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. Examples of stealth games include: the Metal Gear series, the Thief series, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Hitman series. and (arguably) the Hitman Series.
- Survival Horror → Survival horror games focus on fear and attempt to scare the player via traditional horror fiction death, the undead, blood and gore. One crucial game play mêlée weapons. elements such as atmospherics, element in many of these games is the low quantity of ammunition, or number of breakables. Examples of survival horror games include: the Resident Evil series, Alone in the Dark, and the Silent Hill Series.
Adventure → Adventure games were some of the earliest games created, unlike adventure films, adventure games are not defined by story or content. Rather, adventure describes a manner of game-play without reflex challenges or action. They normally require the player to solve various puzzles by interacting with people or the environment, most often in a non-confrontational way. It is considered a “purist” genre and tends to exclude anything which includes action elements beyond a mini game.
- Graphic Adventure → Graphic adventure games emerged as graphics became more common. Adventure games began to supplement and later on replace textual descriptions with visuals (for example, a picture of the current location). Early graphic adventure games used text-parsers to input commands. The growing use of mice led to the “point-and-click” genre of adventure games, where the player would no longer have to type commands. The player could, for example, click on a hand icon and then on a rope to pick up the rope. Examples of graphic adventure games include: The Myst series and the King’s Quest series.
- Escape The Room → Escape the room is a genre of online graphic adventure game, usually created for Adobe Flash and utilizing a point and click style of play. The object of the game is to find a way to escape from a mysterious room. Examples of escape the room games include: MOTAS.
- Visual Novel → A visual novel is an adventure game game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art. As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels or tableau vivant stage plays. Many visual novels track statistics that the player must build in order to advance the plot, and permit a variety of endings, allowing more dynamic reactions to the player’s actions than a typical linear adventure plot. Visual novels are especially prevalent in Japan, where they make up nearly 70% of PC games released.They are rarely produced for video game consoles, but the more popular games are sometimes ported to systems such as the Sega Dreamcast or the Playstation 2. The market for visual novels outside of Japan, however, was nearly non-existent prior to the success of the Nintendo DS, for which several Japanese visual novels were released in the West, such as the Ace Attorney series. Examples of visual novel games include: Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk: Room 215
- Interactive Movie → An interactive movie contains pre-filmed full-motion cartoons or live-action sequences, where the player controls some of the moves of the main character. For example, when in danger, the player decides which move, action, or combination to choose. In these games, the only activity the player has is to choose or guess the move the designers intend him to make. Examples of interactive movie games include: Dragon’s Lair, Space Ace and Night Trap.
Construction and management simulation → Construction and management simulation games (or CMS‘s) are a type of simulation game which task players to build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources.
- City-building → In city-building games the player acts as overall planner or leader to meet the needs and wants of game characters by initiating structures for food, shelter, health, spiritual care, economic growth, etc. Success is achieved when the city budget makes a growing profit and citizens experience an upgraded lifestyle in housing, health, and goods. While military development is often included, the emphasis is on economic strength. Perhaps the most known game of this type is SimCity, which is still popular and has had great influence on later city-building games. SimCity, however, also belongs to the God Games genre since it gives the player god-like abilities in manipulating the world.
- Business Simulation → Business simulation games generally attempt to simulate an economy or business, with the player controlling the economy of the game.
- God Games → Unlike other genres of games, God games often do not have a set goal that allows a player to win the game. The focus of a god game tends to be control over the lives of people, anywhere from micromanaging a family to overseeing the rise of a civilization. Examples of God games include the genre-setting Populous, Black & White, SimEarth and Spore.
- Government Simulation → A government simulation game (or “political game“) involves the simulation of the policies, government or politics of a country, but typically excludes warfare. Recently, these types of games have gained the moniker “serious game“.
- Life Simulation → Life simulation games (or Artificial Life Games) involve living or controlling one or more artificial lives. A life simulation game can revolve around individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem.
- Biological Simulation → Biological simulations may allow the player to expermient with genetics, survival or ecosystems, often in the form of an educational package. A relatively recent example is Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
- Pet-raising Simulation → Pet-raising simulations (or digital pets) focus more on the relationship between the player and one or few life forms. They are often more limited in scope than other biological simulations. This includes popular examples of Virtual Pets such as Tamagotchi, and the Nintendogs series.
- Social Simulation → Social simulation games base their game play on the social interaction between multiple artificial lives. The most famous example from this genre is Will Wright’s The Sims.
Role Playing → Computer and console role-playing games (CRPGs or simply RPGs) draw their gameplay from traditional role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Most cast the player in the role of one or more “adventurers” who specialize in specific skill sets (such as combat or casting magic spells) while progressing through a predetermined storyline. Many involve maneuvering these character(s) through an overworld, usually populated with monsters, that allows access to more important game locations, such as towns, dungeons, and castles.
- Computer & Console Role-playing → Due to cultural differences in role-playing video games, there are two different types of RPG‘s. The first involves the player creating a character and a non-linear storyline along which the player makes his own decisions. In the second type, the player controls a party of predefined characters through a dramatically scripted linear storyline. These styles are sometimes referred to as Computer/Western RPG‘s and Console/Eastern RPG‘s respectively, although there are numerous exceptions. Examples of computer/Western role-playing games include: Ultima and The Elder Scrolls. Examples of console/Eastern role-playing games include: Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
- Action Role-playing → The action role-playing game or action RPG is a type of role-playing game which incorporates elements from action games or action-adventure games. Examples of action role-playing games include: Dungeon Siege and Kingdom Hearts.
- Massively multi-player online role-playing → Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, (or MMORPG‘s), emerged in the mid to late 1990s as a commercial, graphical variant of text-based MUDs, which had existed since around 1979. By and large, MMORPG‘s feature the usual RPG objectives of completing quests and strengthening one’s player character, but involve up to hundreds of players interacting with each other on the same persistent world in real-time. Examples of massively multiplayer online role-playing games include: MapleStory, World of Warcraft, and RuneScape.
- Rouge-like → The roguelike video game sub-genre borrows its name and game-play elements from the 1980 computer game Rogue. Superficially, a rogue-like is a two-dimensional dungeon crawl with a high degree of randomness and an emphasis on statistical character development. Though traditionally featuring a text user interface, many such games utilize graphic tiles to overcome character set limitations. Examples of rogue-like games include: ADOM and NetHack.
- Tactical Role-playing → The tactical role-playing game sub-genre principally refers to games which incorporate gameplay from strategy games as an alternative to traditional RPG systems. Like standard RPG‘s, the player controls a finite party and battles a similar number of enemies, but this genre incorporates strategic gameplay such as tactical movement on an isometric grid. Examples of tactical role-playing games include: Shining Force and the Front Mission series.
