Everybody at one point or another has experienced painful boredom when playing a video game, to where you ask yourself, "Okay, so why am I doing this?" This can happen even with the best of game titles and it can be tough sometimes to even enjoy yourself.

The term "button mashing" is when you’re playing a game that you’re absolutely bored with, playing just for the sake of doing so in a mindless way. This in my opinion kills brain cells because if you’re going to play, you might as well enjoy it, because that is the whole point, after all.

Here are my tips on how to avoid the button masher blues.

1. Don’t solely concentrate on one style of game.

One who plays nothing but one style (such as RPG, FPS, etc.) will experience an "everything is the same" scenario. This is in fact true because you’re never changing things around. Purposely try different styles so that you’re not always playing the same thing.

2. Buy an old console.

Head to your local flea market and pick up an old 8-bit or 16-bit system. There are tons of titles and you could try 3 new games every week if you wanted to for a little as 10 bucks for all three. Don’t worry about manuals because they’re all available online. Suggested systems are Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Playstation One and so on.

Considering the fact that new games are so frickin’ expensive, it’s nice to have something dirt cheap that just works.

Buying the actual console and getting the games at a flea market is far, far cheaper than purchasing "virtually", such as Virtual Console games on the Nintendo Wii. Furthermore the gaming experience is at its best with the original equipment (emulating on a PC just isn’t the same.)

If you don’t have a flea market near you, check out craigslist or eBay and specifically look for game purchases in bulk. You may be able to pick up 25 games for a dollar each! Search for "nintendo lot", "playstation lot", "sega lot" and so on to see the bulk offerings available on eBay or CL.

3. Play dopey Facebook games.

Many "apps" in Facebook are games such as FarmVille. These games are easy, fun and do not require a lot of effort to play. Anybody can play them in fact. And they’re free which is even better.

Games in Facebook can be found by clicking the "Applications" button, then "Browse More Applications" then choosing the "Games" category.

4. Play dopey Flash games.

One of the best sites I’ve found for this is Gamedesign. One game in particular that is very addictive is Dice Wars. It’s so popular that there’s a multiplayer version of it, KDice. Heck, it’s even an iPhone app!

5. MUDs

It takes a special kind of computer geek to appreciate these. MUDs (Multi User Dungeons) have been around for a very long time. Some of them have been on the internet for more than 12 years. They have everything your standard RPG has, but in text form. MUDs are very addicting and have a very dedicated fan base. Additionally, compared to other types of gaming environment, MUD users are friendly folk that are happy to help out new users who haven’t used MUDs before.

It used to be required that a MUD client was necessary to play them, but that’s no longer the case. Many popular MUDs can be played directly in-browser.

What do you do to avoid button mashing boredom?

Do you follow any of the above tips, such as trying different types of games, or have some tips of your own to contribute? Post a comment and let people know.

If you’ve bought enough computers over the years, chances are you’ve had at least a few of them that dropped in value so fast it made your head spin.

Before listing the worst, the best concerning resale value has always been laptops. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Lenovo, Macbook, Dell Inspiron or what-have-you. The laptop will always retain higher value than the desktop PC will. Note however that this is for standard sized laptops and not the smaller netbook format.

The worst concerning resale value however isn’t the desktop computer – although I bet you thought it was.

It’s the gaming console. And yes, that is a computer.

There’s not much that shoots down in value faster in value than gaming consoles and the games themselves that play on them.

To put this in perspective:

You buy a video game system for $250. What’s it worth in six months? About $100. If you can sell it for more, consider yourself lucky you found a sucker to buy it.

That game you bought new for $50? In six months it’s worth $15.

It is routine that gaming consoles and the games will lose 50% or greater (usually greater) of their value in six months or less.

OUCH.

Even cell phones don’t drop in value that fast.

What’s the best way to sell off a used console gaming system?

If it’s in warranty, that’s a huge, huge plus. Mention it in your listing on eBay or craigslist and mention it LOUDLY. This gives the buyer confidence that if the system busts it can at least be fixed for free.

If it’s not in warranty, well.. bundle as many games as you can and take what you can get. But don’t be surprised if what you get is less than half of what you paid for it.

If there’s one thing Apple does better than anything else, it’s style. However this only counts for new style, not old/retro.

A genius (yes, a genius) decided to make an NES controller act as an Apple Remote. Genius, I say. Genius.

Sometimes it takes people other than Apple to make cool Apple stuff.

Check out the video below to see it in action.

[Source: Engadget]