The Punisher - Xbox Reviews

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I've been waiting a long time for a Punisher game. I played the demo in Game Stop and it is awesome. A lot like Max Payne, but populated with various Marvel Comics characters, including Black Widow, Nick Fury, the Russian, Bullseye, Kingpin, Jigsaw, Iron Man, and even Matt Murdock.

All kinds of exotic Punisher weapons, Punisher attitude and Punisher humor. You can make the Punisher interrogate crooks to gain health. One example is by stuffing them into a pool of piranhas to make them talk. But don't keep them under too long or the piranha will eat their face off before they talk.

You can use the crooks you catch as human shields until they are shot to death by their own guys. Great graphics and a good-looking Punisher character. Lots of shooting and situations. Just awesome. It get progressively more difficult as you make your way through the game.

After buying the game I'm even more impressed. The Punisher in the game has Tom Jane's voice from the movie. Great writing and quotes. The opening movie is CG but so photographically stunning you're not sure if it's live action. You unlock other CG movies along the way and they are something else.

The Punisher gets additional health from interrogating bad guys and breaking them for info. He also has a Slaughter Mode that gives him superhuman strength and restores health. The music is top notch too.

This game is rated M for a good reason. There is a lot of obscene language and the Punisher tortures crooks for info. Sometimes they die if you push to hard. So, maybe not for young kids.

I hope there is a Punisher 2 and that it involves him going after Middle Eastern terrorists. I could really get into a game like that. Here they limit it to safe Russians. In a CG movie by Kingpin it is implied that there may be a Punisher 2. I will be looking forward to that. This one had some great chapters. My favorite was at the funeral home where he hides in a coffin and pops up during a funeral to mow down "the family".

You'll love this game if you like single player shooter games or Marvel Comics. And once you've worked your way through once, you'll want to go through again, increase your score, and more fully explore Slaughter Mode and the Quick Kills.

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This Game MIGHT just be the GEM of 2005 It's so Cool and fun to Play.. Does have a few Prob. The Audio during the Cut Scenes Being one of them But, that can be over-looked The Story Line is Smart Takes Place after the events of the Movie Saint's Name is Brought up a few times The Voice Acting is Realy Good,(Tom Jane returns as the Punisher) The Gun Play is Fun and Looks Sharp! Has some Unique Moments One takeing Place at A Wake!

Without a Doubt Not for Kids The Mature Rating is Pushesed to the Limits (More Violece & Extreme Gore Then The GTA Games)

The Prev. Punisher Games in the Past have been very Lame

You can tell Both THQ and Marvel did a Great Job on this Action title

If you Enjoyed The Movie or a Fan of the Comic Books you will like it! If you Loved the Max Payne Games you'll Love it

The Best Comic Book Game I've ever Played! Hopefuly if sales are High on this title they can Make a Sequal to the Game and The Movie!

Close to A Perfect Game I give it a 9.5/10

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The Gameplay, the graphics and the soundtrack are great! The Voice acting is impressive and it is great that we can connect the voice of the film Punisher with the game Punisher since they are one and the same! The unexpected appearances of some much loved or loathed characters added to the gameplay! I won't say who for those who have not finished the game yet but you will be somewhat impressed. The controls on the X-Box version are smooth and the controls on the Playstation 2 version are good too.

Remember to interrogate as many as possible. Even in a fire fight, you can move back to a more secluded place to interrogate.

Remember to take your time with a boss if you have a weaker weapon. The onslaught of typical bad guys gives you ammo.

Stick to the walls or some kind of obstacle in the large gunfights (That is probably just common sense but I thought I'd add it.)

During your second time through try to hop on higher platforms if you can and crouch to avoid damage.

Great game and when you defeat it, play it again!

Semper Fi!

Honest reviews on The Punisher - Xbox

"The Punisher," Marvel's anti-hero with powers more befitting an avid member of the NRA than your typical superhero (in fact he has no super powers to speak of save a seething hatred for all things criminal), finally makes his way into the world of video games post "Max Payne" and "Dead to Rights," and it's immediately clear that he belongs here. Despite simple, derivative gameplay in settings and scenarios that do little to surprise, "The Punisher" manages to entertain thanks in no small part to the character's cold, remorseless demeanor, conveyed in the game via special kills, brutal interrogations, and a John Woo style ballet of bullets.

The game's story, though penned by respected comic book writers regular to "The Punisher" series, does little to envelop the uninitiated in the ruthless world of Frank Castle (aka, the Punisher) beyond the bare bones minimum, but it's enough, coupled with Tom Jane's excellent vocal portrayal. The plot's potential for suspense is foiled by the game's penchant for flashbacks, which represent every mission in the game until the finale, thus killing most any tension it might otherwise have provided. Still, in the most basic fashion, it provides ample excuse to terrorize the criminal underworld and commit unspeakable acts all in the name of cold-blooded vengeance.

It's immediately apparent that "The Punisher" owes a considerable debt to "Max Payne," in that, aside from bullet time, both games are rather identical. Even Castle's forward dive, guns out, looks strikingly Payne-esque. Regardless, "The Punisher" mixes things up a tad by replacing Max's aforementioned time bending fete in favor of slaughter mode, which essentially allows Castle to temporarily throw aside his firearms, flick out a never-ending supply of knives, and have at the bad guys with brutal efficiency. Though it's rarely if ever necessary to switch to slaughter mode, thanks in no small part to the Punisher's resistance to bullets and anything that really resembles pain, it's still a hell of a lot of fun, and some of the quick kills are gleefully sadistic no matter how many times you see them.

With guns blazing, "The Punisher" is a fairly standard and less than awe-inspiring third person shooter, but again the aforementioned quick kills, though perhaps to easy to actually pull off, liven things up considerably. Add in location-specific special kills that allow you to sacrifice thugs upon a pagan alter in a museum or throw old mafia moms from five story windows and you've got a good variety of death-dealing tools at your disposal, and as long as you're not squeamish about violence in your shooters, that's definitely the game's strong suit.

Interrogations are also an option. You can capture bad guys and beat, throttle, or otherwise threaten information out of them, which provides you with a health bonus and, on occasion, some extra goodies for your efforts. None of this is particularly necessary, but of course the true reward is the sadistic practice of draining criminals of all information they possess and then killing them anyway as they plead for mercy they won't actually receive.

"The Punisher" offers a fairly large assortment of weapons, but only a few of them really feel all that different from the rest, and later in the game you'll almost certainly find what you like and stick with it `til the end, essentially killing the initial sense of variety here. And no matter which weapons you take into battle (and you're realistically limited in your selection per mission), the game is far too easy. In fact, it's an out and out cakewalk. Despite Castle's lack of superhero powers, the man is either wearing mithril Kevlar (which is strange) or he's entirely unbothered by your garden-variety bullets (which is stranger). Walking directly up to your standard villain and quick killing him is exceedingly easy because said villain's constant stream of ammunition seems more irritation than out and out threat.

Though the game provides some stirring set pieces (such as a funeral home slaughter), most of its levels are of the "been there, done that" variety especially the docks and warehouses which are enough to elicit groans. What's more, the gameplay rarely ever offers up anything new as it goes, what with its lack of puzzles (at least any that are remotely challenging) and lack of combat diversity. Thank god it's so much fun to interrogate, assassinate, and throw your enemies, because if it weren't the game would proffer little else of value.

What with its linear gameplay, lackluster story, and grossly simple action, "The Punisher" definitely won't tickle every gamer's fancy, but I dare say its sheer, shameless brutality will certainly win over many who give it a chance. All in all, it equals a fun romp that, while not devoid of problems, does a fine job of bringing the comic book character to life in a brand new medium. A tighter storyline, more interesting environments, and a tad more challenge would go a long way toward making a sequel glisten with quality.

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Outstanding! From the graphics to the music, dialogue, storyline, and of course the blood and gore. A perfect 10. I do wish the game had been a little longer, but I guess I'll wait on pens and needles for the second in the series. Who would have thought a game would translate this well from the comics to the xbox?

Discount Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Playstation 3

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Please take the 1-star review with a grain of salt.

Sure this isn't as complex as the standard PC-based games. However everyone who is even considering buying this game already knows that. Civ Rev is intended to be a scaled-back version of the PC games that gives console players the taste of strategy that is lacking from console games without burdening them with the massive time investment which those games require.

In Revolution you can gain a victory on the same day that you start playing if you play aggressively, and that's not really such a bad thing. Then turn around play as 1 of the many other great historic leaders. If you want a greater challenge, there are difficulty settings and the highest level is far from easy.

In short, the game is fun, looks good and has enough strategy to make it a thinking game without forcing you to clear your weekend plans entirely. Perhaps this was their way of dipping their toes in the console pool and if this game takes off there just may be more complex offerings in the future that are more in line with the PC versions. Until then, have fun and don't go to a Bruce Willis movie expecting it to be Citizen Cane, which is what the 1-star reviewer has essentially done.

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This is the type of game I have been waiting to hit the consoles for years. A good strategy game that is not bogged down with too much. Sid Meier has created a game that can get just about any gamer into strategy gaming.

Getting into Civilization Revolution is simple. When you are at the starting menu you can go to the play now option and get into a game quickly. There are five difficulty levels available which make this game available to any type of gamer. I found it best to start on the simplest level to get the gameplay down first. Now more experienced players will probably start at a more difficult level. In the single player setting you can also play the game of the week which is something new to the Civilization series. This setting allows you to play the same Civilization and map as everyone else. It's a good chance to hone your skills and compare yourself to other players. This game also has online play which allows you to take on others in building your civilization to the top. There are four different ways to win a game and most games will take you at least three hours no matter what difficulty level. The four ways to win are financial, cultural, domination, or technology(alpha centurai).

I have found that no matter how good I think I am at this game the style can change drastically from match to match. Just have many different maps and varied civilizations can change the difficulty drastically. Playing on the same difficulty level can have you dominating one time and then getting beat up another time. I have found that no matter what type of way you try to win the game it's always best to have your cities well fortified. When your civilization has become established I have found probably the only real negative. The game has a tendency to get a little bogged down when there is a lot going on. This is unfortunate but is nothing that ruins the game.

Civilization Revolution is a positive step forward on the consoles. Not only do the controls work great but this game feels like it belongs on the PS3. It is easily one of the most addictive games I have played on the PS3. Sid Meier did a excellent job on this game and everyone who enjoys strategy and even those who don't think they are should give this game a try. Although I will say this game is not for everyone and you should try the demo first before making a purchase decision.

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I think of this game as "Civ Light". It lacks much of the depth of other Civ games, and seems designed to be easier and faster to play. Some examples: the map is very small, and you have no control over the map size or type. You no longer build roads square by square, but instead create them instantly (for large amounts of money) and only between cities. There are no railroads (roads now act much like railroads).

