Naturally the larger hotel chains in Patong will remain at the highest overnight rates for Phuket – but if you shop around and you’re willing to accept 3 star and 4 star budget rooms in Patong, you can really do the holiday or vacation on on a tight budget.

Backpackers and smaller familes have used guest houses, boutique hotels and smaller resorts to good effect and have found some solid patong hotel deals regularly (even in high season).

There have been recent thai visa changes, to come into effect 5 march, where longer stays for A-Visa countries (2months) will be charged a small fee for staying in Thailand. It all places a stronger focus on budgets and more cost effective holiday hotel accommodation.

Some main stays for Phuket Hotels Patong include, Sunhill Resorts, C&N Hotel and Resorts, Yorkshire Hotel, @White Patong and the newly opened Marley Hotel on Soi Sansabai.

The further your hotel from the Patong Beach or Bangla Rd area, will assist you in getting better Phuket Hotel Deals and additional discounts off your stay while in Thailand.

Phuket Hotels Patong is a post from: World Portal

This guy is a virtual internet superstar, with a huge following worldwide.

Surprisingly, I only learnt about Artix when I saw the latest round of Adventure Quest Worlds advertisements.

It seems Adventure Quest Worlds are following the lead of Evony, who have been hugely successful with their medieval game ads that have smothered the internet over the past 6 months.

The cool, catchy new ads from Adventure Quest are cartoon based and of good quality and the main one features Artix saying “I was told I needed to show more skin in this game advertisements” then below the picture of Artix with no shirt on it says “EPIC FAIL” – in other worlds the bare chest of a cartoon is no match for the real life scantily clad girls used by Evony.

The use of humor is great here and the ad being extremely eye catching should see plenty of gamers either head back to their accounts in Adventure Quest Worlds online or new players trotting over to signup to check out adventure quest worlds.

But our man Artix, when checked out has so many strings to his bow. He is the character out of not only Adventure Quest, but DragonFable too and he takes part in a tonne of online videos and anime action including Artix vs Undead, Artix vs Brolly, Artix vs DragonFly – this guy has a tonne of quests and is extremely popular across the world wide web, on free video sites, BBG online gaming sites and other MMO review sites.

We’ve thrown up an Artix Video below, we hope you like the vid and feel free to send up feedback via comments on other Artix battles and quests we should know about!

Artix is a post from: World Portal

Well, we stumbled on 1100AD today -

The first thing you want to check when you’re looking at playing or creating a new account for a free browser game is to ensure there are plenty of players already signed up and actively playing.

You can’t always trust the statistics provided by MMORPG games, because naturally they are trying to market their own product.

Ok, once you find the game and official website. In this instance, 1100AD.com – you must then check how ‘popular’ or how much traffic is hitting that website.

So head over to Alexa.com (worldwide website rankings) and put in the name of the website you’re looking at – in this case ‘1100AD.com’

And you’ll see that this site ranks around 58,000 in the world. To give you some comparison, the most popular games such as Evony Free Forever are listed at 500 in the world and the lesser popular games at say 600,000+ so for 1100AD it seems in the midde or at least has a decent following.

First glance at 1100AD seems the english isn’t great, just a few comments on the initial MMO welcome screen, such as ‘Cause Horror to your Enemies’. Doesn’t quite sound right does it?

Ok, lets move on to the next component. Graphics, the pics and visuals in this game seem OK, while not top of class or free browser game world breaking graphics, they are certainly acceptable and will impress most gamers and players from around the globe.

Medieval game setting is the theme, with castles and an initial small town of which you need to develop and expand.

It’s sadly a common theme, build an army, trade with allies or rob enemies, but the final component which will impress for this game is the time requirement.

It does not need a massive time committment, you can simply set the AI (artificial intelligence option) to play for you while you are AFK (away from keyboard) very handy for players that play multiple games and don’t want to lock too much time up.

But apart from this, the game of 1100AD is a little run-of-the-mill – and seems like a basic evony game, only a few years in the past and without the buildup, graphics or hype.

1100ad is a post from: World Portal

Consisting of high quality teachers and a range of teaching aids on-site, off-site and by correspondence – students and those undertaking courses from the department education and training are offering some of the best learning experiences in the world.

The resulting awards and certification achievements from the Department Education and Training are widely recognised and accepted by leading enterprise company’s and large corporates.

The options and courses available within the DET range are vast, from Science focused courses, through hospitality, finance and trades based learning.

Other such people under the workplace relations and training schemes, such as disabled workers or those with disabilities and also others who are looking for seasonal work could also benefit from the Department Education and Training.

