Buy XL4 Big Boy Xlerator Wheel Stand for Logitech Driving Force GT

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I'm a huge fan of driving and racing games, so as an early Christmas present, my wife bought a Logitech G27 for me. Great wheel, but when I tried to attach it to a fold out table it just flopped around and was too unstable. So I looked at wheel seats, but at $400, that was too much for me and then where to store it. After a little searching on Amazon, I found the Xlerator BigBoy wheel stand. ( because I'm quite a bit over weight ) with the G27 adaptor. It came with free shipping and arrived within a week. Assembly took less than an hour and I was up and driving NFS Shift in no time.

I really like the fact that this stand allows you to sit back in your couch or chair and is very adjustable. Most of the other stands I looked at really made you sit up over the wheel, which could not be comfortable for any long period of time. The stand with the G27 is a great combination, it's light enough to move around after use, but sturdy enough to keep everything in place even under heavy driver `input'. The pedals stay in place even when you heal toe or stamp on the brake. The finish stands up to my klutzy movements haven't marred it yet. You might find the need for a USB 2 extension if you are using this on the couch, but Amazon sells a 3 meter version for about $8.

Again, one of the great features about this stand is that it can easily be picked up and stored in the closet. When you pick it up for storage, the foot print is only as large as the pedals since the wheel / shifter bar rise up. It doesn't lock in place, but if you rest the upper end against a wall or other object it will stay in place.

Lastly, the pre and post sales support from Xlerator is wonderful. They are very response and helpful.

Overall, 5 stars for a excellent product and a great value.

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I purchased this for my husband to go along with his new Logitech Driving Force GT wheel. It arrived quickly, was packaged well, easy to assemble and very well made.

Getting in and out of the chair is easy since the wheel arm pivots up to lift out of the way. It fits comfortably on our couch or recliner and really enhances game play. The frame holds the wheel and pedals in place so you actually feel like you're driving, right from your own comfy couch.

We highly recommend this. Driving games wouldn't be as realistic without it. There is a smaller (regular) version available but hubby is a big guy so we appreciate the extra room of this stand.

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I reviewed this over at PS3Blog.net, since I purchased this to go with Gran Turismo 5 and the Logitech PlayStation 3 Driving Force GT Racing Wheel. Here is the bulk of my review from that site:

The outside legs that wrap around your lap are adjustable (all the adjustments are done with spring pins that you line up with the holes). Since I have a large lap, I had to extend the legs all the way, but it still sits comfortably. You can also adjust the length of the support beam (where the lap bar connects to it) to put the foot pedals either closer to you or further out. I like the design they have with this better than a lot of the wheel stands you get at retail stores and the like (since most of them have a support beam that goes between your legs; a less than ideal setup). The only drawback would be if you use a small chair, as the outside legs are best suited for wide chairs and couches (the Big Boy has a 22 inch spread for the lap legs).

With the main support beam going out and then over to the foot pedal base, your legs are free of obstruction, which makes the driving feel more comfortable. The foot pedal itself is a flat piece of metal that, surprisingly, really holds the pedal base in place quite well. While putting it together, I did lose my footing a little bit and stepped right on it (I weigh over 350lbs), and it morphed, but it was also easily bent back into shape (the metal is still sturdy, but I'm not surprised my weight bent it like that).

Keep in mind, the wheel stand was specifically designed for the Driving Force GT, but the manufacturer does have adapters to be able to use it on other wheels (including the G27 and the 360 wireless wheel). With that said, the stand allows you to pivot the main frame back so you can easily get in and out of your chair (the base and lap bars all have rubber feet, so it doesn't slide around and is pretty stable, even in a vertical position), and to make the steering wheel setup easier. Slide the wheel over the flat wheel base plate and lock it in place.

As far as the actual racing goes and how well it works, the simple answer would be amazingly well. For being one of the cheapest stands on the market, I think it's also one of the sturdiest. No matter how high you have the force feedback settings, and how hard you play, the wheel stand stays in place (it slipped on me once at the base, mainly because the carpet is so worn out that it carries little grip, so being able to find a little bit of traction like that was a plus in my book :lol: ).

Since it is easy to take apart and stand, storage is easily done, too. If you have enough room, you can have it rest in the vertical position in a corner, or you can take the steering wheel support/lap bars off and set those to the side to reduce space even more. Personally, I just either leave it in front of the TV, or move it into the corner of my room. The footprint is pretty small.

Even with my wide body and thick legs, the stand didn't get in the way, nor did it twist and turn while I used the wheel. It's surprising how sturdy this thing is based on how it looks (minimal parts, no flashiness). I think that alone (and being able to pivot the bars back to easily get in and out of your seating area) makes this one of the better, understated accessories out there (similar to PS3 RealTriggers, but this likely won't catch on as fast since it's aimed at a much smaller market).

Overall, though, for $120 ($99 if you get the regular sized one), this is quite a bargain if you're big into racing games and want a very sturdy, and affordable (compared to others), wheel stand.

Honest reviews on XL4 Big Boy Xlerator Wheel Stand for Logitech Driving Force GT

i have been playing GT5 for the last month or so and got tired of struggling with the standard PS3 controller and decided to get the Logitech DRIVING FORCE GT wheel since the G27 isn't fully supported in GT5 the wheel itself is awesome but after using a tray table for @ a week, i needed something more solid so i bought this stand

It came very well packaged and even though the box was kinda beat (thanks UPS) the stand itself was in great condition without a scratch on it

The stand went together very easy and mounting the wheel/pedals was extremely straight forward i was a little concerned about the wobble when the wheel was mounted in the UP position but once you have it "down" in your chair or sofa this thing DOESN'T MOVE ONE BIT

the "arm" the wheel mounts to flips up so if you are playing for a long time or an endurance race & need to snack, do a bathroom run or whatever you just pause the game & flip the wheel stand up

the only complaints i have (minor ones at that)are:

1 no real way to mount the pedals to the base the instruction manual recommends either drilling through base or velcro i went with double sided 3M mounting squares in 3 places & the pedals don't move one bit

2 no way to cable maintenance all the wiring the GT wheel has alot of wiring (i need to use a USB extension cable to get to my PS3)so i would recommend going to a home hardware store and invest a few $ in black cable ties and lay out exactly where u want everything, then put a few ties around the wires & the stand takes way from the sleek look but keeps the wires out of the way while you play

i am very happy with my purchase, very stable & comfortable while playing especially during the Endurance races, quality materials & styling, with this and a Logitech GT wheel its the only way to play GT5!

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU IN LIFE & RACING !

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I ordered this item, so I could sit back on my couch and play GT5 (preordered here in Amazon). The assembly was very easy. My old Driving Force Pro fits perfectly. The actual item is solid, functional, easy-to-store, and fits my needs.

Cheap Avatar - Xbox 360

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Avatar is a solid gaming experience. There is absolutely nothing in this game that keeps it from being a lot of fun. The graphics are spectacular and the story is quite compelling. The Na'vi and RDA campaigns play like completely separate experiences which surprised me. They take place in different sectors of Pandora and each one is distinct. Playing as an Avatar, you tower over the humans and the plant life. As a human you are dwarfed by the plant life, Na'vi, and animals. The RDA campaigns really give you a sense of how hostile the environment is.

I have played through all of the Na'vi campaigns and over half of the RDA campaigns and I feel that the RDA campaigns are definitely harder. One of the nice things about Avatar, though, is that it is not a hard game by any means. You don't die much and you shouldn't have to play any of the segments multiple times to succeed. This may irritate hard core gamers but as a less skilled player, I consider it a plus.

Avatar is a good game but with a little more polish and a few adjustments it could have been steller. While the graphics are solid, there are still a few occasional glitches. In the later campaigns there is a little "drop-in" from time to time and throughout the game AI controlled Na'vi and RDA soldiers will appear from a long distance as featureless moving dolls. Then when you get closer the details will snap on. This is hard to explain but when developers make a game the character models are like fleshed out stick figures with a "skin" added later. It was weird and mildly irritating during the game to see characters moving around in the distance as little white figures and then once you got just a bit closer, "pop," now the details. The only other glitch and one common in many games is that some AI controlled characters would get stuck running in place against some of the scenery and once I saw an arrow get stuck in midair. Also the dragon like creatures the Na'vi fly called Banshees are sometimes seen perching in midair. No big deal but silly nonetheless.

Speaking of AI. Sometimes the enemy AI (wheter Na'vi or RDA depending on which side you play) is dumb as a stick and other times so clever you have a hard time staying alive. I would have preferred the AI to be better thought out. The developers should have either started the AI out as pretty stupid and then gradually smarter as you progressed through the game or make it class specific. For example, some the Na'vi tribes would be smarter or tougher than others with variations within tribes depending on ranks and on the RDA the AI could be assigned based on rank (grunts, commandos, elites, etc.) Either approach would be better than what was actually done.