In terms of gameplay, because the map is so small, it tends to feel very crowded -you'll run into multiple civilizations early on, not too far from where your own settlers begin. Often the whole map will have only one major continent. As a result, it's pretty much a scramble to grab as much of this meager territory as you can early in the game. Then, once you develop a single tank army (by building and combining three tanks), you can pretty much take any city with it, and just walk around the map mopping up. So there is definitely a difficult mid-game phase where you risk losing cities to attacks or culture, but after that there's a pretty long clean-up phase where your win is inevitable.

It's still fun, but as a more shallow game, the fun is likely to wear off a lot sooner than it would with the older, deeper versions of Civ. Still, even a shallow Civ is better than no Civ, so I'm happy to see that it's come to new game systems.

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I've been playing Civilization since 1992 when it was available on my high school server for students to play during free time in our computer classes. We knew this new version of the game would be lacking a few things when we read the previews. There is one thing I was not aware would be missing when I purchased the game. The special victories (cultural, domination, economic, technology) have been available in the series for a while now. However, there has always been the ability to uncheck or disable these victories and continue game play. I was VERY disappointed to find that after only four hours of game play that I could not go on any further. This makes it very difficult to make it as far as discovering flight let alone participate in a space race. The lack of all other features is acceptible to me since I get the chance to play Civilization in HD widescreen for the first time (and with a joystick). It's just the fact that I am unable to play the game all the way to when I say I'm done that drives me to give my favorite game ever only four stars out of five. This will be the biggest flaw to be cautious of for long time fans of the game.

P.S. If I am wrong about this flaw and there is a way to turn off these special victories, somebody please let me know!

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If you enjoy the old school board game Risk and think the rest of mankind got it all wrong then this game is up your alley. You can choose just what you think is more important. Developing your mind or military might to dominate the world and create it as you see fit. I enjoy this game a lot. The only negative that prevented me from a five star rating is the lack of online competition (so hurry up and buy it) and the fact that the few times i have played online I found it difficult to invite from the friends list. However playing the computer is never the same game and quite enjoyable. Be sure to block off a good three hours to play (defiantly if your playing multi payer)but I promise it's worth the time. Look for bladerunner101, I'd love to play you.

Cheap Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits

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INTRODUCTION

Mass Effect, by Electronic Arts (EA), sets the benchmark for third person role playing actions games. It is as close to a DVD movie as a video game can get, because, unlike most first person games, players can see and hear the player character as well as the non-player characters (NPCs). This movie-like quality greatly enhances the compelling story, which is the hallmark of the Mass Effect Trilogy.

THE PLOT

**Spoiler Alert**

This second episode of the Mass Effect Trilogy begins with the death (yes, DEATH) of Commander Shepard, in a fiery ambush of the Normandy, two years after he/she defeated the traitorous Saren Arterius in the battle of the Citadel. But, thank the goddess, he/she is later resurrected in Project Lazarus by the Illusive Man, leader of Cerberus, a shadowy and ruthless "human supremacist" organization, for the sole purpose of sending the legendary commander to investigate a new cataclysmic event in the Galaxy entire human colonies have been vanishing without a trace, leaving behind empty buildings. To confront the threat, Shepard travels across the Galaxy to recruit up to a dozen of the most dangerous characters to his/her elite team, at locations including Illium, an asari colony, and Omega, a lawless mining station built on a hollowed out asteroid in the Terminus Systems, for a mission from which every member of the team, including Commander Shepard, may never return.

**End of Possible Spoilers**

THE CHARACTERS

Players who had completed Mass Effect 1 (ME1) can import a Save Game from the list of Character Saves into Mass Effect 2 (ME2). During the file transfer, they have the option of changing the class of Commander Shepard, for example, from adept to vanguard, as well as his/her physical characteristics. This is possible in the storyline on account of Project Lazarus--a very clever way of putting Shepard on reset. If Shepard was imported at a high level in ME1, players will be awarded with bonus squad points and research metals at the start. (See my comment dated 2/3/10.) All the NPCs who were alive at the end of the ME1 are transferred. Furthermore, the story in ME2 unfolds in accordance with the decisions made by the players in ME1, for example, whether Shepard set the Rachni queen free in Noveria, whether he/she resolved the conflict with Wrex on Virmire peacefully, or whether he/she called in the human fleet to save the Council in the battle of the Citadel. The main storyline, however, remains unchanged. For those who never play ME1, ME2 can be played stand-alone with new characters and certain pre-set assumptions on events in ME1. (See Update below) New characters in ME2 include Thane, a drell master assassin, Legion, a free-thinking geth, who is stalking Commander Shepard, and Subject Zero, a female human biotic gang and cult member, with head-to-toe tattoos. Other than the geth and the Reapers, new enemies emerge in ME2. They include the Collectors, a winged insect-like species who are suspected to be working for the Reapers, and Scions, which are grotesque experiments of the Reaper, as well as monstrous beings created by the Reapers out of other species they abducted.

THE GAME/COMBAT SYSTEM

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) and combat system have been vastly improved in ME2. Gone are those annoying texture pop-ups in ME1. So are those long elevator rides--they are replaced with loading screens. Battle scenes are more realistic: enemies are thrown against walls, limbs are blown off, and wounded fighters continue to fight by crawling on the ground. Players can hit the enemies where they place the reticles, like in a shooter. (This is not so in ME1, where hits are calculated based on the number of skill points assigned by the players to the characters.) Players can now issue attack orders to Shepard's squad mates by using the directional-pad of the controller (of the Xbox 360), and manually prompt Commander Shepard to duck behind covers. The limitless ammo is no more in ME2. It is replaced with removable "thermal clips". When a clip is spent, it must be ejected and replaced with a new one. Players are therefore advised to take note of the amount of thermo clips available during battles. Instead of only four weapon types as in ME1, there are nineteen in ME2. One of my gripes with ME1 was the lack of heavy hand-held weapons. In ME2, they are available to the soldier class player character (as well as Commander Shepard of all classes). These heavy weapons knock down multiple enemies in one gigantic blast. A sentinel class player character now dons an ablation tactical armor, which makes him/her very tough to kill. An engineer class player character can launch a drone to aid him/her in battle. An adept class player character can spawn micro-singularities around the enemies, annihilating them en masse. Tactical cloak, which renders a combatant invisible briefly, is available to an infiltrator class player character. A vanguard class player character can dash around the battlefield with a new biotic power--the "biotic charge", which propels him/her forward at tremendous speed and force, to attack or evade the enemies. There is no longer any class restriction in armor. Medi-gel, used in the ME1 to regenerate health, is replaced with auto-regeneration, although the players still need it to cast the Unity reviving power. (Note: auto-regeneration is also available in ME1, but only as an upgrade to the armors.)

THE DIALOGUE

The dialogue wheel in ME1 is the most innovative dialogue system in all the games I have ever played. When used probably, it delivers a continuous and seamless dialogue, and hence the movie-like quality of the game. In ME2, the dialogue wheel is further improved. A new "interrupt" system is introduced. When prompted by the players with the left or right trigger of the controller (of the Xbox 360), Commander Shepard can interrupt the dialogue with "heroic" or "hostile" action to get the answer he/she wants. Furthermore, instead of the previous static camera position in ME1, the camera moves around during conversations in ME2, adding further cinematic effect to the game.

THE CHOICES

Like in ME1, choices made by the players influence the outcome of the game in ME2. For example, in ME1, on the planet Virmire, Commander Shepard (and hence the players), was called upon to decide which of the two squad mates he/she would rescue; the one left behind was consumed in a subsequent nuclear blast. In the same manner, decisions of the players in ME2 throughout the game may eventually lead to the annihilation of the entire ground team in the final mission, including Commander Shepard, or the survival of every team member, or something in between. Players with a "dead" Shepard will not be able to import him/her into ME3. The same thing is true with a "dead" teammate. They can play ME3 with a generic Shepard, but not "their" Shepard. Furthermore, with Shepard killed, players can't return to the game world after the final mission and continue to play, for example, to complete a side quest, or to explore a new locale. They will have to start a new game or reload with a previous save-file and replay part of the game for a different outcome. This gives incentive to players to make sound decisions throughout the game, before heading into the final mission. (See my comment dated 4/23/10.)

THE CERBERUS NETWORK

The Cerberus Network is a cleverly designed in-game portal through which players can access "Downloadable Contents (DLCs)" from EA. Players activate this network with a one-time access code, which is included in every new game purchase. Game renters and used game buyers will have to pay for the code. This arrangement is apparently a ploy by EA to combat the rental and used game market, which has been undermining retail sales of new games. Players who access the network will receive the first DLC pack on January 26, 2010, the date on which the game is released in North America. This first DLC introduces Zaeed, a rough and tumble mercenary who will join Shepard's elite team. A future DLC will introduce the Hammerhead, a hover tank to replace the much-maligned Mako in ME1. (Note: There is no driveable vehicle in the core game.) In addition, new missions and in-game items will be released to gamers by EA through this network.

CONCLUSION

ME2 comes with 2 discs. Players have to swap discs (twice per game) at some points. There are 90 voice actors playing 546 characters with over 30,000 lines of dialogue. New voice actors in ME2 include D.C. Douglas, Martin Sheen and Adam Baldwin. In conclusion, ME2 is a role-playing game with the look and feel of a shooter. It is a must-have game of the year.

Update: A ME2 DLC called Genesis allows a new player to make major decisions in ME1 without having to play it. Check it out.

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Did you want better graphics? Did you want a better shooter interface? Well, Bioware delivered...no question.

So Bioware has made a lot of changes to the game (too many to count perhaps), but one things for sure, they created a winner.

NEW COMBAT SYSTEM:

Much more like a first person shooter now; defiantly fun to shoot people and pop the head off of someone. Also doesn't matter as much what abilities you upgrade or what weapons you have; if you can aim then you can kill a bad guy.

NEW UPGRADE SYSTEM:

Can't really decide if I like this or not. There's a part of me that enjoys how much simpler everything has become and how much time I save, but I think I kind of enjoyed the in depth upgrade and weapons in the first game. This opinion may or may not be shared. Regardless, I was a little to overwhelmed by the greatness of this game to care that much.

INTERFACE WITH PREVIOUS GAME:

You'll hear little reminents of things you did in the past and you'll definitely get the feel that you had an impact, but it's not as dramatic I had expected. They hyped it up so much that your last game would have such a big impact on this one, but I haven't seen much to back that up. I was a level 55 in the first game so I got to start a few levels up in this one and they gave me a little extra cash for being rich in ME1, but it wasn't that significant. Guess I just expected a little bit more, but I have to admit that any interface with the previous game must have been hard and it's groundbreaking, so they get my respect.

