Review of Nyko Power Pak 360 for Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

Why I like this battery:

1) It was half the cost of my official Microsoft batteries

2) It lasts longer then my official Microsoft batteries

3) Its rechargeable. No more throwing alkaline batteries in the garbage.

4) It fits perfectly in my official Microsoft wireless Xbox controllers

5) It fits perfectly in my official Microsoft charging cradle

6) Very high quality product packaging (this says a lot!)

7) Very high quality product feel. This feels just as high quality as the Microsoft version. Its heavy, hard, clean all the signs of a quality product.

8) Good brand. I have lots of Nyko stuff for my Xbox, Wii and PS3. All of the products are of the highest quality with ZERO failure rate. I'm a value, reliability and quality oriented shopper; and Nyko goes beyond my high expectations.

What more can I say. Just buy these!

PS I hope this review gives you some insight and help with your choice, and a little knowledge from an unbiased owner. If so, please click on "YES" below this review to vote it as helpful.

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UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2012

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I wrote my original review on this product in December 2010. I've now owned this product for a total of 1 year, 9 months.

I purchased 3 of these batteries and they still are going strong. I don't use my xBox 360 very often, but when I do I can still count on these batteries to still have a charge. I'm glad I bought them. They look as good as the day I received them (no quality issues whatsoever). I am extremely satisfied with this purchase and the price I paid. If you're looking for a quality battery pack for your controller I definitely highly recommend these.

I'm a very pleased, very impressed, and very satisfied customer.

Thanks Nyko. We appreciate quality products at fair prices. Please keep it up!

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I hope this review gives you some insight and help with your choice, and a little knowledge from an unbiased owner. If so, please click on "YES" below this review to vote it as helpful. Thanks!

(Thanks for the questions, comments and votes fellow Amazon shoppers... keep them coming too!)

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This is an awesome little product. I got this for less than half the price of the official Microsoft product. Not having to put in new AA batteries every other day (during extended play periods) is very nice. You can charge it any way you can charge a normal one, and they even have a special stand that the controller quickly and easily nestles in to. A great buy from a great company.

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Great price for excellent batteries. They last forever and they seem to click into the controller better than the official ones.

Honest reviews on Nyko Power Pak 360 for Xbox 360

My son and I have been playing everyday for over one month on the first charge. This battery is the best ever and I really believe in this product. I never write reviews, but I had to give this product a thumbs up :O)

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About this NYKO white battery pack: this is the exact form factor as the original MS recharge packs so they fit without any problems in the controller and in the recharge station. They charge relatively fast, 4-5 hours in the charger and each battery lasts for at least 15 hours of intense use (playing Borderlands 2 right now so, there's a lot of button pushing here). I usually just leave them charging overnight when the ring on the controller starts blinking.

I go through a lot of battery packs (or recharge packs, how they are called sometimes) for my Xbox 360 controllers. I like to play co-op with my friends and siblings so, the demand on the batteries is high.

This battery did die on me after 2 years but I was able to revive it and use it for another 6 month or so.

➨ A few of my observations on Xbox 360 battery packs that you might find helpful:

✔1. No matter what batteries you buy, they will work for you pretty much the same the technology inside is almost identical. They will last you about 2-3 years of casual use and about a year + if you are a serious gamer. So, aim for spending under $10 per single rechargeable battery brick this way it's cheaper than using AA batteries.

✔2. The battery's quality you receive might vary, I found (this is not a comment on this brand both batteries I got work beautifully; this is just a general observation). Don't worry if you received a dud. If you are buying them from Amazon, you are covered simply fill in the online form and send it back for a replacement. Zero cost to you if you do it fast.

✔3. Sometimes a battery might appear dead but it isn't. You can try and revive it. This is not my method, I found it somewhere long time ago, but I did find it helpful on a few occasions:

Tools: Paper clips and pliers.

Bend several paper clips into a horseshoe shape.

Please make sure the pins on the battery pack are not oxidized clean them with rubbing alcohol or scratch them gently with a sharp knife.

There are 6 pins on the brick, you'll need to use pins 2 and 5 from left to right to completely discharge the battery. Hold the bent paper clip in pliers and touch these pins. Important◀: The clip will get hot so try not to touch it with your hands! As soon as the clip heats up, change it for a different clip you prepared and repeat the process until the clips stop heating up. This would mean that the power is discharged.

You now need to reset the battery indicator circuit. First, touch together with the paper clip pins 1 and 5; then touch together pins 2 and 6. BTW, since you discharged the battery, you don't need to use pliers anymore.

It's done plug it into a charger and see if it works. While it's not a guaranteed method to revive 100% of the batteries, it does work at least on some of the batteries that otherwise show no sign of life. Give it a try if it works, you just got yourself an extension on buying a new battery.

Reviews of Baroque - Nintendo Wii

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $20.38
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If you expect a traditional RPG with Baroque, you may be disappointed. However, if you expected a Diablo style hack-n-slash romp through pseudo-randomly created dungeons, a cast of grotesque characters, and a 20 something undertaker who is compelled to shout "God dammit" every time he speaks, then you will be satisfied.

Me? I didn't know what to expect since my wife gave this game to me without consulting with me, and I had never heard of it. So I was in no position to not give this game a chance. Under my wife's careful scrutiny, I played this game during my free time for several weeks.

At first, I was pleasantly surprised. There was an interesting if not bloody opening cinematic that piqued my interest. The pleasantness soon dissolved, though, when I started playing the game.

I mentioned the cast of grotesque characters. These fit in nicely with the overall visual theme of the game which is something between surreal dream and post apocalyptic prison camp. The visuals are admittedly stunning and appropriate and very dark. This game does not beat Silent Hill in its human disfigurations, but it does come close.

The progression of the game is also something novel. That is, you start the game with essentially no clues as to the reasons behind the sorry state of affairs in which you find yourself and, seemingly, the rest of the world (your character is an amnesiac). The only direction you receive is that you must get to the bottom floor of the "tower", and it is primarily in the tower that you uncover the means by which you find out more about the back story and the pre-amnesiac nature of your character. It is also in this tower where you will die quite often. In fact, dying is one of the means by which you advance the story. So don't be frustrated when you die ALL THE TIME.

Reading what I have just written, this sounds like a game I should keep. However, there were a host of issues that I encountered that ultimately ended in me asking myself, "Why do I care?"

First of all, the camera is nuts. When you're not battling, it's serviceable. You can always snap the camera back behind your character. During battle, though, you're usually out of luck if the camera swings to an angle that puts your adversaries below the scope of the camera or behind a wall if you happen to be engaging a monster from around the corner.

Secondly, most of the dialogue sounds like it's being read straight from the script. Particularly that of the coffin maker. I hate that he says "God dammit" all the time, but more than that, I hate how forced it sounds -like Spock saying, "I'm going to roll with my homies."

Thirdly, the system by which you can throw your various items seems to have been added as an afterthought. Nearly anytime you want to throw something, the action must be interrupted as you pause the game and select the item you would like to throw.

The last nail in the coffin for me was how boring the game was. This game plays so much like Diablo, and I played Diablo before for countless hours, and I am done with it, thank you very much. The only thing that breaks the monotony of the hack, hack, hacking on monsters is the rare encounter with someone or something that triggers the surfacing of an old memory or association.

Plus, I didn't care for how selfish most of the ancillary characters were. But that's just me.

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Some people may not like the fact that the goal is to die and that when you die, you start over from the beginning and at level 1. Some people may. Some may not like that it's so blasted repetitive. Again, some people may. It's not for everyone, but I myself think it's pretty original.