Strategy → Strategy video games focus on gameplay requiring careful and skillful thinking and planning in order to achieve victory. In most strategy video games, says Andrew Rollings, “the player is given a godlike view of the game world, indirectly controlling the units under his command.” Rollings also notes that “The origin of strategy games is rooted in their close cousins, board games.” Strategy video games generally take one of four archetypal forms, depending on whether the game is turn-based or real-time and whether the game’s focus is upon strategy or military tactics.
- 4X → 4X refers to a genre of strategy video game with four primary goals: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. A 4X game can be turn-based or real-time. Perhaps the best known eXample of this genre is Sid Meier’s Civilization series.
- Artillery → Artillery is the generic name for either early two or three-player (usually turn-based) computer games involving tanks fighting each other in combat or similar derivative games. Artillery games were among the earliest computer games developed; they can be considered an extension of the original uses of computers themselves, which were once used for military-based calculations such as plotting the trajectories of rockets. Artillery games are a type of strategy game, though they have also been described as a “shooting game.” Examples of artillery games include: GunBound and Scorched Earth.
- Real-time Strategy → A real-time tactics game shares feature of the simulation and wargame genres. These titles focus on operational aspects and control of warfare. Unlike in real-time strategy games, resource and economical management and building plays no part of the gameplay. Examples of RTT games include: Warhammer: Dark Omen and the Close Combat series.
- Tower Defense → Tower defense games have a very simple layout. Usually, computer-controlled monsters called creeps move along a set path, and the player must place, or “build” towers along this path to kill the creeps. In most tower defense games different towers have different abilities such as poisoning enemies or slowing them down. The player is awarded money for killing creeps, and this money can be used to buy more towers, or buy upgrades for a tower such as increased power or range. Examples of tower defense games include: Desktop Tower Defense.
- Turn-base Strategy → The gameplay of turn-based tactics games is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their tasks using the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and operations. Examples of TBT games include: the Jagged Alliance series and the X-COM series.
- War Games → Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map. Wargames generally take one of four archetypal forms, depending on whether the game is turn-based or real-time and whether the game’s focus is upon military strategy or tactics. Examples of video wargames include: the Panzer General series and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series.
Vehicle Simulation → Vehicle simulation games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles.
- Flight → A flight simulation tasks the player with flying an aircraft, usually an airplane, as realistically as possible. Combat flight simulators are the most popular sub-genre of simulation. The player controls the plane, not only simulating the act of flying, but also combat situations. There are also civilian flight simulators that do not have the combat aspect.
- Racing → Racing games typically place the player in the driver’s seat of a high-performance vehicle and require the player to race against other drivers or sometimes just time. This genre of games is one of the staples of the computer gaming world and many of the earliest computer games created were part of this genre. Emerging in the late 1970s, this genre is still very popular today and continues to push the envelope in terms of graphics and performance. These games “tend to fall into organized racing and imaginary racing categories“.
- Space Flight → Space flight simulator games are a sub-genre that involve piloting a spacecraft. Space simulators are different from other sub-genres, and are not generally considered to be simulators, as their simulated objects do not always exist and often disregard the laws of physics. However, simulators of real spacecraft do exist: Orbiter is one example.
- Train → Train simulators simulate the vehicles, environments and often economics associated with railway transport. These are frequently historical in nature, reminiscing on the evolution and emergence of the railroad in various countries and the economic booms that often accompanied them.
- Vehicular Combat → Vehicular combat or car combat games focus on fast-paced action, as the player operates a car or other vehicle and attempts to disable or destroy CPU or human opponents. Vehicular combat games often allow a player to choose from a variety of potential vehicles, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Vehicular combat was born out of racing/shooter combinations like Spy Hunter, RoadBlasters and Rock ‘N‘ Roll Racing, but differs in that the players can, if desired, take their vehicles off predefined routes and do battle wherever they please.
Other Notable Genres
- Music → Music games most commonly challenge the player to follow sequences of movement or develop specific rhythms. Some games require the player to input rhythms by stepping with their feet on a dance pad, or using a device similar to a specific musical instrument, like a replica drum set. Other games avoid rhythm-based game-play and instead focus on pitch-based, memory-based, or sandbox-style game-play.
- Party → Party games are video games developed specifically for multi-player games between many players. Normally, party games have a variety of different types of mini-games that range between collecting more of a certain item than other players or having the fastest time at something. Versus multi-player games are not generally considered to be party games.
- Puzzle → Puzzle games require the player to solve logic puzzles or navigate complex locations such as mazes. This genre frequently crosses over with adventure and educational games. Some arcade games, in particular Tetris-variants, are often labeled puzzle games, despite the fact that game-play depends on hand/eye coordination and quick reflexes, rather than thought and logic.
- Programming → A programming game is a computer game where the player has no direct influence on the course of the game. Instead, a computer program or script is written in some domain-specific programming language in order to control the actions of the characters (usually robots, tanks or bacteria, which seek to destroy each other). Final Fantasy XII also includes some elements of a programming game, as the player creates the AI of his characters, although the player can also choose to directly control the action.
- Sports → Sports games emulate the playing of traditional physical sports. Some emphasize actually playing the sport, while others emphasize the strategy behind the sport (such as Championship Manager). Others satirize the sport for comic effect (such as Arch Rivals). One of the best selling series in this genre is the Madden NFL series.
- Traditional → Most popular board games, card games, and the like have been computerized to some degree or another. Computer game programs can be worthy opponents and can help improve one’s skill at traditional games.
- Chess, Checkers, Othello (also known as Reversi), and Backgammon have world class computer programs.
- Mah-jongg and related games are immensely popular in China and Japan.
- Go is popular in East Asia. It is infamously difficult to program a computer to play Go well: see Computer Go.
- Magic: The Gathering has had computer versions for some time.
- 42 All-Time Classics is a game for Nintendo DS that features online play through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Purpose Genres → While most video games are designed as entertainment, many video games are designed with additional purposes. These purposes are as varied as the nature of information itself – to inform, persuade, or stimulate. These games can have any kind of gameplay, from puzzles to action to adventure.
- Adult → Adult video games, like adult movies or other media, are intended for an adult audience. In general, the purpose of adult games is to provide erotic entertainment, rather than just game-play. There exists a wide variety of adult games, though many lack mainstream appeal and represent a niche category. The object of an adult game may differ from a mainstream video game, in that the reward can be a visual representation of nudity, partial nudity, or sexual activity rather than points, etc. Some games may focus on humor or drama rather than arousal, or simply have normal game-play accompanied by nudity.