HACKING/CODE BREAKING: The new system they designed for unlocking items and hacking systems is a lot more fun. Actually feels a little bit challenging and regardless of your level or path you've chosen, you'll be able to do it.

VEHICLE: Good news! There really isn't a vehicle; you'll pick where you want to go and then you'll go there. The vehicle from ME1 felt like a shopping cart with one bad wheel to me and I'm glad to see it's gone.

PLANET EXPLORATION: Pretty cool system they came up with. You'll use a radar device to explore a planets surface and then deploy pods to check for what you're looking for. This is a much improved system from just driving around in my opinion. Be ready to spend a lot of hours looking around. There's an amazing amount of land to cover in the universe. They really worked hard to give you a lot to explore and it shows. Doesn't have that empty pointless feeling that the first ME had when I was checking planets. If they weren't related to the primary objective, every planet felt the same

THE GOOD:

1) Story is great and managed to integrate with the first game to include your actions taken

2) Graphics are on par with competitive titles from this gen; really stunning to just look around at your surroundings

3) Lots of glitches fixed and too many improvements to count; some things they did were almost to small to even notice, but you can feel they're there

THE BAD:

1) New dumbed down RPG elements feel easy to use but a little empty. If you hated the monotony of upgrading too many small aspects and customizing every weapon for proper ammo and best fit then maybe you'll like it. But, I couldn't help but feel that it was a little bit too easy and boring compared to the first game

2) You'll have to do a long mission to gain the loyalty of every one of your 10 squad members; it's kind of cool at first, but it gets a little old. Really? I have to complete a mission to get Garus on my side? Pretty sure I proved my loyalty fighting the Geth and Saren already

3) The new planet scanning system is cool and I'm glad to be rid of the vehicle, but it starts to get really old searching for minerals. After about 4 hours of it I got tired and decided I had enough uprades. Searched about 60 planets and found 6 side missions, so that feels like there's probably a lot out there. I didn't make it to level 30 so I must have missed a lot, but I just got so sick of scanning planets. Not a big complaint though; I don't know how they could have done it better so I was pleased.

OVERVIEW:

GRAPHICS: 10/10

DIALOGUE: 10/10

AUDIO: 10/10

COMBAT SYSTEM: 10/10

UPGRADES: 8/10

STORY: 10/10

INTEGRATION OF PREVIOUS GAME: 7/10

Whether you liked the first ME or you didn't, this game is a winner. I have my share of complaints, but the game is an amazing edition to the trilogy and you can just sense the effort Bioware put into this. Everyone will have complaints, but I've never seen a developer listen to the feedback and put forth this much effort.

Two days ago I would have told you ME1 was almost perfect, but this game has shown be the light and really set the bar.

Thanks Bioware

Good Gaming

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To start off, I want to make one thing clear; this review is targeted towards true RPG fans and people who loved the previous Mass Effect. If you are more of an action or FPS fan who generally enjoys qualities games (even if they do step outside of your comfort zone), then it would behoove you to go grab and play this game right now. Compared to most of the mediocre games out there these days, this game is an absolute gem. With that said, I will now continue with the true review.

Very few sequels can be categorized as `true sequels' in the essence that you may be playing as a different character with a different story and in some cases, a completely different universe. That is not the case with Mass Effect 2, where you once again take the role of Commander Shepard (whether you choose to be male of female) in his pursuit of the Reapers and peace across the galaxy. As an uber fan of the previous entry, I was expecting a similarly immersive experience that improved on the follies of the first entry.

Well, I have good news; Bioware listened to the critic's complaints and reworked almost everything to some degree. The bad news is that a lot of the best elements that made the first Mass Effect great got axed. As a result, ME2 (Mass Effect 2) is everything ME1 (Mass Effect 1) wasn't; it's well polished, fast paced and flashy. Unfortunately, ME2 exchanged these qualities for the depth, immersion and charm that characterized the first game. True fans of RPGs recognize that this is not a fair exchange and as such seriously tarnished the experience.

In the rest of this review, I will juxtapose everything in this game in relation to ME1. This is because, as with any true sequel, the predecessor is the game that set the standard and is the game that the sequel must live up to. So in essence, this is a review of both games. With that said, enjoy.

*** A summation of this review is provided at the bottom of the page. ***

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"The little things make all the difference in the universe."

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**Loading Screens**

ME1

Minimal and limited to when you selected a new planet or location and if I remember correctly it usually just showed you in the Citadel. Otherwise you simply walked from place to place or traveled via elevators or air lock (in and out of your ship). Transitions were seamless and provided entertaining conversations between team members and a high sense of realism.

ME2

The loading screens usually showed a flashy schematic of the ship or you presumably landing somewhere. They were aesthetic, but even that novelty wore off after seeing them a few times.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; seamless transitions provide a greater level of immersion than loading screens. That was an innovation that should have been kept and expanded upon, not axed.

**Space Exploration**

ME1

You just used your galaxy map to click where you wanted to go.

ME2

Using an over the top view, you actually navigated your ship from galaxy to galaxy and from planet to planet. You needed fuel to bridge the gap to some outer galaxies and probes to explore planets.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; This was one area where immersion and depth was actually improved, bravo.

**Outer Planet Exploration**

ME1

You used an all terrain vehicle called the Mako to explore the planets for cities, enemy bases and minerals. This process was tedious and combat in the Mako was flawed at best. It was a very `cool' concept executed very poorly.

ME2

On story planets you just warp straight into the city via loading screen. On foreign planets you `scan' the planet from the ship using a giant reticule and send out probes to find minerals and sometimes mission locations. An early upgrade allows you to speed up process, which effectively makes it a bit less tedious and soul sucking.

DRAW Both of these exploration methods were flawed. Personally, I'd welcome a combination of the two in the third entry. An improved version of the Mako would be welcomed to enter bases on the story planets and provides a good change of pace. However for foreign planets I think being able to scan the entire planet with one probe would speed things up considerably.

**Inner Planet Exploration**

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; ME1's planets seemed much livelier and grandiose. Meaning, there were more NPCs walking around and everything was set up as an actual functioning city and ecosystem on a larger scale. In the second game, cities were much more abbreviated and robotic. There purpose for this seemed to be shortening the downtime between the fast paced story missions. They succeeded to that end, but the sacrifice in doing so was overall quality.

**Mini Games**

ME1

There was basically one quick time reaction mini game used for all hacking sections.

ME2

There a few different mini games that would show up when required to hack something. They were engaging, intelligent and actually fun...which is saying something as most the time I just find this sort of crap to just be in the way.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; Big improvement here, nothing much else to say.

**Bugs and Glitches**

ME1

Almost every time you entered a new area in ME1 you could see the layers and textures dropping onto your characters and environment piece by piece. There was also numerous other random bug's and glitches and the occasional slow down in combat.

ME2

The game runs incredibly smoothly from beginning to end with few to no glitches at all. This might be a first for Bioware.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; Well done Bioware, it would be nice to see this trend continue in all future games.

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"It is not the destination, but the journey that makes an experience worthwhile."

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**Story**

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; To be far, it is unrealistic to ever expect a sequel to contain a better story than the first entry in a trilogy; which is expected (and did so very well) to set the stage for events to come. With that said, I felt ME1's story was WAY better. Sarin was a worthy antagonist and the story contained revelation after revelation. You had to make many pivotal decisions affecting the good of the entire galaxy and, more importantly, future entries to the series. ME2 focused much more on the cast (which we'll get to in a second), it did not have an antagonist that I cared about and contained much fewer relevant story arcs.

**Characters**

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; While I loved the cast of the first game, this was what the second game concentrated on and they did a fabulous job in doing so. Your primary goal was to gather an elite squad with which to track down the reapers. All of the new characters are very unique, powerful and relevant. And a couple of my favorites from the first game made a triumphant return to your main party. Each character has a primary side quest associated with them, which helps flesh their back story out a bit and adds a ton of value to the game. Even the final events leading up to the games conclusion focus on its wonderful cast.

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"When all else fails, you can always start blowing stuff up!"

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**Battle System**

ME1

While ME1 did a great job integrating TPS action and RPG elements into a cohesive blend, the combat remained more focused on the RPG elements. You had a ton of skills and your success in battle was mostly based upon your manipulation and strategy of their execution. You could use all your skills independently and they recharged independently. There was no ammo, you simply had to make sure to not to overload your weapon by firing it too much or too fast. You are encouraged to focus your concentration on a single weapon as you have to flow experience into them to increase their accuracy, effectiveness and power up their weapon unique skills.

ME2

While still blending TPS and RPG elements, ME2 began to tip way more on the TPS end of the spectrum. Your characters have fewer skills and when you use one it forces all of your skills to recharge prior to using another. You now have ammo and no longer have to upgrade your weapons, which encourages you to use different weapons depending on the situation.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; Many of the assessments I've made so far are hard to argue with, which is not the case here. Battles in ME2 are much faster paced and being encouraged to constantly switch weapons (which I did think was an improvement) provides battles with a heightened sense of intensity. I personally preferred the methodical and strategic combat of the first game though. It really irked me that you could only use one skill at a time in ME2 per character. I usually had a skill I preferred over another which meant that was the one I always used. Had I been allowed to use more than one at a time like you were able to in the first game, the battle system would have been much more satisfying.

**Customization**

ME1

There was a complex inventory system and you could customize each weapon and armor with several of its own upgrades. There were a ton of skills to upgrade which affected your battle prowess, infiltration and mediation skills. Later in the game you were able to choose a secondary specialization.

ME2

Inventory was axed, at your ship you can customize you armor with different helmets, chest plates, etcetera and even customize color and appearance. You could upgrade weapons or armor as a class amongst other things at an upgrade station. There were far less skills (4 for the main character and 3 for the secondary party members plus a skill that upgrades their stats) and there were no skills affecting outside of battle prowess. Later in the game you could choose to inherent one specialty skill from a team member.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; This was a joke in my opinion. Yes, axing inventory made it easier to get back to the ever important slaughtering of enemies, but it greatly watered down a great product. And less skills means less thought, which once again waters down a great product. On a positive note, they did add a unique specific skill to each class in ME2, and for a couple of these classes, these are uber cool.

**Weapons**

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; I had to specify a section for this because this was a huge strength of the ME2 battle system. In the previous ME, certain weapons, such as the shotgun and sniper rifle weren't very useful because, respectively, you had to either get to close to your enemies or it was too tough to aim prior to pumping a ton of experience into the skill. Now there are powers directly associated with closing the gap between you and enemies fast and there is a much improved cover mechanic. Also, they've added power weapons and though you can only equip one at a time, the addition of rocket launchers and other powerful cool alien weapons is certainly a welcome addition.