The controls, weapons, skills, and vehicles are pretty well thought out but a few changes would have made them more fun. Both sides can equip 4 weapons and 4 skills at a time. However, each side has one default that you cannot swap. The RDA has twin pistols with infinite ammo that are almost useless and the Na'vi has a bow. Now the bow is a great weapon that you will probably use regularly throughout the Na'vi campaigns so it isn't really a problem but the pistols are a wasted slot. When you play as the RDA you need all the firepower you can muster. The skills are good but unlike the advertising there isn't 60 weapons and 20 skills. You have a handful of weapons and skills with 4 automatic upgrades for each one as you gain in experience points. The Na'vi have 6 weapons and if you count each upgrade you technically get 24 but they are not really that different just more powerful. The Na'vi have 9 skills and the upgrades bring you up to 36. The RDA have 8 weapons and 7 skills. Each side has a sprinting skill but a dedicated standard sprint would have been nice. The left joystick button isn't used so they could have made that the sprint which would have been nice. The RDA vehicle controls work just fine although the AMP suit is not much help if you get swarmed by Na'vi because they are so much faster. The suit gets destroyed in seconds and if you don't get clear of the blast you're toast. Also, I don't understand why when you run over the Na'vi they aren't killed. Usually there is minor damage if anything. The animal controls are okay but it would have been nice if they could have figured out a way for you to use weapons while riding. Also, it is hard to land the Banshees even when it looks like a spot has room. You keep pressing "Y" but the stupid thing won't land. This is major irritation.

Two final things that I can think of at moment that could have used some improving is the campaign structure towards the end of the game and enemy spawning. The last Na'vi campaign seemed rushed. In the rest of the campaigns the quests were spread out across the maps in such a way that you would have explored most of the map by the time you finished the sector. To complete everything I had to go back after I beat the game and explore the rest of the map. The developers clearly got in a hurry and I am curious to see if the final RDA campaign is structured the same way. A big improvement would have been to completely separate the campaigns. This would have aided the replay factor big time. What I mean here is that you have to play the opening sequence twice if you want to play both the Na'vi and RDA campaigns. You start out as an RDA soldier and after you are transferred to your Avatar body you come to a point where you have to choose sides. Take one route and you stick with the RDA and lose your Avatar, take the other and you turn on the RDA and remain in your Avatar body. It works as a story but it is boring to have to do the same stuff twice in order to get the point where you can take the route you didn't take the first time round.

Now regarding enemy spawning. Sometimes you clear an area and then you have to travel a ways before the enemy respawns. Other times they respawn so quick you have to sprint away to get clear. Also, sometimes the enemy follows you until you kill them and other times enough distance gets you clear. I would have much preferred a less haphazard approach. No respawning until you replay a sector would have made much more sense.

The multiplayer is okay. I am not a big multiplayer fan and I cannot see where this game breaks any new ground in this mode. I haven't tried the conquest mini game yet but I suspect it some kind of RTS game.

In conclusion, all quibbles aside, you can't go wrong with this game. It is interesting and fun at the same time. Buy it sooner or later.

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This game was actually a whole lot of fun. It's not an extremely difficult game but challenging enough, which I like because I'm more of a casual gamer. The graphics are great, but don't expect it to look as amazing as the movie did. Never the less they are still very good. What I like about this game is that at a certain point you must make a choice of what side to take. The RDA or the Navi. This makes it two different games that are both a great deal of fun. I had a lot of fun playing this game and recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the film and wants more excitement from the world of Pandora.

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First off i'll state by saying that Avatar is a third person shooter, nothing more nothing less. But, Gears of War, and Lost Planet(which this game compares a lot to, in gameplay terms) is exactly what they are. You see the enemy, shoot, kill, collect items, reach checkpoints, rid in vehicles, do missions. Avatar is just that, the one thing that makes this game stand out among the others is its shear beauty, and atmosphere, i mean the graphics are just second to none especially on the PC version. The detailing Ubisoft put into this game in working along side James Cameron himself is just stellar, and you find yourself just wanting to take in the sights, even though theres really not much time for it. Basically anything that moves(plants, spores, strange explosive type flowers) are considered your enemy and you gain points and ugrgades from doing so. The enemies are quite unique also to say the least, the hammerhead creature is a favorite of mine, and towers over you much like a giant Jurassic creature straight from the movies, and is so realistic you nearly wet yourself. Most of the animals other than that are pretty easy to kill,the vyperwolfs however run amuck allll over the place and can be difficult to aim down. Many reviews have dogged not only the game but also the aiming accuracy, which isnt true, you just have to be quicker than your opponent, and i guess they just stink at shooting things. Also many critics have said how bad moving around in vehicles is, this i just don't get, i think they are just as good as Halo, or Gears or anything else you do battle in machines. The mechs remind you a lot of lost planet, as do a lot of the collection of items from killing foliage. Its also fun to play as the Na'vi or however you spell it, although most of your killing consists of bow shooting, and melee with a giant club, its still pretty solid for battle. Even though i myself prefer the marines. So by all means if you have the money and want to spend it, and are a fan of Lost Planet, or Gears of War, then pick this up, of course just because of the popularity and selling status of those large titles, is the reason the average rating for this game was 6.5. Don't listen to critics, check out that most actual, "players" of the game gave it an 8.6, and you should listen to people who play the game all the way through, not critics who play it once for a while and judge it based on there opinion because it doesnt sell hugely. They call it repetitive i call it innovative and a good source for fun in the strange land of Pandora, quite a beautiful creative place. And hey it beats just going around killing zombies, and waiting for more to do the same when your done, hmm isnt that repetition? Yep.

NOTE:If you have the gear get it on PC, this version looks stellar, but on PC with direct x 10 and ultra high settings it just looks Godly.:D

Honest reviews on Avatar - Xbox 360

This game is pure awesome! I can't really explain it that well, but i can say that it is DEFINITELY worth buying!

Some details

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

* You can choose to be RDA, or Na'vi.

* The game's storyline is not based on the movie. It's more of a prequel.

* VERY Detailed scenery.

* Conquest mode is an easier way to take over territory.

It would have been a 5/5 from me, but i knocked off a star because the animations, movements, and interactions could have been Way better.

Long story short Buy this game

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Would I buy this game: No

Would I rent it again: Definitely not

Would I recommend someone rent this: sure, its not terrible but its nothing great either

Its a third person shooter with a few gimmicks tacked on like leveling and skills, but that's about it. Each level you usually get a new weapon to choose from and a new skill, but after playing for about 4 hours and leveling up several times you realize that leveling up isn't really that much of an improvement. The things I like least about this game are that the enemies are really tiny on the screen so you can't see very much detail on them, the controls and perspective make shooting difficult, and enemies will insta-spawn after you kill a group in an area (this really just takes away from the experience of immersion in-game when four enemies suddenly appear).

Some reviews have said this game is gorgeous. I disagree. There is a lot of detail in the environment but its sorta grainy looking; just not a really smooth look to the environment. I would call this game about average in terms of its graphics compared to other titles.

The game itself is kinda fun, but so far its been a lot of scavenger quests or go-somewhere-and-turn-something-on quests. Oh, and did I mention that it is quest based. The world does seem to be open for exploration, but what exactly you find out exploring is a good question. The quests have all been linear with no side quests so far.

On an up note there is a strategy type game which is kinda fun to play; I've gotten very bored of the main shooter story and I've been playing the strategy game since its more involved and requires a little more thought. Don't get me wrong, I like a good shooter, this just doesn't seem to be one of them.

Reviews of Guitar Hero on Tour Decades Bundle - Nintendo DS

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Make sure you have the original ds or ds lite if you purchase this game. Fun game but cannot play on dsi or newer system.

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This game is basically the same as the DS's first instalation of Guitar Hero this past June, but it also features song sharing, a way to utilize the first GH:DS to make the DS to DS multiplayer even more expansive (up to 53 songs to rock out together with). It includes 28 songs compared to the first instalation's 25 songs, which for the most part is a solid tracklist. It has its clinkers (as much as I love "We Are The Champions", I must admit that its 45-second piano solo do not fit Guitar Hero), but I love songs such as "Can't Stop" and "Sweet Home Alabama".

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty fun DS game. It may not vary much from the game of June, but if you liked that one, you'll have a blast with this one. Perhaps its not worth its $35 game-only price tag, but jamming out on the DS doesn't get much better than this.