For one thing, It doesn't follow your standard RPG elements. Yes, you can do level up and have to deal with status effects. For one thing, you deal with some slightly different stats: HP, VT (That's Vitality), Attack, and Defense. No Speed or Agility, no Dexterity. Speed is set but can be improved with specific weapons, brands, and parasites, or it's worsened when afflicted with a certain ailment, Lethargy. And on the subject of ailments, you have your Poison and your Paralysis, but you also have to deal with Lust, Lethargy, and Stomachache, among a few others. Lust is the funniest of them all because everything, monster, item, and character (Yes, even the one you're playing.) becomes a beautiful woman. The same woman. You can tell what's what by checking shadows and the sprite that becomes the items floats above the ground. And the reactions you get from the NPCs when "talking" to them are priceless. One says "What are you getting all hot and bothered in a place like this for?!" Your character is completely mute, but the NPCs don't seem to care. They talk to him anyway.

Now, some have complained that you don't get to keep your stuff. This is remedied by throwing them into things called Memory Orbs. An NPC on the outside will pick them up and you can get them back from him when you start over. Consequently, this is the only way to fill up the item list. And it doesn't matter if the monsters get you or if you make it all the way to your destination, if you die, you start over. That much is true. Herein I can see why people would be annoyed with this factor, seeing how I was on a roll, making it to the bottom 5 times. The sixth time through, I was hit with Poison, and the monsters got me. Aggravating. But hey, if you don't think of starting over when the monsters get you as punishment for failure, then it won't be. Indeed, when you do start over, even if the monsters got you, you learn a bit more about the main character's past. And who doesn't like a good mystery?

No one's said anything about the music that I've read, and so I will. I like the music. It's catchy. Some I don't particularly care for, but all in all, thought was put into the music for this game.

I purposely didn't touch on everything I've experienced so far because I want people to experience it for themself, rather than having someone tell them what they think and go on that. Indeed, I did some research on this game, looking at videos and reading reviews and whatnot, but hey, if you weren't slightly interested by this point in my review, you wouldn't still be reading, would you?

And another thing. Some have said it's too hard. I wouldn't say that. With no definable boss monsters and the fact that every monster you do face perishes rather quickly when you use your items in conjuction with your sword, I don't think it's particularly hard at all.

All in all, rent it first and if you think it's one you'd like, then buy it.

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I absolutely adored this game, but people with little patience might get frustrated. This game doesn't hold your hand at all, it tosses you into a crazy world and tells you 'okay figure it out!' I however enjoy the 'uncover the bizarre storyline' type of gameplay thats in Baroque, trying to figure out just what the heck is going on, its like you're in an insane asylum. Admittedly losing all your gear whenever you die or complete the tower can get tedious, but I even came to enjoy that after awhile, it takes planning and strategy to get your favorite items back into town to be ready for next time.

Its definitely a 'hardcore dungeon-crawler' like it advertises itself to be...I wish the Wii had more games with complex psychological storylines like this. If you like anime, thought-provoking rpgs, or just hacking and slashing, I'd definitely recommend Baroque.

Honest reviews on Baroque - Nintendo Wii

Probably the best game I've ever played... Though my first system was a gameboy color, so I'm not sure how much I'm saying there. Definitely a LOT of replay value. Unlike every other game ever made, the story is not straightforward, which will keep you coming back to this title long after games you can "play through" and "beat" have been gathering dust for a few years. Very challenging and the most fun I've had in ages.

Of course, this game is not for everybody. Different doesn't even begin to describe it. You can't approach with a specific label in mind, because you will invariably be disappointed by some aspect. If anything, think of it as "unique" and remember that it takes a long time to get used to/in to when you start to play and you'll have a chance to really appreciate the game. I'd suggest renting/borrowing Baroque and playing for at least three hours before deciding whether it's a good investment.

The only problem I can think of with this game is that it would do so much better on a handheld, esp. the PSP, as those generally allow for a lot more playtime, which Baroque deserves. It also isn't really a game you can play for long stretches of time; while you can play it without getting bored for over a year, the mentally and emotionally taxing aspect of crawling the dungeon will burn you out after a few hours of solid play.

For those who'd appreciate the challenge of unraveling the plot, but don't want to die against their will, lol, there is an easy mode available.

Also keep in mind before purchasing that this is a rather morbid game that features some imagery that could offend like, hardcore Christians... As many fantasy-oriented Japanese games do.

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This game is a lot of fun. It's a great action-RPG, but be warned it is frustrating at times. The point of the game is obviously to advance the story line and also to figure out what exactly the story line is. The frustrating part about the game is that every time you complete a tower and advance the story line you start over at level zero with no items. There are ways to save a limited number of items from your last trip through the tower and you figure that out as you play. Give the game some time and enjoy it. Don't get frustrated and quit after the first time your character gets reset.

Buy Aerofighters Assault - Nintendo 64

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As an aviation enthusiast, I'm always on the hunt for new flight games. It doesn't matter whether they are sims, combat games or whatever, eventually, they'll find themselves running on one of my platforms. However, when I first read the reviews for Aerofighter Assault, I decided to stay away from this release. I mean, heck, no one had a kind word for it. It's easy to get caught up in the words of wisdom written by game reviewers. We're so used to doing it with movie critics that it's become second nature. However, while reviews are written with a certain amount of objective fact, the ultimate thumbs up or thumbs down is highly subjective indeed. So, the other day, when I had the opportunity to pop an Aerofighter Assault cartridge into my trusty N64, I figured, what the heck.

Maybe it's because I'm not as a sophisticated judge of games as reviewers or maybe I'm too forgiving or maybe I just don't know any better but guess what? This game is fun! Is it the best flight or air combat sim around? No. Is it the most sophisticated? Of course, not. But it does provide the gamer with an entertaining and challenging experience. The game doesn't get caught up in extensive technical demands placed on the gamer in so many of the other flight games, yet, is challenging enough to require some practice to be able to play well. The story line is pure fiction, departing from any heavy historical or documentary references, allowing the player to enjoy the bedlam of trying to defeat the big, bad, mechanized forces of evil as well as the enemy pilots who are out to prevent your next birthday from taking place.

Okay, the music won't win a Grammy and I've seen better frame rates in other games but I haven't experienced the "unplayability" from this...The graphics are not bad and the game offers a fun assortment of combat planes you can strap yourself into. The controls are responsive and smooth and, with practice, you can perform some dazzling maneuvers. Weapons are impressive, there are enough enemies to keep you busy and a number of game modes available including a fun death match...I really enjoy this game. No, I'm not going to give up my other combat or flight sims for this one, but I do enjoy sitting down with this game. If you haven't played it, rent a copy of it and take the time to learn and practice how to play it. Aerofighter Assault is sheer fun and nothing more. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't that what a video game should be anyway?

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great game easy to learn compared to a-10 cuba were you have to remember 12 different buttons just to arm your weapons about every key on the key board is taken so 1 wrong press can send you falling out of the sky. aerofighters assault is a simple game that is fun to play single player or multiplayer.

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This game is Nintendo 64's best game of air combat. You have four different planes to choose from including: F-14 Tomcat, FS-X, SU 35, and an A-10. Eash plane has their own different missles like the standard F-14's, stars, fireballs, and rockets. Each plane has a special weapon like a Ninja Beam (the strongest), Tomohawk missles, a fire wave, and a bomb.

The game offers practice mode where you can do pilot control training, fight against five enemy aircarfts, and fight against big machines like giant subs and tanks.