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"In the end all that matters is value, the bang for your buck."

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**Relevant Content**

ME1

A run through of the first game could be done in about 10-15 hours if you just stuck to the main planets and played through what I like to call the `relevant content'. That being main quests and unique side quests along the main storyline. You could significantly increase your time spent if you explored a lot of planets in what is essentially pointless and fruitless filler.

ME2

If you do all the main quests and character specific side quests you could probably spend about 30+ hours finishing this game.

ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; This isn't even close, ME2 has about 2X as much relevant content as its predecessor. This is a very significant upgrade and gives ME2 a huge boost in core value over its ME1.

**Replay Value**

DRAW There was more depth and significant decisions in the first game and though significantly shorter in duration, the quality of the time spent was much higher. I played through ME1 three times trying to perfect my Shepard and relished every play through. I couldn't even get myself to complete my renegade (evil) play through of ME2, once was enough. With that said, ME2 contains a new game+ feature, which is very cool because you can start the game with all your best skills. And class specific skills could give you added motivation to give the game a second play through. My bias shifts me in the direction of ME1, but ME2 does have some nice incentives to play again.

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"Now for a shout out to all those other elements not worth talking to death..."

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THE DRAWS

With regard to graphics, music, voice acting, conversations and anything else I didn't mention both games executed tremendously well and deserve a high grade draw. That's it, that's all I have to say on that topic ;).

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"All things must come to an end, even this review"

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The best way I can describe this game, as a true fan of RPGs, is by saying it took one step forward and two steps backward. Before I elaborate further on that, here is a list of what was improved and what was made worse.

Juxtaposed to Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2 had...

+a better space exploration system

+better hacking mini games

+far smoother performance (flawless really)

+a deeper and more fleshed out character cast

+much faster paced battles with a better array of useful weaponry and cover mechanic

+some cool new character and class specific powers

+a much longer main story with more relevant content

+a new game+ option absent from ME1

-a much choppier and less immersive experience due to the elimination of seamless transitions replaced by loading screens

-a method of foreign planet exploration (scanning) that was just as flawed as the Mako

-lifeless and robotic feeling planets

-a much less engaging story

-considerably much less depth in its battles and customization

The purpose of these changes was obvious in my eyes, to make this game more appealing to a larger group of gamers and to that end they succeeded mightily. Mass Effect 2 is fast paced and the downtime between battles is made short. It is smooth and has powerful, interesting and well fleshed out character cast to fight alongside you. I just wish Bioware could have made their improvement without sucking so much of the depth and charm out of the experience. I also found that the frenetic pace was a little too much for what is still an RPG. As a gamer that almost exclusively plays RPGs, I find this to still be the strongest available experience recently released. It is, however, a disconcerting step away from entertaining the true fans of the genre, the fans who they should remain faithful to beyond all else because we'll be the ones still there when everybody shuffles on to the next fad.

I can strongly recommend this game to anyone, but for the true RPG fan I would suggest waiting until the price of admission drops. It is not so special or pertinent as to warrant the extra $$$.

Honest reviews on Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits

Playing Mass Effect 2 is like watch a good movie, a movie where you can interrupt the flow at certain points and take control of the characters and slightly change the plot. Mass Effect has always been about telling a grand story, and the middle part of the Mass Effect trilogy has made improvements over the first title, the story is deeper, and a bit more interesting and complex than ME1 (Mass Effect 1). Unfortunately with the improved story comes the removal of nearly every single traditional RPG element. Playing the game, I feel like I am being dragged through the story instead of being PART of the story like I did in ME1. Without the RPG elements to break up the story and to give something else to focus on, the game became a bit repetitious. Overall, amazing story, lacking gameplay, and cover based shooting made the game fun, but I wanted different things than what the developers of ME2 wanted.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits

First off, I wanted to make it clear that this is an outstanding game, one of the best I've ever played. As proof of this I've played through the career three whole times, and plan to play it at least once more before the release of Mass Effect 3. Generally I don't replay games, and that is definitely the most I've ever played a game, except for maybe Rock Band. That being said Bioware dumbed this game down so far from the mastery of the original Mass Effect. This game is one of the most polished games I've ever played. However I feel like they accomplished this by completely eliminating any originality and progress in the gameplay. They stripped almost all of the RPG gameplay that I loved, leaving such a simplistic leveling system (with a really low level cap) and hardly any skills. Also, they got rid of all of the weapons and add-ons in favor of a series of upgrades. In my mind, while this made it easier for a young stupid player that's too impatient to enjoy RPG's, for me it was a useless system. I never felt more powerful after buying a new upgrade, it felt exactly the same, either because the upgrade didn't add enough or the enemies always got more powerful at exactly the same rate.

In all of the videos during the game, the characters have so much more power than the minuscule amount of abilities you have in gameplay. Essentially, ME2's gameplay is just a very basic cover based shooter with a few interesting powers. Especially at higher levels, you have to stay behind cover most of the game if you don't want to die every couple seconds. Also, I find it amazing that in the future we replace bullets with cool-down clips that work exactly the same way. In fact some of the guns have less ammo than the present. At the higher levels this becomes a big problem, as multiple times I ran out of ammo, especially with the guns I liked the most. The technology of the world does not match the gameplay, while it absolutely did in the first game. Still however, the gameplay is fun even at its most basic.

Now onto the story, while compared to everything else on the market it's amazing, but compared to the original Mass Effect the main story is pretty weak. Essentially there are only 4 missions in the main story, and there isn't really any main nemesis. There's just some goofy Collector that repeats annoying phrases and has no motivation for all the evil its doing. In the first game there was a guy we could chase after, feeling like we're always a step beyond, and then after that an even more massive evil with very interesting reasoning. Here we have one faceless enemy with no reasoning, there's never a twist or anything to compete against. Also, the act of killing Shepard at the very beginning of the story is such a goofy way to restart everything. However, the bulk of the game's missions involving recruiting and gaining the loyalty of characters is really fun and original. I loved it, at times it almost felt like a sci-fi version of the game series Suikoden where you'd collect 108 characters/stars (most of them weren't actually playable). In fact I'd love to see more of that in the next game, it really involves you in the story to gather these people/aliens and than talk to them.

However, that brings me to another part of the game that I'd love to see adapted in ME3. It makes no sense to only take 2 other characters with you to fight hundreds and hundreds of enemies. I mean I understand the benefit of a small team, but you really never do any sneaking around. Also, it's implied that all of the characters are leaving on the mission even though you only have 3 total characters. From this, I'd love to see two additions, first it would be nice if each character had its own experience points so you'd be rewarded/punished by underusing or overusing the other characters. Secondly I'd love to see more characters on screen, even if they aren't playable. If it's too difficult for Bioware to achieve, they could just have more missions like the last mission on this game, where you have two separate teams.

Even after all of the above complains, I still think that this game is amazing, and my favorite game of 2010.

Best Turtle Beach Ear Force PX51 Premium Wireless Dolby Digital Gaming Deals

Customer Ratings:

For the short review:

If you don't mind having a wired Xbox communicator, this headset it great. It can be used for PS3 sound and communication as well, though you have to decide which system you actually want to connect as you can't connect both at the same time. Maybe with the next model?

If you have an old 360 (white one) and use HDMI, you will need to purchase a RCA Audio Cable Adapter for XBOX 360 to use optical. This is the only way to get true Dolby Digital Surround out of this headset.

If you think previous Turtle Beach headsets are "too quiet," you won't want this set either, as it also has the Volume Limiter to protect your hearing. Sorry.

Recommended.

Longer review:

Unboxing:

I will say that Turtle Beach knows how to make you think you are getting value for your money. The box that houses the headset is very, very sturdy. Even if it wasn't packed in a shipping box well I'm pretty sure this box would survive.

Unboxing the set was as easy as cutting 2 pieces of tape. Opening the box you see a piece of clear plastic that you can see through. You will see the headset and the receiver. There's a sticker that tells you that all the accessories are underneath the plastic. Lifting that up, there's a nice little box with all of the cables you might need. The EXCEPTION to this is that if you have an old 360 and use HDMI in this case there is an optical audio dongle that you will also want to purchase (RCA Audio Cable Adapter for XBOX 360 + Slim), as otherwise you can only use RCA (analog) out and without it you will NOT get true Dolby Digital Surround. I didn't need the dongle as I already have owned TB headsets and bought the dongle a long time ago.

Connecting:

Connecting this to a 360 is pretty simple, and is connected essentially the same way for the PS3. Connect the optical out on the system to the Optical In on the black receiver box. Plug the USB to power dongle into an unused USB port on either system. Power up the system and it should begin to play sound through the headphones (once you power them on)

One annoying aspect is that you must decide whether you want your PS3 or 360 to be connected for true 5.1 surround. You have only one optical input, meaning it's one or the other. You can still connect the other system via RCA (stereo only), but who wants that? Maybe with next year's models we will get the ability to use both systems on one headset?

Usage:

One thing I like about this headset is that it talks to you. Unlike the XP400 where you need to know and understand a bunch of esoteric beep sets, this tells you when you power it on, when you power it off and what sound option and chat option you have enabled. Of course, you still need to know what Chat Option 4 is or Game Option 3, but it's a start.

You press the power button on the headset, it powers up. There is also a power button on the receiver piece that needs to be turned on (I always leave it on, as when I turn off my PS3 or 360 I always unplug them, so it powers off anyway).

On the headset itself there are quite a few buttons to get accustomed to. You can pair this headset with your phone so that you can answer a phone call you might receive while playing without having to take the headset off. Because of this, you have BT +/buttons that turn the Bluetooth volume up and down. There is a Bluetooth button to help pair this to your phone (and also to your PS3!). And then there is a BT Mute button that mutes Bluetooth communication. The BT buttons also work when chatting on PS3.

On the same ear cup with the power button, you also have a Games Preset button. This is where you can control the "equalization" on the headphones. The modes are:

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.

Unlike the PX400, it's easy to set one of these presets as your MAIN preset. Once you find the preset you like, simply hold down the Games Preset button for a few seconds and it will set this one as your Main setup. Now, when you power on the system it will remember what preset you were on. On the PX400s you had only 4 presets and they had to be chosen every time you powered up the headset. Very cool!

On the Game Preset button you can also hold the button down a little longer and release and you will choose Movie or Music mode. Movie is good for movies, and as you can use the PX51s to listen to music, the Music option gives an optimized Stereo equalization. Not bad!

