Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby True 5.1 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Tritton set the bar extremely high with this headset. Individual channel controls, braided wiring, highly durable build, crystal clear sound, and a carry case to boot. I originally owned a set of AX 720's, and they are still great, I use those for my computer, and music. You could say, that I could have saved some dough by getting the original AX pro headset, which, after reading some reviews, I shyed away from them due to the display on Amazon showing 2, count em 2 AC adapters. Being in Iraq...I don't have that kind of convenience. So I went for the Black Ops pair, and I am impressed.

Design:

These are very well built, I opened the solid box to reveal the case with the headset inside, which feels as rugged as a Case Logic. Open that up, and there is the headset, just like in the picture you see here. The foam inside is laser cut, and rests everything snug and sturdy, hats off to Tritton, Treyarch, and Activision for giving the AX pro's the much needed update, and cutting it down to one AC adapter. The paint job is pretty sleek, but obviously, if you are no fan of Black Ops, you won't like it.

Accessories:

What an upgrade! My old AX 720's sported a cheap, fiber optic cable that felt brittle and cheap, the wire from the headset was a standard rubber/plastic type. Well, the fiber optic cable is sturdy, it is weaved, it looks like another brand was packed in, the connectors are also to be praised. The in line controller is solid, and does not feel cheaply attached. Also a puck attachment for the Xbox controller is a nice touch as well. The brains of the operation, controls the rest of the setup. Too much detail to go into here, but I tell you, its the next best thing to having a receiver.

Set up:

A royal pain if you have no patience, but, with a little thought, and checking around online, setup is pretty simple. Adjusting settings based on the game you are playing, well, thats tedious too, as there is no option to save settings per game, so it may be a good idea to write down what your settings are, as most games are different.

Edit: Comfort:

All I can say is that even wearing these long term, they are incredibly comfortable, you wouldn't think they may be considering the size, but many times have I been up watching a movie with these, or even the AX 720's, where the weight difference was negligible. I never had ear, or neck discomfort, neither did I feel any pressure on my head during use. These feel great! I prefer the felt pads, but the faux leather comes on the device already, I switched them up as soon as I got them home. I didnt use the faux leather, but, I imagine the felt breathes better. Word of advice, if you choose to switch the pads, the instructions inside the manual are tough to see. So, place the headset in your lap with the corded part of the earpiece in your lap, put two thumbs on the plastic next to the headpad, push up. I nearly tore off the leather headpad trying to switch it. If you need to see it done, there are youtube videos as well.

Sound Quality:

Simply amazing. I (naturally) played Black Ops first. Once I made it through the setup, I was off. I could hear every footstep, direction of gunfire, everything. Online, Ninja Pro couldn't even save the quietest player.

I moved on to Dead Space, took my time and set it up right. My only complaint in playing this game was, oddly, Isaac Clarke's onscreen positioning in the game. His melee motions would start in my right ear, and as he swung, his vocal grunt would not cross the center channel, but cut out completely, and finish in my left ear. Minor complaing that I barely noticed as the tension heated up. I could hear every monster, every noise, every voice, every movement.

Music, well, I couldnt find the correct adjustments for them, I say, dont bother.

Movies, hell yeah!

Final thoughts, If you got the cheese, get em, but, for a cheaper alternative, the AX Pro's, or the AX 720's are just as good of an alternative.

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Had my Tritton Ax pros now a year and loved them and got these for Christmas. I noticed these are tuned for black ops out of the box. The wires are all braided and the Toslink "very thick braided cable".

The black paint is great the whole theme is sleek also the T is a White led instead of Orange. The bag is heavy duty the foam inside is a very durable rubber like foam. The plastic on this the handle you use to tune the front,center,back, sub feels matte finish and more durable than the old tritton ax pros. The headphones have a breakaway link making it easier to transport.

What I wish they included were 2 toslink ports since they have 2 headphone ports on the box. At least you can use 1 box for 2 consoles if you have a ps3 or xbox 360. I use them on both and flawless performance excellent quality I recommend them.

For people who just want to save some $ the tritton ax pro 5.1's are also worth every penny. Tritton just started selling headphone skins so you can change the whole look. Take care.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby True 5.1

The breakaway cable that connects the headset to the xbox has very weak, bad quality, metal that is weaker than a twisty tie. and if you put it in even a mm off it will break, so i recommend you don't take this cord off much, or just buy a different headset, i had a very bad experience with it and so did others

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby True 5.1

So this is my first review.

Alot of people are going between these and the Astro a40s. The Astro headset in my opinion has much better overall sound quality. Crisp neat sounds that are pleasing to the ear especially during game play. Weak, weak, weak bass. The a40's when you buy them you are purchasing a great headset but you are paying for the name at a price tag of around 250$ with mixamp included.

Now to the Trittons, sound quality is still great, you can tell subtle differences with the sound being somewhat more distanced than with the astros, but don't let that scare you. Imagine your living room with a full 5.1 surround sound setup, sounds alot better than that but still distanced. Now the a40 is put on the market with the MLG brand and marketed as a competitive headset. Let me tell you how they are wrong. The Trittons take a little getting used to when you first put them on, the sound is extremely directional. When I say directional I mean no bleed over, which at first sounds odd, and you make think your headset is broken( it is not )so when you hear a gunshot to the left behind you, you hear it no where else but their. Once you wear the headset for awhile, and I am speculating here, your brain starts making sense and everything starts working together, all the sound starts seeming as one. The directional sound is superior to anything I have ever owned. When playing FPS shooters you will be walking by a building and hear something to your right about ten feet up. You know that someone is upstairs and if you listen a little longer "exactly" where in the room. Some call it sound whoring and I would tend to agree.

Playing black ops with the a40's on I could hear someone on the other side of a wall while watching a doorway, but I could not tell exactly how far they were, if they were running parallel to the wall away from the wall or what, just that someone was their. With the trittons I am able to determine they are running along the wall and then "BANG" kill shot lulz. The bass in the trittons is fantastic it puts a kick in your guns and loud bass filled sounds give you goosebumps. Helicopters coming in reminds me of black hawk down, near death grenades give you boners lol and simply shooting your sniper rifle no matter how bad you are sounds badass!

Watching movies with these puppies is like being in a theater. Trittons have the bass which is what makes movie sounds so extreme. Transformers or war flicks are toned down with the astros where the Trittons pick up and throw it in your face.

Overall if you are looking for a good headset and are willing to pay for the name, go for the Astros you won't be disappointed. If you are looking for an edge, great sound and easy on your wallet go Tritton, however with that said if you don't get these bad boys at least get the equivalent Tritton Ax Pro's. Stereo is stereo 5.1 is 5.1 nuff said.

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I just bought these and an adapter cable for the xbox so i could use optical while using HDMI. From the reviews that i read these are the upgraded version of the ax pros. All of the wires are braided, gold plated, and better quality, The ax pros wires wear cheap made in china ones that still worked good but lasted a couple months, the new upgraded Call of duty black ops headset has upgraded cables, as you can already tell on the optical, and added a break away cable to the Volume control box that sits near your chest, so it wont have to much force pulling down (like on the ax pros cables had, That basically wore them completely out). Also the sound quality is amazing, The 8 speaker drivers in each ear cup, and a hardcore subwoofer in each is amazing. The Quality of the sound is Very crisp, clear and clean. you wont be hearing static noise like in the turtle beaches. and if you were thinking of getting either the px5's or the Tritton black ops, i would chose these because the px5's have a annoying "tunnel effect" which basically sound like your playing video games... inside a tunnel.

So I highly recommend the call of duty black ops headset if you dont mind spending the 275$ including tax (Free super saver shipping on amazon, no special amazon prime required!).

320G HDD Hard Disk Drive For Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim Review

Customer Ratings:

Searched all over Amazon for a decent price for a 320G hard drive to go into our XBOX 360, and ended up buying this. We bought our son the 4GB system, and didn't really expect it to be filled up so quick. Ordering this was a life-saver, no more figuring out what he needed to keep and delete. Now he can save what he needs and still have room.

It was easy to use/install. It just slides in the back of the XBOX and will appear with your storage devices named as "Hard Drive". You're set after that. We've had zero problems with it; saves everything fine.

I know a lot of people are iffy about ordering these things online due to replicas and possible problems it can cause, but you have no worries with this one. Definitely worth buying if you're looking to add some extra space onto your system.

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It's great to get your stuff sooner than expected.Very happy! It made my son's day to get something in the mail unexpectedly.

Best Deals for 320G HDD Hard Disk Drive For Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim

It really works. We had problems with previous purchases, but this was easy to install and worked right away. Buy it!

