Tritton TRIAX-180 AX 180 Stereo Gaming Headset for Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $69.99
Sale Price: $49.99
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

I did this video review to help anyone out there with the same issues I had.

Hopefully this will help gain the insight you'll need to make a decision.

Please leave feedback, did I miss anything?

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I purchased this AX180 on January 17, 2010. In spite of my headphones being handled with care and never abused in any manner whatsoever, they broke apart on the left side where the earphone connects to the headband. The earphone now dangles from the headband by one wire and are completely unfixable and totally unuseable.

The sound was very good from them and the mic also worked very well. It really is a very good sounding headset. Unfortunately, as with other reviewers of these, I've come to find out that they really are a cheaply constructed waste of money.

The way the earphone is connected to the headband is very poorly designed and constructed. If yours hasn't come apart yet, they are ready to at any moment.

We'll see how Tritton customer service handles this. Even if Tritton replaces them, which I'm sure they will, I give these a DO NOT BUY recommendation.

UPDATED:

I called Tritton Technologies and spoke to a very nice person in their customer service dept.. They were very friendly and didn't hesitate to offer a replacement. They gave me an RMA number and I will be sending these back(at my expense which will probably be about five bucks) and I will be getting them replaced. Other than me having to pay out of my pocket to send these back to them, the Tritton customer service handled it the way all companies should.

With that said, I still give this headset a one star rating for poor construction quality and I will give the company customer service a four star rating for their no questions asked approach to dealing with me. I would have given their customer service a five star rating if they paid for postage to send the broken headset to them.

Overall, the headset still gets a DO NOT BUY from me because I know they will easily break and are worth no amount of money. Sadly, I'm certain that the new replacements Tritton sends to me will also break very quickly. I know nothing about the other Tritton models and if the ax180 is any indication of how their other models are made, I don't want to.

UPDATED PART 2:

I receied my new headset from Tritton after about a two week wait from the day I mailed the broken ones to them.

They work great just like the other ones did. I'm hoping that by me changing the way I put them on and take them off they will last longer and prevent the ear cup from breaking. Instead of pulling directly on the left and right ear cups to put them on and take them off my head, which is how most people put on these headphones, I have changed to pulling on the headband part of the headphones only and I try not to exert any pulling pressure on the ear cups as I put them on and off.

UPDATED PART 3:

As of 7/2/2010, the ax180 microphone has now quit functioning on the headset. I called Tritton and they asked me to plug the mic into my computer to see if I could record something with it in order to see if the mic itself is working or not. The mic functioned fine when used on my PC, so there must be a wiring probelm in the headset causing the mic not to work while attached to the headset.

They gave me another RMA # and I have sent it back.....at my cost. We'll see what happens.

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I bought these to use with the PS3. The hookup isn't completely obvious if you want to hook it up to just the PS3 and not through the TV (you need the Multi-AV out cable that came with the PS3, even if you use HDMI). But once I figured out the cabling and configured the PS3 to use the Multi-AV out for sound and HDMI for video it worked great. The stereo sound is good enough to pick up general directions. And I'm hearing sound effects in the game that I didn't know existed. Its easy to get immersed in the game play that way. So in effect these headphones add value to my $60 games.

The headset fits comfortably even over my large melon. After a few hours of gaming, though, my jaw starts to feel fatigued from the pressure. But the comfort over the ears is perfect.

The mic seems to be working fine as other people on line can hear me. Having it detachable is a nice convenience as these could double as standalone headphones.

The volume/mic controller is well laid out. The mic mute switch is the biggest button on the controller so finding it in the dark is not a problem.

The only CON I have is when no game audio is playing there is a slight buzzing. From what I understand that is a grounding issue with the PS3, not the headphones. But during the gameplay I can't hear it even when I try to. I haven't tried the headphones on anything besides the PS3 so I can't confirm this.

The cabling isn't too bad. The headphone cable is 12' long which is about where you should be for a 42-50" HDTV anyway.

I'd recommend these to anyone wanting to pipe all game play audio and have chat capabilities.

UPDATE (8/30/10):

After a few months of using the headphones I'm still satisfied with the sound/mic but as others have had problems with the construction, so have I. There is enough pressure on the ear pads that over time the thin plastic that holds the length adjustments of the headphones to the headband broke. I was lucky enough to have the pieces just fold off instead of break so I was able to McGyver them back into a functioning form with some bits of metal and duct tape. I'm not pleased with the fact they broke within the year but I don't want to send them back at my cost. I'll just bear with the cosmetic issue of tape and metal on the headphones. I'm lucky enough to have a head tall enough to allow the extra bulk of having tape wound around the area of the breakage but if I needed to push the headphones closer to the head rest I'd be out of luck. I'd bring the rating down to a 3 star due to the obvious construction issues.

Honest reviews on Tritton TRIAX-180 AX 180 Stereo Gaming Headset for Xbox 360

Had this headset since Christmas of 09'. Comfort, sound and price were all outstanding. My headset hasn't fallen apart on me yet. (knocks on wood) I hear everything in COD MW2.

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I have had the headsets for a little over a week now and so far, they have been great. I use these nearly 5 hours a night and unplug/store them after each use. The sound quality is great for me, I am by no means an audiophile and for the price the audio quality is beyond what I expected. The mic has received good reviews from players on the other end of my Ventrillo conversations, far better than the previous set of Plantronics I had. I have primarily used them connected to a Mac with limited to use on my Xbox 360. I have yet to try them out on the PS3.

So far the construction quality seems solid. Again at the time of this writing I've only logged around 40 hours of use with these. If anything changes, I will update my review.

Update to this review: I've now had this headset for a few months and I absolutely love them. They are used once or twice a week for several hours a session across multiple devices. I have traveled several times with these headsets as well for LAN parties. The headsets have held up quite well and show no signs of wear. The ear fit is perfect and for the price they do exactly what I want them to.

*** Update: A year and a half later and I have experienced NO durability issues with these headsets. I still use them regularly. If you take care of them and don't abuse your hardware they should last.

Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year Bundle with Mat -Xbox Review

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $10.48
Today's Bonus: 65% Off

The game is OK. But I was REALLY disappointed that the HSM cast is not actually singing these songs they use some knock-off singers that sounds VERY karaoke. I don't know why they just couldn't have used the music from the CD. Other than that, the graphics are OK and it is decently fun. I didn't (and probably wouldn't have ever) paid full price for it.

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An extra star for only costing $10 including dance pad!

Simple, limited, fun. Great for kids. Daughers age 5 & 12 both enjoyed it. Repative sure. However, not annoyingly so (yet anyway).

Even if one only plays it a short time, it's only $10 and can be resold.

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I just bought this and received it Wednesday and it is already messing up! The wiring is screwed up to where when you press and hold the right arrow it is connected to the start button and it ends the song.. also when you press the left arrow it will also press the right arrow.

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Sure, its not the most original game.. or have very good graphics.. and the gameplay is very basic..

That said, that doesn't mean you won't lose the HSM fan in your household for 2 hours a day for the next month! Because sure enough, this is a fun game, and my 8 year old daughter can't get enough of it.

I was actually fairly impressed with the dance pad...for the price of this game, I was expecting something cheaper. I really like how they put the < and > buttons (Back and Start) on the plastic piece at the top of the pad -which is not how the DDR dance pads are. It makes it more difficult to accidentally hit them, and therefore less annoyances for the over-ambitious dancers in your family (my son, at 6 years old basically just jumps around like a maniac on the pad, yet he somehow manages to beat his sister!)

Anyway, there are times when the dance beats don't really match up with the rythm of the songs -and more often than not they are matching up to the vocals of the songs not the beats. I'm not sure why they did that, it makes it feel like you aren't really dancing to the song, just doing some wierd stepping.

It's still worth the shipped from Amazon, and it will certainly brighten your daughter/granddaughter/neice's day!

PS wifey already played through all 3 difficulties too - works pretty good for an aerobic exercise!

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I bought this for my 4 year old daughter who loves singing and dancing. She doesn't even really need the game in to get the enjoyment. We can simply put out the mat and put on some music and she will start signing and dancing all around.

Reviews of Halo, Books 1-3 (The Flood; First Strike; The Fall of Reach)

Customer Ratings:

I've gone on record in the past of having disliked the first book in this series. I take it back. After having played the original Halo through to the end more than 10 times now, I now find these books irresistable.

Halo Book One The Fall of Reach

The first book of this trilogy details the formation of the Spartan II/Mjolinar program, including the origination of the characters Master Chief, Captain Keyes and Cortana. "Fall of Reach" fleshes out the backstory. How did the Covenent happen upon humanity in the first place? What were our first encounters with the Covenent like? What does "glassing a planet" entail? And what is it that the Covenent is after?

