.hack: G.U., Vol. 1: Rebirth Review

Customer Ratings:

I fell in love with the original Dot Hack series of games (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak and Quarantine) and when I heard they were coming out with a new series, I was very happy! I went out and bought the game the day it came out, and I have to say, I'm greatly impressed.

First off, the graphics are good. They're not the best, as Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria and Final Fantasy 12 are slightly newer with better graphics, but they don't completely suck.

Sound is pretty good too, but it gets very repetetive after a few hours of gameplay. The combat sounds are exciting and "pop", but the background music gets on your nerves. Especially the background music when you're in the first town, "Mac Anu", gets stale so fast.

The controls are easy to pick up. The R1 button can now be assigned different skills so, unlike in the first games, you don't have to open several menus just to use an attack skill. Sadly enough, though, you cannot assign healing spells to the R1 button. The camera control is somewhat better than the last game, but I feel it still needs work.

The voice acting is decent at best. Most of the characters show little emotion, or over-react their emotion to the point of making it rediculous. Just wait till you meet Gaspard, and you'll know what I'm talking about... The main hero is also rediculously one sided, getting frustrated at each and every event trigger in the game, and often for stupid reasons. If its supposed to portray how gamers react in an MMORPG, its completely off the ball, at least as far as I've seen (been playing Guild Wars and World of Warcraft for about two years.)

There are TONS of stuff to do in this game too. You can become part of a number of guilds, which opens various options to you as a player, such as special shops that allow you to make creative items, access to a faster mode of transportation, etc. You can also do a number of fun and interesting, if not repetetive, quests. The designers definetely tried to capture the MMORPG feel, but I don't think they accurately got it. Close but no cigar. For example, the towns are bustling with people, but oftentimes you'll see one person, turn a corner, and they'll be there again when they were running the opposite direction a few minutes prior. The town recycles the inhabitants over and over, so no matter how far away you get from a "player", they'll be right there when you go to a different district in town.

The story is o.k. as far as I've been. A lot of it feels forced, like the hero has to do this because the programmers made it that way, not because the hero "wants" to. It started out that way, but quickly took a dive.

I'm not impressed with the grading system after you complete dungeons and fields. You get graded on how many things you kill, sneak up on, boxes or other destructable items you destroy, how many items you collect etc. There is almost no explanation of that system that I've encountered, and I feel its useless. All you can unlock is extra words to create new dungeons and fields and useless items. Literally, I've had 50 health drinks, which is like a potion in other RPGs, since the first couple hours of playtime. I never use them, cause I don't take that much damage ever.

Thats another thing. The game's battles are entirely too easy! No one battle provides any sort of challenge. If you go to an area three levels higher than you, it gets harder, but the difficulty is masked in more hitpoints and damage capability, not true improved AI or anything.

All in all, however, the game is a vast improvement over the previous games. There are tons of unlockable stuff, tons of places to go, and you'll be entertained for hours on end. I would definetely pick this game up if you get the chance!

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If you've played the original .hack games, then you won't be disappointed in this one. If you haven't played the original .hack games and like MMORPG games without the MMO part, then you'll like this game. The OS interface is familiar, yet improved from the first set of games. You still get e-mails and still respond to a few, getting responses back and so on. However, now you have greeting cards and "affection levels" of characters you can call on. The higher their affection level, the better they will fight with you in battle. There are still "message boards" but now there are more of them, both on and off "The World" that can unlock certain events and levels within the game by either reading or responding to them. There's even a section of boards where fans post art that you can download to use as wallpaper on your OS. There's also still a News section, but now it has clickable links to short movies and even sometimes ads, making it seem more like an actual Internet connection.

You play as Haseo, who has conveniently been attacked by "Tri-Edge" which resulted in him being leveled down to 1 and having everything reset so you get to begin with starting equipment. Just as if you were starting a new game! One big addition to this game is the ability to kill other players. Those who do are called "Player Killers" or PKers. Now, you can't just rush out and start hacking away at your own party, but if you come across a glowing blue area, that means that someone is fighting inside. If you enter, you can't leave unless you have a smoke bomb or defeat the enemy. Often times it will be a player being attacked by a PKer and your party has the chance to save them. If you do, you get an item from them as thanks. Haseo's character is an "Adept Rogue" which can eventually use multiple weapons and magic, but never to the mastery of the job classes of the ones who ONLY use those weapons. Sort of like the Red Mage of the game. Don't worry though, it doesn't slow you down. Haseo pushes right along, starting off with the familiar twin blades and eventually learns others. It can be difficult at first, but just pay attention to what the other characters are telling you, take breaks from the story to level up every so often, and you'll do fine. Its a great game with interesting character development and unique game play. Plus, when you're done, your saved game data can carry over to the next game, GU Vol. 2. All of your weapons, abilities, e-mails, everything. There are three volumes in all, but no word yet as to when they will all be released in the US. Good luck gaming!

Best Deals for .hack: G.U., Vol. 1: Rebirth

There were many people who enjoyed the original, 4-game dothack series. I was not one of them. After a good opening, the game immediately fell into dull repetition. The story was so-so (what? a virtual world can feel real, it's inhabitants feeling the effects of game elements in their real lives? How novel!), the graphics were so-so, and the whole experience was incredibly easy (and short I finished the 2nd game in a mere 9 hours). The best part of the original game were the sidequests, often opened after the main game ended (and one of which, the item collection quest, I'm STILL not finished with).

Bandai learned. Sidequests are fun? Then let's put a lot of them into the next outing! Graphics are only so-so? Let's spruce them up! Gameplay is a bit repetitive? Let's add a few more dungeon models! (OK, they could have done a lot more with the last one, but still...)

Add it all up, and you get the sold outing, ".hack//G.U.". The original world has been destroyed, the computers which generated it having been lost in an inexplicable fire. CC Corp releases, "The World 2", which has many elements of the original game, but also included the option to "PK", or "Player Kill". Some people love it, some people abhor it. Your character is PK'ed in his first outing, and decides to devote his RPG experience to PKK'ing (I think you can figure this one out yourself). He is an incredibly powerful character ("Haseo, the Terror of Death"), whose motives are obscured. However, while searching for a PK'er by the name of "Tri-Edge", his character is wiped out, and he is forced to start from the beginning.

From here, I'll let you discover the story on your own. No, it isn't great, but it isn't bad either. But this game lives and dies through sidequests. Bounty hunter, Lucky Animals, Mecha Grunties, arena battles all of these and more can be discovered and conquered as you manoeuvre the game simply known as "The World".

For forty bucks, it's not so bad. Happy hunting...

Honest reviews on .hack: G.U., Vol. 1: Rebirth

This is one of the best games i ever played.Its fun from start to finish.

And when you finally finish the game,you'll be wanting more of it.In my opinion this game was as good as kingdom hearts 2.

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I love this game. The story, the soundtrack, the lost ground areas. Its great all around. If this isnt your type of game the gameplay might get a bit stale but luckily there are job changes to spice it up a bit.

Buy Need for Speed: Prostreet - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

Granted most people won't like this game because they don't like how it feels. There is a learning curve that most people have had and are having problems with. Once you figure out the games little quarks on how it works it's not bad at all. It's hard to push the cars on the easyest setting because it has auto brakes and more times than not it ends up with you losing control and end up in the dirt.

Once you get farther into the games and have the diffrent cars and upgrades it becomes fun. But it will take time to get there. Your not given the best car right off the bat you have to really work at it to get there.

But with any game try to rent it and play to see if this is something you really want to spend 60 bucks on.

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EA's mediocre machine has churned out another snooze-fest with an abnormal amount of product placement.

You are a potential client of many corporations. Electronic Arts lets you know this from the very first time you pop in the ProStreet disc. Yes, there will be pandering. Of course there's stereotyping of the "import culture". It's got everything you expect in a modern NFS game from an annoying announcer that won't shut up to a music selection consisting of only current pop songs. It's obvious that the game was developed by a committee of suits who are using it simply as a mechanism of further sales.

I suppose there's an in-ad game in here as well. I'm not sure what EA was attempting to do in the game when it comes to car control and physics. It seems like the developers played a game with decent physics like Forza 2 and then emulated it in the worst possible way. There's a poor mash-up of arcade and simulation physics in here and the result is an unsatisfying "feel" when driving. FWD cars will oversteer when you increase the throttle after turning off all the assists (to do so requires a trip down a few menus). Light to moderate braking doesn't lighten the tail of the vehicle as expected. Unfortunately, your choices for control range between simple button mashing and an uncontrollable mess.

Some of the race modes are unfairly designed (such as Sector Shootout). This is because whoever sets the fastest time on a particular section of the track gets all the points for that section. The problem is that you will always start at the pack of the pack and thus the lead AI vehicle will consume most of the points on the first run around the track. There are times when you will compete against vehicles significantly better or worse than your own car which makes the game feel cheap all around.

