Xbox 360 NFL New Orleans Saints Controller Review

Customer Ratings:

My son got this to go along with his X Box for Christmas. He loved it...wish you made it in the cordless one. He still uses it quite a bit even though it has to stay plugged...wireless would be great. Thanks. Good Quality and durable. Recommend

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Pack - Empire of Ice Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $12.50
Today's Bonus: 37% Off

Great addition to the game. You get a new Skylander for your collection, an extra level and two magic items. Really fun to play with your kids or by yourself.

Please, don't give in to these insane prices. Do not pay more than 19.99 for this or any other adventure pack out there. I went to buy it today at my local Wal Mart and the guy that got to the rack before me grabbed the last four because they are going for more than $50 online. I drove down two miles and bought it at Target for $20. So be patient and let these scalpers sit on their stock. As a parent of three I ask you to help stop the abuse and the greed. :)

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Slam Bam is a fun addition to the Skylander's game and the Empire of Ice features an Ice Fortress level that you can access in the game as well as to two magic items that can be invoked.

On another note, you can find this in stores now (normally retails for 19.99), so please don't support these scalpers by paying these exorbitant prices.

Best Deals for Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Pack - Empire of Ice

THIS WAS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING ADVENTURE PACK FOR ME..FOR THE MONEY! We own all four that have been released..

DARKLIGHT CRYPT was the most fun and challenging of the four with VERY helpful extra items and GHOST ROASTER is VERY POWERFUL and FAST!

IF YOU CAN WAIT..SAVE YOUR MONEY AN PUT IT TOWARDS SKYLANDERS GIANTS!!!!! SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN OCTOBER 2012!!!

GREAT NEWS!!!! Current figures released will be able to be used with in it too!!!

It seems like they tried to get it out before Christmas...but didn't quite make it!! Your targets wear SANTA HATS!!! The idea was really cool with the ice world and uneven ground so you slip and slide into cactus's and holes. But it was way TOO SHORT AND EASY.. when my just turned six year old (in Kindergarten!!!) son can complete it in 15 minutes or less on his first try, and WITHOUT my help!

SLAM BAM is very slow when you first get him, but eventually he gets his very own surfboard that lets him move quickly over any surface (like Zap). He is a Yeti and his primary power is a 4 fisted punch and his second power is ice that comes from underground and can trap his opponents (like Prism Break). With the eventual "choose your path" upgrades you can either strengthen his punch attacks and acquire armor or you can upgrade his ice prison attacks. His soul gem is found within this Adventure Pack of course, and consists of a YETI-COOLING factor where he can surf even faster and gets upgraded snow goggles too surf in.. The extras consists of an "Anvil Rain" that randomly land (and can even get in YOUR way when you are running away from something) and a "Sky-Iron Shield". The "Sky-Iron Shield" consists of two shields that rotate slowly around you when you choose to place them on the portal. There is some distance between them, so you can still be hit. My son likes Slam Bam, but I would have rather paid $8.00 for him alone! In a way he resembles Terrafin (with his punch attacks)...save your money and buy Pirate Seas (the treasure chest and pirate swords are much more helpful that come with Terrafin) if his skills sound appealing or buy this one used later on.

UPDATE: SKYLANDERS GIANTS will be out OCT 21st. This Adventure Pack is worthy of purchasing now. I've even seen sales for buy one, get one 50% off. It will work in both the first Skylanders game (of course) and it will work in SKYLANDERS GIANTS! This purchase will expand your levels in Giants too! The figure will have a re-pose that will be coming out as a Series 2 for Giants as well. The series 2 figures that are re-poses will work on the first Skylanders game too. If you prefer, you can buy the figure as a part of a Legendary Triple Pack. Either way, Slam Bam is here to stay for a while!

*Evidently the Anvil is quite helpful for the Wii players in accomplishing Drobot's Heroic challenge in hitting only the green chompies. Unfortunately I have a PS3 and it doesn't work for me.

Honest reviews on Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Pack - Empire of Ice

It's disturbing to see what these sellers are asking for some of these Skylanders sets. You can pre-order this at WM today for $19.96.

I would encourage Amazon shoppers to take note of the stores scalping these and not purchase anything from them in the future.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Pack - Empire of Ice

Empire of Ice is the first Adventure Pack we've bought, with the main reason being for Slam Bam. Of the 4 water types, he's the only one with ice-based moves, and that makes him unique. Plus it doesn't hurt that he looks like Bumble from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on steroids. This Pack's been selling out like crazy in the last few weeks, but if you're patient and keep checking this page, it's bound to show up again in no time.

As you can see in the picture, this set includes the following: the character Slam Bam, the Empire of Ice level, and Anvil Rain and Sky-Iron Shield, two items that are used immediately upon being placed on the portal. Slam Bam is a very strong and durable Skylander who fights with his powerful punches and can freeze enemies in a prison of ice. His special move, used by pressing the circle button (if you're playing on a ps3) lets him slide on the ground for a short distance. Sadly, this slide, which is a lot like Zap's Sea Slime move, is just for transportation and doesn't offer any kind of offense or defense. It's still a fast way of getting around compared to running. The punches are good when fully upgraded, but the best path for Slam Bam is upgrading his ice prison skill. With enemies immobilized, they're in for a world of hurt when Slam Bam comes stomping over. And for what it's worth, Mr. Bam can also surf on water with an ice surf board. Man this guy is stylin'!

The two items are both good but it felt weird using these since you don't get things like this during standard play. Place either item on the Portal, and they're activated instantly. Anvil Rain does exactly what the name impliesa ton of anvils fall from the sky for a short period of time, squashing everything they hit. As cool as it sounds, there are times when the anvils barely hit anything because they don't fall that rapidly, so enemies can move around before the next one hits the ground. Iron-Sky Shield is a nice item that protects your character for a limited time too. Both items are nice to have if an area's giving you a tough time, though the shield is the better of the two.

As for the Empire of Ice level itself, it's about the same length as any other level in the game. Many have complained about this, but with most levels in Skylanders being 15-25 minutes long, it fits right in with the others. To open the level, place the Empire of Ice piece on the Portal, and an area on the left side of the Ruins will open up. To get there, just go down to the beach, go past the boat on the left side and you can't miss it. The stage is a little frustrating since you're constantly sliding around on the icy floor, but it has some cool new enemies and two of my favorite hats in the gamea cossack hat and a Santa hat! The Santa one looks like your typical Santa hat but with spikes along the white fur bottom. Throw this baby on Slam Bam and it'll be a sure sign to evil-doers that he means business. I won't spoil anything about the stage and what's all in there, except I have to say that it ends in a very underwhelming way, and is the main reason why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. They couldn't have given us a more exciting final part? Hopefully the other Adventure Pack levels have better endings.

If you pay the original retail price for Empire of Ice, you're getting your money's worth. By now everyone knows that Skylanders is the huge thing in gaming, with Adventure Packs and characters selling out like crazy, which means inflated prices. Just be patient and you'll get one soon. And hey, by the time Giants comes out in a few months, all the focus will be on the new stuff that game brings along.

Discount Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ for Microsoft Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

I had gotten a broken xbox from my friend and decided i could probably fix the problem. Once I put this in and did the chip swap it worked great and still does. great buy and easy fix for under 40 dollars including S+H

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This was exactly what it said and fixed my problem with my Xbox. Now I can play games on my Xbox again just like new!

Best Deals for Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ for Microsoft Xbox 360

I have no complaints about the drive itself the complaint is actually more of a Buyer beware. Do not purchase from the Buyer VRGamerz if you want the 0047DJ version [[ASIN:[[ASIN:B002W199C0 Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ for Microsoft Xbox 360]] Xbox 360 DVD driver Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ Driver]] Although the description specifically states it's the version 0047DJ they sent me the 0059DJ version which is not a direct replacement without changing the board from the broken drive into the new drive. For those of you looking to replace a drive make sure it is the version that matches your current version if you want a simple plug and play swap where you only need to flash fw with your old key.

Honest reviews on Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ for Microsoft Xbox 360

everything fine for the product i bought.it work perfect and the time i get it was very fast.i enjoy it very much.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Hitachi-LG GDR-3120L 47DJ for Microsoft Xbox 360

...OK I'm calmed down now, DON'T buy a REFURBISHED one if you want it quiet. Try to get a new one, pay attention to see if it is or not, trust me. But it does work, it just sounds like a chainsaw. You also need to switch circuit boards with the old one.

Review of Mad Catz MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals Set

Customer Ratings:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The pedal connection is USB.

Very comfortable grip.