- Advergame → Advergames have recently become popular due to the Burger King, King Games Collection, though Advergames, like the 7up Cool Spot game and the Dominoes Yo! Noid games, were around much earlier. The majority of Advergames are found online and mostly include simple and cheaply made Flash games. It is expected that Advergamimg will become a very popular and far more highly invested in the coming years as TV ad revenue lessens and video games are shown to have a greater and greater impact on public opinion.
- Casual → Casual games have very simple rules or play techniques and a very low degree of strategy. They also require no long-term time commitment or special skills to play, making them easy to learn and play as a pastime. There are comparatively low production and distribution costs for the producer. Casual games typically are played on a personal computer online in web browsers, although they now are starting to become popular on game consoles. The purpose of the casual game is to entertain, but with a much lower commitment than other video games.
- Christian → Christian games attempt to provide the dual purposes of spreading the Christian ideology to non-believers through the medium of video games, and providing gamers who identify as Christian with a common pool of games that neither challenge their beliefs nor offend them. Christian video games were first developed by Wisdom Tree for the NES without license. While largely regarded as derivative titles by the mainstream gaming culture, Christian games have nevertheless expanded in distribution since their inception.
- Educational → Educational games, as the name implies, attempt to teach the user using the game as a vehicle. Most of these types of games target young user from the ages of about three years to mid-teens; past the mid-teens, subjects become so complex (e.g. Calculus) that teaching via a game is impractical. Numerous sub-genres exist, each for a different field (math games, typing games and so on).
- Electronic Sports → Electronic Sports games are multi-player games that are usually played competitively at the professional level. These game are often targeted at the ‘hardcore’ gaming audience, and usually require fast twitch-based reaction speed and coordination (such as First Person Shooters) or high levels of strategic micromanagement/macro-management such as Real Time Strategy games.
- Exergame → An exergame (portmanteau of “exercise” and “game“) is a video game that provides exercise. “Exergames” sub-divide into two main implementations, those with a game specifically designed to use an exercise input device (for example, the game Wii Fit using the Wii Balance Board) and those implementations using a genre of a game. Games fit into the category of entertainment, and similarly Exergames are a category of Exertainment (formed from “exercise” and “entertainment“). Exertainment includes one aspect of innovation or entertainment to an exercise workout.
- Serious → Serious games are intended to educate or train the player. These games tend to promote “education, science, social change, health care or even the military.” Some of these games have no specific ending or goal in the game. Rather, the player learns a real life lesson from the game. For example, games from websites such as Newsgaming.com and gamesforchange.org raise political issues using the distinct properties of games.
Solving the Xbox 360 Disc Scratching Issue
If you’re within your console’s warranty period, be sure to contact Microsoft for a repair or replacement before attempting this. Opening your console will void your warranty!
Things you’ll need:
- A set of 4 self-adhesive foam rubber pads (may be available at craft stores)
1. Open your console and remove your drive. If you need help opening the 360 console, see my tutorial on, “How to open an Xbox 360“. So okay, remove the drive’s case.
3. Reassemble the drive and put your 360 back together. That’s it, enjoy your scratch-free drive!
How To Open A Xbox 360
Things you’ll need:
- A Torx 6 driver or bit [The size changed from 10 to 6 to keep people from getting in them. They're stupid by the way].
- A small, flat tool (screwdriver or knife)
- First, you’ll need to remove the faceplate. If you don’t, you may have trouble removing clips later. Using the hole at the bottom of the console, pull forward on the faceplate.
- If you have a hard drive, disconnect it as well. There’s a button towards the front, just push it and the drive will snap right out.
- Remove the bottom panel by releasing the six small tabs that holds it in place. Turn it upside down and, using the small, flat tool, pull up while applying pressure to the tabs. It should come out fairly easily.
- The panel on top is a little more tricky. The front two tabs can be popped out from two holes near the drive connector, and the next two can be accessed through the vent holes, like the bottom panel. The last tab can be found by removing one of the rubber feet at the rear.
- Lay the 360 on its side, upside-down. You’ll see 7 slots on the rear of the console, tabs that are holding the case in place. Starting from the right side, insert your tool into each slot and release the tabs.
- Flip to the opposite side, and if you haven’t removed the warranty sticker, do it now. No turning back now, your warranty is voided. Pry up the slots on the front side to separate the halves of the case. [Click picture for full view.]
7. Now you’ll see the metal chassis. You only need to remove six of the screws you see here, shown in the image. Use the Torx 10 bit or driver to do this.
8. Flip it back over, and remove the eject button. Pry under the right side and pop it out.
9. Lift up the top, and rejoice, your 360 is open!
Guitar Hero: World Tour Review
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Wow, when I finally got around to purchasing Guitar Hero: World Tour. I was expecting great feats from this game. Guitar Hero never cease to amaze me. I haven’t bought the whole set yet but I will in the near future. I don’t even have the guitar yet. I still have the guitar from Guitar Hero III. Even though yea its operation all Guitar Hero: World Tour, I’m missing out on the other features without it. Anyway, enough of that. Lets talk about the game.
I sometimes see the similarities between Rock Band 2 & Guitar Hero, even though they were together at one time and decided to part ways; it is really difficult to chose between the two. Rock Band 2 has a better layout and better features to an extent. Even the setlist is better than that of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero have a good setlist but the design of the characters suck major ass really. I find myself at times playing Rock Band 2 more than Guitar Hero cause I can actually stomach their characters. The instruments between the two are very much alike, but the play of the game is some what different, well for the base that is. Guitar Hero is more challenging and more fun with playing Bass. Its fun and its something new, I mean something had to be different from the two right?
I can’t really discuss the equipment for this game for the simple fact as I mentioned, haven’t purchased it yet. I heard through the gaming-vines that Rock Band 2 instruments are far better design wise. Anyway, moving on.
I will though mention that the loading times are faster than on Rock Band 2. The game has more storage and the graphics are great, minus the people. The only character on that game I play with is Izzy Sparks. He’s been my buddy through out the whole series of Guitar Hero. He looks more masculine on this version of Guitar Hero but I’m not complaining, I hope they would of changed him up a bit.
Guitar Hero have the regular features and a few other features. here’s Quick Play, Career Mode for both band and single-player, Co-Op play, Face-Off, Battles, etc. Career of course is when you play the setlist to open new features and songs and things like that, that’s for band too. Single-player when you want to play solo. Co-op play when you want to play with a friend whether its online or not. Face-off Battles is my favorite which is too online or offline. The best thing that makes Guitar Hero better than Rock Band 2 is that, they don’t make you play the same songs over and over in different venues and cities. That was a big turn off for me when I first acknowledged that. When it comes to pick the songs though when you just want to play a quick game in quick play its so
unorganized and they only allow you to chose 6 songs. While Rock Band 2 allow you to pick the whole setlist if you want. Which is 85+ songs.