Honest reviews on 320G HDD Hard Disk Drive For Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim

When I got my new Xbox 360 Slim, I wasn't aware it wouldn't take my old 20 GB HDD from my last 360 console. Even more disappointing was that I couldn't install games to the petty 4 GB flash memory that was included in the new console. As a result, I waited a few months, then got the highest capacity HDD available for slim (this one). At first, everything was fine. I started installing games left and right to the new HDD and there were no issues. Suddenly, I had a game lockup.

No worries, I thought. This happens with the 360 (or at least it did somewhat habitually with the last console). Well, then I got an E68 error code. I unplugged everything and it worked fine. As I started plugging stuff back in, I noticed it would take a few minutes to boot the console if I had the HDD attached, but at least it was still working. Recently, however, the console will throw an E68 error code absolutely every single time I go to boot the console if and ONLY if I have the HDD attached.

The worst part is this didn't occur until almost 2 weeks after the Amazon warranty ran out, so now I can't even return it. This device is highly deceptive and I will be looking for a replacement. DO NOT BUY THIS DEVICE UNLESS YOU WANT RIPPED OFF.

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I purchased the HDD for my son's Xbox 360. I was somewhat concerned since some of the reviews said they had encountered various problems but this one has worked flawlessly. My son has given it a real workout and he has had no issues at all.

Discount Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's - PlayStation 2

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $4.96
Today's Bonus: 75% Off

The Guitar Hero series has quickly become the premiere rhythm based gaming franchise, and with Activision now publishing the series, prepare for a yearly blitz of Guitar Hero games. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's, compiles thirty songs from said decade. Many bands and group from the era; ranging from hair metal smashes like Poison and Ratt to legendary metal pioneers Iron Maiden and Anthrax, are featured here, along with songs from Asia, Twisted Sister, the Dead Kennedys, and Skid Row to boot. While many of the songs are incredibly fun to play, Guitar Hero Encore suffers from the fact that there isn't anything here that you haven't seen before. Combine this with the fact that the game is selling for the full list price and only features thirty songs with basically nothing else new, and you get one disappointing overall package. There's no unlockable tracks either, and some of the featured songs (like cuts from White Lion and Faster Pussycat) could have been done without. All in all, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's isn't bad one bit and offers a decent amount of fun for veteran players of the series, but the game is a disappointing quick cash-in attempt that doesn't offer enough bang for your buck to warrant the price tag.

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As a big Guitar Hero fan (I own the previous two installments) I was very excited that Red Octane was making an 80s version for us children of the 80s. Oddly enough, I didn't hear about it until literally the week before while doing some random research; it appeared as though Red Octane was barely advertising this and I think that was mistake no. 1.

Rock the 80s has a diverse track list that many a child of the 80s can enjoy. I personally enjoyed I Ran(So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls and Radar Love and my buddies got a kick out of Turning Japanese. However, that is where the fun ends. I bought it three hours ago and already I earned everything. As an encore I'm not surprised that Red Octane changed very little of the gameplay from Guitar Hero II but it seems as though they left out all the good stuff.

You can only purchase one additional character (Grim Reaper) so the other bonus characters are gone. This is sad as several of my buddies played exclusively as certain bonus characters. They also took out the bonus track section severely limiting songs. Red Octane barely edited the loading screen advice leaving most of the advice from Guitar Hero II on there.

On a few plus sides, I'm glad they kept co-op mode and many of the bonus guitars. I also wish they would've chosen better songs from certain groups (I think We're Not Gonna Take It would've been a better choice by Twisted Sister) but this is a criticism I have of the other Guitar Hero games.

Overall, I'm glad I waited in line to purchase Rock the 80s as I loved playing songs from my childhood but this could've been done a lot better with better bonus materials and less Guitar Hero II look-a-like but I should have expected as much when I saw "encore" under the title. An 85% overall with massive room for improvement.

Best Deals for Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's - PlayStation 2

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s as a sequel to GH and GHII doesn't really measure up. It's still a fun game, mostly for people who grew up in the 80s like myself, but overall it really adds nothing new to the series. While GHII evolved the game quite a bit adding new multiplayer options and updating the hammer-on and pull-off functionality to make it more usable GH80s does nothing other than add a few new tunes to the mix. Barring a few tweaks the graphics are mostly the same throughout and the engine also remains the same. Apparently there are no plans to put this version of the game onto the XBOX 360.

Overall the songs are a lot easier to play through all difficulties with the exception of certain ones like Seventeen and Play With Me. For those who had a hard time progressing past the Medium difficulty this might be the right version of GH for you to break into Hard or even Expert. The songs themselves sound pretty decent overall and there are no glaringly bad vocal covers.

Songs by the original artists are:

"I Ran (So Far Away)" A Flock of Seagulls

"Because, It's Midnite" Limozeen

"The Warrior" Scandal

"I Wanna Rock" Twisted Sister

"Electric Eye" Judas Priest

This will be the last GH game from Harmonix as they move on to do Rock Band. GHIII will be developed by Neversoft Entertainment.

Honest reviews on Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's - PlayStation 2

If this game cost me $25, it would be the greatest game ever. I would love it for hours, I would master every single song on it, and I would be very, very happy.

It costs $50.

There are only 30 songs, no bonuses, no quirks, no unlockables to speak of. It's Guitar Hero 2 bonus tracks with a palette swap.

That being said, I really love the songs. I am a huge fan of 80s music, especially the ever present metal.

If they ever plan on doing something like this again, they need to do three things.

First off, they need to either reduce the price or put in more effort. $50 is a lot for a game, and if I pay it, I expect an actual game, not just an expansion pack.

Second, they need to do playtesting on it a lot more. No, I don't just mean put in more effort, I mean... it skips, it jumps, it's awful. Many songs are unplayable because of the skips.

Third, they need to do more than just make songs more difficult. This version is *much* harder than Guitar Hero 2, and to a certain extent, as someone who plays exclusively on expert, that's a good thing, but even though I would kill for an Yngwie Malmsteen track on one of them, I have to confess, enough is enough. If you play on expert, expect endless triple chords and transitions from the first song. If you play on easier difficulties, expect it to be so easy that you will scream.

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The price of the game $40-50 is too high for only 30 songs. But had those 30 songs been real gems of the 80's I could have forgiven the price and reveled in my teen years.

However, despite a couple of good 80's songs, the most loved of all the 80's bands were completely ignored and left out! I understand they have to pay for rights to these songs, but with as many copies as they sell and as high as they are charging, they owe us some decent 80's music. This is not a tribute to the 80's, it's a desperate attempt to throw us some cheap music for high profits.

I was a teen in the 80's and listened to rock for 18 hours per day. I've never heard of many of the songs on the tracks. I've never heard of some of the bands on the list!

Where are Bryan Adams, Pat Benetar, Prince, ZZ-top, Van Halen, Run DMC, Wham, Duran Duran, Springsteen, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, Guns N' Roses, and 90 others I could list that top most of the artists on this edition.

A huge disappointment. I would pay 50 per month for a new version if they had decent music on it.

Best Hunter: The Reckoning Deals

Customer Ratings:

Hunter: The Reckoning is an addictive, fun game for Mature players do to violence, gore and mild language.

The jist of the game is a simple hack-and-slash made even better by the graphics capabilities of the Xbox.

The Good:

Graphics are strong, and though the lighting is dim their is a brightness option in the game. The enemies/enviroment look great, and the blood effects are nicely done.

For a hack-and-slash there are enough suprises to keep things interesting.

The enemies may start out stupidly walking into your guns, but by the middle of the game they are quick, agile and shoot back, requiring you to develope some strategy if you want to survive.

4 Playable characters with their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

Special weapons to pick up along the way.

Sounds are done well.

Fun, Arcade feel.

The Bad:

The game play is challenging, but the boss characters are nearly impossible. And there are NO cheats! This game can be really hard, and the bosses can be really frustrating, even while going at it multiplayer.

The introduction of Edges (spells) is ok, but there are so few of them, and only one character has a heal Edge.

Would be nice if your character's Hit Meter/Edge Meter would slowly refill over time.

Continues should be easier to get, especially in Multiplayer.

The Ugly:

Your characters cannot aim up or down effectively, which means that you have to be on level ground with your enemies in order to hit them. This can be really annoying when fighting on hilly terrain, or over broken concrete, where it will seem your bullets pass right through your enemies. You can also not shoot through gates or over fences, and your character can obviously jump high, but not over anything.

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Second only to Halo, this is my favorite game for the Xbox. There are better looking games and more revolutionary games, but for sheer fun, especially multiplayer fun, this is definitely worth having, or at least renting.