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

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Well, I have bought the wheel for GT3 and was curious about the content and facts of these reviews... I would like to go someway to putting he record straight:

1) This wheel is FULLY compatable with GT3, but admittedly is a little fiddley to set up.

2) The 'play' in the wheel is controllable and can be altered so you only have to turn it slightly for a responce.

The only game I have found the wheel difficult to configure for is Driver. Unfortunately this is more to do with the programming of the game as opposed to the wheel itself due to the lack of controllable options in the game. It will work porperly but without the pedals.

The following games I have all work fine (maybe with a little tweaking though).

GT

GT2

GT3

Toca

Toca 2

Colin McCrae Rally

I hope this helps as it is definately the best wheel I have used upto now....

Best Deals for Mad Catz MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals Set

This is an excellent wheel. I've had other brands and gave them away or returned them. The ability to calabrate the wheel it self and not the game is one of the best features it has. The pedals react to the amount of pressure and the lighted LCD on the wheel enables you to see houw much pedal to the medal you have. The brake is real sensative and helps in controlling your car. It's a comfortable to use sitting on your legs or on a table. Highly recommend.

Honest reviews on Mad Catz MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals Set

Okay, I would like to clear up the misconception that this pedal does not work with Gran Turismo 3. It does in fact work, and very well. It just needs to be set in-game. Also, the distance that needs to be traveled for turning force can be adjusted. If you have the adjustment problem, just read the manual. If you cant get it to work with GT3 (it is'nt very complicated) you can just e-mail me and I will gladly send you instructions. Happy gaming!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Mad Catz MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals Set

I used the first steering wheel for the original playstation and it was anything but impressive. But I since bought the mad catz 2, it's been great. The pedals never move, it has force feedback, AND A SHIFTER!! The steering is acurate, and works with most any game. I use it for, burnout 2, need for speed: HP2, and medicore game called downforce. This wheel is cheap and great.

Club Penguin: Game Day! Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $13.64
Today's Bonus: 32% Off

I originally bought this for my son thats 11 years old. My daughter thats 6 also enjoys playing Club Penguin. All of us have memberships with Club Penguin. This is something we have played for years (I believe 4 or 5 years). I found Club Penguin to be one of the most kid friendly games, that is not too kiddy that the older ones wont play. We got this game on release day and the whole family is playing it. If you play story mode you can beat all 4 team colors to get coins and earn stamps. Once you have played all 4 team colors and beat each of the 4 teams, you have beat story mode. You can pick easy, normal or hard modes. Which makes it great for all ages. The coins and stamps will easily, transfer to your Club Penguin Account online. The games are challenging enough to keep you interested in the game. There are some other party type games that are just too easy or too hard for the family. This fits us perfect for the different ages. Even if you don't have a online Club Penguin membership this will be fun. The one and only complaint I have about this game is you can only transfer 2,000 coins per day to your online Club Penguin Account. I think if you earn it you should be able to transfer all of it when you want. This game is much better than the DS versions of Club Penguin.

Just a note to connect to your online account you need Wifi set up on your Wii. If you have more than one child that wants to play please make sure you have enough remotes for them. They can play all together or separately. Keep in mind if you don't have Club Penguin Online you can get a free membership. So you can transfer your stamps and coins to it too. Of course you will not be able to do all the member activities but it will still be fun to waddle around. As an adult I found this game fun to play with the kids.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This game is probably a lot better than most of the bargain priced Wii games out there. I wouldn't recommend paying more than twenty dollars for it though. The game mostly consists of playing the same few mini games over and over again. You have to have a club penguin account on the website and your Wii connected to the internet to make full use of this game. You can create a club penguin website account for free, you don't have to be a member to use this game. Its pretty much a waste if you don't do those 2 things as there really isn't any point to playing the game if you don't have a club penguin website account. Its basically for club penguin fans only.

Also you have to get a new copy that is sealed, because the game includes a code to link your club penguin account to the game, so if you buy a used one the code will be already used up most likely, then you would be stuck with what is pretty much a worthless game. So this game is pretty much worthless as soon as you use the code that comes with the game.

Once you get all this set up its really great for club penguin fans, and probably the best club penguin Nintendo game made so far. You can play mini games and upload coins to your club penguin account. If you buy items in the game the items will sync to your club penguin account which is really cool. As you can imagine there are exclusive items you can only obtain in your club penguin online account by doing this. There are also exclusive stamps you can earn which are only available by playing this game. I have purchased one of the club penguin DS games and that game does not allow you to get items from the DS games to your online account which is kind of disappointing, this game does that.

The only mini game I have trouble with is Goal! You won't win that one or it will be extremely difficult to do so. Sometimes while playing with AI players the mini games seem largely based on luck regarding who will win regardless of which mini game you are playing. Of course you don't have to "win" every time in order to progress in the game, there are different conditions you have to meet to progress like "beat the green team in 2 out of 4 mini games". If you don't win or get 1st place there are no penalties, you just try again.

Best Deals for Club Penguin: Game Day!

Or so my 9 year-old tells me. Don't think he's stopped playing since Christmas. haha

If your kid likes Club Penguin he/she will love this game.

Honest reviews on Club Penguin: Game Day!

My son is a big fan of Club Penguin online, and this game is very similar. It's great that now we can all play with him instead of just watching him play alone on the computer. He really enjoys it!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Club Penguin: Game Day!

I bought this game for myself (I'm 38)-I just like fun games that are non-violent. I only got to play a little so far, but-here's my opinion so far. Graphics are decent-cartoony, but I've come to expect that from Wii. A lot of the minigames seem similar to each other. I was really expecting a little more when I read the other reviews. I was hoping the controls were a little more intuitive. Also-it's a little hard to figure out exactly where you're supposed to go to accomplish goals-another reviewer said stumble upon & that's about right.

Best Dynasty Warriors 8 - Xbox 360 Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $54.99
Today's Bonus: 8% Off

I first picked up DW at DW5 (2005) and have since managed to plow through all the DW, DW:E, DW:O, SW, and even DW:G, and it has largely felt like a downhill ride with improving graphics and deteriorating gameplay.

Fortunately I think KOEI got that message loudly from fans after DW7, and Dynasty Warriors 8 is a serious attempt to change that perception (are you watching, Namco?). And it's a really good attempt. For the first time since DW5, the game feels solid, sometimes even challenging certainly a change from the cakewalk gods-among-us gameplay of the last couple iterations. This is done through better attention to character strengths, personal moves, a much better-told story mode, and improved costumes. It is not done at the expense of graphics, which are more lush than they've ever been. While this makes DW8 the prettiest DW game, it means there's still some serious lag at times on the Xbox 360.

One of the first things you'll notice is the maps are much larger than they've been. An average map now is the size of the largest from DW6. While many of the maps will look familiar, others have been completely reworked. The Stone Sentinels is now a much cooler maze, and Hefei Castle is now castle-sized, not a small sandcastle on a hill. For the veteran DW player this is a welcome change, but for the initiate to the series, the constant mission-running from one side of the map to the other may get tiresome (although to KOEI's credit, this is done far less than in DW6).

The combat engine is a little refined, though it remains largely in-tact from DW7. The best improvements are things like being able to jump on your horse while moving, hitting vessels from your horse almost always grabs what's inside, Switch Counter which allows you to precisely counterstrike, and the three different mousou attacks. These are very smooth and easily executed with a little skill, making the game just a little bit less about slamming X.

The upgrade from DW7's career mode is the new Ambition Mode, in which you fight a series of skirmishes to gain gold, glory, and fame. While it should be a cool mode, in reality it's a storyless (and often joyless) rote button-mashing exercise with no tactics or thinking required, making it one of the weaker parts of a strong game. UNTIL...

Online! Yay for finally getting DW online! In theory. Seriously, online was the part I was most excited for in the new game; the idea that you could play a battle with other players playing the other officers is long overdue. But I have rarely found anyone online, and never in the story mode. Which is sad. I hope DW8:E will pick up more online players for what should be the selling highlight of the game.

Though DW8 does not have the DW4-era tactics that some veteran players had hoped, there is plenty of significant improvement to warrant purchase. For the buyer new to the series: this isn't CoD, this is a good old-fashioned button-mashing arcade game and you'll need to get that to enjoy it. See you online!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This is a great addition to series, and for Dynasty Warriors fans, it's a must have. Since the graphics weren't radically different from 7 the one downside is I wish they would let some of the Music, Costumes, and Weapon Skins DLC from DW7 carry over.