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i bought this for one of my daughters. she is 10 years old and she just loves this game. it teaches her about what good music is and she hears so much more in the songs playing this. its great. she has mastered about half the songs and its been about 2 weeks since she's had it. it keeps her occupied for hours!

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I bought this game for my grandson who got the DS Lite for Christmas. He loves it and his two sisters love it too, but they have to use his DS to play it because it does not fit on the DSi's they got for Christmas. On Christmas the three of them used it most of the day and totally left all their new games alone. I would say that this one is a winner. I am very glad I ordered it.

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My granddaughter (age 8) requested this game for her Nintendo DS as a birthday gift. She absolutely loves it and plays this game all the time! It is everything she expected it to be.

Hasbro Family Game Night 1 and 2 Bundle - Nintendo Wii Reviews

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There are past memories galore for the adults from the live games that are included this video game. Many of the classics are included: Connect Four, Battleship, Yahtzee, Boggle, Sorry, Operation, Jenga, Connect 4x4, Bop-it, Pictureka.

They are set so it takes work to master them, which keeps the players interested.

I especially like these because it helps develop the cognitive skills and fine motor control without the violence of the typical games. It's important to come with the expectations of a different experience from the board games, similar to reading a book and seeing a movie with the same title. The games are based on the board games, but the experience will be different. Both are enjoyable; just different.

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My family and I all love this game. I like the Yahtzee and Sorry the most. It is a good way to get all the family together and play a game and when you are done all you have to do is turn the Wii off...no mess!

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I bought this for my brother-in-law and his family. We happened to be visiting them when they played it, so we got a chance to play it ourselves. We had kids ranging in age from 5 to 10 years old and everybody had a great time!

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We have been having a great time playing all the games. Some of the games that I do not like or know how to play; then my children enjoy. I like the fact that several of the games are old school games that they have updated to make fun for all. My youngest child is 6 years old. I also have a 8 year old, 12 year old and 16 year old. It is great because with the games age really does not matter much as to how well you will do with the game. On the negative side; I would have to agree with many of the past reviews that do not like the battle ship game. It requires that the other person not look while you place your pieces. Only way the is really fair is if you have the leave the room or something. I guess if you do that it can be still as fun as the other way to play it. Also Jenga is kind of crazy to play. My daughter who is the best at most all of these games; was not able to really get this one and I definetly could not play it. In the games defence; we have never really like to play the really game of Jenga. My 12 year old has played the other really version and she states that she actually liked it. We really enjoy the game over all.

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MY FAMILY HAS BEEN DOING GAME NIGHT FOR ALMOST 13 YEARS! THESE GAMES ARE AWESOME! 5 OR MORE GAMES PER DISK, NO MISSING PIESES, TORN MONEY, OR ARGUEMENT ABOUT SOMEONE CHEATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLUS SET UP AND PUTTING AWAY ARE TAKEN CARE OF FOR YOU!!!!! CAN'T WAIT TIL WE GET THE NEXT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reviews of PlayStation 2 Dualshock Controller Black

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The fact is, although the shape was not modified from the original DualShock (Sony figured, "Why change a popular, perfect design?"), most of the innards are completely different. Also, 'Analog' for the DualShock2 not only describes the controller sticks, but also applies to all of the buttons. This means the buttons are pressure sensitive and actually have an effect on game play. This will especially show for games like GT3, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Final Fantasy X. (Example: The amount of pressure you use to press a button dictates the speed of you drawing your gun in MGS2.)You will NOT get the same effect by using a PSOne DualShock.

I have not had any bad luck with this controller, and I've owned as many as 3. This controller is far better than the controllers for Dreamcast or Nintendo 64. It is also VERY durable. I've slammed my personal controler into the ground (carpet lined cement) MANY times after frustrating licence tests in GT3, and the controller remains in perfect shape. This controller is far better than any third party fodder.

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The way I see it, the best controllers are the NES, SNES, and Playstation controllers. All three of these have one thing in common: ridiculously simple button lay-out. Play with any of these three and you'll notice that you NEVER have to take your eyes off the screen to find the right button.

I see a lot of people complaining about the price on this controller, but let's look at what you're getting. First of all, this controller has the vibration function, which makes the controller literally shake around. This is especially fun when you're shooting guns in games like Metal Gear Solid 2. Then there's the two analog controllers. However, just because they're there, doesn't mean that you are forced to use them--like with that dumb N64 controller. Every Playstation 2 game I've played so far still lets you use the D-pad--which an old-school gamer like me prefers. But if you want to use the analog controller, go right ahead, it's just a thumb-flick away.

Everything I've mentioned up to here is pretty much common knowledge, but there are a few features on this controller that you weren't aware of: 1) This controller has AN EXTRA FOOT OF CORD when you compare it to the generic Playstation One controller. Now I can relax on the COUCH instead of the FLOOR. 2) The R2 and L2 shoulder buttons are LARGER, making it sooooo much easier to find them in the heat of battle. And 3) I recently saw a magazine advertising a product that lets you use the Playstation 2 controller on the Gamecube because "the Gamecube controller won't be ideal for all games." See, I told you the Playstation 2 controller was the best.

So far I haven't had any problems with buttons sticking, and quite frankly, the only way I can see that happening is if you make a habit of dripping pancake syrup onto your controller, or throwing your controller at the wall. Controll yourself!

Best Deals for PlayStation 2 Dualshock Controller Black

When magazines described the Dual Shock 2 as having all analog buttons I sort of expected a mushy button feel so you knew how far you were pressing, etc... Instead, the buttons feel like normal PS1 Dual Shock buttons but depending on how hard you push them it can give a different reaction in the game.

This is a kind of nice feature since the buttons feel the same as the old PS1 controller but it has an extra level of sensitivity. The only time it is a pain though is if you just tap it sometimes it won't register.

All in all, I would say buy the Sony controller and skip out on the 3rd parties. All the people I know who have bought 3rd party controllers sold them and bought Sony within the next day.

Honest reviews on PlayStation 2 Dualshock Controller Black

There are a lot of PlayStation 2 controllers out there, and because the PS2 is backwards compatible with PlayStation, there are even more. However, none can even come close to this controller. With its analog buttons that can tell how hard you are pressing, to it's dual shock emitters, nothing can top it. The analog buttons come in especially handy for sports and fighting games, and the shocks are very fun to play with. Even though there are controllers with other features on them, such as wireless and different shapes, they are not as good as this one! Plus, they are not guaranteed to work perfectly, unlike this one, because they are not made by Sony, and some aren't even endorsed by Sony. Only buy this controller! It's the best!

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I've had my PS2 for over a year now and have played with several different brands and varieties of gamepads for it, figuring that Sony probably didn't have a monopoly on good style and solid construction. Seeing the other pads available for a considerably lower price than the Sony, I bought a few and played with them.

After months of heavy gaming with SSX, though, they broke, wore down, buttons stopped working, and the controls became rather unresponsive. Disappointed, I went and grabbed two fresh Sony pads and the difference is amazing. The quality is really far superior to any of the other pads out there in terms of strength, comfortability, feel, and durability.

The only complaint I have is that the edges to the directional pad and button pad are the tiniest bit too sharp -several hours of sliding your fingers across them quickly will give you some serious blisters -I actually built up callouses during my most intense periods of gameplay! I haven't seen a gamepad that's more comfortable, however.

The short of it: get the Sony controllers. Don't bother with the others; you'll just get frustrated.

Reviews of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

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It wasn't long after the console release of the first BlazBlue entry subtitled Calamity Trigger that developers Arcsys (makers of the legendary Guilty Gear) unveiled the next: Continuum Shift. It's been a long wait (well, long for those of us who have been counting down the days to import it from Japan), but Continuum Shift has finally arrived. With plenty of new content, features, and changes, Continuum Shift shows that BlazBlue is here to stay.

Continuum Shift adds a whole lot of new things to the series, but I'll start with the 3 brand new playable characters: Hazama, Tsubaki, and Mu-12. Hazama and Tsubaki are available to be played as from the start; Mu-12 however must be unlocked through the story mode. Hazama can use his drive to shoot out a long chain with a monstrous mouth at the end (vaguely similar to Scorpion's from Mortal Kombat but much larger). He can use this to halt his opponent, throw his opponent, or even pull himself to the opponent to get up close and personal. He has a good mix up game and an extremely dangerous distortion drive that launches his opponent way up into the air, allowing him to follow it up with a combo as they fall back to the ground. Tsubaki uses her Drive to charge up a meter which she can expend to pull off improved versions of her special moves. She is very fast which grants her great potential to rush down and pressure the opponent. Her damage is fairly weak, but with a fully charged meter she can be a big threat. Lastly, Mu-12's drive summons several turrets/mirrors called Steins that can fire/reflect lasers. Not only that, but she can cause them to explode, halting her opponent's attempts to rush in. She has an excellent reversal and plenty of options to keep her opponent at bay. All three of the characters are unique (Mu-12's design does share some similarities with Lamda-11's, but their fighting styles differ greatly) and are great fun to play as.