By now you know the concept: Gauntlet type melee set in the White Wolf universe. Hunter is non-stop action and is one of the first gmaes in a long time that allows you to pull out those extra controllers and play with friends. The multiplayer elements is highly addictive and requires a lot of team work and communication. Since it's not a first person-shooter, the action isn't divided into tiny screens and while it can get crowded on screen, especially with dozens of zombies chasing after you, it's still easy to see what's going on.

The graphics are excellent, the sound, and music are well done and the characters are really cool, I just wish there were more of them. Some of the later levels are extremely difficult and require a lot more tactics than you might be used to. The early levels are just hack and slash goodness. There's something to be said for both.

Those of you who actually play with friends or family should give this one a gander. There seems to be a flood of good sinle-player games on the market but very few multi-player. If nothing else Hunter has filled a gap that desperately needed filling.

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"Hunter" isn't the most fun game to play. It's not the best looking. It's not really the most challenging. And it doesn't require a lot of thought.

And yet you won't be able to stop playing it.

Yes, "Hunter" falls right in as one of those games that, in spite of its shortfalls, is just a blast to play. You basically go through, slashing and shooting your way through over twenty levels of zombie-filled madness. You can choose from four hunters, each with unique weapons, but also with the ability to pick up other weapons along the way. Each Hunter also has different special abilities, called "edges", which enable you to perform special attacks, improve your skills for a limited amount of time, or heal yourself. Your character's skills also can improve with experience or by stepping on special symbols on the ground.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward. The left thumbstick moves your character and your right thumbstick aims. This enables you to move in one direction while aiming and firing in another, which is very useful when you have a huge group of zombies going for your head. The difference in the characters dictates how you play. If your character is strong, you might want to use your melee attacks. If your character is fast, you probably should use your guns instead.

The levels are, for the most part, massive and jammed with enemies. Most of the level goals aren't anything harder than "find the hostages" or "keep the girl alive". There's surprisingly a wide range of foes for you to shoot, from zombies to huge, lumbering beasts. The fighting, while staying pretty much exactly the same throughout the game, never gets boring just because there are so many enemies on the screen at the same time. You have to see the entire screen to stay alive. There are also a few bosses to pique your interest, but, for the most part, the battles only require you to dodge and shoot.

Graphically, "Hunter" looks good. The characters are very detailed and the environments are well rendered. The only thing holding "Hunter" back graphically is that, most of the time, the characters are so small that you can't see the detail. Soundwise, there's nothing special here.

The only thing I didn't like about "Hunter" was that, while the story was interesting, you only got cutscenes every few levels, so you can easily forget what happened before. There also seem to be a lot of events that appear to be pivotal to the game, but then are forgotten completely, like they never happened.

Overall, as I said, "Hunter" is not one of the greatest games in history, but it's a fun and strangely addicting game that will keep your Xbox buzzing for hours.

Honest reviews on Hunter: The Reckoning

Hunter the Reckoning hasnt gotten much hype but i played this game today and it is awesome. This game is up there with the greats such as Halo and Max Payne. For anyone who owns an xbox , you have to get this game. The storyline is great. The graphics are unbelievable and there is so much to do in the game. Believe me... once you have started playing this game you wont be able to put it down until you have beaten it.

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This is a classic hack-n-slash, kill everything in sight game. You can choose one of four characters (1-4 players), each with different abilities. Game play is fairly basic: survive, meet a few objectives, and beat the bosses. Hunter does a good job of showcasing the graphical features of the Xbox with lots of special effects, and has pretty good sound.

On the down side, the game can get tedious with the sheer number of zombie monsters you have to kill. I would have liked to see more variety in the zombies -you can only kill so many tattered-blue-jeans-denim-shirt zombies before you crave for one in a t-shirt.

These complaints aside, the game is definitely worth a look.

Reviews of Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

This is probably the most solid track pack out there. Most quality songs cost $2 a piece, so 20 for $20 is a great deal. Just don't buy it used, there's a one-time code in these that will allow you to import the songs into Rock Band for free (after the cost of the pack). If it's used, someone has used the code, and you're stuck with a lower-functioning version of Rock Band that's on the disc.

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I own just about every Rock Band and Guitar Hero title available. Sure, they're fun -especially Rock Band Legos which the whole family will enjoy -but let's face it, most of these titles are chock full of bands you don't know, and even after being forced to play their mediocre tunes, you still won't care.

Which is why I'm so glad I picked up the Classic Rock track pack. It's more than just a set of great songs -EVERY track is solid gold -it plays all on its own. No need to have anything but a guitar and this disc.

If you grew up in the '70s and '80s you will bang your head and rock out to every single track.

And now that it's priced at a very reasonable $20ish, you've got no excuse to dive right in.

Rock on!

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I bought this as a gift for my father. High speed internet is not available where he lives, so this was an awesome way for him to get new songs for Rock Band. He really enjoyed it.

Honest reviews on Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock - Xbox 360

Wanted new songs for rockband and most of these were good. If you were to buy each song individualy thru microsoft it would cost $40.00. Cheaper to by the expansion pack.

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Although this works as a standalone Rock Band game, you shouldn't get any of these track packs as a replacement for the main games. They have a quarter of the songs and half the features. You won't be able to play online or make your own characters. Furthermore, all of the songs on this pack can be bought individually on the Rock Band online store through the main game in either part 1 or part 2, so you won't be missing out on anything to pass this by.

The #1 selling point and the reason I am giving this 5 stars, though, is because this game is supplied with a code on a piece of paper that anyone can use one time to allow them to download all 20 songs for free. That means you can buy this pack and then e-mail the code off to a friend. You can still keep the disc for yourself, too! The code makes a great gift for anyone you know who's too cheap to buy songs for themselves. Maybe you're never going to get your buddy to decide on which songs to buy, and even if you give them points they "save" them "just in case". This code will force them to finally expand their library so you're not always playing the same tired songs when you visit or play together online. As for the quality of the tracklist, these songs are, for the most part, some of the better downloadable classic rock songs. Harmonix have a vast library of songs for Rock Band, so they have an easy time assembling 20 good ones.

You don't need a paid subscription to XBox Live to download and play the songs with the code. You just need an ethernet connection, which I'm sure 99% of gamers do have at this point.

As a less important point of interest, these track pack discs all have 250 points of achievements tied to them, for those of you who just can't get enough of the gamerscore.

Although this disc is not going to appeal to the vast majority of people, for those who want to surprise a friend with 20 songs, it serves its purpose.

Cheap Birds of Steel - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

This is by far the best pure flight combat simulator I have ever played on consoles and on PCs for that matter, and is a worthy sequel to Birds of Prey. While there is an included 'simplistic' difficulty setting, the fun begins at the realistic and especially simulator modes. Be prepared for white knuckle carrier landings in pitching seas, modify prop pitches, trims, mixtures while trying to get a shot at the enemy and being shot at. Marvel as your engine cuts off after you've pulled negative G's and you frantically attempt to restart it as you spin and plummet to earth. At high speeds the close combat is exhilirating, the damage modeling is amazing and the game is just simply one that is quality through and through. The graphics are amazing and the wealth of content on disc should embarrass most other game devs, the replay value of this game is through the roof. There is a ton of COOP and versus multiplayer modes that are just as intense as the single player offerings. Just an amazing game and the true definition of a gem in gaming, an instant classic!

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Very happy with this game considering it only cost $39 buckaroos !

I love the realistic mode in the single player mode.

Still trying to get the hang of all the flying maneuvers in realistic

mode. The instructions (walk thru) are pretty much straight up but actually

doing them is another thing. I'm not talking about the basics I'm

talking about fancy maneuvers...not easy but not too hard and it feels great

when you start to get the hang of it.

Bottom line..if you love flying get this game..I love the realistic option!

Best Deals for Birds of Steel - Xbox 360

This is in game flight during a carrier Bombing on replay saved. I can't think of another title that has drawn me more to the XBox360 from my PC. Long time IL-2 fan on PC but this is the best darn Flyer I have ever flown on the XBox360, including IL-2. From Arcade mode thru SIM mode, you can't ask for much more then this! Daytime clear weather to night time storms! Editor included to keep it fresh for a long long time! What's not to like? Excellent combined with a Saitek Aviator XBox360 Joystick!

You have all the options for flaps, trim etc. although not clickable switch cockpits it's all there. Including the "pilot" sitting in the seat! Settings to back it down to Arcade mode is also available. There you can learn to "lead" your targets with cursor help.

