"The Verge" is Biased towards Apple, a Lesson for Reviewing and Comparisons

Reviewing technology is a very difficult task, along with reviewing anything else. I, for one, know how difficult it is to actually write reviews that are actually good reviews(taking a look back at my older posts and reading them, I actually did feel quite stupid.). Often times when reviewing stuff you will have to compare them. You will have to record every important detail and even the smallest ones that don't seem to matter. You must use ALL of this information to write and create a good review and comparison. There is no way around this.

So what happens when you DO shortcut around this? Meet The Verge.

The Verge is a technology news network where they review and compare everything tech related, as well as deliver news articles about real-life stuff happening in the world, as well as discussions about science, arts, cultures and various other things.

But one thing about the way they review and compare tech, one that really irks some people a lot, is when they compare Apple's products to other companies' products.
They are biased towards Apple, and all of their products.

Let's take a look at one of their comparisons...

Right off the bat, you can see that they are favouring the iPhone 6 plus more than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in terms of how the size affects the feel in your hand. However what you can also see is that the iPhone 6 Plus is the same size, if not bigger than, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Something doesn't look right, and this is a term called "bias."

Bias is defined as "prejudice in favor for, or against, a thing, person, or group, usually in a way that is considered unfair."

It's basically when you make a review or informative speech about one company's product compared to another company's product, but you repeatedly state that company A's is better than B's, to a point where it feels like it's not even truly considering what the other company's product specs are.

And when making reviews, you have to be careful that you don't look biased towards something, because that can land you in big trouble, with reputation, and if you are running a big network, like CNET and their bias accusations towards Microsoft, it can actually prevent you from doing some tasks like choosing the "Best of CES 2013" in CNET's case.

But back to The Verge. So while they are praising Apple like they're their god, many Android users are in an uproar due to their constant ignorance to some popular Android phones.

This didn't go unanswered though, as Vlad Savov made an article about his bias towards Apple... and that's why you should trust him?!?

As if the title didn't aggravate me enough, the second paragraph had definitely got me considered that he had no idea what he was talking about. I'll put a pic of it to show you what I mean.

So off the bat, he admits he makes biased decisions. But he tries to explain why he makes biased decisions. While some people may just take offense and rant about how he admits he's biased, I got angry because he a) doesn't know what bias actually means, and b) he uses parts of facts about bias that actually explains why people .

First off , he explains how "this is the whole point." Sir, the "whole point" of reviewing, comparing tech and eventually picking "the best phone in the market today" is about taking data like specs and features, putting it into consideration and choosing a phone BASED ON WHAT MOST OTHER PEOPLE WOULD LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE.

Because of this, The Verge was often considered biased towards Apple, because they fail to see things about stuff they're reviewing in the eyes of other people. Sure, they have different people working as different reviewers, but they all seem to lean towards all of Apple's products.

But one of the things that make Vlad's article seem bad was that he had confused the definitions of "bias" and "preference."

Preference means to like something over others. Compared to Bias, "prejudice in favor for, or against, a thing, person, or group, usually in a way that is considered unfair", there is a very big difference, especially in the way people would talk if they were preferring something, or biased towards something.

Let me give you an example if I were to prefer something or to be biased towards something, in this case, the iPhone 6 Plus.

PREFER: ...The quality of the iPhone 6 Plus definitely takes a step forward in some cases, as it's really light, really thin, and brings back rounded edges to give a better feel in the hand. Of course, this also makes it a bit hard to hold considering rounded metal edges would allow for a greater chance of the phone slipping out of your hand and dropping it, plus the reduced mass in your hand, and I definitely would have preferred a chamfered edge better, but those who really need a lightweight phone with a low profile could work with it. The thin aluminum case also gives way to the phone bending, but assuming you don't try to do origami with it, and you update to the next version of iOS 8 and it's new features, it should be one of the best phones to try.

BIASED: ...The iPhone 6 Plus is an amazing phone/tablet hybrid, and completely blows the others out of the way. The new light sleek design allows for greater comfort in your hand, and compared to other Phablets out there, this one isn't as awkward to hold in one hand. The new OS is definitely an improvement, giving it tons and tons of new features that would give Android a run for it's money. The iPhone 6 Plus is definitely one of the best phones to buy.

You can see a bit of a difference, as the first paragraph clearly outlines the good and bad of the phone, pointing out things that some people like and things some people don't like. It also warns you about the bending flaw, and the next update of iOS 8 since the current one has bugs, and stating it's "one of the best phones to try", as opposed to "one of the best phones to buy".