As of now, three additional characters have been announced and will be included as Downloadable Content (DLC) in the future. The word is that these characters are Makoto, Noel's squirrel-like friend; Velkenhayn, Rachel's polite butler; and Platinum the Trinity, a brand new character with 3 different personalities that is introduced in Continuum Shift's story. It's stated that these will cost money (rumor is $7 as of writing this).

All 15 of the characters in Continuum Shift come with unlock able unlimited forms (unlike Calamity Trigger which only had 4 unlimited characters unless one purchased the DLC). If you're not familiar with what they are, unlimited characters are basically overpowered "boss" versions of the games playable cast. They have been created with almost no thought of balance in mind and are meant only for playing in a non competitive setting for fun. Don't think that these are the same unlimited characters from Calamity Trigger as most of them have had pretty significant changes to make them even more over the top and fun. Unfortunately, the only way to unlock these unlimited characters is by completing Score Attack mode with the character whose unlimited form you wish to unlock. This is a very hard thing to accomplish. There is DLC that can be purchased to unlock the unlimited characters if you do not wish to go through the agony of unlocking them all yourself, but I can't help but feel that method for unlocking the unlimited characters was made extremely difficult in an attempt to get players to cave and buy the DLC. The unlimited characters are more of a fun side attraction than a crucial part of the game, but it's still disappointing that they are not so easily accessible.

Continuum Shift features a massive amount of new stages. All the previous stages from Calamity Trigger have had complete redesigns made of them (the Calamity Trigger original's are of course here as well should you choose to use them). One stage from Calamity Trigger had you fight on a platform with pedestrians during a sunny afternoon as giant airships passed behind you. The Continuum Shift version has you fighting on the same platform but in a heavy downpour of rain which gradually stops to have the clouds break, revealing a sunset. Knowing that, the redesigns aren't necessarily meant to replace the originals rather than give them a different kind of style. Some brand new stages have been included as well like a lush royal garden, a historic museum, and a suburban bridge on the brink of the city. Calamity Trigger had absolutely astounding stages, but I find that Continuum Shift's new stages and redesigned stages take it to the next level. To be straight forward, Continuum shift has the best stages I've seen in any fighting game yet.

Several Tweaks to the characters have been made. All the characters from Calamity Trigger sport new moves, move commands, and changes to their mechanics in Continuum Shift. For instance, Ragna has a new special move called Belial Edge which he can use to rapidly dive downward when in the air. Most people will find that this new move leads to much better air combos when compared to Calamity Trigger which will cause them to relearn and play Ragna quite differently. Another example is Arakune who now has much larger and much more powerful insects, but must build a meter instead of landing a single hit to use them. Also, many changes to frame data have been made in an attempt to progressively make the game more balanced. In general, it's a much more balanced game than Calamity Trigger was and it is pretty well balanced over all, but there are still some flaws. Rachel for instance has been weakened to a point where she is at a pretty large disadvantage to the rest of the cast. Fortunately, an announcement has been made that Arcsys plans to patch the game in the future to further improve the balancing.

The core mechanics of the game have undergone some tweaking. The bursting system is no longer tied to your character's barrier gauge. Instead, both players start a match with one burst each. Another burst is given when a player loses a round. Players can gain and store up to two bursts at once. I like this system much more than Calamity Trigger's which made it effective to burst only when your character was nearly dead, taking away the strategic aspect of bursting. Ultimately though, I still find the burst system from Guilty Gear (which is tied to its own meter) to function the best out of all of them. I personally would much like to see it implemented into BlazBlue.

Another change to the game's mechanics is the new guard break system. Characters don't play tug of war with a meter in an attempt to break through the opponent's defense anymore. Instead we have the new Guard Libra system. Each character has their own set number of Guard Libras that break when an opponent attacks with a few select moves in their arsenal. Once all of a character's Guard Libras are broken, they become stunned for a long period of time which allows the opponent go in for a free combo. I, again, like this system more than Calamity Trigger's because it's a much more permanent penalty rather than a regenerating one. These moves with the potential to break Guard Libras can also cause new counter attacks (counter hits are performed by hitting an opponent while they are in an attack animation) called Fatal Counters which lead to even more powerful combos than before.

The Controls remain the same (Buttons for A, B, C, and Drive), but a new beginner mode (which is of course optional to use) has been added which replaces the easy specials from Calamity Trigger. Beginner mode really simplifies the game by giving the player 2 buttons for attack (normal and heavy) as well as a button for specials and a button for grabs. Basic combos can be easily strung together by mindlessly mashing buttons. Distortion Drives are performed by pressing and holding one of the two attack buttons and Astral Finishes are performed by holding both together. It's a nice function for those with absolutely no experience with fighting games who just want to jump in on the fun. I really do wish the easy specials option wasn't removed though. I know two friends in particular who are capable of pulling off simple commands like quarter circles, but have difficulty stringing more complex commands into combos. Because easy specials have been removed, they must either play in the extremely simplified beginner mode or buy better controllers and spend time they really don't have practicing. A quick side note is that an option for mapping the controls has been added right to the character select screen which is a very nice touch.

The sound is still top notch. New songs have been added for the new characters and game instances. "Gluttony Fang" and "Endless Despair" in particular have more of a heavy and jazzy Guilty Gear vibe to them and are easily my favorites of the game. You can also choose to have the character's voiceovers done in the original Japanese or the dubbed English. Like in Calamity Trigger, the English voiceovers are surprisingly good. It is still a bit of a downside that you cannot select the English or Japanese languages specifically for each character, only for the entire cast. The announcer has been changed too, but I found her to be somewhat obnoxious. Again, downloadable content is available so players can download individual announcer voiceovers done by some of the actual BlazBlue character's cast (if you wish to pay for them that is).

All the modes from Calamity Trigger have come to Continuum Shift (Arcade, Story, Versus, Online, Training, Replay, Gallery and Score Attack). Continuum Shift also features 3 brand new ones. The new tutorial mode shows new players the ins and outs of the mechanics as well as character strategies through several playable lessons. Challenge mode on the other hand allows players to take on 10 challenges for each character. These challenges have the player learn and perform special moves and several combos. These two modes are a welcome addition that helps newer players to familiarize themselves with the game's mechanics and the characters of their choice. Legion Mode (while not necessarily new as it was in BlazBlue Portable) has players attempt to strategically take over a map with a growing army. This mode is still rather disappointing as you can only play one of three different maps that never change, otherwise meaning that they're only worth playing once. It could be a fun mode if it is ever expanded upon in the future.

The story in Continuum Shift is just as massive as in Calamity Trigger. There's a nice "on the previous installment of BlazBlue" segment which helps explain the story of Calamity Trigger for those who didn't play the Calamity Trigger's story or where confused by it. I enjoy the BlazBlue story and I like the direction that Continuum Shift takes it, even if the final revelation feels a bit like a dues ex machina. The story is still presented in a convoluted way though, so don't be surprised if you find yourself lost and confused at times. There are also more hilarious Teach Me Miss Litchi episodes included.

The online mode is pretty much exactly the same. This is a bit disappointing as I was hoping that there might be some kind of team or tournament modes added. The net code has apparently been improved, but I didn't really notice a change since I found the Calamity Trigger net code to be near perfect to begin with. The online mode is still great; I just wish Arcsys added more to it (seeing as how it is kind of the bread and butter of the game).

Overall, I'm very pleased with how the console version of Continuum Shift turned out. When compared with standards that other sequels set today, I certainly think that Continuum Shift fits the mold of rightfully being called a sequel. If one does not believe that, then certainly everything that has been changed and added is worth the discounted price tag. Continuum Shift gives the BlazBlue name a firmer footing and proves that it is filled with potential and is one of the best, if not the best fighting game of this current generation.

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Blazblue CS is not a fighter I'm good at. As a matter of fact I was mediocre at Calamity Trigger as well. Yet it goes without saying you can love and admire something even when you totally suck at it! As you know Continuum shift is the spiritual successor of the first BlazBlue game. It's stylized presentation is also a tribute to the zany anime fighter Guilty Gear. The same people were mostly responsible for both franchises.

