Showing posts with label can u pre order xbox one. Show all posts
Showing posts with label can u pre order xbox one. Show all posts

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Reviews of Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition

Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition Replica - Sunburst
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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I'm an avid RB player with literally 90% of the DLC, and got every official instrument so far, including all three Beatles guitars.

I WAS hoping to get the butterscotch for $100, but since amazon canceled my order due to unavailability, I just went for the sunburst.

The whole body has a matte finish, which is fingerprint-less, which is a nice touch compared to my dust-magnet Beatles guitars.

The buttons are awesome. Almost no click and no fret between buttons. I thought it would throw me off but my muscle memory knew where the buttons were. Might be harder for beginners. Anyway, these things are unbelievable in HOPOs. I was doing Stevie Ray Vaughn songs and crazy solos with ease. Chord changes were also a cinch. Definitely worthwhile if you feel your fingers tripping on a regular controller.

The touch pad works great. any slight touch will trigger it but it's placed just right so your strumming doesn't accidentally touch it. The problem now is whether to tap or wail during alt-strumming parts.

The strum bar is clicky, and it seems to register at the end of the strum instead of the beginning. Not too big a problem unless you strum really lightly. I also found myself breaking combo when wailing during alt-strumming parts. Then again I haven't played Everlong in a while. The alternating O-B while you're holding G part felt smooth though. If you start losing your focus or get lazy it will punish you.

The whammy bar is slick. You have to use your whole hand though, so you can't sneak extra points on every hold. There's a felt piece attached to the bottom so it doesn't scratch your pickguard.

The knob only goes one way for start, which made me think, 'why is there no back button?'

I was ticked that there was no back button, then I realized back was overdrive, so ergo the touch pad was the back button. pretty cool.

Overall, a better body, much better buttons, a more authentic whammy bar, and another useful way to hit overdrive. If you haven't wasted all your money on the Beatles yet, this is a worthy investment in your pursuit of rocking out. I won't recommend this to beginners or casuals. This controller puts your skills to the test, and will reward you if you can handle it.

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I was looking for a bass guitar, but saw this new one by Mad Catz and the sunburst, 'used' look was a selling point for me. The controller has a nice weight to it and fret keys a good feel. The strum bar seem's a bit loose and although a good idea, the 'overdrive' bar is way to sensitive for my liking. It initiates overdrive automatically way to often for my likes (especially when I'm trying to co-ordinate length of it between fellow players). The whammy bar is pretty stiff, but I like it actually. That and I'm starting to detect a squeaking noise with it. But it could be that it's just new and needs to 'settle in'. Overall I like it, but the sensitive overdrive bar is an issue that at times makes me switch to another guitar.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition

In contrary to a prior review, my son and I actually love this peripheral. Yes the strum bar clicks a bit, but it's in no way obtrusive during game play. People complaining about this would likely also complain about the subtle "whirring" noise heard inside the newer rock band 2 guitars from the accelerometer...again something that is unnoticeable during gameplay. And, to clarify further, the whammy bar rotates out of the way just like all other rock band guitars. The spring is more firm, however I wouldn't down grade my review based on this as individual preferences in regard to feel are highly variable I am sure. The half frets are really nice and very responsive. I actually find it easier to move up in difficulty levels using this guitar. The touch sensitive star power/beatlemania activation bar is a nice addition. A simple light brush of the finger is all it takes to activate. You can still tip the guitar or use the plug in overdrive pedal as well. And finally, the aesthetics of this thing are amazing. Its priced a bit higher than original equipment RB2 guitars, but comparable to RB Beatles gear if you were considering those. Of note, Harrison played a real Fender Telecaster as well.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition

I play bass 99% of the time. I have worn out the wired Rock Band guitar that came with Rock Band. I can't get the hang of fingering the back button on the Rock Band wireless. The sunburst telecaster is almost the perfect replacement.

The whammy is not the flimsy, adjustable lever on the Rock Band guitars. You won't be using a rubber band to keep tension (like both of my other guitars).

The strum bar clicks, but since the fret buttons are quiet, you aren't making any more noise strumming than you are fretting on a Rock Band guitar. I do notice I miss occasional notes when quick upstrumming long fast sequences that I didn't miss on the old guitar. This surely has to do with the strum not registering until completely deflected. It should get better as I get used to it.

You can tip or touch the silver bar to overdrive. I have accidentally triggered overdrive several times by inadvertantly touching the bar. I assume I'll get better at it the more I use it.

I never use the solo frets on the old guitar except for the big rock endings. I used to run my fingernails back and forth quickly across all the solo frets to rack up as much as I could. These solo frets, not so much. The hinging makes center pressure on the key ineffective.

The fret keys are the same hinged design as the solo keys. Since I normally finger those, it's not bad like trying to slide back and forth across the solo frets. They will take a little getting used to. It's easier to hammer-on than the old style buttons, but it's harder for me to slide between green and red (index finger position). This probably has to do with the center pressure thing. Once I get used to fingering the edge of the frets as opposed to as far as I can wrap my fingers around the neck, it should get better.

I only rated it 4 stars because I am scoring lower than I used to with the old guitar. In a few weeks, when I've gotten more accustomed to the differences. I will probably feel it's worth the extra star.

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I've been looking for a new guitar controller for awhile now, and thought this one would be perfect. Mad Catz has been making some great accessories for Rock Band lately, so I was very excited to hear about this Fender Replica. Boy...what a HUGE disappointment! First, maybe I'm just used to RB2 guitar's "silent" strum bar, but this one seems extremely hard to press up and down...causing a TON of missed notes. It is NOT silent like the RB2 version...it "clicks" on all notes. But it just doesn't seem responsive at all. Maybe that's the price you pay for getting 3 million "cycles," or whatever it is they claim...but it drove me nuts! Perhaps once you "break it in" it would be better, but $100 is a lot to spend on a controller you have to "break in."

The most glaring design flaw is the Bigsby® whammy tailpiece. This huge contraption extends almost all the way to the strum bar...which means you have rest your palm right on an uncomfortable piece of metal the whole time you're playing. It actually gets painful after awhile. Plus, the whammy bar itself is also extremely hard to push down...it's loaded with some "super spring" that once again just seems unresponsive while you're whammying notes.

The guitar itself looks great...but that's not really the purpose is it? Actually...let me clarify...it looks great WITHOUT the guady "Fender" guitar strap on. This is actually a real strap...but the annyoing white "Fender" printed every 3 inches is horrible. It looks like imitation zebra or something.

Overall, not worth the money in my opinion. The only reason I didn't give it one star is that some people may actually like the "clicking" strum bar, and some may not have issues with the whammy tailpiece, either. The fret buttons are actually excellent...but it doesn't really matter when you can't hit the notes with the strum bar...lol.

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Monday, February 9, 2015

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

Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby True 5.1 Gaming Headset - Powered by TRITTON
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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Tritton set the bar extremely high with this headset. Individual channel controls, braided wiring, highly durable build, crystal clear sound, and a carry case to boot. I originally owned a set of AX 720's, and they are still great, I use those for my computer, and music. You could say, that I could have saved some dough by getting the original AX pro headset, which, after reading some reviews, I shyed away from them due to the display on Amazon showing 2, count em 2 AC adapters. Being in Iraq...I don't have that kind of convenience. So I went for the Black Ops pair, and I am impressed.

Design:

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

Accessories:

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

Set up:

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

Edit: Comfort:

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

Sound Quality:

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

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

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

Movies, hell yeah!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So this is my first review.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Best Xbox 360 Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition Deals

Xbox 360 Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition Replica - Butterscotch
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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I got the Butterscotch colored replica. I had to order it from another vendor because Amazon lists the Butterscotch color as currently unavailable.

If your in the market for a guitar you know how they work so I won't bore you with stuff that isn't different than a stock guitar.

1. The Fret buttons are very nice. They move up and down quickly, are quiet, and are a bit larger than the standard RB2 Strat buttons. I would say maybe 3 or 4 millimeters fatter. Don't get this if your a lefty though as the keys don't surround both sides of the guitar and you would be unable to effectively play if your left handed.

2. The touch overdrive is really nice. I personally chose this guitar for that feature. It is placed above the strum bar rather then below like the GH Guitars. Also it isn't a function button, so you don't have to press it down, just touch. It's really nice for me because I tend to hose things up when trying to tilt into overdrive. Tilt still works, but the touch bar is far superior.

3. The whammy bar is pretty nice. It is solid metal and is adjustable to the side if you prefer. It is tensioned a bit strong by default but you can adjust it via a nut/bolt underneath to your preference.