The Biased paragraph continuously states that it's the better phone, even though it's missing a lot of information, as well as views of the phone in some people's eyes. It completely missed the fact that Android actually had most of the "new" features that iOS 8 has, plus it states that "it's one of the best phones to buy", leading to people actually buying the phone without trying it first.

Now that I've given you some examples, let me point out the rest of the flaws in Vlad's article, and if you did not get anything from my examples, hopefully you'll see the problems I'm going to point out.

"To prefer cyan over hot pink is a bias" No, it's not. It's a preference. To prefer cyan over hot pink because you just like cyan better is a preference. To prefer cyan over hot pink because you're a guy, and you are more attracted to blue stuff like cyan is a bias.

"Do you like the feel of soft-touch plastic better than aluminum, rounded corners better than chamfered edges, or stock Android better than it's skinned cousins? All these are forms of prejudice"

No, these are not forms of prejudice. These are, again, preferences, and are not biased. And prejudice means that these are opinions based on little to no actual experience or reason, basically like saying "I like iOS better because I've never tried any other phone other than iPhones, so I think other OS's like Android and Windows Phone are stupid compared to iOS." That's biased prejudice, because you've never tried any other OS, and automatically assume that other phones are stupid even though you've never tried them before.

"Your hands can be a source of bias, too! The only way to judge the size and comfort of the latest phone is by reference to your own dimensions; thus, someone like Shaquille O’Neal might describe a 5.5-inch phone as small while I deride it as being too large."

This is where pointing out information that some people may like is a must in reviews. Even though you may have small hands and can't reach all of the phone's screen does not mean you have to say it's too large for anyone to handle. That is biased because you assumed it's too large for anyone to hold/handle because you can't hold/handle it properly. If you had said that "it's too large for me to handle it, however it may not be a problem for those with large hands", it's not bias, and it informs people of the large phone size as well.

And "reference to your own dimensions" isn't the only way to judge the size and comfort of a phone. You can very simply hold a stand near a busy place asking people a bit of their time to hold a phone, ask them if it is comfortable or not, and record the data.

And one more paragraph to sum it all up:

First, we don't want you to complain about it's bad parts. We want you to STATE bad parts to know WHAT PARTS WE DON'T LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, helping us decide if we want to buy it or not. We also want you to STATE good parts about the phone, so we know WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, for the same reason.

Second, by applying your biased opinions, you make yourself, your brand, your overall reputation decrease as you constantly prove you are unworthy of writing good reviews. As your comments flood with hate, don't ya think you should try and make things better?!?

Third, you can't just "feed the thing to a machine for it to determine a numerical score." In the end, the quality of a phone is based on the consumer, but a reviewer's job is to outline the specs that people will like, outline the specs that people won't like, give your opinion, and what people would think of it too. THEN it's job done.

Anyways, long post aside, I hope you've learned a thing or two, share this to others to let them know about The Verge(or as some people call them, iVerge), and if some people you know actually listen to what The Verge says about Apple's products, share this to them so they can think twice before buying a new iPhone or giving other phones a shot.

--GameKiller

iPhone 6 Reports of bending, "Wave", and update withdrawals

So if you're into Apple's products, you should have heard about iOS 8, the new iPhones, and most of the "revolutionary" changes to iOS. As a new Android user, I had no reason to buy the new iPhone, but now it seems like I have even more reason not to.(Sorry, Apple fans.)

One of the big reasons why the new iPhone won't have a spot in my pocket is because it will permanently bend if I do. Literally.

The image above is Unbox Therapy's Lewis Hilsenteger bending his brand-new iPhone 6 with his bare hands.

Reports of iPhone 6's bending in people's pockets absolutely flooded the internet, giving birth to the new #Bendgate. As a result, Lewis decided to try bending his iPhone 6 with his hands, and ended up warping his phone. As an attempt to try and bend the phone back, he ended up cracking the screen, which doesn't use Apple's new Sapphire display.

Of course, people don't usually try to fold their phone in half, but even just putting your phone into your pocket, nevertheless putting it into your back pocket(a bad idea in general), can warp the screen by just a bit. Even when the difference is small, the phone's tendency to bend just gets worse with use.

The big reason why this happens is because to cut down on weight and size, they had to reduce the actual metal case with a thin sheet of aluminum. This gives way to a very malleable phone, and ultimately, a bent one.

Although this isn't my second reason why I'm not buying the iPhone 6, this is a bit that I definitely did not want to pass up.

A hoax ad for an iOS exclusive called "Wave".