Also including over eight different level like: Tokyo, Pacific Ocean, Air battle, Desert, Shuttle Defense, Space, Icecave, and also air combat with four on five. The first four levels have a certain enemy boss you must destroy like a giant spider called the Super-X, two giant submarines, a Giant Jetplane, and a armored tank.

For an additional feature, the game includes death match for player one vs. player two. There is a secret code so you can choose what levels to play. Here it is: Up (D-Pad), C-Down, Left (D-Pad), C-Right, Down (D-Pad), C-Up, Right (D-Pad), C-Left, Right (top of controller), Left at top and Z. Do this at the opening scence where the planes are flying.

The game has great graphics and excellent levels. This a great choice for air combat game lovers.

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aerofighter assault is the greatest video game in the world a true classic the best of the best buy this game you wont be sorry

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This game is perhaps my favorite game on N-64. My favorite level is Sea Attack(Lexington) because I love destroying the boats. There are 6 Fighters to choose from once you beat the game a few times, but when you start, you only get 4 to choose from.

F-16 Hawk(uses missles and bullets only)

A-10 Glenda(uses bombs, missles, and bullets)

FSX Hein(Uses a mega beam, frisbee missles and ninja bullets)

SU-35 Volk(Uses fire wall, flaming missle, and laser)

Special ships:

F-15 Meo Meo(Get her by cheat. Uses mega beam, missles and bullets)

Spanky(Earned by defeating entire game, including the bonus levels. Uses bombs, missles, and on-going laser.)

Im sorry if i bored you with the Ship analysis, but it may come in handy when actually playing the game.

Cheap Star Wars Republic Commando - PC

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Republic Commando is a fun, albeit short, game. When I heard it was being developed, I really wasn't interested -the premise didn't enthuse me. But after trying the demo, I was very impressed. The squad-based play is simple, but effective, and the AI is very well done. Aside from a few instances where I thought the AI should be behaving differently, your computer-controlled squadmates are very capable and realistic for non-human players. In fact, during the few sequences in the game in which you are seperated from them, I felt...alone. The lack of their presence was really felt in the flow of the game. Very well done. The gameplay is fast paced and exciting (though a bit short), the voice acting is superb, and I was surprised by how long into the game I was before dialog from the squadmates repeated -there's enough of it that you'll play awhile before hearing a line repeated. There's also a fair amount of humor in the game. And the characters of your squadmates are also well done -they each have a distinct personallity, which makes the game more enjoyable. I finished the game tonight and am ready to start playing through it again. A lot of fun.

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Given Lucasarts' hit-and-miss record with the Star Wars games and this game's positioning as a tie-in for Episode III, I was prepared to be disappointed with another rushed throwaway like Star Wars: Battlefront.

I was pleasantly surprised!

The graphics are not fall-down-and-die-oh-my-god, Half Life 2 "great" but the visuals and animation are excellent. There is a problem early in the game where they are trying to simulate the ground shaking and it ends up looking like a graphics glitch. But, the problem is only in the first part of the first mission and is mostly just annoying.

The sound is among the best I've heard in a game. It completely immerses you in the battle. Some of the effects (like footsteps) are subtle but lend great atmosphere. The voice acting is good and the dialogue is very witty. The game had me laughing out loud at some points. The music perfectly sets the tone of each area, ranging from known symphonic pieces from previous Star Wars titles to haunting choral-and-strings songs reminiscent of Duel of the Fates.

The weapons are well-rounded and the placement of ammo and health keeps the game moving without making the game too easy.

The system for giving orders to your squad is simple -in a few cases it's too simple -but it works pretty well. The squad AI is pretty good. They use cover intelligently and move with you (and each other) as if you were a group of trained commandos. They will follow your orders but will not do so to the exclusion of all other threats. For instance, if you order a squaddie to snipe from behind a wall and an enemy unit gets behind him, he won't just continue to snipe. He will turn, deal with the immediate threat and then resume his task. There are a few more commands I would like to have seen, especially one to specify cover fire for a squad member (while he plants a bomb or hacks a computer).

The game does have a few shortcomings. First, the single player game is very short. You get three multi-objective missions totaling about 10 hours of play time. I finished wanting more and I hope there will be an expansion pack at some point. The game is enough fun that you will want to replay it.

The multiplayer is nothing to cheer about. It has the basic game modes you usually expect (Deathmatch, CTF, etc.) but if you want to play these multiplayer games you'd have more fun playing them in Unreal Tournament 2004. A glaring omission from multiplayer is the squad play from the single player. It would have been great, instead of simple deathmatch or CTF, to give each player a squad of 4 to compete against other players squads.

Even with its few faults, Republic Commando is a wild and exciting ride through the Clone Wars. If you're a Star Wars fan, you shouldn't miss this game.

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This game produced the most enjoyable experience since Half Life 2.

I generally play first-person-shooter once or twice, then never play again; not this game. I only bought it becase it seemed similar to "Brothers in Arms" with its squad-leader element. I was not expecting much as I normally enjoy WWII-style games (I also loathed the latest three Star Wars films) but was very suprised how good it really was.

From the beginning, I could sense the high production values. The story line, dialogue, and voice acting were excellent, especially for a video game. I felt I got to know my squadmates in Republic Commando much better than in Brothers in Arms. There were lots of little touches and polish that made it enjoyable to play through many times. Music, top-notch. I don't know if the music is from the films, but it shares the same epic quality. Graphics and effects were well done and ran very well with no stutters, crashes, or lag, even on the highest graphics settings.

Gameplay also excellent. The action is consistent and challenging, but there are few if any frustrating spots that require saving and reloading every couple of seconds that is so common with many FPS games. The maps were playtested well so storyline triggers work when they should and there are no places where you can get stuck clipping into a wall. The weapons are balenced well in that there is always at least two effective ways to deal with any target.

The squad commands were easy to learn and worked well with the environment. Your squaddies do not just walk into enemy fire. They move tacticly as a squad, taking cover and suppressing while other squaddies advance. Usually it is you that get killed before they do. With effective use of the squad commands, you can direct your squad to eliminate targets without you having to fire a shot. (although thats part of the fun)

The AI of your squaddies seem to be written well. They deal with immediate threats first, switch weapons when necessary, revive squadmates (including you), and heal themselves all on their own for the most part.

My only gripe is that the game is too short, which is a common complaint of most recent FPS games. There seems to be no modding community as of yet, so you are stuck with all the elements of a superb game and only a few levels to actually play. It is built on the Unreal engine, so modding should not be too difficult.

Honest reviews on Star Wars Republic Commando - PC

By the time video games started coming out more and more often, Star Wars was always included. You could probably make an entire genre off of all the Star Wars games that have been released. I do not mind all the Star Wars games, but what I do mind is that so many games of Star Wars out there are all games that focus more on the force, and it gets kind of annoying after several years. Do not take me wrong, almost every single one of those games that you play as a Jedi, or Sith, are good, very good to be exact. But there is so few games that let you grab a sniper rifle, or repeating blaster and shoot your enemies, and in first person there is a HUGE lack. I bet the first thing that you could respond about the previous sentance is that you can play Battlefront or Battlefront 2 in first person, and that is true, but Lucasarts and Pandemenic do not really try to focus on the game in first person, they just put it in there, they do not really work on it. And you can easily tell that the game is made for third person. Once again do not get me wrong I like the Battlefront series too.

What I have been talking about for the past paragraph is only one, only one, of the reasons I would like to thank Tim Longo for creating one of the best Star Wars games available: Star Wars Republic Commando.