Once you advance to SIM mode, all the gamey options are gone and you use your visual lead in mind and use cockpit gauges for speed, altitude etc. You have the option of air starts or airport and carrier take offs. Many Planes and variants available along with some history on those planes. Graphics are spot on and performance is what you always wanted from IL-2 on the PC. I believe this title is what is comming to PC as "World of Planes" and will dominate in the near future!

I could not be happier with their decisions to bring this much of a Filght game to the Consoles! Congrats to the Developers!!

Honest reviews on Birds of Steel - Xbox 360

Let me start by saying I have never been a fan of "old school" plane games. Modern fighters and lock-on missiles are more my forte. However, after playing the demo for Birds of Steel, I was hooked! Perhaps it's because of the amount of detail put into each of the 100+ planes. Or maybe it's the unique feel of each plane in the air. Whatever the reason, this game is an absolute blast to play. It's even more enjoyable when you play with your Xbox Live buddies. If you can forgive a few rare technical flaws (AI crashing into you, unexplained deaths, etc), you will be in for a treat!

Pros:

excellent interior and exterior detailing on planes

unique feel to flying each plane

numerous game mode choices, including campaign, dynamic campaign, mission editor, versus, events, and tournaments

dynamic campiagn and mission editor let you customize your missions

one of the BEST co-op plane games I have ever played (including Ace Combat series and HAWX)

customizable buttons for unique controls

value! This game is definitely worth more than the $40 retail price!

Cons

there are some bugs: players drop out of games sometimes (rare), AI wingmen and opponents crash into your plane

learning curve can be steep

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Birds of Steel - Xbox 360

I was relucant to buy a new flying game on the xbox 360 after being disappointed by the last few games I bought. Fortunately the reviews convinced me to give Birds of Steel a shot. At the core of the game there is a robust multiplayer component that will give this game lasting value.

The multiplayer has a variety of co-op and versus modes. You gain experience and points you can use to unlock hundreds of vintage war planes. Moreover, you can customize your plane with decals and art if you so choose. There is also a very cool mission editor that allows you create your own missions to fly with friends. 4 players can play co-op. Or 8 on 8 versus mode.

The single player mode consists of a historical campaign which is great for letting you get the hang of flying. The simplified mode is a good place to start. Realistic mode makes flying considerably trickier as you will stall a bit more often. Simulator mode is very difficult--I found too difficult using the xbox controller. The idea in simulator mode is to finesse the controls, so you'll never push the thumbstick all the way when turning or dogfighting or else you'll push the machine and your character beyond their limits (ending in a black out or tail spin).

The graphics are solid. There are 3 main angles you play with: cockpit view, "virtual cockpit" and an over the shoulder 3rd person point of view. Personally, I prefer the cockpit view. The enemy aircraft are detailed; however, you have to be VERY close to see those details.

This is a fun flight game. Certainly the best vintage flier on the xbox today. My brother and I each own copies, and I can say we're happy with the value as we've spent hours flying sorties in the Ruhr vally, over Midway, and Wake Island. As of this writing Birds of Steel has offered the first bits of DLC including more missions (Battle of Britain) and more planes. I love to see a company continue to support their games. This game is a great purchase!

Buy Star Wars Fan Favorites I

Customer Ratings:

These Games are all Wonderful! This Bundle Also PROOVES that the Battlefront1+2/ Republic Commando Communities are STILL thriving! All I can say is, LUCAS MAKE BATTLEFRONT 3/REPUBLIC COMMANDO 2. Other then that, i honestly think they should of made this a HD Remake Collection for the Xbox 360/PS3 So that we can play these awesome games online again. Thank You, That is all.

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Very good, all the games work great and are very fun to play. SW:RC has a very very good modern FPS feel complete with door breaching, camera movement, excellent AI, and more.

SW:BF 1 & 2 are very fun games that have all the Multiplayer modes available in single player so yeah its awesome.

Definitely a must buy.

Best Deals for Star Wars Fan Favorites I

These are by far the best star wars games out there, possibly the best games of all time. It would be a bad decision NOT to buy this. They all work on windows 8, just as a heads up.

Honest reviews on Star Wars Fan Favorites I

I found this to be an awesome game. I had already played BattleFront 1-2. Republic Commando turned out to be an amazing bounus.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Star Wars Fan Favorites I

My main concern would it work with window 7. All three disc loaded with no issues. The game play on republic commando's lost interets on the get go. Their all first person shotter games which are hard to find on wii plus pc. The star wars battle front one the best then two. Your a rebel or stormtropper taking control of bases.

Discount Samsung TS-H943A Replacement DVD drive for XBox 360, MS28 Version

Customer Ratings:

To everyone that's buying this and it only reads movies etc but does not play games. YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS. Either you can flash the firmware for the circuit board inside the new drive , OR you can do the easier task and just take the circuit board out of your old drive and swap it with the one in your new drive. Then there is no need to flash. Just make sure you keep your old drive and take it apart and get the board disconnected from it. Once you take off the four screws and remove the cover on the old CD ROM Drive , the green PC board is right there. There is like 4 ribbon cables to remove and then its a direct replacement and fit into your new drive. Remember you have to also take out the green board in your new drive and swap it with the one in your old drive so you will have one worthless pc board from this new drive that you can not use. If you choose to flash the new board with the same coding from your old drive then it will give you two usable green boards so you will have a spare from your old drive. The mechanical parts on these cd roms are whats failing , not the pc boards inside them. Its much easier to swap the green boards than it is to flash IMO. The reason you change the boards is because the green board from your old cd rom drive has a coded serial key thats unique to your xbox360. Thats why this cd rom without the green board changed only plays movies and not games until you do this.

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It's 100% working for me to replace the DVD-ROM of my 360 without flashing.

First of all, I need to tell you the most important thing for my fix is

"the model of the original DVD-ROM is same as the model of the new DVD-ROM I bought, TS-H943"

I guess this is the key that I do NOT need to involve into the process of ROM flashing.

At first, open the 360, then take an old part from the original drive that holds the ROM identity. I followed this video to take the part out

and replace this part to the new drive.

The last thing you gotta do is just putting the new drive back to the 360.

It took me around 30 mins for the whole process.

For me, the hardest part is "Open the 360"

Best Deals for Samsung TS-H943A Replacement DVD drive for XBox 360, MS28 Version

got this to swap out my old drive, laser wasnt working, swapped logic boards and it worked like a charm. been over a month now and no big issues. With just a few tools its a easy swap for anyone to do. Great product, great price. thanks -Dustin

Honest reviews on Samsung TS-H943A Replacement DVD drive for XBox 360, MS28 Version

I purchased this drive after the Hitachi Drive that came with my Xbox 360 stopped working (kept getting "insert CD" and "open tray" errors).

This drive works exactly as it should, and I have no complaints about it. I warn you, however, that you will need to do some homework on how to spoof the drive key (and drive type if you have a different model) of your original drive.

I read some of the negative reviews before purchasing this model, and as a relatively tech saavy person (I have substantial experience in computer networking, programming, and regularly build and configure my own systems), I figured they were just the victims of ID-10-T errors (remove the dashes, and you'll figure it out). After undergoing the process myself, I can understand their frustration.

I reiterate that the problem has nothing to do with this product, which now performs perfectly. The problem is that there are no "swap and play" solutions for the Xbox 360 DVD drive as other reviewers have pointed out, they each carry special keys which are tied to that specific system. In order to get any replacement drive to work, you need to "trick" the Xbox into thinking that the new drive is the same drive as the old drive (i.e. spoofing its key and model).

Unfortunately, given the many DVD model types available, and given that the spoofing can be accomplished in several ways, it is difficult to find a guide on how to do this simply (e.g. replacing a Hitachi drive with a Samsung drive is a completely different process than replacing a BenQ drive with a Samsung drive, which is different than replacing a Samsung drive with a Samsung drive). Each drive has its own quirks, and many of the guides are tailored to a specific scenario, and most of the guides are incomplete or poorly written for those with no experience on how the Xbox 360 works.

Took me about 2 days after work to make it work, but now I have a fully functioning replacement drive again, this is not the fault of the product, but my own inability to comprehend how the process worked. Once I understood, it was a piece of cake.

In summary, be sure to do your homework before you attempt to replace the drive. Finding a "step by step" guide may be a hit or miss, especially if you run into any problems. You really need to understand how to extract your original drive's firmware/key; how to extract this drive's firmware; and how to reflash the firmware on this drive to reflect the key and model number of your original drive.