Also on this ear cup is the Chats Preset button which can set these "equalization" settings:

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

You set the MAIN chat preset the same way as you set the MAIN game preset, simply choose the preset you want and then hold the Chat Preset button down until you are notified that it's now the main setup. Power the headphones off and power them on and this one should be set by default as well.

Comparing this to the X41 and the XP400, the PX51 blows them out of the water for presets. The X41 and XP400 have only game audio presets and you have to choose the one you like every time you power up. There are no chat preset options.

XBOX 360 CHAT:

So if you want to chat with the XBox 360, you have to connect the Talk Back cable that is included in the set. Unlike the PX400s, this is wired chat only on the 360. This is the same as the X41 for 360 chat, BUT, there is something that makes this cable FAR superior to the one included with the X41. This cable, somehow, makes a VERY firm, very secure connection to both the headset and the 360 controller. GONE are the days of ripping the cable out while gaming (at least not easily). On the X41 this was a nightmare. If you moved the wrong way, pop, out comes the cable. I think, if Turtle Beach sells just the cable at some point, just use this cable with the X41 (or any older wired set) and realize the greatness of this new cable.

Chat quality on 360:

Not bad. Clear. Crisp. The presets (not the ones that change your voice) make hearing the in game chat quite easy. Reports from people on the other end is that the sound is about as clear as they've ever heard.

Sound Quality:

The PX51 seems to use the same technology as the PX400 in that there is absolutely NO interference from any wireless devices. The X41 would pop and click around your wi-fi router, and don't you dare turn the microwave on with the X41 on your head and powered up! Nothing interferes with the PX51s, just like the PX400. Very nice.

In terms of sound quality, the PX51s seem to have a similar match out of the box to the PX400 sonically. The "flat" setting on both seems to line up and sound exactly the same between the two sets (yes, I actually did unplug and plug in while playing to compare). The Presets, however, really do set the two sets apart. The XP51's presets give better bass and treble performance, and give clearer sound stage to my ears. I was surprised, as in terms of looks the two sets are quite similar.

Comparing the sound to the X41 and the X41s come up a little anemic, not matching the overall sound quality, the sound stage or the quality of presets. That said, the X41s are still a decent set!

Battery:

This is the part I hate about consumer electronics today. The battery in this headset lasted me about 17 hours on the first full charge. About the same the second. That's really, really nice compared to the X41 in that it used AAA batteries (I used rechargeables) and only really got 7-10 hours at best. The part that annoys me isn't the longer battery life, it's that this battery is NOT user replaceable. At some point in the future it will no longer hold a charge and you will either need to replace the headset or pay to ship and have Turtle Beach replace the battery for you. Annoying, but this is the way of digital life today. I did not drop any stars for this, but just something to be aware of.

One big difference:

Turtle Beach have added a "mobile" option to their new headsets. You can plug the audio cable into your phone or other audio device. Essentially it makes the headset stereo headphones. It's a nice feature, but not one I will ever really use, outside of testing it here.

Programmable:

Another great feature is the ability to program your OWN presets. Want to set the audio up the way YOU want. You can control all sorts of things with the presets website, though the configuration can be a little esoteric. If you take the time to learn it, you really can customize this the way YOU want it to sound. Very, very cool.

Overall:

The difference between the XP400 and the PX51, if you already own the XP400, is NOT worth the additional cost this will entail. Plus, this headset is WIRED for Xbox talk back, whereas the wireless talk back on the XP400 is quite nice.

Highly recommended if you don't already own a gaming headset.

Especially recommended if you are primarily a PS3 gamer, given the completely wireless chat capability. 360 Chat is slightly annoying with the cable, but with the newly designed cable I would recommend this set as well to 360 gamers. I might recommend, if you are primarily a 360 gamer, to purchase the XP400, XP500 or XP510 instead.

I received this via Amazon Vine.

PROS:

+Great sound

+True Dolby Digital Surround (X41 is ProLogic only)

+Audio presets are actually useful

+Can store preferred audio presets so it defaults to these on power up

+Talk Back cable for 360 redesigned for less cable pull out

+Zero interference with other wireless devices

+Talks instead of beeps with configuration information

Cons:

-Relatively expensive (all things considered)

-Wired 360 chat only

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

First off, if your looking for a true home theater surround sound experience go spend a grand on some nice sennheiser or bose headphones and a pre amp. This is a gaming headset. I have owned the px5 headset for over a year and they were great but the pops and the battery life were pretty bad. This review will be from the PX5's point of view.

The greatest thing about this headset is that the clicks and pops are finally gone. The dual band wifi alleviates this issue.

Next, the rechargeable battery is amazing. No more having to run and grab some AA batteries during a game. Another plus is that you can game and charge at the same time. They included an extra long charge cable that can plug into a cell phone DC wall adapter. If I had to complain about anything it would be the way it charges. It would of have been awesome if they implemented inductive charging on the transmitter and headset. You just plug the cable in like you would on the ps3 controller (mini usb). The cable somewhat bends to the surface of where the transmitter is. Not a big deal at all, but it could be annoying to some.

The audio quality is comparable to the px5. The frequency response is 20Hz-20KHz and has a nice mix of lows mid and highs. Not a whole not of bass on this unit. But I always hate having so much bass, as it ruins the audio or true sound.

The presets are pretty much the same as the px5. Everything from low boost, high boost, low-high boost, 3D effect, etc.

The real power in this headset is the custom presets. This is definitively a plus if your an audiophile like me. This should really be the reason your buying this headset. You able to adjust a 7-band EQ which is just awesome.

Other then that, it has the Bluetooth module integrated into the headset like the px5, so music and phone chat while gaming.

Recommend it for it for audiophiles and as a nice wireless solution.

Best Deals for Turtle Beach Ear Force PX51 Premium Wireless Dolby Digital Gaming

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program These were intended to be an upgrade for me, from the XP300 to this, the XP51. While I believe Turtle Beach has managed to improve their offering with this model, I think there are a few things they missed. There are also some things that really annoy me.

I'm using these with an Xbox 360. Hooking these up to my 360 was easy. It supports optical-in, and obtains its power from a free 360 USB port, so the whole setup requires only two cables. The package includes additional cables and connectors so that you can use the headphones with other setups (PS3, PCs, portable players, etc.). The most important cable is the charging cable, which is long enough to use while connected, several feet from the console. For the Xbox 360, there is also the voice-chat adapter which connects to the headset adapter of the controller, and allows for a true wireless solution for 360 voice-chat.

First thing I don't like about these charging them leaves the unit on all the time. They don't turn off when charging is complete. If you turn them off, and then plug them in to charge, the unit powers-on and stays on to charge. When they are powered-on for charging, they also activate the transmitter base, which means it is also on the entire time. I don't understand why this is necessary; it should be possible to charge the headset without it having to be on. I can only imagine it actually takes longer to charge them because they are simultaneously charging and draining because they are on. This is a big turn-off for me.

The second thing I don't like about these are the voice-samples that announce various modes. These are unnecessary sometimes, annoying at other times, and helpful at other times. For example, when you turn them on, a female voice announces "Powering on", which would be fine, except it is followed by a very obnoxious "BING!", much like the chime you would hear on an airplane. When you turn them off, the female voice says "Goodbye", but why it doesn't say "Powering off" confuses me -the prompts are inconsistent. The most annoying voice announcement is the "Battery low" warning, in which the female voice says exactly that...approximately every 8 seconds. This is annoying because, unlike a traditional "beep" that has signified a low battery on previous models, hearing "battery low" spoken every 8 seconds will send you running to find the charging cable, because it really disrupts your enjoyment of a game...or music...or movie...or whatever it is you are doing with them.

The voice prompts are useful in announcing the various modes. There are several modes for "game", "movie", and "music", and hearing the mode announced in English with a number, instead of counting the number of beeps is welcomed. It actually makes it easy to confirm what mode you are using.

Compared to the XP300s, these are much lighter. I'm not sure how Turtle Beach managed to make them lighter, but they feel much lighter on my head, and are therefore much more comfortable to wear for a long duration. The drivers are the same size and they have similar features it's probably just technology improving and overall weight has been reduced. I can wear them for many, many hours at a time with no discomfort.

From a sound-quality perspective, these are very similar to the XP300s. In other words, sound quality has not improved. I don't believe they have enough "punch" in the bass, but midrange, voices, and highs are well-defined. I basically turn them on, and leave them on the basic "game mode" setting. I've found that many of the other modes and presets modify the sound in ways that I don't like. For example, the bass becomes non-existent or very thin, or voices become over-pronounced. I also don't use the "synthesized" surround-sound because I believe it makes the sound "too thin" and tends to add an artificial echo that I just don't think is natural. These "do the job". Fortunately, there's no distortion, no interference, and the wireless signal is always good, even in my very WiFi-busy home. These don't let me walk more than 30 feet from my console, and trip to the kitchen to grab something results in the audio cutting-out completely. This has not changed over the XP300s I was already using.

These headphones also support Bluetooth wireless, which means you can sync the headphones to your phone, simultaneously while using them with wireless audio. This allows you to take voice calls on your phone while playing a game, a useful feature. What I really like, though, is that these allow you to sync Bluetooth audio from your phone, which allows you to listen to music from your phone, as an example. This is actually helpful, because the sound quality is quite decent for this purpose. Depending on your phone, you'll also get alerts through the headset, which means you can hear your email, text, and other alert sounds in the headset while you are playing a game, so you'll never miss another alert from your phone. The Bluetooth audio and the chat audio have separate volume controls, so you can adjust the Bluetooth/chat audio separately from the game volume.

In general, I like these. Moving from the XP300 to these was pretty seamless. However, the "voice" prompts get particularly annoying, and the inability to charge them without being able to power them down is a problem. I do feel these offer all the "bells and whistles" I've wanted in wireless headphones for quite some time, I just wish more time had been spent perfecting them.

Honest reviews on Turtle Beach Ear Force PX51 Premium Wireless Dolby Digital Gaming

These headphones are amazing. The sound, the clarity, the design, the intricacy, the complexity -all of it is worth every penny. Now unfortunately with that said, I am not keeping them. They lack bass. They SERIOUSLY lack bass. When people complain about the sound cutting in and out -that's not what's happening. That sound is the bass trying to rumble the way bass is supposed to. Instead of giving you the vibrating, deep penetrating sound of good bass, the headphones provide a sort of pulsating low sound that tries to imitate bass. And that's sad because these headphones could have been phenomenal.

I went and bought the Astro A50's and man oh man do they have bass! Some complain that it's too much, but for me, who wants that theater-like rumbling throughout my body when I watch my movies, it's absolutely perfect. The sound quality is just all around fantastic.

