Gaming

If you’re a fan of turn-based strategy games -- or just very old -- you might remember Panzer General 2, the 1997 classic which tested your tactics across a range of brutal World War II battles.

Its varied campaigns, scenarios and engrossing gameplay ensured that Panzer General 2 is still remembered fondly today, but it’s not just about memories. The game has also been remade and reimagined in various forms, and old fans and newcomers can try them out for free.

A son of mine, I’m not saying which one, borrowed from my desk a credit card and -- quick like a bunny -- bought over $200 worth of in-game weapons, tools, etc. for the Steam game platform from steamgames.com, which is owned by Valve Corp. Needless to say, the kid is busted, but the more important point for this column is how easily he, for a time, got away with his crime.

I would have thought that vendors like steamgames.com would not want children to be buying game stuff without the consent of their parents, yet they made it so easy -- too easy.

OpenClock.org has announced the release of OpenClonk 5, a major new version of its open source Worms/ Settlers/ Minecraft/ Terraria- like action game.

The new release adds two missions targeted at new players, two more "which can provide a challenge for the more experienced Clonkers”, and “an action-packed, cooperative scenario where you defend against waves of attackers".

It's almost as though we are entering that time of the year when people start thinking about Christmas presents. Game consoles -- like the Xbox One -- are likely to feature pretty high up on wishlists the world over and, out of the blue, there's a raft of Xbox One news spilling out.

It is quite some time since the wraps were taken off the console, but today is the day it finally launches in India. The version with Kinect is available for Rs 45990 (around $755), with the Kinect-free version costing Rs 39,990 (around $655) -- so compared to other parts of the world, the Indian version of the Xbox One is relatively expensive. It will be interesting to see what sort of an impact this has on its popularity.

When it comes to monitors, the brand does matter. Some people think that a monitor is a monitor and the manufacturer is inconsequential. There is some truth to this, as sometimes a lesser-known company can manufacture a monitor that exceeds the quality of some top-tier competitors. Unfortunately, this is the exception to the rule, and sticking with brands like Dell and Samsung is the safest way to have a positive experience.

However, there is a brand that I discovered years ago while working at CompUSA that manufactures high-quality monitors at an affordable price -- AOC. Sure, it may not be as well known as some of the big-names, but its monitors are wonderful and don't break the bank. Today, AOC announces a 24 inch gaming monitor with NVIDIA G-SYNC at an affordable price. Gamers should check this out.

There's no denying Minecraft is a wildly popular game that many people, both old and young, enjoy. It's also multi-platform, making it extremely profitable and available to many customers. Perhaps that's why Microsoft has announced it has purchased the franchise.

It's hard to say the motive behind this move -- the game does run on Xbox and Windows, of course -- but how does the software giant hope to recoup the money? After all, $2.5 billion is an awful lot to recover from.

If you were planning on picking a new Xbox One console tomorrow, hold off on that purchase. Wait for a few more days and you can pick up a game worth up to $60 free of charge. This is the latest attempt by Microsoft to boost the popularity of its console and nose it ahead of Sony's PS4. It's likely that this offer will go down well with customers as, apart from the $60 upper price limit, every disc-based game is eligible.

The offer runs from Sunday 7 until Saturday 13 September and it applies to standalone consoles as well as bundles. You could pick up a bundle that already includes a game and still bag yourself another one free of charge. Here's the small print in full, although it's a pretty straightforward offer:

Despite continuing reports of its death, the desktop computer still has a place in the world, particularly amongst power users and gamers. It's these people that Intel has squarely in its sights with the new Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition processor.

Intel’s first 8-core desktop CPU features 16 computing threads which, along with support for the latest DDR4 memory, will enable some of the fastest desktop systems yet seen. Combine this with the new enhanced Intel X99 Chipset and you also have robust overclocking capabilities which will allow enthusiasts to tune their systems to extract maximum performance.

As you're almost certainly aware if you're a PlayStation owner, this weekend saw an attack mounted on the PlayStation Network which took it down for a large chunk of time.

But PSN wasn't the only gaming service to get bombarded by DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks this weekend, and indeed, other attacks are continuing right now -- courtesy of the so-called Lizard Squad, a "hacktivist" group which is enjoying its time in the media limelight. (Though note that another hacker from Anonymous claimed responsibility for the PSN attack, so it's unclear exactly what went on in that case.)

To call Amazon a book-seller at this point is simply not accurate. The company has blossomed into so much more; manufacturing smartphones, tablets, e-readers and pretty much selling everything under the sun. Hell, as a retailer, it is a one-stop-shop for anything, such as streaming media, groceries, and hygiene products to name a few.

Yes, Amazon is trying to be all things to all consumers and quite frankly, it is working. Today, the company's tentacles grab yet another endeavor as it acquires video-game-streaming company, Twitch, for close to a billion dollars.

Football season has arrived, at least in the form of training camps and practice games. As people's minds turn towards the sport, gamers also get excited about the latest Madden release. To that end, Madden 15 is heading for Xbox One. Beginning now the game can be pre-ordered, and there are some bonuses if you jump through the necessary hoops.

Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, did the honors of announcing the release. The game can be downloaded, but will not be playable until the official launch date, which is slated for 12:01am PDT on August 26th, so not far off at all.

The pressure got to him last time, so how will developer Dong Nguyen cope if his new mobile game Swing Copters takes off?

Flappy Bird was downloaded more than 50 million times and was the number one free game in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store charts before Nguyen pulled it in early 2014 sparking petitions, suicide hoax stories and death threats.

Microsoft's continued updates of its latest console, the Xbox One, will keep going with a new August feature roll out, that is beginning today. There are many new things included that should keep gamers and entertainment aficionados satisfied.

Microsoft's Xbox Live chief Larry Hryb, who's better known as Major Nelson, made the official announcement, along with outlining the benefits for customers.

Watching a movie via Netflix has never been easier -- well, depending on your ISP, that is. Now EA would like to bring the same experience to playing games on that new Xbox One console sitting in your living room.

Electronic Arts has rolled out Access -- a new game service that works quite a lot like the movie service. Also like Netflix, it will work on a subscription basis, there is no free ride here. However, the games available should make it worthwhile for those wishing to partake.

Flappy Bird quickly hit the level of phenomena, then just as quickly vanished as the developer pulled it from both the iTunes and Google Play stores. He apparently buckled under the weight of customers becoming addicted and sending complaints directly to him. Hard to say anyone would blame him for that.

Now the simple, but also incredibly hard, game is making a come-back, though under the name "Flappy Birds Family". Those who had already installed it on a phone or tablet never lost it, but the folks who found out too late are now in luck. That is, providing they have an Amazon Fire TV box sitting around.