According to members of the toy industry who met this week at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Germany, the global decline in video game sales is permanent, while the popularity of traditional toys like board games is on the rise.

Richard Gottlieb, a US consultant who chaired the Building Our Future conference at the gathering, said that board games would rise to fill in the gap left by declining video game sales because "Board games are cross-generational. They bring the family together. Children get a tremendous sense of self-satisfaction from being able to beat their parents in a game." The trend to put more and more elaborate electronics in toys does not mean the end of teddy bears and th

For getting the job, there are seven key factors:

Location, location, location.
If you want to be a game tester, you need to be where the game makers are. That means cities like Dallas, Austin, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal and Redmond, Washington. If there aren't a large number of developers and/or publishers around you, you're going to have a hard time being a full-time game tester. You might find occasional work in other big cities - like Atlanta, Chicago and New York -- but it will be, at best, supplemental income.

Get ready to lead a gypsy life.
Full-time tester jobs are exceedingly rare. Typically, game makers hire testers on a contract basis. When the test cycle ends for a product, the testing team is laid off -- and the search for a new gig begins. Michael Weber, director of central development at Gearbox Software, says, "In a lot of cases, a tester can go from pro

You get invited to a birthday party and immediately start throwing darts at all the balloons.

You order a Cafe Mochi Frappuccino at Starbucks.

Your Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii are covered in dust.

                      &nbs

Killzone 2: $45 million

           
One of the most anticipated PS3 titles, and one which has been in development for over four years, Killzone 2’s budget was originally $20 million. Then it was upped to $30 million. As development was extended by another full year, the budget went north of $40 million, and most estimates put it at $45 million. Higher estimates put it at over 41 million Euro, which translates to $56 million USD — but this number has never been confirmed by anyone at developer Guerrilla.

Final Fantasy XII: $48 million

           
The Final Fantasy games have been known for their outstanding quality, length and sheer production value. They’ve a

Friends

Video gamers aren’t the lonely guys in their basement anymore. There has always been this belief that men who play video games are loner, loser type of guys, but these days all the major consoles have large internet gaming communities such as Xbox Live that connect players to other players all around the globe. You could be running special ops with a buddy in Nevada or watching Peyton Manning cheaply throw passes over your head thanks to an unknown opponent in Bangalore in a matter of seconds. Either way, we are interacting with friends and fellow gamers all over the wor

The Saboteur

Nazi-occupied Paris surely wasn't a happy place. We don't need a videogame to tell us that. However, we don't think William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams, the race car driver The Saboteur protagonist Sean Devlin is based on, was running around the city of light on his own killing Nazis and banging prostitutes in equal measure all in an effort to oust the fascist force. And neither did Pandemic Studios, which took the French-born Williams (who was captured and executed by the Germans for his efforts) and turned him into an alcoholic Irishmen who gets involved in the resistance effort mainly due to a Nazi competitor shooting out his tires during a big race.

      

The Saboteur retains bits and pieces of history, such as the British Special Operations Executive's (SOE) involvement and the setting of Paris in all its subdued splendor, but then throws in ridiculous situations because real history isn't awesome enough. Remember when William

Internet chat pillows

If you intend on snuggling up next to your favorite geek this February 14th, consider these clever throw pillows that are full of plushy Internet goodness. They come in three flavors — chat heart pink, chat heart red, and a Mac lovin’ logo tribute — and are a great way to express your feelings, outside of emoticons, of course.

Valentine's themed Zunes

If your favorite music nerd hasn’t yet settled on an MP3 player, consider Microsoft’s current line of Zune devices, now highly customizable with some gorgeous Valentine’s Day designer themes. You can choose the pattern, the underlying color, and even add a mushy inscription to the back. Your entire design is instantly visualize

"A WINNER IS YOU." (Pro Wrestling)

"Uh-oh! The truck have started to move!" (Snake, Metal Gear)

"CONGLATURATION!!! YOU HAVE COMPLETED A GREAT GAME. AND PROOVED THE JUSTICE OF OUR CULTURE. NOW GO REST OUR HEROES!" (Ghostbusters)

"CONGRATULATION THIS STORY IS HAPPY END" (Ghosts 'n Goblins)

"You spoony bard!" (Tellah, Final Fantasy IV)

"Say, fuzzy pickles." (Earthbound)

"SORRY, I'M DEAD." (Boss #2, Monster Party)

"I'm the grim reaper, Lardass, and you're my next customer." ("Manny Calavera, Grim Fandango)

"I AM ERROR." (Error, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)

"All your base are belong to us." (CATS, Zero Wing)

"WELCOME TO WARP ZONE!" (Super Mario Bros.)

"LET'S PLAY MONEY MAKING GAME." (The Legend of Zelda)

"It's a me, Mario!" (Mario, Super Mario 64)

For decades, educators have been scrambling to find better ways to prepare students for the real world. Enter social video games as a solution — immersive environments that simulate real-world problems. Today, technologically eager schools are replacing textbook learning with social video games, and improving learning outcomes in the process. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Contextual Learning

While university departments have cleanly separated academic subjects, solving the real-life problem of, say, building a website, r

Steps

Find out if your girlfriend has ever played video games before. She may not be a full-blown gamer, but maybe she played Mario games when she was younger. Or maybe she likes playing an Internet game from time to time. If you know her gaming history, you'll have a better chance of finding a game she'll enjoy now.





Remind your girlfriend that if you both play video games, you'll be able to spend even more quality time together.

< google_ads.length; ++i) { s += '