There's a nice selection of cars but winning races doesn't earn you much money and thus you won't be able to afford them using in-game currency. Which brings up another issue: Micro-transactions in-game. When your car is damaged you can spend real money to repair it. If you want a new car or more modifications you can buy it using real money. I believe it's fairly obvious why EA made it hard to earn in-game money. They want you to reach into your pocket and pull out a little bit more green. Apparently, shelling out the money for a video game up front isn't enough as now we are expected to pay to enjoy the game as well.

I'd avoid this stinker and select something more enjoyable.

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I first got my hands on this game around a year ago, and like everyone else, I was quick to get rid of it because it was no longer free roam, nor the cops where taken out of the picture. However, I have recently picked the game up again used at gamestop for $17.99 and for anyone debating if they want this title or not... Let me tell you what factors make this game alot of fun: 1. It's the social aspect that really makes this game shine, you are able to play split-screen, and the coolest part with this is when you are going high speeds on the long streched out highway and crash, you get a cinematic camera view of your car crashing. Hours of fun when you have a friend come by to hangout. 2nd. Like most other racing games you get the choice between manual and automatic. Well on Prostreet you get the option to use a manual with a clutch. My friend and I found this to be one of the key conponents to the "fun factor", with this game. And 3rd. Like many others in the series you get to customize your rides again...

So besides all that, of course you have your draw backs: no police, no free roam, and sometimes not the best framerate. But for the cost of this game now, I say it's definitely worth a try to check out; you know you have a fun racing game in your collection when you have a friend that absolutey hates racing games request that you don't return it!

In a previous review on nfs undercover, I took a negative shot at prostreet, but as it's listed, "I retract my previous statement". Due to the fact of the fun social factor this game presents. Hope I was able to help out

Honest reviews on Need for Speed: Prostreet - Xbox 360

I think it's fair to say ProStreet is almost as big a disappointment as Carbon. Most Wanted brought us a great environment, good (albeit cheesy at times) cop chases, but most importantly: a game that, when you played it, felt n smooth and creamy opposed to choppy and slapped together.

But lets quickly examine the pros:

1) Car detail the 360 (and surely the PS3 as well) pumps out some amazing detail. Tread on tires, creases on the panels, and even the inside dash can't go wrong.

2) Car upgrades and tuning Very precise (or so it seems). Customize each aspect as you like it and they even give you a "test" to estimate how you will function on the road. Great for shaving split seconds off your race time.

3) Works nicely with a racing wheel.

The cons:

1) Track Racing I think the most obvious downfall of track racing is the ease of and over use of using the same piece of track for about 300 different races. And prostreet does this perfectly EVEN WHEN AT DIFFERENT BATTLE MACHINES (supposedly different geographic locations). And all the other cons with track racing follow too: plain and similar backgrounds, lack of excitement, no traffic, and certainly, no cops. Lastly, Nascar has some great tracks boring, in my opinion, but many love it which is probably better suited to the track lovers.

2) Informational Messages I'm just plainly sick of EA's tree hugging "don't race" messages, this is a game not a defensive driving course save it! I also imagine their "don't race on the street" message has something to do with the track racing the game is based on, and their lame attempts to convey the gratification of local race track notoriety bah! Not so important, but feels good to vent about. :)

3) Car damage I'm unsure if this is a good thing, a bad thing, or just out of balance. Let's just say it's not horribly hard to rack up a repair cost twice the value of the income from the race especially since YOU pay when THEY hit YOU. They attempt to offset this with repair markers, but the whole system feels off decide for yourself.

4) Cash or microsoft points? So how do YOU want to spend your hard earned real life currency? If you have enough, you can simply buy your car and its upgrades! Microsoft points are interchangeable with game cash, the average car cost is about 200 MSP roughly $2.50 US. I imagine the question that EA answered with this feature was, "How can we make money off people renting the game?" Heck, lets take it one step further: Exactly how much do you think the upgrades will cost, in both game and real world currency, for that car you couldn't afford in the first place? I'm guessing the real genius of this plot unfolds at precisely this point when you realize you your in-game check book can't balance the costs and you start waving around your credit card for more MSP.

5) No Cops But why should there be any? It was only the BEST feature of Most Wanted and Carbon took a stab at butchering this aspect by implementing nothing but straight roads, where losing cops isn't realistic, likely, or even fun (imo, anyway). The cop chases, which for me was the defining aspect of replay value was probably replaced by the xbox live online portion.

So let me sum this game up quickly: Your driving your choice of many real world cars around a variety of tracks that pretty much all look the same, you cross the finish line a few times as #1, you dominate a "race day" which wins you a few bucks and a choice of 6 prizes many of which, part-wise, you probably already own (mostly lvl1-2 for a while). When you're done, you begin the same thing over at a new "battle machine," with strikingly similar backgrounds, but probably one major difference: off the road... is SAND not dirt... Or dirt, not a fence...

No short cuts, no speed breaker (not entirely horrible, mind you), very little variety, but great looking cars. Are you ready? o=

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Ah yes, it's holiday time kids, and you know what that means. It's that time of year when EA lets all their new installments of flagship franchises out on the gaming world, and yes, there's another Need for Speed game. This time around, it's Need for Speed: Prostreet, which is a departure from the previous installments, Most Wanted and Carbon. Let's be frank here right off the bat, the best part of the past few NFS games were definitely the cop chases, which are nowhere to be found here. What we get instead is some solid, albeit unspectacular, street racing. That in itself isn't so bad, but considering the run-in's with the law were what helped make Most Wanted so good (and Carbon to a lesser degree), losing them is a huge disappointment. Instead, we get more of the same here with Prostreet: pretty decent looking graphics and cars, a very nice array of online options and solid XBox Live support, and of course, product placement and ads galore until your eyes bleed. There's simply not nearly enough here to seperate Need for Speed: Prostreet from other games of the type, and it's nowhere near as good as Most Wanted, but you're going to check it out regardless of you dig the Need for Speed series. Whether or not you want to lay down that much cash for it though is another question altogether.

A4 Tech 3xFire 2500 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse Review

Customer Ratings:

This mouse rocks, The three fire button is great for any game, I play BF2 and BF 2142 and I use the button all the time.

This thing looks great and the cord is so small it feels like it is cordless! Changing DPI on the fly is great when you are scoped in and cant aim as fast or your in a TOW and you turn the DPI up and now the TOW swivels like some one sprayed WD40 on it in game! I have tested a lot of mouses and this is the best one yet!

Hope this helps, Rot05

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Excelente mouse, puedes varias la velocidad o dpi, lo tengo casi que en el minimo para jugar cs source lol

El boton de 3x fire esta muy arriba... por lo demas excelente

Best Deals for A4 Tech 3xFire 2500 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse

I love this mouse!! I play Counter-Strike, and it makes it so much easier to shoot. It is very good quality, runs very smooth, and is crazy cool!

Honest reviews on A4 Tech 3xFire 2500 DPI Laser Gaming Mouse

I initially had issues with the mouse maintaining connection with my computer. I found a software application from Yahoo that kept disconnecting it. Once the software was removed I have had very little trouble. The mouse is comfortable to use and has quick response during my gaming. I have recommended this mouse to some of the other people that participate with me on line in Counter Strike.

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I decided to give this mouse a go by a recommendation from a friend. I wanted something durable, high performance, and without all the flashy lights and such.

This mouse is exactly that. The performance is much better than I anticipated. It has a great rubberized feel to it. There are also rubbery ribs down the left side to increase your grip. Feels very comfortable. The tracking is fantastic. Very very smooth, and depending on your dpi setting it can be very fast. It really helps in FPS as it makes turning and aiming very smooth and accurate.

Worked out of the box with Windows 7. Didn't install the drivers as they where not needed. The side buttons have a nice rubber feel to them. They are very responsive and right where they need to be. The main buttons respond very fast as well.

The mouse looks great. Matt with gloss black highlights. The dpi button changes color depending on the dpi settings you use. Nice and subtle. Build quality is probably the best I've seen. I sort of wish the cord was a softer material, but it doesn't get in the way, and is very thin. Seems durable so it was probably the right choice. Highly recommended.

Skylanders Giants Lightcore Single Character Shroomboom Reviews

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List Price: $11.99
Sale Price: $5.45
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If your into the lightcores definitely worth buying. Shroomboom has two points of light,(most of the Lightcores only have one.) his mushroom glows green and his eyeball is like a little lightbulb. A great addition to the collection.