Best Deals for Dynasty Warriors 8 - Xbox 360

I've played dynasty warriors for about a decade now going all the way back to the original, DW 3, DW 5 and now 8. I grew up playing the game, learning the core concepts, maps, etc and absolutely loved the older games. Now with Dynasty Warriors 8 I can relive a bit of my childhood and enjoy the game play.

The graphics are improved from 5 which is what I last played so I enjoy them more. The new characters and story line make it worth while. You can easily spend the greater part of 8-12 hours depending on how you play on 1 kingdom, and you only play a limited amount of the characters you could have. Load times are decent when disc only, installing to your hard drive speeds it up tremendously.

One thing I enjoy is the different characters you can play as the game progresses on. It's more accurate to the lore as characters die along the campaign and you have to move on to playing someone else.

One grievance I have is the map repetition. There are a few levels that are reused but you have different start/end points and have different functions during them. I would have preferred unique maps each time but I understand it's time consuming to produce a new map for every battle when you can change different areas around to meet your needs. Another is in game the scenery and graphics can bog down and become slow motion like where everything is super slow from everything happening around you. It does happen but it's on a few specific maps. Some maps are fine and you never have a problem. Others it happens every time. I think it may be attributed to too many particle effects, but I'm not sure.

Another feature I enjoy are the pre-battle areas where you can get hints at different things from characters to what happens in battle from the soldiers and other officers.

There are other aspects I enjoyed but I will cut it off here and let you enjoy it yourself. Overall I would give the game a 8.5/10. Mostly taking off points for map repetition and graphics optimization (slowing down during game play), otherwise this is a brilliant game that I think everyone would enjoy in hack and slash type gaming.

Honest reviews on Dynasty Warriors 8 - Xbox 360

Very good game play, some bugs but I'm prety sure that it could be fixed with a patch. I've been a fin since Dynasty Warriors 2, even if you haven't played in a while you can still jump in and pick up where you left off.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dynasty Warriors 8 - Xbox 360

The most amazing game i ve ever had. its great and fun. I cant stop playing it. it arrived in excelente conditions

Xbox 360 Pad EX 2 with Turbo - Black Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I have owned the MadCatz Street Fighter 4 Fightpad, the Logitech Dual Action, and a Sega Saturn USB (Chinese clone) and I have to say that none of these pads have a D-Pad that can compare to the Hori Ex2 turbo for playing Street Fighter. I waited 5 months for this pad to come in through the mail and when I got it I was astonished at the accuracy of of its D-pad. Diagonals register well, and spinning pile drivers are surprisingly easy to pull off.

The fact that this gamepad comes with analog sticks, turbo, and a rumble feature are practically added bonuses. I only use this on my PC, but I have tried playing LEFT 4 DEAD, and the pad works exquisitely for first person shooting. The analog stick is superior to the one on logitech offerings, but may feel a bit looser than the stock XBOX 360 stick (in my opinion this is a good thing). Luckily there are sensitivity settings built into the pad.

This is literally the perfect gamepad. I have so far found no flaws with it.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

When I first received this controller I was extremely happy. It worked like a charm! After about 2 weeks of controller bliss however, things started to go down hill. The right and left analog thumbsticks started to work on their own. I tried unplugging and resetting, but nothing. I've tried to mess with the sensitivity switch... nothing. After trying everything I could think of, I decided to shelve it. So far I haven't found anything that will work.

It's a shame this has ghosting issues. This would've been THE #1 controller to purchase for the 360.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Pad EX 2 with Turbo - Black

We originally purchased the HORI Turbo Pad EX 2 back when they were originally released in late 2009. Shortly thereafter we started having issues with the Analog Sticks acting out. In game it would appear af if sticks were being used even though we weren't using them and when we did use them it would prevent us from going in the desired direction. The only resolution to this problem was to unplug the controller and plug it back in, but this was only a temporarly.

Based on other comments we've seen in various reviews and elsewhere this wasn't an isolated issue. Fortuantley as of September 2011 this issue as been resolved. As of late 2011, you can identify the fixed controllers by a batch code that is at least "110601" or higher stamped on the bottom right of the back of the packaging. We purchased this controller again from amazon.com in September 2011 and the version we received was the updated "110601" release. If you are buying the controller long after 2011 we have you should have a higher numbered batch code. If your batch code is lower than you may have one of the older versions that may be affected by the ghosting.

------------

I'll be keeping an updated record on the use of this "110601" NEWEST BATCH controller. I'm not using the HORI controller 100% of the time, as I'm switching between an OEM controller and the Datel EVO based on the game I'm playing at the time. However, I will be using the HORI enough to make the ghosting show up if were ever going to show up, based on past experience with the ghosting problem.

March 2013: No ghosting.

January 2013: Once in a while the controller may act wonky when first plugged in but this is easily resolved by disconnecting and reconnecting at the breakaway cable connection or main connection. Very Rare. The old Ghosting problem is certainly fixed.

March 12: 2012: No Ghosting. * It's pretty safe to say that the "Ghosting" issue has been resolved on the "110601" batch. If it were to happen, it would have happened by now.

December 20, 2011: No Ghosting.

November 17, 2011: No Ghosting.

October 9, 2011: No Ghosting.

October 2, 2011: No Ghosting.

September 26, 2011: Received controller and no ghosting present.

------------

REVIEW:

I originally purchased the HORI Turbo Pad EX 2 back in 2009 when they were originally released as I previously had the first Turbo Pad EX, the blue one, from HORI. That controller ended up breaking after a while but given the price of this updated version I went ahead and purchased it anyway. Unfortunately, as many had also had happen the Ghosting problem with the Analog Sticks eventually started happening. Basically, the sticks would act as if they were being used while they weren't being touched. Even if you tried to use them they would fight your movement, not physically on the controller but with the action that was happening in game. The only solution was to unplug the controller and plug it back in, and this was only a temporary fix.

Other than the Ghosting problem, we loved this controller. The Turbo feature was great with the 3 different speeds which can be programmed to nearly all usable buttons. The "Turbo Hold" is a great little feature allowing the controller to automatically press the button while it's in TURBO without you having to actually press the button. This is a lot of fun in those old style arcade games where you have unlimited ammo as this frees you up from having to hold down whatever button controls the firing. Having this be a wired controller is actually quite nice as you don't have to worry about changing batteries all the time which can happen with homemade OEM wireless controllers that have been turned into Modded Turbo controllers.

If you are looking for a Turbo Controller had has more than 3 speed variations, you might want to check out the Turbofire2 (Wildfire2) Xbox 360 controllers from Datel as those have up to 8 different speed settings. Only the wireless versions can use the PC software for modifying the various Customizer features.

The size of the HORI Turbo Pad EX 2 is comparable to the OEM Xbox 360 controller aside from that the left and right grips at the bottom of the controller are perhaps 1/2" longer. Personally, I really like this as it give me a little extra room to hold onto the controller. If you have smaller hands and already have issues with the size of the OEM Xbox 360 controllers from Microsoft then you are probably going to have an issue with the size of this one from HORI. If you have smaller hands then you should probably look into the Mad Catz Inc X360 Pro Micro Cntrlr Blk wired Xbox 360 Controller with TURBO that MadCatz brought back into production in 2011, it's a specifically designed to be a much smaller controller.

If you have any of the KontrolFreek stick accessories, those are compatible with the HORI Turbo Pad EX 2. The Analog Sensitivity adjustment control is fine for games that don't allow you to adjust the stick sensitivity. The D-pad works well.

The "LB" and "RB" face buttons next to "Y" and "B" can sometimes get in the way when you are trying to use "Y" or "B" to the point where you actually press "LB" or "RB" so this may take some getting use to so as not to hit them accidentily. However, having them on the face of the controller is probably useful for fighting games that require various button combinations including the various face and bumper buttons.

I highly recommend picking up this controller, just make sure it's the NEWEST BATCH with the "110601" date code # stamped on the back right of the packaging to make sure you don't have an older version that has the Ghosting problem with the Analog Sticks.

FEATURES:

1. Officially licensed by Microsoft. Yeah, they're against people using them but they love making money from licensing them out to 3rd party companies!

2. 6 button layout (great for fighting games). LB and RB on also on the face of the controller next to A, B, X and Y.

3. Turbo programmable for each individual buttons, bumpers, triggers, sticks, and directional pad (great for Fighers, Arcade Classics, FPS and shooting games). * THERE IS NO TURBO FUNCTION for the Start, Back, or Guide buttons.

4. Turbo can be set to;

Slow 5 times / sec ),

Normal 12 times / sec ),

Fast (20 times / sec).

5. Turbo Hold Mode Lets you set a Turbo to an individual or combination of buttons, triggers, sticks, and/or d-pad directions and it will continuously press this (at the set speed) without you having to touch the controller. Great for programming in macro's to give your thumbs and forefingers a rest.

