I play a lot of video games, natch, and since not all games (or gamers) are created equally I usually find it necessary to use various websites designed to give me a hand. I found a pretty good one the other day, it’s comprehensive and from what I’ve been able to discern, skips the bullcrap. I am personally tired of having to search through loads of text to find what I’m looking for. Like just the other day I was looking for GTA 4 Cheats and came across the site. I was immediately impressed with the layout of the site, it’s fun and chock full of good info you need to know.

I found myself looking around the site and digging the content for so long I almost forgot I was looking for GTA IV CHEATS. Cheat Planet is the cheat/FAQ resource section of a larger site called GamesRadar dedicated to all things gaming from news and reviews to cool polls, lists and random funny junk. The Cheat Planet side is mostly user contributed and is well organized and easy to navigate, a must for short attention span folks like me. There’s also a file download area where you can get sweet old school titles for free and even get some current-gen gamesave info for you achievement/trophy whores out there.

For those out there with a need to make your voice heard to the rest of the gaming universe there’s also a forum where you can”discuss the latest in gaming, news, YouTube videos, breakfast meats, and everything in between.” awesome. Best part? It’s free baby! Yep most jerk sites demand a signup fee or even a monthly membership to access all the really juicy bits but not Cheat Planet, all you have to do is register and you’re good to go.

I gotta say I was blown away by how good this site is. I’m usually pretty hard to impress when it comes to these things and this on really lives up to it’s potential. So if you’re like me and are looking for GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 CHEATS, or just a daily dose of all things gaming, give cheat Planet and GamesRadar a shot. GH recommended!

Keep on pwnin!

The Gamer Hero

If you tried to access Gamer Hero yesterday and got nothing, we apologize. Apparently, my web host - even with my recent upgrade to a dedicated server - can’t handle even 25k hits in one day. Weak. But yeah, I figure that now’s as good a time as any to continue our miniseries on starting your own gaming site - today’s topic is, of course, web hosting.

The main thing - and I can’t stress this enough - is research, research, research. I would’ve saved myself so much work, heartache, and wasted money if I’d put more time into reading forum & blog posts about various web hosts before I tried them. Try and find a company with a good reputation for honest billing, quick customer service, as little downtime as possible, and an accessible, friendly, and knowledgeable staff. Trust me, paying a bit more for a company with a better reputation will be worth it in the long run - I’ve learned this the hard way! Having the trust and peace of mind that your websites won’t randomly vanish into the ether is way more important than saving a few bucks. So yeah: research.

The gaming is getting heavy around here at the Gamer Hero homestead, I’ve upgraded my GameFly account to three games out at a time and I bought Saint’s Row. Plus there’s the little game dropping this week, today in fact, called Army Of Two, all of this is creating a bit of creative backup in the Hero’s brain so keep your eyes peeled for a review of The Simpsons Game and Saint’s Row this week. We’ll also take a look at another useful gamer site for 360 owners called 360achievements.org

I hope to get Army Of Two soon so we can all bask in the co-op goodness together, but who knows what GameFly’s gonna send? For now just get a look at the videos of this sweet new title from EA. Oh yeah and this…

Get to the choppah!

The Gamer Hero

360Voice. I was turned on to this site by one of the guys on the GH Forums and at first I didn’t think much of it. Then I registered my Xbox live gamertag (well TootieCarparts did) and a few days later I had a personalized blog from my 360’s perspective. Weird huh? I thought so too but after a few days of reading the snarky remarks it made about my gaming habits it got to be quite addictive. I not only actively seek out the blog every day but compete in the gamerscore challenges the site also offers.

So you can not only get the cool daily blog updates and a weekly recap that details not only your gamer score and achievements but keeps track of what games you play the most. You can also view your friends’ blogs and gamertags (if they’ve registered). There’s also a nifty badge system where you earn different badges for accomplishing various in and out of game tasks. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the forums that are packed full of people talking about games. It’s pretty cool.

The best part though is the gamer score challenges that you can take part in. Since 360Voice keeps track of your gamertag in real time they are able to host challenges based on point increases to your gamer score over a set number of days between several registered gamers. I personally just participated in (and won by the way) a challenge against four other gamers the took place over the last seven days. The challenge kept track of all our scores and even posted a daily blog update with the days results. There is even a nifty graph showing each contestant’s score next to each other.

Sounds good right? Well here’s where it got kickass. I thought I was just competing for bragging rights but after a few days I realized that there was a real prize involved. I investigated and found out that depending on how many challenges you participate in you qualify for a number of reward tiers with prizes ranging from 20 dollar gift cards from BestBuy (that’s what I won) and Xbox live points to a Xbox 360 HD DVD Player. No shit.

It doesn’t cost anything to register for 360Voice and compete in the challenges.So I can’t think of a reason not to sign up today. Give it a try.

Happy Gaming

The Gamer Hero

Think playing video games is little more than a great way to waste time? Then you haven’t met Paxton Galvanek. Last November, the twenty-eight year-old helped rescue two victims from an overturned SUV on the shoulder of a North Carolina interstate. As the first one on the scene, Galvanek safely removed both individuals from the smoking vehicle and properly assessed and treated their wounds, which included bruises, scrapes, head trauma and the loss of two fingers.

His medical background? None - other than what he’s learned playing as a medic in the computer game America’s Army.

The first-person shooter is developed and distributed by the U.S. Army. Though part of its mission is to promote its military namesake, America’s Army is a fully-featured game that takes players through a virtual representation of real-life soldiering, from basic training to the field of battle. To play as a medic class, players must sit through extensive medical training tutorials based on real-life classes.

Lucky for the two survivors that Paxton Galvanek didn’t zone out during the training, as the gamer credits this experience with teaching him how to handle himself in an emergency situation.

“In the case of this accident, I evaluated the situation and placed priority on the driver of the car who had missing fingers,” he said. “I then recalled that in section two of the medic training, I learned about controlled bleeding. I noticed that the wounded man had severe bleeding that he could not control. I used a towel as a dressing and asked the man to hold the towel on his wound and to raise his hand above his head to lessen the blood flow which allowed me to evaluate his other injuries which included a cut on his head.”

By the time help arrived in the form of — ironically enough — an Army soldier, the individuals were in stable condition and awaiting the paramedics.

Galvanek’s decisions were lauded by game project director Colonel Casey Wardynski. “Because of the training he received in America’s Army’s virtual classroom, Mr. Galvanek had mastered the basics of first aid and had the confidence to take appropriate action when others might do nothing. He took the initiative to assess the situation, prioritize actions and apply the correct procedures… Paxton is a true hero.”

According to the developers of America’s Army, this is the second time one of their users has reportedly applied techniques learned in the game to real-life emergency situations. You can find more information about the game at www.americasarmy.com.

Source: Ben Silverman @ Yahoo! Games