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Part of the fun of the game is collecting all the Skylanders. My son enjoys all of them so far, including this one. Something that's NOT fun is overpaying for the figures. Just wait it out and eventually they'll all be at the suggested retail price. I picked this one up a few days ago from here and it was even less than what the Lightcores usually go for. I haven't overpaid on a single Skylander (original one and Giants) to date and don't plan on. What people advertise to be "rare" is eventually going to be as common as a pack of toilet paper. The truly rare ones will remain rare, such as the crystal ones, unpainted, etc., but those are for the hard-core collectors.

Shroomboom was one of the first Skylanders out and now he has a makeover with the new pose and of course the lights. Not the most robust character in the game, he has his moments. If you're not interested in collecting all of them, you can easily pass this one by; but for completionists, this won't disappoint.

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I've ordered yet another LightCore Skylander. The first one is Jet-Vac, normally I'd go for normal version, but these two are a special case for LightCores.

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My Son loved it, I love it LOL. Just the coolest character & it looks so good lit up on the portal.

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My son loved it and it was a really good deal. I think the light could be a little brighter though. The Eye Brawl figure is really bright and cool.

Pokémon Y Reviews

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My son is OBSESSED with pokemon and his birthday just happens to come about 3 weeks before Poke-day.... last year, it was Pokemon Black and White... not knowing much about Pokemon and having 2 sons, I bought both games and both kids have loved them. They have turned out to be very "complimentary" in that they can share pokemon from one version to the other.

So back in February -just as the glow of Pokemon Black and White was beginning to fade, my younger son caught wind of Pokemon X and Y and he has been OBSESSED waiting for it to come out. I pre-ordered it for his birthday and POKEDAY is finally here...

I have NEVER EVER waited in line for anything in my life... until how. Our local game store was open at midnight to hand out Pokemon to the die-hard poke maniacs. Fortunately (for a number of reasons) the lines for the new Pokemon games were nothing like the throngs you hear about for the Harry Potter series or the iPhones (I don't do well in crowds and frankly, I'm glad more people are excited about reading a book than playing a video game ... though that is probably just THIS particular video game!).

The crowd was small and most of them were college students. Some of them were a little surprised to see their friends there and as they greeted each other, they said "You never saw me here!" -being embarrassed to admit that they are waiting in line for a "kids" video game. I (being the only card-carrying AARP member in the crowd) was definitely the odd-person out. I was number 16 -and that was with letting some high-schooler "cut in front of me"... (so much for respecting your elders)

So what about the game itself?

I'm happy to say that it has been well worth the 6+ months of waiting, youtube watching, speculating, and daydreaming about the game.

Just like last year where I purchased both versions of the game -this year I purchased Pokemon X and Y. X is a "happier gentler" pokemon. Y is a dark "we will DESTROY YOUR WORLD and everything in it" version (frankly, I'm a little worried about the son that chose that one... I'm sleeping with my doors locked from now on!

The graphics make this the most significant upgrade ever. Instead of pixelated antiquated graphics where you can only move like checkers on a chess board, you can climb on your favorite pokemon and fly around in circles. The square pixelated renderings of the pokemon have matured to more sophisticated and realistic (as realistic as anime can get) forms.

Both kids love the fact that you have old and new characters together in one big pokemon family reunion of sorts. Both had their teams picked out for weeks and instantly started in on their Poke-domination. Both have not been heard from since the game was inserted in to the DS consoles -I have spare battery packs lined up in case of some catastrophic power failure that would prevent recharging the 3DS.

One of the things about this game is that it truly brings the players INTO the game. You don't just direct your team... you can actually interact with them. An added bonus is that since they both playing the different versions of the game in close proximity and the consoles can "see" each other, they can see each other's characters. The level of "community" and interactivity is substantially higher ... a good thing to me since they would normally be playing independently... however this makes it a much more collaborative activity.

If you aren't already aware, you must have a 3DS or later console in order to play this generation of the game. Both of my kids consoles are 3ds and 3ds-xl... Anything older than that won't cut it. Response time is a bit sluggish and I think Nintendo is going to have to up the specs of their consoles to keep up with the new resource intensive renderings.

This particular version of Pokemon is based on Norse mythology and based heavily on Paris (not sure what the 2 have in common)... Since both of my boys have loved ancient mythology (greek and Norse, in particular, this was a big selling point for both kids... it also provides some slight educational redeeming quality to the game (though truth be told, I still wish they were more interested in reading books!)

All in all, if you have a Pokemon fan, this is a must-have upgrade as it brings pokemon into the next generation of video gaming where it has lagged significantly behind other newer games. I suspect that this version will also be successful in attracting a whole new generation of Pokemaniacs -which seems to be Nintendo's ultimate goal since the original Pokemon demographic is now apparently embarrassed to be seen at the midnight launch of their games. Old Pokemon lovers will love this version because of the nostalgia factor. While newer ones will be drawn into the stories and strategy and battles that created the original Pokemon fans.

BTW, a word about the educational value of Pokemon... some would say there is no redeeming educational value about this video game. However, the game does teach critical strategy and problem solving skills. AND it actually helped me teach my son multiplication. If you search the inter webs, you will find the actual mathematical models for calculating the catch rates associated with various pokemon. These mathematical models are quite complicated but (being a math geek myself) by holding several of the variables constant, you can actually create a times table based on the catch rates for various pokemon characters. So if you have a kid who is a pokemon fan but not a fan of math -do some googling and you may wind up turning your poke maniac into mathematician. Any game that can bridge that gap is PURE GENIUS, in my humble opinion!

[NCJAR]

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I've been a fan of the Pokemon franchise since Blue Version. I was pretty disappointed with the Pokemon in Black/White and the games have seemed to be getting worse and worse. That being said, Pokemon X has been quite amazing so far.

Although I haven't gotten very far in the game yet, it's a completely different feel from any of the past Pokemon games. The battles are very reminiscent of the console versions, which brought back a lot of nostalgia. The graphics are very crisp, and the towns are beautifully designed and very different from Pokemon towns that you might be accustomed to. The new Pokemon are actually interesting so far, and I haven't come across any poorly-named ice cream cones or garbage bags.

Definitely happy with my decision to buy it, and a good step back in the right direction for Pokemon.

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To put it simply maybe! Read on to see why, but be warned of some minor gameplay spoilers. To avoid them skip down to my "bottom line" section. Also, make sure to check there for the latest on the "save bug" that may temporarily break your game!

To those familiar with the series, you'll recognize the old familiar pattern right away. Receive Pokemon and Pokedex and then fight your way to the top, beating the bad guys along the way. For those new to the series however, Pokemon X/Y offers a more than adequate introduction, though because of this gameplay exposition, conversation is just a little bland for the first few towns. On that topic, while newcomers will find these games entirely accessible and enjoyable, there are several friendly nods to eras gone by placed with in the games, as old familiar faces make appearances. Further, you'll get to pick a first generation starter right off the bat to augment your team, a touch that I absolutely loved.

Speaking of familiar, the story and its baddies are nothing really new starting with Black and White, Pokemon started making more of an effort in that department, but plot is still not is strong suit. That said, some of the cast members do manage to stand out, especially a couple of really unique gym leaders and other NPCs. Most, however, are fairly cookie-cutter. Still, where this would ruin most RPGs, it's not a huge concern for Pokemon, where the goal is always catching em all and being the best.

As for catching them all, I confess myself slightly disappointed there are significantly fewer new Pokemon than were introduced by prior generations. However, the lack of quantity is neatly compensated for by high overall quality prior generations have seen some serious "dud" Pokemon, but there don't seem to be any this go-round. (Addendum: Found the dude Pokemon. Klefki, I'm looking at you!) The new additions are, fortunately, well-padded by five prior generations, and so you never run out of things to catch.

Next up is gameplay. While the basics have remained the same, Game Freak has, as always, tweaked the balance just a bit in fact, they've done rather a lot this time. Introducing a new type for the first time in 14 years is a bold move, as was retconning a few Pokemon into the new type. Fortunately, it seems to work out no doubt it'll give the hardcore metagame analysts something to chew on for a good long time, and for the rest of us, the game is more balanced than ever. Next in line of gameplay changes is the well-hyped "mega evolution" mechanic, and YES, it is exactly as cool as it sounds. I'd hate to spoil anything, but I will say that some are game-dependent, and overall X seems to get the "cooler" end of the stick in that department.

Additionally, "Pokemon Amie" is an entirely endearing side-game that I think really adds an extra dimension to Pokemon interactions. While it may not do much for some audiences, for those that really enjoy bonding with their virtual pets, this really takes things to new heights. Again, I don't want to spoil much, but there are some Pokemon that it is just endlessly entertaining to pet.