6. Analog sensitivity can be adjusted to normal (default), narrow (more sensitive), and wide (less sensitive).

7. Buttons set on a 6 button layout (A, B, X, Y, and the Left and Right bumpers).

8. Colors: Black or Blue. Play-Asia.com sells a white version.

* Compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles. Xbox 360 accessories are NOT region locked, and that includes wired Xbox 360 controllers.

** Compatible with 3rd party gaming headsets like those from Turtle Beach.

*** NOT compatible with the Xbox 360 chatpad.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Pad EX 2 with Turbo - Black

This controller by far,is one of the most amazing controllers I have every held or use. Its sleek design makes it makes it handle with a more ergonomic touch opposed to a standard Xbox 360 controller. Its button layout is confusing (at first) but then easily meshes into the nature of game play. The joysticks have an amazing feel to them that puts your hand in constant ease. The buttons are smaller than a normal 360 controller and is liable to lots of miss-pressed buttons. That is something that is developed over time. They come well meshed so it gives a great feel to beginner-hardcore gamers. The D-pad is simply perfect. It has a great format that is standard to any adept fighting gamer (as myself) The feeling is smooth and give easy execution. Better than many D-pads I have seen thus far.

The problems with this controller (the few it has.)

1. The joysticks are overly sensitive. (this can be solved with a sensitivity option they have on the controller

2. The buttons are small (this is also works as a plus because it can execute more hard-to-do executions with a use of a thumb. Sometimes better than a entire hand.

3. Its wired. (not all things come wireless, actually some of the greatest things are wired IE the Mad Catz Tournament edition Fightstick.)

To sum it up:

-If you need a controller that doesn't cost $150.00

-If you Like to have a special controller to play fighting games without losing the use of playing other games (due to controller/button layout)

-If you are a conventional player that is looking for a pep to your step (IE Rapid fire or a decent joystick, D-pad

Then this is the controller for you. Hands down, Incredible.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Xbox 360 Pad EX 2 with Turbo - Black

EDIT: This is my 3rd updated review-

The controller completely stopped working now as both triggers do not work and none of the rapid-fire features work.

The other buttons work but cannot be set to rapid fire, the option to toggle rapid-fire is gone. (It happened in game during L4D2 Multiplayer)

It's to bad I used this controller 100% of the time for my gaming I really liked it but now it's not working at all.

I never mishandled it or damaged it, I'm 40 yrs old with no kids in the house so I know the controller hasn't been exposed to any severe drops or damage.

I'm gonna disassemble it and see if I can see any internal problems like shorted out chip or something may have dislodged.

-older reviews below-

(2ND UPDATE REVIEW BELOW)

EDIT: THIS IS a 2nd UPDATE to my original UPDATED review ,my second controller that replaced my first one has also started the ghosting issue again RIGHT ANALOG during BFBC2 and the RT doesn't even fire the in game weapon sometimes. It's possible the RT fire issues were due to EA servers and BFBC2 server issues, BUT The ghosting appears in ALL games.

Man I'm bummed I really like this controller if it weren't for the quality issues.

I'm just gonna keep swapping for another since my money is already spent , maybe I'll get lucky and get a patched version.

I've also contacted HORI about this , it seems to be a common problem.

(I should also note my first controller was purchased from Wal-Mart while my second was from Amazon)

If you are have ghosting analogs what I've done in the meantime if your waiting for a replacement controller unplug your controller while not touching any analog and then wiggle the analogs aggressively , then plug the controller back in without touching the analogs, this seems to reset them to get rid of the ghosting for a little while.

Also whenever you power up the 360 with the controller DON'T EVER TOUCH THE Analogs. This SEEMS to help with ghosting issues.

(1ST UPDATED REVIEW BELOW)

Well after my glowing review I'd like to inform people I've started to have some ANALOG stick problems with the controller.

After around 30 hours of flawless use with fighting games like Bayonetta and some FPS time.

THE RIGHT ANALOG stick has "Ghosting" Issues , THE RIGHT ANALOG moves on its own in game on numerous games.

Even after restarting the console numerous times making sure the analogs aren't touched at all while powering up , it still does this.

The right analog keeps going up all by itself , when I go to shoot in for example Army Of Two 4Oth day ,COD4 MW2 etc., the right camera points all the way up without input from me.

If you know wired controllers history , this was an easy fix with XBOX original wired controllers. If you let's say held down the analogs while powering up the console the STICKS would retain that position as the normal position .

So I thought that was the problem but after numerous tries with different games I'm still having the same "phantom" right analog stick.

As soon as I use my original wireless Xbox 360 controller the problem disappears instantly.

Sadly I really enjoyed the controller I even got used to the size they remind me of the old "S" controller I actually got to the point the fluidity and functionality of the controller was better than the Xbox 360 controller, BUT low quality has reared its ugly head .

I might see if I can swap em out or just return em , its a shame because I REALLY LOVED the rapid fire on all buttons , even the right and left click analog can be rapid-fired with 3 speeds,plus the analog stick speed adjustment is great, BUT I think all of this stuff going has caused a glitch somewhere.

I found this controller to be extremely functional and fun while it worked.

I've had normal Xbox 360 controllers get the "ghost"analog after about 1.5 years of use , but the HORI died in literally a few weeks.

Buyer beware the analogs seem to have a ghosting issue.

I'd have to lower the score to 3 stars for quality issues , if it weren't for the ghosting analogs these are great controllers.

It could be the springs in the analogs are just to weak and wear out pretty quick.

It's weird now that I have the original wireless 360 in my hands you can just feel the solid quality , everything just feels right. I just wish I could put all of the rapid-fire features into an orginal 360 controller.

I wonder if I swapped out the sticks for some PS3 sticks ? And change the springs maybe that will help ?

Buy Backyard Soccer (Jewel Case) - PC/Mac

Customer Ratings:

Bought this for my 8 year old daughter, and she loves it. She and her friends especially love to pick their teams from the bleacher full of kids, and getting to see how they are rated on individual skills. It took us a little bit of time to figure out how to move your player, since the player that you represent changes often, but once you get used to that, it gets easier to play. Overall, we really enjoy our Backyard Soccer game.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

My kids loved this. We then ordered Backyard Football and Basketball, which they've also enjoyed.

Best Deals for Backyard Soccer (Jewel Case) - PC/Mac

I bought this game, hoping to bring back the nostalgia I felt when I first had this game. When I installed it, I eagerly began playing and remembering all the memories I made. However, when I let my son download the game, I couldn't play anymore because it required the disc to be in at all times.

Honest reviews on Backyard Soccer (Jewel Case) - PC/Mac

The sellers description of the game leads you believe that it will work on the newer computers. The words used were "works or windows 2000/me/xp 32 bit or higher". If you have windows 7 with a 64 bit, it does not work. False advertisement.

Best Limited Edition Chrome Silver Modded Xbox 360 Rapid Fire Controller Deals

Customer Ratings:

All I can say about this seller and product is that they're absolutely GREAT! The shipping is so damn fast. I ordered it on Friday and it was here Monday. The controller itself is exactly as described. It is pretty cool to use with the FN FAL on Black Ops and all other semi auto guns. All I can say is if you're looking for a modded controller BUY FROM LIGHTNING MODZ!!!!!!!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This is a great product, a little confusing to use at first even with the instructions, but eventually i figured it out by playing Xbox. This is a cool controller, it had blue leds and has a rapid fire mod. Although the edge it gives in online gaming is slight, its still cool to use in solo missions vs. the non modded AI. I played online with this controller and i think its gonna be awhile for me to get used to the fact that the controller does the work now, all i have to do is find ammo and point, fire and bam kills seem to be easier. Not sure if it helped in Halo Reach but it sure felt like it did, although i usually get a good amount of kills, using this thing made me get less lol I do know its because I'm not used to it yet and after i do, i'm sure its gonna be killer. Great controller combo and style, can't beat the price. Rapid Fire is expensive depending on the version of it, Version 2 i believe runs the same amount as a new controller, 50-60.00 and this product seems to hit two birds with one stone. Thanks again, ps shipping is AWESOME!!!:)

Best Deals for Limited Edition Chrome Silver Modded Xbox 360 Rapid Fire Controller

This mod controller is great for mw2 and black ops. it has a nice ROF (rate of fire) its really cool that you can change the speed of the rof. this controller sucks for halo, i tried it once and it didn't do anything. this mod controller really improved my gaming, in mw2 and black ops i ended up being top of the list for every round, i advise you to get this controller. its a blast

Honest reviews on Limited Edition Chrome Silver Modded Xbox 360 Rapid Fire Controller

First, I want to state that I almost exclusively play Halo Reach and truth told, I'm not very good. However, I really enjoy the game and was looking to find something to help my 40yr old self compete better against the legions of highly lethal teens and young adults. Enter the above modded controller. Before I go any further, I must first state that this controller does NOT make you an immediate WMD in Halo Reach. Primarily,because Bungie eliminated the potential advantage of all modded controllers in Halo Reach with their "capped max fire rate." So, for those who don't know, there are highly skilled persons that can, and often will still pwn you,even with one of these awesome controllers.