The game is a First Person Shooter that shows you the darker side of the clone wars, through the view of the best clones in the galaxy, the darkest and deadliest four clones: Delta Squad. You go through three campaigns playing as the knuckle grinding squad leader Delta R.C. 01/138, in number his nickname is "BOSS". You and your three squadmates: Delta R.C. 01/140 or "FIXER", Delta R.C. 01/1207, my favorite, "SEV", and the last one Delta R.C. 01/1262, "SCORCH", the four of you sabatoge, blow up, assisinate, hunt, rescue, and go through other covert op missions one by one, killing off lots of droids and trandos (I'll tell you about them later).

The farther into the game the more you will learn about the brotherhood of Republic Commandos, and how important you are to each other. You and your squad mates will talk together, bleed together, fight together, and kill together.

Okay, now that you have a basic idea of what you do in the game let us go on with the advanced stuff of the game.

I'll start with the thing that really brings a large part of this game together: TacticsThis is a Tactical First Person Shooter, which means you are going to be leading men, to be exact: Delta Squad. The way you lead your men is actually quite simple, but you can use it in advanced ways. A cool thing that makes this tacticalness real is you H.U.D. or Heads up Display. Normally I do not go that much into the H.U.D. of a game but this game is unique. If you choose to you can view the entire game through your hemet which I would recommend because it is pretty fun, but if you do not want to you can turn it off but the H.U.D. will be there. So the H.U.D. I am explaining is with the helmet. In the very bottom of the helmet there will be colored bars, they will start out at green and the more you are injured the more the number of bars will decrease and the color will go from green to yellow to red, these are your health bars. At the top of your health bars on both sides of your helmet are two blue bars, one on each side. These are your shields and they recharge automatically. In the bottom right hand side of your helmet you will start out seeing a red sphere, this is a Thermal Detonator, or grenade. That grenade will be thrown if you press the button to throw the grenade. Above the grenade will be a number telling you how many grenades of that type you have left. In the bottom left hand side of the screen you will have three boxes, or circles that start out at green. Above each of them will be the numbers 07, 40, and 62. These are the short numbered names of your squadmates and the boxes below them represent where they are, by the arrow around the circle inside the boxes, their health status, by the color of the circle, and what they are doing, by the symbol on the circle. At the top of your H.U.D. is your mission objective and if you have Subtitles on, they will appear there. Now that you know what the H.U.D. should look like the tactics. Lucasarts uses a one touch command system which allows you to give commands to your squadmates with the touch of one button: The "USE" button. On areas where you could take cover from fire there will be little icons mainly sniper and anti-armor. If you press the "USE" button while looking at the object with that icon a squad mate will go over and obey that command. You can also do this with computers for slicing and demolitions to blow up objects, and alike. Overall squad commands will determine what your squad is doing when they are not fulfulling a maneuver such as "snipe". There are three of these: Search and Destroy, Form Up, and Secure Position. Search and Destroy is best used when in hallways and door to door combat is taking place, it is NOT good in open areas. When this command is given, the squad will proceed to the next area on their own as long as you are not far away. Form Up: This is best used when outdoors, so your squad will not wander away from you, and they will follow you where ever you go, you will take lead. Secure Position: This is best used when you are either defending a position or if you are trying to set up a good base of fire. When this command is issued any squadmate not doing a maneuver will stay around the area you have pointed to and a large circle will appear on the ground to know where your men are supposed to be.

GameplayThe overall gameplay is quite intense, especially when you get S.P.D. (Supre Battle Droid) dispensers thrown at you. But this intensity is very fun because you are constantly changing orders making your men leave their areas and go do something else while you get another man replace the empty spot and alike. So instead of loud, gunfire intensity, you get crazy tactic giving intensity, which is a very cool feeling. The variety of missions in this game are pretty good, you go from assaulting positions to saving wookies to blowing up Trando camps, to defending your area, and stuff like that keeps you going. One whole campaign takes place on an abandoned Republic Starship that has been taken over by Trandoshans, or Trandos, a nasty, wet, lizzard like species that are really fun to kill, especially with their shotgun. Most games allow you to bash an enemies face with the stock, or butt, end of your gun. But not in Republic Commando, you are a Clone Commando, and inside the top part of your gauntlet (glove) is an ejectable vibroblade (a very deadly knife). When you press the mele button you will most likely stab your enemy which most of the time results in a cool blood splatter onto your visor and this really cool electronic window wiper built into your helmet wipes the blood off. Some weapons you will not use your vibroblade but most of the time you do.

Weapons, or Tools of TradeI very, very, rarely do an entire section on the weapons of a game, but this game really has a cool twist to the weapons. Sadly, as cool as all these weapons look they are not all that powerfull, especially the very weak Trando Repeater. But there is the vibroblade which I mentioned just earlier, the pistol, which is fun but nothing that special, the D.C.-17 Blaster Rifle system (I will tell you most about that one), Trando Shotgun, grenades, (I will name them in a second) Wookie Weapons, and some more. There is not that many but I will first name the four grenade types. They all work best against certain enemies, Thermal Detonator, a standerd grenade, Sonic Grenades, E.C.D. (Electro-Static Charge Detonator or Electrical grenade), and the flashbangs. Now for the D.C.-17, it is the standard Republic Commando blaster rifle which is three guns in one, a repeating plasma blaster, best used against battle droids, the sniper rifle with two times zoom, and my favorite, the anti-armor attachment. You will be using these three attachments the most in this game because you can only carry one other weapon besides your pistol.

MusicNormally I do not go far into music either just because I can not describe it that good. But in this game it is easier to describe: Very Good. The main menu music is probably my favorite any song in the game that has people singing WILL contain the native clone language of Mandalorian and it is very fun to listen too, in fact I am listening to the main menu music right now as I type this review and it is helping me give you a good review, I hope.

CharacterI have given you the names of the four main characters to this game and a game like this would normally have overlooked characters, but they are so fun to listen to what they say to each other, this goes especially for Sev and Scorch. Even though they are all clones, Republic Commandos actually have personallities because the only differance between being a clone and a human for them is that they all look the same. Fixer and Boss are more by the book, but Scorch is actually funny, and deep voiced Sev is a funny hunter like clone. Some of the jokes in this game are really funny. And the characters will mention Republic Commando rules like Sev's favorite, "Rule #17: Always Make Sure They're Dead." And sometimes Scorch would reply, "This one looks dead to me," and Sev says, "It is now." These jokes give the game some very funny comedy in the battles.

SoundThe game uses Lucasart's own sound, and they got a lot of help from the Foley sound recording facility. Foley uses everyday objects to create lots of the sounds in games and movies. For the sound of Trandoshan footsteps, a squash was cut in half and used as feet. You may not notice this sound that often but if you turn down the music, and if you want to the voices, and leave sound on it is pretty fun to find the greatness in this sound.

GraphicsThe game has pretty cool graphics, even though this review is a year older than when I should have written it, the graphics were pretty good for the time of March 2005. And a cool thing is that the requirements are not too high, I have an ATI Radeon 9600 and I can run this game with almost everything on high, and I'm still getting something around 40 to 50 frames per second. So if you want EVERYTHING running perfect on this game when it comes to graphics you probably just need an ATI Radeon 9800. Overall, when it comes this game with graphics they are, interesting. They have excellantly done bloom effects, which just look gorgeous, and the graphics in the dark are splendid too. The shadowing of figures is done nicely and well just like almost the entire game, interesting.

