Reviews of Cooling Fan for Xbox 360 Slim External Side Cooler By A1store

Customer Ratings:

The Cooling Fan for the Xbox 360 is awesome, but I noticed once I turned off the Xbox waited for it to completely cool down thinking the fan would go off after that. But it's still on I guess there's no real way to make the fan turn off unless un-plugging the USB part of it, but oh well it's still pretty cool

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I purchased one of these. It keeps the game system very cool. Which is great that's what it is supposed to do.

It also doesn't turn off. Ever. If you want it to turn off you have to unplug it. If you unplug it and forget to take it off you will forget to plug it back in and it will interfere with the cooling of your system. After getting irritated I finally just left it on, ALWAYS. It wasn't too loud it ran 24-7 for 5 months and then broke.

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Cooling Fan for Xbox 360 Slim External Side Cooler By A1store. It work AWESOME. Thanks. It keeps my Xbox 360 nice and cool. Love it

X-COM: UFO Defense - PlayStation Review

Customer Ratings:

I can and can't recommend this game. It takes hours of dedication, but once you really get into it you will surely dedicate thousands of hours of your life to it.

You fight about 6 different hostile alien races: the famous Zeta Reticuli race is here (called "Sectoids" in the game); there are reptilian aliens ("Snakemen"); creepy death look-alikes with awesome mental powers ("Ethereals"); and tough jock-types ("Mutons").

You have armored vehicles at your disposal (but--so do the aliens), and even though you start with puny Earth-weapons; as you shoot down, recover, and research alien technology your engineers will be able to build base facilities, aircraft, tanks, weapons, body armor, grenades, EXTREMELY high-explosive missile launchers--and even equipment for MIND CONTROL--based on alien technology.

At the end of each month, you're given a progress report. Nations decide if they should increase your funding, decrease it, leave it the same, or pull out of the alliance all together and try to strike a deal with the alien races.

The ground battles themselves are played in a chess-like state. However, you can only see the areas of the map your troops have explored. Everything else is shrouded black. During the computer's turn, the screen only shows the blinking words "Hidden Movement," unless a soldier spots an alien or is fired upon. The "board" is divided into (I think) 124x124 squares; each one square taking 4 "Time Units" to cross.

Each group of 25(?) squares is given it's own unique attributes such as barnhouses, hills, cropfields, etc., so you'll NEVER--I, in 6 years of playing, have not--come across the exact same map twice. The aliens are also positioned randomly through the map, so check your flanks!

The average soldier starts with 50 TU's. However, shooting takes between 15 & 45 TU's (depending on weapons used & type of shot--aimed, auto, snap etc.). Basically, everything--reloading, throwing stuff, turning your soldier's head--takes TU's. But, as your soldiers see more combat, they can get as many as 81 TU's, which is quite helpful. They also gain health units, stamina, strength, bravery, etc--BUT keeping a soldier from the first mission to the final assault on the main ET base where the alien's collective mind, "the Brain," is kept (in the Cydonia region of Mars) is pretty much impossible. You're fighting a well-trained opponent!

What's more, you battle not only alien occupants of ships you have shot down, but aliens that land in major cities to terrorise the population, alien bases scattered around Earth, and even aliens that locate & attack YOUR base. It's not all fought on farm land in Idaho!

The musical score is a well-crafter combination of military marches and techno-beats; the creepy musical score playing while you fight ground missions is by far the most fitting for such a scenario.

There are a few videos in this game. The two outstanding ones are when you win the game and when you lose. When you win, no indication is given of Earth's future state. Do we acheive peace on Earth? Do we forget all that we've been through & return to our old ways? Unknown. You are shown the Mars base exploding, and your brave soldiers flying back to Earth cheering. Then you are returned to the main menu. Did the designers intend to create such a profound "happy" ending?

The video when you lose is more straight-forward, but still goose-bumpy: Three alien battle-ships hover over the UN building. Inside, the floor is bare of representatives except for a few humans sitting at a table across from two "Ethereals" and a "Sectoid" commander. There is no talking, but the message is chillingly beautiful in it's clarity: most of the world has given in, and it looks like the last fighting nation is following. As the humans & aliens communicate telepathically, several aliens burst through the door, place a plasma rifle to the head of the human leader, and pull the trigger. The "Sectoid" across from him is next seen splattered in the man's blood. Proof that the aliens do not make deals--deals in the sense that we know them--and a taste of what the aliens have always had in store for us: extermination.

This game is no longer in print, apparently because most people saw it as "too intelligent." If you happen to find a copy online...CONSIDER buying it. _I make no promises that you'll like it_. It's called a boring & tedious game by the few critics it has. I consider it an highly challenging work of art; one that shaped my teen years. You won't look at the world the same way after playing this enough hours. I would be another person were it not for the day my best friend John was playing X-Com on Playstation, I looked over, and said "Hey, that game looks kinda cool. What is it?"

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RTS games did not exist when X-COM was released (or least I have never heard of one from that era) and good stratagey games were even harder to find (I could be corrected by a MOOR fan). When it was released, X-COM became the reason I invested so much in video gamming. The computer AI was nothing special, but the other little touches like surprise fire from windows and "Fog of War" (to name only a few) overcame the AI's weakness and forced you think about who to put with who and where on every mission. Fire teams, fire teams, fire teams. If you want to live through a mission, deploy in fire teams of no less than two with mixed weapons and always have someone under good cover, ready replace fallen members. If you just can't get out of the 80's and 90's when it comes to video games, and you long for those old, great strategey games, then this one for you.

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A few years ago PCGAMER made a list of the greatest PC games of all time and suprise, suprise guess what game topped the list? X-Com UFO Defense, and it well deserved it.

The game, even when played today still shows it's greatness. I've logged probably more then 1000 hours of gametime playing X-Com and it's many sequels over the years since it first released and the gameplay still amazes me.

If you love strategy games and for some reason haven't tried X-Com find a copy of it. (The PC version is WAY easier to get a hold of then the PS1 version and is a better port of the game anyway) If you loved games like Final Fantasy Tactics, C&C, Warcraft or less recognizable classics such as Dune 2 and the more recent Disgaea Hour of Darkness then you owe it to yourself to see what you've been missing.

As with the details the other reviews do a great job so i'll just leave you with this I've played just nearly every tactical combat/rpg ever made and X-Com is by far the best.

Honest reviews on X-COM: UFO Defense - PlayStation

Buy this game! You won't regret it.

I'm not a fan of strategy games. I've never been into Populous, Civilization, Command & Conquer, or anything resembling. However, I can't stop playing this game. Every year I pick it up and start playing it again.

You are at the helm of a multinationally funded UFO defense team. Your goal is simple, protect earth from the oncoming insurgency, and ultimately seek and destroy the source of the invasion. Aside from the strategic turn-based combat sequences, you will control all aspects of the administrative efforts. Sink your fingers into the purchasing of supplies, design of bases, hiring and firing of personel, the armament of your aircraft (for shooting down UFO's) and MOST IMPORTANTLY, which alien technologies to research and incorporate into your arsenal.

Combat sequences boast a fully destructible environment, a rarity in classic gaming! Need to get down to a lower floor? Blast a hole and drop down! If there's a tree blocking your view, turn it into kindling with a well placed shot then take aim at your newly exposed enemies. You can even level a hill if you have the firepower! The designers should be proud, they thought of everything.

If you try this game you will discover a new love.

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Everywhere you look people are enjoying taking out little green men with a pistol. Oh well. X-Com has been proven to provide great entertainment for this who enjoy being a MIB. Control bsaes and protect them from attack. Monitor the world and keep major cities safe from the scum of the universe. Control up to 12 soldiers in a turn-based combat mission where every move your people make my be their last. Research new and startling technologies in your biology and physics labs and put them to use in your manufacturing plants. Be careful that you don't spend too much time researching and not enough time in combat. The countries of the world are footing the bill for your little operation and should they fall under alien control kiss your much needed funding good-bye. Vast array of weapons, terrain maps, enemy aliens, vechiles and UFOs will keep you busy for a good 50 hours or more. If you liked this game then get the sequels for them made for your IBM PC.