Latest additions include specific green based workers scheme, helping new job hunters find work that will assist with the environment and other areas of community assistance. DET along with work services are also taken into account by national government statistics, this gives government and political monitors an idea of the overall employment figures and participation rates of the population.

Using Departments of Education and Training in many cases allows future workers to take training on the job, a practical experience in frontline employment rather than offline training then heading out to procure work or employment through job advertisements or a recruiting agent.

The food chain for Education and Training starts at the basic school level, with links from the base school through to secondary school, training colleges then on the job training to finish a vast array of programs and courses.

Department Education and Training is a post from: World Portal

Basically, using the homebrew app for the playstation portable, a user can backup their UMD or disc based games to a large Sony memory stick and easily play a wide range of games on the psp handheld without needing the disc in the unit.

While often referred to as PSP hacks or playstation portable exploits, it really is a simple app that for main part – allows you to safely backup PSP games and not risk losing and having to repurchase games online or through stores.

Sony has been trying to stop the users applying rogue code to the handhelds, offering free psp upgrades (including web browser app) which basically made the hacking virtually impossible and certainly required a new version of the homebrew to work with the new sony based OS for the psp.

In addition, when users that upgraded their PSP to the latest offical versions tried to ‘downgrade’ they instantly lost critical system files and their PSP was now unable to work fullstop.

The debate rages over whether a vendor such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo owns the rights to a product once they have sold it to a consumer – hackers and crackers for the PSP on the other hand say that if they have purchased a device then they should be able to do exactly what they like with it.

It was the same old story when the XBOX and original Playstation were released all those years ago. The modchip scene became huge and not just backups or piracy as the vendors claimed, but it was a huge market for ‘game trainers’ and other addons that really added a new dimension to games for serious players.

A larger understanding of PSP mods and hacks can be obtained from the following sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_homebrew

PSP Hacks and Homebrew is a post from: World Portal

But whats the attraction? Why the popularity?

Because the graphics are near non-existent, but the game play is pretty addictive.

Personally, we think the secret items, and weapons stashes in Mafia Wars make the game appeal to the wider gaming audience.

You see, when players who sign up to the game in Facebook increase their level, improve a rank, or find a secret stash of something in Mafia Wars – the announcement instantly gets made to the rest of their friends in their facebook network.

So the addiction factor or more so, the curiosity factor of the game spreads to other people.

Thats why the age group playing mafia wars is so wide. Usually online gamers are sub 25 years old, but Facebook and more so Mafia Wars are grabbing a much wider audience and genre. This is big X Factor for Social Network gaming.

While we believe it’s the secret items in Mafia Wars helping them lead the Facebook gaming revolution, it seems FarmVille thinks the same.

They are also posting details to non-gamers inside the facebook status window, updating on level changes, success in the game, items that are found and other information.

Just looking at the most popular FB apps and games is interesting; Mafia Wars is quickly approaching top spot.

You can see a list of rankings for FB games on the following site:

http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/06/02/the-top-25-facebook-games-for-june-2009-farm-town-debuts-at-4/

But for us, it’s the Mafia Wars Items that are leading the way!

Happy Gaming!

Mafia Wars Secret Items is a post from: World Portal

While with the PC, the advent of modems meant that games suddenly could be played directly against each other over a telephone network and then finally once the internet was invented, gaming went to a whole new level with offline games sold that allowed player to compete online – Steam – HalfLife, Counterstrike for mine really took this to a whole new level. CS and Halflife weren’t the first to do it, but they seemed to do it best.

But what about multiplayer on gaming Consoles? Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo Consoles?

The shift from offline gaming in the console world to online competition is huge. Players from anywhere in the world are challenging each other – the Xbox live network is a prime example of how MMO / Multiplayer Gaming has taken off.

But what about the RPG gaming element? The role playing factor is a huge one too.

Probably pioneered best by Blizzard, with the RPG servers in World of Warcraft – they are the masters of combining MMO and RPG making for the most addictive multiplayer RPG gaming experience.

However, the free online BBG (browser based gaming) space is really starting to take off.

We’ve mentioned many times, Evony Free Forever and the Grepolis Game are proving to be huge game-shifters and give online gamers good quality games, all free, with the option to buy game coins at good prices.

We believe the next step in multiplayer RPG games will come from the facebook realms. The social networking site, has snuck up on competitors – they now offer games like Farmville and Mafia Wars, that have millions of players and all located within the social networks walls. It’s like the old AOL factor, the users stayed within the walled garden or search engine, and rarely ventured out.

This is what facebook has achieved and only now are game developers starting to realise this.

