Have you ever wondered, just what else can you do with your computer besides work?  How about playing some games!  Not all computer games are just for kids, there is an ever growing population of adults having a great time with their computers every day. Computer games are no longer just shoot this and shoot that, there is a wide array of different types of games that may appeal to those of us getting a little longer in the tooth.
 
Let’s say you are thinking about trying the stock market, or you like to play cards, puzzle games or gambling games. You can do all of these online with real people, and without losing real money, or in some cases you do lose real money as in some of the gambling games on gambling websites.

Also available are 3D video games like your kids play on their PS3s and Xboxes; however some of them are more suitable for adults than you might think. 3D does not mean, you wear glasses and things jump out of the screen at you, it just means that the game is drawn in a 3D fashion, like the Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) you see in non 3D & 3D movies today. You only need a basic PC to play most games; however you will need a video card to play the high quality 3D games on the market today. We’ll cover that in more detail in my next article.

To play simple card games online, checkout www.zone.msn.com  for free game play from Microsoft. There are also many websites that offer free flash games using Adobe flash player, simply Google “Flash games” and you will get oodles of websites offering free Flash games. You will need the Adobe Flash player to play them. It is free to download at www.Adobe.com  Just be sure to uncheck the box for any toolbars when you download the player -toolbars just slow down your computer without really adding anything.

Now, you may say “It just seems like a big waste of time to me” Well that’s absolutely true, it is. Just like watching a movie or reading a fiction book, it’s not about being productive; it’s about entertainment, just in another form that you might not be accustomed to. Gaming can be a lot of fun and very satisfying. Many games are free and those that you do have to pay for can provide hundreds of hours of enjoyment for the same price that you pay to go to the movies where it’s all over in an hour and a half.

Many of you may have just purchased Windows 7 or a new PC with Windows 7 included. Some versions of Windows 7 such as the business edition have the Windows games section turned off. Simply go to your control panel, select programs then features, then turn Windows features on and off. Once you click on this, a list will populate with check boxes, simply check the box that says games and the original games that have been with windows for years, such as hearts and spades will appear in a games tab on your start menu. New to Windows Vista and Windows 7 are online versions of these games that you can play with other people online for free right from your desktop.

Next time we’ll discuss 3D gaming and the hardware required to run them. Until then, happy gamingJ