2in1 combo Silicone Skin BLUE and GREEN Game Controller Protection Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $7.99
Today's Bonus: 60% Off

I bought these for my son's controllers because they are always dropping them. They have small hands and these really have helped them in dropping them. The colors are bright, and in the package there was 1 green and 1 blue. Of course they both went for the bright lime green one. It covers perfectly, no issues moving the joy sticks or accessing the battery pack. They were easy to put on and take off. These make finding a misplaced controller easy to find thanks to the bright color. I would buy this product again! You just can't beat the price.

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I love green so now I have the controller color I love. thank you. I hope I can find more stuff for my xbox in green..

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These arrived FAST. and the kids were stoked as soon as i opened the package. Having the two colors is great. One for each child, so now they know which one is theirs. The fit is great and still able to access and operate everything the way it is supposed to. The soft grippy surface allow better grip for small hands and also helps protect it from drops. I would recommend 2in1 combo Silicone Skin BLUE and GREEN game controller protection for anyone looking to add an instant dash of customization and to protect the controllers for more durability.

Honest reviews on 2in1 combo Silicone Skin BLUE and GREEN Game Controller Protection

I ordered this silicone combo back to protect and compliment my blue and green Xbox controller. These work great and definitely no complaints here.

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These silicone skins fit my Xbox 360 controllers well. Reasonable price and fast shipping. I am waiting to see how my grandkids like them.

Battlefield 4 - Xbox 360 Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $48.99
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Edit:

There is a patch coming out soon for Consoles that may address the freezing issues. The fun factor of this game when playing with friends rates this a 5/5 in my book, but the technical issues are such a turn-off that I literally turn off my Xbox the first time it locks up and don't bother going back.

If they can fix that, it take this game from merely "Good" to GREAT!

First things first, a compliment and the one thing I have absolutely no complaints about: The sound engine is INCREDIBLE!

The meat of the Crap Sandwich

There are lots and lots of problems. Capital 'L' LOTS. These issues are anecdotal, and vary be user experience but there is an EA support page that has vetted issues across multiple scenarios, again, and anecdotal but every one of my friends are having issues in some fashion. Playing last night (11/15/13) we were all booted from various servers at various points of time (loading in, playing, checking the score, changing maps)

This game is obviously half-cooked on current gen consoles, and according to the support thread PC players are not exempt. There have been server patches but no client patch on 360/PS3 yet.

The dirty truth:

-Random Freezing: During map cycles, during "Levelution" events, during server join, during round changes, during, "just standing there". This is absolutely freaking unacceptable in a retail release. This is some entry level QA stuff right here. They knew about this and let it release anyway. Shame on them.

-No party feature: I have to get a little teenager-y here but, Seriously! WHAT THE HELL? Dice has always missed the mark on this in their BF games on console, but this is just too much. In 2013, when every top tier release since 2006 has had a party system that isn't bass-ackwards, I simply can't understand the thinking behind this.

They also pulled Platoon's from Battlelog. DOUBLE WHAT THE HELL

-Graphical step back: If you need proof to see that the 360/PS3 are at the end of their run for pushing the graphical envelope in newer games, look no further. Halo 4, this ain't. When you've played every map a handful of times, you'll stop noticing or caring. There's stuff to blow up.

-No pre-game customization: I hate Battlelog, you shouldn't be forcing me to use my computer or tablet to organize stuff when I'm playing the damn game. During battle is not the time to force people to mess with their loadouts. This is, frankly, just stupid.

-Loadout Screen: The loadout screen is garbage. Pure garbage. I'm not unintelligent, I can navigate it, I can make it work. Somebody is in love with their UI design, and somebody has forgotten that you design this stuff for the players benefit, not your ego.

-LET ME EDIT MY CLASSES BETWEEN ROUNDS. Christ almighty how is this a hard concept?

-The UI: The UI sucks. It's a mess of menus and menus and more menus. Open up a menu? LOOK MORE MENUS! Say the work menu enough and you'll start to question your sanity.

-Battlelog: SeriouslyEA, DICE? NOBODY LIKES BATTLELOG. If you like Battlelog, great. I hate you. For realsies, guise, I'm super-cereal, I won't play this game on the PC where it arguably is superior on all fronts because of how bad Battlelog is. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND BACKING A FAILED HORSE LIKE THIS. Quit floggin this dead animal.

The Battlelog App sucks, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally bad. I've queried all my friends, and so far between the Ipad 3, Nexus 7, 7.2, an overclocked HP Touchpad, and some random Samsung thingy, the Battlelog app is Crap. It's a cr(app)

The Good stuff:

When this game works, and you aren't fighting against the design to actually get in a match a play it with friends, it's a blast. They've stepped back some of the design changes that were brought about in Battlefield 3, and changed the all-around feel of it, to more Bad Company 2, than Battlefield 3.

There are still flashlights that can blind in dark corridors, red-dot lasers that act as a "SHOOT HERE" target beacon, and some weirdness on the sniping front that could use some tweaking. When the game is working the way it should, it's a 5/5.

Thanks for making 5-man fire teams a thing, and thanks for bringing back Commander

Miscellaneous: I am constantly baffled by the design decisions they've made starting with BF3.

We should just start calling it Bafflefield.

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I started playing Battlefield with Bad Company 2. I loved it and pre-ordered BF3. I've enjoyed BF3 so much that I also preordered BF4. This is where my preordering days will come to a stop. I was expecting a gaming experience at least on par with BF3, but sadly this is a huge step down.

I only play multiplayer so my review will be based solely on that. On release day I expect server problems, and to a degree I can deal with those, I know they will get better in a few days. The problem is not with the servers, it is with the game as a whole. Half-baked would be putting it kindly. First there is the freezing. In the two hours I played last night my console froze four times, I had to reboot. Second there is no pre-game squad system. Want to play a match with friends? Too bad. You have to try to find a server that is empty enough so friends can try to join on you before the server fills up. Third, good luck finding a server. The server browser is a joke. I filter so it isn't supposed to show me full servers, but it does anyway and I have to scroll through hundreds of them to find an open server. That is once you actually get the list, it can take minutes just for it to load. So just do a quick match, right? Wrong, I got nothing but network errors when trying this.

So what about the gameplay, that has to be much better you say. Wrong again. The graphics are really poor. I know there is a new generation of consoles coming out and it SHOULD be much better on those, but those aren't out yet and you're charging full price for the current gen. The graphics should be at least on par with BF3. Enemies are very hard to see, everything seems to be washed out, textures are non-existent, there are no hit markers, the weapon customization is overly complicated and the list goes on.

So Dice and EA I'll throw you a bone and give this one star. But only because Amazon doesn't let me give you zero. I know a few of these items can be fixed with patches, but I paid full price for a complete product on day one. If companies are going to continue to go the route of shipping out incomplete software and fixing it later they should charge less day one and ramp up the cost as the game improves. You're giving users no incentive to pre order.

**Update 11/11/2013**

Returning the game. I played for about an hour tonight and it froze my console four times. I guess that is what the four in Battlefield four stands for. I give up. I want to love it, but it just hates me too much.

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And that's just the beginning: The graphics are worse than BF3, the gameplay is stilted, and the glaringly obvious fault that nobody wants to say:

1. DICE just wanted to cash in on people wanting an Xbox One launch title before the One was released. They got $100 from me. Too bad I hadn't just donated it to Wounded Warriors Project. Maybe I just need to grow up and stop gaming entirely.

2. This will affect my decision to buy an Xbox One. If the BF4 online experience is this bad, what value does Xbox Live have for me? Just another bill, like this game.

It's cruel for me to give a one star rating, it really is, considering the massive amount of development and potential this game has. But I'm not buying potential, and like any game critic will tell you: NEVER SHIP INCOMPLETE GAMES!!!