So what's the advantage you might ask? Simple, Accuracy. As any Halo Reach player will account, the tool of trade in Reach is the DMR. If you're like me, reflexes not quite what they used to be, it's very frustrating trying to strafe and aim,all while having to continously pull the trigger button over and over. For me, that extra trigger twitch always seemed to make my shots more erratic. Now, with this modded controller, all you have to do in short to mid range combat is hold the trigger button down and use what "talent" you have simply concentrating on the strafe and subsequent placement of your shots.

Why you might ask, do i state only short to mid range combat? Well, because the mod setting for Halo Reach isn't set to fire at the precise moment of reticle bloom closure. It's "almost" set at the noob "trigger spamming" speed. Now bear in mind, that isn't a bad thing on most slayer map's. I've won many a dmr duels because i simply shot my opponet 5 times faster than he was able to shoot me. Thanks to the strafe and mod. However, for the longer shot, you must forgo the mod and rely on your own shot placemet abilities. Which is still easily accomplished by pulling the trigger as you normaly would without the mod. Now, having covered that, it is possible to reprogram your controller, as explained in the instructions shipped with it, andconfigure it to fire the dmr at the precise moment of reticle closure. For those interested, I believe it to be exactly 2sps. Anyway, set at this speed your dmr will be as precise as a surgeons scapel. You can simply hold down the trigger and the mod will shoot for you perfectly. During tests on forge, I could shoot all the way across any map and never leave but one impact hole. The trade off however, is that is fires considerably slower than what most trigger spammers fire on all close to mid range combat. So even though your shots are more precise, everyone knows that the first 4 shots of a dmr does the same damage whether you're hit in the head or the foot. It's the last head shot that counts, and unfortunately at close range, the spammer will win over most precision mods.

However, this precise mode i programmed is absolutely perfect for BTB. With a DMR set at this firing speed on a huge map, you are almost the above mentioned WMD. Simply zoom, aim and let the mod work for you and you will be amazed at the amount of kills you accumulate. Simply put, almost every 5 shots and you put another one down. However, I do spend90% of my time in regular "vanilla Slayer," not BTB.

I waited exactly one month to write this review, so i could give a few statistics with the controller. As stated earlier I know I am just an average player and I don't claim to be great or even good, so please consider this as I list my poor stats and subsequent improvements in one month below:

1. KD 1.02 to 1.11

2. kills a game 10.43 to 11.01

3. deaths a game 10.23 to 09.95

4. went from a postive 4500 overall kd to over 7000 positive kd in one month

5. in one month alone i have accumulated almost 3000 dmr kills alone, making my DMR kd 18,476 kills and 14,146 deaths.

So, there's my review. Hope it helps some of you who play halo who are on the fence about a controller such as this. It really helped me and I'm not ashamed to use it. If you're already a halo master, well this controller probably isn't for you. If however, you're like me and need a little boost to help you compete, this thing will really work well for you. It does take a few days to get used to playing with this controller though, so plese keep that in mind as well. Also, as a closing note, as with any mod, they are designed for semi auto weapons. Automatic weapons are basicaly useless with this or any other mod on the market. The assualt rifle is adequate, but you will certainly not notice a succinct advantage over anyone else. If you're a hated and often detested Needler spammer, this mod will certainly not be for you. With this mod on, the needler will only fire one needle at a time hehe. Also, on that same token, while the mod is on, you cannot use the beam rifle or overcharge the plasma pistol. However, if/when you get a hold of the concussion rifle you will be a death dealing mofo! That weapon is beast with this mod, trust me!

In closing, i highly recommend this controller to all my "halo buds". This is a high quality product that delivers everything it promised. When i next have money to burn, i will be purchasing myself another one as well.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Limited Edition Chrome Silver Modded Xbox 360 Rapid Fire Controller

Great controller, it has a good finish to it, silver with the blue LED the controller modes are a bit confusing at first but with the intructions and after getting familiar with it your pretty much set. Highly recomend this product 5/5

Reviews of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - PlayStation 2

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $16.19
Today's Bonus: 19% Off

For many of you who enjoy the Megaten series, you may already be well aware of this series. Two years ago, Persona 3 broke onto the PS2, creating an influx of newcomers and old school gamers alike. It provided a unique battle system, an intriguing dark story, a plethora amount of characters, and overall a great experience. Persona 4 is a standalone game, bringing many of the features, settings, and atmosphere from P3.

You are a silent protagonist who transfers into a rural area. Soon enough, you find something mysterious and dangerous. On one rainy night, you look into a television. Voices begin to ring, the storm seems to enrage, and the television flickers on and off. Reaching into the t.v, you are sucked into a whole new dimension.

Interesting, is it not? You'll find many mysteries held within the storyline. Unlike the city life in P3, you're in a very small town named Inaba.

The battle system holds its true colors. Although this time around, there are some tweaks. In P3, you were unable to control your allies, as they were under the influence of the AI. All you could really do was give them certain commands. This time around though, you are able to control their every move. These actions include using items, attacking, and defending. The all-out-attack is still implemented and the battle mechanics overall are ALL the same.

For those who have played P3, Tartartus was a large dungeon with many different themes and atmospheres. Instead of that, the dungeons in this game are spread out. Giving a more variety in gameplay. Each dungeon is uniquely themed based on the storyline. One night, you may be going through a steamy spa, the next you may going through an abandoned mall.

Many of the things you find in P3 and, to an extent P2, are all found in Persona 4. If you love the Persona series or you are a newcomer, pick this up, it's well worth your money.

(Side Note: For those who pre-ordered this game, the art-book is quite large (100 pages) and provides a few major spoilers. It's highly recommended you wait to look at it later. Although, the presentation of the package is wonderful, giving both the artbook and soundtrack is awesome).

Pros

+Fast-paced action.

+A great, long story. Develops quite fast.

+Interesting concept. Different from many other RPGs.

+Amazing soundtrack and character voices. It won't disappoint.

+Different endings create a twist.

+Characters have a lot of depth.

+Eerie Atmosphere accompanied with Amazing Artstyle

Cons

-Long adventure may tire some people out.

-Town is somewhat small; not many places to explore.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Sometimes, being a good girlfriend means sitting on the couch and watching him play a game or playing a game together. I'm a moderate gamer, the new controls are generally more complicated than I'm willing to commit to. He is a hard core gamer. Some games are easier to watch than others, and some are easier to play. This review is not for the hard core gamer. This review if for the girlfriend (or boyfriend, who am I to judge?) that sits on the couch and watches.

Persona 4 is a great girlfriend game. We jokingly refer to it as "time to watch the anime". It's a single player game, so my involvement is limited to "don't say that...say this" or "I don't think that's the right answer...." The characters are interesting and the game is very story driven. With the exception of battle days, which don't happen all that often, the game is actually almost entirely story. I won't get into the plot, but if you're a fan of anime, you will enjoy this game. The game play is intuitive and you will rarely find yourself at a loss wondering what you should do next. The Persona fusing is the most complicated thing about the game, and I usually check the laundry or load the dishwasher when it comes to that point in the game. There are many games that I have sat through in defeated resignation, this is not the case with Persona 4. I'd find myself telling him that it's been 3 days, when are "we" going to play the game again! I hate to admit it, but I think I had a little crush on Rise! Great characters, great story, a great time overall.

Best Deals for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - PlayStation 2

For years I've been playing the same, mediocre RPGs. The names change, but nothing else seems to.

The Shin Megami Tensei series, on the other hand, has been making widely original content from the beginning and hasn't looked back. I sit here and look at Persona 4, and it's predecessor, Persona 3, and I'm just amazed at the amount of content thrown into these games. The games are so deep, I've found myself easily playing 90+ hours, just on the first playthrough. However, I'll be starting my next playthrough soon, because I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface through that 90 hour journey.