On the surface Continuum shift is more of the same. The characters exist in a world where magic, technology, and science hold together a fragile civilization. Because of a corrupting atmospheric essence called "sethr" most cities are constructed on mountain tops. However sethr also acts as fuel for mystic weapons that are given to an elite group of chosen defenders of the realm . Sadly using these wondrous devices comes with a heavy price. Some people go insane while others begin to become less human. Blazblue seems bent on melancholy tragic plot devices. Either you become a tar like blob swarming with insects due to sethr radiation or you wield some sort of life sucking blade which is prophesized to bring forth the apocalypse. This ground work actually makes for some interesting characters and somehow arc system works was still able to throw in a lot of cheesy humor just like in the last installment!

Assuming you know what Calamity Trigger offered it is important I go over what is new. First of there is "Legion mode". After selecting your "Leader character" you move around on a grid to defeat then recruit other combatants. Sometimes you'll get a bonus for progressing such as a health restore. Unlike a one on one confrontation you will often have to fight a whole squad. Luckily the game shows you all the rival portraits so you have plenty of time to strategize who you'll pick in the upcoming bout. If all your platoon dies its' a big fat game over as you would expect.

Worried about this game being frustrating? No problem. Continuum shift boasts a tutorial mode voiced by the sharp tongued Goth vampire "rabbit girl" Rachel as well as a Challenge mode. These are detrimental in teaching you about combos, cancels, dashes, back steps, and more complicated special techniques such as each flamboyant protagonist's distortion drives and astral finishers. Frankly these things should have been in Calamity trigger as well.

The regular cast have received upgrades and tweaks. Whether you will like them or not is highly subjective. I did notice when playing as Ragna he had one new arching slash that made chaining hits together much easier. Carl's clap trap isn't quite as effective but he seems a bit faster with more evasive tricks to rush to safety as his robotic marionette "sister" pummels away at the competition. Though a few BB fans complained Rachel was "nerfed" she still seemed plenty effective to me. That stated keep in mind I'm not the best at understanding these intricate fighting physics. However, when I asked a much more knowledgeable hardcore fighting fan friend of mine if he liked the changes he gave me a big thumbs up. That should count for something right?

In theory Continuum shift has 4 new characters. However the ones that stand out the most are Hazama and Tsubaki. Hazama manipulated events in the first game. He had green hair and dressed in a sharp black suit. His favorite weapon is a soul sucking chained grappling hook which he can use to swing himself around the environment or harpoon opponents and draw them in for the kill. Picture a cross between a knife wielding maniac Joker fan and Scorpion from Mortal kombat and you got the basic idea. Tsubaki is a red headed beauty from a noble family wearing a strange feather winged sentient hat with one eye as her hands clutch an oddly shaped book that doubles as a shield and a European styled sword. She is very fast at rush attacks and has a fighting style that resembles a valkyrie maiden. By story line Tsubaki is Jin's love interest and her "artifacts" will grant her great power yet gradually make her go blind. Her major theme seems to be "justice" thus we can surmise her situation is based on the quote "Justice is blind".

Lambda is just like V-13 (Nu) with slightly weaker attacks. "Mu" is a hyped up flying Noel with a HUGE sword which floats behind her. Why the switch from guns to a bus sized Cleaver of destruction? I have no idea but it likely involves the usual cliché of "true forms" and using naïve sweet girls as weapons of mass destruction! Aka the standard anime fare! "Mu" has to be unlocked by completing story mode and getting the true ending. Will she be worth it? Because I haven't gotten my hands on her yet I cannot say.

This brings me to my next topic. If you pride yourself on following the plot in your fighting games Continuum shift continues to deliver that in spades. Not only that but you can "continue" after being defeated in story mode. This means it does not force you to start over and if you really want to you can lose once to each character than press onward with no penalty afterwards to get a higher completion percentage rating. There are also decisions leading to branching paths that can change events aka multiple play-throughs are still highly recommended.

How is the online play you ask? Splendid! Another buddy and I played a few matches with no lag what so ever. He might as well have been visiting me in the flesh while sitting on my couch. The net-code seems near flawless.

The voice acting, music, and vibrant artwork are still top notch and there are many more breath taking lively locales to unlock for a change of scenery.

Whether you love anime or fighting games Continuum shift aims to please. It's good to see old school 2D brawlers are still alive and able to offer tons of content for an affordable price!

Pros

+ Bigger cast of characters

+ Things like "story mode" which are usually nixed from fighting game sequels have continued to stick around in Continuum shift.

+Better humor and more well thought out character development

+Tutorial mode and challenge mode make the game's complex fighting engine easier to learn.

+We finally get "Legion mode" which was only in the psp version of Blazblue before hand.

+Great net-code and smooth online play.

Cons

-Cynical about predictable anime clichés? If so this game will make you wince!

-Fan-service borders on being embarrassing at times. (Boobie Lady!)

-The combat physics and difficulty may in fact be a little too complicated for some individuals even though gamers are given plenty of training wheels in this second installment.

-The fashion choices, flaws, and epic powers of the diverse cast of characters are blown so out of proportion that it's hard to relate to them on a human level.

-Though Continuum shift is vastly improved if you own Calamity trigger this will come off as déjà vu. Aka it's the same ride with a tad more horse power!

Ps: Special Thanks goes out to Cary,IceRaven,and Carly!

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This game is a step forward in from the first blazblue. Balance improvements, and system improvements like the changes in the guard break system and bursting make the strategy simpler in these regards. The addition of 3 characters in the game and 3 dlc character will make a total of 18. People might think this is low amount of character but all of them are different in style and play so that this game does not suffer from clones like street fighter does with ryu, ken, akuma, and etc. Highly balanced but attention to individual match ups and strategy between two characters is very important to learn. Youtube videos and dustloop.com can help a beginner get into the game learning combos and strategy. also the game has some mode that help teach some basics to new player unfamiliar to the game. Besides these differences Ark System Works made the game patchable so that balance changes made could be done keeping it in line with arcade versions that come out.

Online is the best among fighters but nothing beats playing some face to face. Lay is rarely a issue because you could set it so you only play people with a connection of a certain strength.

Get this game learn how to really play and stop mashing buttons. This game has depth and is just fun to match.

Honest reviews on BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

I cannot suggest this game highly enough. Lovely hand drawn 2D sprites, over the top presentation, and an incredibly deep fighting system.

The training and challenge modes will help introduce new players to the game mechanics so you're not left out in the cold. Just stick with it.

There's also a beginner mode if you just want to play through the elaborate story mode; or in general aren't particularly skilled at fighting games.

Top notch online play so you'll never be left alone with nobody to play.

If you love 2D sprite based fighters, you must purchase BlazBlue. Support the medium!

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I love this game. Definitely a worthy followup to Calamity Trigger.

Except for Rachel players~ ;P

Reviews of Halo Triple Pack - Xbox

Customer Ratings:

We are fairly new to the Xbox 360 and my son wanted to start back with the original Halo and Halo 2 before moving on to the later games. The Halo Triple Pack was a good way to get both of these excellent games and the Map Pack for less than buying them separately (mine was from a non-Amazon seller for almost half the regular price, look for deals).

The games run perfectly on my Xbox 360 and it is easy to see why the Halo series is so popular.

Highly Recommended!

CFH

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Most of the rest of us are all Halo'd out, but if you are new to xbox or the 360, this is the best set you can buy. The games will play at 720p/1080i in widescreen (if you have an HDTV) on the 360 and you will have months if not years (not days) of multiplayer longevity to these titles.

Note the multiplayer maps disc sold separately for Halo2 (if you originally bought Halo2 long ago) is a rip-off.

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I bought this for my husband and sons to play. I am a Halo Reach fan but this trilogy is more than I had expected. I was very happy that it plays very well on my Xbox 360 with no issues at all. It is a fun game and we've gotten hours and hours worth of playtime from this pack. If you're looking to complete your Halo collection, as we were, you will be exceptionally pleased with this purchase!

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I rarely write reviews to personally address other reviews of a product, as you would notice if you were to read a few of them. However, I feel the whiny personal complaints and nitpicking here warrant a counterattack. First off, maybe Halo CE is better than Halo 2 if you like unbalanced weapons and running through the same levels a second time backwards. But personally I prefer more variety and depth in my games.

That's not to say that Halo CE isn't a great game. At the end of this review, where I actually make my recommendations, you will see that I in fact have lots of praise for it. However, many people cling to sentimentality and familiarity. Maybe Halo CE's campaign was revolutionary in some ways, but Halo 2's is clearly an improvement. I refuse to be blinded by my bias towards whatever came first; Halo 2 enriches the Halo universe and it's storyline significantly. Halo CE by comparison is a relatively simple and typical FPS storyline: "shoot to survive." As far as the Arbiter, I'm sorry if you prefer to draw nice easy to read lines between good and evil, but I personally am intrigued by the idea of playing from and learning about both sides. Also, at least the Arbiter has some attitude I can only take so much of the Master Chief's cheesey one-liners.