This game is such a chore to try to play, and impossible to play online with anyone on your friends list, that I'd rather just go to the office and catch up on work. Seriously.

Honest reviews on Battlefield 4 - Xbox 360

I've always been a FPS fan. I've played all the COD's, BF, Halo's etc. I really liked BF3, with a few minor complaints, but overall a favorite so I was excited for this to come out. A lot of reviewers talking about the washed out colors and lack of texture and they are completely right. Even on a gaming monitor through HDMI and on all graphics settings I feel like I'm playing a XBOX (original) game. The online matching system is a joke. The weapon customization is frustrating and hard to figure out at first. I'm halfway through the campaign and it's just ok. Usually BF games have an awesome storyline while other FPS games I buy for multiplayer, but I'm debating just stopping now. It's a bit boring.

For how much I was excited for this game, I'm really disappointing. I hope I don't get let down by COD ghosts as well.

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EA has demonstrated yet again their regard for their customers. This title (just like last year) hardly works on release. I'm 32 years old and am too proud to continue supporting a company that lies to me year after year just to get sales. I'm done with EA. They have ZERO excuse on this one. It's the same console, the same online system, and the game is almost completely the same. What excuse do they have for core features to not work?

In fact, as a customer of 10 years, I'm going to demand that Amazon refund my money on this. Maybe that will get some attention from EA.

Bugs: Impossible to play with your friends. There's not even a menu option to join as party. Joining "on top" of eachother, one at a time, results in the "command slot not available" bug.

Often impossible to join a game single player

Server browsing seems completely broken. No matter what filters you choose there are no results

No sound in helicopter (same bug in BF3)

Graphics are worse than on BF 3 as well.

Review of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Customer Ratings:

This is one rental that actually turned into a purchase. I'm usually not a fan of hack and slash type games, but this one has turned out to be quite entertaining.

Like other games in this genre, Dark Alliance is a third person perspective game (kinda 2.5D) in which you venture through cellars, mines, dungeons and even outdoor environments like mountain and villages. Levels typically end with a "boss" of varying difficulty and combat style. Gameplay is mixed with first person cut scenes in which you converse with other characters in a multi-choice format.

Interestingly, you can only save your game at certain points. At first this seems annoying, but there are enough save points around the game so it isn't too bad. Another big plus is that saving is really quick. If you've played games like Morrowind, where saving and loading are good opportunites to grab a drink, then you're in for a treat. Unfortunately you can only save about 25 games at once and there is no way to describe the saved game. A bit annoying, but oh well.

I'm not too much of a D&D fan, so I can't comment on how true this game is to the ruleset. However, as you move through the game you'll acquire better goods and have to manage your inventory and make decisions about how to develop your powers as you advance levels. Who knows if these mechanisms are authentic enough, but they are fun.. :)

Finally, one of the best aspects of the game (and why I ended up purchasing it) is the two player option. This put two players on the screen at the same time, working together to battle through the game. I find this style of multiplayer play to be much more enjoyable than split screen, and this is one of the few games that offers it.

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Despite the game's title, this game is not at all in the same vein as the wonderful Baldur's Gate PC RPGs. It's a hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, and in terms of gameplay it is nearly identical to Diablo II, but with better graphics. If this type of game appeals to you, great! If you're looking for your RPG fix though, you'll have to get it somewhere else.

Let's start with the good points. The game is pretty fun if you're into hack-and-slash types, especially with two players. Any game with a two-player cooperative mode always scores points with me. The graphics and sound are very good, and the game is easy to learn and easy to control.

There is some replay value to it, as there are some new modes you can unlock by finishing the game. Beat the game once and you'll be able to play a special game mode that puts you in a tough dungeon on a short time limit, playing as none other than Drizzt Do'Urden. Beat that mode, and you unlock Extreme difficulty in the normal game, which is several times more difficult than usual. If you manage to beat Extreme, you can play as Drizzt in the normal game.

There are some bad points to the game, however. It's extremely short; you can beat it in under 10 hours. It's really a shame that the game is not more extensive. Also, as with any game of this type, it can get quite repetitive after awhile. The game is very easy as well. The Gauntlet is really the only difficult part of it. Even on Extreme, I had no problems completing the game quickly.

And finally, although I knew this wasn't really an RPG when I bought it, I still couldn't help feeling disappointed at the great lack of depth compared to many other games that have been set in the Forgotten Realms. I would have liked to see a wider variety of D&D skills and spells brought in, as well. For instance, the Sorceress (and all spell-casting enemies) doesn't have any spell effects aside from direct damage. It would be cool to have things like Entangle and Charm Person available, to have a thief class with all their many skills, and so on. I realize why many of these things were left out, but a little more work on the design could have added a welcome element of strategy to what it is essentially little more than a slugfest.

My list of complaints may be long, but don't get me wrong; for what it is, this game was executed extremely well. If you're looking for a game like Diablo, you will enjoy this. If you want an RPG, you're better off with Morrowind, or waiting until Bioware rolls out their Star Wars RPG this summer. It's better with a friend, so BG:DA scores a few points there. Still, rent before you buy. You could easily beat this game in a weekend, and you might never play it again after that.

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Baldur's Gate is a hugely popular RPG series for the PC. With Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, console gamers get a taste for what makes this game so much fun.

First, remember that this is a console port of a very rich PC game. That means that instead of having lots of choices of male/female or human/elf/dwarf or fighter/thief/mage/cleric, you have three. You can be a male archer, a dwarf fighter, or a female sorceress.

The graphics are really quite good. There are numerous pools of water for you to run around in, to watch the ripples and wakes shimmer and merge. The lighting is lovely, the detail in the buildings and towns and dungeons look great on even large TVs. The sound is good too, and sitting in your living room with friends while the stereo sound surrounds you is tons of fun.

You can play single player or two-person cooperative, which makes couch-play even more fun. With a large bowl of popcorn and your favorite drinks, you can hack and slash your way through numerous hours or a weekend of play.

Now, the down side. Again, console port. Really, you're playing Gauntlet. You run around hacking up barrels and crates in your friend's cellar. Is this exactly the nicest thing to do? You hack at rats and enemies, look for things in barrels. Yes, you get into lever-pulling and puzzles. But in the end the game is pretty linear and the monsters don't regenerate. So whatever level you're at when you get to a certain point, you can't build yourself up more strongly.

This can get to be a real pain when you hit a strong boss. You can't go buy more gear, because there's no way to make more money. You can't get stronger or more skillful, because there's nobody else to kill "behind you" and you can't go "ahead" until you kill the boss. So you're doomed to keep trying to hack at him until you get past him ... somehow.

Another big complaint I have is that the gamemakers seem obsessed with the female form. The guys in the game are all pudgy and uninteresting. But the girls! The first woman you meet, the bartender, has jiggly, wiggly breasts and she shakes them around non-stop during her long, long discussions with you. Everyone I showed the game to was mesmerized by them.

And playing the female sorceress character, I found that no matter how hard I tried, I could NOT get her clothed well. Every outfit involved a cut-off top, skimpy leather boots and not much else. Ahem, she's going into a deep, dark dungeon to face dire enemies? And she's doing this in beach-wear??

Still, the game was campy fun, and definitely draws you in. A fun weekend-play game for real RPGers, and an easy way for those new to the genre to learn what it's about and to get a taste for the fun.

Honest reviews on Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

I saw Baldur's Gate for the PC but never liked the feel and control of the gate. I was a little hesitant to buy it for the Xbox but it was one of the few RPG games out for XBox and RPGs are my ideal type of game.

To my surprise I really enjoyed it.

The game is somewhat linear in the sense that you alway know what to do next as opposed to a open concept were there is no real order of objectives (such a Morrowind). Although this may not appeal to all players I prefer such games because I don't spend all my time gaming and in open concept games I tend to make a lot less progress.

Playing on the Normal difficulty setting the enemies present a challenger without being too extremely difficult to result in massive frustration.

The game is, for the most part, a hack and slash game but does have a small element of Roleplaying to it with interactive character dialogues.

