The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

January 23, 2012 by 1 Comment

 

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

The Original N64 Game Packaging

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo‘s Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998. Originally developed for the Nintendo 64DD peripheral, the game was instead released on a 256-megabit (32-megabyte) cartridge, which was the largest-capacity cartridge Nintendo produced at that time. Ocarina of Time is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series, and the first with 3D graphics. It was followed two years after its release by the sequel The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

The player controls the series’ trademark hero, Link, in the land of Hyrule. Link sets out on a quest to stop Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo tribe, from obtaining the Triforce, a sacred relic that grants the wishes of its holder. Link travels through time and navigates various dungeons to awaken sages who have the power to seal Ganondorf away forever. Music plays an important role—to progress, the player must learn to play and perform several songs on an ocarina. The game was responsible for generating an increased interest in and rise in sales of the ocarina.[11]

Gameplay in the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

Child Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time‘s gameplay system introduced features such as a target lock system and context-sensitive buttons that have since become common elements in 3D adventure games.[12][13] In Japan, it sold over 820,000 copies in 1998, becoming the tenth-best-selling game of that year.[14] During its lifetime, Ocarina of Time sold 1.14 million copies in Japan[15] and over 7.6 million copies worldwide.[16] The game won the Grand Prize in the Interactive Art division at the Japan Media Arts Festival,[17] won six honors at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards,[18] and received overwhelmingly positive acclaim. The title is widely considered by both critics and gamers alike to be the greatest video game ever made.[19][20][21] In 2008 and 2010, Guinness World Records declared that Ocarina of Time is the highest-rated game ever reviewed.[22]

Ocarina of Time has had four major re-releases, the latest being on the Nintendo 3DS. It was originally ported to the Nintendo GameCube alongside an Ocarina of Time Master Quest (which featured reworked dungeons with new puzzles), and The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition as a direct port. It was also ported to the iQue Player in 2003 and the Wii‘s Virtual Console service in 2007. These re-releases were well received: while some critics considered the relatively unchanged game to be outdated,[23][24] other reviewers felt that the game has held up well over the years.[25][26] Finally, the 3DS version was released in 2011, once again including Master Quest‘s rearranged dungeons (which were absent from the Wii and iQue versions) along with updated graphics and 3D effects.”

excerpt via: Wikipedia

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Home Screen

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Title Screen

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, along with Final Fantasy VII, are easily two of my favorite games of all time.

When it was first released for Nintendo 64, I got the game for Christmas and just couldn’t put it down if I tried.

For its time, the graphics, game play, sound, and design were flawless. The designers from Nintendo did such a great job utilizing the N64 controller as best as possible. Each button would have its own unique action which made it a lot easier to control multiple actions while in combat.

The game takes almost forever to complete.

Just like with Final Fantasy VII, I wanted to explore every possible aspect of the game and unlock EVERYTHING.

The main character, Link, goes through childhood into adulthood as you progress in the game. As a child, you get to explore 3 different “temples” and as an adult, you need to complete 7 different “temples” to beat the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time fishing

Child Link Catching a Fish!

There are a lot of interesting side missions as well, such as fishing.

You could catch a variety of different fish, big and small, with all different rewards and prizes.

A full breakdown and fishing strategy can be found here.

The game is now offered on Nintendo’s 3DS as well!

I haven’t played this version, but I am sure it is just as amazing as the original.

If you have a Nintendo Wii, I would recommend checking out The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

I am sitting with my roomate Nyrdubs watching him play and it looks absolutely stunning. The Wii remote adds tremendous value to the Zelda series with all the new motion sensing capabilities.

 

 

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Football: It’s More Than Just A Game

January 17, 2012 by 3 Comments

footall players walking towards football.

A team becomes a family

I consider myself a football fanatic.

I love the Jets, but I love the game of football and it’s impact on people.

Any one that has played high school football or loves the game of football understands my point of view here. I’m sure many of you have watched ESPN Films: Boys Of Fall.

If you haven’t, it is a MUST SEE for anyone that has played high school football or truly loves the game of football and its impact on people’s lives.

This film brought me to tears thinking of the good times and great friendships I have built through football. It truly is a brotherhood and for the people who never played or quit, you missed out.

To this day I speak to former teammates and we  reminisce about our time playing high school football at Holy Cross High School.

I love all of them; it is like an extended family that I am so proud to be a part of.  Every time I see one of my teammates, high school football comes up and we’ll talk for hours about it. It seems the stories only get better as time passes by.

