It was not until the release of basketball arcade games that this type of game really caught on. The first that really took the arcade games by storm was NBA Jam. This genre got noticed immediately with its release and became popular worldwide.

NBA Jam was unique in a lot of ways. First of all it was more expensive than the other games, where finishing a game required no less than $2. It was also the very first game that used real teams, real players with their real names, with the digitized version of these players playing the game on screen.

Playing the game was akin to watching a game on TV, only better, since here the game players could make control every move of their favourite basketball players. More so, one could defy gravity to make them do what a player wanted them to do. This has been one of the criticisms of the game, that it featured unrealistic effects, with the players flying as much as their heights to score a point. Fans of the game however maintained, that this was actually a great high.

However, the game continued to climb on the popularity charts and featured basketball greats of their times like Karl Malone, Chris Webber, Colbert Cheaney, Jeff Hornacek, David Robinson, Charles Oakley among others. After a time people discovered other features of the game like Easter eggs and other special features to be activated by use of buttons and joysticks.

The game saw many sequels and spin-offs, including the NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, NBA Jam Extreme of 1996 and even a 3D version of the game featuring a commentary. The other games in the line were NBA Hangtime and NBA Hangtime Extreme. A college version of the game, called College Slam was also introduced in 1995.

The huge success of basketball games also gave rise to other sports games, which centred on games like football and baseball.

By: Ken Marlborough

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Burdening a kid with extra knowledge even when his mind is not capable of handling it is the order of the day. Information technology today is playing a vital role in making learning easier for toddlers. The term “infotainment” is perhaps more appropriate. Drastic changes have come forth in the learning process, wherein the grasping power of the child is enhanced many times over, since learning is also fun. A toddler learns his basics, like letters and counting, in an interactive way. There are other games just for entertainment, which harness a child’s energy and sharpen his reflexes for thinking and reacting. However, there are natural disadvantages, in that deviating from the traditional form of learning like drawing and coloring books means diminishing and suppressing the natural talents of the child.

There is a natural proclivity in almost every child today to run to the computer and work. There have been innumerable instances of software programs being developed by child geniuses. The technological boom has paved the way for an industry where the major future players learn the tricks of the trade while still in diapers. No wonder that robots and the likes have replaced Barbies. For parents, even though it’s music to the ears, experts warn about health hazards, particularly to the eyes and brain of a child continuously glued to the computer screen.

By: Max Bellamy

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For instance if you’re playing the computer game and it is a football game and you were on the field as one of the players you cannot go up into the stands by hot dog, walk-through the tunnel, buy a beer and then walk into the parking lot get in a car and drive away to an In and Out Hamburger Joint or go see a movie.

Indeed it is obvious why you cannot do his, but what if you could? Well, that would probably be a very expensive computer game, video game wouldn’t or virtual reality system to make or buy? And it might take a programmer their whole life just to program and design it for every potential eventuality in first place.

In the Next Generation of computer video games and virtual reality you will be able to do just that. Being trapped in a current computer game would suck, but designing and playing in a Matrix is indeed the future of computer gaming and virtual reality and that is the next generation of computer games. Consider all this in 2006.

By: Lance Winslow

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The original Sim City was very simple and by today’s standards, very primitive. The graphics were crude two dimensional blocks and the terrain itself was pretty unrealistic. But people had a blast playing it. As you kept building onto your city, which had to be done under certain basic rules, it became harder and harder to keep it from crumbling under your nose. There was a degree of realism to the game. As your city grew and the population grew with it, so did crime, pollution and all the other negative things that went along with a big city.

As was stated above, you did have to follow some basic rules. For starters, you couldn’t have a city without some kind of power plant, whether it be coal or nuclear. Nuclear was very expensive so you pretty much had to start off with a coal plant. You then put up your houses and businesses and had to connect them to the plant with electric lines and to each other with the same.

You were given a certain amount of money to do this. Everything cost money in this game, even the power lines. So you had to be very careful with the way you spent it. Income was derived by the taxes paid to you buy the people who moved into your city after you started to build it. Actually, at first you’re a town. You don’t get to be a city until you reach a certain population, which takes quite some time.

There are other ways you can make money such as putting up a stadium for sporting events. You can also put up a sea port to get income from trade. Airports can also be built. Eventually your city is really hopping. That’s when the fun starts. How?

Well, your roads start to crumble from the weight of all the traffic jams. People begin to complain because of the traffic, crime and pollution. They start to move out if things get too bad. When that happens, your income goes down. There’s not enough money to repair the roads. Funding for your police and fire departments is inadequate. Fires start to break out and there aren’t enough firemen to put them out. Things become a real mess.

As simplistic as Sim City is, it’s also a real challenge. Unfortunately, because of limitations of the game itself, cities can only get so big before the game crashes. Fortunately, Sim City 2000, a 3D version of this game, released in 1993, took care of this problem. Sim City 3000 came out in 1999 and Sim City 4 saw the light of day in 2003.

To this day, many people still get a thrill out of seeing their favorite city crash and burn.

By: Michael Russell

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Soccer smash are computer games for the kids. With the development oftechnology, a lot of computer games such as third person shooting games, strategy games, and simulation games with sophisticated graphics effects have been created. But these games are more for adult market because they are more complicated to play.

As with the soccer smash, these are very simple games which are created in flash and java program. This game offers a user friendly interface and is fun to play especially for young children who love soccer. The game can be played in just few strokes of the mouse and simple keys.

The game simulates a game of soccer wherein the player tries to score goals against the opposing team. The player controls the player of his teams and kicks the ball in a manner to achieve goals. As the player wins, it enters another stage of the game with more difficult opponents. The game will continue with series of challenges and increases its difficulty until the player defeats all level of the game. These games are readily available to play for free in several websites.

These games are developed in response to the popularity of the sport even with kids. It is a fun way of stimulating the children’s interest with the sport. It also develops the responsiveness and ability of a child to think of strategies.

So let your kids play the virtual smash games and let them enjoy being a professional soccer player and defeat their opponent.

By: John Escribar

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