There is a very limited selection of character classes (Fighter, Archer and Mage) but the classes are nicely worked out with ifferent benefits and abilities for each class.

The equipment available in the game is not as extensive as other games (such as Diablo II for the PC) but is still fairly extensive and the game provides good scaling of equipment availability making the characters progress from poor equipment to better equipment.

Best of all, for all you mage lovers, this is one of the first games that I have seen where the magic user can, for the most part, fight by using spells and rely on a weapon as a secondary backup. I love the mage class and in most games the mages are still too dependant on fighting with weapons and only using magic to supplement their attack. Well not in this game, sure you need weapons when you start out but with a little patience you can quickly make a mage that can predominantly fight with spells only.

In my opinion the only thing missing in this game is an way to swap cash between players and the ability to play the game over XBox Live.

All in all I really enjoyed this game and would recommend it to any who likes RPG games.

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I bought this game because I was looking for another two-player cooperative game after having played Halo for months, which is an amazing coop game as well as single player. This game allows you to play the entire adventure with two people. The graphics and music are superb. You are allowed to assign the controls any way you like which is a great feature not many games have.

Reviews of Xbox 360 CLEAR GHOST CASE - SMOKE CASE/HDMI/BLUE LIGHTS

Customer Ratings:

The case was fairly easy to assemble once I finally figured out how to get the old case apart. There was no instructions with my case which annoyed me as I was slightly afraid to rip apart an 200 dollar investment. Once i had it apart i removed all the screws off of the metal casing which was a big mistake. You only need to remove the 5 long screws which are mostly on the corners of the case. I suggest looking up the instructions on google and before you take your dvd drive apart make sure its either Samsung or Hitachi. Mine was Phillips I believe and the dvd drive see-through top would not work so I stole parts off another drive which then really messed up my system and I had to return the drive to normal.

Pros: Black, very cool lighting, a lot lighter then original, and seems to stay cooler.(but i also bought led higher performance fans as you can find on this page)

Cons: I could not use the dvd top, make xbox feel flimsy(although i like the fact its lighter), light around power button is not focused into an ring just goes every direction(make it look dull), Instructions not included

Over all this is a very good product and very cool. I just wish they had instructions. One tool is a long piece of metal that is very convenient but without instructions you have no idea its to release clips on the back and sides of the console.

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My business deals with Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii repairs and Modifications. So I order a lot of stuff, I had a customer inquire about making his case glow, and have lights in it. So I found this product and ordered it, it was shipped very poorly first off, then when I was setting it up, the plastic was not formed correctly or warped somehow so you had to force some of the corners to get it connect. Then the side where the hard drive goes doesn't completely snap together so the hard drive will fall out.

Horrible product I would not even recommend this to a competitor of mine. And the price of it to boot?? Is a joke

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I just purchased this two days ago. Props to Amazon as I am a very happy Prime customer! The quality is just ok. Much thinner plastic than the stock case (probably because of it being transparent). Putting it together was a pain and very frustrating. Instructions are not included; there are instructions on the manufacturers web site but they are almost useless. My big complaint is that it doesnt line up on the back so it doesnt close completely. It does close, but not 100%, maybe 98%. No one would notice but it irritates me (this is mainly the reason for 3 stars). The LED lights are great! I am very happy about that! the power button plastic is very thin and I almost broke it during install. Other than that, its ok. Just some minor issues thats all. It does look very cool. I would buy it again and recommend it to friends, just be prepared for an irritating install and minor fit issues. If you can handle that, than do buy it because the finished product does look awesome at night when playing, probably cool enough to manage through the small issues. Plus, at the current price id say its worth a go.

Just a quick install tip, line up the led light strip on the dvd drive side before you actially stick it on. i installed the lights to close to the back and had to move them foreward as i couldnt get the dvd drive back in.

i would also recommend the lighted fans for the rear. the extra blue lighting makes a big difference.

most of all...be patient when installing and dont force it to fit :)

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 CLEAR GHOST CASE - SMOKE CASE/HDMI/BLUE LIGHTS

Where to start. Upon opening the packaging, I was very disappointed to see that the top and bottom covers were scratched by the very packaging they put in the box to protect it. These things are packed tightly in the box and wrapped in a foam sleeve. The foam sleeve leaves rub marks all over the case which take alot of polishing to get out. Simply putting a plastic protective film over these before putting them in the foam bag would have prevented all this from happening. As it was, i spent 30 minutes with my drill and headlight cleaning kit removing the scratches from this thing.

This one is VERY important and I learned it the hard way. CHECK THE FOAM TAPE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE LED'S!! The power wires to the LED boards are soldered to the BOTTOM of the board and are bare and open. On mine, on one of the boards, the foam tape did not come out far enough to cover these wires and I didn't catch it. As a result, the solder joints on the wires shorted against the metal housing of the Xbox. When I powered this thing on to check it before putting the covers on, It shot a two inch flame out the back of the DVD drive and literaly burned one of the wires on the dvd power connector in half. I had to cut their cable off and splice it in to my old dvd power cable. I then removed ALL of the preinstalled foam tape, coated the back of the PCB's with a thin layer of liquid tape and attacked them using 3M mounting tape leaving a 1/4" overlap on each end of the PCB. Amazingly enough, the Benq DVD drive must be one tough beast, as it still works.

That leads me to the clear Cover for the Benq drive. Throw it in the garbage. Period. Out of the box, snapped on, lined up, looked good. Got my magnet out of the top cover put it in, fired up Xbox, and wallah.....Disc won't spin. Pull up slightly on center and disc spins. The base of the clear cover is too thick and pinches disc against it. After 45 minutes of carefully sanding the bottom of it and rechecking, I get it to spin noise free and like it should. PROFIT......not. I eject the disc put it in again, very slight rubbing sound, but disc still spins free. One last sanding and all appears well. PROFIT......not. I put the top cover on, a little flimsy, but it looks good and fits sorta ok. Snap the bottom cover on the front, move to the back and try to snap it together.....for 10 minutes....curse.....5 more minutes.....finally get all the fasteners to latch. Finish it all up pop the hard drive in, can't wait to see how it looks! Power it up, its looks good, eject the DVD to make sure it all clears, yep. Everything looks good. Pop in Black Ops 2,..............you guessed it.... disc won't spin. Lightly tap the top of the case and disc turns half a turn and stops. Tap a few more times and disc spins, but sounds like I am running it through a shredder instead of playing it. Shut it all down, try to take case apart to remove clear cover. If you thought closing it was tough, wait till you try opening it! Be VERY careful with the side the power connector is on. I now have a nice tear in mine right there. I had to pull so hard to get the tabs to release on the opposite side, the plastic is so flimsy, I literally ripped it from the bottom of the snap above the power connector, to just below the power connector, about an 1 1/4 tear.

For the price charged for this case, it should be MUCH better quality than it is. At $25 its a steal, at the $45 it is now, its stealing from you.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Xbox 360 CLEAR GHOST CASE - SMOKE CASE/HDMI/BLUE LIGHTS

Came with out the round piece that clips into the clear cover for the dvd drive, and due to the fact it didn't have instructions either, I wasted my dvd case by popping out the spinner, so now my dvd drive is useless. Thanks... Oh and the case fits so tight that the back pins are barley holding together. Also there customer service is sketchy, it's been half a month and still haven't received the missing part and all I get are excuses or no replies. DON'T BUY THIS HORRIBLE PRODUCT.

Cheap River Raid

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Now I don't care what anyone else says, even though River Raid was designed by a woman it turned out to be one of the greatest games released from Activision. It was banned in Germany untill recently when Activision wanted to release a greatest hits collection for PS3 so they had it renamed and re released. It was always my favorite Atari game as a kid in the early 80's and still remains to be one of my favorites because it stands the test of time so well. The controls are perfect and the ever changing river scenery is really cool compared to games that dont even have second levels. The object of the game is to blow up the bridges crossing the river to halt enemy advancements and blow away any enemy helecopters and ships on the way keeping an eye on your fuel for the refueling stations that become few and far the further up the river you go and unlike most Atari games this game actually does have an ending. A very fun game and the more skilled at it you become the more it becomes addicting. Happy gaming my fellow River Raiders.