Football completely changed my life and the way I handle adversity in my life.

I owe it all to the game of football. Not only is football a great team sport but it taught how life is the ultimate team sport.

High school football is the purist form of football in my opinion. There is no recruitment, it is the kids that are in your age group that just happen to go to the same high school as you.

However, in the NFL there are glimpses of pure football. For example:

Vernon Davis cries on his coaches shoulder

Vernon Davis, You Are The Man

This past weekend, Vernon Davis caught the game winning touchdown to put the 49ers into the NFC Championship game. Once he scored, he literally ran off the field crying.

At one point Vernon Davis was considered a first round bust and was sent to the showers by Mike Singletary which led to his famous “I Want Winners” speech after the game.

Davis has overcome a lot in his tenure as a Niner, and that catch captured his journey as a player and as a man.

“It just reminded me of all the hard work we have put into this team from the beginning of the season”  – Vernon Davis

That’s what Football is about right there. Putting in work, time, and dedication just to make that ONE play to help put your team over the top. I respect Vernon Davis so much more after that. He showed his heart, his character and his work ethic.

This is why football is the greatest sport on the planet. One play and the emotion from the result of the play showed me everything I need to know about Vernon Davis as a man. His emotion reminded me of how much I love the game and how I wish to still play it.

Now imagine you applying that to your everyday job and your dreams. I look back to my high school years to not only see how far I have come as a man, but to make sure my work ethic, dedication and mental toughness are still in check.

Football has taught me that through preparation and dedication you will accomplish anything you set your mind to. You can not only gain success for yourself through the values of football, but the impact you can make on other people is unlimited.

Nobody does that better in today’s game than Tim Tebow. Tebow may not be the most talented player but he is without a doubt the most genuine. All Tebow does is play his heart out and use football as a platform to help other people’s lives.

Read more about Tim Tebow and his impact on other people here.

Through football I have:

- Learned mental toughness and how to handle adversity in my life

- Made friendships and memories that will last a lifetime

- Been inspired to become a better person and leader in my own life.

Football team puts their hands together in a huddle

Together Everyone Achieves More

Football is truly more than just a game. It is an attitude to apply to your own life that can not only benefit yourself, but also the people around you. If everyone played football on an organized team, we would not have as many selfish people around. Once people begin to realize it is not all about themselves, than we can truly grow as a society.

 

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How to Manage a Poker Bankroll

January 6, 2012 by 8 Comments

Your Poker Bankroll: Manage it, or Lose it.

In poker, you have one lifeline, your bankroll.

Without it, you can’t buy into any tournaments or cash games.

For this reason, the most important thing as a poker player is to protect your life. Protect your money by learning how to manage it correctly.

The basic rule of thumb in bankroll management is to not put more than 5% of your entire bankroll into a cash game or single table sit n go. For multi-table tournaments, you should not be putting more than 1-2% of your roll on the line for a buy-in.

Under these rules, if you have a bankroll of $10,000, you should not be buying in to any cash game for over $500 and no tournament over $100.

At times, there will be opportunities to stretch these limits slightly but only if the games are VERY JUICY and you know you have an advantage.

Even having an advantage in a game doesn’t GUARANTEE that you will win. Luck is always a factor in poker and if you get unlucky, it can take a huge chunk out of your roll that you will slowly have to rebuild.

I will take shots in multi-table tournaments for up to 5% of my roll if I see that the player list is very weak. I want to invest in games I know I have the opportunity to make a lot of return on my investment.

The downfall of a lot of successful players is not managing their roll correctly. They hit a big score in a tournament and then dump it off in the cash games. Keep in mind, as the stakes get higher, the competition gets better.

I use a program called PokerTracker 3 to track all of my winnings and statistics of each of my individual opponents at the tables.

With PokerTracker, I can see how much I have won/lost at a certain stakes so I can determine my long term average win rate. If you are not beating a certain stakes after 10,000 hands, you will probably never beat it until you improve your game.

Find the stake that nets you the best return, and stick to it to build your roll.

You will lose money and win money on any given day depending on a variety of factors. ALWAYS manage your roll and make sure you are playing your A+ game or don’t bother sitting down. If you are not in the right mental state, YOU WILL LOSE MONEY, and losing money causes a lot of people to LOSE EVEN MORE MONEY. They like to chase their losses hoping to win their money back and in the process, rip their entire roll to shreds.