So users on various websites have spread this hoax about microwaving your iPhone updated with iOS 8. By upgrading to the latest iOS version, you can charge your phone using a household microwave oven.

...Guys, what were you thinking?! I get it, it sounds pretty cool, but looking back did you have ANY COMMON SENSE TO THINK THAT PUTTING AN ELECTRICAL DEVICE INTO A BOX FULL OF MICROWAVE RADIATION WOULD TOTALLY NOT COOK YOUR PHONE?!

This is why people go to school, guys...

And my third bit, which is probably why I won't buy a new iPhone is because the new iOS update CRIPPLES your phone.

For some reason, the new update will render your phone unable to make calls, and the Touch ID finger scanner will be glitched up and unusable.

Apple has stated that they will release an update as soon as they can, but did not reply to their complaints about their new phone bending...
But these glitches only seem to be mostly on the iPhone 6 and 6 plus, and is not confirmed if they are on other devices as well.

Overall, this makes the iPhone 6 probably one of the biggest disasters in phone history, probably reminiscent to Windows Vista's various bugs.

So have you ever had your iPhone 6 bend? Have you ever been tricked into nuking your phone? Share this to your friends and laugh as they weep over their freshly-roasted iPhone 6!

--TheGameKiller

Is the iPhone 6 worth it?

So I know I'm a bit late on this whole deal, and I know I'm posting this two days before the actual release of the phone, but I just want to talk a bit about this whole thing.

So another year passed, and Apple decided to release a new iPhone, as if that's not new. What is new is that they have redesigned the whole look, performance, and overall quality of the device, as well as slapped on a very troublesome price tag.

But what makes this phone such a big deal? Perhaps more than the other iPhones?
The truth is, that they used a lot of new stuff, with one or two small gimmicks. The first thing you've probably heard about the iPhone 6 is that it uses a new glass called Sapphire. While using Corning Gorilla Glass on the iPhone 5 was definitely a smart move, Apple decided to design a new glass called Sapphire. This glass was supposedly planned for use on the new iPhones, reports have stated that "Sapphire was never intended for use on the iPhone 6", and "hasn't even been decided for use on new phones yet." Even if you search for the specs, you would only see "shatter resistant".

Another few gimmicks were that they redesigned the whole look of the phone. They switched from a chamfered edge back to a more curved look, and moved the power button to the side for the first time, like a few of the Samsung Galaxy phones. I honestly don't know if was to draw attention, or to just give a fresh look, but whatever it was, they were definitely trying to do something with this new design.

One big gimmick was that the new iOS 8, which the phone already has pre-loaded. Many of you would look at the new software and think "hey! some of this stuff is actually pretty new and cool!" And for Apple fans, this will be true. For Android users however, this would've been cool. Two years ago.
Most of the new stuff that iOS 8 will deliver was actually already in most Android phones. Be able to read your own PDF files in your phone? You used Google Docs. Auto enhance your photos? You used Google Photos. Record video or send photos to friends? You used Hangouts, or Snapchat, or pretty much any messaging service. As iOS 8 rolls around, you start to realize that most Android users probably won't even need this software, or this phone in general.
Don't believe that this new software update has the exact same thing as Android two years ago? Check this out.

However, this only compares software, not hardware.
The new iPhone sports a much more powerful processor, and a much better camera that rivals any other phone out on the market right now.
Even the software itself runs amazingly fast on this, proved in iOS 7 on the iPhone 5s.

But ultimately, we have to come to a conclusion. And my conclusion is that this phone is great for those who are already using iPhones as their main phones.
This also explains why Apple diehards will be Apple diehards and keep saying that these phones are the best, although many Apple fans will just stick to iOS just because of it's simplicity.
Android users will almost always want to stick to Android because of its versatility, along with Google's versatility. On Android, you can customize whatever you wanted out of your phone's software, with home screens, to 3rd party keyboards, you could even rice your phone and customize your OS.
But Apple fans love iOS because it's simple, it's mostly user-friendly, and it's very easy to get the most out of your software, even though Apple dictates how the system will be run.

Anyways, thanks for checking this out. Share this with your friends to see if they would want to consider the iPhone, or give Android a try for themselves.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @OTheGameKillerO!!

Mojang got bought by Microsoft? Microsoft's story

So, we all know what's up: Mojang got bought for $2.5 billion, Microsoft now owns Minecraft, and they have total control over what they want out of it. Is this the end for us all?

Probably not, and despite Microsoft's tragic mistakes in the past, I still think that they'll be able to pull this one through.

To explain Microsoft's reasoning behind this, I'll give you a lot bit of their history.