ComplaintsMost of the complaints said about this game are most likely reasonable. There has been problems where your squad mates would get stuck on objects and you could not use them until the end of the level. Most would complain about the length of the game being too short, which is VERY reasonable, the game does not take very long at all. Some include it being too easy, and more. One final complaint of mine is the fact that the problems have not been fixed by any patches abailable. One patch was released but did not FIX any bugs, it just gave you another multiplayer map, and there has not been any fixes since then. These complaints bring the rating down to four and half instead of five stars.

I left the possibly most amazing part of this game for last: A.I. Gameinformer Online said that Star Wars Republic Commando has "Impressive visuals and perhaps the smartest squad A.I. ever seen!" Characters in this game, both good and bad but mainly good, have just extroardinary A.I. They will enter rooms tactically, they shoot tactically, and they move tactically. If they are trying to go from one place during combat to another safe spot they will even move under your gunshots so you do not acidentilly shoot them. They lean out of walls a different way than normal, the game has just amazing A.I.

So in the end Tim Longo and all the people at Lucasarts have created one of the best First Person Star Wars Shooter ever. And the game truly is worth five stars, but because of unfixed bugs, and lack of patches that will fix the minor problems in the game, I bring the game down to four and half stars.

Rule#1: Kill em' before they kill you.

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I know what most people will probably think, does realistic style commando combat work with Star Wars? The answer is yes my friends, a big three letter word YES. For those who have wanted to play in the shoes of a commando trooper instead of a jedi knight, now is your chance.

Set after Episode 2, but before Episode 3, Republic Commando follows the adventures of Delta Squad, and elite commando unit of the republic. You are 38, with Sev, Scorch, and Fixer as your teammates. They'll work with you, setting up sniper positions, setting up traps, and aid you in combat. The commandos themselves are great to listen to, as you can't help but laugh at many of the one liners they deliver. You'll fight on Geonosis, on a Republic Assault Ship (Early star destroyer), and on the wookie homeworld as well. The game is very replayable, as I found myself playing it again and again. The story is fairly short though, if you've played games like this before, you can beat it in 2 to 3 days. However, it's still a great game. Plus everytime you complete a campaign, you get extras to boot. You'll see the making of Republic Commando, production art, voice actors, sound effects specials, and so forth.

The game isn't completely perfect, being a store release. It has a few bugs (As noted by PCGamer), but this doesn't stop the game from being entertaining. As with most store released games, they'll eventually be patched over time. It's also important to note that, from the story, a possible sequal may be coming up. But that's all I'll say.

If you love Star Wars, but also love commando style combat where tactical combat is your partake, along with lots of shooting, action, and some great one liner comedy, Star Wars: Republic Commando is for you!

Rock Band Bass Drum Pedal Plate - PEDAL METAL BILLET- FACTORY Review

Customer Ratings:

I know some people will have a hard time ponying up yet more $$$ for their $170 game investment but Pedal Metal isn't to blame. EA is. This is just one of those facts of life, the Rock Band drum pedal will break even if you're careful. After a month in a half mine finally bit the big one.

EA requires currently you send in your pedal and they wait until they receive it. Then and only then will they send you your pedal. This process takes about 3-4 weeks. If you're feeling ancy (such as myself) you can opt that they send you a replacement pedal, then you send in your broken pedal after you receive your new pedal. There's a catch. There's a $150 hold placed on your credit/debit card. If you send it in within a month, its waved and EA will remove the credit card from their system. If you don't, you my friend are now the proud owner of a $150 Rock Band drum pedal. Previously the only offered option B, but without the money hold. However too few customers were returning their old pedals according the rep I spoke to.

So what was to stop my replacement from breaking and repeating same annoying process? Luckily while reading about others experiencing the same problem I discovered that someone had devised a clever solution. For those who haven't had a pedal break, the break in a particular manner as the Pedal itself breaks; between the plastic plate underneath and the toe. The actual springing mechanism and support is fine. Such a break is easily preventable, if the foot pedal were to be made of a more durable material. The solution? If you're a logical person, its a no-brainer to reach the conclusion that the pad needs reinforcement, preferable metal like a real kick drum pad. It's a great idea but if you're like myself you don't happen to have access to metal fabrication tools nor really the experience to manufacture such a piece of metal. However that's where Pedal Metal comes in. Its elegant in its simplicity. For the non-technical, there's even a pictorial instructions included with the pad. I'd even deem this easy enough for a particular ex-GF to follow. The Metal Billet is simply a stylistic choice, as diamond plate just doesn't move me. I doubt there's any difference between the two. Either way, props to Pedal Metal for giving the consumer choice.

I imagine in the future EA may offer the pedals for sale separately but who would you rather give your money to, The tyrant corporation or the guy who was clever enough to capitalize on a poor design? I choose the later.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! After our drum pedal snapped in half TWICE, we found this item. Not only does it repair the broken pedal, but it give us much assurance that this will not be an issue again! The directions are very accurate and thorough, leaving no mistakes to be made if you read them! The delivery was super quick! The pedal plate was easy to install. I recommend this to everyone that has a Rock Band set. I plan to tell all of my friends BEFORE their pedal breaks! Excellent seller, this product is well thought out in its design, sturdy craftmanship, and appearance! BRAVO!

Best Deals for Rock Band Bass Drum Pedal Plate - PEDAL METAL BILLET- FACTORY

The original plastic pedal has to much flex in the middle. When you play your foot is not always pressing on the very top. That resulted in breaking my pedal twice at that flex point. I superglued and added some rubber stops in the middle of the pedal to help the problem but cracking and messing around continued.

Then I found this product. YES!!! PERFECT!!!

I installed this fine aluminum, brushed finished, counter sunk screwed plate on the top of my multi-repaired plastic stock pedal.

YES!!! PERFECT!!!

Buy it! Pedal to the metal!!!

Note: I did pre-drill the screw holes with a 3/32" bit instead of trying to bore the self-tapping screws (provided) through the plastic by hand. Install the screws by hand in the pre-drilled holes to avoid stripping the threads. The screws seat nice and tight.

Shall I say it again? - YES!!! PERFECT!!! -Enough Said!

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Stock pedals snap. That's just a fact of life. Try Blackend on Hard or Expert and tell me I'm wrong. This is the best thing you could ever purchase to protect your RB drum kit. I ordered it on a Friday night and it was waiting for me Monday when I got home from work. If you have problems turning screws, the install might challenge you. Not buying this product is just plain silly.

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This product is a great investment saver, i like others have had my pedal break how could u play hard rock songs with a breakable plastic pedal. add this to your cart and u wont regret it. comes with easy to read instructions

and shipped way fast.

Buy BestDealUSA Slim Power Switch Ribbon Flex Cable Part for Xbox 360

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All I needed to get my system fully functioning once again. The part came brand new and works great! I would recommend this part to anyone who owns an xbox 360 and the heat sensored buttons do not work properly or not at all.

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Cheap Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN MLG Pro Circuit Programmable

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $279.99
Sale Price: $268.00
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 5-23-2013 Like many others, my left ear cup went out. I didn't drop them, never mishandled them in anyway, always took the best care of them, and yet the ear cup still went out. Turtle Beach promptly responded to my issue with an RMA request. They didn't try to troubleshoot it at all (because they know its an issue I assume). So I sent my XP Seven back to them. To their credit, the RMA process was very quick and easy. I received a brand new headset about a week later. While I am happy to have a brand new headset, I am worried this problem will happen again and again. I guess they will just keep replacing them until my warranty is up. Anyway, the entire process has left a very bad taste in my mouth. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN WITH A $250-$300 HEADSET. I am leaving my review at 2 stars, because I absolutely love the headset when its working. I think its amazing. But an inherent flaw as bad as this can't go unmarked.