4. Xbox buttons are placed well and the start/select buttons are a knob now. Pretty cool I thought. Also the whah whah adjuster is vertical now and more out of the way which is nice.

5. The strum bar is a mixed bag for me. It is a "click" bar like the GH guitars so it can be noisy. Also the one I received requires you to bottom out the down strum for a register which is odd. I am going to play with it a bit, it may just need some breaking in. Otherwise the strum is pretty standard fair and works well.

6. Can't say enough nice things about the strap. It's comfortable, easy to adjust, and just overall awesome.

7. Lastly the overall design is nice. The butterscotch color looks really nice and the head has non functional, but movable tuning knobs which is cool. It is a bit thicker than the strat but a hair shorter. I kind of expected it to be longer than the strat but it is not. The Chrome parts look really nice.

Overall I give this 4 stars. It's a nice guitar with some flaws that will be mostly preference to the user. If you have the bones to put down on it, try it out.

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this is 99 bux if you get it at madcatz direct. the seller who priced this at almost 250 bux is ripping you off bigtime.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have always been biased to Guitar Hero and its round notes and buttons not just for the way they look but for the feeling of the BUTTONS. With that in mind this is the best ROCK BAND branded peripheral I have played, the original and its RB2 counterpoint were wishy washy on the strum which had its appeal but also its big disadvantages. Enter this fairly well realized Telecaster Replica from Mad Catz a company who continues to make up for its infamous reliablitity issues of the past. This unit does them proud, I don't know if I like the action on the start button but since it is rarely used it can be ignored unless you PAUSE alot. The switch for effects is much more accessible, the whammy bar feels classy if a little flat at first and it likes to drop like a real one. The shortened length of the square note buttons is good (unless you are going lefty) and they pop right back up but they require a good deal of pressure and you will miss notes until you get used to their strength. The strum bar the all important fake rock tool is also pretty choice, you don't feel like you are going to break it if you rock out, it can take some serious down up motion without jumping and the click is finally there for Rock Band enthusiasts. The body and most of the extras feel cheap but at its core the mechanics are strong and can handle big hands and hard strumming and button presses, the weight is nice a little more realism and heft over the originals and the TOUCH PAD is brilliant making up for the really HIGH star tilt activate these units seem to have.

The Beatles plays nice and tight with this as does the incredibly fun LEGO ROCK BAND which I think is an absolute winner of game. This guitar plays well but might limit your setlist as it requires some finger muscles to work perfectly in HARD and especially expert. A good in between unit if you can't invest in the new WOOD models, heck it even makes ROCK BAND COUNTRY fun, and worked with every game I tried it with except Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Rock Band 3 Wireless Fender Telecaster Player's Edition

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I've never been willing to part with the cash to upgrade my stock Guitar Hero 3 guitar but I'm sure glad Amazon was kind enough to give me the chance to. This guitar is larger, a bit more heavy, but that's a good thing. It's not quite "real" feeling but that's okay, I'm not playing real guitar here and I know that. The fret buttons are much easier to use than the stock guitar because they extend all the way to the edge and you can hit them without stretching your finger up the fret. I found the clicker switch to have a longer "throw" which screwed up my timing quite a bit but after a couple songs I was back to rocking as good as I ever did.

If you love Rock Band, then you'll love this guitar.

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I was really happy to get this as an early Christmas gift. Yes! A pretty-looking Rock Band guitar of my very own! I was really excited. My excitement ceased, however, when I started planning.

Perhaps it was just mine--reading the reviews, it seems like everyone generally enjoys the guitar. The star power button seemed like a great idea to me. I constantly make the joke, "I'm the bass player, I shouldn't rock out," so having something that I can tap mid-strum? Sounds good to me. Come to find out, however, that that is also the back button. This wouldn't be so much of an issue if not for the fact that the D-pad on this thing is terrible, so in order to scroll you're basically required to use the strum bar. The start button too is a bit strange. It took me a while to figure out that you have to twist it until it clicks (being the kind of person I am, I don't like to be too hard on my controllers, so this made me really nervous the first time, since I thought I was going to break it). Another thing of note; the buttons only cover half the fret. Not as big of a problem for me, as I've played guitar before, but my fiance struggled, since he tends to play closer to the edge of the frets. The whammy bar also has a really high tension, which takes some getting used to, but from what I understand it's adjustable (I have not tried it myself).

But the biggest problem? The strum bar. There are times where it simply does not register. This guitar was supposed to replace one with issues, so the last thing I want or need is something with problems out of the box! Again, I may have gotten a defective one, however, the quirks coupled with the fact that it doesn't seem to want to work 100% of the time? Argh, aggravating!

I will be returning this. A pretty face isn't enough for me to keep an inferior product.

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Warlocked Reviews

Warlocked
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
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I think this is the best game for GBC if you are a RTS fan I have ben playing it nonstop for over a week. Basically it is a copy of war craft and/or Age of Kings but with less units, even with les units you dont realy need anyting but Knights and Archers... but calvery would be nice.... At first it may seem too easy but it gets HARD later on ex. killing giant spiders, rescuing wizards with only 2 grunts (grunts can't attack), repelling attacks on your main hall... even though you can only build 3 types of units the MANY different wizards and dragons keep you busy. Once you beat a campaign you think " I'm done" but you still have the other race to play as, plus the army's menu and the wizards will keep you busy ( it seemes that you can never have enough wizards.) also you can fied bonis games will keep you playing like puzles and five card stud. Over all.....BUY IT! It's like having a PC game that you can play any where and keep in you'r pocket!!!!!!!!

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Hi i have been gaming for a while and i enjoy all types, since most reviews afther say the game is awesome or horible, but i will give a fair review.But to start I would like to say i would give this game a 3.5 but there is no half of a star rating, but i felt that the game wasn't good enough to be awared a 4 mark. Warlock is a neat little rts and is fun to play while travling, be sure to bring extra batteries! this game can get addicting, but it's pathetic when you compare it to other rts's like age of empires and startcraft etc. But you have to think. This little pak did pretty well and i enjoyed the game very much. You have to read the manual for a bit and practice the controls for a bit. But once you got those the game becomes easier to understand. The graphics are like 1980 ones but you can make things out, which is really all a games needs to have. Sound is good, and music changes during the battles, so it creates more of a mood. When you selecting on one of your troops (1 of 4 posible types) they give a little grunt that you can hear to know that you selected one. The game is really easy at first but it gets hard, you'll find yourself planning your attacks more carefully. Each game contains wizzards that have special abilities. and everytime you beat a level all your troops,wood and gold are put into a chest called "the War chest", after you completed one races game (there are two Humans [good, can use knights elfin archers and grunts] and Monsters {bad, can use wariors, skeleton archers and goblins]) niether has the any advantages over the other, but i found the humans quest easier then the monsters. Any way i would recomend this game to any one who read this reveiw and wants the game. But you may want to rent it before buying, so you spend less money.

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This is the best gameboy gameboy game I've ever played. The best way to describe it is to say it's a portable Warcraft. The game is as good as Warcraft II except for 3 things:

1.The graphics aren't great.(It's GAMEBOY) 2.There are no tech trees and only 2 buildings you can build. 3.You tell your units to go left and they go all over the map.

Here's the jist of the game: You're either the humans or the weird beast things. both start with a town hall, which builds little guys which are the same as Peons in Warcraft. With them you build a wide varity of buildings (2) which are barraks and gaurd towers. The guard towers look like they are made of toothpicks and shoot arrows which look like toothpicks, the barraks make men. The men are little guys with something sharp that looks like a toothpick and the other are little guts that shoot arrows that look like toothpicks. You can also get mages and stuff later in the game.

I said it allready but this is the best game on gameboy, just watch out for the toothpicks.

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Friday, November 28, 2014

Review of PS2 Energy 2.4GHz Wireless Deluxe Dance Pad 2 in 1

PS2 Energy 2.4GHz Wireless Deluxe Dance Pad 2 in 1
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $35.75
Today's Bonus: 49% Off
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I recently purchased a pair of these after much debate wether or not they would be worth the cost. I purchased them with the SuperNova DDR Game.

First thing I noticed is that the pads' foam is much smaller than most of the wired pads out today not by much but when you start to move you notice the response isn't as good as wired. But I blame this on that the pads need to be broken in abit.

Its is very compatible with the Komani DDR Games BUT if you have Dance Factory from CodeMasters as your game I STRONGLY recommend you do not buy these pads. Why?

When you go through the screen sections the pads act normal, but when you go to actually dance, you get the flip side of this. None of the arrow keys register. Not one.. Only, the outside corner pads register. Now this would not be so fustrating until you realise that even if you try to change the pads layout on the controller via the game it still registers those buttons by its only configuration. Lucky I stil have my wired pads but its a shame I have to keep them around just for this one problem.