So Microsoft buys Mojang, and Minecraft for that matter, for the sole purpose of promoting their own products.
Think about it: most of Microsoft's profits are from the Xbox franchise. They specifically aim for the gamers, and more specifically, the young gamers. Since Minecraft is one of the, if not the most popular video game among young gamers. So Microsoft says "hey, we should totally have Minecraft on our console!" and that spawned the console editions for Minecraft.

But they didn't stop there. Even though they were gaining money from Minecraft: Xbox 360 edition, they wanted to appeal to the ones who are a bit older than the Minecraft kiddies. Teenagers, are obsessed with smartphone tech nowadays, they're on Instagram, they're on Twitter, they're on Facebook, every social media site out there(except the ones that are dead).

They had tried several times to appeal to the adolescent age, who are on their phones all the time, so back in May 2010, they released a phone, called the Microsoft Kin.
Do you know this phone? If you do, then you would know that this is the worst fail in all of phones, period. But it's actually sad to see that they had so much hype in on this, they had billions of dollars in research put into this, and went as far as to keep it secret from the public, calling this phone "Project Pink", repeatedly signing off all work discussions #TMDP for "Truly, Madly, Deeply, Pink". I guess this was to try to see if anyone would leak this to spice up interest for the phone?

Anyways, what they ended up selling was a complete disaster of a phone. First of all, these weren't designed to be smartphones. They were made for texting and social networking, and lacked many apps that most smartphones had like a calendar app. They didn't even had an app store, so what you got was what you got. To use your phone properly, you had to register it on the Kin Website, where you can also store pictures and stuff...? I don't know much, but this was a big fail it itself, because this site was mandatory to keep these phones running.

 Verizon stopped selling the phones for poor sales, versions of the phone got their price slashed down to almost free, and production stopped. The entire thing was scrapped, the website shut down, and the phones not only rendered obsolete, but unusable now. Looking back, you can sum it up as MS spending billions of dollars, only to find themselves FORTY EIGHT DAYS LATER to say "yep. Nevermind."

Which brings us back to 2014, where they now sell Nokia phones, with Windows Phone OS. To be honest, all of their gimmicky stuff, with Windows 8's design seemingly slapped onto every device they sell, plus Cortana, a competitor to Apple's Siri, who also is the AI from Halo.

However, this still isn't going to cut it. Compared to iOS and Android, these are nothing compared to the simplicity of an iPhone and the seemingly endless possibility of an Android phone.

And this brings us here, when Microsoft is deciding whether to buy Mojang *click or nah.

The truth is, Microsoft needs more consumers in the market, and buying Mojang will allow them to update Windows Phone with the game that everybody wants. This doesn't just promote their phone however, this also promotes their income.
If Minecraft continues to grow at a steady rate, Microsoft can use this as a gold mine. This game has grown as much as to create a lifestyle, multiple fanbases, wikis, clothing, and much more. And Microsoft can profit from this. Provided they don't screw something up.

Not only that, but this can also mean the start of Minecraft 2.0, a sequel to pretty much the same game... I don't know much, but it really seems like a copy of the same game with a two slapped on the end of the title.

But again, provided they don't screw things up, Minecraft will still be as good, just owned under a different name. Yes, this change is definitely scary to some people, and jokes can be made about Minecraft 2.0 like "the exact same items that look slightly different" and such.

The only thing I do hope Microsoft will do is to continue to support Mojang. They are the ones who are pretty much the founders and sole supporters of this game, and without them working on Minecraft, it feels like a part of it would leave, and never come back. Not only that, but Minecraft may lose the Mojang style that they had so deeply etched into this game.

Overall, I'm excited to see what will come out of this, and I will definitely keep you guys posted on this one.
Anyways, thanks for reading this, I know I still haven't been able to update a lot, I feel like I'm a makeover failure when it comes to doing YouTube videos and blogging more, but I'm going to try and do this more often, for your pleasure.
Be sure to drop a like and share this to your friends, so that they can see why this whole thing started.

--TheGameKiller

Touhou Review (PC Bullet Hell Shooter)

Again, sorry for lack of updates. Distracted yet again by my habit for being distracted.

But, I'm back, after trying to get this game for so long, I had downloaded and played a game called "Touhou 8: Imperishable Night".

And what a game it was.

Touhou Project is a series of bullet hell shooters, where you play a character who navigates through numerous amounts of one-shot bullets that often cloud your screen, and try not to get hit. "It's like standing out in the rain, and not getting wet."

I can't really describe this game's insane difficulty in words, so I'll let a picture do the work.