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the product came in fast and was in very good condition. there was no writing on it and only minor scratches. also you can still read all the words. I don't know if it works yet but everything else is in great condition. this is a fun game and I recommend it for buyers or owners of the system.

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River Raid is a vertically scrolling shmup. The game field takes the shape of a river, which widens and narrows and has other terrain features to avoid. At the end of each river section is a bridge; destroying these bridges is the object of the game.

The controls work nicely here, with acceleration and deceleration to navigate the trickier sections. Sound plays an important role here as well, as you can hear your engine roar up or down based on your speed.

Along the way you've got enemy ships, helicopters, and jets to destroy. These give extra points, or can be avoided. Watch for targets at the entrance or exit of a narrow section, as these are common ambush points.

Finally, we have the fuel dumps. Fly over these to refuel, or shoot them for more points. Or, if you're in a particularly nasty mood, fly over them to refuel, then shoot them just before leaving. Thanks suckers! *insert evil grin here*

There are no breaks between river sections, nor is your fuel refilled between stages. You have to stay on your toes at all times and keep the fuel gauge up.

This is a really fun game, with good variety and a steady difficulty curve. It may seem easy at first, but some of the later sections definitely get harder.

Honest reviews on River Raid

I know some people who really enjoy this game. I on the other hand do not. I find it repetitive. You are just going up this river and everything can kill you and you have all these fuel options that may get you killed if you go for it. And when you finally do want to pick up a fuel canister, a bad guy manages to jump in front of it and get destroyed in the cross fire. Yeah...I really don't like this game, but I do own a copy. And it does play on the 7800!!!

The Sims 3: Ambitions Review

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $28.24
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I have been playing Sims since The Sims 2 was released and I haven't felt much excitement playing The Sims 3 until I bought a copy of The Sims 3: Ambitions. I, too, became quickly bored with World Adventures, and was hoping this new expansion was a bit more substantial than the last. When I was through with my first 8-hour game-play session with Ambitions, I was left with a new-found love of the Sims and also some new gripes.

First, I must say that I loved going through the Stylist Profession and liked that I did not complete the whole entire profession in one gaming binge. I enjoyed being actively involved in my Sims' career path and I enjoyed making Sims over. I personally have a lot of custom content installed and the residents of my town ended up getting much-needed styling. The most valuable new addition in this profession was the new hair options for men. (Previously, I repeatedly used the same hairstyle for many male Sims, as I hated all the other styles and custom hair for men is not abundantly available.) There are several new hair options for female Sims as well, but I don't use them since I have so many custom options that are much more attractive. While you do only receive 2-3 job opportunities per work day as a stylist, you can go back to the salon once you complete those opportunities and continue to style other Sims to gain job experience, and you can also buy a drafting table for your Sim to research new design ideas and further increase your job experience, which allows you to be promoted.

Active participation in professions is very time consuming, which I love and am annoyed by at the same time. Like the reviewer before me stated, if you have multiple Sims in your household, there isn't really much time in a day to be actively involved in their lives when you are so busy with your Sim with an active profession. I found myself only tending to my other Sims' needs when my Stylist Sim had a day off. If there is a way to send your Sim to their Ambitions profession and turn off the active involvement for a period of time, I have not found it yet, and it's been impossible for me to fulfill opportunities for other Sims in the household when my one professional Sim is always busy. This is my biggest gripe about Ambitions so far, but compared to World Adventures and The Sims 3 base game, this expansion is quite impressive.

I also added a SimBot to my household. I did not have an issue with my SimBot breaking thingsin fact, she repairs everything that breaks and came to my household with a good amount of Handiness skill. This SimBot is a robot that you can control just like any other Sim, but the robot has different and interesting needs.

Another thing I love about this new expansion pack is that it contains elements of Open for Business from The Sims 2. For example, my child Sim can make numerous baked goods using his toy oven and sell them at a newly-purchasable baked good stand in front of the house, and anything your Sim creates can be sold for good money (depending on your skill level) at the consignment shop. You can also choose to be self-employed and make good money fishing, farming, sculpting, painting, and more, and I really enjoy the options that this new expansion pack allows for.

Overall:

This is definitely a major improvement over World Adventures, and I think this new expansion pack allows for a more active and engaging gaming experience, which I personally like, aside from the fact that I am alienating my other Sims. I think this EP was worth the money because of how it changes game-play and doesn't just add new items, interactions, and wishes as some other EPs have done. I can't wait to explore more professions, and hopefully there will be more available to us all in the future. Happy Simming!

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I got my game delivered on Friday, May 28 and was very excited to get it installed and start playing. This really looked like it would be a ton of fun and it was at first. The new town that you get with this expansion, Twinbrook, is beautiful. The EA Sims team did a wonderful job creating this new town. There are lots of new things to see (I really like the "swampy" area, it's kinda creepy and spooky). They also added several new items with this expansion and I think the new laundry system adds some more realism to the game. I thought it was kind of dumb at first but it is kind of neat to see them do laundry now.

As for the careers, I started off with the new architect career since I love to build houses. It seems more like an interior designer career to me. All of the jobs were to redo some particular room so there was very little building to do. This may change after a while but it got boring doing the same types of rooms over and over so I moved on.

Next, I tried the ghost hunter. Again, this was a lot of fun in the beginning but I soon realized that I get the same types of jobs over and over. There are about 5 different types of jobs for your ghost hunter sim to perform. These range from collecting "casper" looking spirits to investigating paranormal activity inside the rabbit holes around town. This career got boring fast too. You do the same types of jobs over and over and you only get maybe 2 or three jobs each night. I had my sim do these and he was back home way before his job time was supposed to be over. Also, it didn't take me very long to reach the top of the career.

After I had been ghost hunting a while, I got my sim hitched to a sim lady who registered as a self employed sculptor. This is probably my favorite of the careers I have tried so far. She sculpts some pretty cool looking statues after her skill gets high enough. When she first started, she was sculpting chairs, toilets, and other household items and it was pretty humorous to see these. I like that she starts out with a big block of whichever material I choose for her to use (clay, topiary, wood, ice, etc.) and I get a nice surprise when she finishes. If you want a particular sculpture,you can have your sim sulpt it if he or she has already learned to make. After my sim's skill was high enough, the sculptures sell for a high simolean price too. So, between her sculptures and my ghost hunter's salary plus selling spirits to the Science Lab, they got pretty rich rather quickly.

My sculptor's lifetime wish is to maximiaze her painting, sculpting and inventing skills so I also have an inventor's table. Most of the stuff that she has invented is useless crap that you can sit around your house as nothing more than decoration (like a bobbing llama head that drinks). She has invented the digger thing but it woke up everyone in the house when I tried to use it and then the hole only had scrap in it. The digger may prove to be interesting though from what I've seen in videos online.

The only other career I have tried so far is the stylist and I hated it. I created a stylist to be married to my architect. Each time she offers to give a makeover to another sim, it opens a new CAS window where you style the sim however they request (new makeup, new hairstyle, new everyday wear, etc.). At the start of this career, no matter what I chose in CAS, the sim always came out looking horrible. It got on my nerves so I gave up on it very quickly. I don't see the point of doing anything to them if they are just going to come out looking bad.

I haven't tried any of the other careers yet. I did get a simbot and it annoys me. The sim couple had a baby and it would always go get it out of the crib, even if it was sleeping. The baby has been pretty cranky with this thing around. The sim babies have always kind of worked my nerves anyways but they are necessary if you want to play a family but they really are annoying with this thing around unless I watch him and make him leave the kid alone so it can get some sleep. It's handy to have it do the laundry and some cleaning but it keeps breaking stuff in the house when I try to have it do upgrades. It's handiness skill is high but it always breaks whatever it's working on so I hate the thing. It just kind of gets in the way.