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Make sure that you buy the SAME MODEL NUMBER replacement DVD-DRIVE (ie. DG-16D2S...located on top of drive)or your swap of the computer board will NOT WORK. There are proprietary security protocols from Microsoft that are enabled to match the drive computer (green card inside drive) with the computer inside your original XBOX. There may be claims for universal drives out there, but I would research feedback really carefully before buying these to see if they worked for others with the same Model Number Drive as yours. When you do have the same model number drive, just removed the computer green board from inside the old one and replace the new drive's green board. The drive will then work as new in your old XBOX360. Do not attempt to do this with a used replacement drive....you're just buying someone else's problems.

Ratchet & Clank Up Your Arsenal - PlayStation 2 Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $14.95
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

I am a huge fan of the series, having played both the original and the sequel. The first game is a stand alone classic and the second was even better. This blows both of them away.

I liked the weapons upgrades in the second game and this greatly improves it. Instead of one level up, there are FOUR. Combine that with the upgrades on challenge mode and your weapons will never get stale.

The minigames in the game are really fun. It has arena matches like those in the second game and adds combat missions alongside the Galactic Rangers. These can prove challenging but reward you with many bolts.

The first game had lots of humor in it. The second had some but not as much. This game returns to its roots and gets you laughing throughout the cut scenes.

Final Review: This game is bigger, better, and more fun than either of the first two games. Fork out the money and get it. Its well worth it.

Difficulty: Medium

Gameplay: Really Fun

Duration: 15-25 hrs (over 25 hrs to get everything)

Recomended: Most Definitely

Wait to Get It: Are you kidding me?

Final Score: 10/10

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The Ratchet and Clank series is one of the best all around gaming fun on the market. The games are long but interesting, you can replay them countless times, and now it's online too!

First, the game is fun for kids and adults. There's a fair amount of humor that will go right over kids' heads, that adults will laugh their heads off of. There are all sorts of references to Aliens, Halo, and other pop culture events. There are also many references to the previous two Ratchet and Clank games, so I highly recommend you get those and play through them.

The graphics are really great in a cartooney way. The characters seem quite lifelike far more than in some pseudo-photorealistic games I've played recently. It's a testament to the talent of the animators of this game. You really do come to be quite fond of the various characters involved.

The weapons are simply BRILLIANT and now each one has four levels of upgrade, which makes them change in appearance and improve in functionality. You have lava guns, electric arcing guns, mini-turrets, and my favorites, the little doomie robots. Actually, each weapon is my favorite in certain situations. That's the brilliance here every weapon can be really a lot of fun.

The levels are all plotted out with their own look, feel, music, indigenous monsters, you name it. It is truly amazing how much this affects game enjoyability. Other games I've played recently had music that was lovely, but just didn't fit the mood of the level. It really makes a huge difference to have that done well.

Because you can go back to levels and gain more bolts, look for secret bonusses, find the titanium bolts, use your magnetic shoes, etc. etc., there is always room for more fun. This isn't a game that you play through once and put on a shelf. It's just as much time the second or twentieth time through the game, blasting away with your zappy electric gun or setting loose hordes of doomies.

And let's not forget the plot, which is full of laugh out loud comments and great, sly comments. This game just has everything you could want.

But there's more! The brilliant addition with Up Your Arsenal is the online gameplay. If you become a super player, not only can you kick through the game with ease, but you can take your gameplay online and find out just how good you really are! All of the great weapons and graphics are there for your enjoyment!

A must-buy for PS2 fans, 5/5.

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Ratchet and Clank was a suprisingly fun game. It's your typical 3-D third person shooter, like Destroy All Humans

Story

Up Your Arsenal is the 3rd in a series. I have not played the first two, but I am inclined to try them out. It follows the humorous story of Ratchet, a cute cat-like alien wielding a big gun, and Clank, his little robot sidekick. However, from the perspective of most people in the game world, the roles are reversed. Clank is a James Bond like secret agent, and Ratchet is his bumbling chaufer.

This leads into the the comical nature of the story. For the most part, it's not gut busting comedy, but there's enough dry wit to keep you smiling, and sometimes laughing through the cut scenes, and sometimes during the game play as well.

The story also features Captain Quark, "The best superhero the galaxy has ever seen," who though being a coward and moron, overshadows Ratchet as well.

The game is also chalk full of references to other games and movies. There's enough that I'm certain to have missed a lot of them, and those I caught I really enjoyed. A few examples: One of the cowardly troops in the game exclaims "We're all gonna die! Game over, man!" borrowing from the movie Alien. Also there are a number of mini-games that are very similar to some old-school Atari games.

Weapons

Unlike many shooter games, you don't start off with a lame weapon that becomes increasingly useless as the game progresses. I'm speaking of course about that stupid single-shot pistol.

Instead, you start off with a wrench (melee weapon) that can 1-shot groups of small enemies both in the beginning and end of the game, as well as having a powerful jump attack that can 1-shot large enemies in the beginning, and 2or 3-shot large enemies in the end game. It's particularly useful in the end game to clean up groups of enemies to preserve ammo, or take out one or two enemies that have gotten too close.

The first ranged weapon you get in the 1st level is a shot-gun, a weapon powerful enough to be reserved for mid-game in similar games. The remaining weapons only get more powerful from there. The 2nd weapon you'll get is a ranged area-effect bomb that can groups of large enemies in a single shot.

To keep the weapons useful as the game progresses, they each become more powerful, the more you use them. Taking the shotgun for example, in the beginning it has a short range, but wide (cone) effect. When it gets to level 3, it gains a charge up ability increasing the depth of the cone, as well as damage done. At level 4, it can lock-on to enemies, so you can shoot easier while moving, and at level 5 (max) it gets a charge up ray effect with the power of the BFG in doom (no joke, it can level the playing field quite easily)

There are also a series of unique and very fun weapons, such as the Suck Cannon. A gun that vacuums up enemies, and then spits them out at other enemies. Also one of my favorites, the Duck Gun. A gun that just turns your enemies into harmless ducks! Strategically, I haven't found much of a use for it, but it's just fun turning things into ducks!

Difficulty

For the most part, I found the game relatively easy to play. There are about 20-30 different weapons to choose from, but the controls make it rather easy to swap weapons mid-combat. I've been able to use the rope gun to swing from one ledge to another, mid fall, switch to the remote turret launcher, and by the time I land have the laser whip in my hand to wreak havoc.

The game-play was easy enough to be relaxing and enjoyable, but not so easy that I got bored. I typically had to tried each level 1 to 3 times before I got passed it. For the most part each level is unique enough to keep me moving with out that "been there done that" feeling (like what you get in Halo) The levels were easy enough that I didn't feel the levels were impeding my ability to enjoy the story.

The only exception would be some of the last 3 or 4 levels that were to the point of difficulty that I had to spend 3-4 hours trying and retrying to pass them.

One thing to note, is the save style in the game. It uses save points and continue points (similar to Halo). Save points are places where you can start after turning off your Playstation. Continue points are places where you can start over from in the event of death, so you don't have to start over from the beginning, so long as you don't turn off the Playstation. For the most part this wasn't too bad, but there were a couple places where I was forced to repeat a boring (easy) part that took 5 minutes, just to get to die at the hard part, over and over and over again. That got frustrating, but at least there weren't too many such places.

Play Time

Ratchet and Crank is a quick game. With out any prior experience with the game or others in the series, I was able to beat it in about 20 hours of game play. If I tried again (which I'm certain to do soon), I could probably beat it in about 14 to 15 hours play time. Someone who knew it inside and out could probably beat it in about 10 hours.

Replayability

The game is loaded with hidden location, and unlockable features. Even after the 20 hours of play time, I'll be going back to levels I've already beaten to find those secret locations, so I can unlock more skins, cheats, etc. Similar to Rogue Squadron, there are places in earlier levels that are inaccessible with out tools or weapons that are earned later in the game, encouraging the player to go back and replay some levels to unlock various secrets.

It's also a fast enough game, with enough humor that I wouldn't be surprised to find myself playing it through from beginning to end again with in the year.

Honest reviews on Ratchet & Clank Up Your Arsenal - PlayStation 2

Without doubt, the Ratchet & Clank series has my favorite PS2 games. This installment of the series has the solid foundation of the first two and thus it's still a good game. However, this game simply didn't deliver the entertainment of the first two.

Pros:

1) The game writers retain their sense of humor, which I believe is CRITICAL in a Ratchet & Clank game.

2) The major new feature of this game is a mini-platform-game. It's a Super Mario Bros. type game with Cpt. Quark and it's really fun.

3) They replaced the rocket ship battles with hovercraft battles and they are almost all optional.

Cons:

1) The game was too short. I completed the single player in 20 hours and I usually complete Ratchet & Clank in 40.