So due to that I had to give these a "3" star. If you are not using the Dance Factory game I would give it a 4, but that would be even a high 3 but a low four.

Hopefully codemasters or ddrgame will take a look at this issue for their next gen of thier products and figure out where they went wrong.

Still with the freedom you have for the pads been wireless and the cost it can be worth the buy. Just be cautious of its limitation.

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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Cheap Final Stretch-Horse Racing Sim - PC

Final Stretch-Horse Racing Sim - PC
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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This game wasn't quite what I was expecting, but now that I have figured it out I am really enjoying it!

The basic idea of the game is centered around horse racing. You have three options: You can be a stable manager, a jockey, or a better. If you choose stable manager, you actually can do all three!

I've found the jockey option to be quite maddening. It drove me absolutely crazy. I rode horses in about a hundred races and finished dead last, or second to last every single time. I tried every strategy I could come up with and could not even ONCE win a race with any horse I tried. And that was on easy level! I think this portion of the game needs serious work it's way too difficult.

The betting portion is just "ok." You can bet on horses when you're playing the stable manager version as well, so I don't see the fun in playing where you JUST bet. Especially since sometimes it seems completely random which horse wins a race (maybe like real life .. heh!).

The stable manager version is where it gets fun. While it has some serious downfalls, now that I've figured it out I've been having a fantastic time. When you're a stable manager you get to hire staff, build up your stable (buy and improve your buildings), buy and train horses, board other people's horses for cash. You can also go to auctions and buy horses as well as breed and race your own horses.

I'll talk about the cons first.

STAFF: Basically you have no control over your staff. You can hire them, give them raises, and that's about it. You also can choose which Lad works with which horse. I was hoping for more control over staff, and for the staff you have to make a bigger difference.

INCOME: At the start of the game, it is VERY difficult to balance your income and expenditures. I "lost" the game at least 3 times because I ran out of money. The only ways to make money are 1) race 2) sell a horse and 3) boarding. Once you get in to the game and get some international level horses, racing brings in a LOT of cash. In the beginning though, you only will get $2000-$10000 per race if you WIN (which is hard) and you have to subtract from that the fee to enter the race and the jockey fee. Selling a horse is an option, but in the beginning you may have one or two horses... so selling isn't really an option. The last way to get income is boarding, which hardly covers your expenses. For the first hour I played I basically just clicked "next week" dozens of times trying to make enough money from my boarders to afford a new horse (since I had sold mine to pay off my negative bank balance and have an extra stall to board). I think that there are some serious issues with money making in the beginning, and once you get nice horses it becomes too easy to make money.

NO TUTORIAL: This game isn't easy to figure out. The manual is horrible, there is no tutorial and when you hover over a button, there is no indication of what it does. I had to learn by trial and error.

PRACTICALLY NO GRAPHICS: The only time there are any graphics is during a horse race. Even then, it's kind of boring. Every horse looks exactly the same (different colors, same exact body/movement).

HORSES DIE YOUNG: My horses tend to die at age 14-15. In real life, it's normal for horses to live well past 20! I currently own a horse that is 23 and still going strong!

Ok, so those are all the bad things. There are plenty of good things too else I wouldn't have given this game four stars!

Once you get lucky enough to have an upper level (national/international) race horse, money comes easily and you can afford to buy more horses and rely less on boarding for income. An average purse in an international race is $500,000-$1,000,000!

I've been having a LOT of fun breeding my horses, training and racing them. It's become quite addicting! The training part of the game is fun. You get to pick which activity you want your horse to do each week, and you have to pick well to optimize your horse so that he is in top form and healthy for the race, yet still has the speed and stamina to do well.

People who like games that are heavy in graphics will probably not enjoy this game. This game is mostly text! I occasionally watch my horses race, but normally I skip the race and go right to the results. For those who enjoy text games, and also those who enjoy horse racing and strategy games, this game is a lot of fun! You just have to get past the awkward trial and error learning stage and then the game becomes addicting and incredibly fun!

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This game allows you to manage a stable, jockey the horses and bet or do any one of these things. Even on the easiest level, it is very difficult to make money at the beginning, though it becomes very easy once you have some good horses. There is sort of a critical mass situation, which is a problem in many other "economic" games (you have to have money to make money but then it becomes almost too easy). I have to admit to having to resort to some "creative" reloads after certain races or if the horse suddenly becomes ill right before the race you have been training so long for (which they often do, despite all your health management).

It's nice to be able to control the breeding and training and management of the horses as that seems to get left out of most horse racing sims. You can actually see your horses improving as a result of your training priorities. This is much more intricate than other games of its type, but there are still some limitations.

1. The jockey program is very hard to figure out, even on "easy" mode. I had more luck racing halfway well with the standardbreds than the throroughbreds, perhaps because they are slower paced...My ability to estimate how well my horse is doing , my reaction times and my ability to keep an eye on the screen while adjusting the buttons for speed and steering etc. are not as good as the computer's, obviously. I just can't seem to figure the best time to consistently hit the accelerator coming out of the gate (the computer always gets it right) and so nearly always break last, regardless of the horse's stats.

2. You are forced to rise to the level of your incompetence, in that you do not (as you would in ral life) have the option of staying at a level where you are doing well but not outclassing everyone. Once your horse has a certain amount of money, they MUST move up in class, even if they are outclassed at that level. You can never move down in class. Also, some of the race options are bizarre. There don't seem to be any races for two year olds (makes it hard to move your horse up to G1 class by the first week in May for the kentucky derby). And you can "accidentally" enter your flat racer in a steeplechase. And there are mounted trotting races (ow). Very odd. Not bad, but not super realistic.

3. These other things are minor issues, though. The main issue is that there is not a real goal in the game besides making money and becoming famous. There are tons of races of different lengths and on different surfaces. So you finally get to a point in the game where you have several good horses and you are famous and making tons of money and have upgraded your farm to the highest level in everything, and you are at that "what now?" stage. If they ever come out with a new version of this, having some kind of championship (perhaps invitational for different lengths, surfaces, genders, ages etc.) akin to the breeder's cup races and maybe a 3 year old "triple crown" for each nation and perhaps "horse of the year" awards and "halls of fame" would be a nice addition. Maybe an international championship too. I mostly follow U.S. racing, and very few of even the best horses from the U.S. go overseas to race (maybe because our purses are richest), but if international is going to be part of the game, maybe some world "breeder's" cup that is in a different place every year or something would be nice. Maybe they also should consider having races that correspond more closely to real races in terms of their rules for entry, at least at the G1 level. It seems odd that I can enter a 5 year old male horse in the "brader's cup filly". It's also a bit strange that horses continue to race after they have foals. Maybe it's different in Europe, but in the U.S. horses are always retired once they become breeders. Choosing whether to risk the health of a possible good breeder by keeping it on the track for another year versus retiring a proven winner (who may turn out to be a dud, or even sterile, at stud) is part of the game in real life.

I don't go im for online games, because of all the conneting, politics and coordinating that's needed with other players don't appeal to me, so maybe there's more to it if you play it on line against other humans?

Still, it's much better than other PC horse racing sims I've seen that mostly focus on just the betting and racing aspects of the sports and not the actual stable management, breeding and training. The graphics and simulations of what happens during the races are quite good and being able to upgrade your stable facilities and hire different staff is a nice touch.

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Be warned: this is not your typical "tycoon" or management game, nor is it for people who only have a passing interest in horse racing. It is very dry and in depth, but you can learn a lot of things if you are willing to give it a lot of time and effort. Did I mention most of the game takes place in a planner screen?

Horse racing manager started out by surprising me there were 3 modes of play. Betting, Racing and Stable. In Stable mode you are put in charge of managing every little nuance of the stable. In this mode you also get opportunities to bet at any races that come up as well as having the racing option. Whenever your horse is entered in a race, you have the choice of watching, going straight to the results, or racing the horse yourself. Of course the jockey you choose to sit on the horse, specifically their temperament (harsh, gentle, strict etc) has a lot to say. This is the only part of the game that has actual moving graphics. The learning curve for racing is fairly high, learning how to balance endurance and speed and positioning, as well as picking one of three things your jockey should focus on: Wind protection, whipping, and regaining energy to whip. Not to mention the days and weeks of training to help your horse have a greater chance to win. But just like real life, sometimes lady luck throws you for a spiral. A victory is never assured.