Even unlocking a song is a hassle in this game. If you played it you’ll understand what I mean. If you unlock a song by yourself and then you decide to play the band career, you won’t be able to play it cause you unlocked it solo. Thats kind of dumb isn’t it? Rock Band makes it an option to save your fellow band mates if they are struggling, Guitar Hero does not. Also Guitar Hero makes you share the star power while on Rock Band 2, you and your band mates have their own star power. Thats been one of my biggest complaints since the beginning.
Even though the game gives you an option to have your own online band if you don’t have one for your own. Which is probably why I haven’t bought the whole set yet. You can also if you have the whole band set and good players, you and another band can battle it out online also. See the game isn’t that messed up.
Okay the fact that you can make your own songs just about pwns Rock Band 2. Even though that needs a few tweaks too but its a start. Further down the line hopefully the game will continue to amaze the players. The soundtrack could of been different cause even though the whole setlist wasn’t exactly like Rock Band 2 it was almost close to it. They have a good selection though even though it still needs work. Such as Disturbed, Michael Jackson, Linkin Park, Metallica. They need more than just one song on the game instead of downloading them. That crap cost a lot of Microsoft Points, well if you’re playing on the Xbox 360.
When creating your ideal character, it gets very thorough. You can change the features a lot on this game. You can even have the option to change the age of your character also. That’s nice too but the skin pigment needs a lot of work. Some of the pigments make it look as if you’re glowing from some toxic waste or something. So that’s why I just stick with the original characters from the game. While on Rock Band 2 I use the character I created. Her name is Lee.

My character [Lee
ESRB: T for Lyrics, Mild and Suggestive
Genre: Music
Available on: PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PS2 and Wireless
Release Date: October 26, 2008
I give this game a 7 and yes I would recommend this game to my fellow gamers.
I’ve decided for those who aren’t familiar with the game or haven’t played the game to provide to the setlist for the game. Note: The setlist is the same on all consoles from my understanding.
Setlist
• 311 – “Beautiful Disaster”
• 30 Seconds To Mars – “The Kill”
• Airbourne – “Too Much Too Young”
• The Allman Brothers Band – “Ramblin’ Man”
• Anouk – “Good God”
• The Answer – “Never Too Late”
• At The Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
• Beastie Boys – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
• Beatsteaks – “Hail to the Freaks”
• Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”
• Black Label Society – “Stillborn”
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Weapon of Choice”
• blink-182 – “Dammit”
• Blondie – “One Way or Another”
• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – “Hollywood Nights”
• Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer”
• Bullet For My Valentine – “Scream Aim Fire”
• Coldplay – “Shiver”
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Up Around The Bend”
• The Cult – “Love Removal Machine”
• Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel The Pain”
• The Doors – “Love Me Two Times”
• Dream Theater – “Pull Me Under”
• The Eagles – “Hotel California”
• The Enemy – “Aggro”
• Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
• Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
• Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
• The Guess Who – “American Woman”
• Hush Puppies – “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
• Interpol – “Obstacle 1”
• Jane’s Addiction – “Mountain Song”
• Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze (Live)”
• Jimi Hendrix – “The Wind Cries Mary”
• Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
• Joe Satriani – “Satch Boogie”
• Kent – “Vinternoll2”
• Korn – “Freak On A Leash”
• Lacuna Coil – “Our Truth”
• Lenny Kravitz – “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
• Linkin Park – “What I’ve Done”
• The Living End – “Prisoner of Society”
• Los Lobos – “La Bamba”
• Lost Prophets – “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”
• Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
• Mars Volta – “L’Via L’Viaquez”
• MC5’s Wayne Kramer – “Kick Out The Jams”
• Metallica – “Trapped Under Ice”
• Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
• Modest Mouse – “Float On”
• Motörhead – “Overkill”
• Muse – “Assassin”
• Negramaro – “Nuvole e Lenzuola”
• Nirvana – “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
• No Doubt – “Spiderwebs”
• NOFX – “Soul Doubt”
• Oasis – “Some Might Say”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Mr. Crowley”
• Paramore – “Misery Business”
• Pat Benatar – “Heartbreaker”
• R.E.M. – “The One I Love”
• Radio Futura – “Escuela De Calor”
• Rise Against – “Re-Education Through Labor”
• Sex Pistols – “Pretty Vacant”
• Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
• Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
• Steely Dan – “Do It Again”
• Steve Miller Band – “The Joker”
• Sting – “Demolition Man (Live)”
• The Stone Roses – “Love Spreads”
• Stuck In The Sound – “Toy Boy”
• Sublime – “Santeria”
• Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
• System of a Down – “B.Y.O.B.”
• Ted Nugent – “Stranglehold”
• Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
• Tokio Hotel – “Monsoon”
• Tool – “Parabola”
• Tool – “Schism”
• Tool – “Vicarious”
• Trust – “Antisocial”
• Van Halen – “Hot For Teacher”
• Willie Nelson – “On The Road Again”
• Wings – “Band on the Run”
• Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
How to Get Your Full-Body Xbox 360 Avatar
- Copy and paste this link into the browser – > http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/(gamertag)/avatar-body.png
- Where it says “(gamertag)” clear that and put in your gamertag. – > http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/KiqRoqz/avatar-body.png
- & Viola you have you Xbox 360 avatar!
If you would like to have your avatar on a website like Myspace or your blog, just upload it to Photobucket, ImageShack, TinyPic etc etc and grab the HTML code.
I made this tutorial because I’ve honestly gotten tired of people asking me how I got mine. Feel free to pass this blog around to other n00bs of the web.
Is Using Limewire or Any Other P2P Program Legal or Illegal?
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Technically the act of using Limewire/Kazaa/Morpheus or any other P2P file sharing system IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. However, the act of sharing copyrighted music is what the authorities will prosecute for, as you are allowing other users to download something which they should pay for, for free.
The act of downloading music which is being shared by other users, is illegal, however the authorities will prosecute those who are sharing a “significant amount of music” – like drugs they will go after the DEALERS not the USERS.
More input and advice:
The main question here is not whether Limewire is illegal, but if mp3 sharing, or sharing of any files/applications for that matter, is illegal. There have been lots of lawsuits where the music recording industry have tried to serve hefty fines etc to the companies/individuals who encourage and facilitate the sharing of files between people. However in recent court cases the decision has been made that it is not plausible to adequately place blame on people, since all software such as Limewire does is act as a catalyst. The heart and soul of Limewire, WinMX and KaZaa is the people, like you or I, that download files and likewise make files on our own PC’s available for others. In order to ‘win’, the recording industry would have to sue each and every one of us, which would simply be a too difficult and costly task. By taking software such as Limwire off the internet by way of force, all that would happen is that another group of individuals would come up with something new, and another head would grow in its’ place. It’s like trying to police an individual taking a new CD that he bought over to his friend’s house and copying it on to his PC: virtually impossible.