The last question isn't answered completely, but this first volume does provide some tantalizing details that might give you a clue. You do, however, find out exactly what the Pillar of Autumn was up to prior to ending up in orbit around Halo.

Eric Nylund does a great job of injecting some humanity into the Spartans (yes, there's more than one) and some drama and strategy into fight scenes with the Covenent. If you find yourself liking this book, you may want to pick up Nylund's "Signal to Noise" or "A Signal Shattered". No matter how good Nylund's military sci-fi is, his hard sci-fi is better.

Halo Book Two The Flood

Normally, I'd say "skip this" if you've already played the game. And if you have played through the game, then the plot points in this novel won't lend you any surprises. It is, however, a testament to William Dietz's prowess as an author that even Halo veterans such as myself can pick up this book and still be interested in the subject matter. As with "Fall of Reach", "The Flood" fleshes out the Halo universe even further. Not only do you follow Master Chief as he combats the Covenent, the Flood and Guilty Spark 243 on the Jovian-orbiting ringworld of Halo, but you get up close and personal with some of the ODSTs (Helljumpers, who will play a large part in Halo 2), marines and non-coms who are aiding Master Chief in the fight. You even get to see the fight from the Covenant point of view.

William Dietz was a fine choice for creating this novelization. Already an excellent military sci-fi author, he does great work here in turning a potentially lackluster novelization into something interesting and special.

Halo Book Three First Strike

I don't really want to ruin this one for Halo fans. The most important thing about this book is this it acts as a bridge between the events of first Halo game and Halo 2. "First Strike", again by Eric Nylund, picks up right where first game ended with Master Chief and Cortana stuck in a non-FTL bomber in the dead space surrounding the remains of Halo. I won't give away anymore except to say that Halo 2 is set-up perfectly here.

The most impressive thing about the Halo books is this the amount of backstory created for the Halo universe is stunning. If you've read anything about the new Halo 2 release and have read these novels, you'll understand what I mean. Plot points and military types from the first novel are being incorporated into or mentioned in Halo 2, ie the aforementioned ODSTs. I have no idea WHERE this backstory came from either from the imaginations of Dietz and Nylund or the impressive minds working at Bungie. It doesn't matter. Reading these books and playing these games, you become intimate with a well thought-out alternate universe. And its a great one to spend time in.

November 9th can't come soon enough!

Hopefully William Dietz is on the business end of that Halo 2 novelization, and this set will include four books in the future.

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As a member of the US military, it is hard to find fictional military stories that combine sci-fi and a good solid storyline. These are the kind of books that I have been searching for. Worth the time to read and the money to buy.

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i just got these 3 books yesterday...and i had time to sit down and read all three of them in a single day its a page turner for sure..highly addictive reading...these books flesh out all the backstory on the master chief and the spartins...yes he was one of a group of super soldiers :)..these books also tell us about the war with the covenant and how it came to start and what the covenant is actually looking for on the planet halo.... if your a sci fi reader or just like a good story loaded with action grab these books..oh and the box set is great for desktop display...cant wait to the halo movie that is going into production.. cheers

Honest reviews on Halo, Books 1-3 (The Flood; First Strike; The Fall of Reach)

At first, I was hesitant to pick these titles up for the simple fact that, while I am a "gamer," I'm not real big on sci-fi reading. I also feared that these books might add up to little more than fodder to lure more money out of the pockets of die-hard "Halo" fans by pandering to the already fanatical following the game has produced.

And I was wrong.

Halo's story successfully crosses the media lines in three amazing books that actually enriched my appreciation of the games.

I used to like the fact that the Master Chief was that quintessential tough guy: mysterious and unbeatable, eternally resourceful and cool-headed, cold and battle-hardened. And, if you've played the games, then you know the gimmick: you never see his face.

Well, these books unmask our beloved Spartan 117, literally and figuratively. Initially, I was a little jaded that these authors took it upon themselves to encroach upon the intergalactic man-of-mystery, but it wasn't long before I warmed up to learning his history and fighting his battles from a third-person perspective that's actually more "first-person" than even the game can offer. I learned to appreciate the depth of the human inside the helmet.

I also enjoyed learning about the other Spartans and the tight fraternal bonds they forge with each other: bred and trained for battle, loyalty and duty, though essentially ostracized, feared and misunderstood by their "normal" human counterparts; there are several points when it's said that the other marines see the Spartans as being as alien as the alien race their fighting against.

Most interesting, however, are the stories you get that the games never touch upon. There's many story-lines and characters introduced here that the games don't even mention, for obvious reasonsprimarily because the games came out first. The first book takes place before (and sets up) the first game; the second book is pretty much the first game verbatim, from beginning to end, and the third is the detailing of events between the end of the first game and beginning of the second, Halo 2. In a lot of ways, it seems as if this console-to-page transition is similar to the efforts made a couple years back with the Matrix titles. In order to get the whole Matrix story, aside from the three films, one had to play a Matrix video game, watch a direct to DVD title and read Matrix books, all of which acted as vital arcs in the circle of events throughout the saga. Halo's last book, "First Strike" introduces a lot of loose ends that are left to dangle even throughout the second game. And we thought Halo 2's cliff-hanger ending couldn't get any worse! Now, I'm positively chompin' at the bit with anticipation of Halo 3.

I'd say these titles work on a number of levels. Most importantly, I believe that the success of these games and books somehow asserts and validates gaming as a rapidly growing and infections new form of entertainment capable of holding its own next to blockbusting movies and New York Times best-selling novels; video games aren't just "for the kids" anymore. The story-telling and intrigue found in a game can be just as compelling, if not more so, than most of the rubbish Hollywood churns out anymorenot to mention that you get to participate and enjoy a sense of achievement as the stories unfold.

I don't know if anymore books are in the making; perhaps they're waiting for Halo 3, but there's still a lot of story to tell, so I certainly hope I get the chance to read on.

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Having experienced HALO: Combat Evolved and studying up a bit on the backstory I decided to risk a few bucks on these novels based on what previous reviewers have said. What did I think? Well, as a very picky and details oriented fan of military fiction and sci-fi I was pleasantly surprised and very entertained by these novels. The space combat scenes in The Fall of Reach and First Strike are simply fantastic. The action is believeable and creative. The technology imployed, whether Human, Covenant or other never seems too far-fetched. The Flood is a bit of a change of pace, as I had expected from reading other reviews, but it was no less entertaining or fun and intriguing. Also, the human stories are fascinating. While only a few characters are really developed in-depth they are dynamic in ways that the games could never get across. I personally found myself captivated by Jacob Keyes, Cortana, and especially everyone's favorite cyborg: John, Spartan 117.

All in all this is a great series of novels and they add a wondrous wealth of knowledge and depth to the HALO universe. It's what I wish more military sci-fi stories could be. If you're not yet a fan of HALO, but you like military sci-fi then this is a great place to test the waters of the HALO universe. If you're already a fan and haven't read these books you're cheating yourself. These authors and the people at Bungie studios have created a tale full of adventure, mystery and a good share of hidden treasures.

Revelation (John) 1:17

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, "Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."

Buy Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West

Customer Ratings:

One of the best multiplayer shooters out there! It is extremely well balanced, the gameplay is smooth and very fun and there is not much more to ask for. There is only one bad thing about it, and that is that almost no-one plays it!

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For a strictly multiplayer only game, Lead and Gold is a real winner. I bought this game at the behest of some friends and really started to enjoy myself. It's a simple class based system similar to games we've all played before but the sad thing is after a couple of hours of playing I couldn't see myself wanting to jump right back into it later.

Gameplay wise, it's a 3rd person objective based shooter with different games to suit everyone's tastes but beyond that it's a fairly one dimensional experience. I do enjoy the unique classes and the multiplayer experience. When you find a good game, you can be stuck there for hours but after you sign off you'll be hard pressed to come back. If it weren't for its price point I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone but you definitely get your money's worth here.

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Not bad of a game. I like that it was online play. But it was hard to find any servers to play on. once i found a server to play, i really didn't like the game play. its more a chase, chase, chase, and then try to get into the fight. It is a really fast pacing game. It takes some time to get used to. For how many hours i played the game, it still wasn't enjoyable for me to keep playing.

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I rated 5 stars because this game is just what I expected at a nice price, I think this is just awesome

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Got it at a ridiculously low price and was looking for a Western as I have just about everything else. Great graphics and game play. Would recommend to anyone looking for a good western shooter.

Cheap Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage

Customer Ratings:

I'm a huge fan of the animated series and after hearing Pendleton Ward (the creator of the series) wrote the game, I wanted to check it out. The game plays similar to Zelda 2 for NES. There's an overworld but when you fight enemies, it goes into a side-scrolling environment. It looks great, very similar to the show, and there's a lot of characters spread throughout. And the writing is spot-on.