To greater or lesser extents you can manage the training, breeding, gambling, racing and management parts of the game, but only through management methods. You pick out tasks and make decisions from your planner book. You never actually get to see your horse being fed or trained nor your employees performing any of their tasks. It's all done through numbers and directions. You can buy about 6 buildings on the building map, and 3 levels of each type. A pretty boring and basic map with little points of colour and shapes where different buildings are. The various buildings increase different things such as training time, horse nutrition, fame etc. Some buildings become available only after you've built others. What you can build is also dependent on what country and stable you purchased at the beginning (difficulty level, weather conditions, types of racing etc is determined by which site you choose),

There is an amazing amount of detail that has gone into the information and numbers part of the game. This can actually get confusing and makes the learning curve even higher. The tutorial is basically one of the read and click variety which doesn't help out the difficulty. It is quite a simulator, but I am left with the feeling that it could have been more FUN somehow. The game is rather like looking at a horseracing magazine with the long lists of numbers and breeding etc, and the learning curve is high. Graphics are practically non-existent and the sound is mediocre. It is by no means a bad game, but be prepared for some seriously heavy management and lots of time to learn the game. A great idea, very dry implementation, but I hope to see more to come in this sub genre of simulators.

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If you're just a horse lover who isn't into way high tech games, then this is really fun. It's not very interactive though. For building a stable, that's kinda a lie, you really pick a structure and press build. The racing part is fun, but frustrating at first. No matter what you do you almost always come in last. (my record is third to last right now.) You do, however get to buy horses and breed them. Then, when you want to race your horse, (not in jockey mode) always look at your horse's prefances. Oh yeah, and get expensive horses and press sim, because that will get you more money in the end.

You can call a dietician for your horse too, but they do all the work so there's really no point. And training too, if you want to get the most out of this use a lad. All you do though is pick how you want your horse to be trained and press ok. There are three modes of this game.stable manager, which is the funnest, but you run out of money really quick and have to quit. Jocky, where it can be frustrating to get any higher than 16th place (unless you sim, then you will probably come in firt, but it is not as much fun.). And Bet mode, where you watch the races and bet on horses I think, but you can do that in the other modes to so, once again...pointless.

In short if you love horse, and love a good challange, and arn't likly to thow shoes at the computer screen if you don't win, then this game is a lot of fun.

P.S. I never did throw a shoe at the computer screen if your wondering.

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This was some incredible design job and the graphics are truly incredible as are the sounds and sights. Its like a virtual reality day at the Races.

The only slight drawback to this game is that even when you select a race in the USA, all the races arr in Euro distances and measurements, making it tough for many of us to be sure of the distance.

However that said, this game is complete in every other way and a must buy for the Horse Racing fan.

I would tell the programmers of this one to go back to the start phase and make a USA Version of the game and use American Tracks, and this one will sell like hotcakes ! If it is not doing so already.

Best Regards to All, MC TheStickRules.Com

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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Reviews of Gold/Purple Xbox 360 Modded Controller (Rapid Fire) COD Ghosts

Gold/Purple Xbox 360 Modded Controller COD Ghosts, MW3, Black Ops 2, MW2, MOD GAMEPAD
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
List Price: $139.99
Sale Price: $89.99
Today's Bonus: 36% Off
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This transaction was a disaster. We paid $100 for a modded controller. They lost the product. It never arrived. When I complained they sent another one, but it was not the correct controller. And because I'm not a gamer I didn't realize it. My son did on Christmas morning and he was crestfallen. So he tried to buck up and use the replacement. It turned on and then off and then on and then off intermittently. Then it stopped working altogether. I've called and called and emailed GeniusMods and they don't pick up, or their message system is filled. I've emailed them my order number and asked for a return shipment sticker. But nothing. No answer. I'll never buy anything from them again and am happy to tell everyone I know who's a gamer to stay away from them. What a bummer. My son is still upset about it.

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Controller would disconnect on occasion. I use an oem battery pack and I have not had any issues since. Aside from that the controller is beautiful.

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I was a sucker for the gold and purple combo. I mean what else screams royalty than gold and purple? Okay that sounds REALLY corny but you can't say that wasn't your initial impression after seeing this controller too..

I was really happy with the controller, it came so fast and was brand new, still sealed in the package. I was afraid of the gold looking cheesy and gaudy but it looks great in person. Very reflective and definitely something that grabs attention. All my friends are jealous when they are over to play Xbox.

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I was a little concerned about buying this controller as some of the other reviews made this seem like a poor product, but was not at all disappointed! it looks just like in the picture. However, there is NOT a button on the back. You use the sync button on the controller to do the mods. the gold looks perfect so far no peeling after 3 weeks of constant play. Very good controller over all! I have also bought and recommend custom controller parts from this seller as they are very good.

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the controller works great and looks so cool, i would buy another again for my brother. controller was deff worth the money.

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Monday, November 3, 2014

Review of Universal PS2 to PS3 Controller Adaptor

Universal PS2 to PS3 Controller Adaptor
Customer Ratings: 3.5 stars
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I bought this adapter because I own a pretty big collection of PS2 games, and I already put away my PS2 for extra space. What am I going to use it for? Very niche titles that few of you will care.

First, obvious compatibility that most will care about is the Guitar Hero guitars for GH3 and RB. They work. Not 100%, but work. However don't expect it to work again on future GH titles since Activion is a money hungry-portholic-jackass and probably will change their game codes so this adapter won't work. Who knows?

Second, dual shock 2 also works well for PS2 and PS3 games. No tilting for sixaxis-supported PS3 titles, obviously.

Ok so the first and second part of my review are obvious ones that everyone else already talked about. My main test subjects for this review are

Taiko Drummaster, Beatmania, Pump it up, DDR, Tekken arcade stick, Street Fighter 15th anniversary controller by Nubytech, and Saturn PS2 controller.

Taiko Drummaster-Game only recognizes the drum as the dualshock2 controller. What this means is that you can't use the drum to navigate the menu, but WILL work once the song starts. All I could do was to use the controller, pick a song, pause, and then switch back to drum in order to play the game.

Beatmania-Game has an option to choose either controller or turntable controller. I pick turntable, and the controller works perfectly fine.

Pump it up-It works well

DDR-DOES NOT WORK. If it works, there might be lags. Sorry for the confusion.

Tekken arcade stick-It works, but I read somewhere that there are few millisecond lags for joystick inputs. Doesn't affect average Tekken/VF player like me, but experts might.

SF 15th anniversary edition controller pad by Nubytech-Tested with SF Anniversary Collection, and it works fine.

Saturn PS2 controller-My main reason for buying the converter was to use this controller for my fighting games like KoF and SF on my PS3. It was bit of a gamble since this controller is an import, but to my surprise it WORKS!!!

In conclusion, this converter does a pretty good job of letting you use most of the PS2 controllers for PS2/PS3 games on PS3.

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This converter worked fine until I've updated my system to 2.7. Now it's nothing more than paper weight. Good thing I didn't update my system while this thing was plugged in! I hear a lot of people bricked their PS3's and had to FORMAT all their saved games...

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As another poster has mentioned, a newer PS2 controller revision H does not appear to work at all. I found an older controller, and that worked, except that R2 didn't work for a driving game, so that is limiting. I also have a Logitech wireless controller, and that seemed to work perfectly! This was all with system version 2.60.

Note that I'm not using it for one of it's biggest features, using the PS2 guitar controllers.

I upgraded the PS3 system software to version 2.70, and now the TAC adapter locks up my PS3 when I plug it in, as a previous reviewer mentioned. (Also, as that previous poster mentioned, do not have this adapter plugged in while updating the system software!) So, it looks like it won't work at all, now. Until updating the system software, it looked like it was going to be good enough, as I'd just use it with the Logitech controller, but this seems like a real problem.

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Works perfectly (so far). Star power even works like it is supposed to.

Some of the other reviews said that you had to use the select button, but

this is not true--at least with MY guitar (Gibson). My wife said that she

thinks there may be a small lag, but I cant say that I have noticed it.

If you bought a 80gb PS3 like I did--and have been tearing your hair out

because the console will PLAY your old Guitar Hero games but your guitar

doesnt work--then this is your salvation :)

TAC deserves some kind of award for creating something that Sony should

have built INTO the 80gb PS3 if they were going to claim

'backward compatability' for the Guitar Hero Series; Who wants to play

GUITAR HERO with a controller?

*NOTE: You may need to reassign controller IDs so that you have an empty

slot for 1A (thats where your guitar needs to be located). You will also

need to keep a normal controller handy, as you will need it to exit the

games (PS2 guitars dont have the nifty little PS3 button).

Rock On!

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I'm guessing that most people are interested in this item for the same reason I was: to play PS3 Rock Band with a PS2 Guitar Hero controller. To cut to the chase, I plugged it in and it worked perfectly.