As we all know, technically, ftp is legal in itself as a mode of communication and data transfer. It has really (unbelievably) been used since not long after the second world war. The net was invented as a communication method that would be almost self-healing after an attack, by offering billions of alternative routes for data transfer. In itself it is pure genius and gives us communication that our ancestors would only dream of. Music piracy has shot up tenfold since the advent of programmers like Napster. The US & UK governments thought the problems had died when they passed acts that shut these sites down. These primitive file share sites actively promoted the fact that they offered music free to download through their shareware. But the new breed is VERY different. Programmers like KaZaa, Limewire, WinMX and E.Donkey, are just bacteria that feed on the source that almost all internet users harbor in their own homes. A piece of software is an appliance. Like a tumble drier. A tumble drier dries your clothes. An FTP application downloads files. It doesn’t know what a particular file is, what it shows, or how it works. It just does its job. But the pitfall is that this software can pass copyrighted music, unreleased Hollywood blockbusters, expensive software, child pornography, important and censored documents/images/films in an unbiased way between countries, individuals, criminals and governments. So, Limewire IS technically legal. But it and programmers like it have a finite lifespan and I would wager that within the next few years (maybe 6 at the most), File sharing will be another heavily taxed weapon in our worldwide governmental arsenal. It’s the first opportunity for the world to get something for free. (REALLY FREE). Grab the chance now and go forth my children and get what you need (but make sure it’s legal) Just because you can get it, it doesn’t mean that the stuff you have is legal. Steer clear of terrorism movies/ images, child porn, pornography of a corrupt nature in general, and any file that your conscience and society will not accept. But otherwise, ENJOY this rare blip in history when the majority notched up a rare victory on the bedpost of our existence.
Limewire is completely illegal. One of the main reasons this is illegal is because, artists release their music to get money off of it. If u take their music for free right of the internet, it’s like stealing their music, which is also like stealing money from record companies.
It is just as illegal to allow people to upload from you than it is to download from others. You have become a file sharer and they take it just as seriously as file downloaders. Trust me. I personally now know TWO people who were caught. Not on Limewire but on Imesh. It is not worth it. Your whole life changes once you get sued. You put yourself (family) at risk of paying thousands of dollars because of a few moments of weakness. “I gotta have that song!” I did it too! My friends learned just how much they REALLY needed all those songs once it happened. The answer was they didn’t NEED them at all. Your follow up question “will I get caught?” is, I’m sorry to say, just a bit out of touch with what’s going on out there. People, your NEW experts should not be the ones responding to this saying its legal, but others who have gotten caught! Do some research on Google with such words as music industry sues or lawsuit, and see the world from the other perspective. They are totally serious and totally committed to busting as many people as they can. Hope this helps someone out there. Go get some legal advice on this.
Limewire is Legal. There was a recent court case between the RIAA and another P2P file sharing client and the file sharing client won. This is because the software is intended to help people distribute files and how can the people that have that software be held accountable for the others that use it illegally. If you share copyrighted material it is illegal if you share pics and documents which aren’t copyrighted it is 100% legal.
Don’t be fooled by the “This Product is 100% Legal” that Kazaa but on their website. If you read it carefully it says that the downloading of the product is indeed legal, and so is downloading music, if its NOT COPYRIGHTED. Almost ALL music is copyrighted, therefore downloading them is illegal.
This has been said above, but here it is black and white, clear as crystal: “Copyright laws and laws pertaining to patents and inventions protect original works of authorship and inventions. Individuals who reproduce, distribute copies, receive copies, publicly perform or display works or inventions other than their own and without the consent of the owners or holders of rights, or their authorized agents, in original works of authorship or inventions, n(m)ay be in violation of copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement. Lime Wire LLC does not encourage or condone the illegal copying of copyrighted material. This is not intended to be legal counsel or advice. If you have any questions, consult your attorney.” Reference: http://www.limewire.com/english/content/ftc.shtml#8f
Anyone paying for “100% legal” file sharing sites have been fooled. You could have stuck with any of the popular free sites and would be in the same boat regardless but with a little more money in your pocket. No one has been caught or sued yet that has ONLY DOWNLOADED music. Users uploading (assuming larger quantities) are the ones that have been fined. Granted, it may happen where downloaders are caught but for now, those who block all sharing along with turning off the function for the computer to be used as a super node, have a much better chance at avoiding trouble.
In a sense Limewire is legal, but in another sense it’s illegal. The fact right now is that Limewire, Kazaa, etc., are legal because it is simply peer to peer file sharing, like taking a CD to a friends house and letting him take the music on to his computer (ripping). This is legal, in a sense so is Limewire then, because the music comes from an original CD that someone paid money to get and they are simply sharing it to selected people. The problem that the recording companies and artists have is the MASS FILE SHARING, meaning the sharing of the song to more than 5 people. In fact it’s perfectly legal for anyone to share a file for free to 5 or less people. Basically like burning a game or a CD and giving it to your girlfriend or something. So is Limewire legal? YES. But if they want to take a further step they might want to make a “expiration system”. Basically a program that automatically deletes songs off the online list after it’s been downloaded 5 times. So there, LimeWire is technically legal.
Whenever you don’t pay for some
Technically the act of using Limewire/Kazaa/Morpheus or any other P2P file sharing system IS PERFECTLY LEGAL. However, the act of sharing copyrighted music is what the authorities will prosecute for, as you are allowing other users to download something which they should pay for, for free.
The act of downloading music which is being shared by other users, is illegal, however the authorities will prosecute those who are sharing a “significant amount of music” – like drugs they will go after the DEALERS not the USERS.
Limewire is completely illegal. One of the main reasons this is illegal is because, artists release their music to get money off of it. If u take their music for free right of the internet, it’s like stealing their music, which is also like stealing money from record companies.
It is just as illegal to allow people to upload from you than it is to download from others. You have become a file sharer and they take it just as seriously as file downloaders. Trust me. I personally now know TWO people who were caught. Not on Limewire but on Imesh. It is not worth it. Your whole life changes once you get sued. You put yourself (family) at risk of paying thousands of dollars because of a few moments of weakness. “I gotta have that song!” I did it too! My friends learned just how much they REALLY needed all those songs once it happened. The answer was they didn’t NEED them at all. Your follow up question “will I get caught?” is, I’m sorry to say, just a bit out of touch with what’s going on out there. People, your NEW experts should not be the ones responding to this saying its legal, but others who have gotten caught! Do some research on Google with such words as music industry sues or lawsuit, and see the world from the other perspective. They are totally serious and totally committed to busting as many people as they can. Hope this helps someone out there. Go get some legal advice on this.