Intro: This is an unbiased review. I have used other Turtle Beach, Astro, and other audiophile headsets.

The XP Seven is Turtle Beach's new top tier wired headset. While much of it is the same as before, it brings some new things to the table. Is it worth it? Read below and decide for yourself

PRESENTATION/ACCESORIES: The XP Seven comes in a very nice box. It is very well packaged. It appears to be a quality headset from the moment you open the box. It comes with every cable one would need for hooking up to your Xbox 360, PS3, PC/MAC, and any standard mobile device like Ipad, Vita, Iphone. (this includes a specific cable that comes with the standard mp3 player controls on the cord, nice!).

COMFORT/BUILD QUALITY: This is the most solid TB headset I have ever held. It doesn't feel quite as solid as Astro A40's, but it comes pretty close. The memory foam feels better than that which is on the TB Tangos. The headset is pretty tight on my head, but I have a pretty big head. However, it isn't so tight that it bothers me, even after extended gaming sessions. I have kept it on for hours and been completely fine. When I put them around my neck (when I take them off) they pretty much strangle my neck, which is uncomfortable, but not really important. Although at first my ears seemed a little warm after wearing them for extended periods, I don't even notice it now. I am completely satisfied with the comfort so far. On that note, I think Astro A40s are a bit more comfortable. (this isn't an A40 comparison review, I am just trying to give a popular benchmark)

SOUND: It's the best TB headset I have ever heard, and I have tried all of the top tier ones. Everything comes through clearly. It is definitely as good as the A40s in this area. Some people have noticed the sound doesn't seem to go very high. They are right. It doesn't get SUPER loud. However, it does get plenty loud enough for me, which is saying something, because I like things louder than most. This setting can probably be adjusted through the Advanced Sound Editor, but I have yet to try.(SEE UPDATES BELOW FOR VOLUME SOLUTION) You can independently adjust game and chat volume, which is great. There may be one minor sound problem though. Refer to the problems section.

MIC: Works great. It's detachable. It's very flexible and can be positioned exactly where you want it. My friends say I sound great. The optional mic monitoring is great, (this is real mic monitoring, not a joke of a mic monitor that Astro claims to have) but if you don't like it, you can turn it off on the fly. The presets to make your voice change are also very fun. Very useless, but very fun.

FUNCTIONALITY: This is what sold me on the headset. The ability to plug them into anything you want. As I game on multiple platforms, this was an absolute must for me, and the XP Seven delivers completely. I have used it successfully on Xbox, PS3, PC, iPhone and iPad. When using for mobile, you obviously don't have to take the Audio Control Unit with you; just grab the mobile cable and your headset and you are good to go.

FEATURES: The main seller of this headset is the Audio Control Unit that comes with it. It comes with tons of presets for game volume and chat. I have mostly been using the standard ones, but having the option to tune it exactly how you want through the Advances Sound Editor is great. I have tested it, and it does work with the current Advanced Sound Editor available at the TB website. The ACU also allows you to plug in an MP3 device or phone to use while gaming. Never miss another call from your Mom or Girlfriend. Bonus! The adjustable surround sound angles are pretty neat as well, since everyone's ears are different. I have been testing surround sound through COD Zombies, and it's working great. They ACU has lots of little features like mic mute, mute all, running sound through your speakers as well as the headset, and more.

This is also the official MLG headset which is good I guess? I don't really care about MLG, but if you are into that sort of thing, then great. This brings me to my next point...TB plans on having customizable speaker plates in the future. I plan on taking advantage of this ASAP, as I don't care for the look of the currents ones with the MLG tag and all.

FINAL VERDICT: I love it so far. If you need the cross platform capability, get this or the OLD AstroA40's (the new ones are a mess, trust me, I owned them). The sound on these isn't going to blow you away (unless you're coming from weak TV speakers or something), no gaming headsets sound is really going to be amazing compared to some audiophile headphones. But they sound pretty dang good regardless. Yes the Sevens have a hefty price-tag, but if you're a big gamer (especially one who could utilize these elsewhere like in the car or with an ipod) I would say it's worth the price. If you just need a headset for one console, or you want wireless, this probably isn't the headset for you. (note: I have tested other TB headsets (like the Tango) on PC, and while it does "work," it doesn't work nearly as well as the XP Seven does.

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UPDATES: I will update this review as needed with any new problems, any fixed problems, or any other relevant developments. Hit up the comments with any questions, and I will do my best to answer you. Enjoy the headset!

UPDATE 2/7/2013 LOW VOLUME SOLUTION: A lot of people are very confused about the max volume of this headset. They are right, at stock settings, it doesn't get super loud. This is because TB included a feature where you can manually adjust the volume of each surround sound speaker. So, to make your headset louder, each individual volume needs to be turned up. To do this, hit the 5.1 button. Each time you hit this, it will switch to a different speaker set. You need to hit this button, then you will see the speaker indicator lights come on, then turn your volume knob up. You need to do this for each speaker. This will make your headset MUCH louder. Credit for this goes to OLGC2977 on YouTube. I have heard reports that the headset is no longer shipping with the volume turned down, so this may not even be an issue still.

UPDATE 2/9/2013 AUDIO DROPOUT SOLUTION: I mentioned above that on low volumes my audio would cut in and out. I fixed this by adjusting the "Threshold" which you can find under the "Silencer" section of the current preset you're using. This is done through the advanced sound editor. While this has solved 90% of the problem, there is still an occasional game where the sound drops out. Annoying, but not a big deal.

Still wondering if this headset is for you? Just a note, stores like Gamestop have a different return policy for their headsets than they do for their games. You can buy them and return them no questions asked within 7 days, and within 30 if it breaks. If you're trying to decide between this and another, buy both and return one! (I love Amazon, and their return policy is great, but alas, you do have to wait for shipping)

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program If you are looking for one of Turtle Beach's great wireless headsets for your video games (PS3/360/PC), then you want to look at any of the other models. If you are primarily a PS3 gamer, check out the PX/P series. If you're primarily a 360 gamer, check out the XP models (though most of the newer sets all seem to work on both systems, it's just that one system is the focus over the other).

To avoid reading the lengthy review, here's a short review:

If want the best surround sound experience possible, with the best possible sound and fully customizable presets, and don't mind being "tethered" with wires, this headset is what you are looking for.

Highly recommended.

Longer review:

Unboxing:

Turtle Beach does a fantastic job yet again at making you feel like you've gotten something of the highest quality. The outer sleeve tells you everything you might need to know (WIRED, PS3, 360, PC, Mac and Mobile) and looks professional. When you pull the sleeve off (I had 2 plastic stickers on the top and bottom holding the sleeve to the main box), that's where the quality really shines. The box folds open and is held closed with a magnet. You pop it open and the headset sits behind a piece of clear plastic. Below the headset is the "Audio Control Unit" (the brains of the headset) in it's own box. Pull the plastic out and beneath that is the accessory box and the CD sleeve with the instructions inside.

The only thing I had an issue pulling out of the box easily was the console interface box. For some reason it sits in the middle of the headset plastic and is very, very firmly wedged in place.

Overall the unboxing was simple, as you would expect and hope.

Connecting:

This thing is RIDICULOUS in how many systems you can connect it to, and I have to be honest, the cable management can be quite a pain. I will stress again that if you want the simpler solution, go for one of the wireless sets. If you, like me, want the absolute best sounding experience possible, you will make adjustments to your gaming to accommodate the XP Sevens.