My main problem with the game is how short it is. I beat the entire game in 3 1/2 hours. All of the "quests" are fetch-style and "leveling" your stats just comes down to finding a chest with a stat boost inside and applying the boost to Health, Attack, or Speed. This game is obviously directed towards children, but I feel that children would be confused by the backtracking required to progress (ESPECIALLY near the end of the game). An example would be that an NPC asks for an item that is in a town that you were last in an hour ago and to get the item, you have to go to another place, get an item and take it to trade for ANOTHER item to give to the NPC that asked for it. Not bad at all for someone over 14 or so, but very hard to grasp for a child.

There is a new game plus mode after you beat the game, where you get to keep your stats and play thought the game again. It's a nice addition if you like that kind of thing (I don't tend to play "adventure" games more than once, though).

If you're a fan of the show, check it out, but wait til it drops a few bucks in price. If you're not a fan, it would more than likely be a pass. And if you're thinking about buying it for your kids, understand that the game is not "linear" (it is, but with very little hand-holding).

Hope this helps!

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Got this in the mail just the other day and have not been able to put it down. It has so many little things that are just awesome.

I did get the collectors edition, Finn's sword stylist is pretty neat. The Enchiridion tin game case is top bloobies.

If you are an adventure time fan or know someone who is and has a 3DS, get this. you will not be disappointed.

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Specifics on the 3DS Collectors Edition:

Small fold out map is kind of useless, but neat. The "Book of Beasts" was a good little read on the different enemys in the game. The stylus looks like Finn's golden sword, all the way to the tip where it narrows to the standard stylus tip. The Steelbook case was very well done! It looked just like in the show, has some nice reflective paint on it, and stores the gabe box, stylus, map, instructions, and Book of Beasts easily.

Will upload a video unboxing of it later, can't just use my Youtube link...

GAME REVIEW:

Console Played: Nintendo 3DS (also available on the DS). The 3d made it look a bit like a pop-up book, with parallax scrolling of the background layers. It was enjoyable with or without this feature. Luckily, I believe the DS and 3DS versions are priced the same.

Completion Time: less than 8 hours.

Difficulty: Low.

Demographic: the 7 to 13 years range OR anyone who is an Adventure Time fan.

I'm a big biased fan of the TV series. When I heard there was going to be a Nintendo DS game coming out I was elated.

The game starts in a dream sequence that does nothing other than set you up for the tutorial. Most of the game is played in a side view platformer. You can punch (later use a sword), kick, and long punch with Jake who has taken up residence in your backpack. The world map is a top down view similar to Pokémon or the original Dragon Quest games. You can get into battles on the world map if you run into a dark shadow thing that appears. These can largely be avoided though.

Inside cities you can talk to the populace to either get quests or tips on what to do next. I made sure to read as many of these as possible because I like the humor and writing.

The average dungeon (many are just tunnels from one part of Ooo to another) has bottomless pits, various enemies, and very basic puzzles. Use an ability on this one thing, wall opens up. Find a key, locked door is no longer a problem. Basic videogame flow with minimal backtracking.

Nothing is horrifyingly difficult, and the player isn't punished for making mistakes. This is why I've described the game difficulty as low. But honestly, it isn't aimed at hardened gamers; it is meant to be played by younger kids who may need an introduction to videogame basics.

You do need reading comprehension in order to progress in the game without blindly stumbling around. The game capitalizes item names in the speech bubbles so that young readers can pick it up. If my nephew gets a Nintendo DS this Xmas I'll probably buy him this game as he needs to practice reading.

This wasn't just a cash-in by the creator Pendleton Ward nor Cartoon Network. I've played crappy kids' games that are made poorly and rushed out to make a quick buck off of kids who only want it because their favorite character is on it. The gameplay, art, music, and writing were all enjoyable. Getting a New Game + mode should make this game last longer for younger players.

For a full review with an unboxing video, pictures etc, please check out Tasty Whale dot COM

Honest reviews on Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage

..."Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd you steal our garbage?"

Let me start off with this; This is a must have for any Adventure Time, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, or both lover.

The game's mathmatical!

The power-ups are cool, the many characters are great to see, and the lines are hilarious. True Adventure Time humor.

Not to mention the great collector's edition bonuses, like the sword stylus, or the bestiary guide book, or the sweet steel book case.

All for only $10.00 more!

So thank you Ice King, for stealing their garbage...okay that sounds a bit weird but still, this game is brilliant! And it isn't Adventure Time with garbage-stealing.

Or knife-wielding bunnies for that matter.

Anyway,

highly recommended from

Captain Whatsit

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I love Adventure Time, and Collector's editions. So I couldn't ask for a better combo! Collector's editions for 3DS games are pretty limited but I guess that makes sense since it's just a handheld.

Reviews of Panzer Elite - PC

Customer Ratings:

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

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

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

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

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

Honest reviews on Panzer Elite - PC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discount House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.95
Sale Price: $17.05
Today's Bonus: 43% Off

This game is a no-brainer. If you were ever a fan of the House of the Dead in the arcade, then you have to dish the $30 to get it. If you're as bad a shot as I was in the arcade, you'll make up the money in about 10 minutes worth of play. :)

If you've never played the game but are looking for a new title to use your snazzy Wii Zapper on, then this is also the game for you. It's super responsive and accurate, and gives you lots of satisfaction based on the sound effects and gore.

For those expecting something new and fantastic for the Wii release, you may be disappointed. The graphics are the same as the tried and true versions, and the voice overs are still the very poorly-acted (but admittedly nostalgic) ones you love to hate.

Parents, fear not. You can "censor" the level of gore if you're still OK with your child playing this type of game. (It's rated M for mature, i.e. 17+). You can make the blood be green instead of red, and also minimize the amount of gore in the options menu. Accessory-wise, you don't need the Wii Zapper or other comparable shooting peripheral. It works fine with the controllers as they come out of the box, but since the arcade version had guns, it's nice to have this extra.

Here's what you get with the game: House of the Dead 2, with arcade and original modes, boss mode and training mode. You start with the basics, and as you get further and further into these modes, you unlock more and more things. House of the Dead 3 has arcade mode and extreme mode, with the same ability to unlock more and more as you go through the game.

The only minus for this game (which still doesn't affect my rating of it) is the occasional lag you may experience during zombie-intense shooting moments (maybe once or twice during an entire start-to-finish game). It doesn't affect game play, but I'm sure some of you avid gamers out there would find it very annoying.

Overall, getting 2 games in one for 30 bucks is a great deal, and I'm a very, very happy camper that my arcade fave has made a return for Wii.

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Sega's long running arcade light gun shooter series makes a welcome return with this compilation. The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return features nearly perfect ports of the original games, which in itself tells you everything you need to know right there, as both games are showing their age. The shooting calibration using the Wii remote is nearly perfect, while Extreme Mode is also included as a bonus of sorts. Sadly, that's the only real bonus that Sega included in this package, which really would have benefited from other extras or at least enhancements to the games themselves. Flaws aside though, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 are still great and fun shooters that new and old fans alike will get some enjoyment out of, but old fans of the series will be left wanting a little bit more bang for their buck with this package.

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I'm a huge fan of the House of the Dead 2 arcade game from the 90s and have been waiting for a good console reprint to come out. This game plus the Wii perfect shot gun is as close as it comes to the original arcade game. I initially tried the zapper, but it didn't have the right feel. I now have an order out for another perfect shot gun, so I can play multi-player as it was intended.

Overall, the game is exactly like the old arcade. They didn't change or add anything from what I can tell, so if you looking for an upgrade to the old game, this isn't it. As such, you cant save your games and need to restart from the beginning when your credits run out. You do receive additional credits as you accumulate play time though. If your looking for a no-brainer FUN shooter, this is absolutely it.

Honest reviews on House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return

House of Dead is a lot of fun, but it's also rather dated and very brief. Each game is actually only about 30 minutes long if you can make it to the end. I like it a lot and I think it's worth the price, but if you're expecting a full game you'll be really disappointed. There's a whole lot more to Umbrella Chronicles, which also boasts better graphics and voice acting (except for the 8yo girl who voices a grown woman of course). I still easily prefer House of Dead over Umbrella Chronicles for one huge reason your bullets have an effect on the zombies. It takes way too many shots to kill a zombie in UC, and you can barely even see that you hit them. When you shoot a zombie in the head in HoD, their head explodes and little chunks go spinning off into the air... MUCH BETTER!

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ITS AWESOME. SERIOUSLY. AS CLOSE AS YOURE GONNA GET TO THE ARCADE EXPERIENCE. NOT BUYING THIS GAME WOULD CAUSE ONE TO SUFFER, LIKE G DID.

Reviews of Skylanders Giants Legendary 3-pack: Ignitor, Slam Bam, and Jet-Vac

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List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $31.95
Today's Bonus: 94% Off

I bought the 3 pack of Skylanders Giants for my 12 year old grandson for Christmas. He loved them! I didn't have a clue what they were or why he wanted them but after watching him play the game I now understand!