As a side note, I've been letting my 2-year-old play with the PS2 GH guitar for a while now, and it still works. Good luck trying that with the Rock Band guitar. :)

I also used it to play Guitar Hero 1 for the PS2 on my PS3 (note that it's a 60GB PS3, which is hardware-compatible with PS2 games). It worked, but it initially recognized the guitar as controller #2, even though I turned on the console by inserting the game disc and didn't activate my PS3 controller. It was seeing the BD/DVD remote as controller #1. I pressed the PS3 button on the remote and changed it to controller #2, and presto, the guitar became controller #1 and worked fine.

There are only two minor issues that kept me from awarding this five stars:

1. The controller number LEDs don't work. (The connection LED does.) I don't care enough to mail it back for a replacement.

2. The included documentation is feeble. I had to check the online FAQ to figure out why GH1 wasn't working at first. The information in the package should have been more clear.

So, to sum up, the doc is poor and the build quality may be questionable, but the product does what it's supposed to and does it very well.

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Friday, October 31, 2014

Buy Universal Game System RF Adapter

Universal Game System RF Adapter
Customer Ratings: 3.5 stars
List Price: $99.99
Sale Price: $2.99
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This adaptor is supposed to work for several systems, including XBox, Gamecube, N64 and others (where is the Dreamcast inclusion)? Hooking this up to either a N64 or Playstation (original) makes it sound horrible. It sounds like static while the game is running. It is so bad that you can not coherently hear voices or music, it all sounds very scratchy. Without the clean sound, obviously, some games are completely unplayable. I am sure it likely works that way with other systems, too. Do not be fooled by the price. Please just buy a first party rf cord for each console of your choice.

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Ok i got this item but when you put an n64 system on the adapter and you turn the system on, it takes like 5 seconds for the screen to come up. After that the sound quality is very poor. I dont know about other systems but on n64 it dosent seem to work very good.

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For the original XBox hook up it works great. No lines or blurring in the picture on the television. Thanks!

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great product.. Thought the system was trash since it is old but was able to restore it with this product thanks

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I actually disagree with the 2 reviewers on it not working for the n64 I have used this adaptor for my N64 on Zelda and Harvest Moon 64 and haven't had a problem hearing the music, sound, or voices. Also it is a very good adaptor and I am considering buying another one since you can switch between systems since I own a Cube, a Ps2, and a N64 and it does come in handy because my nephew comes out with a game for either the Gamecube or the Ps2 each weekend and thanks to this adaptor I don't have to pull out the av cords or a single adaptor for each system. In my opinion this is probably the best adaptor on the market for the old systems now I don't know if it will work for the Ps3 yet since I haven't tested it yet.

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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Best Sega Classics Collection - PlayStation 2 Deals

Sega Classics Collection - PlayStation 2
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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At first glance, this Sega Classics Collection appears to be a great buy for it's price. The packaging states that classic Sega games from yesteryear such as Golden Axe, Alien Syndrome, Space Harrier, Outrun, Columns, Fantasy Zone, Virtua Racing, Monaco GP, Tant R, and Bonanza Bros are here, but these games hardly resemble the classic favorites from Sega's heydays. Maybe that's because the games are supposedly "remastered" with different graphics, sound, and music; and none of it is for the better at all. The graphics on all of the games look like polygonal messes, the music is atrocious, there's way too many load screens, and plenty of more gripes that are too many to mention here. Space Harrier isn't challenging here, Golden Axe is annoying with some just plain bad hit detection, and the racing games are almost uncontrolable. If you have fond memories of the aforementioned games, avoid this at all costs, and others who may be looking to pick this up, be warned: these are not the classic games the way you remember them. Sega usually has a good history track with classic game compilations (the various Smash Pack volumes for example), and why they would try something like this now is just mind boggling. Avoid at all costs.

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Yes, unlike similar compilations by Midway, Taito, etc, most of these games are remakes, and a bit challenging (I couldn't get used to the "new" Golden Axe, for starters). However, both Virtua Racing and OutRun seem to have made it relatively unchanged (though there must have been licensing issues over OR, since the familiar Ferrari has been replaced by a larger car that looks out of place, IMO), as did Space Harrier, so that's a redeeming factor. My take? If you like the new and different, it's worth picking up, but if you're looking for actual arcade ports, better try some other compilation.

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These games are REMAKES of arcade games. The remakes are WORSE than the original, especially Golden Axe! The only decent game is Space Harrier and Out Run.

Overall DON'T buy this game. I recommend Capcom Classics Collection, Midway Arcade Treasures 1, then Namco 50th Anniversary Collection.

Dear SEGA: Why not make a collection of true original Sega arcade hits. Game like Altered Beast, Shinobi, After Burner, Metal Slug, Zaxxon, Frogger, Choplifter, Planet Harrier, Golden Axe, etc.... Alex the Kidd, Phantasy Stars from Sega consoles. The fun brawler similar to Kung-Fu Master from the Sega Master System.

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With the exception of Virtua Racing and Columns, these are all "remastered" editions of the listed Sega arcade classics. I'm giving 3 stars because I absolutley love Virtua Racing; it was the only reason for me to purchase this collection.

V.R. is nearly a perfect translation. In fact, they have gone a step further by incorporating some anti-aliasing and realtime lighting...the result is astonishing (be sure to check out the photos I uploaded!). The only downfall is that the controls are a little touchy and the driver animation is inaccurate while playing in first person mode (the on-screen steering wheel barely turns at full steer). Otherwise, this is very close to the original arcade, Yu Suzuki classic.

If you're not into V.R. however, pass this up. Hopefully Sega will soon wise up and "open their vault" of arcade classics. It amazes me that they have not done so in light of the success of classic compilations from Midway, Capcom, etc.

Come on, Sega!

Edit 03/04/2008: I decided to give Alien Syndrome another try since I had a second player to play it with. This game is considerably more fun to play with a second player than playing alone. The controls are very similar to Smash TV and Robotron; both analog sticks are utilized. My only complaint is that you can only shoot in eight directions despite using the analog stick. This collection is now a good buy at under $10.00 along with both Alien Syndrome and Virtua Racing.

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I had the urge to play some classic games and purchased this thinking that it would be a collection of original arcade classics, however on playing the games on the disc, they are remastered versions of the originals. Some are good remakes, outrun being particularly impressive but far too east. Space Harrier also has done well from the face lift and Alien Syndrome. However the others are not great by any means i have to agree with one reviewer that Golden Axe is Awful! Bonanza Brothers is ok. The only real original looking and feeling game was the VR racing which bought back some childhood memories. This collection is not that bad and at $20 it isnt ripping you off..but you can go to target and they are selling them for $9.99, at that price it qould be a bargin.

Look at other classic hit titles before buying this one!

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Sunday, September 21, 2014

Discount Fable 2 Platinum Hits -Xbox 360

Fable 2 Platinum Hits -Xbox 360
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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Let me be the first to say that this is not a game for the casual gamer who wants to just pick something up and button mash. It's a mix of action & role playing with an added twist...moral consequences for your actions. Meet people, find treasure, start a family, gain power, customize your appearance, learn new abilities, become loved as a hero or feared as a villian....there are limitless variables which accompany the main storyline. Granted I didn't play Fable on the original XBOX, but I've never played anything quite like this. I really like the fact that despite the games complexity, you don't need a strategy guide....things are intuitive and the game will lead you in the right direction (using the "golden trail".

I'd guess I'm currently over halfway through the main quest. I have maintained a fairly moral path. I look forward to playing the game through again making immoral choices and gaining renown through villiany. Yes, I haven't completed the game yet and am looking forward to playing again.....high replay value IMO.

The Platinum Hits edition comes with both expansions, which make it the best value for someone who doesn't own a previous release of the game. This one has been worth every penny.

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Fable II for those who don't know is an Xbox only open world RPG which sends the player through the beautiful peaceful yet corrupt kingdom of Albion.

For starts the Game play is very fluid yet youll have to get used to it.

unlike most RPG titles your character does not "level up" , but instead using another system of doing so.

after killing any kind of target victim in the game they will leave behind orbs of experience which you must accumulate by holding RT.

Experience is divided into four categories : Strength , General , Will , And Skill. Strength improves the usage of any melee weapon , Skill improves the usage of any range weapon , will improves use of magic , while general helps with all kinds of combat.

skill and strength experience is used to buy new kinds of talents for melee and ranged weapons while will XP will be used to buy new magic talents , any kind of talent has more than one level.

Combat being a big aspect of the game if your traveling is pretty simple and straight forward.

the X button stands as your melee attack which if mashed continuously your character will perform basic swinging attacks , The Y button stands as your ranged attack , Hold or press B to use Will (magic).

like most RPG games Fable will have a line of main quest along with many optional side quest.

one major aspect of fable is the simulation of true life in the game think "The Sims" meets W.O.W.