Limewire is Legal. There was a recent court case between the RIAA and another P2P file sharing client and the file sharing client won. This is because the software is intended to help people distribute files and how can the people that have that software be held accountable for the others that use it illegally. If you share copyrighted material it is illegal if you share pics and documents which aren’t copyrighted it is 100% legal.
Don’t be fooled by the “This Product is 100% Legal” that Kazaa put on their website. If you read it carefully it says that the downloading of the product is indeed legal, and so is downloading music, if its NOT COPYRIGHTED. Almost ALL music is copyrighted, therefore downloading them is illegal.
This has been said above, but here it is black and white, clear as crystal: “Copyright laws and laws pertaining to patents and inventions protect original works of authorship and inventions. Individuals who reproduce, distribute copies, receive copies, publicly perform or display works or inventions other than their own and without the consent of the owners or holders of rights, or their authorized agents, in original works of authorship or inventions, may be in violation of copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement. Lime Wire LLC does not encourage or condone the illegal copying of copyrighted material. This is not intended to be legal counsel or advice. If you have any questions, consult your attorney.” Reference: http://www.limewire.com/english/content/ftc.shtml#8f
Anyone paying for “100% legal” file sharing sites have been fooled. You could have stuck with any of the popular free sites and would be in the same boat regardless but with a little more money in your pocket. No one has been caught or sued yet that has ONLY DOWNLOADED music. Users uploading (assuming larger quantities) are the ones that have been fined. Granted, it may happen where downloaders are caught but for now, those who block all sharing along with turning off the function for the computer to be used as a super node, have a much better chance at avoiding trouble.
Whenever you don’t pay for some download, with the exception of PC game demos, the free download files are illegal.
Limewire is a tool, just like a knife. Tools have their roles in various tasks. Possessing the knife doesn’t commit the crime. Its the person the used the knife that commits the crime. One’s focus should not be on the existence of Limewire, but on the particular wrong-doing the happens with it.
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- LimeWire strives for relevancy by tapping Web 2.0 (news.cnet.com)
How to Use Limewire & Know About The Risks
Okay, a lot are well aware of risking your computer when using P2P programs. I don’t recall if its illegal or legal to use P2P programs. But I DO recall a while back that KaZaa was legalized. I don’t know if Kazaa is still around but a lot of people have gotten sued or fined using KaZaa and I think Limewire.
Legal Update:

Using Limewire technically is not illegal, but downloading content for which you may not be authorized to download, is. What such authorization means has and will continue to be the focus of court battles involving various trade groups, most notably the RIAA. RIAA stands for the Recording Industry Association of American, and you can view their website if you want at www.riaa.com. The use of software has also been the long running core argument of lawyers and other agents who argue on behalf of companies like Limewire and KaZaa. They claim that they don’t personally host or provide software, they merely provide a gateway to distribute non-copyrighted content. The RIAA has been successful and also unsuccessful thus far. KaZaa used that same core argument, but was eventually shut down. The site is still active but not updated, and nothing can be downloaded from the KaZaa software if anyone still uses it. Companies like Limewire are still active, as the RIAA has been unsuccessful in shutting them down thus
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far.
Anyway, if you use Limewire, make sure you do a computer virus scan every few times you’re using it. Limewire say they check for viruses but they don’t. They’re so discreet and hidden within the files that you’re downloading, you wouldn’t know if its there or not.
Limewire files often have viruses that can poison your computer without you downloading them. Also if you’re downloading a file from Limewire make sure you don’t have any private information on your computer, its a risk you can be a victim of Identity Theft if you are not careful. Limewire is supposedly safe but in some cases Limewire is worse than going on a torrent site and downloading those. About those discreet viruses. Yes even when you’re downloading files/torrents on a torrent site and your browser does a scan and it says there were none found or whatever and you install it and your virus protect finds a virus. 9/10 the damage has already been done.
Not all files are bad on Limewire, its getting better. There have been less complaints about Limewire viruses.
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Just be safe and run a virus scan on everything you download from there. & Then do a computer virus scan also. They can also be tainted with trojans too and a lot of them.
There will be another blog pertaining to the legal rights of using P2P programs.
Other Tips:
Be aware of spyware. Some file-sharing programs install other software known as spyware. Spyware monitors a user’s browsing habits and then sends that data to third parties. Sometimes the user gets ads based on the information that the spyware has collected and disseminated. Spyware can be difficult to detect and remove. Before you use any file-sharing program, you may want to buy software that can prevent the downloading of spyware or help detect it on your hard drive.
Use and update your anti-virus software regularly. Files you download could be mislabeled, hiding a virus or other unwanted content. Use anti-virus software to protect your computer from viruses you might pick up from other users through the file-sharing program. Although your virus filter should prevent your computer from receiving possibly destructive files, computer security experts suggest you avoid files with extensions like .exe, .scr, .lnk, .bat, .vbs, .dll, .bin, and .cmd.
Disclaimer: Please be very careful when downloading files with a .exe suffix, since these files can contain a virus or spyware. For security reasons, LimeWire will not download VBS files. LimeWire’s Library will not launch .exe, .vbs, .lnk, .bat, .sys, or .com files, although such files can be launched with a program outside of LimeWire. We do recommend the use some sort of virus-protection software to scan any files that are downloaded.
Okay, here’s more infor on Limewire.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright laws and laws pertaining to patents and inventions protect original works of authorship and inventions. Individuals who reproduce, distribute copies, receive copies, publicly perform or display works or inventions other than their own and without the consent of the owners or holders of rights, or their authorized agents, in original works of authorship or inventions, may be in violation of copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement. Lime Wire LLC does not encourage or condone the illegal copying of copyrighted material. This is not intended to be legal counsel or advice. If you have any questions, consult your attorney.
Shared Folders
Every day, millions of computer users share files online. Whether it is music, games, or software, file-sharing can give people access to a wealth of information. You simply download special software that connects your computer to an informal network of other computers running the same software. Millions of users could be connected to each other through this software at one time. The software often is free and easily accessible.
Sounds promising, right? Maybe, but make sure that you consider the trade-offs. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, cautions that file-sharing can have a number of risks. For example, when you are connected to file-sharing programs, you may unknowingly allow others to copy private files you never intended to share. You may download material that is protected by the copyright laws and find yourself mired in legal issues. You may download a virus or facilitate a security breach. Or you may unwittingly download pornography labeled as something else.