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Those who have played Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, could see this coming from a mile away. Activision releases limited edition "legendary" characters exclusive to Toys R Us. In addition to this 3 pack, a Legendary Bouncer giant has also been released.

Be aware that legendary Skylanders are more like collector's items, because of their exclusivity. If you intend to play with them, I suggest you keep the figures in the box and put the whole box on the portal (it can be done, even when using the online Spyro's Universe), because when the Toys R Us stock runs out, the legendary figures skyrocket in value.

If you're new to Skylanders, I suggest you play with a few of the characters to see which ones you're most comfortable with. The legendary characters are just like the regular versions except with slightly better stats (more luck and attack power) and that blue/black and gold colour scheme. Their abilities are no different from the standard versions of these characters.

I'd only recommend forking out for legendary Skylanders if you seriously want to "buy 'em all" and ONLY from Toys R Us, don't feed the scalpers around here.

Best Deals for Skylanders Giants Legendary 3-pack: Ignitor, Slam Bam, and Jet-Vac

glad to find this after it disappeared from the shelves, but keep an eye on the stores, it may have reappeared recently

Honest reviews on Skylanders Giants Legendary 3-pack: Ignitor, Slam Bam, and Jet-Vac

I recently purchased Skylanders Giants legendary 3pack. Which included Slambam , ignitor and jet vac. From Amazon and I received it very quickly.. I have played skylanders series one and two a bit but my daughter is obsessed.This pack contains Legendary skylanders the three are black and gold in color. And they have different upgrades than the normal ignitor, slambam, and jet vac. If you are into skylanders this is a must have it is listed as rare. Plus I got it at a great price.

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I recommend this product is very nice and my son loved this, He game everyday 4 hours or more at day

Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - Playstation 3 Review

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We are generally great fans of mech games, and have played many of them. We were psyched when Gundam came out for the PS3 and very disappointed when we played it.

If you haven't watched the animated series or played other Gundam games, you are engaged in a great war involving a set of mechanised large robots fighting another set of almost identical large robots. They can stomp on tanks, kick over buildings and engage in hand to hand energy-sword combat. Think of gigantic samurai warriors who enjoy both blade and gun.

The two sides here are the Federation forces, protecting Earth against the Zeon an Earth colony who has come back to Earth to take over. All of the fighting takes place in various locations on Earth, which by now has had half of its population wiped out by this fighting.

Don't worry too much about plotline here, though. Really what happens is you are dropped into a landscape and told to blow up every enemy unit you find. While most games give you training and guidance at the beginning, this game tosses you into the fray, without even a hint of what to do or how to do it. Expect to get a few sad deaths before you get the hang of things. Of course that's assuming you start out on the standard difficulty level there are five difficulties here, including a 'very easy' suitable for 5 year olds.

Speaking of five year olds, the graphics really needed much more work to be up to PS3 standards. The mechs themselves are OK, with a fair amount of detail, shadowed edges, reflective surfaces little details of logo and lettering and battle scarring. There is a realistic feel to how they move.

On the other hand, the world you tromp around in is PS2 level in quality, if not a little worse. I've definitely seen better water animation in many PS2 games, as well as tree and landscapes.

Gameplay ranges from frustrating to laughable. You get stuck on invisible walls. When you slash at enemies, you go into the "black knight" of the Monty Python Holy Grail movie, where limbs fall off and the robot hobbles after you without any arms. You do get to upgrade as you progress, earning more options. You can customize your suits in your hangar but the interface is very clunky and looks almost PS1 in style.

They do have some nice features that show some thought if you fire off a rocket style weapon, a cloud of smoke envelops you and you have to wait a few seconds (or move out of it) before you can see well again.

I have to comment on sound because first, the voice actors in combat are very silly. Second, the soundtrack is almost *exactly* a rip-off from the Gladiator soundtrack. I own and love the Gladiator soundtrack and it's amazing how many sections are pretty much exactly the same. I'm surprised there isn't a copyright suit being launched here.

In addition, we had problems with stuttering sound, to the point that we had to reboot our PS3 and try again. Luckily, it went away once we did that.

In general, this was just not a fun game for us to play, which was a real disappointment. Maybe a future release for the PS3 will have the time spent to fix many of these issues and draw us into playing it repeatedly, like we play our other mech games.

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Let me start by saying I'm a Gundam fan, but not a fanbay;I can't name every mobile suit or character name, heck until recently I thought the Gouf MS was pronounced "Goth", like in Gothic. On to the review.

Graphics: 4.85/5 Sweet, but I've seen seen a little sicker graphics on my PC, albeit that my PC has almost all the latest hardware. Still, this is the best looking Gundam game to date. It's almost mind blowing.

Game play: 4/5 It plays like a revamped version of MS Gundam: Federation V. Zeon. The controls are very good, but the R2 button for the sniper mode is very sensitive; if your finger even lightly brushes up against it you go into sniper mode, which is really annoying. There are two campaigns: Federation and Zeon. There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, normal, hard and very hard. Lots of mobile suits from the one year war, all of which are customizable. Pilots gain levels and become better over time.

Difficulty: Varies

Replay value: 4.50/5 It has two campaigns; each can take any where from 4 to 7 hours or up to complete. It has new-game+ type of feature that allows you to keep all your MS, Pilot levels, cash, and rank which all carry over to your next play through, but the difficulty level is automatically up-ed by one each time. Plus it takes multiple play throughs to get the best pilots and other sweet stuff like the MS suits that the enemy uses.

Pros: Lots of Mobile Suits. Strategy and RPG elements. Two different campaigns. High replay value. Best graphics for a Gundam game to date.

Cons: R2 button issues. Needs another difficulty mode to account for replays. No space missions. No character voices or anime pilot scenes like in previous Gundam games.

Overall: A very good game for anyone whose into Gundam or giant robot type games.

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I was extremely surprised when I started playing this game. From all the reviews I expected the game to have horrible play value (others have claimed the music is choppy or the framerates drop at random times). I have not had choppy music problems. The only time I had something like a framerate problem was when the camera was panning just before a battle, or a drop in framerate when the mission briefing was loading. But it was never bad enough to mess up gameplay.

The mobile suits are all beautifully rendered with a high level of detail. There is also a large number of mobile suits available in the game. There is a linear gameplay of missions ranging in Australia, to SE asia, the middle east, and Africa. There are a few maps that are rather small, but usually it isn't too small to hinder battles. Most of the maps are about the right size (small enough to prevent you from having to constantly boost for a while to get anywhere, and large enough to make it easy to retreat from a battle momentarily, or to prevent the mobile suits from all bunching up).

The maps have outer limits from which the enemy can enter the battlefield. However they can span a ways away from this limit. Making it impossible to reach them and attack them (this is especially hindered if your mobile suit has a short range since in late game several enemies begin attack at long range from behind this limit).

Over all I found the game entertaining. If you are used to gameplay like in Federation vs Zeon, then you should love this game.

Honest reviews on Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire - Playstation 3

In a nutshell, buy the game NEW. And buy the game from someone who isn't GoHastings if you can't afford the return shipping fee.

Recently, I bought this game on a whim for a friend, seeing how he loved the Gundam franchise.

I got the game in the mail shortly after ordering it, which was impressive...but something doesn't seem quite right on the menu for the sound. My friend chalks it up to an "ambient feeling", but a quick search on YouTube showed that the choppy sounds were not the title screens music at all. Further problems is a higher chance of it freezing up than the other games I have...and it happens right when you LEAST need it to happen, since missions can be hard for beginning players. The menu also lags a little before getting into actual gameplay...and there is no custom playlist setting.

It could be a badly written disc out of the lot, or a well made copy...whatever the case...I couldn't play the game with music and character audio due to how choppy they were. Sound effects were perfectly fine, so it really played out to a strange, yet fitting feel to the battlefield with the gunfire and the mecha sounds when they went to attack. As a result, the voice acting and the music had no bearing on this game.

I was able to play some "Here Comes Char" for some good laughs when you can replay your missions once you've beaten the game campaign scenario for either Zeon or Earth Federation...missions that all take place on Earth. No space battles here for you Newtypes out there.

Unit customization falls into three categories (excluding pilot level): Unit Settings, Main Weapon, and Basic Stats.

-Unit settings are pretty generic terrain mobility boosting skins for the Mobile Suits and Armors, the only two being different are the original settings and the mandatory-for-tanking Heavy setting (which takes some booster thrust time and trades it in for defense).

-Main Weapons are obtained from upgrading your basic stats under the Weaponry option. They cater to the player's choice, ranging from the Kampfer's Shotgun to the infamous Beam Rifle to the Zaku Machine Gun. Every unit is set with the basic weaponry that would be considered canon for that unit (Gundams do not get shotguns, Guntanks do not get anymore than their starting equipment, etc.).