One thing that did surprise me and I thought was a nice touch is that as your sims progress in their careers, they will get a notification that the mayor is honoring them at city hall. If they make it there in time, they get medals, commemorative plaques or even keys to the city. My ghost hunter even received something that looks like a small graveyard. It's really kind of cool looking. I forget what it's called though. I do think that the recogonition for outstanding work is pretty cool and it was totally unexpected for me.

All in all, this EP is kind of fun but it is VERY repetitive and I can see it getting old fast. There were not very many new items which adds to the sims everyday lives. There is the laundry system, trampoline and a couple of other things though. Oh, and the "Curly" hair that you get when you register the game is horrid!

If you like the new task oriented sims that it seems we have to live with now, you'll like this. As for me, I really wish they would give us an EP that gives the sims more open activities like some of the EP's of the past (Nightlife, please!). I don't care for this new style of play that the EA Sims team keeps coming up with. I miss the days of the open ended gameplay. Sure, it got repetitive too but I at least controlled more of the sims lives than I do now and that was what I liked about it. I mean the game is called The SIMS, it should focus on SIMS and not a pretty new town or repetitive tasks that are far too easy and get way too boring way too fast. For the way the Sims has now progressed (whether I like it or not) this is a decent expansion. I can have my sims do the painting, sculpting, writing, etc. and register them as self employed and still get some fun out of it though so it's not completely horrible for me either.

Best Deals for The Sims 3: Ambitions

I suppose by now I should know better. The second expansion pack for the Sims 3 promised great things, much like both the base game, and World Adventures. Like both, it fails to truly deliver.

Basically, like the previous installments of the sims 3, this EP is little more than a rehash of a previous one-in this case, Open For Business. Sadly though, it doesn't really play as well. If you are interested in crafting and selling items, instead of opening up your own store, You send your items to a consignment shop, which in turn sells your items, and gives you a cut of the money earned.

The new "Professions", as they are called in game, are interesting enough; inventor, sculptor, fire fighter, Private investigator, Stylist, architect, tattoo artist, Paranormal investigator. There might be a couple more, but these are the ones I explored in any real detail. As I said, the professions seemed interesting, at first. The new items for use in increasing your skills for each profession were also fairly neat. But the professions themselves are a bit of a letdown. For Jobs that require you to gather information, or hunt in some fashion, all you really do is run from lot to lot, trying to fulfill certain requirements, in order to get to the next step of the assignment, much like the quests in WA. After the first couple of jobs, it gets very repetitive. For the more creative professions,you spend most of your time crafting or designing. Again, interesting at first, but after your 3rd or fourth tattoo or hair appointment, it gets pretty boring.

Adding this to the severely limited amount of time in a Sim day, and what was already a hectic game of time management for your sims, becomes a race against the clock to get anything done at all. It didn't really make for an enjoyable time.

However, there are a couple of bright spots in this EP, so all is not lost. The inventor profession has some fairly cool items you can make: Mining equipment for drilling large holes in the ground; a fruit vaccuum to make harvesting a bit easier; the time machine is actually a kind of neat addition to the the existing rabbit holes. For sculpting, I didn't play around too much, but I did get to the point where I had several materials to choose from in the creation of each sculpture, as well as the ability to sculpt other sims, which again was kind of neat. The idea of the tattoo station was neat, and once CC creators get working on designs, we may see some really great options for tattoos.

The best part of the EP though, is the new town, Twinbrook. It is well put together, and I prefer it over both Sunset Valley and Riverview. It showcases all of the new Profession related lots quite nicely. wandering around the town was much more fun than much of the actual gameplay.

So, all in all this EP was ok, but for me, it really didn't live up to the promise. If you enjoyed the quest based gameplay in WA, you will probably enjoy this EP as well. If you were looking for a little more freedom of gameplay, this isn't quite it.

J

Honest reviews on The Sims 3: Ambitions

This game is a LOT like World Adventures. The Sims 3 is becoming less and less like it's predecessors, because it is changing from controling a family to having to focus in on 1 sim. You can't focus on your other sims while your sim is doing 1 of the new "professions". The new jobs are fun at first but get boring with the same thing over and over again. There is a lot of community requested features in the game that make it more fun and realistic, like the laundry system. You can now also own any community lot to make money off it. That is fun too, but you can't have traditional employees or really work on the lot unless you are cleaning up plates, puddles, and trash. I would say if you don't like World Adventures, skip this one.

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I play Sims 3 almost exclusively these days and I was looking forward to the expansion and the new professions. Unfortunately, I felt ambitions was rather lacking. While I like the new careers, I felt it was annoying to have to follow 1 sim around and leave the other sims unattended without a time stop feature. This is really tough if you have more than 1 sim in your house, as stuff happens while you are away. I also didn't like the missions. Banishing ghosts just requires you go to a house and point and click. There is no particular challenge or skill involved. And while you do this, your sims household is left unattended. The difficulty does ramp up after a while, so all is not lost, however, I just didn't find it enjoyable to miss out on the household fun, while 1 sim was out doing a mindless job. I would've like a 'time stop feature' which would freeze the current house and let you get back to it, and let the other sim return when done so that you can enjoy both things.

There is also an unfinished quality to the game. While I enjoyed the addition of the new traits, I didn't find anything really exceptional about most of the content. The careers I play tested (ghost hunter and fireman) were dull.

I will keep playing sims 3 ambitions, but I wasn't loving it like I liked the expansions for Sims 2.

Best Quick Charge Kit Charger for Microsoft Xbox 360, White Deals

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Quick Charge Kit Charger for Microsoft Xbox 360, White Good deal for the price, charges as advertised, no problems to report so far

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Used for microsoft brand xbox 360's rechargeables-no trouble at all. I also have the microsoft brand charger, and this works comparably and is MUCH cheaper!

Review of Wii Boxing Gloves - Black

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I had some problems with fitting the controllers into the glove without them hitting the "B" button and taking me back to the menu screen. You also have to exaggerate your movements to make sure the Wii receiver picks up the signal. Finally, the stance you use playing Wii Boxing is different than real boxing so if you are trying to emulate a cardio boxing class or similar, you will be disappointed.

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These gloves are ok, but you DO NOT actually put your hands in the boxing gloves, so I was disappointed. I think if is actually easier to use the remote and nunchuk. These gloves are the most realistic, but again, you cant actually but your hands in them.

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Should have listend to the bad comments regarding this item. I found it better to use my hands rather than the gloves..

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The gloves actually make it harder to play! And they often get in the way of the signal from the remotes...so the sensor doesn't even pick up on your awesome maneuvers!

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Don't waste your time or money on this item. Hard to control the boxing games. It needs to have the buttons on the controller accessible.

Reviews of AK Rock Box Gaming and Storage Ottoman with Drum Lift (Black)

Customer Ratings:

We purchased this based on the need to "clean up" the Rock Band room. The other reviews were pretty good and it looks sharp online. We ordered on a Sunday and it arrived on Wednesday.

First impressions were good. Although quite heavy, it DOES look sharp, feels nice to sit on and holds a bunch of stuff. I put two wireless guitars, Rock Band 2 wireless drums and pedal, the mic, and a half-dozen controllers and remotes into the box with no problem. Once closed, visitors would never realized how addicted you are to fake plastic rock.

The Rock Box's internal drum support frame seems like a great idea, and it is, but needs two kinds of improvement. First, the lid closes at a low angle. This "clips" the front edge of my Rock Band 2 drums, making the box very tricky to open without damaging them. I picture a visitor just pulling the box open without knowing and SNAP--dead drums. That's the weakest part of the design and could be overcome by adding a little more depth to the box itself.

Once you open the box, the hinged drum support rises and "locks" about two feet up. The range of motion ALLOWS for a few more inches of height, but sinks back to that one level. (As a 6' tall drummer, I "force" it to stay at the higher level by placing a block against the hinge base.) It would be EXCELLENT to improve the support structure, which seems fragile, and allow multiple height settings. Both of those aspects compare poorly to the stock Rock Band drum kit.