Social Links: One of the main things that makes the Persona series so spectacular is it's bizarre popularity system. You make friends. Have serious (sometimes intimate) relationships. Take tests. Become more popular if you get high scores on your tests. Get more friends. And these friendships are merely the tipping point of the game. These Social Links may seem to be pointless at first, even if they do provide some deep stories and hilarious commentary, however, once you cross over to the "other world", you'll find that these mean more to you than you think. Now, remember a few minutes back, when I said it took my 90 hours to finish 1 game? I didn't even get half of the Social Links. There are a freakin ton.

Because you're ranked high socially with so and so, you're able to form stronger and more meaningful Personas, which in turn, will be the main decider in any battle you face. If you have a terrible Persona when facing a random battle, you're dead for sure. And then, just to add a bit more to the mix, as if P4 doesn't want to be like it's father, P3 (which would be fine, if it were), it decides to ALSO make a difference in your own party members. Now, if you're incredibly close to Chie personally, she'll take deadly hits for you; knock out enemies you're struggling with; heal your status ailments. And not only that, but unlike P3, you now have control of all 4 party members. Which makes things a tad easier :)

And by now, if you're still reading this, it probably sounds like these social links are the biggest amount of story this game will get. That's pretty incorrect, actually. These social links are only tiny side plots in this beautiful adventure. The main plot / theme of this game goes beyond the Social Links, and really makes a social commentary on our own world and society today.

Then add the insanely odd style (the art, the colors, the backgrounds, the music) and it somehow manages to work perfectly with the path the own game goes down. Pure genius all around. AND it's on the ps2. It's 40 bucks and it's better than almost any game out so far on the new generation consoles. Come on RPG fans. You need to get into this underrated series already.

Honest reviews on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - PlayStation 2

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is not for the faint-of-heart emotionally. No game yet created will be able to tug out as much emotion from you as a full playing here does. Moreover it is, without a doubt, an RPG made for adults. This alone is a feat of epic accomplishment -when has a game (other SMT titles not included) ever used the 'M' rating for anything more than violence, language or sexuality? It today's society, it's hard for us to remember that "adult situations" come up in a lot of other ways, as well. Sure, there are some of those more common elements here, but... no, that's not what makes this "for adults".

In short, if you're willing to open your heart to it and dedicate some of your time to it, Persona 4 will ultimately become the most immersive and emotional RPG you've ever played. The setting, characters, gameplay and its incredible story all combine in perfect harmony to give the result.

For many years, I've wanted to be able to say that a new game was worthy of a highest-possible score (an effective 10/10 instead of just saying 5 starts of 5, which I list for 9 or 10/10 on my scale)... that something else was worthy... and I'm glad it's finally happened. Persona 3 and its FES epilogue version came ever-so-close, but Atlus has taken every aspect of P3 and enhanced it. To put it another way, any excuses anyone might have had to rain some scorn upon Persona 3 are now gone and you'll find yourself hard-pressed to come up with a single criticism of this game.

It's been a long week for me. With a first clear time of 59hr 36min and having received the game 7 days ago (at time of writing this review), it's not hard to realize I've done nothing but dive into Persona 4 at times other than essential life functions. That doesn't include much sleep, naturally. Not a minute of that time was a waste.

...

Alright, enough of the emotional ramblings. I suppose I should probably get to the actual content of the game itself.

The game scenario is pretty standard for an RPG, and if you wanted to simplify it into a single line, you could call it a Scooby Doo murder mystery case. The protagonist is a transfer student to a high school in a small town, events unfold, you gain friends and allies, and you work for a common cause. A serial killer seems to be on the loose, killing people in ways no one can seem to collect any evidence from-to say nothing for finding any suspects. It's not long before you realize that you have a unique but inexplicable ability to try to combat the killer, and the hunt it on. This quick summary is the end of any type of simplicity you could give to P4. ...There's one extra thing worth noting as you begin. The opening movie just can't stand up to what we saw in P3. After all, it'd be damn hard to make a more shocking opening than one where there's a simulation of someone shooting themselves in the head with a pistol.

The bare-bones start to the game lasts roughly 2 hours. It'll be another 2 before anything close to the normal flow of the game begins. It seems your town had some odd weather patterns and some urban myths to match, and the most famous being that watching a TV at midnight on a rainy night will show a picture of someone. Your soulmate, many say. This theory is quickly put to rest as people start to turn up dead. For American players, just a few murders hardly seem like something worthy of forming a such a game around. Just remember that this is Japan-ANY sort of violent crime is pretty much unheard of and a single act can put an entire city on edge. As the plot thickens, you can sense the rising tension amongst your school members and people around town.

Quite quickly, you'll see that the game is unapologetically Japanese. Name tags are used based on relation, school lessons match and general customs are followed. Incredibly off-the-wall is the introduction of a giant fuzzy teddy bear as a character, who'll be sticking around with you the remainder of the game. ...Yea, definitely Japanese. If you're willing to overlook the fluff and fuzz, you will see that he's quite a strong character and a valuable member toward your efforts. If anything you should consider the culture gap content to be a good thing, since it means that only minor adjustments (at most) were made in the translation and adaptation of a North American release.

Game flow is simple and easy to follow. You have school during days, your dungeon adventures occur in the afternoons, and your evenings are free to pursue your studies or do things with your relatives in the house. Days off and times you choose not to battle are when you'll form your "Social Links" and dive into the plethora of sub-stories, and your adventures in total will fall over a calendar year. One important difference between P3 and P4 is that each ally in your team has an individual social link, instead of just the girls. This is a lot more natural and will likely result in substantial guilt when you can't bring along certain members for certain missions... it's unlikely you'll really "hate" any of the characters since you really get to know them all at length.

When you start to have carte blanche over your time, the game seems to be able to sense what you're trying to do and scold you appropriately. After a few trips into battle the first week it was available, I received a phone call from the infamous and series-recurring Velvet Room reminding me that I should be looking to get to know people in my new town. For those not familiar, the Velvet Room is a special place only the protagonist can enter where you'll be able to manage your Personas. Though this is important, a trait of the Persona series is the need to advance your social links with friends so that your Personas can become substantially more powerful as you develop and create them. In all seriousness, a Persona that is a few levels above your main character will make difficult battles substantially easier in a lot of places and gives you access to more powerful abilities. In short, a Persona is merely a facade of yourself that allows you to reveal more of your soul, and thus changes what you can do in battle based on what you put forward.

Another awesome improvement over Persona 3 is the finer details of the plot. Not to say it wasn't complex, but there were times where you could be screaming at your TV wishing your characters would figure out something obvious. These moments are gone-actually, in almost every instance I came up with a new deduction about things it was addressed by others before my turn to speak. Shamefully, I must admit that there were times that my allies figured out some things before I did that resulted in a facepalm for me. This if far from a bad thing, of course! Just more proof of a very well-written story where it seems the authors thought through things and were able to anticipate what players were probably thinking at the time. The end result here is that plot twists are truly a surprise, yet are entirely logical once your team has a chance to sit around and discuss them.

The characters you'll find here combine to make the greatest cast ever assembled for an RPG. Each has quirks, a sense of humor, running jokes, particular matters of irritation, etc.. The cross-character chatting actually gets so intense sometimes that they make very offense remarks to others regarding very serious topics such as gender orientation. Not one of your crew feels at all "boring" and the development of all of them is quite enjoyable.

Always true to themselves, at some point everyone will probably annoy you temporarily and you'll grumble at the direction of your TV while glaring at them. Although (as you might expect in an RPG) all of the characters are dynamic in some way, their cores never change. My favorite instance of this was during a drinking game (yes, seriously) between friends where a particularly philosophical member has been forced into a situation where a lot of his-uh-"Innocence" was to be lost. On the spot and without hesitation, he spits out a haiku perfectly explaining what he has to do. It's not even an obvious thing and you have to REALIZE it's a haiku, though the fact he didn't spell it out for you makes it all the more hilarious. There are so many little moments like this and awesome lines from the whole crew that no cutscene is dull.

...

Regarding the combat system, it's simply flawless. Though a major beef with P3 was the inability to directly control your allies, you now can... though... there were but 3 instances where I actually took control of the entire party. I know it was 3 because I can remember reach time and why I changed! The ally and enemy AI alike are just phenomenal. Similar to the facepalms in the story, I found my group members performing actions to disable or knock down foes that I didn't realize or completely forgot about. It's never a bad thing when your friends help you, and not vice-versa. Combat speed is rather fast if you let characters act on their own, Persona summoning is very crisp (another improvement), and every pleasant quirk from P3 is still there with even more fun battle details added. You'll also be happy to know that you can actually find out what Persona abilities do by pressing Square on the Persona selection menu, since there's no way you'll remember what each strange spell name means on your own.