-Basic stats are about boost time for double jumps, attack, and defense. Weapons are, as mentioned above, considered a stat to upgrade.

Of course, none of this works to your advantage if your pilot level is low, since the units respond faster to a higher level pilot. Mobility, Accuracy, you know the drill.

I can't say anything for the storyline, since the audio was so choppy on my copy, it was left unaudible...but it seems like a "forgotten war heroes" sort of storyline, with you playing through the Earth-based missions. Story mode works like this, do a mission before the date reaches the completion date for points you trade in to repair, upgrade, or hire assistant pilots with. Repairs to the Mobile Suits/Armors takes time away from your missions, and pilot psyche also affects stats...it's easy to break apart, but it builds to a complex and sometimes frustrating system if you manage to take enough damage to put a unit out of commission for a while. Upgrades take a few days too to complete, but luckily, this is in-game time, which really just means giving up a few turns for missions.

Training missions are an exception though, as they do not damage units, and you still have the day to work off of after that mission.

Your partner AI on the first play through is going to be annoying until you hire some of the Zeon or Federation Aces...once you hire the aces, you'll be amazed how competent an AI partner can be.

And lest I forget in this review, limbs can be shot off, which makes this very useful in combat. Shoot off the right arm (either from upper or lower, shoulder pads do nothing to hinder movement) to disable the main gun, the head for vulcan cannons if they have them, or the left arm to get rid of the shield...but they can still attack with kicking (or chest vulcans if they have them), even if all three of these are missing.

In a nutshell, the game is not for casual gamers...nor is it really for someone outside of the fanbase if the game, as a whole in production, does indeed have all these problems I faced...but maybe you can work past it if you imagine it like you're playing through some of 8th MS Team.

It's a great addition to the series with some solid realism elements, but it's not for the easily frustrated.

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You would expect a PS3 game to have amazing graphics, game play and be just plain fun. This is NOT that kind of game.

The good news.

*There is a Gundam game for the PS3 and the Gundam suits look pretty good.

*The opening cutscene looks amazing.

The Bad news

*The opening cutscene looks nothing like the actual game. If all you care about is graphics, this is not the game for you. You would expect this game to be on the ps1 or even the Sega Saturn, but not the most powerful next gen system. The battle areas are bland, with no detail past the muddy looking ground and poorly animated trees. There are glitches everywhere in the game such as water going through trees and when your Mech tries to cross a bridge and falls in, the water just sits there. The other thing about the graphics is that the frame rate is clunky, it's as if you're constantly blinking and don't see every fluid movement. Only you're not blinking, you're seeing the actual game.

*The missions are straight forward and take no skill whatsoever considering the lock on system is more than accurate because you don't even need to face your enemy completely to hit them.

*The controls are mushy and don't respond well.

*It's tedious to make your Mechs and maintain them. When damage is done to them, YOU MUST repair them because you can't continue the game otherwise.

It's bad enough this game had to be released for the PS3. The very idea that people will buy this at launch makes me very very sad. This is not worth paying for a $ system and you should let this game collect dust on the shelf of your local game retailer.

Rock Band Bass Drum Pedal Plate - PEDAL METAL BILLET- FACTORY Review

Customer Ratings:

I know some people will have a hard time ponying up yet more $$$ for their $170 game investment but Pedal Metal isn't to blame. EA is. This is just one of those facts of life, the Rock Band drum pedal will break even if you're careful. After a month in a half mine finally bit the big one.

EA requires currently you send in your pedal and they wait until they receive it. Then and only then will they send you your pedal. This process takes about 3-4 weeks. If you're feeling ancy (such as myself) you can opt that they send you a replacement pedal, then you send in your broken pedal after you receive your new pedal. There's a catch. There's a $150 hold placed on your credit/debit card. If you send it in within a month, its waved and EA will remove the credit card from their system. If you don't, you my friend are now the proud owner of a $150 Rock Band drum pedal. Previously the only offered option B, but without the money hold. However too few customers were returning their old pedals according the rep I spoke to.

So what was to stop my replacement from breaking and repeating same annoying process? Luckily while reading about others experiencing the same problem I discovered that someone had devised a clever solution. For those who haven't had a pedal break, the break in a particular manner as the Pedal itself breaks; between the plastic plate underneath and the toe. The actual springing mechanism and support is fine. Such a break is easily preventable, if the foot pedal were to be made of a more durable material. The solution? If you're a logical person, its a no-brainer to reach the conclusion that the pad needs reinforcement, preferable metal like a real kick drum pad. It's a great idea but if you're like myself you don't happen to have access to metal fabrication tools nor really the experience to manufacture such a piece of metal. However that's where Pedal Metal comes in. Its elegant in its simplicity. For the non-technical, there's even a pictorial instructions included with the pad. I'd even deem this easy enough for a particular ex-GF to follow. The Metal Billet is simply a stylistic choice, as diamond plate just doesn't move me. I doubt there's any difference between the two. Either way, props to Pedal Metal for giving the consumer choice.

I imagine in the future EA may offer the pedals for sale separately but who would you rather give your money to, The tyrant corporation or the guy who was clever enough to capitalize on a poor design? I choose the later.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you! After our drum pedal snapped in half TWICE, we found this item. Not only does it repair the broken pedal, but it give us much assurance that this will not be an issue again! The directions are very accurate and thorough, leaving no mistakes to be made if you read them! The delivery was super quick! The pedal plate was easy to install. I recommend this to everyone that has a Rock Band set. I plan to tell all of my friends BEFORE their pedal breaks! Excellent seller, this product is well thought out in its design, sturdy craftmanship, and appearance! BRAVO!

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The original plastic pedal has to much flex in the middle. When you play your foot is not always pressing on the very top. That resulted in breaking my pedal twice at that flex point. I superglued and added some rubber stops in the middle of the pedal to help the problem but cracking and messing around continued.

Then I found this product. YES!!! PERFECT!!!

I installed this fine aluminum, brushed finished, counter sunk screwed plate on the top of my multi-repaired plastic stock pedal.

YES!!! PERFECT!!!

Buy it! Pedal to the metal!!!

Note: I did pre-drill the screw holes with a 3/32" bit instead of trying to bore the self-tapping screws (provided) through the plastic by hand. Install the screws by hand in the pre-drilled holes to avoid stripping the threads. The screws seat nice and tight.

Shall I say it again? - YES!!! PERFECT!!! -Enough Said!

Honest reviews on Rock Band Bass Drum Pedal Plate - PEDAL METAL BILLET- FACTORY

Stock pedals snap. That's just a fact of life. Try Blackend on Hard or Expert and tell me I'm wrong. This is the best thing you could ever purchase to protect your RB drum kit. I ordered it on a Friday night and it was waiting for me Monday when I got home from work. If you have problems turning screws, the install might challenge you. Not buying this product is just plain silly.

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This product is a great investment saver, i like others have had my pedal break how could u play hard rock songs with a breakable plastic pedal. add this to your cart and u wont regret it. comes with easy to read instructions

and shipped way fast.

Best Street Fighter IV - Xbox 360 Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $16.28
Today's Bonus: 46% Off

THUMBS UP TO:

The graphics. They're the best yet of the series and the characters look 3D while still retaining their 2D spirit. Street Fighter wasn't meant to be played in 3D and gladly, they keep this tradition going. There's one word for the graphics: spectacular.

The sound. Surround sound ensures that you hear the hits connecting all around you, especially when an ultra combo is involved.

The characters. Some of them are kinda goofy but for the most part, just about all the characters you know and love return. Fans of Street Fighter 2 will be the most pleased I think. You get 16 to start but that number grows once you unlock the rest. Actually, I have a bone to pick regarding the final boss but I'll save that for later.

Unlockables. Lots of stuff to unlock, guaranteeing multiple playthroughs. You can also download costumes online.... for a fee of course.

THUMBS IN BETWEEN TO:

The gameplay. It's classic Street Fighter with a couple of additions to it, namely Ultra Combos and Focus Attacks. I think for the most part this game plays well with the standard Xbox 360 gamepad but some of those specials are nearly impossible to pull off in the heat of battle with it. This game practically cries for the arcade joystick but the question remains: Do you really want to drop that much cash on a joystick, no matter how well made it is?

Online play. For the most part, its lag free and controls quite well. Still, you'll have to contend with some pretty cheesy tactics from online players. No different from playing the game at your local arcade except now you can get cheesed in the comfort of your own home.

