It now appears, that gamers can put their skills to even better uses – like helping science solve some mysteries. This time, gamers helped scientists to decipher the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus. This enzyme has baffled scientists for a long time. It is a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses, a family that includes HIV. The problem was, that the enzyme cannot be fully analyzed under a microscope, but needed to be displayed as 3D.

Thus, the University of Washington decided to ask online gamers to help it solve the structure of the enzyme. They used a hi-tech device called Foldit. Unlike other medical devices, Foldit is a fun-with purpose device that can be used to analyze and to see the enzymes clearly. The gamers were divided into two competing teams to unfold the chains of their amino acids using a set of online tools. And, like bosses, the gamers nailed it.

Now that the structure of the enzyme is clear, there might be new insights for antiretroviral drugs, the medication against HIV.

Read more here

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If you feel like reminiscing even without replaying the games themselves, you can buy one of these cool NES maps and hang them on your wall. This site has NES poster maps for anything from Final Fantasy to Dragon Warrior, all for very reasonable prices ($10-$20). Shipping total is $4.99 (US and Canada) no matter how many posters you order. Shipping for all other countries is $10.

Enjoy!

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A lot of today’s games don’t really appeal to me, either, but there was one I was really waiting for – Diablo III. I remember Diablo II very fondly, and it’s still one of my favorite games ever. We have been waiting for Diablo III for more than ten years now, and in the last 2-3 years, a lot of exciting news has been spreading about the game. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, it was easier than ever to follow the game’s development, screenshots and video clips.

Today, though, I read some upsetting news: the new game, Diablo III, isn’t going to be as much fun as its predecessor. First and foremost, and this is the main reason I won’t be buying the game – you won’t be able to play Diablo III offline. I find this extremely stupid and annoying. There’s much to be said about the ability to disconnect from the real world (which is, in part, on the net) and have some uninterrupted gaming fun. Also, Battle.net servers are not always online or fast enough, and this means you can’t really play the game anytime, anywhere. I think that if I pay $60 for a game, I am entitled to the right to play it without an internet connection. Blizzard, so it seems, are more concerned about piracy (like THAT’S gonna stop the pirates) – so they are going to lose some paying customers, with little me among them. Too bad, Blizzard.

Also, there won’t be any mods and items in the auction house will be bought and sold for real money. You can read more about that here, but for me, it doesn’t matter – Blizzard has lost me on the online thing.

Ah well, back to Zuma Blitz, for now.

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As you can see, the balls roll in in two long paths. You need to prepare for long shots as well as close ones, but the keys for scoring big on this week’s Zuma board are fruits and gap shots.

Fruits are usually located in hard-to-reach areas of the board, but this week they are much easier to grab. If you blast the balls quickly out the way, and prevent them from getting too close to you, you can snatch 4-5 fruit each game – which can get you some serious points.

For really mastering the fruit grabbing, you need to learn how to quickly launch two balls, one after the other – one to create the gap in the balls that allows you access to the fruit, and the next one to actually get the fruit – BEFORE the rest of the balls rush in and block the juicy treat. I call it “Tap-Tap” – because you need to do a quick double-click on the mouse in order to get it right. You WILL miss sometimes, but if you master this technique, you can get much more fruit while playing Zuma.

Because of the long, parallel lines in which the balls roll this week, you can get many gap shots if you are smart and quick enough. A great way to make gaps is the inferno frog. Match the balls quickly to gather heat, and when you get the inferno frog (that spits 3 fire balls), make holes in the lines of balls. This way you can get plenty of gap shots until the balls close the gaps.

Recommended powers for this week’s board

For this week, my top choice of powers would be:

• Time (as always)
• Sun Frog
• Epic Fruit (optional)

You can also go with bombs or chain blast, instead of the Epic Fruit, but personally I think that too many blasts make you lose opportunities for combos, which can get you tons of points.

The Sun Frog is wonderful for making gaps in the lines. If you make a big enough gap, you can get great scoring gap shots for quite a few seconds.