Does that look hard enough for you? Of course, my stubbornness led me to downloading this game, and to me failing the extra stage about ten times before I actually got to the first main fight.

But despite this game's difficulty, It's actually a very great game. By holding down <shift> your character "focuses", creating a white dot in the middle of your character sprite. This represents your actual hitbox, allowing you to navigate through clouds of bullets much easier. This also slows you down however, which actually caused some failures for me.

But even though your hitbox is only 4 pixels wide in radius, it's very easy for you to miscalculate, as bullets can move in different speeds, causing you to panic, and ultimately, get corned into the top right of the screen, where an enemy will pop out and kill you.

However not all Touhou games have the same focus mechanics. Embodiment of Scarlet Devil(Touhou 6) does not show your hitbox, increasing the difficulty a fair bit. However, some people recommend this installment, as the greater increase in difficulty allows the player to get used to the game's mechanics, as well as develop a greater sense of the hitbox area.

The game seems to get increasingly harder and harder as the series moves upward, as seemingly harder and harder boss fights have more punishing "spell cards"(special bullet patterns) that require you to capture the card bonus by reducing the life gauge to a certain point, or timing out. Some spell cards actually require you to time out, forcing you to survive a specified time of endless waves of red balls.

Though the Touhou games are difficult, this is what makes it quite addicting in my opinion, and the effects put into the games improve as it moves onto the more recent installments. The spell card bullet patterns are equally as beautiful(and blinding), and the background music that accompanies the game makes it much better as well.

Overall, the game is a very beautiful, hardcore game only for those who believe in perseverance, have excellent reflexes, a sharp eye, and is not afraid to hit retry again, and again.

...and again...


...and again...


...goddamn this game.

World of Tanks Review (XBLA Version Review)

Ever tried playing a nice flash game on some site and was greeted by one of those ads for World of Tanks?
This game was probably one of the most well known ads out there, but it's for a somewhat great game.

World of Tanks is... well... a world full of tanks. As said in the title, I tested the XBLA version, so I still do not know all of the attributes to this game. Nonetheless, it makes a great impression. In the XBLA version, there are about 6 or more maps to play on, but only one gametype. Again, since this is the XBLA version, I don't have all of the stuff in the PC version. But the one gamemode required much strategy, as well as wits, since it was either kill every enemy, or capture their base.

The tanks you can play as are basically from three trees, American tanks, British tanks or German tanks. They are all different, and they all have different styled tanks, with many attributes, strengths and weaknesses. As such, American Heavy tanks have more Turret Armor, allowing you to take enough cover to cover the tank, but not the turret, giving you more protection while still having offensive angles.Choosing the right one for the right game is crucial for victory.

You can have five tanks in your garage if you don't pay for another slot, and you can buy any kind of tank you want from any of the three trees, as long as you have researched enough upgrades for the first tank from the tree. Almost every tank tree has all five tank classes: Light, Tank Destroyer, Medium, Artillery and Heavy Tanks.

Light Tanks are basically used for scouting, spotting enemies, hunting down Tank Destroyer snipers as well as Artillery tanks, and sometimes flanking enemies and rushing them. They are able to move very fast around the map, as well as turn their turret really fast. However, their health and armor are no comparison to other tanks, leaving these tanks very little defensive capability if it weren't for one overpowered attribute. Their turrets can usually be outfitted with a semi-auto gun, which you can spray all five shots into your enemy and kill them very quickly, unless, of course, your enemy is armored. This one overpowered attribute can kill your enemy very quickly, and personally, I think both weak armor and health are not a good balancing factor for a semi-auto gun. Even if it's somewhat weak. Not even that, but these semi-auto guns can be upgraded in some Medium tanks as well! I don't know what they were thinking on that one, but I think this factor is a bit iffy on my part.

Tank Destroyers have basically the same amount of armor and health as a light tank. However, their offensive and range capabilities are unmatched. They are the snipers of the bunch, and they usually stay behind the team for long-range support. They are usually weaker than a medium tank, which is the reason why they stay behind and almost never rush into combat. Although their armor is usually weak, Their frontal armor is enough for a sniper to back away when spotted and attacked, without being severely damaged, unless your tank destroyer has no armor, which is really bad. Nonetheless, these tanks are the perfect support snipers.

Medium Tanks are the main offensive group. They are meant to rush into combat, flank, and take out enemies in groups. Their health and armor is well-balanced with their other attributes, and they are basically a jack-of-all-trades and just a basic attacking tank.