For starters your player has an expression wheel ranging from Social , Fun , Flirty (not available when interacting with children) , Scary , and insulting which will affect how people look at you make some hate you others love you , expressions can be used during any point of the game.

your character will also be able to become fat or stay physically fit by eating certain kinds of foods (Steak pies against tofu fish celery) being fat will make you appear ugly to most people making it harder for them to like you.

through use of the right expressions your character can fall in love with another one which you can marry and start a family...which will involve SEX pretty simple don't wear a condom you might get an std or get your wife pregnant so for the sake of my character i always use a condom.

lastly the graphics of this game have their own look almost makes you think of Shrek cgi while the graphics are very good they still have a less realistic cartoonish side that makes the game look awesome.

the world of Albion while very beautiful and rich..i never had the ambition to explore it freely as i would in fallout or elder scrolls

overall this game is well worth twenty dollars and is an awesome addition to anyones 360 collection I would highly recommend buying this whether or not you have or haven't played the first one.

P.S. hope i wasn't to boring!

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Pros: To start with the game is beutiful. the style is the closest you will get to playing a charles dickens novel. and except for the abrupt ending the game has a pretty great story that manages to hook you in the beginning take into account your actions through the game. the way your characters appearance changes based on how you fight, moral choices, the type of food you eat is pretty awsome.

Cons: secrets tend to hide worthless items. Money is so easy to come by that you won't struggle buying anything, and vendor equipment is typically better than the legendary equipment you find out in the world. bassically the game gives you all kinds of optional puzzles to solve, but all they give you for finding and completing them is a Pie or a gold necklace. The game is short for an RPG.

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The title of the review says it all, Fable II was a massive achievement for the Xbox 360 community in many ways more than just a few improvements. This is a must have action/adventure game that deserves more than it has earned(pertaining to the retarded 4 star rating this game has gotten on Amazon.)

And before anybody gets their pantys in a wad, let me clarify something; This is NOT an RPG(Role Playing Game)

It may be listed under the RPG genre category, but in order to not be let down by the pedestaled expectations that everyone had for this game in 2008; you have to think of this game as an Action/Adventure with some RPG elements sprinkled on top.

But enough of the Yada Yada's. Once again, lets get into the meat & potatoes.(No spoilers)

Graphics: 10/10

Let me just say, that out of all the games I have played in my life, not one oozes style as much as Fable II does.

This game is absolutely gorgeous, from the lush grass in the fields of Albion, to the creatures & enemies that roam the lands. This is one of the many upgrades that has improved from the original game ten fold.

Combat/Gameplay: 9/10

Melee: The melee system has greatly improved in my opinion. less clunky, more swift & agile like movements than the previous games combat system. Augments to improve your weapons also make a return from Fable.

Range: Range combat has a few new additions to the weapon selection. Bow & Arrows have been scrapped and replaced with Firearms, rangeing from Pistols, Turret Rifles & Muskets. Crossbows however have made a fully upgraded return from the original game.

Magic: The magic is the most improved out of the three combat category's in my opinion. Personally, I rarely used magic besides the healing power in the original Fable. But in Fable II, They made it so magic was actully useful and not a chore to use regularly in combat.

Story/Plot: 9/10

The original Fable's plot and inspiration was based off of folklore & fairtytale story's.(hence the name Fable)

Fable 2's story is based off of the period when technology was beginning to take off, a.k.a Then Industrial revolution. This period is known as the Age of Enlightenment.

Familiar towns from the original game have erected into full fledged cities & community's.

The story however, Doesnt have the mystic & enchanting feeling as the original game had. This is not necessarily a bad thing, this is just a different direction of storytelling LionHead has come up with. Instead of the abundance of cutscenes as seen in Fable 1, Fable 2 barely has any. Example: if your having a plot related conversation with a character, you have the ability to skip the dialogue or spin around your Hero, making the game feel less restricted.

The plot starts out fresh and keeps a steady flow of Drama, Action & a sense of exploration throughout the entire game. With the exception of the lackluster ending, which can be overlooked due to the many side quests that are available along with the up to par DLC's available on this version of Fable II. Above all else, a well rounded & entertaining plot and story.

Music/Sounds: 9/10

The legendary Danny Elfman makes a return as the orchestrator of the games soundtrack. The music fits the game like a glove and adds atmosphere to the beautiful lands of Albion. My only grief I have towards the games music is that it can get repetitive at times. I also found myself longing for Fable 1's music truthfully. I don't know what it is but, I found the soundtrack from the original game to be less repetitive to the ears.(my opinion)

Voice Acting: 9/10

The voice acting this time around has been slightly improved, The story driven characters give top notch performances. The citizens voice work however, have been completely upgraded but can get really tiring & old after hearing them a thousand times. And all male & female citizens seem to sound the same depending on their genders. Nontheless a great improvement.

Co-Op/Multiplayer 4/10

And this is where the one big issue of the game comes into play. The awful, awful nauseating co-op mode.

We were promised a well balanced story we could share with a friend. Invite him/her into our world and shape it the way we wanted......Well we got the well balanced story, but what we didn't get is a well balanced co-op mode. The guest in your world is forced to select Pre-set characters, allowing only the host to show off his Hero. And the main issue with the mode is the camera angle. The guest has no camera angle, the host has complete control over what the guest can see and where he/her can travel to. Only allowing about 10 feet of separation from each other before an invisible wall pops up.

Replay Value: High

Game Size: 10/10

The map size has been confirmed to be 10 times bigger than the original game's.

if you want a game to roam and wander, this is your kind of game.

THIS IS A WARNING: If you are confused about which version of Fable II to buy, It is in yours and your wallets best interest to buy Fable II Platinum Hits edition. Or you'll be forced to spend extra money on the games Downloadable Content. Below are the names of the DLC's that come on the disc, not a code on a piece of paper next to the instruction guide; actual on disc content.

1. Knothole Island: a well sized plot extension w/ tons of extra content.

2. See the future: Also a well sized plot extension w/ tons of content. But you are given a small sneak peek to the plot of Fable III.

Fable II is a gorgeous & entertaining game that deserves more recognition then it has been given since its release date. Whatever problems the original game suffered, Lionhead has made it a goal to improve those issues and more. Aside from the Co-op issues, This game is a must have for anybody who likes games that make them feel in control of the world they're exploring.

I rate this game a 5/5

And it remains one of my favorite Xbox 360 games of all time.

Thanks for reading.

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To put things concisely I loved the look and feel of Fable II and enjoyed the moderate complexity of the combat but was a bit disappointed by the role playing aspect.

Looks. Goodness is Fable II beautiful. The scenery and buildings are gorgeous. The lighting and change of light throughout the day and in different weather is amazing. The whole experience is stunningly atmospheric. The npc's and enemies are fairly diverse though more variation in facial features (particularly of the female characters which don't benefit from the wide assortment of facial hair varieties) would be nice. As for customizing your own character, Fable II rocks. Furthermore your character's looks change based on what skills you develop and how you behave. Brilliant. It's a little annoying that getting stronger just means getting huge rather than getting more cut and lean muscle and regardless of whether you play a male or female character, but overall this is a really innovative and fun feature.

Combat is fun. I'm not a big video game combat junky and I don't like to have to carefully aim or time everything I do in order to survive a fight. If you like that you have the opportunity to focus on skills that allow it, however. I, on the other hand, enjoyed using easily targeted or area effect will (magic) combat. Overall it's rather satisfying.

Then there is the RPG element. Granted, it's the best I've seen other than Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but those two games seem to blow every other RPG out of the water as far as interactive storytelling goes. Those RPG's feel like a video game choose your own adventure novel. You get to actually have conversations with people and the choices you make can have a huge effect on how people treat you and how the game plays out. I was hoping for something similar with Fable II and didn't get it. I guess that is the difference in what I'd term a 4 star and a 5 star RPG. Certainly worth playing nonetheless.

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Saturday, September 20, 2014

Reviews of Panzer Elite - PC

Panzer Elite - PC
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
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Panzer Elite is the game I have been searching for years. I have been playing tank games on paper and on computers for years. I admit to having had some flight simulator envy with their great first person perspective. Now I need not envy anymore. I can hop into my trusty Sherman (or Tiger) and let the lead fly. This game is very immersive. It gets all the essentials of tank combat right. The terrain is modeled in great detail with trees, hills, nooks and crannies great for hiding behind. Tanks are modeled in appearance (insides too), but also in how they respond to damage. Damage to can range from a catastrophic 'brewing up' to a damaged radio. The player can command an American or German platoon in combat from Tunisia to France, by way of Sicily and Italy. The learning curve is steep, but is mostly developing situational awareness and learning to deal in real time with hairy situations. The game ran great for me out of the box. There is great support on the web for any that encounter problems. There is an active user's community growing for Internet play and user enhancement. Panzer Elite has become the new standard that all tank sims will be judged by.