THUMBS DOWN TO:

Seth, the final boss. Wow. I mean, it's Street Fighter and I expect a little bit of cheese but this character is literally one of the biggest blocks of pure cheddar that I have ever faced. This guy does things that are so unfair that it almost feels like a joke that you're not in on. And he looks like a cross between the Silver Surfer and Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen, only with a spinning Yin-Yang in his midsection. I didn't feel like he was too inspired in all honesty and his cheesy nature just makes me want to throw my controller through the screen, Wii-remote style.

Anime cut scenes. Badly produced with horrendous voice acting. Thankfully you can switch the voiceovers to Japanese but c'mon its Street Fighter! The series that took everyone's money for years! You mean to tell me that they couldn't have delivered some slick anime type deals to head and tail each characters storylines with some decent work?

VERDICT:

I'd recommend this game as it caters to both the newbie and the expert Street Fighter player. The CPU can be downright ridiculous even at the medium levels though to that point where we've all reached, where we look up at the ceiling and ask, "What is it you want from me, huh? My blood? My life? My firstborn?!?"

Still, the game is loads of fun to play and offers some very decent online play to boot. The graphics and effects are fantastic and on the right setup provides a visual and aural feast. Just be prepared to keep from chucking your controller once Seth comes around.

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This game looks great and plays well. I was a fan of the original arcade game, and used to play a ton on the old Sega genesis. SF4 does the best job yet of re-creating the feel of the original. Capcom really has added a good level of polish. The menus are crisp, the venues are detailed, and the fighters are responsive. There is a lot of depth, with tons of unlockables too.

Two warnings for casual street fighter fans. In Arcade Mode, even when set on Easiest, the game's last boss, Seth, is ridiculously hard. I'm not one of those guys who wants to learn every move and work for every victory. My interest was to basically just unlock the hidden characters so my friends and I could have a full slate of fighters to play with when they stop by. But this last boss makes getting the hidden characters a chore. The Easiest setting makes all the other fights pretty easy, but it doesn't seem to apply to Seth.

The other warning is the controls on the 360. For the most part, basic moves are pretty easy. But I've had a hard time pulling off some of the basic combos in the heat of battle. Even in Trial Mode, where you can try combos as often as you like, I can't seem to string some of them together. I have difficulty getting past level 3 for most characters. Maybe my age is catching up to me, but it seems like you need a joystick to pull these moves off with any kind of consistent frequency.

Best Deals for Street Fighter IV - Xbox 360

Street Fighter 2 was and still is my favorite fighting game of all time. And while I wasn't as excited as some about SF4, I was very eager to play it whenever I could get my hands on a copy at the local video store. This past Friday they had both the 360 and PS3 version in stock so I decided to try the 360 version first...

Starting the game for the first time you will have access to the 12 original characters from Street Fighter 2 as well as four completely new ones (some admittedly uninspired). As you complete the game with different characters you can unlock additional characters. However unlocking certain characters like Akuma, require a bit more than just beating the game but I won't get into that here.

Personally I have no problem with the anime theme that seems to be the style Capcom was aiming for in their presentation. Fight locations are beautifully done and Capcom seemed to utilize the XBOX 360's power well. Frame rates are silky smooth and there is no slowdown whatsoever in the action even as people in the background react to the fight at hand. The characters themselves are also done very well and quite detailed in their uniforms as well as facial expressions. I also like the background music though it's not as epic or memorable as the BGM on SFII.

As good as the game looks the game play suffers a bit on the XBOX 360 version. To me, it seems that the standard XBOX 360 controller does not work as well with the game as I would have liked. I recall on the SNES version of SF2 I could pull off any special move at will, however many times I find myself having to try a motion two and three times before being able to pull it off; other times attempting to execute a move results in another move being performed. In the heat of battle things like this mean the difference between winning and losing. You have the option of using the D-Pad or the analogue stick to control your character, but neither offers the pinpoint accuracy needed to pull of the more complicated special moves on cue. Most of the time, I find myself using the D-pad because the placement of it on the controller is what I am used to and it's slightly less cumbersome than the analogue stick.

As far as Single Player mode goes the game offers a somewhat of a balance between being fair and challenging. Some characters are incredibly cheap like Abel and Zangief that just continue to charge towards you and grab you all day. C. Viper is cheap as well but as someone who mastered the SNES version of SFII on the hardest difficulty (7 stars); I enjoyed the challenge of most characters despite the cheapness of others; that is until I got to Seth.

Seth has virtually ruined the single player mode. Like many game makers today, Capcom sacrificed fun for needless difficulty when creating him. Difficult games should be still FUN, not so frustrating as to make one want to throw their controller across the room. Seth is by far the cheapest boss in fighting game history; more so than M.Bison from the original SF2, and any cheesy boss from Mortal Kombat series. He basically has ALL the best moves of every character and uses them relentlessly. For example, while it takes a couple of seconds for a HUMAN player to charge Guile's Sonic Boom, Seth can miraculously throw three of these in a matter of a second. He spams special moves all day, and can execute spinning pile drivers even while he's falling back after being kicked in the face. If you are far from him then he will just suck you into to him and then grab you for another spinning pile driver. To make matters worse, even when you have a clear opportunity to knock him down with a sweep, the game occasionally will momentarily render your controls unresponsive giving him ample opportunity to pile drive you AGAIN. There are exploits you can use to beat him, but unless you are able to do them, playing against this guy is nothing but hair-pulling, controller-slamming frustration. There are many times I just turned the game off mid fight because I had enough of his crap. I finally beat him with Ryu and Ken (luck) by combating his cheese with cheese of my own; not fun. Aside from looking almost as cheesy as he fights, Seth adds virtually NOTHING to the ongoing SF story and it seems Capcom added him because they had nothing better to do.

For me, the only thing saving this game from being a big disappointment is the lag-free online multi-player mode. I tried my hand at a few online matches and got my butt kicked the first few times, but unlike Seth it was a good old fashioned butt whoppin' instead of a computer assisted cheese fest. After a while I started handing out butt whoopins' of my own and the experience was very rewarding after I got my first win. The great thing about online play is that you NEVER know what to expect as there are potentially millions of players out there ready to fight you.

In conclusion, had it not been for Seth and the cheap AI overall, I would have given this game a buy recommendation for Single Player mode alone, but since the single player mode is ruined because of these things, the only way I can honestly recommend a purchase is if you really are into online play. My overall/fun rating is based on the average of the following: Online: 4/5, Offline 3/3.

Honest reviews on Street Fighter IV - Xbox 360

First let me say that SFIV is a well crafted game with a lot of nice touches and improvements. While not perfect, I'm sure the downloadable content will increase its value.

OK, my stream-of-consciousness and reaction review:

The first thing that caught my eye was that you can start the Arcade mode and be challenged in the middle of the game like at a real arcade via Xbox live. The matchmaking is superb as I was never paired with anyone that much lower than my skill nor higher. Every opponent felt just right. I did win more than I lost but I think that's because I'm pretty good with this new Sagat. I felt quite unstoppable with him, his tiger knee is wonderful now, starts low, arcs and hits again on the way down. You can even combo into a super in the middle of a Tiger Knee!

The graphics are very neat, a little stiffer looking than I expected them to look, though that is probably due to the fact that they seem to be aiming more for an anime look than real life, but they are gorgeous just the same. I love the little details like characters still breathing hard after being knocked unconscious and that characters aren't mirrored when switching sides. Another cool thing in SFIV is the fact that, since the graphics are polygons, and not drawn, you can download cool alternate costumes that were impossible in any of the old games.

In some ways SFIV feels a bit "dumbed" down in the gameplay though. While it includes many new and complex moves (EX, Ultra, Focus), it definitely felt easier to pull off many of the moves and combos. I also have been playing Street Fighter HD Remix and the difference in difficulty and technical skill required is huge. In SFIV the characters are huge and it feels easier to combo. I even pulled some super combos off of fierce attacks you couldn't do before, thus making combos easier on the whole. Also, regular attacks are a lot better and more viable. Even kicks that usually hit very high can be used well to hit standing opponents. All in all the fights feel less contrived than in previous versions, though still retain the SF feel.

The roster felt more balanced too, and I didn't feel any one character was that much better or easier to play, though I did lose badly when I tried the new unfamiliar ones. I can't say I tried EVERYONE though. Unfortunately you so end up playing mostly against Guile/Ryu/Chun-Li on Live just like in any other version. I fear perhaps Viper may be that one character that programmers made a bit strong just for being the new main character. But oldies like Honda and Blanka pack a serious punch too. Their moves are adjusted to work better and their specials are more useful than ever. Honda felt quite solid with many nice combo possibilities. In general, under certain circumstances, you can combo off of fierce attacks that normally don't which is fun, without turning into button mashing.

You can also see and obtain a lot of cool movies, great intros for every fight and beginning and ending movies. All of these intros, while a bit cheesy, do add to the game experience and I found them a welcome addition as well as all the pre and post fight banter between the characters.