Artillery Tanks are meant to support by staying far behind and sniping tanks from shells shot into the sky. These tanks can basically shoot anything in the map as long as the shell can hit the target in a bullet drop arc. The shots fired from an Artillery tank can kill you in one shot... but managing to stay out of the drop arc can save your life. Even hugging the walls of a house can get you out of an Artillery tank's line of sight, and block the shots from their shells. Artillery tanks are also at a disadvantage with their speed. They are almost as slow as a Heavy tank, and their reload time is horrid. Missing a shot while being an Artillery tank means death in a combat situation.

Heavy Tanks are basically, one big lump of metal to kill others, while soaking in shots. They have an enormous amount of health, with a big offensive capability, enough to kill a tank with one or two shots. However, they are at a disadvantage with light and medium tanks, as their flanking capabilities are fast enough to circle around to your engine and fire as many shots as they can into that. Your turret turning speed is horrible, as with your hull turning speed, and pretty much the speed of everything else too, except for your reload, which is just...decent. However, a trick you can do to turn faster is to turn your hull and your turret at the same time, doubling your speed, fast enough to nail your surrounding flankers.

All of these tanks can be used in any game, as long as you are in a specific Tier group, which is basically how good your tank is. If you're a tier 2 tank and you're facing tier fives, you're dead. just sayin.

Also, once you die in a game, you can go back to your garage, without losing anything(unless you are still alive), and pick another tank to play as, getting more playtime, while earning your money and xp while you are still playing as another tank. And when you die, most likely your other game is over, so you can play as your other tank while waiting for your xp from your other game to come, and your other tank as well.

World of Tanks is pretty much a strategy game, with the implemented ability to play as a tank, and not just point and click to order stuff around, etc... and is pretty much a great game. However the one bad thing about it is that it can the "premium currency" system where you can pay money to get "premium currency" and buy overpowered tanks at the start of your first few games. So you'd literally have newbs using tier 7 tanks.

But all in all, the game is great. The strategic planning you are forced to do in this game can help you achieve a victory, while the ridiculous things you can do as a tank mixed in with that, actually creates a fun game that you can play for lols, or play to win.

Gameplay: 9. Very great gameplay mechanics, as when you die, you can return to your garage and pick another tank to play as, while waiting for your tank to come back. The strategy that you must integrate into your game also helps when fighting, assisting, and rushing enemies and friendlies.

Sound: 7. As like CoD, I feel like this game is also one of the "Arcade Shoot 'em Up" types, and is not really much of a "realistic" game. As such, I didn't feel like the game had realistic cannon sounds, and the engines were probably louder. Not many audio cues were given except for when something was damaged, of a crew member died, or something, but most of those things could have easily been known due to a visual pop-up.

Visual: 6.5. I don't think they were focusing much on the visual part of the game, except for the HUD. Explosions are of course, not very realistic, as explosions just leave a scorch mark in the ground. However, it does seem realistic enough for the point five mark of damaged tanks to have a damaged look on the tank, like having a broken track, and the track is broken on-screen. Tank corpses are also not blown to oblivion when they explode, but they are just colored black, split open in one area, and catches fire.

Overall score: 8.5. Very great strategy game, with a bit of Arcade shoot 'em up integrated to make the game fun. Great for casual players who can learn the concept easily, and excellent for the ones who love playing strategy games, like chess.

Sorry for the late uploads, I've been distracted by a new video game that I got, with this one included, my testing times were very much delayed. I will get more content out soon though!!

Guide to Being a Better Gamer

Hey guys.

First of all, this post is to help you become a better gamer, both strategically and competitively. These tips may or may not help you, but how much it helps you depends on how much you have taken these tips to thought.
With that explained, let's start.

Becoming a "better gamer" does not mean a higher K/D ratio, a better score per minute ratio, higher stats, etc., but determining how much you "become better" actually depends on whether you have made more strategic choices, how well you co-operate with teammates, your temper limits, and your ability to know your opponent.

-Becoming a more strategic gamer-

First off, ask yourself this:
-Do you like rushing head-first into combat, only retreating when things go bad?
-Do you like to position yourself in cover when attacking enemies?
-When multiple enemies pass by you, do you:
a)Jump into the middle of the group and attack them all in a group
b)Wait until the perfect moment to pick them off safely
-Do you change loadouts/tactics when things aren't exactly going your way?
-Do you use weapons/tactics depending on your situation?

If you are a more strategic person, your answers should be:
No, Yes, b), Yes, Yes.

When you are about to face a number of enemies, you must think before you act. Simply assaulting groups of five enemies without thinking could lead to you being riddled with bullets. Rushing is not always the best tactic, however it has the potential to be a great tactic in disrupting the enemy's plans.
Taking cover is a great way to deal with multiple enemies relatively safely, as you can hide behind a wall when you have low health, and even lure your enemies in for the kill.