Would I buy this again? Yeah, maybe, but I'd at least look for other options that handled the drums more elegantly. You could, for example, re-use the stock drum struts by putting sockets near the inside front edge, saving the cost of all that hinge engineering.

Pros:

Exterior looks nice, comfortable padded top

Easy to "assemble"

Can fit many extras in the box, including controllers, games, and remotes

Cons:

Lid edge "grabs" the green and red drum edges, a significant damage hazard

Drum kit support doesn't "lock" at highest level, making it harder to use for tall players

Feet could use pads to prevent floor marks, given the box weight

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The Rock Box really does what it says. Having a nearby place to keep my RockBand equipment makes my family room look neater but still keeps everything close and convenient. Lined individual spaces for the accessories. The drum-set extension makes my game easy to use from the sofa. With the top closed, it is a nice-looking piece of furniture as well. Very well thought-out, and a great idea.

Best Deals for AK Rock Box Gaming and Storage Ottoman with Drum Lift (Black)

This thing is awesome!

Stores the pedal, mic, guitars perfectly and the lift for the drums is great.

Seems pretty sturdy.

It's comfortable to sit on for normal gaming, and lid works great to lean against when playing rock band (or just spectating).

I was worried it'd be too huge, but it's a great size.

Two things though:

It's listed as "dark brown". I don't remember that when I ordered it (I don't think there was a color) and from the pictures I assumed it was black. When the box came I was worried when I saw that it was listed as dark brown,

but it's either the darkest brown I've ever seen, or it's black.

The drum height isn't adjustable the way it is with the original stand, but it seems to be at a good height.

Honest reviews on AK Rock Box Gaming and Storage Ottoman with Drum Lift (Black)

This ottoman is a good storage idea to "hide away" your Rock Band gear, but the main problem I had was that it is not comfortable at all to play the drums in front of it. When the drums are on their original legs, your kick pedal is positioned below the drums. When the drums are mounted on this ottoman, it is actually in the way of the natural and more comfortable position of the pedal. I needed to sit further back in order to get the pedal to feel right, and then I felt too far away from the drums. It would be better if they made a version without the drum lift to use just for storage. It is not difficult at all to pull the legs off the drums to put them away and slip them back on when you're ready to play.

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I wasn't sure if this would work with Guitar Hero, being new to the genre I didn't know that Rock Band and Guitar Hero drums had different post widths. I tried my best to find out if this would work with Guitar Hero by contacting AK. First, there is no mention of the item on their website. Second, their phone number only went to a recorded message. Third, I sent an e-mail to their customer support department, and though promised a response withing three days, I never received a response. It has been three weeks now. I took a chance and purchased the item, checked it out, and discovered it would not work with GH. I will say that it seemed to be manufactured very well and was high quality. Sadly, I will return for a refund. If AK ever decides to design a GH version of the Rock Box I will probably buy one. I realize now that the likelihood of this being incompatible with GH, given the physical differences, should have been apparent, but putting a mention on the website and Amazon page that is similar to the warning on the box about "Rock Band Only" would have been very helpful.

Reviews of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Xbox 360 (Greatest Hits)

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List Price: $19.99
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The good:

One of the most addicting games of all times makes its way to Xbox and the transition is very smooth. While this version has been re-written specially for consoles, it does keep most of the original gameplay. If you haven't done this already, download the demo and see for yourselves what this is all about.

The game has 5 difficulty settings. For those of you that had trouble beating the demo worry not. The easiest setting is extremely easy unlike it was in the demo.

All 16 civilizations are available right from the start. You can select any of them and play through skirmish missions, Game of the Week or a set of modified skirmishes. This last one has around 10-15 'missions' where the Skirmish rules have been changed. For example on one map there are more and tougher barbarians, on other there is no diplomacy, etc. Game of the Week is being updated every Sunday and will allow you to play against the AI, in same exact conditions as all other XBox Live players. Then you will be able to see your rank versus other players in the world.

The version of the game that I bought includes a free 'wonders' code, to be used for downloading extra wonders. Did not try it yet, so do not know yet what is included.

Graphics are excellent a bit cartoonish, but perfect for the gameplay. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable improvement over the graphics from the demo, so what you see in the demo is what you will get.

The Manual is excellent. Gives a lot of detail and covers all the info you need. If you play on Easiest setting, the game will also act like a Tutorial, which is helpful, if you have never played this before.

The bad:

You have no control over skirmishes. Basically, all maps are randomly generated which is great, because you never get to play the same map. However if you want to select map size, number of players, individual difficulty for AI players this is not possible.

I was hoping the game will have a Campaign, that you can play with your favorite Civilization. There is none. This being the case not sure how long will it take for the fun to wear out.

There is a lot of slowdown when the camera has to pan on longer distances. Not sure why the Xbox 360 demo did not have these issues. It's not unplayable, but it gets annoying after a while.

There isn't enough diversity between the civilizations. Each civilization has some special units, but there isn't enough of them. Most of the time, you will play with same units.

Overall: if you are new to this or unsure try the demo. Otherwise give this game a try. Despite some minor annoyances, it's definitely worth it!

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This is the Civilization I have been waiting for! I have played through a full campaign and I have to say I love it. I love not having to build every road and micromanaging every square. They left all the good parts in but removed the tasks that became mundane towards the end of the other Civ titles.

It has the same technology trees as the other civ games so if you are familiar with them you will catch on quickly.

Multiplayer games now finish in 2-4 hours instead of 12 hours like the previous iterations of this franchise.

If you enjoyed Civ but were longing for faster game play this is the game for you.

This is what every turned based strategy war game should strive for.

the only problem I had with the game was the advisor and enemy animations were annoying to me at first but after the tutorial guy went away the other advisors kind of grew on me.

If world domination is a goal of yours and you don't think your current career track is going to get you there I highly recommend this game as the next closest thing.

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This game is different. It is not the same as regular Civilization and it is not like any other console RTS out there. This game uses a very simplified version of Civilization and mixes it with some RTS elements. The game is simplified. And if you can't handle that it you mine as well just go play some Civ4. BUT, If you had a hard time getting into any of the Civ games but always held a great interest this is THE game for you.

In it's simplification Civilization Revolution holds a certain chess like aspect to it. When you move one of your warriors to the wrong place in a difficult match you'll end up wishing for a redo button. Every move counts on the harder difficulties.

Other awesome parts of this game includes the achievements, the colorful graphics, and the many different choices of leaders. Some problems include that the game can occasionally be off-puting when you play a 3 hour game and lose AND get no achievements. But often I learned from my mistakes and that did not happen to often.

Overall this game is well worth the five stars and easily worth the $37 dollar price tag Amazon has on it right now. If you're looking for a great strategy game, do not pass this one up.

Honest reviews on Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Xbox 360 (Greatest Hits)

Well, I'm not going to say all of the same stuff as the other reviewers, most of which I agreed with.

I did want to add a few comments, tho.

I did not agree the the game was horribly slow. The speed was just fine for me while maneuvering around the screen and I felt that if the panning across the screen had gotten any faster, I would have lost track of where I was. Occassionally, as it was going from the map view to another view, it would hang up a little bit, and that was mildly irritating, but it wasn't bad enough to say the game speed was horrendous. It just wasn't up to expectations.

I didn't think the graphics were that bad. They weren't high end, tho. What I was most disappointed by was how close I could zoom in. The controller lets you pull up a little higher, but no zooming in really close.

I wasn't a big fan of the navigation in the civilopedia. It wasn't horrible, but it also wasn't the fastest experience trying to find information.

I kind of missed the little workers. That surprised me.

And I REALLY missed the musical score I am used to hearing in the background. I turned down the volume on the advisors since the gibberish they talk got to be ridiculous, but all I heard after that was some of the sounds from the cities (production noises). I wondered at the lack of music. It really lowered the fun value to not have it there.

The navigation took a little while to get used to. Once I got it, it flowed fine.