To secure the personal information stored on your computer, the FTC suggests that you:
• Set up the file-sharing software very carefully. If you don’t check the proper settings when you install the software, you could open access not just to the files you intend to share, but also to other information on your hard drive, like your tax returns, email messages, medical records, photos, or other personal documents.
Disclaimer: Okay, about this, be careful. Sharing your folders mean you computer is very vulnerable to viruses and anyone can get in there and sit a virus on one of the files you are sharing in that folder and it can spread throughout your computer and others.
How To Use Torrents
First you would want to get a torrent download’er such as BitTorrent or uTorrent.
You can go here to get BitTorrent; uTorrent is just alike.
-Okay once, you’ve went to the website and downloaded BitTorrent and installed it onto your computer. Open it up and minimize it.
[Disclaimer: If you use Limewire or any updated P2P program. If its open, close it out refresh your desktop and make sure BitTorrent is the default program for download torrents. It should automatically say that when you first open BitTorrent].
-Now you want to go to a site such as BtJunkie or The Pirate Bay. Go to either one of these sites and search for the program you want.
[Disclaimer: Make sure you run a virus scan, and check the comments on the page that you're downloading the torrent from. People will give you the heads up if its bad or not. Usually the first few programs that are very good are at the top of the list.]
-When you look for a torrent, make sure you check for seeders and peers. Most of the time, the torrent is good when there are a lot of seeders. & Usually once again the good programs and frequently downloaded will be at the very top of the list so you won’t have to go searching.
-Next if you find the right one and had done a virus check and scanned the torrent. Click “Download this torrent”/”Torrent download”. BitTorrent should pop up with the torrent you want to download after you click the option on what you want to do. Which should be Open With: & BitTorrent should be the option. Click okay and THEN BitTorrent should pop up and then click okay again.
-Depending on the peers and such, you shouldn’t have to wait no longer than an hour, sometimes short or longer depending on the size and what you’re downloading. Once its finished. Right click on it and click “Open Containing Folder”. The folder with the program you just downloaded should be in there and it should come with a crack/patch/serial/keygen and instructions. Hopefully by this time you know what to do and shouldn’t have any problems.
Frequently Asked Q.A.
What is a torrent?
A .torrent file is a file that contains the basic information about a file or set of files. This includes the file names, sizes, the date created and some other information. The torrent file also contains an info hash – which is basically just a unique code for that torrent. No other set of file(s) will have the same info hash as this one. The final thing contained inside the torrent is a list of trackers. If you have some torrent files, you can’t open them in a text editor because they are encoded. You will need to open them in torrent client software (like Bitcomet which you can install on your computer.
What is a tracker?
A tracker is a computer on the Internet. The tracker’s role is to manage live torrent files and keep track of statistics. When you open a torrent file in your client software, your client software contacts the tracker specific to that torrent. You client tells the tracker how much of the actual files (described by the torrent) that you currently have. If you created the torrent – then you probably have 100% of the files described by the torrent. If you downloaded the torrent – then you probably have 0% of the files.
Once your client has told the tracker your current situation, it logs that and gives you what it knows about that torrent. It will tell you that Bill in Arizona has 43% of the files described by the torrent. It will tell you that Kate in Amsterdam has 67% of the torrent.
What is a Seeder?
A seeder is a person who has more than 0% of the files described by the torrent. If a torrent has no seeders, then no one (currently talking to the tracker) has anything to give.
What is a leecher/peer?
A peer is a person who is looking for the files described by the torrent. The more peers the more people are actively looking for the files described by the torrent.
What is a Keygen?
A keygen (a portmanteau of “key generator”) is a small program that will generate a cryptographic key for data encryption. An example is the ssh-keygen.
Programs that generate valid CD keys or serial/registration numbers for a piece of software are also commonly called keygens. These are made available by software cracking groups for free download on various websites dedicated to software piracy.
What is a patch?
A patch is a small piece of software designed to fix problems with or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing bugs, replacing graphics and improving the usability or performance. Though meant to fix problems, poorly designed patches can sometimes introduce new problems.
What is a crack?
A crack is the modification of software to remove protection methods: copy prevention, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware.
What is a No-CD crack?
A No-CD crack is a modified executable file or a special “byte patcher” program that removes built-in CD check mechanisms allowing the user to run computer software without having to insert their required CD-ROM.
If you still need guidance just leave a comment.

How To Get Photoshop(Full)
Okay first you would want a torrent opener like BitTorrent or uTorrent. Download that. It doesn’t take up no kind of space at all.
They both work the same but if uTorrent doesn’t work BitTorrent is guaranteed to work. Okay anyway, after you download that. Find a site that has torrents. The most reliable one is The Pirate Bay.
The best way to find Photoshop is to simply type in Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop CS3 Extended. Depending on which one you want. But for newbies just download Photoshop CS3. Okay when looking for torrents you want to find one that has good ratings, reviews and also has a lot of seeders and not a lot of leeches. Depending on which one you chose please make sure you run a virus scan on it.
FYI: The best virus scanner for links and websites is AVG. It works wonders!
Anyway, once you’ve gotten the one you want click it and hit download. A window on your desktop should pop up saying what would you like to do? Open or Save. Well you want to open it and in that drop down menu it should say uTorrent or BitTorrent, which ever one you’ve downloaded. If it isn’t; close it and make sure the torrent is the default cause if you have Limewire; (the newest one) Limewire automatically makes it the default torrent downloader.
FYI: Limewire is risky to use and it isn’t a good torrent finder nor a good torrent downloader. Plus if you not careful you can get a lot of viruses from Limewire or any type of P2P program. Its a bit hard to run virus scans from Limewire.
FYI: If you don’t want to go through the hassles of finding a site to go to find a torrent. Download Torrent Harvester, its also a file that’s safe and doesn’t take up practically NO space. All you would have to do is type in the name of the program, music, video, game that you want to find and it will find all the available torrents. Still make sure you check the website and see if its good or not basically double check and still do the virus scan.
Okay back to Photoshop; once its finished downloading, right click on the file and click; Open containing folder. It should be instructions and such within the folder to help you further. If the instructions are confusing, you can always hit me up and I can try to help you with the best of my abilities.
FYI: There’s another way you can get Photoshop. Download the trial from the adobe.com website then find a decent patch. A patch is basically a file that automatically adds the serial. Which is another thing you can do. You can find serials but that’s more stress and searching than its worth and most doesn’t work. You can find the patches just like if you were trying to find the program. Just go to thepiratebay.org and look for them. Usually the good ones are at the top of the list, so you won’t have to do much searching.
I hope this has helped someone.
How To Use BitTorrent
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a filesharing P2P client for downloading music, movies, applications or other such desirable files. It can often be faster than unrelated programs (like Limewire; Kazaa) because of the sheer amount of people involved.