How you connect this to the PS3 and 360 is exactly the same. As there is NO BLUETOOTH capability, everything is controlled via wires. To connect to the PS3/360 (simultaneous connections only possible if you use a receiver or TV with optical audio pass through!), you plug the optical audio out of your chosen system into the optical audio IN on the Console Interface box. Then you plug the included (and well labeled) USB to USB Micro cable, plug the micro end into the Console Interface box and the other end into the PS3/360.

Once that piece is connected, you plug the USB cable from the Audio Control Unit (ACU) into the USB port on the other side of the Console Interface box. There is also another multipin connector that comes from the ACU that must be connected to the Console Interface box (you can't plug it in wrong as it's the only connector on the box that looks like this).

After that, you plug the headphone jack size connector from the Headset Breakaway cable into the ACU. Then plug the other end into the breakaway connector on the headset.

If you want to be able to chat, just plug the mic into the mic jack on the headset.

At this point, if you are using a PS3, you are done connecting wires and cables. If you are using a 360 and want to chat, there's one more thing to do. Find the included TalkBack cable and plug the 90 degree end into your controller and the other end into the headphone jack with the Xbox 360 controller outline on the ACU. NOW you can chat with the 360.

Connecting to the PC is MUCH, MUCH simpler. Just take out the ACU, plug the USB cable into your Windows PC (or Mac) and let it load drivers. Plug the headset into the headphone on the ACU, then plug the breakaway cable into the headset and you're pretty much DONE. Chat is handled through the USB connection, so no other wires need to be run.

Comparing the PS3/360 setup on the XP Seven to the wireless X41, PX51 and XP400 headsets I have, this setup is simply a bear. The thing is, it's completely worth it given the quality of the sound compared to the other headsets. If this setup sounds like a pain to you, definitely look at the wireless headsets from TB. They are much simpler to use and setup.

Usage:

If you have a PS3, you will need to configure your audio devices. PS3 you can find the mic setup in PS3 Settings -> Accessory Settings -> Audio Device Settings -> Input/Output Device -> Turtle Beach SEVEN CHAT. Then you need to setup the 5.1 surround in Settings -> Sound Settings -> Audio Output Settings -> Optical Digital -> Dolby Digital 5.1. You also want to configure the Multi Audio Out option so that if you are using HDMI with optical, and want audio through HDMI (say you have your PS3 connected to a receiver to watch movies with family, etc), this needs to be configured. Settings -> Sound Settings -> Audio Multi-Output.

For the 360, open your Xbox Guide and head to Settings -> System Settings -> Console Settings -> Audio -> Digital Output and set this to Dolby Digital 5.1. Then head to Settings -> Preferences -> Voice -> Voice Output and set this to "Play through headset."

On a Windows PC/Mac, you don't need to worry about these settings.

This is where the ACU comes in. Once you are ready to play a game, you have a ton of options to choose from in terms of EQ. The best part is, unlike the XP400, X41 and PX51, every preset is available at the touch of one button. No more cycling through all of the presets to find the one you want (thought PX51 is nice in that you can set your MAIN presets and not need to cycle through either).

The presets for Games are (these presets match the Speaker presets, IF you are using speaker pass through on the PC/Mac):

1. Flat: Hear stereo game sound without effects processing or Dolby Surround Sound.

2. Bass Boost: Hear and feel the rumble of deeper bass sound effects.

3. Treble Boost: Boost high frequencies for crisper sounds and greater clarity.

4. Bass Boost + Treble Boost: Rumbling lows and pristine highs come through clearly.

5. Stereo Expander: Stereo processing with a 3D effect that allows you to focus on subtle audio cues.

6. Action Enhancer: Amplify intense sounds from weapons and explosions.

7. Footstep Focus: Focus on the sound of enemy footsteps approaching.

8. Superhuman Hearing: Boosts low volume sounds.

For Chat presets you have:

1. Flat: Straight chat with no processing.

2. Chat Focus: Boosts mid-range frequencies for greater concentration on chat.

3. Chat Expander: Widens the virtual sound field of chat.

4. Voice Amp: Amplifies chat volume.

5. Hi-Pitch Morph: Morph your voice into a high-pitch tone.

6. Lo-Pitch Morph: Bring your voice to demonic depths.

7. Robot: Transform your voice into a metallic sound.

8. Max Chat: Combines presets in an enhanced chat package

In terms of the descriptions of the presets, the PX51 and the XP Seven have the same presets. The difference is the audio quality itself. We'll get to that in the Sound Quality section though.

Compared to the X41 and XP400, their presets are simply anemic, clocking in at only 4 presets each. Though the X41 doesn't have any chat presets.

Sound Quality:

This is where the XP Seven beats the other headsets to a pulp. On the X41s, the sound in the headphones are very good. It's only able to process Dolby ProLogic II though. The PX51 and XP400 are both able to process true Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The only issue here though (and this includes the X41s), is that the audio quality does suffer a little because of the wireless connection. What I find on the XP400 and PX51 is that there is a slight degradation in the in game speech. It seems there is some extra compression going on to allow the audio to be truly wireless. I don't hear this in the other game sounds or music, just in game voices. I will admit that on the PX51 the issue wasn't as pronounced and I could only hear it when I really concentrated, but it was still there. On these? There is no need to compress the audio to send via RF, so what you get is the straight digital audio in all of it's quality. This means that this headset just sounds absolutely incredible.

Another place the XP Seven shines is that you are able to control individual volume on specific channels. For example, say you want more pronounced stereo audio simply click a few buttons and turn the nob on the ACU and you can control JUST the front l/r and so on. The only thing that MIGHT be desired is the ability to control l/r audio separately for those that have worse hearing in one ear over the other. Maybe the next model will include that?

The surround separation on the XP Seven out of the box is phenomenal. Playing Gears of War Judgment, you can very, very clearly hear when someone is behind you, to your right, to your left or in front of you. Sure, you can achieve this with the XP400 and PX51, but I found out of the box the surround sound adjustments were pretty spot on. With the XP400 and PX51 I needed to make some adjustments to get it "good." Out of the box the XP Seven is what I would call "great." The X41 is no comparison, as you don't have any control over the surround mix.

The noise isolation of this set is on par with the XP400 and PX51. The X41s had a more open feel and let a lot more outside "noise" in. I can't tell you how many times my fiance has snuck up behind me and scared me witless. She doesn't mean to, but the sound is so well isolated in these headphones that it just happens.

CHAT SOUND:

In both 360 and PS3 chat, I am happy to say that the sound quality is very, very good. The others I've played with all report that the sound of my voice is as clear as can be expected. Sometimes the X41s had people complaining that I sounded "tinny" at times. The XP400 and PX51 sound just as good.

The Chat Presets are a little helpful, but aren't something I need to enhance. Volume of chat is controlled via a dial on the ACU. On one side you control the audio in your headset, on the other side you control the audible feedback you receive from your own voice. This latter piece is the same as it was, essentially, on the PX51 and XP400, so nothing new. And for those that don't like it, I recommend you turn it up "just" enough to get a little feedback from your own voice, as otherwise you WILL be talking really loud to your chat partners or someone who comes into the room to talk to you.

Battery-

This is where this headset also stands out. Being completely wired, there are NO batteries to replace. Ever. This is great.