When dealing with multiple enemies, order is always a factor to consider. When up against a group of three people, one looking in your direction, one looking at the other direction, and one currently fighting one of your teammates, which should you kill first? The one looking directly at you. In games like Call of Duty, where it's almost always fast-paced, you must be able to make quick decisions and choose who to kill first. The person looking in your direction is the most dangerous enemy to deal with, so you must always dispose of him first. The one looking in the other direction comes second, as he might notice the bullets flying past him and look at you. The person fighting your teammate comes last, as he is not that much of a threat, as he may already be dead by the time you kill the two enemies, or he may be heavily injured and attempt to run away.

You must always be ready to change tactics or loadouts when needed. You should never, and I mean NEVER STICK TO ONLY ONE TACTIC WHEN IT"S GOING BAD. When it goes bad, it's probably because your enemy has found out what your plan is, and what your weakness is. (more about this in Metagame.) When things go bad, go to plan B, and change your tactics, mix it up a bit., go this way instead of that way, use this gun instead of this gun, etc. You must always change tactics when needed, and you must always know when to change your tactics, and when to keep them. For instance, you may be falling behind a bit, but what you are doing is actually giving a hard time on the other team. Know when to change your tactics, and know when to keep them.
You should also always have a specific route/tactic/weapon/everything for every situation, be it a map, enemy, etc. Know what to use in what place, and you can improve your gameplay.

Now that you have these tips on becoming a better strategic player, let's look at becoming a more friendly teammate.

-Working with allies-

I know it's probably hard to work with a few allies, and sometimes they will just be dicks. But you must use their skills for an advantage, and sometimes even abuse them. Yes, that will sound cruel, but just bear with me.

Teamwork is important, and without a very good team, you won't have a victory. However, it is almost impossible to work with your teammates if you don't have any way to communicate with them. Even though that may happen, you can still have a good team anyways.
You must always work together, and take objectives in a team. In almost every game, there is one or two people who just don't care about the objective and just go away to kill other players, or just do something else. You may think that they're dumb and they're supposed to arm the bomb, or capture the flag, blah blah blah. The truth is, when they are just killing players, they are actually luring the enemy team away from the objectives and distracting them, even when they don't think they're doing it. How are they exactly distracting them? The enemy team may not be able to score, because that one guy is always killing them before they reach the objective. This can actually help you further, because they may even get mad and do stupid things. Taking and defending objectives can be done even with just one of you, as long as your teammates are playing the game. If all of them don't care about the objective and are just killing everybody, good. You can take objectives without much trouble.

But what happens when you are playing with very bad teammates? The answer is simple, but is also difficult to achieve. You must carry your team. Defend your team by taking most of the kills, and lock down objectives as you need to. Use the most overpowered weapons and tactics you can find and discourage the opposition, forcing them to change their tactics and weapons, and all in all, giving your team an edge. The enemy team will be unsure of what to do, and might not have a backup plan.

Know what your teammates specialize in, know what they are using, and know what they are doing. When a teammate is using a riot shield, use him as cover. When a teammate is sniping, and looking out in a field for an enemy, consider him as a lookout, and keep an ear open for his gunshots. When they are firing their guns in a hallway, assume that path is unsafe, and flank around to assist.

Dealing with a troll is a somewhat difficult thing, but to deal with this, I've put in some good ways to troll harder.

Corner Trapper: The troll who traps you in a corner. If you cannot escape, make as much noise as possible, send spam to the troll, fire your gun everywhere, etc. This actually might not keep you from being trapped in the corner, but it can definitely annoy the troll.

Kill Stealer: The troll that steals all of your kills: The one that will follow you everywhere and steal all your kills: To potentially stop him from stealing your kills, pick a class that is very strong agility-wise, and let the troll follow you as you rush through the map, ignoring each and every kill. You can also block his view by going in front of him every time he is killing an enemy.
The one that sits somewhere and snipes each of your kills: block his view by going in front of him.

View blocker: The troll that constantly shoves you out of the way, and blocks your sight: Do exactly what he is doing to you.

Now that you know how to deal with your teammates, let's look at how to control your anger.

-Controlling your temper-

Rage Quitting is never the way to victory. You must be able to keep your anger in check, or you may just as well lose 15 games in a row.

When your plans are not exactly going your way, change your tactic! I've already said this before, and I will say it again! You must be able to respond to the winds of change, and you must know when to change your tactics! The reason why that guy is pwning you so bad is because you are too stubborn to realize that your plan isn't going too well!