If you need more general tips, check out the Zuma Blitz Guide.

Good luck and have fun!

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The original Zuma game was released exactly 7 years ago, on December 2003, and became one of the most popular casual games around. PopCap has created many hits after Zuma, of course, but it remained one of their most famous games.

Following the success of Bejeweled Blitz, PopCap has created Zuma Blitz – a one-minute social game that will take many hours of your spare time.

The purpose of Zuma Blitz is simple – score as many points as you can in one minute. You start out with just a few Lives (represented by hearts), and each time you play – you lose one. When you have finished all your lives, you can wait for them to reload (takes some time) or purchase new ones at the store. This limitation, which doesn’t exist on Bejeweled Blitz, for example, isn’t there because PopCap is worried about your productivity and wasted hours, but because it might tempt you to buy more lives using Facebook coins and/or real money.

Leveling up is meaningful on Zuma Blitz – unlike Bejeweled, where the badges are just for show. When you level up on Zuma Blitz, you get more lives, they recharge faster, you accumulate more Mojo and you get access to more power-ups.

If you need a basic guide for Zuma blitz gameplay, click here. This post is mainly for users who know how to play, and want to better their scores.

Zuma Blitz Tips and High Score Guide

WORK FAST

This may sound obvious, but it isn’t just because you have only one minute on Zuma Blitz. Taking out as many balls as you can, as quickly as you can, will get you the Inferno Frog – 3 shots of balls that blow up, get you many points and give you the bonuses you need (mainly Chrono Balls and Multiplires). Try to get at least two Inferno Frogs in a game.

MULTIPLIERS ARE KEY

Just as they were on Bejeweled Blitz, multipliers are very important on Zuma Blitz, as well. You can get dozens of chains, blow up balls and grab fruit, but if you didn’t catch those multipliers, you won’t get that high score. A good game is usually one when you get at least to X7 or X8. More is the better, of course. If you can get a multiplier without breaking the chain – good. If not, consider braking the chain for it – it’s usually worth it.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

You start out on Zuma Blitz with one minute, but you can substantially extend this time. You do that by taking out Chrono Balls – each one is worth 5 more seconds. When you level up, you can also use the Chrono Ball power up, with which the Chrono Balls give you 6 seconds each. You can easily add 30-40 seconds to your game with the Chrono Balls. A longer game usually means more point.

DON’T LET GREED GET IN THE WAY

Fruit. They are tempting. They look so juicy and pretty, and they can give you a large amount of points. Treasure chests are also very appealing – who knows what kind of bonus you’ll get! Problem is, these fun items may mess up your game – they tend to appear behind ball lines and in many cases you will break chain because of them. Also, they tend to distract you and attract your attention – thus interfering with your concentration and game flow. Take out a fruit or chest only when you are sure you can hit them, and don’t sacrifice the chain for them.

KEEP UP THE CHAIN

With some multipliers, chain score can get very high. Make sure you don’t break the chain and try to get as high as you can – you can get X50 and more when it comes to chains – and that’s a lot of points.

FUCK UP AT THE BEGINNING

A game can start out lamely, but end up in a nice high score. That’s because most of the bigger points are accumulated towards the end of the game – after you got yourself some multipliers and turned on some chains heat. So, if you fuck up or need to sacrifice the chain, do it at the beginning of the game.

A CRISIS IS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY

You will mess up, of course. We all do. If you missed a ball or hit the wrong spot and broke the chain – use this chance to grab some multipliers and Chrono Balls. Since your chain is gone anyway, the seconds after your mistake can be used to gaining some advantage and maybe salvaging the game.

USE THE POWERS

But sparingly. You don’t want to be dependent on powers for a good game. In fact, I got my best scores without any powers. Still, powers are fun and can help you through the harder boards. There are many possible power combinations, and they change as you level up, too. Mind you – tons of blasts (Canon, Bombs) won’t guarantee high scores on Zuma Blitz – they will most likely break the chain and give you very little in return. Useful (although not as flashy) power-ups include the Multiplier (gives you X2 at the beginning of the game), Chrono Balls (makes your Chrono Balls worth 6 seconds) and Last Hurrah (blows up any remaining bonus balls at the end of the game).