I'm yet to figure out how to master the new moves like EX attacks and Ultras but they seem like a great additions and not so "expert" level as the old SFIII Parry. EX attacks are done by pressing two buttons instead of one during a special and they produce stronger versions of these. Ultras are obtained after taking damage and performed by pressing three punches or kicks with the Super Combo motion. It was a joy to see that Ultras can even be paired with Super Combos and Super Combos with Specials, a very different world indeed. Focus attacks are another addition. By pressing two of the same type of attack buttons (kicks/punches) the character does a type of soft parry that can be used to attack or as a combo starter depending on how long you press the buttons. They can also be used to interrupt special moves and thus protecting yourself from a counter attack.

Perhaps my only reservations are that I'm not sure whether this is really that much different in essence than playing HD Remix. It's almost like playing the same game with slightly different difficulty and technique settings, and lower graphics of course (though HD Remix looks gorgeous too) but still good ol' SF, and that can either be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. The other is that I ache for the old feeling of mystique in the old SF games. I miss characters having their own private stages where you go and fight them instead of fighting them anywhere, and the well defined theme songs for each character. The songs back then were more varied, using a variety of musical genres and in general were more memorable than the techno drivel we get nowadays in fighting games. Not to say there isn't a great variety of gorgeous stages, but I still miss the simplicity of the old ones. But perhaps I'm being too harsh here. There are many updated versions of old stages that are great eye candy.

I highly recommend it, but be warned, this is not Tekken, Soul Calibur , DOA or Virtua Fighter, even if it looks a bit like them, where you mash buttons mindlessly to link attacks. This is still Street Fighter, with the same type of gameplay. You still have to learn combos and how to counter them, timing, and a slew of special and super moves. So while I think it's great and good for new players, if you hated the original SF games, then there's little here for you.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Street Fighter IV - Xbox 360

Street fighter IV is a must-have title for any self-respecting fighting fan. Period. What I like most in Street Fighter IV is the mechanics. The controls feel smooth doing Hudokens and Tiger uppercuts never felt better. SF IV is fun to play alone, on couch with friends or online making it have high replay value.

All 25 Characters are evenly balanced. You'll find that a lot of the old veteran characters have a few new tricks. I would highly recommend this title to players seeking competition online but you don't need to be a Street Fighter Master to enjoy the game. The character-specific training challenges are great for bringing your skills up to speed. You can play rank matches, set up games and "This is a nice touch" you can even allow players online to interrupt your game to challenge you while you're in the middle of a fight in arcade mode. It's almost like your back in the arcade playing when that stranger comes up and pops in a quarter to mess up your day.

Quick Summary:

Easy to pick up and play

Graphics: A lot of visual details, colorfully characters and backgrounds. Great presentation.

Sound: Spot on soundtrack. "Victory phrase are priceless."

Overall the game is everything a fighting game should be. Something casual and hardcore players can both enjoy.

Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $49.46
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

-Note: I will add a LOT more to this review the more I play it. Stay tuned.-

First things first here's what you get with the Limited Collector's Edition if you get it at or soon after launch date:

The VIP Car Pack:

2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera

2010 Noble M600

2011 RUF Rt 12 R

The VIP Car Pack is available ONLY WITH the Limited Collector's Edition, and there is no guarantee that this pack will be available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace at any time in the future. It should also be noted that "VIP Status" that comes with this gives you priority in Forza's in-game Auction House.

The limited quantity "Ship Bonus" car pack available for fans who order Forza 4 early:

1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe

2011 Koenigsegg Agera

1997 Lexus SC300

2011 RUF RGT-8

2011 Tesla Roadster Sport

The LCE also comes in a nice steel-book case, and a full-color 96-page book full of cars, brought to you in part by the guys over at Top Gear (U.K.) If that's not enough, you also get a few stickers! :P Now, on to the review.

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It's finally here! After what seemed like decades, Forza Motorsport 4 is now available, much to the delight of video game and car enthusiasts everywhere. Given how great Forza 3 was, could Forza 4 be even better?

The answer is, well... yes.

Forza 4 is everything the third was, and more. More cars, more manufacturers, more racers online (16-players!), and, although not TOO many more, more tracks. I could make this review be 5,000 words long, but rather than do that, I'll try to make it relatively short. This game's incredible. I already said that, didn't I? Aw... but seriously. The World Tour mode is absolutely brilliant, and makes the single-player more fun to play, whereas in Forza 3 at least in my opinion the game was much better online. The only real downfall in World Tour is that, although the A.I. is SUPPOSED to get better or worse depending on your playing abilities, it doesn't work all that well, and you'll breeze through half the career or so with no trouble at all if you're a somewhat competant driver. The best thing about the World Tour, is that you unlock cars each time you level up. And now you're likely saying, "Hey. Idiot. We could do that in Forza 3." But this time? You get a selection of normally between 2 and 5 cars to pick, and let me tell you, a lot of the time you are going to rip your hair out trying to decide which car you want. Lamborghini, Ferrari, or McLaren. Hm...

Also in the single-player is the all-new Autovista mode, which allows you to take a look at a handful of the game's hottest cars, inside and out. Not only do you get some random British guy giving you information, you also get a bit of commentary from Top Gear's own Jeremy Clarkson, and lucky for us, Turn 10 didn't give him a script to read he's as Jeremy-ish as ever. I should also let you know that to get the cars available in Autovista, you have to complete single-player tasks, so you can't turn your 360 on, go to Autovista, and check out Halo's Warthog right out of the gate. As a matter of fact, it'll take you quite a long while before being able to check that thing out. Autovista isn't going to be for everyone I for one find it pretty cool, but I wouldn't check out a car more than once, but there are some people that will spend quite a bit of time drooling in it, and then another group of people that will find it completely and utterly boring.

That sums up the single-player in a nutshell, really. Given that the game hasn't been released at the time of this review, I'm unable to review the multiplayer effectively, so I'll add that in at a later date. How's the game look? How does it sound? Let me just say that this is the best looking game I've ever seen on a video game console ... it's CAR PORN at its finest, and the sound only enhances it. While Forza Motorsport 3 had some cars that sounded sort of "meh," Forza 4 is just insane that's really the only way I can think to describe it. The tire squeeling, the engines reving, the gears shifting, all of it is pretty much unbelievable. The one downfall is the soundtrack, which I believe would be more at home in an arcade racer, not a simulation game like Forza.

I've already said it probably half a dozen times, but Forza Motorsport 4 is THE GAME for fans of cars. With so many cars and more to come in the way of downloadable content over the months, there is something for anybody with a pulse. This review was quite brief, as I didn't want to explain every single little thing in the game, but I think I got the point across I have a gut feeling this game will be my Game of the Year, and I've yet to play Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, or anything like that yet. Yeah. It's that good.

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Pros:

Several hundred cars with plenty of more coming in the months following release.

Improved everything, as you'd expect car physics are more realistic than ever.

16-player online racing.

Cons:

Only five new tracks, and developer Turn 10 isn't guaranteeing there will be more in the future as DLC.

No Porsche due to licensing issues, although a few RUFs are available. (It's rumored that Porsche may be downloadable content after EA's exclusitivity rights expire in December.)

No weather effects or night racing.

5/5

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Excellent vehicle detail, loud engines, and pleasureful music. These describe Forza Motorsports 4 in Spades.

Please note, the Limited Edition listed here comes with the following additional content from the base retail package.

-Steelbook DVD Case

-96 page colored booklet (fits within the case)

-VIP in the Auction House (places your cars higher on the list)

-2012 BMW M5

-The VIP Car Pack:

2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

2011 Ferrari 458 Challenge

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera

2010 Noble M600

2011 RUF Rt 12 R

-The limited quantity "Ship Bonus":

1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe

2011 Koenigsegg Agera

1997 Lexus SC300

2011 RUF RGT-8

2011 Tesla Roadster Sport

-The American Muscle Car Pack:

1965 Pontiac GTO

1968 Pontiac Firebird

1970 Buick GSX

1970 Dodge Cornet Super Bee

1966 Chevrolet Nova SS

1969 Shelby GT500 428CJ

1971 Plymouth GTX 426 Hemi

1967 Dodge Cornet W023

1968 Dodge Dart HEMI Super Stock

1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt

That about wraps it up.

Personally I'm enjoying the game, and I feel like all its good qualities have been hit over and over again with the nearby 5 star reviews. The physics, vehicle detail, sounds, replays, and options available (down to even multi screen usage [on a 360 title! Nice!]) in this game make it worth the price of purchase alone.

With that said, since the highs would seem rather obvious on this point, I do have some minor issues.

Weather effects: The lighting effects in this game are a step above Forza 3 from the small bit I've played (of Forza 3). Consequently that creates a more immersive atmosphere by taking one step closer to photo realism in vehicle visuals. I applaud them for this, but simultaneously I would have really appreciated a step larger.