And in the end, all I can suggest is that you stuff your big opinions and just enjoy two games that are both incredibly well made (I can't think of any better reason to buy an xbox than these two games, with the possible exception of Morrowind.) This pack is a great opportunity for people that didnt catch all these games the first time around. In addition to Halo CE and Halo 2, it comes packaged with the Multiplayer Map Pack. I have written an extensive review of this product on its own but rest assured it was almost all positive. So it is certainly no reason NOT to buy this product if you dont already own these three items.

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I was baffled when i saw this Halo Triple Pack on sale on Amazon. I thought i would not be able to find one in good condition but i was wrong. All disks were in great shape and when i mean great shape i'm not talking a couple scratches. There were absolutely no scratches on any of the disks. Received the item a lot sooner than expected as well.

Best Playseat Floor Mat Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $48.11
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

I originally wanted to get something to protect the carpet while sliding the unit in and out of the way, and I thought this would look cleaner than a Home Depot DIY special. I am really glad I purchased this, as it really is a high quality item (edge Stitched, embroidered, and rubberized bottom) Because the bottom is textured rubber I can't just pull the carpet to move the whole rig, but the clean look and the fact that it protects my Berber carpet from getting picked would cause me to buy it again.

Why did I give it 4 out of 5? It's not a required toy, more a nice to have. Quality and Value is 5 out of 5

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This mat is quality made, thicker/firmer than your ordinary mat and looks really cool under the Playseat!

A Good buy, worth the monsy!

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I tried various mats and foam pads but none gave such a matching look as this mat for the Playseat (duh). I am using it to prevent scratches of moving my Playseat on the hardwood.

Previous reviews indicated this mat slides on the bottom and not good for securing on hardwood. My order came and it's made to not slide at all. So apparently improvements were made.

In my case, I actually need it to slide on the bottom. It's on hardwood, but when not using it's placed on the side. When ready to put in use, I have to slide it in position. With non-slide bottom, the seat just slide off the mat. So I got four flat head (1" diameter) screws to secure the mat to the seat, and cover the flat head with round chair pads that can slide.

There are alternatives but they are usually not perfect fit or color matched. A good mat are not cheap either. So if you are buying a good mat, this is worth serious consideration.

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I bought this mat because my Playseat Rig is in a room with a hardwood floor. I was a little apprehensive about purchasing the product because of it's price. The first thing I noticed when I unrolled the mat was that it was not cut straight it has more of a rhomboid shape rather than a rectangular shape. Other than that it does its job of damping sound and vibrations from the Playseat rig. It has the design of an oversized automotive floor mat which is quite nice and solidly put together; if only it weren't so poorly cut I might be able to make an argument for its price. If you are apprehensive because of the price, like I was, I suggest you pass on this product. A section of carpet or rubber mat will do the same job for a lot less.

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If you have a hardwood floor you need this. Even if you don't have wood floors get it anyway! The price is right

Xbox 360 E 250GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $349.00
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

I've been an Xbox 360 owner for year and it's been a really great console. This S model is their more recent iteration and it is incredibly quiet and reliable (this is an important point, because the models at the beginning of the Xbox 360's lifespan were notorious for terrible failure rates...Microsoft has learned their lesson). I won't waste your time listing all the great 360 games you can pick up, but I will say that the 3 included with this holiday bundle are decent. Forza Horizon is the best of the bunch and if you're a fan of arcadey (i.e. not simulation) racing games, I think you'll love it. Kinect Adventures is a collection of minigames that basically show you the type of fun things that you can do with your Kinect sensor. Kinect Sports I don't own but from what I hear it's similar to Kinect Adventures, but the minigames are sports-themed instead. Kinect Sports is probably the weakest game of the 3. That said, I have friends that have been interested in getting a 360 and Kinect and I've been advising them to pick up a model that includes the larger hard drive (versus the less expensive model that just has 4GB of storage...that 250GB of storage on this model DOES come in handy). Today would be the perfect day for anybody in their situation to pick one up, because the price for this bundle is great!

One word of warning: if you have plans to play multiplayer games online or use services like Netflix on the 360, Microsoft puts those things behind a subscription service ($60/year for Xbox Live Gold, which gives you multiplayer, access to apps like Netflix, and also a number of free games in their "Games for Gold" initiative. You can find deals on the subscriptions if you search for them so you rarely pay $60, but it's still something to be aware of).

And one more thing: If you have kids, I'd highly recommend buying the downloadable game Kinect Party. My 4 and 2 year old LOVE playing that game, and it's very inexpensive.

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I managed to pick this up when Amazon had it listed for $249, a bargain in my book (...wouldn't be surprised to see a similar discount again with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up...). For anyone that doesn't already have an Xbox 360 and wants a Kinect to go along with it, this is the bundle to get. Microsoft's most recent "E" iteration of the unit gives it a simpler slightly slimmed down look which blends in nicely with all my other entertainment center tech (the power pack is enormous though, make sure you have room to tuck it away behind something). To anyone that already has a recent 360, there's not much reason to upgrade, everything else is pretty much the same under the hood.

The internal 250GB drive should be sufficient to store a decent amount of downloaded games and additional DLC if you're considering the 4GB version, be aware that this may limit you sooner than you might think as many disc-based games now make it necessary to offload some content onto the hard drive (even if you have no intention of purchasing fully-digital copies of games). You could always buy a hard drive later, but if the price is right with the 250GB included already, why not spring for it?

The Forza Horizon game included in the bundle is a digital copy a card with a download code is included in the box. The two Kinect games have the discs included. The Kinect turned out to be a lot of fun but make sure you have plenty of space. I have the Kinect mounted on the top of my 55" Panny plasma (make sure you buy the mounting clip separately if you want to mount on top of your flat screen!) and I measured 8 feet from the front of the unit to the edge of my couch, and this turned out to be not enough space, still ended up having to rearrange the furniture. Realistically I would say make sure you have about 10 feet of distance between where you'll stand and the Kinect. There are some "zoom lens" products sold for the Kinect as well to try to decrease this minimum distance, I have not gone this route as reviews seem to be mixed. But YMMV.

Finally, I made this purchase fully aware that the next generation Xbox One will be out by the end of the month. I reasoned that the upfront hardware cost for the aging Xbox 360 is a good value for the price I paid, many of the games will be much cheaper (and at least for now, are still widely available), and I anticipate Microsoft will still support the system for a least a few more years even after the Xbox One is released, if prior generations are any indication. As the "E" version is also the last version of the 360 to be made, I'm hoping all the hardware kinks have been worked out by this point. Not comfortable jumping right in with the new One hardware at release, especially after seeing what happened when the 360 hardware was first released. I'm comfortable with waiting 2-3 years before considering an Xbox One when the hardware has been proven and there's a solid library of games to choose from.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 E 250GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle

Pros:

most compact model released

most silent model released

compatible with current "slim" removable hard drives

Neutral:

only 4 USB ports instead of 5 (but so what who uses all of them)

swipe to turn on/off gone (i didn't hate swipe and don't miss it either)

no major improvements such as USB3, addition of blutooth, huge SSD or anything else (possible they can't do this without major issues)

value. $50 gc came with my deal, but this bundle includes various outdated titles that can be obtained used for $10 each (if not cheaper)

Cons:

removal of digital optical output might render some high end (Turtle Beach) headsets unusable

biggest hard drive available is still only 320gb (won't be a con to some, but is to me)

flash data limited to 2x32gb (won't be a con to some, but is to me)

otherwise the same old 360 you already know...

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 E 250GB Kinect Holiday Value Bundle

This is a great bundle for those looking for a new XBOX 360 or wanting to hold off on the XBOX One craze until more games come along.

I highly recommend this one since it comes with a large HD which comes in handy now that more games are requiring installs of game data (GTA V was roughly 8 GB more than the arcade XBOX holds).

The new sleek E version of the 360 is nice and looks more professional than the odd shapes of the last 2 editions.

The Games on this edition are a bit older than the regular bundle, but my kids love both Adventures and Sports games included with this bundle.

Well worth the investment.