2) Multiplayer mode doesn't make up for a lacking single player game. Unreal 2004 is much better for this type of multiplayer game.

3) The diversity of monsters is disappointing. The first three worlds show the usual Ratchet & Clank gameplay of each world having its own monsters and the best weapons to kill them. The following worlds see the same monsters over and over so combat gets repetitive.

4) The many ways weapons upgrade is pretty fun, but if you use a weapon infrequently, it'll become useless later because it doesn't have the power you need.

5) The laser-allignment puzzles to open doors have changed to speed challenges requiring minimal intelligence and fast reflexes. There are no intellectual puzzles anymore.

6) Nearly all of the acrobatic challenges are restricted to the arena and they aren't very challenging. There is only one significant swingshot and powered platform challenge. The skating and rail-grinding challenges are completely gone.

7) There's only one 'asteroid' world.

Overall, this version of Ratchet & Clank is much more focused on combat and far less on puzzles and acrobatics and the combat isn't as varied as it used to be.

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I've loved all three of the games in the Ratchet and Clank series, this one no less. I'm not an active Online gamer, epecially where Shooter games are concerned, so that wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately, it seems that the Online mode caused the One-player mode to come up a little short in this installment. There just seem to be fewer levels. That could only be a perception, however. As I've not counted the number of levels/missions, I can't back that up with statistics. It just seems that I flew through the main story more quickly than I did the first two (or at least the second, Going Commando).

Pros:

1. New weapons (the Rift Inducer is really cool), with more levels of upgrades than before.

2. Freebies from saved games of R&C 1&2

3. Online capable

4. New mini-games

5. Acquiring bolts is much easier

Cons:

1. One-player mode seems to lack size in comparison to Going Commando (fewer worlds?)

2. You don't have the 'dogfight' missions in your spacecraft. Sure, there are hovercraft missions, but they aren't as cool.

Reviews of Multi-Input VGA Box for DVD, PS2, PlayStation, Gamecube, XBOX

Customer Ratings:

I bought it to use my N64 (W00t, retro gaming!)on my monitor, since I don't own a TV. It has four mini RCA inputs (Standard DVD player and console outputs, one video and two audio) and one VGA inputone 1/8th inch audio (standard for headphones/speakers) out and one VGA out. It has two other features, one button to change the resolution and a button for each input to change the input selection. The resolution settings are 640x480@60Hz, 640x480@75Hz, 800x600@60Hz, 800x600@75Hz, and 1024x768@60Hz. (I don't know why there isn't a 1024x768@75Hz option, maybe that's just too much demand on the machine.) If that's mumbo jumbo to you, just press the "RESOLUTION" button on the front repeatedly until you're happy with how your picture looks.

It's much cheaper than most mini RCA to VGA converters. I was told to expect about $100, and that is what I found for most of them, which seemed absurd to me. I think you will agree that this is a much happier price. I can have my N64, Dreamcast, Cube, and DVD player all hooked up to the same box and switch between them all by pressing their respective buttons, which is much quicker than swapping out cords.

But all is not happy. The picture's quality is noticeably reduced. The color is a bit off, and it seems a bit blurred as well, but that might be because I'm used to play my N64 games from further away on a TV much larger than my monitor, which might have made the image look sharper. You definitely do not want to hook up your XBox 360 or PS3 through this thing. I mostly play old video games, and you have to accept that the graphics suck anyway, so no big deal for me. Interestingly, I have noticed more of a problem with with color in Zelda than in Perfect Dark, and more of a problem with blurriness in Perfect Dark than in Zelda. I attribute the extra blurriness to more motion in the fast moving first-person shooter Perfect Dark and concentrating on other things and so not noticing the color being off. Where as in Zelda, I'm wandering around and taking my time to figure stuff out, so I notice the color being wrong (everything seems a bit more red, which is especially odd since I'm in the fire dungeon right now) but I'm not moving quickly enough to really notice the image blur.

Also, the resolution settings are not saved for each input, which is why I wouldn't plug my computer into this box if I could help it. I don't know for sure, maybe it doesn't mess with you VGA in, but I was happy that I use DVI for my computer, and so didn't have to try the little experiment. (So all of my mini-RCA things plug into my box which plugs into my monitor VIA a VGA cable, but my computer plugs into my monitor via my DVI cable, so to switch between my computer and my VGA converter box I just switch my input on my monitor.)

Because the resolution settings aren't saved, you'd have to manually change the resolution when you go from a N64, which likes a very low resolution, to a GameCube (Or any other newer console besides the 360 or PS3) which prefers a higher resolution. You could certainly get by without changing the resolution, but the picture really looks significantly better when at its proper resolution. (On a side note, if you want to see was Gears of War looks like at 640x480, this is how you could find out.)

As to the audio, this box adds a hum to it. It's really quiet, so if you're playing video games you'll only hear it during loading screens. Also, it's not a steady tone, or that "CHHHHH" sound that is annoying at any volume that you hear when your television's trying to get a station but can't. It's got a low, gentle oscillating up-down to it, which I actually find rather pleasant. Makes loading screens more interesting for me. =D

I would buy it again for what I am doing, but if I were into PS3 or Xbox 360 gaming, or I had a Wii and was a real Nazi about picture quality, I would probably go for something a little higher-end.

Pros:

Affordable!

4 mini RCA inputs

Easily change resolution

Easily change input

VGA input

Comes with a VGA cable ( I already have a half dozen of these laying around, so I opened the box and went, "Ohhhhhh, great.")

Might be pro or con: Whether or not the box messes with your resolution settings for the VGA input. The small instructions sheet doesn't say, and I'm too lazy to figure it out. (If you really must know, shoot me a message. =D )

Cons:

Picture quality diminished a bit

Resolution settings not saved for different inputs

Some might find audio hum annoying

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My roommates and I decided that we would use my 22" monitor and buy a VGA box rather than buy a whole new tv for our game systems. While this was certainly MUCH more cost effective, on the whole we were a little less than impressed.

Pros:

VERY convenient rather than unplugging and plugging systems to our old TV with only one input, this allows you to hook up 4 systems via composite, and one via VGA (I pass through my 360 in this way and it looks great). Also, all the sound is output through one 1/8" plug so we don't need to switch the speakers either. (Note: If you're using a VGA enabled system like we did, you will have to hook up your speakers in a different way for this system as there are no audio inputs next to the VGA port. Fortunately my speakers have both an auxiliary input and a standard 1/8" plug) Obviously this is functionality that you would expect out of a receiver, but for college students without such a thing, this was a blessing.

Colors are very bright and vibrant, at least compared to the 20 year old TV we used to play on.

Cons:

With my monitor at least, there was no real way to display the image correctly. The box outputs at 800x600 but I have a 16:10 monitor that thinks that all inputs should full the screen. As such, by default everything is a stretched out mess. There is a way I discovered in the manual menus to shrink the image horizontally, but this introduces vertical banding and it's not very pleasant to look at. While the composite video output is very soft and blurry (particularly so with a PS2, not so bad for Wii/GC), the Xbox 360 passed through looks sharp as a tack.

All in all it is not an ideal solution, especially if you are looking to use a widescreen monitor to play standard def consoles on. I was lucky that my monitor gave me some wiggle room in squishing it back to 4:3, but otherwise I would have been SOL.

In hind sight, we probably would have put the $X this cost towards a TV/receiver option, but it wasn't worth the hassle it would have taken to return it and all the shipping costs it would entail.

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I don't know why people review this item as 'bad' because it didn't reach the expectations of high def. on something that uses RCA CABLES AS INPUTS.

It DOES do the job: output the video signal to your pc monitor.

output audio to your sound system (or headphones!!!!)

it has a 5 way selector so that you can choose what you're gonna output to the display.

Overall, good. It did the job folks...

Honest reviews on Multi-Input VGA Box for DVD, PS2, PlayStation, Gamecube, XBOX

This VGA box is NOT HD convertor. The good thing about the VGA box it's the selector. Today all DVD player, video game console, and cable box had standard connection; AV input (Red, yellow, white). There're 3 AV input and 1 pc input, a lot of room for your Monitor.

Note:(important) the video quality is base on your monitor, not the VGA box, the video quality can be standard or low base on your monitor resolution. If too high, the pixels will break apart, too low will cause blurriness.

Note:(important) If you have old DVD player, old video game console, and cable box that doesn't support widescreen. This VGA box will not auto-adjust your display setting. So play your new machine like Xbox 360 on widescreen monitor.

Again, is not a HD convertor, standard video quality, great for cable box and video game console! Don't blame the VGA box if video quality is low, blame your monitor, not the VGA box.