As to graphics, well, screenshots obviously don't do the game justice. Pokemon in 3D is reminiscent in some ways of the console games, especially with the exciting dynamic camera movements and attack animations. The sheer amount of "stuff" going on in battle makes it very exciting except for when it causes a bit of lag. This is mainly an issue in larger-scale battles (horde battles are also an exciting introduction!), but a slight disappointment nonetheless, since it's precisely those big, epic moments that would be most impressive in smooth, 3D glory. On the other hand, the world is absolutely gorgeous running your customized character through Kalos is a real treat, especially with all the ways to get around. Having played since the first generation, jumping up a ledge for the first time was an absolute joy.

Sound effects are, as usual, a bit outdated. The music however is gorgeous not quite a match for the second generation (in my own opinion) but beautiful nonetheless.

Overall, X and Y are fantastic additions to the Pokemon family. They shake things up in exactly the right way while maintaining the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Hardware limitations can sometimes put a damper on things, but they hardly dim the brilliance of a very exciting sixth generation.

**UPDATE ON THE SAVE BUG** Nintendo and Game Freak are aware of a game-crashing bug that may occur when saving on the outskirts or some inner avenues of Lumiose City. A patch has been released for both the downloaded and cart version, and can be downloaded for free from the 3DS eshop. There are different downloads for versions X and Y, be sure to get the correct one!

Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them below, or to contact me at SeanOnAmazon@gmail.com.

Honest reviews on Pokémon Y

I won't bother by giving you a synopsis or details about the game that can be easily found in a general review. Instead I will list a few details why, even with only 20 or so hours into the game so far, that I believe that X and Y are the best installments in the series. In no particular order:

1) The boring guided intro is gone and you are almost immediately on your own catching Pokemon and exploring.

2) Many old favorites from generation I and other fan favorites are featured almost right from the beginning. This is in stark contrast with B & W, where only new unknown pokemon are featured initially. This should appeal to gamers who are fond of the first games form the 90's.

3) No more waiting for powerful pokemon in the late-game, formerly only really usable in post-game. I caught a Bagon by the second gym and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

4) Mega-evolutions bring interest back to fan-favorites, showing younger gamers the great pokemon they are not familiar with and, again, appealing to gamers who played the original games.

5) "Super Training" makes EV training (competitive training) fun, easy, fast, and accessible for anyone. You can fully EV-train pokemon in less than an hour, and undo it all with a special item, and redo it as you change your strategy.

6) Trainer customization and online features make this feel more like an RPG.

7) The shiny encounter odds are reasonable now.

8) Perfect IV pokemon are a few breeding steps away with the new "Friend Safari" and new breeding mechanics.

9) The graphics are stylized just like the anime now. It REALLY looks great.

10) Now that Game Freak has tweaked the game to be more reasonable, competitive pokemon can be trained in a reasonable time, therefore cheating/hacking is not even necessary (it is blocked for the foreseable future anyway).

Now if I had to give it a few negative points: the 3D is only active in single battles and only certain parts of the overworld because the framerate is low when 3D is on and would probably become terrible with more action, the dialogue is still a bit childish and boring for the most part with bland side-characters, the difficulty needs to be higher (although they did make is accessible for all ages at least), and the 3DS really needs a cellular card in it or something because WIFI is still not consistent enough when going various places to take advantage of the new online features. I am sure if Nintendo had an online service for the 3DS like the Amazon Kindle does, even for a low cost, that many would subscribe just for this game.

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Let me begin by saying that I am a long, die hard, Pokemon fan. I began back with Pokemon Ruby, and subsequently moved to play the first and second generations. I was absolutely and completely mesmerized by the amazing fun and thrilling rush of playing any Pokemon game. I still remember skipping middle school to stay home and train my Larvitar in Pokemon Silver. I still remember bringing my Gameboy Advance everywhere to try to find Surf in Pokemon Red. I vividly remember beating the Elite Four in Pokemon FireRed for the first time and maniacally pressing A in hopes of catching Mewtwo with the UltraBall.

However, things have changed. I am a college student now. Pokemon Black and White, was for me, a major disappointment. I logged over 100 hours in Pokemon Pearl and Platinum and barely even got my 7th badge in Pokemon Black before completely quitting and never touching it again... I feared the worst, oh god, did I outgrow my childhood? Was I becoming more cynical, more serious, heaven forbid, more mature?! No!! Where was my childhood thrill that I got from training my Dragonite, capturing Lugia, and chasing down Mesprit?! I feared the fun would never return and I was just another grown up...

Well, Pokemon Y brought it back... and during midterms week.

I have logged in more than 20 hours with Pokemon Y so far, (who needs microecon anyways?) and I barely got my 8th badge, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS GAME. I feel the same rush I felt when I was in middle school training my pokemon! This game is great! It fixed all of what was wrong with Generation V such as boring and lackluster Pokemon interactions, and revamped the system without taking away my beloved formula of capturing Pokemon.

My Charizard, Raichu, and Greninja are all ready to tackle the Elite Four and I feel like a Pokemon Master again! DEFINITELY BUY THIS GAME IF YOU LIKE POKEMON. Even if you were disillusioned with Pokemon Black and White, give XY a try. I did, and I do not regret it. The graphics are amazing, and the magic is certainly there.

Pokemon Y brought some well needed air to the franchise and I can say that I am a Poke Maniac, once again.

This game feels a lot like Generation III and IV! This feels like a TRUE Pokemon game!

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Pro Gamepad Controller for Playstation 3 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $14.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

First off, I bought my controller when it was on the daily special at the reduced price of $19.99 and I am still on the ropes for returning it. Mind you, I rarely return anything, but let me explain to you why I am considering it.

The Good:

The matte finish. (Feels nice)

The dimpled or concave analog feels more comfortable than the original rounded or convex PS3 analog IMO.

The "combat buttons" are a neat concept

Larger size for those with larger hands

The L2 and R2 triggers are curved more like an actual trigger.

The rubber grips are a nice touch

Comes with a nice long Micro USB chord.

The Bad:

The analog responsiveness during game play is jumpy opposed to the smooth motion of the original PS3 controller because there is about one quarter of a centimeter dead zone with the analog before you see any motion on the screen meaning playing fast paced FPS games is practically impossible unless you like getting stomped on because you miss so much.

The buttons are a bit stiffer and the R2 and L2 triggers grind against the controller when pressed. It doesn't necessarily affect the response, but it feels and sounds cheap.

The Start button is very awkwardly placed between the analogs so tightly that you have to maneuver to hit it.

The "combat buttons" DO NOT work for all games. I tried with MW2 and the sprinting function would not work with the assigned action buttons.

The d-pad is a joke. It is clunky, LOUD and unresponsive. G'luck playing anything that requires extensive use of it.

You cannot turn on your PS3 with this controller.

Curiously, you may map the X button which is the closest button to the right analog, but you cannot map the triangle button which is the furthest button from the right analog. Huh..? O_o

The Neutral

The LED lights sounds cool, but they're actually gimmicky and distracting. Luckily, you can turn them off.

The receiver takes up a USB slot.

Over all main factors that may lead to the return of this controller? Well, obviously it is the buttons. I can forgive the combat buttons incompatibility and the odd button placements, but what really gets me is the loud clunky cheap buttons with that abomination of a d-pad. Worst of all, the dead zone analog makes playing any FPS intolerable with this supposed FPS controller. I've also noticed that Netflix navigation has a lag time with the analog and using the d-pad is like pulling teeth for the previously mentioned reason. The price I paid is the ONLY reason I am considering keeping the controller as it may be fine for other games that don't require such precision analog motion...but I am sitting here asking myself, why should I pay for anything that cannot work well on all my games? It'll likely go back.

I bought it for cheap at 20 bucks, so if you're thinking of paying anything above that, you're crazy. Just buy the OEM PS3 controller...especially if you're looking at a mere 5 dollar price difference at retail.

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I'm not by any means a professional gamer, but I'm not a casual gamer either. I love shooters, and because I love shooters, I want a controller that is smooth and responsive. The GR:FS gamepad is a beautiful looking controller. It also has some great ideas like the button mapping on the back of the controller. But unfortunately, for me, the cons outweigh the pros. For starters, I'm a big fan of the dual shock controller for the PS3. The analog sticks are smooth and extremely responsive. But the Gamepad's analog sticks are clunky and unresponsive. When playing Ghost Recon or Call of Duty, you want to be accurate. From the moment I started playing with the Gamepad, it was irritating, because I would push the sticks to aim and it felt as though there was a delay in response, then suddenly my cursor would move and I would be off from my target. Also, I want to note, that I adjusted sensitivity in the games I tried the Gamepad on several times and it is consistently sloppy.