Of special note are the cross-member interactions during combat. This was already well-defined in Persona 3, but it's improved even further here and the banter between allies is almost continuous. Despite the limited number of lines they have, for some reason it never seems to get old.

Actually, developing your social links with your group members helps play into the changes to the battle system. Depending on how advanced it is, they're able to take a mortal blow for you that would have otherwise resulted in your death and a "Game Over". Better still, they're able to cure you from annoying ailments including the dreaded charm. Quite literally, someone will run up to you and slap you in the face to get your attention. Best of all, if you're willing to push through the entire story for one of your allies, they'll develop the ability to survive a single killing blow to them and this is very strategically important in boss battles. Players of Persona 3 in particular will enjoy this, since taking time to raise your allies basically crippled you in difficult fights.

Another little detail about dungeon improvements is that treasure chests will no longer spit out Yen. That was well and good of course, but also made no sense in P3. To counteract always being poor, the activities you use to increase your character statistics include part-time jobs that pay rather well. Your other primary source of income is the selling of innate materials dropped from defeated foes. Selling these off to a local shop unlocks new weapons and armor for you. Not remotely realistic, but as good of a system I've seen in a modern-era RPG nonetheless.

Oh, and it's been pretty clear from a lot of the other reviews around that you need to do a ridiculous amount of exp grind to really do well. I beg to differ. If you'd like an indication of how much "work" I did, I completed each dungeon twice... once for the storyline and another to defeat optional bosses. In a few cases I did short sorties to particular places to collect items requested by the townsfolk for quests. Do note that although the "fatigue" factor is gone from P3, you no longer recover full HP/SP after returning to the entrance.

...

Moving on to overall presentation of the game, you really can't ignore PS2 limitations anymore. Since the entire development process of Persona 4 has been after the PS3 was launched, it's unfortunate that the limited budget and resources of Atlus couldn't put this on the stronger system. Mind you, the graphics (in combat especially) are as good as you'll ever seen on the PS2, but hopping back to a game in HD will basically make your eyes bug out. Some kind of widescreen mode would have been awesome, but this is a very minor complaint and the lack of it doesn't subtract from the game in any way whatsoever.

The soundtrack is top-notch, as you'd expect from any SMT title. Each separate dungeon has its own background music, which mixes things up nicely while walking around. There are hours upon hours of voiceovers from a talented cast that anime buffs will be able to pick out a few "famous" voices from. Another intriguing thing present this time is "quazi-voiceovers", where the text of a line will appear and you'll only get a short outburst from the other character. This could be a clip of an emotional reaction, or the first few words of the phrase. To me, this shows that Atlus might have loved to have put a voiceover on everything, but could have been running out of disk space. One thing that they made a specific point of including for voiceovers, however, is the "final" cutscene with each social link that brings you up to the max rank. It feels like an extra bonus for your effort and really puts the emotion from everyone out on the table.

...

One thing I always love to talk about is details in games; it's often the little things that really make a scene stick with you or add a good memory to the game overall. The first such thing I saw in the game was when I was eating breakfast with my hosts and finished toast popped out of the toaster. It seems really tiny and insignificant, but it was so unexpected I actually jumped a little in my seat. If you're looking for a "big" example of details, naturally it would be the manga-like marks that appear above the characters quite often which explain their moods. Especially in cutscenes without voiceovers, it helps hold things together well.

I also can't help but mention how well "detail" and dialogue is used in the Persona. As a voiceless protagonist, somehow you're still turned into an incredible character and member of your group. If it weren't for the fact that you're controlling him at all times and his ability to control multiple Personas is unique, you can easily imagine him being just any other normal person at school. It's a damn good feat of writing to allow someone without a voice to be both the "main" character and the strongest in most any sense of the word.

The "mood" is also simply amazing. As you could expect, there is an eventual point in the plot where things have entirely hit the proverbial fan and things look incredibly grim. I can almost assure you that you'll be so sucked in to the game at this point that you'll literally have knots in your stomach waiting for the next horrible thing to happen. This is made all the more exciting by the fact that very few of the major events happen at times you would expect and you get a lot of short term changes you need to cope with.

...

In starting a summary, it needs to be said that this game is not for everyone. It takes dedication to get the most out of this game. Although I'd like to think that anyone who has ever at any point played any type of RPG and enjoyed it would find Persona 4 to be an incredible experience, there are some players that can't handle hours without battle action, or the fact that it's hardly worth turning on your PS2 unless you have at least 1-2 full hours to play in order to make much progress.

I'll kind start to finish this by giving a testimonial of my feelings throughout playing. At 10 hours in, I felt kind of disappointed. At 20, I'd adjusted to this. By 30, I was engaged. Hours 30 to 40 were hands-down the most I've ever enjoyed in any RPG (or game in general, actually). 40-Finish had me on the edge of my seat, and my first time at [AN] ending resulted in my crying for about 10 minutes.

Oh... and as a last impression, I'd like to say that this game answers important questions in life, such as what happens when a protagonist is used as an underage male prostitute (indirectly). Perhaps you'd like to know what hints of fanservice from previous Persona titles would look like. Best of all, you might be curious to know what an 8-bit era dungeon crawling game would look like in 3D, and thankfully such a vital ponderance is answered for you. When's the last time you fought a boss that was a 16x16 block of pixels. That's what I thought.

...

Conclusion-Just an incredible symphony here. At this point I'm not even sure if this truly my favorite RPG, but a somewhat objective view shows what is practically a flawless game that has corrected every imaginable critique it faced in its last release. There is still potential for great leaps forward in the Persona series, but at this time Persona 4 is worthy of the utmost praise for everything it gives you.

Dare I say, Atlus is developing enough of a fanbase around the world now that releases are anticipated at nearly the same level of Square-Enix games? Might we finally have another true powerhouse in the RPG department which is slowly evolving past niche games to things anyone can enjoy playing? We'll have to see what Atlus can put together for the PS3 and/or 360, I suppose. They might not have the budget or resources of the SE-folk, but they have 10x the heart put into their titles right now. Not impressed enough yet? Go ahead and play through again on your cleared data to unlock everything available to you.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 - PlayStation 2

I love this game. I have always loved Japanese games since they have very pretty art. I don't like games that are totally fighting styled because I think that is just boring.

There are so few English games that include social interactions of any kind (Except maybe the Sims series), which is just so sad!! A lot of Japanese games have it, which is why a lot of females play Japanese games. Too bad I don't understand Japanese. I think Persona 4 is sort of a game that even female can play (too bad the main character can only be a guy!) I really do hope more games like this come out!! I was so into the game!

Plus the game is hilarious, the story is intriguing too. Usually I stop playing a game after a few days but this one I actually played for much longer than normal!!! If there is a Persona 5, I will definitely buy it!

Actually I just brought Persona 3 FES. Kind of backward but after playing Persona 4, I want to collect this series!

Buy Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2

Customer Ratings:

Volume 2!! This is another awesome collection of games from the golden era of arcade! Many games here were made for NES and SNES, but now we get REAL arcade versions!

Each game looks wonderful and comes with history info, unlockable art, tips, cast, and music. You can adjust the screen, difficulty, etc.... Progress can be saved anytime during gameplay. Multiple players can play the shooter and brawler games together for more fun. These games really test your reflexes. Most games have beautiful graphics. The game designers' vivid imagination shines. I hope Capcom will make a volume 3 with Dark Stalkers.

Here are the machines:

1941:Counter Attack. A vertical shooter. You shoot up German WW2 planes, ships, vehicles, etc... Good game.

Avengers: A vertical brawler. Average game.

Black Tiger: A horizontal platformer similar to Ghosts 'n Goblins series. Medieval setting. Good game.

Block Block: A ping-pong game similar to Arcanoid(not sure of the spelling). Good game.

Captain Commando: A horizontal brawler similar to Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Final Fight. You can pick up cool guns, operate robots(similar to riding on beasts from Golden Axe). Enemy design could be better. Good game.

Eco Fighter: A zany horizontal shooter. Control is similar to Forgotten Worlds. Nice graphics. I think this game was never released in U.S. arcades because it speaks Japanese. Great game.

The King of Dragons: A horizontal brawler with mediveal setting. Some RPG elements because you level up various statistics. Bigger and better weapons/armors are acquired as you progress. Nice graphics. Great game.

Knights of The Round: A mediveal horizontal brawler. Bigger and better weapons/armors are acquired as you progress. Nice graphics. Great game.

Last Duel: A futuristic shooter. Decent game.