When comparing the two headphones in terms of volume, the A50's win hands down. When I first got my PX51's, I turned the volume up all the way and was nowhere near satisfied in terms of loudness. Now I didn't keep them at max volume, but I easily could have without being too bothered. My normal volume setting was at about 80-90% max. Now the A50's -I have yet to even hear what max volume sounds like because I'm too worried I'll blow my eardrums, literally. These headphones get EXTREMELY loud when calibrated to full game (they have balance buttons to toggle the volumes of voice vs. game sounds)

When it comes to everything else, the PX51's leave the A50's in the dust. The aesthetic design of the PX51's is gorgeous. They truly look and feel like premium quality headphones whereas the A50's look bare and generic. Although they're both wireless, the PX51's offer Bluetooth so you can easily connect to your phone to answer phone calls and listen to your music very easily. The A50's don't offer any Bluetooth so you have to connect your phone to the transmitter via 3.5mm cable and then you can listen to your music, but you won't be able to answer your phone nor connect them to anything else via Bluetooth. Finally and most importantly in my opinion, the PX51's come with a number of different equalizer presets as well as giving you the capability to create and save your own presets. The A50's come with 3 presets and that's it. You can't add your own or anything else. And this is where people complain about the bass, because if you don't like heavy amounts of bass, well then you're out of luck. The 3 presets are basically heavy bass with 3 levels of incrementally increasing treble.

In the end, the A50's are for performance and performance only. The PX51's give you EVERYTHING else. If Turtle Beach made the PX51's with the ability to set the equalizer to provide HEAVY, RUMBLY bass, then they would BY FAR, be the headphones of choice. They are honestly a work of art. Unfortunately they don't provide that theater style bass and so, if you're looking for sound that's comparable to sitting amidst a high quality theater surround sound system, then the A50's should be your choice. But don't expect anything else from them other than phenomenal sound.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Turtle Beach Ear Force PX51 Premium Wireless Dolby Digital Gaming

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Aesthetics aside, a headset, in the end, should be judged by its performance, and the PX51 holds its own in every department.

I dislike long reviews, so I will keep it short. This review will only cover my experience with the headset on a SONY PLAYSTATION 3 console.

Note: I have never owned a Turtle Beach Gaming Headset; I am a Turtle Beach virgin if you will. But, I am a proud owner of the SONY 80850 PLAYSTATION(R)3 WIRELESS STEREO HEADSET (80850) -, so I will use that in comparison. Let's get started, shall we?

Unboxing:-

Professional packaging. Putting all the pieces back in the box has never been so easy.

Setup:-

Extremely simple. I did run into a bit of a trouble in the beginning though, but it wasn't my fault. One major instruction in the manual is written in an extremely fine print, hence the confusion. So that nobody else commits the same mistake, I will just blurt it out here: the transmitter and the headset are already factory paired, so, unless the transmitter repeatedly blinks (which is an indication of a problem), there is no need to re-pair them. It means skip page 3.

1) Other than that, connect one end of the OPTICAL CABLE to the "DIGITAL IN" on your TRANSMITTER and the other end to the back of your PS3.

2) Connect one end of the TRANSMITTER POWER CABLE to the "DC IN" of the TRANSMITTER and the other end to the USB PORT on your PS3.

3) Connect the MICROPHONE BOOM (yes, it's detachable).

4) Unlike the PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset, you will need to manually pair the Bluetooth in order to use the voice chat feature. It's a one-time only procedure, so it's not a big deal. You don't need me to tell you how to do that.

5) You're done with the basic setup.

Programmable Preset:-

Support for this feature can be found on the Turtle Beach website in the Download section under the Support menu. This is a great thing for audiophiles. Experiment it to your heart's content until it clicks just like you want it to.

Buttons:-

On the right ear, all the buttons are for the voice chat such as increasing and decreasing chat volume, muting and turning on and off the mic. However, you will most likely spend most of your time on the left ear. Pressing the MODE button for about two seconds will interchange between the Game, Movie and Music modes that are optimized for their respective use. Tapping the GAME PRESET will alternate between the various other presets such as Bass Boost, Treble Boost, Superhuman Hearing (which basically mutes the in-game music), action enhancer (you can hear an assault rifle fire from the other side of the map in Black Ops II). CHAT PRESETS work in a similar way. It's just the matter of experimenting here. I personally like the Bass Boost/Treble Boost, which is number 4. The Superhuman Hearing just sounds stupid, and doesn't go with the flow of the game.

Every time you press the GAME PRESET/CHAT PRESET buttons, the voice prompt notifies you based on a numbering system between 1-8. Long pressing the buttons sets them up as defaults. One big con about this numbering system is that you have to refer to a manual if you want to know what they mean.

Comfortable:-

It's not very comfortable, but that's primarily because I wear glasses. I still dare a manufacturer to create a headset for users like me that doesn't end up hurting your temple area after a prolonged use. I also think the "cups" are rather small I do not have Elf ears. I think the manufacturer opted for the headset to be tight so that it won't come loose, but that ends up making it a bit wearisome.

Battery Life:

About fourteen hours IMPRESSIVE. Much longer than the six odd hours the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset gives you. Similar to the PS3 Headset, the device powers down automatically if it's left unused for more than five minutes.

Recording Gameplay:

With the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset and a HD-PVR, I was never able to record any audio while I had the headset on (even after I experimented with a lot of things). It's quite simple with the PX51. Leave all the settings as it is, and select Audio Multi-Output to ON under SOUND SETTINGS. This way, sound will be heard both through the headset and the TV Speaker allowing the PVR to record audio from your gameplay. Next, go to ACCESSORY SETTINGS, and in AUDIO DEVICE SETTINGS, select the OUTPUT DEVICE as SYSTEM DEFAULT DEVICE. This method, while suggested by a few, never worked with the HD PVR and the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset.

Technical Issues:-

I ran into a problem right off the bat. The left and right noise were rather... inverted. Explosions from the back would sound like they were coming from the front, left sounded like right and so on. I contacted Customer Support, and got a reply pretty fast. I was told to re-pair the headset and the transmitter again.

If you run into this problem as well, just plug the DC power plug from the transmitter, let it be for 15 seconds. Turn off the Headset as well. Now, plug in the power plug of the transmitter and hold the Pair button (topmost button) until it blinks repeatedly. Similarly, hold the power button on the headset until it blinks repeatedly. After five seconds, the pairing will be complete.

Overall, I love the headset. It IS a tad bit uncomfortable and quite heavier than the Sony Wireless Stereo Headset, but the quality of the sounds and explosions is just amazing. Will it replace my current $80 headset? Absolutely.

Cheap Boogie Superstar with Microphone - Nintendo Wii

Customer Ratings:

I have never tried the first version, Boogie, which didn't get great ratings. However, I can tell that this version is much better already.

The music is obviously targeted at the younger generation with the Top 40 type of music, as opposed to the oldies but goodies of American Idol 1 (not sure about AI 2 yet). The genres are pop, urban, and electrodance. When you play more often, more songs are unlocked at higher difficulties. Additional songs cannot be downloaded through Wi-Fi, which I heard is a new option for American Idol 2. By the way, my unlocked music is only available for me under my character, while others still have to work at getting more songs to reach the same level.

The music plays at one speed, so I did feel some frustration at the beginning when the lyrics flew across the TV screen. The song words scroll from left to right for both Boogie Super Star and American Idol, while Guitar Hero offers a second option when the lyrics are shown in static mode, meaning one line at a time, which I have found easier to follow. If your eyes are quick, then it's fairly easy to read the lyrics as opposed to the small jammed up font in Guitar Hero.

You have the option to play up to 3 songs per set.

First, select the activity type: dance one at a time, dance side-by-side, sing one at a time, or sing a duet (passing the mic back and forth, which I found hard to do).

Second, decide if you want the song to be random (by the Wii) or selectable (by you).

Although you have set this all up, the game stops in between songs if you decided to select your own music (and take a quick water break for your worn out throat). It does not give you the option to select 6 songs upfront like it does in Guitar Hero for continuous fun.

All of the games mentioned here do not take advantage of your personal Mii character, except for Guitar Hero's side activity of creating your own band. The graphics are more cartoon-y, if you will, as opposed to American Idol which is trying to look realistic. There are 2 male and 3-4 female characters (can't recall the exact number right now), from which to choose for the general look. After that, you can change the skin color, hair color, add tattoos and accessories, switch clothes and shoes, but most of it is "locked" until you have earned enough points.

The microphone is the same for Boogie Super Star, American Idol and Guitar Hero World Tour, so if you own those, you don't have to buy the bundle and save yourself 7 bucks or so. Unfortunately, the duet in this game only uses 1 microphone so you have to learn to share and be quick in passing it back and forth. So I prefer to go head-to-head by singing solos (one player sings after the other). For 2 players, both must dance or both must sing. There is no option for one person to sign and the other dance. The game is rated for 4 players, but I have yet to find enough courageous people. The limitation of one microphone for duets is the biggest con in my opinion, which is not necessarily a show stopper. Although the cord length was not an issue, I do wish the that the microphone was cordless (everything else is!). I decided to buy a mic stand, so that I can be hands free, especially when I try to play guitar for Guitar Hero (double the challenge!).

Each player needs a remote for the dance competition, no mic and no nunchuck. Yes, you really only need to dance with one hand, the hand holding the remote. The Wii does not know what you are doing with your lower body. It was funny to watch my brother compete with me, standing there with only one hand moving, while I'm truly trying to boogie with arms, legs, booty, and all. With that said, if you put your energy into it, Boogie Super Star does get you off the couch so you can burn some calories if you do it long enough.

This game is good for people who like to sing in the shower as well as the karaoke super stars. Boogie Super Star offers the extra element of dancing, while American Idol focuses on singing. This game also works for people who want to learn some coordination in the privacy of their own home before taking over the dance floor at a local club. Ok, ok, ok, the dance moves in Boogie Super Star don't quite translate to real life dancing, but it still does teach you how to stay on beat. The Wii can tell if you are doing the "Eagle" dance move on tempo (there's a tempo meter which tells you to speed up or slow down). There are 4 basic dance moves and 4 special moves per genre, which come to a total of 16. There are also "combos", which are self-explanatory. Don't worry, a "dance guide" poster is included with the game, which was more helpful than the instructional manual. For more advanced skills, you'll have to attend professional dance classes. I do think it will be quite hilarious if and when I recognize someone using the Boogie Super Star dance moves in real life at a dance club!

