Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue
1 (March 1999)
Issue
2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue
7 (May 2000)
Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)
Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)
Categories
Sport: 1
2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2
3
Commentary: 1 2
3
Review: 1 2
3
Writing: 1 2
3
Event: 1 2
3
Get Rich on the Net
Daire Hickey
Ballincollig CS
Daire Hickey (Ballincollig CS) starts a regular column for Student Xpress. He is currently the teen editor for online.ie and writes a weekly column for The Irish Examiner. You can read more about him by visiting www.online.ie/host/teen.
The Internet boasts many "get rich quick" schemes. Unfortunately,
there are few that bring in more than my pocket money. But one website
proves this theory wrong, claiming that any idiot can become an entrepreneur
and I think they're right.
The website, www.lemonadegame.com, allows every surfer the chance to
get rich quick. Upon entering the site you are greeted with a Java Applet-type
game. Then you are brought to a screen with a list of instructions on
what to do. The main aim is to make as much money as possible in the course
of the lemonade stands 28 days.
It's not as simple as that though, given that you have a budget of only
$20 to buy the necessary ingredients. You have to have a certain amount
of lemons, ice, and sugar in your drink to make it perfect. The combination
of 4-2-5 usually does it for me. To make the game more difficult you are
given the predicted weather forecast: on hot days people will buy a lot
of lemonade and would like more ice in their drink, whereas on colder
or cloudier days they won't.
The difficulties don't end there. Occasionally you may buy more lemons
than you need for the day. By doing this you run the risk of having your
lemons spoilt, and they will have to be thrown out. The same can happen
to your sugar. With ice there is no point in stocking up as your ice melts
when the day ends.
After each day you are told how many cups of lemonade were sold and the
gross profit made. A comment on screen rates your performance for the
day. At the end of the 28-day cycle your sales are assessed and you are
told your gross income, expenditure and gross profit over the period.
The maker of the game has based it on a previous Atari game and it does
carry that same addictive edge that most Atari games did. So if you feel
you're playing a bit too much then you might want to purchase the game
online from www.amibleeding.com for a small price, but I'm sure its worth
it rather than spending all that important phone time online.
Lemonadegame.com is not the only site with the game. A quick search in
Google will give you access to lots of similar versions. My favourite
one is Lake Laquax www.loquax.com/lakeloquax/evening.phtml.
This game has some variations in that you sell both lemonade and coffee.
Luckily you don't have to worry about mixing the coffee beans and hot
water as hot coffee and lemonade can be bought in a cup. You start by
selling your products for a little profit and then move up the scale to
becoming a millionaire. There is also an option to advertise, although
this proves to be very expensive, it is sure to bring in the customers.
Lake Loquax is a bit harder to play in that you can rarely predict the
weather as you have to choose from the newspaper, tv, and radio - who
could be right? Also you do not get to carry over your unsold cups of
coffee or lemonade to the next day.
The option to take your money and retire from the game is always there,
but as with the lemonade game, there is a certain compulsion to keep playing.
Anyone who is an Atari junkie, or budding entrepreneur, should definitely
check this game out, but for everyone else it is a serious piece of addictive
Net fun. The same kind of addiction you get when playing all those simple
Sky Digital and mobile phone games.