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Basically ... it does what it says it does. And it does it well. Which is pretty awesome. I bought it for my SNES, so no worries here.

HOWEVER.

Please note that what you are buying outputs at, shall we say, less-than-perfect resolution. Using this with something like an XBOX 360 is nearly unfeasible given the 360's sharp graphics. With F-Zero's color palette and blockiness it's nearly unnoticeable, but with better systems it's a real drag.

However. It's $40, and it lets you play all your old systems on your monitor. That's pretty sweet.

I'm going to hook up my PS2 now! And I'll be able to switch between PS2, Dreamcast, SNES, at will, thanks to this. :)

Review of Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - Nintendo Wii

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List Price: $19.99
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I was a big fan of the adventure games so popular on PCs in the 90's but somehow completely missed the Broken Sword franchise. When I learned of this game I was excited to return to this all but extinct game style but unsure of how it would work on the Wii. My concern was unfounded. This is a wonderful, highly entertaining game; perfectly suited to the Wii's unique controller.

For anyone not familiar with the genera it's definitely not standard console game fair. Game play is based on methodical exploration, puzzle solving and a fair deal of reading/listening to non-player characters for hints and clues. The best way to explain it is to say it's exactly like a good mystery novel that gives you control over the protagonist.

The graphics are wonderful; beautifully rendered, slightly fanciful, visions of Paris, highly reminiscent of Don Bluth's style of animation. In this day and age of hyper-realism it's very refreshing to play a game that takes it's own direction graphically. The Wii's sometimes mocked hardware limitations seems to be encouraging this kind of innovation and I, for one, appreciate it greately.

The Wii is considered a bastion for casual gamers, and this title proves the concept. You don't need lightning quick reflexes, or years of twitch-response training to hop in and play. Surprisingly, this makes a great family/party game. At a gathering of friends, four of us in our late 20's-early 30's -and only one Wii remote we had a great time working collaboratively to solve the puzzles and explore the various locals. Rather than take advantage of the built in multi-player option, we found one Wii remote got passed around quite a bit.

If I could say anything negative about this game it is the one constant strike against any game of this type. While I haven't played it though to the end yet, I imagine, given the highly linear story-driven narrative, there will be almost no replay value. Or, rather, it will have the same replay value as any good mystery novel has re-read value.

Despite that, I think it's well worth the purchase price, if only to send a clear message that more games of this quality greatly desired.

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I was surprised how much fun I had playing this I kept losing track of time. This is all puzzles, no fighting just thinking. Some of the puzzles are sort of order of operations asking the right people the right questions in the right order. There were some word puzzles, some picture puzzles, some number and one chess! One of the best benefits of the game was that my husband and I could solve the puzzles together.

The Wii controller was a bit klutzy (for me) with some of the lining-things-up puzzles and it was really tough on rotating things but the game lets you try again until your hands and eyes are coordinated. I also liked that you could save at almost any point in the story in case someone else wants to use the Wii for a while.

The ending was a bit of a let down. The quality of the images degraded and the scripting felt rushed. Still, I am glad I played it and we definitely got our money's worth of fun.

Best Deals for Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - Nintendo Wii

I've just finished playing Broken Sword and loved the game. I never played it on a PC so this Wii version was my first introduction to the game (which I guess is a classic). I enjoy games with little or no fighting and lots of exploring and puzzles so this was perfect for my tastes. The story was interesting and kept me looking forward to seeing what came next.

The hint system was good and I used it in the beginning a bit and then when I got really stuck (in hindsight, I wish I had used it less in the beginning of the game). One of the cons of the game for me was that sometimes you had to do something non-intuitive to figure out a puzzle (like talk to a specific person a 6th time after looking at a specific object, etc.) But once I got the hang of that and with the help of an occasional hint, it was fine. The Wii controls are great for exploring although on some of the puzzles that involved precisely moving things they took some getting used to.

I only recently purchased a Wii and this was one of my first games. I enjoyed it so much that it has sent me on a quest to find similar titles that include this type game-play. Which leads me to my other con...I felt the game went by too quickly. I spent a lot of time looking around and felt I was taking my time with it but it was over before I knew it and there is little replay value as the puzzles are all figured out. I would have liked a longer game for the money. As the title of my review states, I am anxious for a sequel and hope that it includes more areas to explore and maybe some non-linear story lines to increase the replay value.

In sum, I gave it 5 stars as I couldn't wait to play it every time I had some free time, enjoyed the story and puzzles, and was sad when I finished it. If you like a lot of action, this game isn't for you. But if you like point-and-click type adventures and puzzles, I think you will really enjoy Broken Sword.

Honest reviews on Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - Nintendo Wii

I was looking for some inexpensive Wii games and found this one on Amazon. I had never heard of the original game, but after reading the description and the reviews, I was excited to find a new (to me) game of the same style and era as Monkey Island and Loom (two of my all-time favorite games).

Story: 4/5. It is a modern-day murder conspiracy that involves the Knights Templar and the Assassins. It requires finding clues and deciphering puzzles that are several centuries old. I guess that description along with the title make it sound like "The Da Vinci Code meets Assassin's Creed," but no. Thank goodness it is very different.

Characters: 3/5. One thing that I think is essential to a good video game is that the protagonist(s) is/are likable. My main gripe about the characters is that around 3 hours into the game, one of the main characters, George Stobbart, was really getting on my nerves. VG characters can be cheesy and still be likable, but the voice acting was over-done and I think the game would have been more enjoyable without it.

Graphics: 3/5. The graphics were...interesting. Knowing that the game is mostly a port from the original version, I wasn't buying the game for the graphics. What made them a little weird was that you could tell that certain things were touched up or added to this version and other things were not. I don't think the graphics make or break the game, but the inconsistency was a little distracting.

Gameplay: 2/5. I like this style of game. It's nice every now and then to play a game that is more about problem solving and telling a story than boss battles and repetitious action. Unlike most games like this that I have played, it has a hint system, so if you are stuck, you can get some help. There are usually 3 or 4 hints per puzzle/objective, increasing from subtle to blatantly explaining what you have to do. Along with time spent playing, it keeps track of the number of hints that you have read. While cursor precision may not have been a problem when using a mouse for the original version, keeping aim and combing the screen for targets with a Wiimote is a little more difficult. What was aggravating was that I had the right idea on several occasions but after they didn't work, I reluctantly looked at a hint that only reaffirmed that I was correct. If I knew these things up front, I probably wouldn't be complaining about them:

In many cases, you have to use an item that you possess on another object on the screen. For me, this often took more than one try. Sometimes, the area that you act on is so small that pressing the button on the controller may move the cursor enough to miss your target. That means bringing up your item screen again, picking the item, and trying to click on your target again. I actually had to move closer to the screen than normal to avoid that from happening.

One item may have multiple target areas that are indistinguishable from one another. The screen may have something like a statue. You can hover your cursor over the entire statue and it looks like one continuous target. However, inspecting/acting on one part of the statue may have different results than another part.

The object may be a target but the target area is only a small portion of the object. For example, if there is a pile of coal, the target for that pile of coal may only cover 25% of it.

There are a few puzzles in the game that are analogous to cracking combination locks and require you to press and hold a button on the controller as you twist it clockwise or counterclockwise. The game will hint to you when to stop turning by making a certain sound and making the controller vibrate. So the idea is to turn slowly. Well, the control has the "ice dispenser" effect. You twist it slightly and it either doesn't move or it starts to move and stops. You twist it a little bit further and the object on the screen spins way too much. If you turn too far, that means starting all over again.

Value: 4/5. This game took me about 10 hours to finish. For what I paid (under $10), I consider it a good value.

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The day I got this game I played it for 10hrs straight! I am a big fan of the old PC RP point and click games from the 90's...which I grew up on and this game happily brought back those memories!

This game's story is addictive and the puzzles interesting and fun. If you are looking for kill 'em action this is not the game for you...it is strictly a game of logic and deductive reasoning! You can't even get killed if you tried! ;0) You can only get stuck and even if you do they have helpful hints to get you unstuck if you chose to use them.

Hurray for UBIsoft for putting out this game and I hope there is a sequel...and many other games to come in this genre of Point & Click/Logic Role Playing!

I can't remember when I enjoyed playing a game so much....and my only regret is that I finished it so quickly because it was so addicitive!!

Keep em coming UBIsoft! I can't wait to see what you do next!

If you have always had an inner "detective" hidden in you...you will be hooked on this game!