There is a dance "academy" feature. You can record your own routine and save it, then use it later during a competition. I found this quite amusing actually when you see your character (you) replay. You really need to know the dance moves by heart at this point to make up a decent routine. Have no fear for the 2-left footed folk, there is a training section. You can learn one dance move at a time and you keep doing it until you have been on tempo (green light) for a set time.

This game is not for serious singing and dancing as opposed to other games, such as American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. There are also 3 judges like that in American Idol, but their commentary is very short and sweet 1-2 liners and can be skipped by pressing the A button. For real-life examples, there are several homemade videos on YouTube if you want to see some people in action. But I find it much more fun and amusing when YOU are the Boogie Super Star! Bottom line: Yes, I'd buy it again.

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I bought this game for my daughter who wants to sing and dance yet is not a gamer and has not had any interest in the Wii. My daughter is still in elementary school and luckily this game is not too mature for her (I censor two songs using the select vs random song selection function). She loves the characters and the cute graphics. Some of the commentators ('judges') can be a little rude yet during the action the game also encourages her to keep trying. I hope there is another song bundle as I am unsure how long it is going to take her to unlock some of the other songs. My son, who is five, even tries as well just because he sees how much fun the girls are having.

In short, she loves it her friends love it too and it keeps them dancing for hours. I enjoy it too because the laughter fills the house.

Best Deals for Boogie Superstar with Microphone - Nintendo Wii

My daughter got this game for Christmas. She loves Hannah Montana and HSM, but was really dissapointed with those singing/dancing games. Boogie Super Star just rocks!!

Someone else has already written about all the different parts of the game, so I will just tell you what we like etc.

The one downside to it is that you have to go in with the name/symbols they give the character you pick. You can go in and change that, but it would be nice to do it from the beginning. However as far as the clothing being locked etc, we wanted to get into playing the game so much that we left them as they came.

The Superstar mode is a blast. You can customize your contest so you can do as much dancing/singing/duets as you want. You can even choose less than three rounds if you want. You can also choose your songs or let them be picked at random. If you choose the random option the game makes sure it does not pick songs that are too easy for you. Once you score high enough it says some songs are too easy and you can still sing them but it assesses a penalty like -0.5 points, etc.

At first we went with the songs we knew, but it was actually more fun to let the computer choose to spice things up and let you learn more of the songs.

Another fun thing you can do is let "vickie" the evil judge, add some glitches while you sing. She will drop bombs on your songs that do things like distort the music, make the pitch markers invisible, take away the music, scribble on top of the lyrics. It doen't last the whole song, but it adds more fun to the contest especially when you still do good in spite of the glitches.

One person said that sometimes the moves don't register with the Wii remote. I found that at first too, but realized the problem was in the way I was doing them. For example, with the "criss cross" dance move, instead of pumping your arms into and out of the move (like it shows) simply move your arms across and away from your body without ever lifting your hands up. One smooth movement. And, with the tornado, instead of going in a circle like the dancer, just swing your arms from one side to the other over your head. The circle causes the delay. If you think of making a smooth movement instead of a jerky one it helps.

I hope this helps someone. I am 30 years old and I love this game more than my kids do, lol!

ETA: after playing for several hours yesterday I woke up with a severe case of vertigo (which I am just prone to) I found out later after attempting to play this game again that it was the scrolling karaoke that caused it. I will play it again, just not until my vertigo goes away again.

Honest reviews on Boogie Superstar with Microphone - Nintendo Wii

Absolutely love this game. I'm not really a game person, but spent all day singing and dancing. Very east to play, even my 5 year old had a blast. Great game for the family.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Boogie Superstar with Microphone - Nintendo Wii

I love this game. I was looking for somethig like American Idol, but with more updated songs, and this was great.

Buy Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $21.97
Today's Bonus: 45% Off

First off, I'm a racer. I've been racing since I got my hands on Test Drive III in 1990. Stunt Driver, that same year... followed by the birth of the NFS series. I bought a PS solely for Gran Turismo. Marathon races baby! Anyway, my point bringing up my past is that we've been racing with keyboards and controllers for over 20 years, wheels are a relatively new thing (unless you count that one that clamped to the desk and you strapped a mouse to it). So take that into consideration when you say, "It's hard, the controller is better!"

That being said... it's actually not. I owned a Fanatec Speedster 3 for the Xbox and the learning curve on the Speed Wheel was much much shorter. I had the Speed Wheel down in under half an hour (although some games I'm still fine tuning it... just to tweak it out)... More like 3 races. Think about how long it took you to learn how to control a car with the analog stick!

The responsiveness of this thing is immaculate. I was greatly impressed. There is ZERO lag. There was a video on youtube I watched before I bought this and it showed like half a second lag... well the dude's editing must have been off, because it's 1 to 1. (in fact... I'm gonna go leave a comment on that guys video telling him it's BS!)

The lack of bumpers? I haven't experienced a game* where this matters (in-game), most games that support the wheel allow remapping of buttons. A few games assign the bumpers to shifting, but since they aren't sims it doesn't really matter. Which brings me to the next section, the games (note: I didn't include most of the sims because they've pretty much been covered in other reviews):

++Grid:

The first game I tried. Performance is incredible and blew me away. It was hard to put it down to continue testing the other games!!! Setup is precise, allows for remapping of buttons and configuration of wheel's: deadzone, saturation and linearity. Allows changing of config IN-GAME (as most Codemasters games, I found out).

--Pure:

Not supported. 180 degree deadzone basically, no bumper for special move, no Y-axis for certain moves.

++FlatOut Ultimate Carnage:

Beautiful integration, full configuration of wheel. Buttons are choice between 2 presets (one assigns gas and brake to bumpers... you don't want that one!) . Small glitch is saturation is very low... I had to turn it all the way up (or down according to the slider) just to get decent handling... but decent is an understatement. Two other very small setbacks include; no in-game config and no rumble feedback.

-NFS Most Wanted (2005):

Not supported. 60 degree dead-zone. 7 different button presets for regular controller.

+NFS Undercover:

Support, no config. Bumpers as shifting. Standard handling is jittery and too sensitive (although it's like that with the controller also, this game is meh)

++NFS Hot Pursuit:

Total button remapping. Uber-decent handling... actually I had sworn this game off as I really disliked how sluggish the controls were using the regular controller. The wheel brought this game back to life for me!

+NFS The Run:

Supported, but no setup. Remappable buttons. Decent standard handling, although sharp corners require lots of twisting.

+Sega Rally Revo:

Supported as Force Feedback Wheel. Only customization is amount of feedback (which I assume translates to rumble). Bumpers assigned to gears. FYI, glitch in game: don't exit a race mid-vibration of the wheel... it won't stop. I started a new race and it went away. I could have also taken the batteries out I suppose. Handling decent, I never liked this game that much though.

--Full Auto:

Dead in the water. Not even recognized as a controller. You need RB to access menu anyway.

+PGR3:

Recognized, but no customization. Sluggish handling and drifting is hard (but possible... I'm sure after an hour I'd have gotten it down).

+PGR4:

Support and 3 button configuration options. That's it. Some sluggishness like in PGR3. 10 degree dead-zone.

+-Burnout Revenge:

No support, and 50 to 60 degree deadzone... however for this game it actually isn't half-bad. It just feels like I'm in the arcade! (btw, after-touch after a crash works with the D-pad)

-Blur:

No support. 45 degree deadzone. Bumpers assigned to either drop or change powerup. Powerups can be fired backward with the D-pad. Not too bad, I'd stick with the controller though.

++Midnight Club: LA:

Support and works well, no wheel config however. Buttons can be remapped. Menus that require bumpers can be navigated with D-pad. Handling impressive!

--Driver SF:

No support. 180 degree dead-zone... assuming you can even get in a car. "Ghost-mode" requires use of Y-axis.

++Sonic & Sega All Stars:

The Mario Kart of the Xbox!!! Take that Wii! Wheel works great (no config aside from vibration). Super fun!

--Cars 2:

No support. 180 degree dead-zone. Crap handling indeed.

--Split/Second:

No support. 180 degree dead-zone. Disney seems to not like the wheel!

+Test Drive Unlimited 2:

Support and auto-recognized... well all the ones that do, do. But in TDU2 you can't get to the controller menu config because you need bumper use (check in the discussions below how to get around that). But it's not that important as the default settings are pretty decent.

--Burnout Paradise:

No support. Need bumpers to access some menus. Dead-zone 50 degrees, not bad for not being recognized... but gameplay still suffers (not like in Revenge).

--Fuel:

Huge dead-zone 180 degrees. Needs bumpers for vital menu nav.

Nail'd, MotoGP and the MX vs. ATV games also don't work.

I'm really really really sad there's no decent off-road arcade game that works with this (I'm not counting Dirt, that's more sim-ish). Excite Truck was one of the few reasons to own a Wii. FlatOut comes the closest... and now with Bugbear developing Ridge Racer Unbounded, I'm curious as to how awesome that will be!

I'll revisit this review later and add NFS Shift 1&2. I've read they are supported but I'd like to know the extent considering the other NFS games don't allow wheel sensitivity settings. I'm only assuming they do since they're sims. In fact I'll add the other sims too just to make this review all encompassing.

F1 2011 is FUN... turning the sensitivity up and zero deadzone and you got a twitchy responsive little zoom-machine of awesome!

BTW... I got this thing earlier today. I'm already leaving a review. That's how awesome it is. I just put in 10+ hours testing all these games so I could leave this review and shut down all the haters as well as inform all the skeptics and anyone curious as to whether or not their favorite game would be supported by it. If you have any questions or if there's a game I might have and forgot to test, leave it in the comments. I'll get at you dawg.

*worthwhile game

P.S. I'm not just some fanboy jumping on the bandwagon of 5-star reviews. If this thing blows up in my hands or something later on down the road... I'll change my rating. Best believe. Till then: 5 solid stars earned.

P.P.S. Another reviewer said something about his arms getting tired... well I lean forward and rest my arms on my knees, not only does that avoid fatigue, but it allows greater accuracy as well.

Edit 3-27-12:

+NFS Shift: Works, buttons not configurable. Steering wheel settings accessible in game menu, (not race menu).

+NFS Shift 2: Works, buttons remappable. Steering wheel settings accessible in game menu via bumpers.

++WRC2: World Rally Champion: Works well, total customization and configuration. (not mid-race)

++Dirt 2: Works beautifully. As previously mentioned, wheel config accessible mid-race. Great for tweaking minor settings and getting it set up just the way you want.

++Dirt 3: Ditto. Despite this being the least impressive of the Dirt series. I need to get my hands on a copy of Dirt 1 again. I miss Rallisport Challenge 2.

++F1 2011: Total support. In-game config of everything. This is where the response of the wheel really shines. I grip the thing so hard when I'm racing the plastic creaks! White-knuckle racing!!!