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I have four Xbox 360's in my house since I use them as extenders for my Windows Media Center PC that runs my TV. But one of them was the original Xbox 360 from the initial release when they first started being sold. It still worked (no red ring of death) but was noisy as all you know what and didn't have a large hard drive. I've got the Xbox One preordered already, but since games aren't backwards compatible I knew I have to keep a 360 system on my main TV in the great room anyway. So I thought I'd take advantage of decent pricing and get a new one that will sit next to the XB1 when it arrives, that will be in warranty for a little while as well. And this way I can move the slim into my Halo Vanguard portable gaming system, pull the elite out of there to put back into my room, and shuffle things about. And all this will free up an Xbox I can give away to someone.

The unit itself is nice. People are complaining about the lack of an optical audio out, so if you need that, the 360E is not for you. I use HDMI so not an issue for me at all. The controller is standard, as is the Kinect (although there's a bit more to the logo than my existing Kinect). The power brick is similar to the one for the Xbox 360 slim, but rather than two power barrels on the end, there's just one barrel with multiple sections on the cylinder. There's a network port still which I like, since I don't like saturating my wireless with things that I can run plugged into my gigabit network here at home.

The unit is nice. I like that it's more a match to the forthcoming Xbox One, and I like the less intrusive appearance from the front, since the power button and lights are a fraction of the size of previous version's power buttons. This comes at a cost, however. There is no longer any indication of what controllers are connected, like you used to be able to see with the four different quarter arc lights around the power button indicating player 1, player 2, etc. There is no more indication of any controller connected whatsoever. This is a bit of a deprecation, but since it's generally me and my 10 year old son playing, it's not something that impacts us.

The buttons are buttons again, not just sensors like the Xbox Slim had. Physical clicking buttons for power and eject.

Fit and finish is nice.

But the big thing is the silence. And it is VERY silent. I'm about 15 feet away on the couch and can't hear anything at all from it. Even up close, it's dead silent. The drive also makes considerably less noise when reading discs than the slim or previous versions did.

It took me several hours to transfer content from the slim to this via a USB stick, and then the hassle for transferring licenses and redownloading things that I couldn't just transfer over in that process.

UI is smooth, I didn't see any difference here between this and any of the previous Xbox versions I have.

The games are alright, but don't buy it for the games since they're usually discounted separately now anyway. And be aware, the racing game is a code only, you have to download all 6.8 GB before you can play it.

If you're looking for an Xbox 360 because you want to be able to play the games available, this is a great choice. If you are looking to replace an existing older Xbox 360 for whatever reason like I was, it's a great choice. If you're looking for any new features, there are none. Some people prefer the looks of the Xbox 360 slim, so you can always get that without any loss of functionality compared to this one. They're ALL going to be cheaper because of the push to get as many sold as they can before the Xbox One launches in another 22 days.

For the price, I thought it was a great deal, getting the games, the new style Xbox 360, and another kinect that my son can take with the Vanguard when he goes gaming elsewhere.

TRON: Evolution - Xbox 360 Reviews

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Tron: Evolution is one of the best video games based on a licensed property I've ever played. Let's face it, games based on movies are usually rushed, ill-funded and just plain sloppy. But the developers of T:E clearly put a ton more effort into the game than the usual licensed game gets.

Graphics:

Everything in the game is rendered beautifully. There's a lush, slick quality to the game. As you're running along smooth streets of glass atop of patterned stone-like pieces you'll see your reflection. The glowing lines of light on your costume cast light on the scenery around you. Your helmet and suit reflect the world around you. If you like the look of the world of Tron as it's presented in Legacy you'll love the look of this game. Each new level provides it's own distinct look and color scheme and all are striking. It's not really a game set-up for sight-seeing but I couldn't help stopping now and again to look at the view. It's amazing to be on a ledge in Tron City and look down at the people milling about, or being on a bomb conveyance system in Clu's warship and gazing down at the Recognizer docking bay.

The cut-scenes are not as strong graphically. The character modeling on some of the human faces leaves a lot to be desired, but it's not a train-wreck and the dialogue is well acted.

Gameplay:

Story-mode is relatively short maybe about 8 or so hours altogether if you play straight through (I don't recommend that, however, more on that later) and consists of using parkour-style moves (running along walls, extreme jumps, etc) to get to certain room. The room locks up and then you have to fight and kill a group of enemies or figure out how to navigate to certain buttons to unlock the room before you proceed on, derezzing enemies along the way. There are also short sections of light-cycle riding. There are a ton of combo moves as well as some special disc powers you'll accumulate along the way to keep the fighting from becoming repetitive. I found battles a lot of fun. You recharge your special power energy and health by jumping over objects or running up walls on energy strips so this encourages you to constantly be in motion. The AI on the enemies is pretty good when you're near them, but they are kind of pokey to follow you if you run away, which is a good thing when you're low on health. Though they usually will catch up with you so don't dawdle too much. The parkour movement takes some getting used to especially when the camera shifts so you can clearly see your path but once you catch on it's simple and rewarding to chain moves together and move through the world.

Storyline

The story is fairly straightforward. There's not a lot of depth here, but enough to keep the story moving along and make you want to find out what happens next. Because this is a prequel the ending ends up being rather dark, which is kind of refreshing in a way.

Multi-player

Multi-player mode is one of the best things about the game. I don't know how it'll do long-term, but in the short term it's a ton of fun and quite busy. There are many maps to choose from, and if you buy the game new, you get even more maps then what is included on the disc by entering a code. There are maps where you play as your character and there are also maps where you can activate your light cycle or even get into a Light Tank. There are a few different kinds of games you can play. Some emphasize just derezzing as many people as possible but others require more strategy by capturing power nodes or "capturing a bit" and trying to keep it away from other players.

Final Verdict

If you go into this expecting a game on the level of some of the big studio releases like Mass Effect, Assassins Creed or games of that caliber you'll be disappointed. These sort of games do not have that sort of budget or timeline. But if you want a fun action game with a great look and an enjoyable multi-player and ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of Tron you'll definitely enjoy this game.

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I bought this game with realistic expectationsA) It's a movie license... 'nuff said. B) It's made by the developer that did the recent Turok reboot... yeesh. So I am not surprised that Tron Evolution isn't exactly Game of the Year material. There was no way I wasn't going to play it, as I've been a Tron-tard since the first movie came out, I've been waiting for the new movie for almost 30 years, and this game is a bridge between them, plugging into both.

The overall issue is that the game play lacks polish. The combat boils down to a familiar forumlaas you progress, you acquire different types of disc weapons, which are selected on the fly via the D-pad. When you encounter a new type of enemy, a little analysis window pops up which notes its weakness, i.e. which disc is best used against it. So far so good, but then the system falls apart. Enemies generally aren't particularly distinctive in appearance, so it's not easy to know which disc you should be using against them. And there is no 'target lock' ability, you simply attack whichever enemy happens to be "more or less directly in front of you" at any given moment. When you're fighting multiple enemy types at once, endeavoring to use the right disc against the right enemy isn't worth the hassle. "Whatever, the Bomb disc will kill everything... eventually." Another pillar of game play is free-running/parkour. Most of the time it gets the job done, but it could have used more fine tuning. Coming on the heels of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, it really feels twitchy and stiff. Finally there are vehicle based segments, so far I've used the Light Cycle and the Tank. Neither was especially fun.

If I wasn't such a big Tron freak or if this game had nothing to do with Tron, I probably never would have bothered with it. As it stands, the flawed game play is decent enough that I'll probably play to completion. The visual design is great, though some of the character models seem outdated vis a vis faces and facial animation. (no pun intended) The environments strike a great balance between hearkening back to the original Tron and also being similar to the look of Tron Legacy. I also really like a lot of the sound effects. But all in all, if I was going to recommend a Tron game, it would still be Tron 2.0, the PC game from 2003.

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Most of the gameplay in "Tron Evolution" is lifted wholesale from "Prince of Persia" (2008). The unfortunate thing is, Tron does not bring over the level of design care, camera tuning, and general polish which PoP 2008 enjoyed.

There is also a subtle but important difference in how player-failure is handled, between PoP's "rescued in time by Elika" presentation and Tron's "De-Rez/Re-Install" presentation. The latter feels much more punishing, and increases a player's stress.

Tron does feature vehicle sequences, which are quite rudimentary and unsatisfying. The initial lightcycle run features no time for familiarization before requiring quick turn reactions -andacceleration to deal with a massive jump.

Overall, the game is quite pretty, and re-creates the world of Tron from the recent movie. This is diminished somewhat by in-game cinematics which are muddy and unsaturated compared to the game's own visuals. The audio is busy, but effective.

If you want to enjoy this type of gameplay, consider buying Prince of Persia. If you want to experience Tron as a player, find the old coin-op machine and go to town.