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I bought this game with the premise that Wings Simulations web site was correct, a minimum requirement was P166 with a 3D board; on the box, the minimum is a PII and a board. On my system [pentium pro 200 with Voodoo], it runs, but slowly. After tweaking the setup, it is acceptable, but lacking since the graphics move slowly and jerky. The game itself is well done, and the play-time is fun and seems to be pretty realistic. It is a 3 star overall, 4 to 5 with a power system.

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Panzer Elite is one of the best sims I have ever played. I have been computing for the last 15 years with a background in studying military history, specifically armor combat of WW2 for the past 20 years. Panzer Elite models all the details of armor combat and it truly gives you the flavor of WW2 tanking.

I had zero problems installing and running the SIM, most users who experience problems do so because they do not have updated drivers necessary for running Panzer Elite proper. I have followed Wings Simulations tech support board for sometime now and to see how they support their clients. Wings has developed patches for those experiencing problems that need addressing a common practice for software publishers patches are part of life for software users. The developer of Panzer Elite has done so with blinding speed and support second to none. In short they are the best company I have ever dealt with. The graphics are gorgeous and immerse you in combat. Enemy AI is top notch and a challenge. Multiplayer support, 80 missions. Varied campaigns make this a must have for anyone who enjoys sims and armor. They are also expanding the product and will enhance Panzer Elite further with addons. Varied realism options help beginners as well as hardcore sim options for those wanting utmost realism.

To sum it up if you want a quake or doom experience of shoot the bad guys, Panzer Elite is not for you. If you want a quality product, the most realistic tank sim on the market, a company who cares about putting out excellent product then Panzer Elite is for you! Buy it, learn it, live it!

Honest reviews on Panzer Elite - PC

The best WWII tank battle simulation ever produced. It includes very accurately reproduced Battlefields with a stunning texture, Panzers and Tanks that actually look and feel like the real thing, devious infantry who actually pops up whenever you less expect it to destroy your tank.

Finally, tanks can destroy trees and buildings and make their way through valleys, hills and rivers. You may even get stuck in mud if you're not too careful, especially in Russia. When it rains, it really pours and your tank will have a harder time to travel across prairies drenched with water.

Gun muzzle blasts are as real as you can get them. You have original crew voices (all in the Nations' respective languages) telling you what they are doing and orders from the High Command you better follow , unless you want to end a loser. Strategies and tactics are up to you and it is also your task to command and protect you platoon from enemy fire.

It is not "as if" you were in WWII, but rather as if you "are" in WWII.

Every mission is based on accurately researched historical events, with historical settings, vehicles and soldiers. Even the camouflage patterns on your tanks change during the course of war and according to the terrain in which you do battle.

You can drive almost any tank imaginable in that period: from a Valentine to a Firefly, from PzKpfw II to a King's Tiger and from StuG III to a Hunting Tiger! Each tank comes with its own realistic set of fuel, armament and equipment and you better make sure you fuel it up before a mission, otherwise you're stuck like a lame duck.

The only downside to this game is that you won't have any aerial cover nor having Allied aircraft attacking you. This is though, compensated by an ever-present heavy Artillery attack which can happen at any moment and wherever you may be...

The interiors of the tanks are as accurate and minutely researched as their exteriors (most of the documentation comes from Tank Museums). You are able to sit in the tank as well as seeing it from an exterior view which you can swing like a camera filming it (at every angle, except from below, but who would like to see his own tank from underneath it?).

The weight of the vehicles you drive is also there. The feeling of driving an M-8 might be exhilarating, especially due to its speed, but when you face a Tiger you better duck, or it will blast you off in thousand pieces. If you command a Tiger instead, you will be much slower, but you wouldn't have to worry too much about a Lee or a Sherman. You just stop the heavy beast, aim, fire and move forward. One shot with an 88mm caliber gun will send a Sherman's turret fly as if it were made of Aluminum.

The main attractivity of this game though, is that it keeps expanding. More and more scenarios can be added almost monthly.

From Africa to Italy and from the vast steppes of Russia to the shores of Normandy and beyond, you will have to survive through the entire conflict.

Moreover, its system of MODs, or additional functionality modules, allow it to have it a different feel with every single one enabled. You want to fight in Normandy in Winter, instead of in the Summer? Fine, you just enable the Night and Winter MOD and you have it. You want to drive more vehicles in the African Desert than those that came with the game? Enable the Full-Monty MOD and you will have that too.

The description could go on forever. Suffice it to say that this is a unique simulation that cannot compare to any other similar one ever produced. The people who have worked and still work at it are passionate artists, programmers and above all, historians. They know perfectly what they are doing and do it extremely well.

A warning though! Since this game is meant to be played directly from your Hard Drive, because you have to completely install it there, including all the additions and scenarios (just to make the game smoother) it is only recommended to those of you who have large HDs and a very performing Graphic Card with lots of memory included.

To conclude, until someone will come up with a photo-realistic game, based on WWII, that actually shows the true villages, towns and cities as well as the actually filmed vehicles, this will remain the jewel in the crown of any other similar simulation.

I would nominate it the best WWII simulation of all times and also of times to come...

Up to you now, to make up your minds, but if you don't buy it, you will never know what you have missed.

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This is the quintissential WWII tank simulation; the vehicles are painstakingly crafted in exquisite detail, terrain is detailed and complex both closeup and at a distance, the artificial intelligence is well-developed, crafty and tactically skilled, and the player is confronted with much the same challenges that faced a WWII tank platoon leader. Perhaps best of all, the scenarios and campaign game are logical, believable, and challenging. The simulation also includes artillery, infantry, weather, logistics. With such attention to detail in the design, one can easily becomes totally immersed in the simulation experience. With up-to-date sound and video drivers Panzer Elite has run flawlessly with no crashes from day one. Finally, support is superb -twice I have emailed questions to customer support... both questions were answered within two hours -by the leader of the game design team himself! Anyone interested in learning about and experiencing what armor combat was like in the Second World War would do well to acquire Panzer Elite.

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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Discount Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Xbox

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Xbox
Customer Ratings: 4.5 stars
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This latest Tom Clancy game has amazing graphics and some incredibly detailed body movements. It takes the spy game genre to an entirely new level!

I'm a big spy-game fan in general, and we have all 3 major platforms, so I went into Splinter Cell curious about all the hype. It's gotten incredible ratings from several magazines. I have to say, after having played it, those ratings were well deserved.

First, the graphics. The amount of work that went into graphics on this game is just phenomonal. Your character goes through smoke and fire, through darkness and bright neon light, under shaded lattices, through light coming through venetian blinds, through hazy curtains, through punch-hole metalwork. It is just STUNNING. You really begin to believe that this is a movie and you're controlling the outcome.

The other senses aren't neglected. Sound is KEY and you are constantly aware of how much noise you're making while you're sneaking around. The speed at which you move, your crouching, your stance, all affect how well people notice you. Unlike other games which blast you with rock music, in this one you're so attuned that you hear the little movements of your own feet as you creep, or the movements of guards walking down the hallway.

The animation on the character is fantastic. Press up against a wall. Climb a fence and roll over the top. Slide down a wire. Go hand-over-hand across a pipe, and pull up your feet to get more traction. Slide down a ladder, jump up a wall and do a split to stay there, unseen. The way the character moves is just amazing. Some serious work was put into this effort, and it pays off.

The gameplay missions are logical and draw you along into the story. It's not exactly a ring-through-the-nose drag like other games. You are given objectives "Get object X which is in building Y" but you aren't handed a map to follow. Instead, you're put into real-world situations and have to figure out for yourself the best way to accomplish that goal. You could try a frontal assault, you could try the sneaky back way. It's up to you, and your success depends on your ability to think through a situation and then implement your path.

The game even encourages you not to be violent. It points out that your aim is stealth, and that you should try to stay unseen and sneak by whenever possible. In most missions you can get through without killing anyone, if you use your head.

Highly recommended for any first-person-shooter fan!

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While it lacks universal appeal, Splinter Cell (SC) is an outstanding game that provides an experience on the Xbox that no other game can. You take the role of Sam Fisher, an veteran special forces commando called out of retirement for a new, experimental intelligence initiative of the NSA. The storyline is classic Tom Clancy (as is Fisher, Clancy readers may wonder why they didn't just name the character Clark and be done with it). As far as simulating this type of experience goes, SC is remarkably well done but what will really determine if you like the game is whether or not the core concept appeals to you.