Next, I didn't like the d-pad on the controller. It seemed unresponsive almost every time I pushed on it. Sometimes it would select things opposite of what I was trying to select. Lastly, the bumpers and triggers felt big and clunky. I gave the product 2 stars because it just didn't work for me. I realized this could be personal preference, but if you are a serious gamer, I would avoid purchasing this controller. The dual shock controller is much better in regards to performance. If your not a serious gamer and you feel I'm being picky, pick it up and give it a shot for yourself. Hope this helps!

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Pro Gamepad Controller for Playstation 3

this is a good controller i love it!!!!

I got this when I purchased Ghost Recon on PS3 and being about to remap my buttons is AMAZING. I love the backlighting and the rechargeable battery was a great bonus.

Honest reviews on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Pro Gamepad Controller for Playstation 3

Now i don't know why people are talking bad about this controller its one of the best I've played with

The r1 and l1 are larger than on a regular controller so its great for shooters then the r2 and l2 are curved like gun triggers which makes them really reliable

It does have a matte finish and grips

Now the combat buttons well in the right three have a switch that can be set to square,circle, x and then the last option lowers the sensitivity of the right joy stick which you'll only use may be for sniping but i wish it was replaced with triangle the farthest button from the joy stick

The lowered sensitivity is that sniping thing it talks about now the left side for the combat buttons it had down right and up remapping options and also lower the sensitivity for the left stick

Now one problem i did have but you will always have with a d pad that is one solid piece is that sometimes if you press up it will also hit left or right but its not that big a problem because you can use the combat buttons and also it isn't that bad it will go where you push it

The leds are really bright the thing does come with a usb that connects the controller but there is no lag or any problems

the battery last for quite a while i went a few days of playing like 4 and the thing would not run out of battery so i chargered it so it wouldn't die on me but I've owned for about a month and have only charged it like 4 times

It had only small flaws but otherwise the controller is perfect and i highly recommend it and not to mention the price is great compared to a regular playstation controller which is like 60

So buy this controller

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broke the 1st week, the button the front quit working. won't buy another one.. my little boy was so excited as well then totally bummed.

Review of Zumba Fitness - Kinect - Xbox 360

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List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $32.95
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I was a little suprised to see so many bad reviews. I actually thought this game was pretty accurate to the classes I had been taking. It definitely gives you a work out. The menu options are a little basic and uneventful but if you are using this game for work out purposes, for me anyway, it worked amazing. I worked up a sweat just doing the 20 minute classes (on easy). Because I've taken Zumba classes before, I knew a majority of the steps. I think the people who are claiming that it doesn't pick up their body movements could be misguided. Even on easy, and with a little experience, I found the dance class to be quite fast and with little instruction. This being said, if you are not a pro, it's not going to pick up every single step you do. it's just too fast, there are too many movements from head to toe. I don't have a problem with this personally. It doens't pick up every move I make but I realize the moves are very complex so most likely it's ME who isn't getting it right and not keeping up the pace. It's a lot harder than Dance Central which I noticed a lot of people are comparing it to. If you want a good work out, this is also a good thing. The harder the dances, the harder you work to keep up, and the better workout you get. If I want to have fun with friends I play Dance Central, if I want a work out, I play Zumba.

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Zumba Fitness Kinect

First, I am a total newbie to the Zumba world. That said, I am having a great deal of fun getting in shape using this title. In trying to reach my fitness goals using my Kinect, I have currently tried out EA Sports and Xbox's Fitness Evolved (neither of which I am a fan of after using the similar title Wii Fit), Kinect Adventures (fun, but not really geared towards fitness), and Dance Central (also fun but also not really geared towards fitness).

The Zumba title comes close to meeting all of my personal high level criteria for a great fitness title:

+ Tiered Cardio Workout (*****)

+ Fun Workout (*****)

+ Multiple Activities (***)

+ Workout Calendar (****)

+ Tracks Weight and Calories Burned (0)

What I love about Zumba:

+ I'm only at the beginner level and I'm (grinning but) SERIOUSLY TIRED within 20mins!!

+ I have a lot to learn and am having fun learning it.

+ I look forward to my workouts.

+ The workouts are varied even within the workout so you don't get bored.

+ The 'trainers' and online indicators of 'success' help but don't hinder your psyche (i.e. FUN is the key factor).

+ If you slow down, the music doesn't stop, so if you get tired you can jump back in at full speed at any time.

+ It follows the overall workout rhythm of warm up, high intensity, cool down without ever sitting down.

+ The music is fantastic and so are the dance moves!!

What needs to be fixed or could be improved:

+ The menus are a catastrophe and need to be fixed, but I have learned to navigate them.

+ It would be great for a weight graph feature to be introduced.

+ An estimated calorie burning feature would also be great to see for the same purposes.

Otherwise, this is a great overall body workout and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dancing. I can't speak for those who already know the Zumba moves, but except for the belly dancing (which I already know fairly well and LOVE to do), I found it very challenging, and I love a challenge.

I know some people have complained about it not tracking body movements enough. Personally, the stuff I'm not good at yet, I can't really tell, but it seemed to be more or less on the mark with the belly dancing.

And, really, I'm looking to get a fun, high intensity dance workout, so that's what I'm really concentrating on, as opposed to being completely exacting regarding the moves of the dance instructor at every single second.

Anyway. I hope this review is helpful to Zumba newbies!! If you are ready for a challenge, you'll get one!!

And word to the wise: If you are using Dance Central as a workout, you ain't seen nothin' yet!! Get ready to SWEAT!! I still love Dance Central...but I now only use it to cool down if I still have energy after my Zumba workout (but not enough for more Zumba LOL) and also to play with friends at parties ;)

IMPORTANT NOTE: There are a lot of negative reviews about this product. I can't say for sure, but I very much suspect that those users either do not have Xbox online memberships, or that they wrote their reviews before the online product update came out. As soon as I put the disc in, Xbox Live asked me to download an update, which I did, and I haven't experienced ANY of the logout issues or serious body tracking issues mentioned in the one star reviews.

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My husband and I just bought the Kinect and Zumba Fitness game today and I have to say I love the game! I don't usually review products but I felt compelled to do so since the Kinect version of this game got so many bad reviews on Amazon and I didn't want people to get turned off by that. I didn't have the problem of the game signing me off when I did turns as other reviewers did nor did I have an issue with the game not recognizing my movements, the feedback (red circles that appear around your shoulders, knees, etc.) seemed right on. I had a blast playing this game, the dance moves are sexy and fun, the music is great and on top of it all you get a great workout (I was pretty sweaty at the end and I'm fairly athletic). There was an X-Box update on the game that took place the moment I popped it into my console so perhaps the issues others had with the game have been resolved? I skipped over the tutorial and went straight to the game, starting at the beginner party level, yes the moves start to get more challenging as you keep going through the routine but the moves are repeated and I found that I was able to catch on pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to using Zumba as my morning workout on mornings I don't go to the gym and seeing what the results are! (Plus I may even be able to get the hubbie to join in, get him learning some new dance moves!) ;-)

Honest reviews on Zumba Fitness - Kinect - Xbox 360

I would rate this lower if the scale would allow it. This game does not, I repeat does not recognize your movements. Avoid this game like the plague. I also have Fighters Uncaged and it is 100% better than this title. I am very very disappointed in this title and I can't believe they actually released it in this buggy state. The game repeatedly locked up, and then would sign you out during moves that it instructed you to do. This game did not recognize body movements, and the menu system was incredibly hard to navigate. I took this game back after only having it for 1 hour. I even argued with the pimple-faced Game store idiot to take it back. The game is too buggy to even play. For all the game studios Please create other Zumba games because we want them! Fellow consumers, trust me, this game is terrible. Please save your money as it doesn't work.

We have Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Fighters Uncaged, Dance Central, and Your Shape fitness and they are all better games than this one. I will give you an example of the buggy activity.

The game will ask you to do a spin maneuver, but because you stop facing the camera for a second the game signs you out. Since it signed you out, you then have to go through 5 or 6 menus to get back to where you are.

Here is another example, you will start like we did by going through a little tutorial, but after being on turtle speed for 5 seconds she (the virtual instructor) ramps up to Dancing with the stars speed. What's worse she expects you to try to follow along without providing you any instructions besides "Let's go". To make matters worse, the game then completely stops recognizing your movement. In fact, I just started doing whatever I wanted to do (knee lifts, jumping jacks, punches, hip shakes) and the game thought it was great.

I'm sure that some people will post negative feedback about my review, but honestly avoid this game. I love Kinect and this is the crappiest title on Kinect or any other system that I have every tried. Contact me on Amazon and I can tell you about the other much better Kinect games!