DON’T BE HASTY

Speed is essential, but plowing along without paying attention will get you into trouble. The most common mistake is not failing to compensate for the speed in which the balls move when they close a gap of two same-colored balls. If you aren’t careful, you will miss your next target, because the balls are moving at greater speed, and you might break the chain and lose important points.

CLEAR THE CURVE

Completely clearing a curve will give you many points. Use Inferno Frog or just plain fast work to clear a curve, if you can.

RIGHT CLICK IS YOUR FRIEND

On a perfect game, every ball has a great target and you never break the chain. On an average game, you might not always be happy with your current ball. You can right-click in order to switch to the next ball. It might be very useful – you lose half a second, but you keep the chain and bonuses going. If the balls are the same color, it won’t be very helpful, though.

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The long awaited sequel to Bejeweled 2 will launch on PopCap.com on December 7, 2010.

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Zuma Blitz is expected to roll out gradually via Beta launch in approximately three weeks.

PopCap plans to continue evolving Zuma Blitz over time, in a fashion similar to the ongoing addition of major new features and functionality in Bejeweled Blitz. New features available at the introduction of Zuma Blitz next month are expected to include:

• Weekly tournaments and leader-boards
• New levels introduced regularly
• An “experience points” system to unlock additional features and capabilities
• A “Treasure Chest” virtual currency-based system for obtaining in-game power-ups
• New features such as time extenders, score multipliers and the “Hot Frog” speed mode
• Additional information on friends’ in-game performance and status such as medals won, achievements earned at various point thresholds and experience level

Zuma Blitz joins Bejeweled Blitz as PopCap’s second full-fledged social game on Facebook. Bejeweled Blitz has attracted nearly 30 million users since its introduction 18 months ago, and more than 100 million sessions of the game are played each day by consumers worldwide.

More Addictive Casual Games by PopCap

• Plants VS Zombies
• Peggle Nights
• Chuzzle
• Insaniquarium

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Pac-Man was first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. At the time of its release, the most popular game in the arcades was Space Invaders. Pac-Man has brought a new genre to the video game arena and became one of the most popular games in the world.

In the first 15 months after its release in the U.S., Namco sold more than 100,000 arcade units, while fans spent more than $1 billion in quarters to fuel what would become known as “Pac-Man fever.”

Pac-Man Fun Facts

1. The four ghosts chasing Pac-Man are called Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.
2. Despite the seemingly random nature of some of the monsters, their movements are strictly deterministic, enabling experienced players to devise precise sequences of movements for each level (termed “patterns”) that allow them to complete the levels without ever being caught.
3. s verified by the Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard on July 3, 1999, the first person to achieve the maximum possible score (3,333,360 points) was Billy Mitchell of Hollywood, Florida, who performed the feat in about six hours.
4. Pac-Man is one of the few games to have been consistently published for over two decades.
5. In 1981, Buckner & Garcia released the song “Pac-Man Fever” which went to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
6. “Puck-Man” was the original name of the game. It was changed due to obvious reasons.

Google Doodles an Interactive Pac-Man

Google went all out today with its doodle. This time, Google didn’t settle for an unusual logo – the doodle is actually interactive and you can play a full-fledged game of Pac-Man right there in your browser. Just hit “Insert Coin” and have some classic, 80s fun! Here’s what Google says about it:

Google doodler Ryan Germick and I made sure to include PAC-MAN’s original game logic, graphics and sounds, bring back ghosts’ individual personalities, and even recreate original bugs from this 1980’s masterpiece. We also added a little easter egg: if you throw in another coin, Ms. PAC-MAN joins the party and you can play together with someone else (PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze, Ms. PAC-MAN using the WASD keys).

Pac-Man on YouTube

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