INCORRECTLY Manages a Bankroll

Just ask Viktor “Isilidur1″ Blom about bankroll management. This gentlemen might be one of the top 5 No Limit Hold’em players in the world, but he simply cannot manage a bankroll.

I am sure he is being staked and he makes some money from his Pokerstars sponsorship, but he is the complete opposite of an example of how to manage a bankroll!

Blom has won $5,000,000 in a week, then lost it all the next.

He is a complete sicko, but that is what separates him from the others at the high stakes.

His problem like many others is TILT.

He goes on big winning streaks, but can’t cut off his losing streaks.

He is only 21 years old, so I don’t blame him.

It must be tough being a millionaire at his age!

If you are serious about developing your game, I suggest checking out some of my other articles I have written:

The Poker Trance: The Ultimate Poker Mindset

Top 10 Reasons You Should Play Poker

Top 5 Reasons You Lose at Poker

My Multi-Table Tournament Strategy

Booking The Win at Final Tables

The $3,000 Guarantee Final Table Takedown

Top 5 Heads-Up No-Limit Cash-Game Strategies

How to Develop Into a LAG (Loose-Aggressive) Player

My Most Profitable Session of Online Poker

Using a Rubberband To Squash Negative Thinking Patterns

Good luck at the tables! :)

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Online Gamers Solve Decade-Old HIV Puzzle In Three Weeks

January 3, 2012 by 12 Comments

In just three weeks, online gamers deciphered the structure of a retrovirus protein that has stumped scientists for over a decade, and a study out Sunday says their breakthrough opens doors for a new AIDS drug design.

The protein, called a protease, plays a critical role in how some viruses, including HIV, multiply. Intensive research has been underway to find AIDS drugs that can deactivate proteases, but scientists were hampered by their inability to crack the enzyme’s structure.

Looking for a solution, researchers at the University of Washington turned to Foldit, a program created by the university a few years ago that transforms problems of science into competitive computer games, and challenged players to use their three-dimensional problem-solving skills to build accurate models of the protein.

Within days, the gamers generated models good enough for the researchers to refine into an accurate portrayal of the enzyme’s structure. What’s more, the scientists identified parts of the molecule that are likely targets for drugs to block the enzyme.

Within days, the gamers generated models good enough for the researchers to refine into an accurate portrayal of the enzyme's structure.

“We wanted to see if human intuition could succeed where automated methods had failed,” said Firas Khatib, a lead author of the study, published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.

The researchers were hopeful that their finding would open further possibilities of crowd-sourcing and online game-playing in scientific discovery.

“The ingenuity of game players is a formidable force that, if properly directed, can be used to solve a wide range of scientific problems,” Khatib said.

Seth Cooper, a co-creator of Foldit, added, “People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at. Games provide a framework for bringing together the strengths of computers and humans. The results in this week’s paper show that gaming, science and computation can be combined to make advances that were not possible before.”

source: io9.com

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Top 5 Tools For Multi-Table Tournament Grinders

December 21, 2011 by 3 Comments

With the growing popularity of online poker in recent years, many players have found their way onto the internet to compete in online poker tournaments.

Notoriously, Sundays are the biggest day for online tournaments.

To follow my tournament progress, click here.

With tournaments running around the clock with buy-ins ranging from $1-$1000, there is a tournament for everyone to play regardless of bankroll restrictions.

At peak times on Sunday, I will have almost every tournament open that I can afford with my bankroll, and that means I might be playing 20-24 tables at a time.

Due to the increased workload, it is necessary for any aspiring tournament grinder to have the following 5 tools in order to succeed:

1. Workstation

Multi-Table Madness

If you are a serious tournament player, you are probably going to be playing more than one table and tournament at a time and in my case, you might be playing 20+.

Managing 20+ tables is impossible without a huge monitor, or multiple smaller monitors. I use a 24inch monitor with tables overlapping each other. When I have to act on a table, the table will pop to the front.

I like to sort tables out by blind levels/buy-ins so I know quickly which tournaments are more important. As I get deeper into some events, I might isolate certain tables in a corner of the screen so I can focus strictly on one of them while auto piloting the other tournaments that aren’t as important at the moment.

It is important to get yourself a reliable internet connection and a fast processor if you want to be playing this many tournaments at once. If you have an older computer, I wouldn’t recommend firing up too many tables due to the fact that your processor might not be able to handle the poker software when it has multiple tables running.