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I really like the workout and the music. I had read all the bad reviews and was hoping that they were maybe just user error but the game is glitchy. I found that if anyone walked behind me or around me during play the game would sign me out. Which is difficult with young children. I could just sign in and hit continue but it was really frustrating and disappointing because the game itself seemed great. I have only played it once so far and did the 20 minute routine. I have never done Zumba but have always been interested in trying it. So far I am impressed, the music was great and the moves are so fun. They don't give instruction, it is more of a watch and learn type of thing. I read reviews for the dvds and they said pretty much the same thing and it is not as hard as I thought it would be to catch on. Plus, the game gives you a little feedback I am not sure how accurate it is since like I said the game did have some glitches. I read there might be an update coming to fix the bugs I hope it's true because then it would be a five star rating for me. I might also try to use the calibration card before my next use

Update: December 20I did the update that fixes the bugs when it came out. I put the game in and the option to download the update pop up first thing which was cool. I saw major improvement right away. I can definitely tell when I am not hitting the moves right. The instructor lights up yellow and green when your doing good. Orange and red when you are off. Also it doesn't sign me out if one of the kids walks into the sensors view anymore, sometimes it picks them up and will say Guest 2 or 3 but it doesn't affect the game play at all. The only time I get signed out now is if I leave the area for a minute, like to go get a drink of water or something. Then all I have to do it hit "Done" on the sign in screen and "Continue Game" on the next and it picks up right where it left off. Basically it takes the same amount of time as hitting pause on the remote. So all in all I think that it is a great game and fun. It's a good way to try Zumba if you already have an XBOX 360 and Kinect, since the DVDs can be pricey and this game is only about $40.

Review of Kingdom Hearts II - PlayStation 2

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A sequel that everyone's been waiting for, for nearly four years.

When the original Kingdom Hearts was released, many gamers initially dismissed it as "childish." Upon actually playing it though, many of the naysayers were turned around, and realized that the game was actually pretty good. I was one of the group who actually was looking forward to the game from the start back since 2001, and was incredibly pleased with the results. I've been looking forward to the sequel for some time now, and needless to say, was not disappointed.

The story involves Sora, Donald, and Goofy finally returning after the events of the GBA's Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It seems as if the quest of finding King Mickey and Riku is nearing, which means that so is our trio's journey. However, it isn't long before they're sent on another journey, this time to not only defeat the Heartless, but also mysterious creatures called the Nobodies, led by a group called Organization XIII. It all gets crazy from there.

And how can I descripe the sound? The music for example, is once again incredibly fun to listen to, and still retains the Disney spirit like the first game. There's even a few returning themes from KH1. And the voices? Well, they're just as topnotch as always. Everyone is great, from returning regulars such as Haley Joel Osment as Sora, to new additions such as Jesse McCartney as newcomer Roxas. And let's forget the well-established cast of Disney voices, who are once again spot on.

And the battle system... hoo boy. The first one was a fairly simple one with attacks, jumps, and quick magic spells. This one ups it all with tons of more combat options. There are new reaction commands that'll help you out, for example, knocking the blast of an enemy back into them, combination attacks with other characters, and the ability to fuse into one warrior with Donald or Goofy that turns Sora into an all-out powerhouse. It makes combat become frantic and incredibly fun.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is an excellent video game, a worthy sequel, and more than worth buying. Get it! Get it now!

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Let's be honest. On paper, the idea behind Kingdom Hearts sounds like Square-Enix's money wet dream. Take Final Fantasy, a franchise that has more otaku's than most out there, and add in Disney, another franchise that has a ton of fans and followers. Meld them together and bam. Insta-money. Well, it worked for them. They raked in a ton of money. But, it worked for gamers like me.

There's a moment early on in the game where the Blue Fairy from Sleeping Beauty gives the main character something new (I'm purposefully being nebulous) then says "You'll need it because your adventure will be twice as difficult" as the last. If only that were true. Kingdom Hearts II is a mix of great and not-so-great. And I know my review is going to be pounded into the ground with so many unhelpful votes but I have to be the dissenting opinion in this case.

The game begins by force-feeding you mini-games. Uninspired, boring, repetitive mini-games that you HAVE to play. You are required to gain 800 munny (the currency) and, in order to do so, you have to take jobs (read: mini games) and you will get paid upon your skill. There are three levels of payment, 10, 30 and 50. Do the math and you'll see that, depending on your ability, you will do these mini-games 16-80 times in order to gain the required munny. They aren't necessarily difficult by any means, but it comes off as needless filler.

Speaking of filler, while I think the prologue is necessary and probably has a very important relevance to the plot of the series, I was so ready for the prologue (which is a meaty 3 hours or so) to finally get out of the way so I could actually begin to play the main plot of the story. I'm happy to say, that once you leave Twilight Town the story finally picks up. I haven't finished the game, not even close I don't think, but the story is finally getting interesting. And much more enjoyable than the first.

Going back to the difficulty comment, the game is not difficult at all. In fact, I have been able to set the controller down, keep hitting "X" and not pay attention to what's happening on screen. The result? All of the enemies dead, and me with full life. This is accomplished by the fact that enemies drop a ton of health refills and the game is just too easy. And, I have the difficult set up to the max (there's 3 levels). I can only imagine the lower difficulties. Now, I do know that this game is made to be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. I perfectly understand that and the need for having a very easy difficulty so that Square-Enix can maximize their audience. But, when the highest level difficulty results to me just hitting down X...I'm disappointed.

Which is too bad. Like some reviewers have said, KH2 utilizes a much much better battle system than the previous titles. The most important change is complete control over the camera with the Right stick. No more shoulder button pressing. But now, also, the summons are different and better, the new abilities to meld with one of your teammates to do amazing amounts of damage, and other similar upgrades. The AI is also much better this time around and your teammates won't waste as many of your items as before. All of these make the game easier but more fun. Unfortunately, with the difficulty already set to a very low standard, problems arise.

There are some cool additions though. They definitely stole from games like God of War and Resident Evil 4 with the triangle button presses. Some areas are like interactive cutscenes ala the boss fights in God of War. They are cool and fun. Not as awesome as some in God of War, but still quite exciting. And they throw some change into the mix. The gummi ship has also been muchly improved, thankfully.

I also wish we were exploring more new territories. Sure, some of the territories here are really awesome, Tron and Steamboat Willy come directly to mind, but why must we continue to tread through repeats of the first game? Yes, I know the story is set to do that. But there are so many different disney zones that could have been used. Where is The Black Cauldron? Also, after you've revisted the places...you're going back to them again! Yes, there are changes, but you're going back to them. It seems awfully lazy.

One thing I'm always amazed in is Square's ability to maximize their console to create the best product they can graphically. While if you compare the game to the next Gen systems, the aliasing problems are through the roof at times, the animation style is terrific. Everyone moves so fluid that you can easily forget at times you are watching polygons not a hand drawn animation. Its absolutely beautiful to look at. But the one thought going through my mind is, man what will they be able to do on the next gen systems?

The sound is also really well orchestrated and utilized. The voice actors range from Haley Joel Osment to Ron Perlman to Christopher Lee to Sean Astin to just a ton of voice actors. Its really amazing. Its disappointing that some of the cast from Pirate of the Carribean didn't contribute ("scheduling conflicts") except, most notably, Geoffrey Rush.

I haven't beaten the game yet. My review could possibly change as I progess. I just wanted to get some of the important things out there to help people decide. Honestly, most of these reviews are going to be pointless. The majority of those who played the first one will undoubtably be right back on board with this one, reviews be damned. I know I was. I really like the game. Don't get me wrong. The story is absolutely excellent (once we got past the boring prologue) and I love what I'm playing and its fun to see the Disney franchise used in this way (by the way, you might want to pick up chain of Memories and play it (if you can) before playing this game. The plot directly relates to some events of that game). I do think that there are some problems, most notably in terms of the difficulty range that can reduce the game to button mashing without thought. But, really, I'm in it for the story and the remembrances of childhood.

Not a 4 star game, but not a 5 star. If I could, it would be 4.5. Kingdom Hearts II is a good game that will delight most, if not all, of its fans. Its detractors will still fume about the problem. But, if you played the first one, you're doing yourself a great disservice by not picking this up.

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Very rarely does a sequel out do the original, but Kingdom Hearts II manages to do it. Not only does this improve on many aspects of the original, but it utilizes the same formula that worked very well in the first game.

Once again you'll play as Sora visiting different sets of Disney worlds. Each Disney world has its own plot that is very similar to that of the movies. Some lines are even ripped straight from the movies. That's not such a bad thing, of course. At least for Disney fanatics.