What I really missed was the little cheater blue circles that showed the ideal place to put your cities. It makes it a little harder to decide where to put them. Kind of a bummer.

And near the end, the advisors showed up every two seconds to tell me how I could win the game (by doing this or that) and if I didn't do what they asked, they wouldn't stop showing up. That got to be a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, if you are a hardcore fan of civ, you probably won't be very excited by this version. It is REALLY pared down. There were little differences everywhere, but not big enough to warrant a $60 purchase. I think this is a good game if you want to play a quick civ game. But you might want to reconsider if not. I'll still play it, tho, since my pc version always freezes up on me. I just hope that they make some serious improvements in future versions.

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Civilization on a console. Sorta left a bad taste in my mouth when I first said it. I really thought it was going to be a dumbed down easy port that would let down anyone who's played the original series. To my suprise however this game makes a very smooth transition to consoles. The smaller scale that made me think this game would be "dumbed down" actually makes it more challenging because you have to really compete for resources. The A.I. is good like in any other Civ game, they'll really kick your butt on higher difficulty levels. This is a really cool game that anyone can play because of the various difficulty levels. The cartoony look works really well. The other Civs you can encounter are often times pretty funny. The only things I have against it are you can't play against your friends one-on-one (there always has to be a total of six Civs), there's really not that good of a diplomacy option, and you can't play someone else at all on the same console. Other than that a great game that anyone can enjoy.

Review of The Sims 2: Castaway - Nintendo Wii

Customer Ratings:

3-hour-tour can easily become a 3 day gaming session

Sims 2: CASTAWAY is exactly what you'd expect if you are remotely familiar with the SIMs franchise. Sims 2: CASTAWAY is essentially SIMs surviving on an uncharted deserted isle. Part Survior, part Gilligan and another Tom Hanks, with all the classic scenarios and archetypes of the "LOST @ SEA" genre. CASTAWAY is as addictive as are all SIMs titles. A 3-hour-tour can easily become a 3 day gaming session.

It is obviously a one-shot affair, like the recent "Pet" release so no prior experience with any SIMs titles is required, but like the other titles the SIMs react according how you've constructed the personalities to respond to their situations and your management, too. They need to Eat, Sleep, Socialize, have time appreciate "the Arts" and have some makeshift civilized creature Comforts including island outhouses.

Like most self-contained SIMs games the ability to customize your SIM is more limited than in the PC series. You can morph faces and bodies into your desired characters. Beach and boatwear can be selected along with hats, hairstyles and jewelry. Once you get to the island you can upkeep your appearance with a sewing kit or make clothing from your surroundings, provided you are creative enough. Like other games in the franchise you assign points to your 5 personality traits which influence the way your SIM will respond to your commands as well as how they will respond to each other. You learn by doing and build up skills through effort and application, even fast with skills that are compatible with your SIM's personality. For example: fashioning tools is a mechanical skill and builds up your skill level through uses as simple as building a fire or repairing a radio transmitter.

There are classic genre subplots to become involved in while your struggle to survive and/or escape for the island. There are mysterious caves to explore, airplane wreckage to scavenge, jungles to search, rafts to build and volcanoes to climb. First you must reassemble your "lost" crew of SIMs you can make up to 6 and choose one to start; this must enlist the aid of local monkeys and resources to do this. But, even after you find them you have to develop good relations with them in order to persuade them to "join the Tribe." There are other goals to accomplish with some aid from lost journals and survival texts you can discover. In the mean time there are monsoons, quaking volcanoes and rough seas ahead.

Some suggestions for play: There are no limits on how much inventory you can have so start collecting, you'll eventually use it all. Start making rope and twine early, they have lots of uses, like the sewing kit, which if fabricated early enough can save your original outfits from permanent disrepair (jeans will remain shorts if you don't catch them early, this will keep your "Comfort" level higher as will haircuts, also provided by the sewing kit). Build a shelter and a bed, these will provide longer lasting rest periods and cut down on time lost sleeping. Build a home Tiki in order to assign jobs to your SIMs, so they will help collect or cook with out being instructed to do so. A campfire will provide warmth and cook food, but a island-made grill will cook more longer sustaining food. Build tools to aid your SIMs like fishing spears & poles. Tools like the hoe and collected ash will allow you to plant a garden and limit your food gathering to a trip outside the hut. Build-up your Body skill harvesting wood and collecting resources in order to be strong row a canoe to an outer island or climb across a chasm.

Goodluck little buddies.

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I'm a longtime fan of the Sims 2 franchise on the PC, and in general I've found the console versions of The Sims to be highly unsatisfying. Sims 2 Pets for the Wii was the worst of the lot awkward gameplay, poor graphics, no fun whatsoever.

So I was pretty nervous about Sims 2 Castaway, thought it over a long time before even deciding to rent. After one day, I was hooked! It has a much different plotline than any other Sims game, many things to discover, explore, learn and unlock. Graphics are beautiful, and the Wii controls are easy to use for any task your Sim may need to perform. I like that I have the option to complete missions as quickly as possible or to just dink around the island, eating bananas and doing yoga. VERY addictive and enjoyable!

I only started with one castaway, so I'm looking forward to giving it another go with some additional crew members sometime in the future. One thing that another reviewer mentioned and I can't figure out either what is up with that parrot who shows up when you're sleeping and flies away when you wake up? That is ODD!

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The sims 2: Castaway is another cool addition to The Sims franchise. It takes place after your crew of six sims experience a shipwreck and end up on various deserted islands. At the beginning of the game you will have to choose which sim you want to start with; this sim will arrive on a deserted beach were a short tutorial will begin. As you progress one of your goals will be to reunite your crew members and as you do so they become playable characters.

There are four primary activities you will be doing: gathering food, cooking food, gathering resources and building shelters.

The game is pretty simple, and a bit short as well (I was able to finsh it in two days). There are only three islands to explore, and although they are subdivided it gives the feeling there isn't much to explore.

It is important to mention that social moves have been dramatically reduced.

It is entertaining at the beginning, and the way the Wii Remote and Nunchuck are used to control the various components of the screen is exceptional; but after you discover the secrets of the Islands, it gets pretty boring.

I would recommend you to rent it first, and to see if you like it and don't mind doing it all over once

Honest reviews on The Sims 2: Castaway - Nintendo Wii

I won't get into the gameplay as it's already covered by the other reviewers. However, this is real important, if you don't live alone or expect to have other members play Castaway on the Wii, do not get this version. There is only 1 saved game allowed to be running at a time. Why EA was unable to program it where other save positions were allowed is beyond me. But I could not find away around this. And if you're wondering it does say this under "Saving" in the instruction book.

Good game, but we had to take it back because all 3 of us wanted the ability to play separately.

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Pros:

Interesting storyline

Variety of objectives

New maps and hidden areas to discover

Moderately challenging puzzles to solve

Different patterns to collect and craft

Traditional Sim "motives" to keep a sim happy

Make your own home

Cons:

Clunky controls and interface

Bugs still present in published game

Repetitiveness of gathering can become pretty tedious

A little too short for overall playtime

I'm an avid gamer, so when I heard about the Sims Castaway game, I was pretty curious to try it. I pretty much really liked this game, despite it's flaws. Overall playtime: 15-30 hours (took me less than a week).

I discovered a few bugs while playing. My pointer arrow disappeared randomly and I couldn't do anything to get it back. I searched online and found out you can press "1" on the wii-mote and use that to save and reboot. I also had a bug where one of the sims in my tribe became invisible, other sims could talk to it, and there'd be floating food and things, but you couldn't select it. Rebooting didn't help, but after going to another map, my invisible sim eventually came back.

Some of the controls were a little clunky. For example, you can only craft one thing at a time, so if a recipe calls for 20 rope, you open up the menu, select the the submenu, select the rope, select craft... repeat 20 times. There really should be a way you can say "craft 20 rope".

In spite of all that, I actually enjoyed the game very much. I just wished the plot lasted longer, or at least had more side quests, collectible patterns, etc.