2. Flexibility

Portability is a Necessity

Being flexible means that if your main workstation breaks down for any reason, you have a backup plan. A backup plan would include a separate computer, maybe a laptop, that you can play on if anything goes wrong with your main rig.

Portability is important because if your internet connection drops out, you will have to move to another location to resume play.

If you don’t have a backup plan and something wrong happens, you will lose your buy-ins for the tournament and eventually be blinded out as the tournaments continue to run with you having no way to play.

There have been times where I have been extremely deep in tournaments, only to have my internet cut out for periods of time. It sucks but if you have the option of portability, you can remedy the situation quickly and get back up and running within a few minutes. It shouldn’t be too hard to find another network to go on because a lot of public places offer free Wi-Fi nowadays.

3. Water

You Can Never Drink Enough Water!

I can’t stress enough how important it is to stay hydrated. If you know me personally, you know how much water I will consume during a long session. It probably is close to 2 gallons of water in a 10-12 hour period.

Because your brain has to process so much information and actively think during the whole process, it needs fuel to keep running.

Without proper hydration, you might experience headaches and lack of focus due to a low tank. Make sure to have plenty of water available during your sessions, and load up the tank before you even decide to play. On most sites, you will have a synchronized break every 5 minutes at the top of the hour, so there will be plenty of time to pee when you need to, don’t worry.

4. Meditation

Train Your Mind To Focus!

Probably one of my favorite things to do before, during, and after long poker sessions.

With meditation, you can train your mind to focus on the task at hand, and also be immune to losing focus due to the fact that you won’t care as much about bad beats when they happen.

When I first started playing poker, I would be emotionally affected by bad beats. With my meditation practice, that is no longer the case.

I can sit and play for long periods of time without focusing on the outcome. Instead, I focus on making good decisions knowing the outcome is partially controlled by luck.

Sometimes that luck won’t be on my side, and if that is going to affect you emotionally, you are going to stop making good decisions and will probably bust more tournaments than you win.

5. Music

Your Favorite Music Makes Poker More Enjoyable!

Music is great for making long sessions more entertaining. When I put on music during poker sessions, I tend to slip into a trance.

This trance helps me stay focused, and also stay upbeat as I am playing so I am alert and aware of everything that is going on.

The type of music doesn’t really matter, that is all based on personal preference. Either way, I like to have my music at a very loud volume to get completely lost in the game and eliminate side distractions.

If you are serious about developing your game, I suggest checking out some of my other articles I have written:

The Poker Trance: The Ultimate Poker Mindset

Top 10 Reasons You Should Play Poker

Top 5 Reasons You Lose at Poker

My Multi-Table Tournament Strategy

Booking The Win at Final Tables

The $3,000 Guarantee Final Table Takedown

Top 5 Heads-Up No-Limit Cash-Game Strategies

How to Develop Into a LAG (Loose-Aggressive) Player

My Most Profitable Session of Online Poker

Using a Rubberband To Squash Negative Thinking Patterns

Good luck at the tables! :)

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Tim Tebow Takes A Loss

December 19, 2011 by 5 Comments

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The Three Tenets of Profitable Sports Betting

November 19, 2011 by 15 Comments

There are certain “rules” that must be followed when betting on sports, especially if you’re in it for the long-term and not simply betting on the Superbowl because all of the prop bets keep you interested in a game that you’d otherwise have no interest in.

Whenever placing a bet, there are three basic rules to adhere to:

1. Respect Your Bankroll

One of the biggest threats to your success and longevity as a bettor is mismanagement of your funds. In other words, its a marathon not a sprint. The majority of people tend to overstress their bankroll and bet too much on a particular wager.

The rule of thumb when attempting to maximize long-term success is to never bet more than 5%-10% of your bankroll on a given wager.

While this may not lead to that huge one time payout that every gambler so eagerly chases, it will ensure that when that “sure thing” loses by half of a point your bankroll will still be intact to place that next bet.

The key here is establishing a good form of money management. If you are going to follow another person’s bets and advice, then you should probably set up a system of units as to not over bet.

For example if the person you’ve chosen to follow bets $100 per game on average, that is their unit. And let’s say your bankroll only allows you to average a $20 bet per game, $20 would become your basic unit.

Therefore, for every $100 that your “source” bets, you would personally bet $20. I would recommend creating a system where your units are approximately 2%-4% of your bankroll so that you’re average bet comes in around 2 units.