There's no doubt Kingdom Hearts II definitely improves on the gameplay. Yes, it is still the same old hack and slash battle system of the original. And yes, when you go into a world you'll go with Donald and Goofy, and be given a character to substitute. There have been a few additions, however, and they're welcome. These tweaks have obviously been tuned up by Square-Enix. Aside from being able to cast numerous spells and summon other disney characters, Kingdom Hearts II introduces limit breaks. Where your entire party will perform a devastating attack. It drains all your MP (of every character) but it's pretty darn powerful, and helps out. The game also introduces drives which will have you combining with other characters to perform some devastating attacks. These additions are welcome to the universe of Kingdom Hearts, despite the fact that the game is so easy you probably won't need them. However, whenever there are small tweaks made to the gameplay they're welcome so long as it keeps the game interesting.

There is a whole new set of Disney worlds introduced in Kingdom Hearts II. Including the first Disney cartoon Steamboat Willie and Pirates of the Caribbean. Each world, as I've noted has a smiliar plot and voice over to the movies. This isn't so bad because the disney characters actually sound like their disney characters. This is another strength of Kingdom Hearts II. There's an all star voice-over cast. You'll recognize the voices of characters and they're spot on. For a game with as many voices as Kingdom Hearts, it's certainly nice to see that not a single voice is lackluster. Some of the dialogue comes directly from the movies, and this probably won't bother Disney fanatics either.

Although, for Square-Enix fans, I can't say the same for the Final Fantasy aspect of the game. Final Fantasy characters aren't nearly as well fleshed out as Disney characters. It's great that they're here and all, but they don't play an integral part in the storyline, and they're often given bad dialogue. It's the only moment where you'll question Kingdom Hearts II.

Graphically the game is solid. Being one of the best looking on the Playstation 2. Everything is vibrant and colorful and definitely has a great appeal. Especially to people who enjoy Disney. They've got the big feet, gloves and everything. The final fantasy characters also look really good. Even though some may not like that some of them look a little kiddie, it isn't really anything to be too upset about. It's only keeping with the style of the game.

Musically Kingdom Hearts II sounds great. Most tunes you'll instantly recognize from your favorite Disney movie, and it'll be no surprise if you find yourself humming these tunes. If you love Disney music, you'll love the music of this game. The outside tunes also sound really great.

Rarely is a second installment better than the first. Kingdom Hearts II succeeds by improving the gameplay, and fixing a few things that kept the first one down such as the horrible camera angles. While it could've used a bit more Final Fantasy influence, Kingdom Hearts II is a solid game. Those who loved the first one will fall in love all over again with the second one.

The Good

+Outstanding graphics

+Great Gameplay

+Music is great

+All-Star Voice Acting cast

+A longer more fleshed out game than the first one

+Several different worlds

+New summon spells

The Bad

-The game is a little too easy. Even though they've got these new, cool additions, you most likely won't need them. You can easily hack and slash through everything

-The Final Fantasy characters could've been put to better use

The game is fantastic. Fans of the first one will absolutely love it.

Honest reviews on Kingdom Hearts II - PlayStation 2

Kingdom Hearts was one of the all-time best video games ever created, thus creating Kingdom Hearts 2.

This game continues Sora's quest from Kingdom Hearts, and Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories. Sora, Donald, and Goofy, attempt to find King Mickey, and during their journey, they come across may worlds in which they explore. These worlds include some old favorites, such as Holloween Town, Agrabah, and Atlantica. New levels include Port Royal (Pirates of the Carribean), Tron, Land of the Dragons (Mulan), Steamboat Willie, Deep Dive City, and Twilight Town.

In the beginning of the game, KH2 introduces a new playable character know as Roxas. His little story mode only lasts for about 3 hours however, and is basically a toturial for newer players to learn to play. After that, you play as Sora for the remainder of the game.

As Sora, you meet mysterious Hooded people called the Organization 13, who are up to something for you to find out :)

Time to get technical. Kingdom Hearts has many new improvements. Here are a few that I'd like to point out.

PROS

1) The camera is much improved from the first game. The main change was the buttons used. The first KH used the R2 and L2 buttons, which were slow and not very helpful at most times. Now, the layer controls the camera with the right analog stick, which is much more accurate. It isn't perfect however. When you are fighting a fast enemy, or near a wall, the camera may not work. Don't get me wrong though, it's an awesome improvement.

2) Sora now knows drive bar moves, which are very powerful combos. With it, you can deal lots of damage to a spacious area. You can also fuse with Donald and/or Goofy to power up even more!

3) The game graphics are perfect. It really pushes the old PS2 system to it's limits. YOur game play should not be disruptted from this though. The worlds are awesome 3D worlds with nice colorful enemies.

4) The Gummiship is a lot better too!!! For KH fans, many hated the Gummiship. Now it's much faster paced. You fight tons of enemies from all directions, all at the same time, making for a better challenge and loads more fun! There are many upgrades to choose from too, so there are endless ways to customize your ship. Also, for people not big in making their own ship, KH2 has premade blueprints to use. During the gummiship flight, you can also fight bosses. There is also multiple ways to reach a destination, not just a straight path. Lastly, you can keep track of your Gummiship high scores! This is a great thing to do if you find yourself a little board with the main story.

5) Another big thing that bugged people in KH was the cutscenes. If you've seen them already or don't care to watch them, or if you are in a rush to find a save point, too bad. You had to watch the cut scenes. KH2 changed that too. To skip a cutscene, just hit start and go down to "skip cutscene." I loved that change.

6) Jiminy's Journel is extened and more detailed.

7) The game has great replay value (about 100 hours if beaten 100%) to keep you busy for awhile.

Too good to be true, right? Right. KH2 isn't perfect.

Cons

1) KH2 seems much easier that KH. I mean much easier. As you level up and learn nice combos and magic, the Heartless/Nobodies surrounding you never really increase their stats. Therefor, one can eliminate his enemies with ease and taking the challenge out. If are/were a huge KH fan and played KH before, I reccomend trying "Proud mode," which is "hard mode."

2) KH2 is an action RPG, but it may have too much action. In KH, magic was required for certain fights. That's not the case with KH2. No magic is neccesary, and neither are the special power combos. All you need to do to get through the game is do some "X mashing."

3) This isn't really important to the plot or gameplay. I did notice though that KH2 had very little scenes with Final Fantasy characters and a little too many scenes with Disney characters.

4) This isn't really reated to plot or gameplay. The characters in KH2 still have "robotic movements." In other words, before a computer character in a cutscene could run, he had to turn. The movement just didn't seem natural. But hey, maybe I'm just being too picky.

5) The story line was a little too tied into the first two Kingdom Hearts games. If you havn't beaten them, or at least played them, you may not get the story.

6) There is little exploring in KH2. In fact, there is very little strategy (except boss fights). The game is fairly straight forward, so if you are looking for an in depth, "I gotta think" game, this isn't the best choice.

7) There are lesson summons and magic abilities than the first KH.

All in all, KH2 is a great gaming experience. I should warn people however, that it is recommended only if you have background of the first two KH games. I few tweaks here and there and KH2 would be perfect. I think anybody could enjoy it, and expect something great. I'd give it 4.5 stars.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Kingdom Hearts II - PlayStation 2

This game was amazing. I've played the first game, and this game has many improvements. It has new worlds, new characters, better gameplay, better graphics, length, and one of the best storylines ever to be seen in a videogame.

First of all, I suggest you play Kingdom Hearts 1 before you play this game, because you might not understand everything's that's going on. However, you don't have to play Chain of Memories to understand it. Take it from me, I've only played the first game, not Chain of Memories.

Anyway, the game starts out with you playing as a young boy named Roxas(don't worry, you play as Sora later). He has been having weird dreams and flashbacks that don't appear to be his own. He goes on a quest to find out about the weird stuff that's happening to him, and in the end he finds Sora, Donald and Goofy. Their memories are still returning to them (from the end of Chain of Memories, when they were in those flower pods), and then they wake up, and go on another auest to defeat darkness. Of course, the storyline gets much more complicated and interesting later in the game.

The game does have a few drawbacks, though. First of all, there isn't any platforming in this game. There are still a lot of action, adventure, and RPG elements in the game, but there isn't much platforming. Sure, you do get to jump on a few ledges and stuff like that, but there aren't any long plaforming sequences like in the first game. This didn't really other me, but harcore platforming fans might be disappointed. Also, the difficulty modes are pretty easy, so unless you want to pick the hardest difficulty mode which makes the game very tough in a lot of spots, you might find it as a problem. People have also been complaining that the game is too button-mashy, and that you can get through all the buttons by simply hitting the normal attack button. However, this is not a problem, because all of the magic, reaction commands, drives, special attacks, and other things you get in the game help to distract you from simply hitting the attack button over and over again, so I don't understand why people are complaining about this.