Programmable:

In another bit of "awesome," the XP Seven has a fully programmable DSP, just as the PX51 and a few other headsets have before them. Programming it can be a little cumbersome, but in the programming you have the ability to control just about every aspect of the audio coming out of your headphones. It is definitely worth downloading the Turtle Beach program and documentation and reading up on it and trying it out. In this way you can configure the audio to be different for every single game. You can save presets to your computer and load them into the XP Seven at any time. You want Call of Duty to accentuate footsteps? Configure a preset for it. Want Uncharted 2 to accentuate bass and boom? Configure the preset the way you want it. The possibilities are endless, and given the community around this feature, you can also download other user's presets as well and try them out.

If you take the time to learn it, I think you might find you like having this level of control.

AND all this being said, I have to be honest. The presets included out of the box on the XP Seven are very, very good general presets that work on most games. So you don't HAVE to program your presets if you don't want.

Mobile:

One thing that the XP Seven can do is play music from your mobile device (phone, MP3 player, etc) while gaming. I tried it out and it's nice, but nothing astounding.

The other thing it can do, if your phone supports it, is talk through the headset on your phone as well. Because there is no Bluetooth included, this is accomplished through a cable you must plug into the headset and your phone. Audio quality on phone calls is good, and the included phone cable as a button on it so you can pick up the phone from close to the headset. You don't have to have the phone next to you to answer it.

The PX51 and XP400 really kick this in the pants simply because they are Bluetooth enabled. It is nice that Turtle Beach included it in this set though.

Overall:

The XP Seven, as long as you don't mind wired headphones, are nothing short of phenomenal. The sound quality is second to none (at least compared to other Turtle Beach sets). The surround sound truly feels like surround sound.

If you need wireless capability, definitely look elsewhere. I can't stress this enough.

Highly recommended.

Pros:

+Amazing sound quality

+True Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (don't think it can decode DTS-MA from movies, though I haven't tried)

+Audio Presets can be set to defaults

+Audio Presets changeable at touch of a single button, no cycling through

+Can work with PC/Mac/PS3/360

+Fully programmable DSP

+Every control available from the ACU means you don't need to get up to adjust surround angles, unlike the PX51 and XP400s

+Comfortable (all my other Turtle Beach sets are as well, so this isn't a unique feature)

Cons:

-Expensive

-Wired means a tangle of wires, especially if you use PS3/360

-Programming DSP requires patience, effort and reading

EDITI experienced the same left speaker failure others have noted. I contacted Turtle Beach, sent my headset in and a few days later I had a brand new pair. I did have to pay return shipping. And for those wondering, there are differences. The cord on the headphone is different and the control module has less lights on it and feels a little sturdier. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do a side by side comparison on them.

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Used with a 2011 Xbox 360 Standard and Halo 4.

Overall:

The sound quality, features, and comfort of this headset are incredible. The reliability, however, has become an issue within just a few hours of use.

Sound:

The sound is rich in detail and very immersive, not to mention noticeably better than the lower-end headsets like the Turtle Beach X12. As a recording artist and audio technician with studio experience, I have heard several high-end studio headphones and monitors, and although this may not be an ideal pair of neutrally-set cans for mixing, it is definitely clear, accurate, and loud enough to make a severe difference in any competitive game. I find myself paying much more attention to sound cues like gunshots, footsteps, and weapon drops now that I can actually pinpoint the direction they are coming from. Having a noise-canceling headset has made this much easier for me than it was when my Xbox's sound was playing through my Sony BDVN790W 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound system.

Features:

The headset has more than enough features for the typical gamer. Adjustments can quickly and easily made for mic monitoring, chat volume, game volume, presets, voice changer, etc. Presets like "footstep enhancer" and features like the voice changer work well and exactly as described. The directional volumes can be adjusted as well. For example, you can turn up the volume of the back speakers more than the front ones if you want to hear sounds behind you more easily to prevent being snuck up on.

Comfort:

The comfort is outstanding with the memory foam; the ergonomic design allows the headphones to wrap around one's head snugly. A word of WARNING: If you have a considerably large head, this headset may fit too tightly to be very comfortable.

Reliability:

This head was released on February 5, 2013, and with overnight shipping, arrived at my house on February 6th. I have only used it for a few hours total during 3 nights within this last couple days. The left earcup's sound began cutting out last night so I had to uncomfortably put the cable attaching the headset to the audio control unit between my head and the headband just to get sound on both sides before the left side stopped working completely. I have already ordered an exchange through Amazon for a brand new one in the hopes that this one was a lemon. No $300 headset should begin cutting out within a few hours of use, especially if its target market is competitive gamers and tournament players, many of whom play for prizes and cash.

Conclusion:

Although the headset I originally ordered has stopped working, the high-quality experience I was enjoying before the headset failed has me willing to give it another chance. I thoroughly hope that I received a lemon and that the reliability will no longer be an issue since this headset has helped me gain a huge advantage when playing Xbox Live multiplayer while providing me professional game-changing sound quality, a wide palette of easy-to-use features, and a high level of comfort.

UPDATE (February 19, 2013)

I've discovered a new problem. When I plug the charging cable into my wireless controller while it is connected to the XP7, there is an intolerable buzzing that even other people in my Xbox Live party can hear.

Honest reviews on Turtle Beach Ear Force XP SEVEN MLG Pro Circuit Programmable

Pros: These headphones sound great for music and games. Great bass.

Cons: They sound bad for movies. Anytime there's low ambient noise with just perhaps dialog, the ambient noise cuts in and out in the background. This happens to all movies, youtube videos, etc.

Replaced them once already due to loud squeak/grinding noise when twisting the ear cups (yes they're supposed to twist). It was so loud that people could hear it over the mic whenever I just moved my jaw up and down the slightest twist in the earcups from that would cause the noise. Oh and I had to pay shipping to ship back the defective unit to Turtle Beach. That was another $18 or so on shipping + insurance.

My second pair just broke from taking them off. The slight twisting motion of taking them off my head caused the flimsy plastic covering the adjustable area on the right ear cup to completely break and now the right ear cup is dangling by the wire -unusable. That part should be made from metal, not thin flimsy cheap plastic.

They aren't even comfortable either. If you have them too tight, the top strap has no padding at all and the metal (plastic?) bar inside grinds into the top of your head. So you have to wear them loosely (extended a lot). When they're loose, they will slide a lot and move out of optimal position on your ears.

The $250 price point is SO expensive and does NOT reflect in the AWFUL AWFUL build quality of this headset. Some mechanical engineers should be fired over this blunder. I am very dissatisfied with this product. I'm still waiting to hear back from their costumer support of whether or not they will replace this latest broken product. I will NEVER buy a Turtle Beach product again and will recommend against it to my friends.

Bought the first pair in May 2013.

If it wasn't for the terrible build quality, I'd rate it a 4 star product with a deduction for the cutting in/out sounds in movies.

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I've been using this headset for about 4 months now... I love Turtle Beaches, I really do, but for a top of the line headset... this was really disappointing. It wasn't as much as the headset, it was extremely comfortable, and sounded amazing, but the design of the headset that was horrible. Super sensitive touch buttons that ALWAYS get touched if you brush your hand over it, let alone the controller itself is pointless. I don't need a giant light up volume wheel that weighs 2 lbs to be between me and my computer or xbox.

And the detachable boom is nice, if you want to use them as headphones only and such, but every time you hit the boom, or move your head, it causes mic noise. You can't hear it on your end, but my buddy says daily, "God, I hate you mic".

Overall, hardwired booms and a smaller device for the headset options are easily the way to go. Turtle Beach makes great headsets. But in all honesty, anyone is much better off buying a a set of Ear Force x12s. Ear Force X12 Gaming Headset for Xbox 360 and PC