Best Space Themed Games - Part I

Space? How much we can place where? Incredible words, unknown planets, fantastic creatures.

But now I want to tell you about some space themed computer shareware games, and want you to play it - I choose only best 19 games from about 200!

Here you can find 10 shooters with each of it's own unique gameplay, 5 puzzles, some with actions twists, 2 strategy and 2 actions and 1 arkanoid. Two game studios presented in this article has here by two games, and as I know 7 of game development studios are from Russia. Take a look at this game, but please be patient - I will split this article to 3 parts, it will help me to say more about each of 19 games. And another one note - I don't want to rank these games, it's all are best, so I will present games in alphabetical list.

AstroAvenger (by Divo Games) / Space Shooter
"An insane space shooter with twisted missions and cool weapons!"
Looking for a space shooter that will surprise you? AstroAvenger features cool graphics, excellent sound effects and a groovy sound track. The game employs an advanced upgrade and power-up system that allows you to buy new types of weapons, ammo, armor and batteries as you advance from one level to another. Fighting takes place in five distinct and expansive galaxies, with over 25 different enemy ships types to combat.

Barnyard Invasion (by Sandlot Games) / Puzzle
"Save farm animals from their cruel human masters and take them on a much-needed vacation in this wacky puzzle game!"
Save farm animals from their cruel human masters and take them on a much-needed vacation. Use your superior alien powers to thwart human attempts to keep the happy livestock captive in this wacky puzzle game. See hilarious snapshots of vacationing aliens and liberated farm animals!

Bejeweled 2 Deluxe (by PopCap Games) / Puzzle
"Take the classic game of gem-swapping to euphoric new heights!"
Take the classic game of gem-swapping to euphoric new heights! Adapted from its predecessor, Bejeweled 2 features four unique ways to play. Solve handcrafted brain teasers in puzzle mode while up against the clock or kick back, relax and enjoy endless mode. With awe-inspiring planetary backdrops, explosive new gems and dazzling special effects, Bejeweled 2 is more wildly addictive than ever before!

Bugatron (by Retro64) / Space Shooter
"Are you ready to blast some bugs?"
It's easy to see why thousands of people have already ordered Bugatron Gold. It's fun, fast, and you don't have to be a computer wiz to figure out how to play. We know you'll love it, and your friends will love it too!

Clash' N Slash (by Enkord) / Shooter
"Non-stop action space shooter with extremely simple controls suitable for all ages!"
Space shooting has never been so simple and addictive! With Clash'N Slash arcade game you will battle pesky aliens all around the galaxy. Loads of weapons, upgrades, enemies will hold you for a long time and innovative bonus triggering system will make your game experience colorful and fun.

Cosmic Bugs (by Retro64) (or another name Cosmo Bots) / Puzzle Action
"Cosmic Bugs is a remake of the classics Jezzball and Qix, with tons of power-ups!"
Cosmic Bugs takes its cue from the addictive classics Jezzball and Qix. But that's where the similarity ends, because Cosmic Bugs has different shapes for each level, 3D rendered graphics, digital sound, new enemies, and tons of power-ups. The game features over 500 levels, and does not require any special hardware. It's easy to control and easy to play!

So, it's end. In next Part we will see next seven games - Desperate Space, Flyonoid, Jets N Guns, KaiJin, Mutant Storm, Outpost Kaloki and Paradoxion.

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Denis Snow.
You can find all of these games at http://www.ChocoSnow.com site.
You can download and try it for free.

The Gizmondo combined media player, phone and gaming gadget went on sale in the last month for £229. The device sports an impressive spec: - It can be used to play games, music tracks and movies, it can take and store digital photos and can send SMS, MMS and emails, GPS, GPRS and Bluetooth for multi-player gaming.

From April 22nd you'll be able to buy a Gizmondo for £100 less - a cool 44% saving. In return, for this discount, Gizmondo users will have to watch three "Smart Adds" per day.

The Smart Adds will mainly consist of video clips and small games that come with redemption codes or barcodes that are wirelessly delivered to your Gizmondo over its GPRS connection.

I'm not so sure that this option is cheaper....Ok, 44% less but who pays the data cost for downloading the ad? Even if each ad is only 100Kb (I'm guessing they'll be more but I'm being generous) then on my network (Vodafone) at £2.35/Mb these ads would cost me £257!!!

Other reasons why I think the Gizmondo is destined for failure are:

- It costs £229. Nintendo's DS handheld costs £99, and a PSP is expected to cost £129 - far less than the cost of a Gizmondo

- The DS already has a pool of fans of earlier Nintendo handhelds to draw on (87,000 DS handhelds were sold in the first two days in Europe) and the PSP is also likely to have a strong following

- Most importantly, it doesn't have a killer game for launch

I'd love to be able to 'Buy British' but I think the Gizmondo will go the way of the C5, Sedgeway etc. May be worth buying one as I bet it will be worth a bit in 10 years!

Maybe in a year I'll be proven wrong.

The author runs a blog following developments in the internet and mobile internet sectors. With over 10 years experience in strategy consulting and business development, and has seen and lived through the highs, and the lows of the industry.

Based in London, the author can be contacted on admin@connectedinternet.co.uk and his blog can be found at http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk

In this article if you are a pc gamer, you will learn how to get the most out of your graphics card by installing new drivers and tweaking Windows. The guide is based around Windows XP Professional Edition but you can use the same guide to tweak other Windows operating systems.

Step 1.

The first thing you need to know what graphics card you are using. The most popular graphics card companies are nVidia and ATi. Both these companies have an excellent range of products and offer excellent service. Once you know what graphics card you are using, then head over to the companies website where you can download the latest drivers.

Drivers are software that runs your graphics card, printer or scanner correctly. Being up to date with drivers will help solve issues that may arise with modern PC games. Just recently I had to update my drivers to fix a problem I had with a game I recently purchased, and this solved my problem.

OK once you have downloaded your drivers for your graphics card make sure you create a restore point using the utility System Restore. This can be done my click Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System Restore. Then follow the on screen instructions to create the restore point. By doing this it makes sure that if a problem occurs after you installed the new drivers, you can return to the restore point to see if the problem is the drivers you installed.

Once you've finished creating your restore point, you need to install your drivers. This can done by double clicking on the file you downloaded and then you follow the on screen instructions. After you've installed your drivers you will have to restart Windows so the changes can take effect.

If everything goes according to plan you should see an increase in performance in your games and you will not need to go back to your restore point. If you do have problems, use your restore point to go back and fix the problems. If the problem persists, then contact the company that made your graphics card.

Step 2.

Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX. This can be done by going onto the Microsoft website http://www.microsoft.com and searching DirectX. Once you've downloaded the latest version, you will need to create another restore point. One person I know installed the latest version of DirectX and then had problems afterwards, and because they didn't create a restore point they couldn't fix the problem and so they needed to reformat their computer to solve the problem. Again to create a restore point, go to Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools and then System Restore.

Once you've created the restore point install the latest version of DirectX by double clicking on the file you just downloaded. Follow the on screen instructions and once you've finished you will have to restart your Windows.

Step 3.

In this step I will guide you through tweaking Windows XP. The first step will be changing the performance of Windows, to do this right-click on My Computer and then Properties->Advanced->Performance->Settings and select 'Adjust for best Performance'.

The next step is to change your Themes, so right-click on your desktop and select Properties. Under the Themes tab set your theme to Windows Classic.