Now, on to the good things in the game. First of all, the graphics are splendid. They have improved over the first game, and they look really great. All of the environments are very detailed, and they look awesome. Every environment has its own special theme. For example, the Tron world is one big computerized world, the steamboat willy world is black-and-white, The atlantic world is one big sea level, etc. Also, the character designs of your party members change according to the world you're in. For example, in the Tron world, everyone will look like robots, in the steamboat willy world, everyone will be black and white and cartoony, etc. Overall, everything looks really great.

The gameplay also improved over the last game. The combat is much better, and you get a lot of new combat abilities. Also, a big difference from the previous game are the reaction commands. At many specific parts in the game, a display of the triangle button on your controller will appear on the screen. If you hit the triangle button at that time, Sora will execute some really cool moves. Some can be simple moves, like spinning around and appearing behind the enemy so you can attack him, but a lot of times you will have to hit the triangle button in a certain sequence to do a very powerful and important action(mostly in boss fights). For example, in one battle, an giant enemy will try to hit you. You then press the triangle button to dodge his attack. Then he grabs you and throws you in the air. You press the button again to dodge his attack and hit him. He then tries to drop you off a ledge, so you hit the button again to save yourself. These sort of things are simple, yet very fun.

Other than the physical combat, you also get magic. Some of the spells you get are Blizzard, which shoots a bolt of ice, Thunder, ehich shoots down a bolt of thunder on your enemies, fire, which spins flames around you in a circle, and more. They're all fun to use, and they can be easily accessed through a shortcut menu in which you map your spells to buttons on your controller. There are also limit attacks in this game. These attacks consume all of your Magic Points(which, by the way, start replenishing by themselves when all of your magic drains), and in these attacks, you and another member of your party execute a very powerful attack which is very useful. You have to use the reaction commands(triangle presses)to execute these attacks, and they're very useful and fun. You also get summoning spells like in the last game, and you can summon one out of four different characters. I'll only tell you about one of them, because I don't want to spoil the rest. Anyway, this summon is Chicken Little. He can stun the enemies by using firecrackers, or go into an FPS mode in which you and him can throw baseballs at the enemies while looking through Chicken Little's eyes. All of these summons are fun, but they're pretty much useless. Another more important and fun feature are the drives. In this mode, Sora combines with one of the other members in your group, and he gets special powers temporarily. You have to keep fighting or collect special orbs in order to replenish your drive meter. There are five drive forms overall. One form is the Valor form, which lets sora wield two Keyblades(weapons) at once, makes him much stronger, lets him run faster, lets him jump higher, and gives him new abilities. There's also another form, wisdom form, which lets you shoot magic bolts out of your keyblade, improves your magic, and lets you hover around instead of walking. Another from is the Anti-From. Sora basically turns into a Heartless. His attacks are weaker but MUCH faster, and he is able to jump higher and walk faster. No one is actually sure how you get it, but there are two theories:

1.You get it from driving too much while in battle

2.You get it from being hit by heartless while in a drive, then driving again when you get the chance.

I personally go with the first theory, but that's just me.

The AI of your partners is also very good. They will heal you when you get hurt, help you defeat enemies, etc. and they feel like a big help, instead of just a distraction for the enemies to not hit you. You also get to switch Donal or Goofy with a character specific to the world you're in (for example: Mulan in her world, Tron in his world, etc.) You can also customize the way they fight, and when to use their special abilities.

By the way, if you haven't already known, the worlds in this game are worlds based on Disney movies. They're very well done, and you see characters from the movies in the game. Some of the worlds are:

Pirates of the Caribbean

Mulan

Lion King world

Tron world

Steamboat willy

and many more.

If you like Disney movies, you'll really love these worlds, and even if you don't like Disney, you'll still enjoy these worlds.

There are also many characters from Final Fantasy games like Seifer, Sephiroth, Leon, Cloud, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Auron, and many more. They're also very cool, and the voice acting is wonderful for everyone. There are some people who didn't voice the original characters, but they imitate them extremley good. I swear, you won't know that Will Turner and Jack Sparrow aren't actually voiced by Orlando Bloom and Jhony Depp. You won't be able to tell the difference!

All of these things make the game wonderful, but the two best things in the game are its length and storyline. This game is very long, and it will probably take you about 40-50 hours to finish it. There are also a lot of distactions from the main gameplay, like the Gaummi ships, which are much better than in the first game, and the olympus coliseum, which lets you fight in many tournaments for prizes. You can also go back to worlds you already visited in order to level up. Now, the storyline is absolutely great! It's very complicated, and there are tons of twists and things that will surprise you(something very interesting about Ansem too...).

Overall, this is a great game for anyone who liked the first Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or anyone who has never played any of those. Yous should definitely buy this game if you own a PS2, and you shouldn't be discouraged by the Disney theme to the game. A lot of people complain that this is a "kiddie game", and that's just not true, so don't listen to these complaints.

Discount Painkiller Hell & Damnation Collector's Edition

Customer Ratings:

Painkiller is a highly over looked game (untill Yahtzee reviewed it that is), what Painkiller is basically when you get down to it is a arcade-y style shooter with weapons that you've never used before.

A spinning blade melee weapon/also fires a laser, a shotgun with a freeze alt fire, a gun that shoots shurikens and lightning, a gun that shoots saw blades and a soul beam that can control enemies, a stake gun that fires basically tree sized stakes and who's alt-fire is a grenade, a rocket launcher with a minigun alt-fire

and more.

Seriously there's not many games that play like this and NONE that has weapons like this, except maybe the original painkiller. The story isn't worth mentioning, the enemies swarm you in big dumb hordes (huge variety of enemies to boot)

So this is the HD touch up, it's great, very very great not many remakes can boast that I think. It has NONE of the expansions from the original but honestly most of them were garbage anyway.

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This game is a joke! this is a buggy-filled sack of s***. This remake has damaged the original version of Painkiller. AI enemy is dumber or the dumbest I have ever seen in a video game, you can see jumping skeletons, minions bumping against each other, ghouls stuck in walls... Terrible game!! Don't trash your money on this release, you better off spending your time watching a movie.

Best Afterglow AP.1 Controller for PS3 - Purple Deals

Customer Ratings:

I got this controller because I couldn't find the color I wanted around town. Yes, I ordered online, just for the color, but why not? It was cheaper online than going to the nearest Gamestop, or something. The Afterglo series has good quality products. They're unique and fun. The only thing that throws me off is that the D-pad and analog on the left side are switched, unlike a PS3 controller. However, it's still a great product and I use it everyday for my PS3 and computer games. I love it! RECOMMENDED!

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First of all, I want to say that I am a pretty hardcore gamer. I'm a level 17 on Metal Gear Online, and if you were familiar with the game, you'd know that being that level means that you're a pretty good player. I bought this controller because I was tired of wearing out the Dualshock 3 analog sticks by playing that game. Now, onto the controller.

This controller is alright. The buttons and triggers feel kind of cheap. The analog sticks don't have evenly distributed resistance in all directions, as compared to the Dualshock 3, but it's fine. When using this controller to play Metal Gear, there's a noticeable reduction in control with the analog sticks. However, with that said, I find that I enjoy using this controller. The Xbox 360 controller layout is fun to play with. There isn't any lag, as far as I can tell.

For the price, I'd say this controller is decent. I think if they improved upon the design of this controller, adding non-plastic-like buttons and making the analog sticks as responsive and resistive as the Dualshock 3, then they'd have a winner. I'd pay $50, or even more, for something like that. (I'm talking to you controller designer!)

Best Deals for Afterglow AP.1 Controller for PS3 - Purple

I bought this new from GameStop for $30. Everything worked perfectly. Then it started breaking. The vibrator only worked on one side of the controller and a piece of plastic chipped off the bottom of the controller. Now the afterglow doesn't even work any more. The controller itself still works and I use it as my second controller but beware before buying.

PS: It is a lot like an XBOX 360 controller shape wise

Honest reviews on Afterglow AP.1 Controller for PS3 - Purple

I love the glow effect of this controller. Reminded me of the wireless afterglow controllers I bought for my PS2, but some games are not compatible with the wired controller, which is a downer for me. It feels good in your hands when you use it, but only being able to use it with some games is a turn-off for me.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Afterglow AP.1 Controller for PS3 - Purple

I got this just because it's the only purple option for dual shocks. It is wired, make no mistake about that. I normally sit 4 feet from my console, so wired is fine. The controller is actually clear, but it lights up inside with a purple light.

I like this because it's smaller than the standard dual shock. So perfect for gamers who don't have giant man-hands. And they put in these little protrusions that your fingers rest against on the back side, to prevent slippage. I wish Sony would use that idea in their proprietary controllers. Also, the triggers are extended, so no need to buy add on trigger extenders. And, it has vibration but you can choose to disable it.

I really like this controller and use it all the time.