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Why Blockchain Gaming Won’t Work Out

Editorials
Why Blockchain Gaming Wont Work Out

We have to store information in this world and we have to do with with electricity, which is quite hard. There’s physical means of storage, but ultimately, we’re using electricity to write it and read it, because computer instructions are just that: electricity. In that way, storing that information is important to everything we do: your bank needs to know how much money you have and your video game needs to know how much gold you have. Traditionally this information would be stored in a database, ultimately looking something like this: “294384,username,482,48982” which would be like your userID, userNAME, GOLD and DIAMONDs. Enter blockchain technology. A revolutionary new way of storing information, leveraging a decentralized list of records where multiple “nodes” process and verify data amongst one another. This gives all kinds of cool advantages, which I’ll let Wikipedia explain blockchain, but it also uses A LOT of power and…

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The Truth Behind the Video Card Crisis

Editorials
RTX Card City

There’s a lot going on right now in the world of video cards, but one of the hard truths that we have to face as gamers is that the actual super truth is that we’re hitting a point where the fidelity of games isn’t utilizing the entire graphics card power and thus, we’re looking at suffering in the video card market for a myriad of reasons and how people game is entirely one of them. People are quick to say “supply shortages” and “silicon shortages” as the reason for video card stock shortages and to a degree, it’s the simple answer, but what if I told you GTX 680s being viable today is probably a lot more involved in why there isn’t a rush to solve a what is now over a year long shortage in video cards. The Bargain Bin’s the Reason The biggest reason behind the ongoing video…

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How to Find Games for the Cheapest – A Deal Site / Aggregator Tier List & Cash Back Rewards Guide

Guides
crop farmer showing money in green summer field in countryside

We wanted to put together an all in one resource on how to go out and find your next game purchase at the lowest price, for PC & console. The below guide covers the best deal site aggregators which let you search across multiple vendors and we also cover the best cash back rewards programs that you can leverage without any kind of credit card signup or formal card cash back program. You’d be surprised, sometimes you can get 8% back on a $300 purchase, which is $24 extra dollars back for doing nothing. The reason why is that it’s just easy to buy the game directly off of Steam or your console’s storefront. You search for the title and pay whatever they’re asking for. The problem is that with just a little bit of effort, you can find the game likely way cheaper. Then, on top of that, with…

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Understanding the Duty Finder – FFXIV Dungeon / Duty Finder Guide

Guides
ffxiv hero endwalker

In a typical MMO, a dungeon would be known as a dungeon but in FFXIV they are known as a duty. The duty finder is basically the dungeon finder in FFXIV and the lifeblood of the game. Now, like any MMO with a dungeon finder, there isn’t always the best company to play with and you won’t always have a successful run of whatever you’re signing up for, but that’s okay and part of life. We’re going to go over the duty finder and some tips on how to make your duty runs more successful, because with just four player groups, one person can make a difference. For those coming over from WoW: Dungeon sizes are different in FFXIV. Dungeons are known as as a “Duty” in the game. Instanced gameplay comes through a lot of flavors. To continue the story, often a duty is required although these requirements change…

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Are We in a Retro Game Bubble?

Editorials

In a recent video by Karl Jobst, he proposes that we’re in a retro video game bubble that’s been artificially inflated by the same folks who have done so with coins and comic books. That prices right now are unsustainable and that the market will collapse, leaving sellers with no buyers. Which is kind of scary for folks who love video games and kind of hard to take in for those who are attempting to invest in retro games. Well, when we ask if we’re in a retro video game bubble, the answer is very likely dependent on the game itself and the condition of the game. Loose cartridges, CIB games and games that are new but not graded are all right now showing minor inflation due to higher demand during 2020 and 2021 lockdowns for older games, especially in the Gamecube market. Collectors may have to pay a premium…

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Are WATA/VGA Video Game Gradings a Scam?

Guides
wata website

To save you time, if you define a scam to mean that you give someone money for a service and they do not do that service, then by all means WATA and VGA (Video Game Authority) are not scams. They’re legitimate companies that, if you ship your games to them, will grade your games and send them back based on what services you paid for. Maybe not very quickly, but they do what they promise to do. Now, is video game grading in of itself a scam? A fictional system designed to inflate the prices of retro video games that are becoming more scarce due to the fragile materials used to construct their boxes? That’s a deeper question with some actually quite odd answers. Furthermore, should you invest in graded games? That’s an even tougher question. We will dive into all of them below. If you’re wanting to collect retro…

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How To Solve Nostalgia and Start Retro Game Collecting

Guides
retrogames

If you have fond memories of the good ‘ol days of games from bygone eras then you may want to consider buying games now instead of later, no matter which day you read this. The reason being that physical game media is becoming more rare by the day as games break, get thrown out and are lost to the fates of time. The prices of which are increasing, especially as older games which used cardboard for their cases begin to decay from moisture and age. The community and market for physical video games remained rather stable for a long period of time. Generally speaking, games were worth a percentage of their retail price based on popularity, with more popular games taking a smaller percentage of their retail on third party sites like eBay. For instance, a $49.99 game would likely sale for $35 on eBay used for the longest time,…

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Should You Reserve the Steam Deck?

Editorials
steamdeck

Steam Decks have just been announced and reservations will have opened up at 10AM July 16th. Assuming you have the chance to reserve one, depending on how much stock Valve has. You can reserve one on the following page at Steam and it comes in three models. A base model, a mid-tier model and a high end model. A quick rundown of the three: Base: 64GB of storage and a carrying case. $399Mid Tier: 256GB NVMe SSD (faster storage), the carrying case and a Steam Community Profile bundle. $529High End: 512GB NVMe SSD, anti-glare etched glass, the carrying case, the Steam Community profile bundle and an exclusive virtual keyboard theme. Note, there is a MicroSD slot for more storage. Great Overview If you want a solid professional unbiased overview of the hardware, checkout Gamer Nexus. History & Stock Shortages Valve has failed on almost every hardware release so far, with…

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Understanding Limited Run Games and the Game Collector’s Market

Guides
limitedrungameswebsite

Limited Run Games is a publisher of limited runs of physical games. There are other outlets, like Strictly Limited, that do a similar thing but Limited Run Games is what I would consider the industry leader in this very interesting world of limited video game releases. Their popularity recently has continued to only soar as collectors attempt to collect a wide range of their products, from the games they love to those who just love to collect every release. To be completely candid, I recently was looking at MidBoss’s Japanese release of the 2064 collector’s edition and fell immediately in love with the artwork and everything about it. Obtaining the previous US release led me down a long and wild adventure into a niche market that’s exploding in popularity and has a lot of pieces to untangle. The Principles of False Scarcity & A Limited History of Collector’s Editions If…

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Parents & Young Adults Guide to Gaming Careers – eSports Professionals (Pros)

Guides
people sitting on red chair watching tv

When we consider the power of gaming one of the things we don’t consider often is its ability to be extremely inclusive and allow for a wide swath of people from the full spectrum of socioeconomic statuses to enter into a video gaming career. Due to the nonstandard approach and ease of entry into the streaming space and just playing, becoming a professional eSports player is “easier” than ever. “Easier” of course being in quotations because it’s not “easy” as in you can just start day one and begin as a professional eSports player. No, the “easy” part is the materials for getting started. The rest of it is up to the skills of a player. You, your child or your young adult may be interested in being an eSports professional. Wearing a jersey, being on stage in front of a large crowd (or viewers at home) and basking in…

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