By that, I wish they could incorporate a a server based weather system. Where time continually changes, with weather effects. I'd like to be racing a long endurance race that starts at 11AM, starting with partly cloudy skies just above but a storm nearby coming in from the east. By the time I ran my 50th lap, maybe I see some lightning, maybe it's a light rain changing my racing strategy, maybe it's more. Unfortunately you won't experience this, the planet doesn't turn, so the sun doesn't shift regardless of how long your race takes. In the end it makes the beautiful lighting I spoke about before feel static, not dynamic. I'm glad they improved the visuals of the vehicles overall but a weather altering feature would have been phenominal.

Also note that you will not have any wet races or the option to choose it in free ride mode. From what I've seen so far the sun always shines.

Interior view: I think the interior view actually works this game overall. Many games in the past I drove exclusively in the 3rd person perspective; there was always something wrong I couldn't put my finger on with other titles. Forza 4 got it right and I haven't driven in 3rd person perspective yet. My only issue is with the inability to customize this view in minor ways. Give me the option to adjust my mirrors in the very least and I have no issues. However, here you can't do so, and inevitably that means you'll often find that looking to the side mirror on the opposite end of your driving position, is pointless. I can't see out of it at all to any useable fashion. This is just a bit bothersome to me when someone is to my opposite side, but behind me enough so that I can't see them from looking directly out the window, but can't see them from my rear view mirror position either.

A.I.: This is my largest complaint with the product (and it isn't a huge negative overall), not because I'm not any good as I've won all of my races so far. Here's the deal, overall it's great when you're mid pack on a track and it's hard to get around your opponents. That's how I feel it should be, as in real life I don't believe it's a cake walk to pass your enemies. But, there is a problem with civilian drivers during some "events". The A.I seems to follow a brake line completely for the most part, ALL the artificial intelligence. For example, you will have rival races where you have to beat them to the finish point and traffic is enabled. The travelers however don't drive like normal people just commuting along a street. They take corners like they're competing for the best times (while driving at a slow speed), and on straights they don't tend to drive straight. The result is little A.I. civilians who appear to be driving against you and it makes these races tedious, I don't like having to scratch my car because [1]I can't honk a horn to let them know I'm coming, [2]they don't use blinkers, [3]they just change lanes randomly for absolutely no reason, and [4]they aren't aware of anything. You will literally have your rival fly by a car on it's right side, and you'll take the same route less than a second behind just to have the car change lanes out of nowhere, and if you squeeze by on it's side with a strong drift, the car doesn't take notice and swirve back, they just keep on going, running into you if slow down too much. It's like they're a train on train tracks refusing to stop, all set on a warped set path and deviating for nothing less than a heavy slam from your car into their rear end. The problem lies on straights and turns, they are worse than actual racers, and the fact that they drive so slow but turn like with a racing line makes them no more than unrealistic nuances stuck in the middle of a superb game. The easiest way to win these modes without hitting anyone on the first try? Turn your break lines on, and when you drive, never follow the line if a car is around, because it'll take the exact same line you're "hinted" to, which will result in a car accident 50% of the time. This is one area where Test Drive outclassed Forza in realism, and that's in it's civilian A.I. drivers.

As for the RACERS, I think overall the developers did fantastic. However, I have factually experienced a rubberbanding effect which I call "Mario Kartism". Where if you're in the lead, the game does what it can to handicap the others UP to bring you DOWN in the placing (and thus it's usually the best strategy in Mario Kart games to remain in close second until you're nearing the end).

Here one example I experienced:

A class race in my Bently. First place for most of the race with not a lot of problems, except one. There is a Ferrari who's close on my tail from the start, everyone else is a fair distance behind. Last lap and I'm growing a tad tired of the Ferrari, I make one 2-bar turn and it gets a jump on me. In my frustration (and I rarely do this) I pit the Ferrari, and it ends up backwards and off the track. I'm moving along just fine but now out of nowhere there is a single yellow Corvette behind me, in the same position as the Ferrari. Maybe it was having an EXTREMELY good lap, I don't know, so even though he was pretty darn far behind and I was having a surpurb final lap before and after pitting that Ferrari (minus the one less than optimal turn that caused the Ferrari to almost squeeze past) I accepted it fine and moved on. But wouldn't you know, before the lap was even finished the Ferrari was back. How on Earth did that car all of a sudden recover from that and regain all that ground ahead of everyone else to finish in close 3rd? All of a sudden his breaks become unbelievable and his acceleration more exceptional than it was to begin with? My Bently was tuned and modified by me and before this I was running the A.I. like Lance Armstrong. It absolutely made no sense, the computer was keeping up with me that race for the sake of being able to. Races like this are extremely rare, and I love close races, BUT not when it's close because the game alters its scripts to make it close (like Madden's 3rd quarter comeback alterations back in Madden 01-02)

-Minor: Some wheels can fit on cars they wouldn't ever fit on, for instance, 6 lug cars running 5 lug wheels. Anti-Aliasing doesn't seem to exist in races (I think it's set to 2X however 4X is an optimal goal to remove "jaggies" at 720P in my opinion), however that is more to blame on the console's aging hardware. No ability that I've seen to import music so that I can have both the music in game (that I like) and other songs that I have in mp3 format, the abilty to change your "station" by clicking down a thumb stick or something in endurance races would have been a nice feature to me.

Other than that the game is phenominal and well worth the money I spent. It is however unfortunate that I cannot be like my fellow mates here by giving this a full 5/5 stars, which is as close to perfection as it gets. If you're on the fence about this game, try the demo because it's currently free on the Marketplace. I'm sure you will enjoy it. Feel free to express any thoughts by leaving a comment, liking, or disliking this review.

Cheers, and good racing.

PS I haven't dove strongly into online races yet, but I am apart of a club and have been to the auction house. So far it's looking great, but I won't be able to further dive into it until a later date (responsibilities restrict play time). Lastly, if you owned Forza 3 you will proportionally receive credits and cars depending on your level in that game which is pretty neat.

Best Deals for Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360

Upon receiving this game in the early evening, I decided to install disc 2 and 1 (My xbox is elderly), and download all the included DLC. While doing so I got my kid in bed and got myself a shower. I begin playing the game around 9pm... ...Next thing I know the sun is peaking in through my window. That's right I played this game for somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 hours on my first go, and didn't even realize it! I was just simply focused on racing, and winning, and having the time of my video gaming life! The game really is that awesome!

Now I haven't played GT5 because I don't have a PS3 yet this gen, but I had played every GT game before PS3 and I just have to say, this game is leaps and bounds more fun than any of those games! The sense of speed is spot on! I even noticed myself clenching my butt, and death gripping my controller, as I reached some of the greater speeds in some of the super-cars. That being said this game begs for a driving wheel, my legs would not sit still as I played because the game play has such a degree of realism that it just felt natural for them to be controlling the gas and break. Unfortunately xbox has a very poor selection of race wheels within my budget. This means that I will have to save my money for one of the expensive premium wheels from Fanatec. I have no doubt I will be the most happy with one of their quality wheels in the long run anyway, instead of a cheap MadCatz wheel or used 360 wheel.

The game is huge. Did I mention I played for 10 hours the first night? Well I'm only 1.1% through the World Tour, which is the main career option. I have no doubt that I will still be working on 100% by the time the next generation of consoles hits the shelves. I am also surprised to say that this game WILL be competing for game time with Skyrim (RPGs are my genre of choice and Skyrim is THE RPG), and I have no doubt it will win a lot of the time, the game is that fun!

I also went through and unlocked all of the current Autovista cars which unlocks the Halo Warthog in Autovista, but unfortunately you can't drive it... Yet. Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear gives you his usually humorous overview of each car in the Autovista, and some other British guy gives more detail on areas of the car you explore. Autovista is nice but not really something you will be using all the time, but it is awesome for showing off the amazing visuals to friends.

So to sum this up, if you are thinking of getting this gem of a racer, stop thinking and 'race' to the store and scoop it up! It will NOT disappoint! Plus the first wave of Forza 4 comes with a code to get more DLC cars, and if you can find a Limited Collector's Edition, it comes with even more bonus DLC cars.

Honest reviews on Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360

This game is really just better in pretty much every area than the already great Forza Mostorsport 3. If you like cars, racing games and Top Gear, you should get your hands on one of these. It is worth it.

Also, Rival mode is incredibly addictive. Beware!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Forza Motorsport 4 Limited Edition -Xbox 360

WOW!!! what a great game,so realistic than ever before. CPU are much better now. Online play has more variety. I think they should have put more new cars instead of the old ones we don't drive much. Same goes to the tracks..

Autovista is cool, but only certain cars, wish it was all cars and we can start our own engine up. Overall great game, the limited edition gives me more cars. I LOVE IT!