The biggest reason why players rage is because they think the game is "broken", and they complain about it. They always complain and bitch about shit, but that's another reason why they are doing so bad in games! They are bitching about their fucking spawns being crap and that there's a spawn camper just outside the door, and they keep bitching about it and all that bitching is making them forget that THERE WAS ANOTHER EXIT OUT OF THAT ROOM. Bitching about shit isn't helping you at all, in fact it's even distracting you.
I have a friend who is always complaining about every little thing that goes wrong in his games, and most of his complaining was about the spawns. He always complained about them, and he never once thought about the window beside him, or the pathway behind him. He complained that he died three times in a row, but he never thought about going the other direction(Again, change your tactics when you need to!). He complains about graphics being so derpy, when he never realizes that graphics are already pushed to their limits! He complains about weapons being overpowered, but sometimes he never thinks about the stats which are in fact, extremely underpowered!
My point is, try to avoid complaining about shit. If you always complain about stuff, almost all of the time your complaint will backfire right in your face because you forgot a crucial fact.

And when people are giving you a hard time, try not to insult them, because if you do, you're probably going to get insulted more.
Do you know the true definitions of the insult "Tryhard"? Here's some of the definitions.

1. A person who tries too hard in achieving something, and fails entirely.

Seems pretty normal right? However, this insult is so over-used that the next definitions are:

2. A face-saving insult used by someone who is feeling inadequate. Basically accuses anyone who is better than them by putting in an effort. Doubles as an excuse for sucking by implying lack of effort on the speaker's part.
3. An insult blatantly used by 13-year old kiddies in online gaming who, ironically, try very hard to achieve something and fail entirely.
Using insults isn't going to help you either. In fact, retaliating with an insult is only going to backfire with a pretty damn good comeback. And if you aren't experienced with insults and comebacks, you are in trouble.
But if you do know a lot of good comebacks, and are pretty good at making one up impromptu, then you can easily discourage someone who insults you, and even get you a victory in your game.
This goes to say: insulting someone can easily turn into a disaster, so avoid insulting people. Not just because of Cyberbullying and all that shit, but also because you are probably not going to win against a comeback war. (Especially with my history teacher, like seriously.)

My last reason why you should never get angry in a video game is this quote:

"Anger makes you stupid." -I don't know who said this

When you are angry, your I.Q. levels drop a fair bit, and your ability to make good choices in real life and in video games are impaired. You won't be able to concentrate, and you will fail harder and harder as you get angrier and angrier. The tips above will help you to play games more effectively, and being able to respond to changes will help you to respond with a different tactic rather than anger.

And finally, the last part I have to offer:

-The Metagame-

The Metagame to define it, is basically the object of knowing your opponent, what tactics they use, the routes they take, the way they play, their temper limits, their strengths, their weaknesses, etc. It is important that you understand you opponents to become a better player. You may know how to deal with stuff in games, but how would you decide what to do if you don't even know what you're up against?

I have a few simple tips to finding the enemy's weaknesses, and their strengths.

Being killed by the enemy once should give you enough info on:
-what they are using
-where they have killed you
-how they have killed you
-when they decided to attack.
Being killed by the enemy twice gives you more info, enough to:
-either confirm or inform you on what they were using
-confirm their lookout point or inform that they like to be mobile
-inform you on how they like to kill; either stealthily, tactically, sniper, rush, or recklessly.
Being killed by the enemy three times should confirm:
-that they keep the same gun or they like picking up other guns
-if they are a sniper or camper in one spot or that they like to move around the map
-if they are a strategic-based player, a rusher, a sniper, a camper, or a noob.

But that was just one enemy, what about a full team?
You must know where the enemies like to snipe, and you must have a basic idea of what the enemy players are using. At the start of the game, you may pick a loadout that is suitable for the map, and that alone is probably enough for the match, unless the enemy team uses weapons that are strong against yours. In this case you must be able to know what guns they are using against you, and you must pick a weapon that is strong against theirs.
If one enemy player seems to be more experienced than the others, and he seems to be beating your team by himself, consider playing the Metagame using the above tips.

The Metagame is a strong tool in helping you to become a better player, and (protip)it actually helps you find out how the majority of players like to play, and can help you expect what to face in future matches.

And that wraps up my tips on becoming a better gamer. Make strategic choices, work with your team, keep your temper in check, and always know your opponent.
I guarantee that if you truly take these tips to thought, and use them, you can even end up improving yourself as a gamer.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.