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Reviewed Sites:
Ratings System: The rating for each game help website is based on factors such as appearance, ease of navigation, amount of information, helpfulness, scope of games covered. The ratings are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. This is represented by the number of joysticks (see below).
1 joystick = 1 rating point |
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Anybody who's ever played video
games knows how frustrating it can be when you're stuck and unable to move any
further in the game. I got my first video game system (the good ol'
Nintendo Entertainment System) in December 1988
(yes it was a Christmas
present and I do have it still!). Back then, when I needed help with a game and none of my
friends were able to, I'd have to call the Nintendo game help hotline, where I'd
often have to wait 30 minutes, even one hour to finally speak to someone.
However, we video game fanatics have been blessed by the Internet. Help on
practically any video game, including complete walkthroughs, maps, tips,
strategies, and even some dirty little secrets can be found out there in
cyberspace. Here's a list of some of the better help sites I've found,
along with ratings, overview, and commentary for each site.
 Overview: This site has a huge database of information on video games for practically every video game system out there. You can check out walkthroughs, reviews, cheats, codes, and even see some screenshots. There's a message board where people can discuss the game and exchange information. Review: This is really a great site to go to for information on games. You can do a search by system or title, which makes it very easy to find games. Anybody can submit information to be included in the website, so it is updated often, and most games have a bunch of reviews that you can browse if you're interested in buying the game. There is usually more than one walkthrough available for each game, which can be quite a boon because if one walkthrough isn't clear and easy to understand, you can try another one. The scope of video game systems covered by this site is antonishing. It even includes Atari and Commodore 64 games from 20+ years ago! This site would get a rating of 5, but it includes advertising, which slows down the download time. On the other hand, the information in the site is free to anybody, probably because of the advertising. The advertising is not all related to video games either, which counts against the site. Appearance wise, the site looks great. It's not fancy, but it's not gaudy at all. The colors match, and everything is easy to read. |
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Linda's
Individual Game Walkthrough List Overview: This site is a personal page created by an AOL member. It only features links to walkthroughs of games on other sites. The games are arranged in alphabetical order, and are not divided by system. Review: This is a rather ghastly looking site. The background picture is nice (I believe it's Myst related), but NOT appropriate for a background, especially with that reflection from the sun. I recommend wearing sunglasses when looking at this site. The text is in a million different colors, very gaudy and mismatched. The background stays stationary, while the text scrolls up and down, which I must admit is rather unsettling to see and makes my stomach queasy. The alphabetical listing makes it convenient if you know exactly which game you're looking for. However, one big disadvantage of this listing is that often a game will be on more than one system, and each version of the game will have variations, which means the walkthrough may not be completely accurate for the version you have. Dividing the games up by system will help. The webmaster here did not make any of the walkthroughs, just links to walkthroughs on other sites. The list has a lot of games, but only a small percentage of all the video games ever created. However, the webmaster is willing to find walkthroughs for games not on the list if requested to do so via email. In my opinion, it'd be much faster if you just did the searching on your own. |
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 Overview: This site has walkthroughs, reviews, forums, screenshots, video game news, and even a bunch of free games. Much of the information was submitted to the site, rather than internally generated. This site focuses only on PC games. Review: The game review page is really nice. It has a whole bunch of games, all the well known games are there. There's also more than one review for several games. When you click on the link for a review, a page will open that has a picture of what the game box looks like, a screen shot of the game play, and information on the game such as the release date, the developer, and the minimum system requirements to be able to run the game on your computer. It will also include a link to a walkthrough if one is available (some games have several walkthroughs), more screen shots (if available), then the review of the game. The reviews go into great detail, explaining what the writer liked or didn't like about the game. Many of the writers also include a rating (A, B, C, etc or a score). A review forum is also available, where people discuss why a game is great or bad. You can read through the forums without having to log in or register, but to be able to reply or write messages on the forum, you must be a registered user. The walkthrough section covers an extensive number of games, including some older ones from 15 or so years ago. There is often more than one walkthrough available to choose from. Visually the site is just average. It can be confusing to navigate the site at times because it's so busy. The color coordination is pretty good, but just too much mumbo jumbo on the site. The rating is affected largely by both the organization of the site and the limited scope of the games covered (only PC games).
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 Overview: In terms of game help, this site only offers cheats and codes, no walkthroughs. Other features include reviews, previews, forums, and chats. Review: More professional looking than most of the other sites reviewed here. The look is very reminiscent of the 80's. I've also found navigation of this site to be very easy. The games are divided up by system then arranged alphabetically. Very easy to find the game you're looking for. Like most other game help sites, their information is based largely on submissions. I checked a few games, and the information they offered on those games was mostly just hints and tricks, nothing that would help me get through a difficult spot. However, the scope of games covered here is pretty intensive and covers a wide variety of systems.
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 Overview: This site is very similar in scope to Game Revolution. It only offers cheats, codes, and tricks. Like Game Revolution, this site also offers forums and reviews. Review: This site is not as attractive as Game Revolution, and it's easy to get lost trying to figure out where you want to go becuase there's so much visual assault. Like with Game Revolution, the games are split up by system then arranged in alphabetical order. The information available here is essentially the same as Game Revolution.
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This website designed by Kyle Houston
IS 628 - Fall 2004