BitTorrent downloads are managed by “trackers,” which are usually named after the website they are affiliated with (meganova, mininova, torrentspy, etc. – note that some trackers are private and require registration, which is usually as simple as browsing to the tracker website and applying for a username and password). These keep track of how many people are “seeding” (uploading) or “leeching” (downloading) the file, swarm speed, pieces, infohash strings, and a whole bunch of other stuff that it deals with just so you don’t have to. Nice, huh?
When you download a “.torrent” file, it should automatically open with BitTorrent (as BitTorrent automatically associates .torrent files with itself). This acts almost like a website address for your client, linking it to the tracker and starting the download. From the moment you begin a download, you become a “leecher.”
When the download reaches completion, that is to say, 100%, you become a “seeder,” and as long as you have an active internet connection, you will still be “seeding” the file to existing leechers and new leechers.
BitTorrent is useful because it allows people to share large files without these files having to be hosted on a website, using up costly bandwidth. In short, it makes things cheaper for webmasters.
Some notes:
1.) Be careful what you download. Often, if it is an application or even sometimes otherwise, malicious code (viruses, spyware, adware, etc.) might very well be included. It is no one’s fault but your own if you use BitTorrent without protective software.
2.) BitTorrent is often used to infringe upon copyright law. As painfully simple and cheap as this makes things for you, the F.B.I. doesn’t like you stealing money from others, and they will prosecute. It’s happened to me. Don’t be dumb. If you’re not sure whether it’s alright to download what you’re thinking about downloading, it’s best not to use BitTorrent.
3.) When starting a download, always look at the number of Seeders and Leecher’s and check how often the tracker is updating the Torrent. Torrents with a high ratio of seeders to leecher’s will provide much faster downloads. But if the tracker isn’t updating the torrent status often enough, you might think that you have a beautiful torrent of all existing Alfred Hitchcock movies that has 154 seeders and 2 leecher’s, and be stuck with a dead torrent. It’s happened.
P.S. You will be loved if you continue seeding the torrent for a while after you’ve finished. Don’t be stingy.
How to Not Get Sued For Sharing Files
I found this interesting article on this site. Its like two years old but the source to this article will be at the bottom of this blog.
How to not get sued for sharing files
As of July 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued over 20,000 music fans for file sharing in just under three years. In 2004, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) joined this misguided, anti-consumer crusade. Filing lawsuits against anonymous “Doe” defendants, the RIAA and MPAA seek to uncover the identities of P2P users and force them to pay thousands of dollars in settlements. Many innocent individuals are being caught in the crossfire.
While there is no way to know exactly what the RIAA and MPAA are going to do or who they are going to sue, users of publicly-accessible P2P networks can take the following steps to reduce their chances of being sued:
Either:
- Make sure there are no potentially infringing files in your shared folder. This would ordinarily mean that your shared folder contains only files 1) that are in the public domain, 2) for which you have permission to share, or 3) that are made available under pro-sharing licenses, such as the Creative Commons license or other open media licenses, and
- Remove all potentially misleading file names that might be confused with the name of an RIAA artist or song (e.g., “Usher” or “Madonna”) from your shared folder
Or:
- Disable the “sharing” or “uploading” features on your P2P application, if your application allows it (see below).We hate this option — it blocks your non-infringing sharing, and it doesn’t get us any closer to a real solution that gets artists paid while making file sharing legal. But, at the moment, it does appear that turning off sharing will reduce your chances of becoming a lawsuit target.This can usually be accomplished in the “Options” or “Preferences” of your P2P application by removing all shared directories and sometimes setting an explicit option not to share files or to allow zero uploads. The specific method will vary depending on your P2P application, but looking at a few examples can give you the general idea.EFF suggests (but cannot guarantee) the following links for instructions (you can also try Google searches for (”turn off sharing”+the software’s name):
- University of Chicago’s resources: http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/no_fileshare.shtml
- Duke University resources: http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/steps.html
Note: Not all clients allow you to turn off “sharing.”
If you use software such as BitTorrent and eDonkey (as well as related clients like Azureus and eMule, respectively), you will automatically be uploading whatever you are currently downloading. In eDonkey, these files may appear in search results and thus become visible to the MPAA and RIAA. In BitTorrent, you must connect to a BitTorrent “tracker” to download a file, and your Internet address is visible to anyone else — including the MPAA or RIAA — connected to that tracker. In these instances, you may be at greater risk.
Additional Considerations:
Operating a public BitTorrent tracker that connects users to infringing material may put you at greater risk of being sued.The risk appears to increase with the number of connected users, the number of infringing files associated with the tracker, and the apparent availability to the general public. If you run a public tracker, being vigilant in removing potentially unauthorized files is advised. The RIAA has targeted subpoenas at users who allow their computers to be “Supernodes” on the FastTrack P2P System (used, for instance, by KaZaA or KaZaA Lite). In order to further reduce the risk of having your ISP subpoenaed or of being sued yourself, we recommend that you make sure your computer is not being used as a Supernode. To learn more about Supernodes and how to make sure your computer is not one, look here: Disabling the Supernode function with KaZaA (PDF 331k).
The RIAA and MPAA have sued college students for using publicly-accessible file sharing networks, including systems like i2hub. However, with one particularly notable exception, the RIAA and MPAA have not targeted users downloading or uploading music over closed, college campus intranets — in other words, students sharing with other students at the same school over the school’s own network. Tracking intranet infringements is practically more difficult, though not necessarily impossible.
Similarly, the RIAA and MPAA have not targeted file sharing through instant messaging systems, closed networks such as WASTE (http://waste.sourceforge.net/), and other sharing tools in which users can limit access by third-parties.
What if I’ve Already Been Sued?
If you receive notice that your ISP has been subpoenaed for your name and address or if you have already been sued, consider contacting EFF or www.subpoenadefense.org, where you can find information about how to defend your privacy and a list of attorneys willing to help. Contact your ISP and ask the people there to notify you immediately if they receive a subpoena seeking your identity.
Want a solution that gets artists paid while protecting P2P file sharing?
We do too! Join or donate to EFF and:
- Sign our petition to Congress and take a stand against the P2P lawsuit campaign.
- Learn more about alternatives to the lawsuit. EFF’s file sharing pages gather together some of the best ideas and describe how similar sorts of technology changes have been handled in the past.
- Tell a friend, family member, colleague or even stranger on the street about the damage that the RIAA is doing to the Internet, innovation, and consumer choice. There are over 57 million Americans who use P2P file-sharing — more than voted for President Bush — and millions more worldwide — so chances are good that the person sitting next to you on the bus, walking beside you on the sidewalk or driving in the car in front of you is using file-sharing, too. Start the conversation.
[Source]


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