Honest reviews on TRON: Evolution - Xbox 360

I have really fallen into the Tron universe since the new movie came out last winter. I think that the concept is terrific and as far as sci-fi goes, it has a really beleivable world with physics and weight to it. This game is a good suppliment to that. The graphics and rendings are great, you get to run around in this gorgeous world that looks and feels real. The game play is fun with a combination of acrobatic aireal tricks and dynamic combat. Good game.

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A prequel to the movie TRON: LEGACY, TRON: EVOLUTION is a gloriously rendered game that examines in detail the events that led to Clu's rise in the world of the Grid. In the game you play Monitor, a program created by Flynn to investigate the death of the leader of the ISOs. Not long after that, a virus named Abraxas appears and begins causing havoc. In addition, Monitor witnesses the supposed deaths of Flynn and Tron by Clu. Monitor joins forces with a mysterious program named Quorra and through their joint efforts they warn the programs of the grid of Clu's true actions.

The overall gameplay of TRON: EVOLUTION is mostly as a platform game intermixed with a bit of 3rd person combat. There are some racing elements in the light cycle segments. There are also a few times where you get to drive a tank. The tanks were a bit difficult to drive, but overall these segments were some of the most enjoyable because they reminded me of old-school Atari games.

During gameplay, the graphics in TRON: EVOLUTION are extraordinary. The developers have done a remarkable job of capturing the computer world of the TRON movies. There are moments as Monitor is running along or jumping from building to building that you can see his reflection upon the sheen of the structures he is around. The voice acting is also well done and the score is exceptional.

On the negative side, the cut scenes aren't very impressive. Some of the characters, such as Clu and Flynn, aren't rendered very well. They seem out of place with some of the better rendered characters, such as Quorra and Monitor.

The storyline isn't incredibly long, but it takes longer to play through because of the very touchy game control. Running along walls and jumping incredible heights is exciting, but it gets tedious after awhile when you keep repeating the same little segment over and over and over and over because you can't jump over at the right moment. When running from place to place and jumping from object to object, you have to not only use the right buttons and have your character advancing in the proper direction, but you have to use the camera angle control to be looking in the proper direction, too. The game automatically saves quite frequently, which is a bonus so you don't have to keep repeating the same lengthy sequence over and over.

There are more than enough places to recharge your health and special combo attacks. However, in order to recharge your health you have to run up or along certain walls and to recharge the special combo attacks, you have to jump over control boards or lighted trashcans. When fighting a large number of enemies, this becomes tiresome and causes fighting sequences to last longer than they should.

I was a little disappointed by how little the light cycles are used in the story mode. Not only that, but when they are used it isn't very effectively. The light cycles are one of the things that really stood out in the original movie and were what made the original TRON arcade game so difficult. Instead of incorporating their uniqueness, they simply become a vehicle to move the characters from point A to point B.

There are some multi-player elements that is typical of most multi-player elements: a game where you derezz as many programs as you can in a certain amount of time, a capture the flag type game, and a game that's kind of like king of the mountain. There are some games with the light cycle and tank, but neither one of these is used as much as it should.

Overall, even though I got frustrated at certain points and was disappointed by how much of a platform game TRON:EVOLUTION was, I enjoyed it. However, I'm a fan of the original movie and I rented the game and didn't purchase it. Die hard fans are going to want to purchase the game. I'd recommend waiting for a little while until the price comes down and then buying it. For casual fans who wish to own it, I'd say the same. As for other gamers or just someone who is interested in the game, it's best as a rental and not a purchase.

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I have the very first build of the Xbox, and let me just say that after YEARS of playing it (we preordered it), with hundreds upon hundreds, maybe around 1500 different save files, the damn thing STILL has... you guessed it, "50,000+ Blocks", and is still kickin. I strongly recommend modding it with a media center hack, and turning it into your personal entertainment system for classic games, regular DVDs, and music. Great thing. I freakin wish that Microsoft hadn't been its creator, they are such cheap bastards, and original Xbox live doesn't work anymore, but still a good piece of gaming history. Greatest Xbox original games of all time, that I've played:

-Halo: Combat Evolved

-Halo 2

-Cell Damage

-007: Goldfinger

-Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (I and II)

-Burnout: Revenge

-Need For Speed 3: Hot Pursuit

-Heroes of the Pacific

-Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

-Call of Duty (the original)

-Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

-Medal of Honor: Frontline

-Tao Feng

-Star Wars: Battlefront (I and II)

-Hitman

But out of all of those, Halo: Combat Evolved is hands down the best, without dispute.

Amen.

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The original Xbox was (and though a bit dated, still is) a great video game console. Released in November 2001, the Xbox allowed you to play games (including Popular titles such as Halo: Combat Evolved, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and even the recently released Madden NFL 09), watch DVD's (although you must first purchase an inexpensive Xbox DVD remote), and play and rip tracks from CD's (which can even be used as custom, in-game tracks with some Xbox games). Other features include a built-in hard drive (which has plenty of room for game saves, downloaded Xbox content, and music), four controller ports, and Xbox LIVE (an online gaming service allowing subscribers to play Xbox games online with other subscribers around the world and download new content for their games to the system's hard drive). If your looking for a gaming system that will keep you entertained for a good while, but you can't afford a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, you should give the original Xbox a try.

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While this is A big system, it's very powerful, and the built in hard drive makes it more convenient for saving my game progress. The games I've played on it so far are pretty fun after playing the ones that work on the 360. Overall, A good buy.

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Early on in your trying out of an Xbox game console, you may wonder if it's really worth bothering with. The Xbox Live functionswhich don't exist anymore, thank you very much Microsoftwere clunky and slow, especially compared to those of the 360. The first controller was an oversized mistake, and had that controller stayed as the standard this review would certainly be different. The controllers are almost exclusively wired, if that disappoints anybody, and the graphics are far behind what consoles can do today. On top of it all, too many people don't even seem to know there *was* an Xbox. I keep hearing "Xbox", then ask for clarification and find the person really meant the 360.

The Xbox may in some ways be past its prime. It's no longer the top dog in game consolesPS2 never was, I prefer a console that *can't* be mistaken for a DVD player. It's been a full decade since it was released in North America.

But...

If you look past its age and the fact that it just ain't all that cool anymore, you'll find that the Xbox, its games, and accessories are a better deal than a post-Soviet AK discount sale. Some of its items are getting a bit rare, sure, but overall, every part and aspect of the console has never been cheaper than it is now. Back in the heyday of the Bawks, you'd pay fifty dollars for each new game or close to that. Today, one of the most famous Xbox games ever, Halo: Combat Evolved, often runs less than ten dollars on Amazon. "Mechassault" can be found on Amazon for a penny plus shipping.

And there isn't just money to consider. The Xbox may be old, but like a vintage Cadillac, it warrants a second look despite not being the newest and shiniest.

There's one thing, most of all, that the Xbox has: it works. The Xbox had its troubles early on, but shook them off and stayed the same model, while the 360 has kept on changing and hasn't fully rid itself of technical woes. That is one reason I truly like the Xbox better than its replacement: there is only one Xbox. There have got to be ten 360's, and I've always had a vague feeling of being cheated since the 360 has constantly been changed and re-released, leaving the first white 360's in the dust as much as their predecessor, the Bawks.

The Xbox and its games are reliable, inexpensive, and simple, and even today the 360 cannot match the Xbox on some of these. The 360, with it's never-ending addons of complexity to an already complicated dashboard, frankly gives me way more than I want to work with. The Xbox gives you the essentials, and always with a bit of flair. That's how I like it. I don't need any Avatar or 600 sections to my dashboard, nor do I need my Xbox Live functions tied into the console so heavily as they are on the 360. The Xbox has been abandoned by Microsoft, it seems, and the fact that its Live functions were given their place but not woven into every fabric of its existence has made its transition to a Live-less status easier. Can you imagine if the 360 one day meets the same fate? Those things will be screaming about being unable to connect so much it will make people's heads spin.

Simplicity, reliability, and a low price for pretty much all of its games and accessories. The Xbox may have gotten old, but not all aspects of its aging have been bad. It's never been a better deal than it is today. It's the first game console I ever played, and still is the one I love most. It's one of the greatest game consoles ever made.

It's teh Bawks.

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These are reasonably cheap on the market now days and for the low budget you can do some soft modding to the unit simply by having a 5 dollar game, a 6 dollar usb to xbox cable, and a compatible usb flash drive. I know this is not exactly a new concept, but for those of us who overlooked the modding capabilities back in the day. It has never been easier to do. I saw some youtube videos of people hardware modding that I may consider. Dropping in a new hard drive, a built in lcd monitor, built in wireless compatibility, some visual upgrades, led lights...etc. I was looking for something cheap to tinker around with and it seems like this has cured my itch. Don't forget your old buddy. He misses you.