If you're considering purchasing SC then you've doubtlessly already read about how fantastic the graphics and sound are. Believe the hype. The music and sound effects are wonderfully immersive and create the sort of tense atmosphere this game needs. The lighting engine is nothing short of revolutionary. There are some clipping issues (dead bodies can poke through walls) but it is difficult to pick on the game for this considering how much power must be devoted to the best real time light and shadows ever in a game.

The gameplay in SC is excellent. The conrtrols and camera are intuitive and easy to use. Fisher can perform an extensive variety of physical actions to interact with his environment. Sometimes it is difficult to get him to do exactly what you want because there are so many options available and so many objects to interact with but practice and experience will solve most of these problems.

It is important to be clear that SC is not a shooter in the classic sense. Certianly, you will encounter some scenarios in which the only real course of action is a full blown fire fight with automatic wepaons, but they are rare. Ubi Soft did a fantastic job of conveying how chaotic and disjointed such combat must feel. Fisher's aim worsens drmatically if you try to move and shoot at the same time and both you and your opponents will miss a lot. In addition, everyone is realistically fragile it only takes a few rounds to put someone down and head shots will always kill. But SC is really a stealth game. The point is to sneak through a dense thicket of security without being caught. The game's finest moments are found while you wait in the shadows, timing the complex patterns of a group of guards, waiting for the exact second to move to the next pool of shadows. Or when you sit in the darkness, mere feet from a pair of guards with machine guns as they stalk by, your heart stuck in your throat as you wait to see if they discover you. Depending on the way you choose to approach the game, you might kill every guard you come across or kill virtually no one. It is almost like there are two games in SC. You can play through as a cold machine, dropping every guard you come across, or you can take the self-imposed challenge and try to minimize the body count and the game will never really punish you for choosing one over the other.

Overall the level design and widely ranging methods of attack give SC a great deal of replay value. There are only nine levels, but each one takes several hours to complete and expansion levels will be available through Xbox Live or the Official Xbox Magazine game disks soon. The path through the levels may be a bit too linear. There is often really only way to travel from the start of a level to the end. The designers did this intentionally to keep the levels from being confusing, but it would have been a better simulation if it included such uncertainty. You can only save your game at certain check points in a given level and this is a good thing. It keeps the tension higher than it would have been if you could save your game anywhere.

The final point to touch on is the game AI. Overall, it is quite good, especially on a room to room basis. Enemies react realisitcally to your discovery and will investigate any sounds you may make. However, the game AI does have its faults. First it is possible to do things like shoot out a camera and then simply wait out a guard's investigation. If you stay hidden, eventually the guard will just figure it broke or something and forget about it rather than raising an alarm. It is also odd how you can stalk into a building, leaving in your wake nothing but broken lights and carefully hidden bodies, and no one on the radio network operated by the security notices the growing silence. It is also odd nobody ever notices a camera going offline when you shoot it, but the moment a camera sees you, all hell breaks loose. In the sequel Ubi Soft should try to address this, perhaps by upping the overall state of alarm every time a camera or radio equipped guard goes off the air.

In the end, SC is a game that anyone who finds the idea of slowly sneaking through shadowy compunds while dodging cameras, security guards, and dogs appealing should flat out purchase. You won't be disappointed. If you are unsure whether or not you would enjoy a video game where the tension and excitement come from the portions of the game that aren't action driven, then you should definitely rent first.

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I agree with what the other reviews say. The graphics in this game, especially the lights and shadows, are breathtaking. The AI is really good, though still pretty fallible and exploitable once you learn their reactions. The missions are varied. One mission you're going around killing everyone in sight and dont have too much time for secrecy. The next, your not allowed to kill ANYBODY, and cant even be detected. This makes for extremely intense, varying gameplay.

The music works perfectly with the game's sounds. When lurking about in shadows you hear every noise around you and all those that you make. When you are detected or are in a fire fight, theres this awesome bass and drum stuff that goes right along with your mood and the action.

Overall, I see one problem with the game. The control style while shooting. AT all other times the controls are fine, but as soon as you draw your weapon the controls become sluggish and unresponsive. However, the overall effect of this is that you cannot run around shooting people because YOU WILL LOSE! Theres no James Bond or HALO type running in and shooting up 8 guys. In this situation you will lose every time unless youre a god. The game forces you to be creative and seek other solutions. Distraction cams are my favorite. They make noises until the guards come close, then you can release poisonous gas to knock them out. Very fun.

Overall, great gameplay, graphics, audio, controls, etc. The only complaint isnt really a complaint because it really helps the game in the end. A must have for any gamer who likes to think things through before hand. Youll know when youre plan hasnt worked almost immediately, because youll be lying on the ground dead.

Honest reviews on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Xbox

In a word, this game is awesome. I have never played Metal Gear Solid (or its sequels), but my buddies with PS2 machines tell me it doesn't compare to Splinter Cell. Ubi Soft has really pushed the power of the Xbox with this game. The vertex shading and other lighting effects make this game look not only beautiful but realistic. The gameplay is also stellar and this is a must buy for those who like intense single-player experiences. There is but one drawbacksee below.

Gameplay: 9.7

Simply the best overall game for the Xbox since Halo. The stealth involved in completing your missions, the myriad moves you can execute, the challenging aspect of not having ammo and health around every corner... all of these things and more provide outstanding gameplay. The camera is sharp and easy to manipulate and the AI is good enough to present a very good challenge on most of the missions. There is but 1 real drawback: It is only 3rd person. I would have preferred to be able to switch between 1st and 3rd. Also, if I wanted to nitpick, then I would complain about the pistol you have to carry throughout the first few missions.

Overall: 9.7

Combine the graphics, gameplay, and intensity and you have a winner. The few nitpicky drawbacks to this game cannot lower its value. The replay value is also sky-high thanks to many in-depth and challenging missions. Would a 1st person toggle been great? Sure. Would multiplayer, at least co-op, have been great? Certainly. How about a storyline that does not revolve around the former Soviet Union? Absolutely. Still not enough to detract from one of the best video games to date.

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Canadian software developer and publisher Ubisoft has outdone themselves in this, their latest colaborative outing with author Tom Clancy. While not perfect, Splinter Cell sets the new standard for immersive game environments and lighting effects. The models and texture maps are astoundingly detailed, and the level designers really went out of their way to think of everything and include it in a most believable way. I would definately have to consider this game a must-have for xbox, if only because of the benchmark it represents, although there is much more to appreciate here than just visuals. The ambiant music and FX audio fits so well with the overall feel of the game that you may not even notice it's presence, just experience it as a natural extension of what is being presented on the screen.

The story line is interesting and believeable (you can read the synopsis elsewhere), and the cutscenes are quite well done, if a bit redundant. The dialogue is extremely well acted by Michael Ironside (our hero Sam Fischer) and company. The extra materials, including some "making of" videos, and an interview with our animated protagonist were a nice touch.

Controllability is mostly adequate as well. I'm usually a PC guy with FPS type games, but this game handles very well with the console controls. Some of the acrobatic maneuvers that are used in the game are a bit temperamental, always at the most inconvenient times, and I really think the Ubisoft game testers may have been a bit too concerned with the graphics to concentrate adequately on some of the playability issues that come up.

It's the playability issues alone that keep me from giving this game a 5 star rating. A few "quirky" issues here and there add up to several instances in the game where you are forced to replay sections ad-nauseum before you can commit all of the AI patterns and reaction sequences adequately to memory before being able to proceed to the next section, and sometimes success seems to come by blind luck. Also, there are a few aspects of gameplay that simply do not add up, or function spurradically to the point of being just too frustrating. Ubisoft made some real transparent programming and level-design decisions to make sure players are made aware that this is NOT A SHOOTER. Examples would include; a very limited supply of ammunition and pick-ups, the main character's inability to live through more that a few confrontations, and his atrocious markmanship. OK, Ubi, I understand that this isn't Halflife, but why not let me play the game how I choose? The storyline is essentially 100% linear as it is, why limit it even further? Also of note to some players there are reportedly no cheats codes whatsoever programmed into Splinter Cell. I will admit that some of the frustration I experienced in playing made me go surfing for ways to bypass certain parts.

I may be being a little too harsh on the cons here, but it's probably because all the other elements are so well done that these imperfections stand out all the more. With a little extra massaging and tweaking, we could have seen a perfect execution (no pun intended), but we are still left with what is certainly one of the best titles out there for Xbox to date. A very good choice for your next purchase.

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