Edit 4-2-12:

+Ridge Racer: Unbounded: Not recognized but supported. Good standard handling, button config of 2 presets (one assigns stuff to bumpers, one leaves bumpers unassigned). This makes up for the wheel not working in Split/Second and Blur... Way to go Bugbear!

Edit 11-24-12

+ NFS Most Wanted (2012): Works great. No fine tuning of the wheel sensitivity but default settings are pretty nice. Buttons are customizable (except the d-pad, so button assignment is pretty much limited to the 4 buttons and the triggers). EDIT: No Rumblz.

++Forza Horizon: Works awesome and full customization as expected from a Forza title. Bumpers not an issue unless applying decals and painting your car (no biggie). Rumblz.

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I purchased this wheel last night to go along with my new purchase of Forza 4, which I bought at 8AM on the day of it's release. I played Forza 3 since release, and have been a huge competitive player of Forza for some time now, spending much of my time on my Xbox tuning, upgrading and making cars specialized for certain tracks, and most of my lap times are in the top 1%, albeit at the wrong end of it. I'm not trying to brag here, I'll explain in the next paragraph.

All of the reviews I read about this wheel said that it's for "casual" gamers and wouldn't really suit the needs of anyone who's competitive or plays on the Simulation steering selection

Many reviews, including CNET and IGN and others, really made it sound like this wheel isn't for anyone who is serious about forza, and rather illuminated it as if it's a neat little toy for someone who wants to get someone into the game and doesn't race very often, or plays Wii a lot. I want it to make this VERY clear;

THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

This wheel is fantastic, it simply takes some getting used to. The movement of the wheel is 1-to-1 on the screen, meaning that in "cockpit view" in Forza 4, your wheel will turn at the precise time, precise angle, and in the exact velocity that you turn the Speed Wheel.

My first race using it, I wrecked all over the place. I tried to dive right into an un-assisted A-Class race in a '69 Fairlady Z, and it became apparent to me after a few attempts that I'm going to have to re-learn how to play this game. I proceeded to start a hot lap on Infineon Raceway (Sears Point, screw you infineon) in a A class '65 Mustang that loves to drift, and practiced for about an hour. Soon enough my laps got within 2 or 3 seconds of the top in the game. Later, I posted a 1:45.8-on "Star in a reasonably priced car" Top Gear Challenge, faster than several times of my competitive friends who race with controllers. No assists on anything I did.

Conclusion; it's a great wheel, a lot of fun, and makes for some fantastic drifting experiences, throwing the wheel from left to right and back to correct and re-correct... incredibly accurate, fast, and fun. The people who reviewed it didn't spend enough time to get good with it. They played for a few minutes and came to an inaccurate conclusion that didn't reflect the true potential of this fun little controller that makes the Wii Wheel look, and feel, like a joke.

Downside: No left/right bumpers or a slot for your wired microphone. The former is annoying because not all the menus in Forza can be navigated without the LR bumpers, mainly in the Community section and decals/paints. However, I can understand the omission of the wired microphone slot, I can see myself getting frustrated and tangled in the wire of the headset while throwing the wheel around.

Pick it up if you play Forza, practice for a bit, and you'll have a blast.

Race with me! TM SlinkyBlue

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel

My Logitech G27 is great for my PS3 and computer, but unfortunately, it doesn't work with my XBox. I can't/won't race with a thumbstick, so I needed a solution to play Forza 4. I saw the Wireless Speed Wheel at my local electronics store (So-So Buy), and if I bought this wheel and Forza together, I received a $25 gift card. I originally thought you needed the Kinect camera, but the salesperson said I didn't, so I bought it!

I really didn't think I would be happy with the Speed Wheel having been spoiled by my G27, but I was pleasantly surprised by its responsiveness and accuracy. Even the "force feedback" vibration added a sense or realism to the racing experience. I don't write many reviews, but I just had to give this thing 5 stars, which is based on its performance when taking into consideration its price and target market.

Two advantages this wheel has over my G27 is that it's wireless and very portable.

I haven't been able to locate the left and right buttons (it only has left and right triggers as far as I can tell), and I sort of miss those, especially when the Forza 4 menus require them. But that's my only issue so far, and maybe I just need to read the manual.

Thanks Microsoft for building this thing.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel

I have been thinking about getting a serious racing rig which would include a racing wheel with integrated seat and pedals etc. The problem is space and cost ($500-1000). Now, there is no way this wheel would fit in with those plans but it will give you a taste for the next level of racing without much of the cost.

To do that, the Speed Wheel will need to be responsive and precise. This is something that "motion control" has severely lacked. The Wii can barely read gestures correctly, the Kinect is also flaky and laggy, and PS move has similar issues. So, with all this, I was pretty skeptical that a digital motion sensing device could work well for steering controls.

The good news is that motion sensing in the Speed Wheel is in a completely different class the from that on the Wii. The Speed Wheel is both precise and responsive as long as you are playing a game that has good "Advanced Wheel" settings. Games like Forza 3/4, Dirt 3 and a limited number of other car racing games on the Xbox 360. When used with these games, the steering input excellent and as responsive as a standard controller. In Dirt 3, you can (and should) change adjust the sensitivity and linearity depending on the style of driving. For drift heavy events, this can make a big difference. I believe similar settings are available in Forza 3/4 and the wheel probably works even best in Forza 4 since it was pretty much designed for that game. In Forza 4, for example, the lights on the end of the wheel will indicate advanced steering feedback (indicating shift change is needed?).

In initial use, its also unlikely that this device will make you a better driver (much like other racing wheels) because it takes some time to adjust to throwing you hands around to quickly impart opposite lock without loosing all control. But it does feel more real than just flicking a thumb-stick back and forth which is sort of the whole point. Once you learn the basics, your scores will fall back in-line and you may even improve but that will based on your skill not the controller.

One nice improvement on this wheel is the triggers are larger and have a longer and lighter throw. This makes precise throttle and brake control much better than with the standard controllers. The buttons on the right a much smaller than the standard controller and may even be too small for folks with large hands. the D-pad is also a bit smaller than standard but at least it properly oriented up/down to be used for gear changes.

Overall, the motion control of this device is excellent but what about the rest of the package? Well, one minor issue is the lack of bumpers. The reason they left them off is that most games that support advanced wheels don't use them for anything that is not typically mapped to the d-pad like shifting gears. Because you don't have pedals, any LB/RB control would have you lifting off gas/break which is why LB/RB are not often used during racing. However, they forgot that people also need to deal with menus and the LB/RB can also be used for switching settings. You could even use them for linear gear shifts (i.e. paddle shifter) if you use two trigger fingers instead of one. Its possible, if the wheel sells, they could release a 2.0 version that fixed this but I doubt they will have the kind of sales to justify a new production run.

Another issue with this controller is the limited number of games that can be controlled. You might think that arcade racers would also work well. But from what I have seen, that is not always the case. If the game does not have "Advanced Wheel" or support , the steering may have a huge dead-zone (45-90 degrees) and basically make the wheel unusable. And because the controller lacks RB/LB and there's is no way to configure the wheel outside of the games, its nearly impossible to use this controller with many/most arcade racers. You really need the advanced wheel support in-game for this controller to be any good. I did find that this wheel did work surprising well with some arcade racers like NFS Hot Pursuit and Split Second but not with other games like NFS San Francisco or Pure. So, its hit an miss if the game does not support advanced wheels.

I have a bit if a problem with the fact that Microsoft does not supply this list of games along with the Speed Wheel advertising or documentation because anyone buying this for other games will generate and RMA. That is bad for both Microsoft and the consumer.

As far as feedback, the rumble is very light, and it can't give you that kind of feedback you would get from a typical high-end wheel and pedals but you are only spending a fraction of that cost. In Dirt 3, you can turn up the rumble setting to its max which helps quite a bit.

You should really only consider purchasing the Speed Wheel if you are Forza/Dirt fan who wants a different way to play those games. Don't expect to be using this wheel for Driver San Francisco or for driving in GTA 4. But if you really like those games and don't want to get into full racing rig, this is the only game in town. And for that, it succeeds extremely well in what it set out to do.

P.S. I would hope that this kind of precise left right motion control will be built into the next generation Xbox control so that it could be used for more games. I could see this working well for all car games even casual ones. It could also be used for leaning in FPSs etc. Perhaps, this motion control is a test-bed for next gen controller features. I certainly hope it is.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Xbox 360 Wireless Speed Wheel

I got an Xbox 360 and Forza Motorsports 4 for the holidays and being a pretty big racing enthusiast I had to get a steering wheel.

I originally had purchased a different wheel, one with pedals and that clamps to your coffee table (Thrustmaster Ferrari 458 Italia wheel) but I ended up returning it and getting this wireless one instead. And I'm glad I did, here's why:

What I realized in researching steering wheels is that for the most part it's an "all or nothing" proposition. Either you get a dedicated setup with a racing chair, pedals, wheel, etc or else you just play with the standard controller. I have my Xbox setup in the living room and I don't want a wheel permanently displayed like a piece of furniture. Nor do I want wires running all over the place. At the same time, setting up one of those "full on" wheels takes a lot of work and you're unlikely to want to go through the effort just to play a quick game or two. As you can imagine, you have to get it out, hook up the cables, plug it in, clamp it to your table... The other downside to those big setups is that you need a ton of space to store them. Even if it's just a wheel and pedals that clamp to the table, they are still bulky and have a bunch of cables so you need a closet or something to store it in.

So that leaves you with the standard Xbox controller, which frankly, isn't great for racing games. It's OK but not great.

This wireless wheel though is the first thing I've seen that's right in the middle of the standard controller and a full, dedicated racing setup. It's small so it can be stored easily in a drawer and there is no time consuming setup process whenever you want to play. Just turn it on and your ready to go.

Considering that though, I figured it couldn't be very good in terms of gameplay but I was wrong! This wheel far exceeded my expectations. There is a bit of a learning curve associated with it, but the steering response is great and very realistic. The portability, lack of wires, and easy setup make this a winner for me. Note that from what I read online, this wheel was designed in close collaboration with Forza 4, so I suspect that it may have better gameplay with that game than any others.

But there are a couple of cons to be aware of:

When playing on the couch, your arms can get tired holding the wheel up in front of you since it's not mounted to anything. But I find this doesn't happen as much if I play standing up.

As noted in other reviews, it's missing the left and right bumper buttons. Not a big deal for gameplay, but in Forza 4 these are used when applying graphics to the cars and doing some other setup stuff.

Overall, this is a great wheel but I'm only going to give it 4 stars because of the lack of the bumper buttons.