Addiciting Games the large website devoted to free online single player games has branched out on to facebook, and has begun tinkering in the online multiplayer rpg gaming world.

We checked out the Top 25 New Facebook Games and just listen to some of these basic titles that are winning gamers over. (Another reason is because gamers at work, can play facebook games secretly and hide the from the boss or colleagues)

Farm Town, Pet Society, Texas Holdem Poker (the leading developer of facebook games, the makers of the no. 1 game (Which is texas holdem and 2nd spot which is Mafia Wars) is Zynga and even YoVille has a tonne of online gaming members.

The future?

Well a developer of a multiplayer RPG game for Facebook will absolutely clean up!

Multiplayer RPG Games is a post from: World Portal

The game by Evony LLC, UMGE and former Wowmine King Eric Lam – continues to power on, the adverts however have altered from the first batch of  ’sex sells’ style – to medieval, gaming style graphics featuring a knight in armor.

The new adverts are made up of a considerable amount of flash, with eye-catching text and a countdown suggesting new players and signups to Evony will only receive a single day of in-game protection before opponents and rival players can attack their evony town.

Prior to this, new accounts in Evony had at least 7 days (1week) in game protection from attacks to give new gamers a chance to learn the interface, build up resources, develop their army and join an alliance to help protect and defend against attacks from stronger, larger opponents with more developed and simply larger armies.

The game of evony now approaches 20 million accounts and reportedly has near 1000 online free servers to play on – ensuring good game speed and high enjoyment from new signups to the year old game, formerly called Civony.

New Evony Adverts is a post from: World Portal

So you strategy revolves around nukes, modern warfare and new age battle techniques – unique, enjoyable scenarios that almost every gamer will be totally keen for.

Again, the engine and even the entry screens look very similar to Runescape and Evony, an interesting trend – while sharing a game-engine isn’t unheard of, the fact that a lot of these new free online webbrowser games are using the same intro screen is quite bizzare.

However, the graphics even upon signup are quite cool. Attention to detail has been paid at every corner, with sharp visuals and great looking modern graphics, which again will have all players signing as they create a free account – the MMO gaming world is simply getting sensational.

There is the option to connect with your Facebook login, however, if Facebook is running slow – forget it and just signup directly with your existing email account.

Reviews for Battle Dawn have been fairly positive, with thumbs up given to the signup process, and also how quickly new gamers will adapt to the game. It’s easy to learn and most will be productive in no time at all.

Big wraps and reviews have been given to the graphics in this game, the makers Tacticsoft have also done well to list out plenty of contact details so gamers can get directly in touch with them.

Website ratings for the Battle Dawn game have come down below 100,000k alexa – which shows a good upward trend given their position in the past 6 months or so online.

You can be a top player by logging on into the game a few times during the day for a few minutes just to check your status, send messages and give orders to your armies. You can play this game from anywhere with an internet browser; Home, school, work which makes it an ideal game for busy college students or working people.

Battle Dawn is open to gamers with no cost at all, its driven by a solid community with good forum support. Battledawn exploded on to the online gaming scene in 2006, but has since undergone massive redevelopment by game designers and graphic artists.

It appeals well to most strategy gamers, friends, co-workers and families to play and challenge each other from many countries. This is a great MMO game that doesn’t take large chunks of your time – its totally turn based and runs across long periods of time.

Battle Dawn is a post from: World Portal

India, the heart of world cricket has produced some fine batsmen and strong bowlers, but who is the best?

We thought, lets break it down into the Top current Indian Cricketers doing the rounds in the current Indian squads.

1. Sachin Tendulkar - An easy choice, the little master is an extremely popular and successful Indian Cricketer – a great batsman, with a solid average.

2. MS Dhoni - Dhoni the wicketkeeper has only been on the scene a short time, but is a genuine match winner. A very talented indian cricketer.

3. Anil Kumble - The first bowler on the list, he is the third highest wicket taker in the world with 619 scalps in test match cricket.

4. VVS Laxman – A personal favourite, Laxman was a solid, gritty batsman much in the Steve Waugh mould. Very patient, could dismantle other attacks on his own.

5. Harbhajan Singh – A tough, passionate spin bowler, Singh is a player that can trouble other sides especially Australia. His mental toughness is a great asset.

India is producing some great cricketers and they remain in the top sides in the world in all formats of the game. Their recent series against Bangladesh was a massive success and after recently getting over a 30 year drought in the West Indies – under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid – they are looking solid. Dravid has since stepped down however and MS Dhoni remains the Indian Cricket Captain in test matches, one day (50 overs) and T20 cricket matches for India both in India and away from home.

Indian Cricketer is a post from: World Portal