Magic Sword: A simple medieval horizontal brawler. You unlock jail doors to recruit fellow fighters that act like satellite. Good game.

Mega Twins: A cute cartoon horizontal platformer. I think this was never released in U.S. arcades. Great game.

Quiz & Dragons: A trivia game. Good game.

Side Arms: Hyper Dyne. A futuristic horizontal shooter. You control a jet pack wearing hero then combine with another jet suit for more cool fire power. Average game.

Street Fighter: The original fighter game. The original arcade machine have 2 big 'power' sensitive buttons, the hitting strength determined heavy, medium or light attack. You literally get a work-out playing this game. Funky control with cheesy yet funny voice actor. Good game.

Strider: A futuristic horizontal platformer. You control a futuristic Ninja with sword slash attack. Awesome graphics. Cool design. There are various spoken languages between levels, including Japanese, Russian and Chinese. I played this game on Genesis but Genesis version didn't have voice-overs, so the arcade version in this Capcom Classics Collection V2 is truly great. Superb game.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo: A fighter game. Similar to earlier Street Fighter II games with more characters like Cammy, Fei Long, T.Hawk, and Dee Jay. There is NO loading time between matches. Superb game.

The Speed Rumbler: A top-view driving shooter. You control a land vehicle. Horrible game.

Three Wonders: Its actually 3 games in one. Platform, shooter, and puzzle. The puzzle game is similar to Pengo, you push blocks to crush enemies. The horizontal platform and shooter games are great, the puzzle one decent.

Tiger Road: A horizontal brawler similar to Trojan. Medieval Far-East setting. Good game.

Varth: A futuristic vertical shooter. Good game.

This is a must buy for all REAL gamers. Old school gamers will absolutely love it. Thanks Capcom for making this game!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Boy this collection is much more expensive than when I bought it. Now I enjoy all the games I couldn't afford to play way back when. The transition to home console (original x-box in this case)seems flawless. A few of the titles are filler, but overall a whole lotta fun!

Best Deals for Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2

This is all the fun of the arcade without blowing tons of quarters. I loved Capt Commando as a kid and this is just like the arcade. Not like when Double Dragon went to the Nintendo. There is a huge selection of multi player games here for youung and old alike. I highly recomend it for anyone from the 80s or anybody that loves good old arcade games.

Honest reviews on Capcom Classics Collection Volume 2

Alas, this excellent compilation of games is only compatible with ORIGINAL Xbox (not Xbox 360) consoles. [Anyone doubting the veracity my assertion can verify it by consulting Wikipedia's pertinent article ("List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360").]

Having owned my Sony PS2 console for several years; and having only recently added an Xbox 360 (slim) to my collection of consoles, I must say I'm sort of ironically relieved that my prior purchase of the PS2 version of "Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2" (as well as "Vol. 1," which is likewise incompatible with Xbox 360) wasn't, in effect, wasted. ;-)

P.S.: I recently also added the (easily confusable, but quite separate) "Capcom Digital Collection" to my collection of Xbox 360 games. I did this primarily because it (unlike the "Capcom Classics Collections" for Sony PS2 and the original Xbox) includes the excellent game "Commando 3."

Cheap Freedom Fighters: Battle for Liberty Island

Customer Ratings:

I was a little hesitant to pick up this title. The name had changed several times and they pushed the game back all the way up to the release. For instance it was supposed to be released in the end of Sept but it was pushed back till Oct for some reason. I heard some mixed reviews about the game so I almost didn't buy it. But I'm glad I changed my mind. I have had a blast playing this game. Honestly my only major complaint is that I want more. It just seems that if they added just a touch more than this game would be one of the top games to get for the xbox. The multiplayer aspect is fun but if they really need to add at least three more maps. Also some variations on the objectives instead of only playing their version of capture the flag. This game is screaming for xbox live support. The maps could've been downloadable content. But it seems that microsoft and EA can never play nice when it comes to xbox live. Other than my couple of complaints this game is a lot of fun. I like switching between areas to complete various objectives such as blowing up helicopters and destroying bridges. Which makes other missions easier. I do have another complaint in the mini objectives though. There should be a variety to the mini objectives instead of the same three over and over. Instead they just increase the number of objectives. So in one mission you may have to blow up a bridge. Then in the second mission you have to blow up two bridges or three bridges. And there always seems to be a helipad to blow up too. A larger variety in weapons would be nice as well. Sure there are rocket launchers but if you have one then you don't have a machine gun. And if you find a sub machine gun then good luck finding enough ammo. So you end up just using the assault rifle 95% of the time. All of this would have really helped this game but its still a ton of fun. It will definitely keep you busy until the big releases of the year start coming out in late oct through the holiday season.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This game has alot of fun elements. Both the single player and multiplayer I enjoyed.

Graphics: The graphics are good. They border on cell-shading.

Sound: Again, it's good. The people will say some funny things to you like "I'm not your huckleberry" when you try to recruit them without enough spots on your squad.

Camera View: 3rd person. It's easy to move around with it, no complaints.

Weapons: On multiplayers the soviets get grenades, pistol, and an ak-47; Americans get rebel weapons like molotov cocktails, pistol, and a shotgun. Other guns you get are a rocket launcher, sniper rifle, gun turrets, and flamethrower.

Single Player: I have always liked movies like 'Red Dawn' that dealt with the Soviets invading us and I was pretty satisfied with the plot. Not much strategy is needed on the levels on easy but on higher difficulties you do. The cut scenes are interesting.

Multiplayer: Some people who reviewed this game didn't think much of the multiplayer, but I really enjoyed it. Some flaws are that there are only three levels, taking over bunkers doesn't always work right, and three player multiplayer is always a lopsided fight no matter who is fighting.

Best Deals for Freedom Fighters: Battle for Liberty Island

I usually am a game snob, I only get into the "big blockbuster" games that are the best of the best, things like Splinter Cell, Halo, etc...but at Freedom Fighters new sub-20 dollar price, I decided to give it a try while waiting for Shellshock to release and I am glad I did!

Another reviewer was right, this game could be called Red Dawn. The premise is that the Russians have invaded New York, and you decide to start kicking butt and taking names. I won't go into the story, but in between game play is a highly entertaining story going on, that adds a lot to the gameplay.

The variety of weapons, and the quest to gain "charisma" so you can have more troops with you, is very cool. The controls take some getting used to, but once you have played for a few hours they became a real pleasure (i play with the "big" xbox controller). Great fighting, non-stop (really!) action, and since you don't get a ton of troops helping you until later in the game it just keeps getting better.

One thing that most surprised me was the great music and really good graphics. The music is perfect for this game, just the right amount of Russian music and it really blends into the game well. The graphics are nice, too. Even when fighting DOZENS of Russians with 12 troops of my own the frame rate never stuttered.

Overall, I give it 5 stars because of the price now and the FUN factor! If it was 50 bucks I would probably give it a 3.75 stars, but at 20 bucks or less pick it up if you enjoy shooters/military games/or love the movie Red Dawn and watched it relentlessly as a kid like I did! A nice surprise for the Xbox!

Honest reviews on Freedom Fighters: Battle for Liberty Island

I'll start off by saying that this is a very enjoyable game. From start to finish the story pulls you in and the gameplay is just great. The voice acting is some of the best I've heard in a long time. I will also agree with the reviewer that says you will actually care about the characters and what happens to them. The only poblem with this premise is that you do not connect with your recruits, just the main characters. The gameplay is good, the characters reminded me a lot of the pedestrians from State of Emergency. Along with the gameplay is the problem of commanding your recruits. Pretty much all that there is is hold position and follow. With games like Conflict: Desert Storm, you would think that developers would make it more in depth and be able to better control your fellow 'uprisers.' A really cool thing is how the lead character changes as the game progresses and according to the weather. In the beginning he is a clean cut plumber, at the end he's got long scraggly (is that a word?) hair and his clothes actually make you think he lives underground scavenging clothes. Sorry, I guess I'm getting a little too indepth. All in all it's a fun and enjoyable experience. I beat it within a week.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Freedom Fighters: Battle for Liberty Island

I bought this game on sunday, 10/5/03. I am playing through the single player campaign right now. It is pure genius!!! The plot is deep and one you may actually care about, a bit. The recruit and command function is greatly done, and so is the charisma system. The multiplayer is awesome, the only drawback is not having LIVE, at least system link (yes, I bought it for XBOX). If it had that, this would make a great game complete. This is fun and the graphics are superb. I love this game and recommend it to you. Even beginner action gamers will enjoy the simplistic controls, nonstop action, and fluent gameplay. There, now would you like Freedom Fighters as a game permenant in your game library?