This allows for the occasional 1 unit or 3+ unit bet.

2. Leave Emotion Out of It

Let’s face it, those of us who bet on sports are almost always sports fans on some level or another.

One of the greatest risks to sabotaging your bankroll is betting with your heart. We don’t see our preferred teams through the unbiased eyes that are necessary when analyzing a particular spread. Betting needs to be done with an analytical mind, not with your heart.

3. Learn to Handle Wins and Losses

Nobody has ever won every bet they placed, plain and simple. The key is to remember that the goal is not to win every single bet, but to win more bets than you lose. Adversely winning streaks are awesome, but don’t let them throw you off your plan.

Stick to your system of unit betting. A winning streak can lead to false confidence and in turn result in greater losses than wins in the end.

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My Multi-Table Tournament Strategy

November 18, 2011 by 12 Comments

I have decided to take a break from cash games and work on developing my tournament game, in particular, small buy-in, large player pool events.

The beauty of these tournaments is that they are filled with inexperienced players who don’t know how to play large tournaments correctly. For a small buy-in, you can land a huge payday if you make the final table, and more importantly, win the entire tournament.

My only goal in a tournament is to win. All the big prizes are at the final three spots and first place usually is awarded anywhere between 17-38% of the entire prize pool depending on how large the tournament is.

For this reason, I like to try to accumulate a big stack early so I can put a lot of pressure on my opponents and accumulate even more chips allowing me to play increasingly more aggressive as the tournament gets down to the money bubble.

The money bubble is what will usually define the rest of my tournament. I will either bust quickly or end up in a top spot if I can abuse the weaker players and build a huge stack in the process.

No one wants to go deep into a tournament only to bust out right before the money. This is completely the wrong mentality that too many players have which makes them extremely exploitable.

If I have a big stack on the money bubble, I am willing to open almost every pot with any two cards. It is amazing how many times it will fold around and I pick up the blinds and antes which get increasingly higher as we progress through the tournament.

It is tough for the smaller stacks to play against a big stack especially when I am playing super aggressive and keeping them off guard. I let them play the guessing game while I apply the pressure forcing them to pick up a monster hand or donate me plenty of blinds and antes.

Putting someone at a decision for their entire tournament life is one of the strongest moves in tournament poker.

The dynamic of the blinds increasing at a certain time interval makes it even more essential to accumulate chips or you will find yourself blinding out with little hope of rebuilding a stack.

With less than 10 big blinds, you are forced to shove all-in preflop with a wide variety of cards hoping to get lucky and double up or steal a few blinds.

Without 10 big blinds, you have limited fold equity when you go all in meaning many players will be willing to call your shove with less than premium holdings limiting your ability to steal blinds effectively.

Aggression is more important than the cards you hold. You simply cannot sit and wait for good cards because they don’t come as often as you think.

You have to get in there and gamble. You have to define each players breaking point and how much heat their hand ranges can take.

Sometimes I am willing to bluff my entire stack off if I know there is a good chance the other player will fold and I can take down some crucial pots.

This type of fearless aggression is necessary if you want to succeed in large tournaments. Your table image will be that of a maniac helping you get paid off on your good hands as well. Players will start playing back at your bets and raises and when you wake up with a good hand, you can potentially send them packing.

What I love about tournaments is the dynamic of the blinds raising, people switching tables and players playing too scared to bust out. It creates a necessity to be constantly adaptable to the changing dynamics and adjust your play accordingly.

Tournaments are a lot more exciting that cash games as well.

Cash games generally are very tedious and boring without a changing dynamic. For this reason I like to play a lot of tables at one times and play a set loose aggressive strategy that doesn’t vary very often.

I play them purely for profit rather than enjoyment. Tournaments can get very exciting at the end and they force you to stay focused and play your best if you want to win.

As of right now, I am playing as many tournaments on Lock Poker as I can on my free time. I have had some good runs and cashes so far with a few wins along the way while fine tuning my game in preparation for bigger events that I have won satellites into. If you would like to follow my tournament progress,Click Here.

More Poker Strategy:

The Poker Trance

Developing a LAG (Loose-Aggressive) Strategy for Maximum Profit

How to Play AA For Maximum Value

Booking the Win at Final Tables

Top 10 Reasons You Should Play Poker

Top 5 Reasons You Lose at Poker

How to Overbet For Massive Value

Additional Strategy, Sports Betting:

The Three Tenets of Profitable Sports Betting

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