Buy Xbox 360 Modded Controller 10 Mode Rapid Fire wireless with Red

Customer Ratings:

this is probably one of the best mods ive have ever used. it came in PERFECT shape, the red LEDs look even better in person because there more of a darker red. The only semi-bad thing is if u you want to have a EXTREMELY fast semi-automatic sniper, you have to use the user-pregram. it is confusing how to use this option and i still don't get how to make it go 10 shots per second. i read the manual but it doesn't make it go faster? Overall this is a wonderfull buy, and has really fast shooting in MW2.

***UPDATE***

I finally figured out how to use the user-reprogrammable mode on the controller and makes the semi-auto snipers go very fast. but makes the M9 and USB go slow. but i recommend anybody who want a mod. my friend bought a 150$ mod and we wanted to see whos was faster. After several test this controller was twice the speed of that controller. plus this one looks cool and has jitter which is amazing. If you are afraid that this guy will rip you off, look at all the ratings of 5 stars. This is the best buy i have ever made on amazon.

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I LOVE THIS MOD THANK YOU SO MUCH IM GIVING IT 5 STARS AND I WILL BUY MORE PRODUCTS FROM THIS SELLER

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Modded Controller 10 Mode Rapid Fire wireless with Red

the controller was perfect. came in perfect condition and works amazing. i ordered standard shipping and i got it in two days when amazon said it would take 2 weeks.

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5 stars that's all i have to say, this controller did exactly what it said it would do and more it is very easy to use and can be shut off or turned on at anytime in your gaming session. If i were gonna buy a modded controller it would be this one.

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I got this controller and got on mw2 immediately after i got it and this controller really suprised me.Its perfect. I can Set my fastest mode on and it will go crazy fast.I say that this is a great buy. By the way if you want infinite ammo on the jitter hold x and then the trigger.Its Fast.

Mad Catz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel Review

Customer Ratings:

I have long searched and I mean LONG searched for a good racing wheel and this is it. I have personally tried out almost every wheel and pedals on this site and this one is far superior to all. It has sensitivity tuning so you can customize it to your own needs and has easy button remapping at the press of a button. Some people who own this product refuse to spend the 5 minutes needed to read the simple instructions and correctly tune it for each game. It now even comes with instructions specifically on how to set it for Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2, undoubtedly the greatest consol racing sim ever. Many things make this a great buy:

First of all, it has digital and analog modes, so it can be used on almost any game, Playstation or Playstation 2, despite what this site says.

It can be fully callibrated for sensitivity and dead-band.

It has suction cups for hard surfaces and retractable leg supports for comfortable lap placement.

It has all of the standard playstation buttons, plus a very nice shifter and two-way butterfly buttons mounted on the back of the wheel, which are great for Formula One shifting.

On the main body there is an LCD guage that measures accelorator throttle. (very cool)

The pedals have rubber pads that keep them in place during the most abusive acceleration, though it is little needed because of the vertical vector pedal collumns that change the center of gravity to keep it in place. There is a foot rest on the side for when you are not braking and the pedals have grip textures to keep your feet from unwantedly sliding off.

Everything is very durrable and can widstand lots of abuse unless you are bent on breaking shifter with unnecissarily hard shifting habbits, though trust me, I have only heard of one breaking and everyone else seems quite happy.

Very comfortable grip.

Even though this is the best wheel I have ever used, it is still not perfect. The wheel is a little to small, and does not turn 900 degrees like a real car (few game wheels do this anyway), though it makes turning a little easier. Sometimes when you set the shifter it also remaps the up or down d-pad buttons, but they are not used during raceing and can be easily set right when needed. Some people complain that the leg-wells are to close together, but it is more snug than tight and does not hinder lower leg movement, so there is no difference in use of the pedals. As I have said, this is the best wheel and pedals I have ever used other than that of my own car and it is worth your money. If you dont happen to like it then you obviously have not used some of the junk out there and you can return it anyway. Have fun!

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i got this for my birthday, and i have to say it works great and seems to be the best wheel on the market. the size is just right, the leg stabilizers keep it firmly in place, and it actually has pretty good sensitivity. I have tested it thoroughly with my Xbox in Sega GT 2002, Rallisport challnge, and Midtown Madness 3. it works great. i noticed a few people were complaining about the deadzone, if you read the manual it's simple to lower the deadzone to almost zero. my only complaint is the pedals, the rubber feet don't do a very good job of keeping it in place, as they are closer to plastic than rubber. overall it's a great periheral and it adds a new element of fun to all racing games.

Best Deals for Mad Catz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel

With my recent purchase of Gran Turismo 4, I decided to go forth with something I had been putting off for years -the purchase of a racing wheel for the PlayStation2. Having my heart set on the Logitech Driving Force Pro but finding none in stock at any stores in my area, I asked around about a suitable replacement. The wheel which was most recommended was the MadCatz MC2.

I was a bit cautious in my decision to purchase this wheel, as most MadCatz products I've tried in recent years haven't been up-to-par in my opinion. However, the wheel itself harboured two very important features that I think should be an absolute must for any "professional" console driving wheel -a sequential stickshift for manual transmission cars, and a dual shock vibration feature to help with realistic immersion. I decided to pick the wheel up, yet when I returned home, I was mildly horrified.

Even after following the manual's instructions on setting up calibration for Gran Turismo 4 (specifically,) I found this wheel to produce a terrible lack of accuracy. Even with the tightest possible deadzone -maximum sensitivity and the widest turning radius -it was extremely hard to grow accustomed to how much effort needed to be put into each turn at given speeds and angles. A simple third-gear curve may, at first chance, require a smooth, lucky turn of the wheel; while the next shot at the same exact turn won't be so easy. I was especially turned off by the lack of realism the wheel provided for the Mazda RX-7; a car I can control very well in real life. Wheelwork was unpredictable and unacceptable.

However, fans of less-realistic driving games such as Need For Speed: Underground 2 and Initial D (to name a few) may enjoy better results with this wheel. While the performance in Gran Turismo 4 left MUCH to be desired, the wheel actually held its own in Initial D. Regardless, do keep in mind that games such as these employ a much less realistic range of steering detail -while cars in the Gran Turismo series offer 900 degrees of turning, cars in Initial D offer 180 degrees, if that.

The entire package is well-constructed for the most part, however. The shift knob feels great, but is a bit too springy for quick "flicks" you may be used to using in arcade racers that utilize sequential shifters. This doesn't detract from the quality of the product, per se; it just requires a smidge more care to be used when shifting. The wheel is made of a plastic and rubber base, and feels nice.

The steering wheel itself attempts to emulate power steering, but does an awful job. Turning the wheelbase to it's maximum in either direction and letting go produces a seesaw effect that, if using enough sensitivity in-game, sends your car jolting left to right. If you have door stoppers in your home (the 2 to 3-inch long springs that prevent door handles from denting your walls,) pull it all the way to one side and let go. You've now seen the MC2 "power steering" in action.

The pedal assembly is hit-and-miss. MadCatz has engineered the gas and brake pedals to feel as realistic as possible, but only so much can be done without having an actual hydraulic pump behind each one. The huge downfall of the pedal assembly is its mobility with heavier driving. If you're a two-footed driver, steer clear of this wheel ALTOGETHER. The small rubber stoppers on the bottom of the assembly are simply not enough to keep it in place on carpet or on tile. I found myself having to drag the pedals back to me after a mere lap and a half on just about every course that required somewhat constant braking. This literally ruins the fun in a race!!

I've decided not to review the dual shock vibration of this wheel, since it apparently did not work at all on the one I had bought.

There isn't much else to be said about this wheel. New and old fans alike of the Gran Turismo series who are looking for a true companion to the greatest automobile simulation game ever should avoid this thing like the plague. I can't recommend the Logitech Driving Force Pro enough in this situation. However, more casual fans of less-realistic racing games for any console are encouraged to give this a shot. It is by no means the most accurate solution on the market, but it isn't a complete failure for the price.

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This is the first steering wheel for a video game that I've gotten, and I am extremely pleased. It greatly enhances Gran Turismo 4 for the playstation. Most of the other reviews citing drawbacks were more or less true, but with nothing to compare it to, I have had GREAT FUN with this wheel. I highly recommend it. It's tight enough to feel your actually steering the car, and the vibration lets you know when you're holding the car online.

Worth the $$$.

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This is one of the best racing wheel ever. my son used it and its perfect for any car game. You may think its bad but if you read the instructions and do everything like it says you will see its great. I myself like to play video games, and love this controller so i bought two. i recommend this product to any one. there is one review where somebody was unhappy about this product. i totally disagree with everything he said. and i believe you would too if you bought the MadCatz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals.