Buy Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

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List Price: $9.99
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I just got this game and so far I really like it. The graphics are very good, everything so far seems to be destructible. I am running this on a Vista box with 4 GIG of RAM and an nVidia 8800GT 512 graphics card with no issues. I did not have to make any special setting changes to get this to run, just clicked the icon and it booted. The driving, cars, trucks motorcycles etc. seems to be a lot like GTA (Grand Theft Auto). In some parts of the game, you need to go through key sequences to get through a fight, similar to other games, which when it involved hijacking a tank was a bit annoying. But this is an excellent game and I would highly recommend buying it.

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Mercenaries 2 is the kind of mindless action game that is perfect for killing time and that's about it. Its respectable graphics and diverse selection of weapons/vehicles makes the game interesting to play, but the numerous flaws and glitches keep this third-person shooter from being truly interesting. A few of the features and flaws of the game are:

Extremely linear play. Though the various advertisements promise an open world, the "open world missions" tend to be repetitive and generally fall into three categories: base capturing, target destruction/capture, and racing. The base capturing missions run out quickly, leaving players to do the less enjoyable target destruction missions. If you want to do the "cool" missions, you HAVE TO FOLLOW THE STORYLINE. As well, most of the storyline missions have to be completed in a specific way, and that can be EXTREMELY frustrating to players that want a more free-form game.

Poor control via PC. The controls seem to have been intentionally muddled for PC users, as the mouse control is not nearly as smooth as it is in other games. This can be EXTREMELY frustrating until players get used to it.

Large selection of vehicles. There are a lot of different types of vehicles to use, ranging from numerous tanks to multiple helicopters, and even a few different types of boats. Most of these can be stolen on the fly, so if you see one, you can usually take it away and use it with ease.

Near invulnerability. Your mercenary is almost completely invulnerable to one-shot kills (such hits generally knock your health down to 2 instead of killing you). You heal quickly, so running in a zig-zag pattern until you can hide behind a boulder for a few seconds is usually enough to see you through any tight situation. This level of healing generally lends itself to a more-exciting action game, but will disappoint players interested in a realistic mercenary game.

Mercenaries 2 is definitely worth looking into if you want some quick escapist fun, but be prepared to get frustrated with missions on a regular basis (especially if you can't figure out the "gimmick" that will help you win it). I give this game three stars, as it is a decent PC-port of a console game that had its enjoyable moments of play.

Note: Online multiplayer is limited to two total players in any given scenario, and both players are on the same side.

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Okay

If you don't want to read a long review, which this is just notice these highlights. But I recommond reading this, especially part 2.

QUICK SUMMARY:

1. PAY ATTENTION TO THE SPEC REQUIREMENTS

2. You need a STUNNING graphics card.

3. Vista is a pain but doable with this game.

4. It is a great game, good looks, fun and good interface.

5. Good 'bang for your buck'.

6. Seems very bug free.

7. Nice concept.

8. Better than the original.

9. Works better on the PC, ignore reviews about it on the consoles.

10. BUY IT.

PART 1:

So I acquired this game recently (it is brand new after all) but have made enough progress and given it a rigorous enough test to warrant writing a review.

First things first, it is absolutely outstanding in the graphics department. I do mean they are very impressive personally I believe better than Half-Life 2 or anything equivelant. Better than on the consoles of course or anything else. I'm not really on about the faces of the figures etc so much as the shading, flowing enviromentals, dust particles, sky and the stunning water effects. I've played A LOT of these types of games before and this is the first one that looks realistic and doesn't either give me a headache, has glitchse or at some point just looks 'messy' or tiresome. It feels exhilirating to play. (SKIP TO PART 2 OF MY REVIEW FOR INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GRAPHICS CARD STUFF)

The open plan feel of the game is fantastic. You need to get over the first couple of 'missions' before you can start feeling like you have full freedom over your Mercs future. The cutscenes are fantastic, nice voice acting and good looks.

The open battlefield is very enjoyable to play on, as anybody who has played Mercs 1 will know. It feels in my opinion very unique. Few games are 'open destiny' yet have such a focused and enjoyable over all mission plan which can be tackled so individually with a nice number of other things to keep you thinking too, such as faction support or dislike, who you will ally yourself with if indeed at all, financial matters and how all this can and will affect your main goals of the "Deck of 52". The Deck of 52 overarching mission is a great and unique concept. It is as well executed as the original Mercenaries game and the map is even bigger, the scope wider and will take you much longer to complete. This is of course good news, you get more 'bang for your buck' so to speak.

The ability to know swim in water and drive boats is enormously fun and you start out the game driving in one. One aspect I also like about Mercs 2 compared to Mercs 1 is oddly enough I believe the game is easier to see. Mercs 1 was set in Korea and in jungle or dirt terrains. Since the Korean soldiers of all sides mostly fought in brown clothing it could on occassions be very frustrating fighting numberless practically invisible soldiers. The sky was often dark and cloudy and dirty looking, you couldn't swim in water and it was darka nd murky too often leading to frustrating deaths. Also in many respects it is a tired old concept of 'war in asia' for Americans. I suspect three high profile wars, Japan, N/Korea and Vietnam for the Americans in the last 60 years has led to a tired old story and view of that part of the world. It is nice to see an American company come up with a game set somewhere quite different and 'fresh'. I'm a Brit and know very little about South America as a result or anything about Hispanic culture. This makes it exotic and new to me and this is quite exciting. We've all heard about the Asian-American wars and seen the pictures etc but hear little and see little about the troubled areas of South America. The concept behind this choice of area is good too, the fight for oil. This new scenery, terrain, people and culture is a very interesting choice and the game is quite bright and vibrant in places.

The one thing i'm not certain about is the choice of a 'base of operations'. In Mercs 1 there wasn't really a Base of Operations so to speak, not so much, you more or less spent most of your time in the field and based with whichever faction you were with. In this you (SMALL SPOILER HERE...) end up after the opening sequence of events being some sort of giant mansion that belonged to one of the important figures in Venezuela that double crossed you. I wasn't so keen on this to be honest. It seems a bit bizzare and unrealstic. However if you like that kind of thing, you'll like it. It is also a lot more about 'blowing stuff up' than the first Mercs was, not by a long shot mind you, but enough that I prefered at least from what i've played the the more 'shoot' rather than 'blow up' mentality of the original. Having said this, this is a vastly superior game in comparison to Mercs 1.

For starters, the game is for the PC! This was not the case or available in Mercs 1. This makes a great difference, greater use of keys, better accuracy and aiming with the mouse etc. The game feels smoother and the movement and aiming etc is incredible in comparison.

The game suffers from one issue however, only one mind you that the original suffered too. This may be a bit of hint for those who haven't tried this too much but since i'm a natural 'Oh thats a bit hectic... run!' kind of guy I just found this out from my playing style. If you take the time to run like hell from fights, you'll never be short of hiding places to sit and let your health regenerate fully. This can make it sometimes impossible to die. I think the makers expected you to just 'fight'. But hit and run can make this game a bit easy sometimes. That means the hardest missions are the timed ones and the vehicle missions. However if this wasn't the case I guess the game would be too hard. And don't get me wrong, you'll get killed a lot.

I rated this game five stars for fun and overall. I almost never do this. This shows how good the game is I think it really is, in my own opinion, on the PC about as flawless as it gets. It is smooth, stunningly beautiful and amazingly fun. If I were you, yes, you reading this, I would buy it, but make sure you CAN play it properly first. It seems that to play this well you must be in an elite group that possesing high performance graphics cards and PCs in general. Read the Part 2 of this review to see more about this it is vitally important you do.

PART 2:

There is a catch. It comes at a heavy cost, you NEED a very very good graphics card. I wouldn't even recommend the nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, I would recommend the nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (for anyone not tech savvy this doesn't sound like a big difference, but it is) you can buy this graphics card for about $230, that is steep I know BUT worth it and probably necessary. I suspect a lot of you reading this right now will have sinking hearts... don't be too depressed though. I know I shouldn't drop names really but I picked this roughly 230 dollar high performance graphics card up for 140 dollars at Circuit City. That is a steal for what you get. For more information on this read this card and why you really should get it read this

This is on the page with the 8800 GT 512 card. The guide talks you through many from the start for varying prices. Have a read see if you think it may be worth it.

But when the game specs are given, pay attention to them. Okay? Don't look at them and say "well i'm almost there" I did that and it didn't work. I can run Command & Conquer 3, Lego Star Wars 2, Dawn of War Soulstorm etc and many other high spec requirement games. I didn't match their minimum requirements but I could play it. I had 1 GB of RAM and a Geforce 6150 SE nForce 430. I didn't match Mercs 2's requirements and even on the lowest settings possible it jerked so bad I couldn't play in a million years. I had to buy an extra Gig of RAM and the afore mentioned graphics card. With those in place the game played so beautifully I couldn't believe it. I had Vista not XP by the way, if you have Vista like me you do for some stupid reason need more specs. So trust me when I say, this game needs a lot of juice to play. I would recommend finding out if your graphics card can play this game before buying it. If you have the other requirements sorted but are not sure about your card, find out. The number like 5200, 6600, 7100 doesn't mean a whole lot because some are made for games and some not so FIND OUT. Don't just say "hey, I have a 7000 series, so it'll work", phone EA and ask them, they can let you know. Or search the net, I just couldn't find it when I searched but it doesn't mean the info isn't out there.

One more point, since this hasn't been out long support is minimul for this game on the web and EA aren't the most helpful on occassions. So I should mention that if you begin the game (and you have the requirements met) and get odd looking graphics, cross over effects, all white jagged ground or pitch black shadows, just in general it looks messed up go to your .exe launch file (mercenaries2.exe i think) go to properties --> compatibility --> run as xp service pack 2 and check the 'turn off' boxes but don't run it in 268 colours, 640x860 mode etc etc etc. This only applies if you have vista, but don't panic, just do that.

Thats all.

If you can handle all that do it, it is seriously worth it. What a bloody good game.

Honest reviews on Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

The game required you to go online once just a short time nothing like STEAM.

I experienced some audio stuttering during cut scenes. I downloaded a patch but my antivirus program said it was malicious so I didn't install it.

The open world feel was great. It was fun to snatch a vehicle and drive around. Motorcycles, cars, trucks, boats, helicopters, etc.

The interactive environment was fun. You could blow up buildings, flatten shacks with a tank, cut down trees with a heavy machine gun, etc.

The ability to be "in disguise" was a great idea, although it was limited to certain vehicles.

I got hung up on one mission a timed race. After maybe 30 tries I just gave up. Games should always have an "out" that would allow you to fail and still continue. In this case you had to test out an experimental vehicle (and succeed in the allotted time) in order to have the mechanic join your team. It would have been very simple to just allow the player to pay a big bonus to the mechanic to get them to join you in the event that you failed the mission. (100k, 250k, whatever)

For me the biggest negative was the frequent crashes. Combined with the limited saves, that made me give up on the game. I was doing a 3 part mission (destroy 3 separate buildings). I destroyed 2 and was working on the 3rd when the game crashed. When I brought it back up the artillery strikes I had used to destroy the 2 buildings were "gone" but the 3 buildings were all now standing! That was so frustrating that I quit. Sometime I might lower the settings and try it again.

Overall it is a game that has great potential but problems bring it down to an average game for me. The basic theme of the game would have been great if it had been developed as a role playing game instead of a shooter.

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I got it when it came out and played it until I beat it. It was very entertaining but I rarely play it sense I beat it. Lot's of action and Coop play. Very worth the cheap price.

Best Victorious: Time to Shine - Xbox 360 Deals

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List Price: $19.99
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My daughter loves this game, so she says, I think only because "Victorious" is her favorite show. But the game seem to lack energy and not challenging enough. May work for a lot younger kids. My daughter is 5 1/2 and she finds it very easy. She loves to sing so her favorite is the Karaoke.

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If your goal is to give your child a birthday present that leaves her sobbing in frustration, buy her this game. The controls for the game SUCK. As you're selecting an option, you swipe your arm across your body. Well, most of the time it changes what you've selected right as you select it,and then you're forced to re-play a part of the game you've just done, because it has no "back" option once you've selected something. Nearly impossible for kids to navigate on their own, so you end up doing it for them. Also sometimes it just flips around wildly highlighting options for no apparent reason, even when you're holding perfectly still. Damn game is apparently possessed. We love the TV show but the game is impossible to play. My daughter mainly wants to dress up Tori, but in order to do costume changes you have to unlock all the options and guess what is too difficult for a seven year old to unlock? Oh, that's right. Game is practically worthless for kids, but if you're an adult fan of the show and a professional singer/dancer, then you might have fun with this game.

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Bascially the game has no storyline or anything. You dance, sing, play air guitar, and act out certain movements to the songs all played in the show. Everything's repetitive....they just change the songs.

Sing: You just stand there and sing and you can dance (your little avatar person will move with you), but for the most part it's boring.

Dance: The dancing routines are actually good! But there's no practicing them; you just pretty much go with the flow and some moves can actually be hard.

Guitar: You mimic (with air guitar) what the person is doing with their guitar. So in another way like the dancing.

Acting: You just do poses with your body....For ex., Sikowitz (right name?) will tell you to act like a tea pot. So you do. And so on.

You can make a "music video" which is just doing all of this together (singing, dancing, air guitar, and acting) but you can't even watch the video afterwards. So it's kind of pointless.

Overall the game is ok. The graphics look cool and actually look like the students! The voices are actually their voices. You can make your own person and unlock more clothes as you go on, but truthfully I think you will only enjoy this if you like the songs. And since no dance game like Just Dance, Dance Central, etc have Victorious songs I like this game. The music is the only thing keeping me from returning it.

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The kids are having a lot of fun with this one. The graffics are terrific and it's very active. Two can play at the same time which makes it even more fun.

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My daughter is 8 and she loves playing this game. She'll spend hours doing so! Have some issues with the Kinect reacting to the dance moves but probbaly is on our end and now the game. Buy it if you have a young girl in the household

Review of Monster High: Ghoul Spirit

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List Price: $29.99
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This game is really fun my daughter got it last night and really hasn't stopped playing it. They have the real voices from the webisodes on there. There is reading involved, they talk here and there. She says its awesome. Id say for ages 9-15 would be great. If your into monster high than your going to want this game she loves it. Id wish it had better graphics on some of it, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal to her. Over all a good game for the monster high lovers out there.

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My 6 year old loves Monster High. While she is still too young to play, her stepsister, helps her and they love playing it together. Everything is exactly as pictured.

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My 10 year old got the game for her birthday last week and she has been playing it ever since. She says it's so much fun and the characters are just like the website.

Honest reviews on Monster High: Ghoul Spirit

Honestly I have nothing good to say about this game. Unless you're a super hardcore Monster High fan (and I am, but even I found this excruciating to play through) this game is a waste of time and money. The graphics look like they're from at least two console generations ago and the gameplay doesn't make up for it. The game is comprised of a lot of running around interspersed with ridiculously easy and completely uninspired minigames. The minigames are timed to give you a sense of challenge, but they're still too easy to be fun so the whole thing seems pointless. (The only one I had difficulty with was Clawculus, which gets a bit tricky in the later stages but still only takes a few minutes to get the hang of.) The map, while overly simple, still manages to be confusing and is incredibly inaccurately proportioned, and despite the small size of the school, it takes forever to get anywhere because you run so slowly. Overall, you spend a lot of time being both bored and frustrated. The ending to the game is obvious and anticlimactic so it's not even worth playing through for that. Take my advice and leave this one on the shelf and buy something else, because it really feels like something that was rushed out onto the market to cash in on the Halloween season.

Despite what other reviews say, not all of the voices sound like the original, for example Slo-Moe sounds totally different (I mean, really, how hard is it to do a zombie groan? There shouldn't be an obvious difference) which seems like a little thing but grated on my nerves every time I had to talk to him. Some of the dialogue is kind of awkward, for example Holt's lines read more like something Jackson would say. As for Jackson himself, as well as Spectra, Abbey, and Operetta, they have cameos in the game but you can't actually talk or interact with them at all. Instead, they're conveniently placed behind pieces of furniture so you can't reach them, yet you still have friend meters for them which is just confusing and pointless.

Things I personally think would have made this game better:

*Cel-shading rather than the awkward '3D' graphics. The graphics bothered me throughout the whole game, I think cel-shading would have been way cooler.

*The ability to make enemies. I get that this is a kids game, but even Toralei was your friend by the end of the game, and you didn't have a choice in the matter. I mean, really? At least allow me to piss people off and make frienemies. A more flexible friend meter in general would have been great.

*The ability to have a boyfriend, or at least a date for the dance at the end of the game. Even better, allowing me to steal someone else's date, because I totally would have snagged Deuce. Seriously, that's most of the reason why I wanted this game to begin with. Wishful thinking.

*More outfits. There's only two outfits in the game, and then the dress for the dance. For a girl's game, that's kind of sad. I was hoping I'd unlock more outfits, etc as I played, but never did which was annoying as I unlocked alternate outfits for the OTHER characters instead.

*Being able to turn people to stone. I played through as a Gorgon and didn't even get sunglasses, let alone get to turn people to stone. Total disappointment.

*Better minigames. In general.

*The ability to create a character that's not hideous. Seriously, I looked through the character creation and found that the options are both very limited and very ugly. Better graphics probably would have helped. Also being able to choose custom colors on a colorwheel or something would have rocked.

*Cutscenes. I think some video action would have improved the tone of the whole game.

*More replay value. Alternate endings, unlockables, and the ability to make my own decisions that would affect the storyline would have been awesome.

*More content in general. I beat this game in a few hours without even trying.

*A reason to not trade this game in immediately for something that isn't painful to play.

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I am a huge monster high fan, dont get me wrong but I was totaly unimpressed with this game. There was not one good game disciption any where. Not evan the back of the game or their website. It was all planned out for you. You had no options as to what you could do or say while interacting with the other characters. You had to accept every text or you walk around the campus bored and with no one to talk to. There were no option's for your character's clothes eiher. You run all around the school for people when half the time its across the hall. And I only kept playing because I thought I would unlock more content but more never came. The game only took me 2 days to complete and you have to buy their merchandise to unlock codes for more content. They don't mention anything about the codes on the game cover or on their website! The game ended by going to a dance where you don't even spend more than 30 seconds to be crowned scream queen. Your outfit for the dance was disappointing. You don't even get a crown! I was torn as to whether or not to get the game, as you can see I did, but in my opinion don't waste your money.

ULTIMATE 10 Mode Rapid Fire Mod Kit for Xbox 360 Controller Review

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i followed a video and did it the smae exact way as the video and it still didnt work so i dont know what to do

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I am thinking about ordering this as my first modded chip, but would like to know the 10 modes before ordering. someone please help...?

Review of Hail To The Chimp: The Presidential Party Game - Xbox 360

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Hail To The Chimp

FINALLY a good party game to play with my kids/family!

Easy to pick up and play with very simple controls (my wife could actually play it) bright vibrant colors (kids love it) it's a great party game with easy to understand gameplay and easily the funniest game I've played in years.

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I have been quietly anticipating this game for awhile simply because its the first decent party game for Xbox 360. Not a huge Mario Party fan lately since its the same old game over and over. I got this day one and am very happy, especially with the low price tag. :)

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It wasn't what I expected and it's ok, but I rarely play it. I play Lego's and Looney Tunes style games the most. This one is not like those. As a family we don't like games where we compete against each other, only games where we work together.

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The concept, design and theming are great. The intro is funny, lots of little extras.

The problem is that the game is just not very fun. Gameplay is basically a hundred variations on the same goal: get clams.

The complex graphics don't display well on smaller TV's. Sometimes there's so much going-on that you don't really know what to do.

I tried on several occasions to play this game with various friends. Each time, the outcome was the same: boring. After about 10 minutes we switched to something else.

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I was desprite for a party game and came upon this cheesy mess of a game. I was hoping it would be entertaining but it failed in that department with collecting coins for every game. The idea was nice but the follow through was off. I'm not too upset because I bought this game used but it was still a waste of time. Save your time and money... Don't buy this game.

Reviews of Xbox 360 Messenger Kit

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The 360 chatpad is a much-needed relief from the thumbstick method of typing messages on Xbox Live.

I have larger hands, so leaving it attached to the controller doesn't bother me while I play games. If you have smaller hands or the chat pad bothers you while playing, you can simply detach or leave detached until you need it to type.

Since it takes up the space on the controller normally allocated to the Xbox Live headset, MS has included a new headset that works with the chatpad.

I found it very easy to type with the chatpad, and overall I think it is a must-have accessory for anyone with a friends list!

The keys light up for easy use in the dark, and there is a one-press MSN button for those that want to chat in between gaming sessions. MS has really outdone themselves on this one. The 360 chatpad is an exceptional accessory for less than the price of a new game!

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I'd longed for a thumbboard even before I heard this product was in the works. Using the gamepad to enter text is a serious drag, especially for entering prepaid codes. Once MSN Messenger support was added to Xbox Live, I almost considered plugging in a USB keyboard. But there's just something annoying about switching between a gamepad and a keyboard.

The Chatpad does exactly what it's meant to do. If you've used a Sidekick before, the feel of the keyboard should be immediately familiar but with more of a click. It's easy to use, lets you type fairly fast, and has some nice little features, like a backlight and a dedicated Messenger button, which when pressed will pause the game and pull up a small overlay box of your current Messenger conversation.

The included headset seems like a slight improvement over the original and includes the volume/mute control in the middle of the cord. Because of the change in the plug from the original, you can also use the headset with a phone, if you really want.

The only complaints I have:

* The backspace key is placed in a pretty awful position, to the right of the space bar. That takes some getting used to.

* Occasionally, you might type too fast, and rather than a delay before your typing shows up, characters are simply dropped. Hopefully, that's just a software bug that will be fixed soon.

Overall, this is a good buy if you don't like using a USB keyboard and especially if you are a Messenger user.

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This little gem is a welcome addition for any gamer that travels and likes to be able to game on a friend's console.

Recovering your gamertag can be a lengthy and frustrating process, mainly because you've got to type in various bits of information to verify the account. I've been the victim of having to do this up to 4 times in a row, hunting for letters and twitching the thumbstick to enter the characters; what a pain!

Yes, you can plug in a USB keyboard, but who really wants to wrestle with one of those? Sitting 3 feet from your console is so 1985.

The Chatpad takes care of that mess quite nicely with satisfyingly clicky key action and fairly accurate recognition on screen. One thing I did have to get used to is that you do not hear a tone when typing in the first capitalised letter in a sentence or word. I type relatively fast, but I've had no problems with the Chatpad or console keeping up with me. Once you get accustomed to the slightly different "shift" buttons (orange and green) to use for characters other than digits and basic letters, you'll find it hard to remember what you ever did before you got your hands on this attachment. No pun intended.

Another little perk is the ready-to-chat MSN Messenger button. It was a bit of a no-brainer since Live players all have Windows Live IDs. I've been able to chat with friends on both the 360 as well as those on the PC without any problem. Again...no USB keyboard hunching or hunting and pecking with the thumbstick or D-pad. Yay!

And lastly, even though I've relatively small hands for a woman, I've had no difficulty with the Chatpad making the controller too bulky or awkward to grip. I haven't made any mistaken key presses or have had the attachment get in the way while gaming.

Really, the only thing I'd like to see by way of new developments for this product is a black version to match my Elite controllers. Black and white might be fashionable in other arenas, but somehow it just doesn't work in this case.

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Own a 360? You need this pad, you don't know it, but you do =). The pad can be bought in a few different ways be it on its own or bundled I think with a XBox Live Gold membership.

The pad snaps itself snaps in to your 360 controller plugging into your headset port and also the back/bottom two holes of your controller. It can be a bit of a pain to line up the messenger pads input and you have to press kinda hard for it to snap in but at least then you know it's not going anywhere :P. A headset jack at the bottom of the pad means you'll still be able to use your headset with the messenger pad.

As I've owned this for years now and have had it attached while playing all sorts of games (fps, rpg etc.) you really don't even know it's there. But when you have to type in a name, or you just want to write out a quick response to a buddy online it makes it soooooo much easier to do so! Gone are the days of hunting and pecking for the right letters and symbols using the analog stick =). Another bonus is if you bring your controller to a friends' house and need to recover your gamertag on your friends 360, you won't be spelling out your password on the screen for all to see, instead you just type it on the pad and no one's the wiser =).

Looking at this initially in the store I really didn't think I'd need one of these but once you use one you'll wonder just how you survived so long without one.

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I love the tactile feel and backlighting on this keypad and recommend it heartily. The only problem I have with it is if you are wanting to use a different headset (I have the turtle beach 5.1 surround with mic) the connection is not the standard one you'll find on the controllers... so they won't just plug in. I ended up having to splice the new (included) headset's cable onto my old headsets' cable. A hack job but it worked. But really, this should have been taken care of in the initial design. =/

Reviews of Score International: BAJA 1000 - Xbox 360

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I bought this game because I didnt think that SCORE would endorse garbage...But they did. This game is filled with logical hang ups that ruin any amount of fun you might otherwise have. The tracks are almost identical and the AI is so aggressive it hurts. I am more of a Sim-Racer type and this is one of the worst overall games I have ever seen for the 360! Look closely at Baja-Edge of Control, It is what you should expect for a Baja Experience!

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I didn't really like this game as it is too simplified and very animated, slow vehicles, etc, for my age. This would be an excellent game for those of age 13 and under as they would really like this.

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Not too hard for "old" gamers, but still a lot of fun for younger ones. We play this game as a family, and truly enjoy it!

Honest reviews on Score International: BAJA 1000 - Xbox 360

my five year old son and myself just got our 360, and I was looking at several racing games. I chose this one. I was impressed! The graphics are very good, and the controls are for the most part good. We have had fun trying to unlock the other cars and levels. I have not played a ton of racing games, but well...I recommend this one!

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I searched around the internet looking for the best deal on this game for a couple of days. Im happy to say the best deal was RIGHT HERE ON AMAZON! This saved me alot of money. The game was 39.99+tax at best buy and can you believe it? Ebay was HIGHER than amazon. The best thing about it is it was BRAND NEW on here and it was used on ebay.

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Customer Ratings:

excellent price. compares to walmart. my son is ecstatic when i buy these....can use for his live subscription, to buy games or maps, etc...

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just like the standard xbox live 13 month card, but halo themed

it's a great fun way to network w/your friends and other gamers for co-op teamwork or all out competition.

some think it's too expensive, however compare to the fun and expensive world of warcraft $30 for 2 months to play one $20 game!

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They show the Halo collector card and say its a Halo3 card but it is a normal 13 month 360 Live card. I complained and they would have refunded the money if I returned it. It's still a good deal just don't expect to get the collectors card.

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The deal with Amazon was a good one for my son. We loves playing with people on line with the 12 months plus one card. He plays once or twice a week usually with this friends from school.

Discount Assassins Creed III GameStop Edition

Customer Ratings:

Got a used product but works great and is in like new condition like mentioned. Only thing is it didn't come with the steelbook but it was a good thing I didn't mind because I was actually trying to find one for this price just didn't really think I wanted the steelbook but it ended up not coming with one. so if you think you do want the steelbook I not sure this is the legit one to get that unless it was unused.

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This was a fun game we got it in a timly matter. And once we passed it we kept playing it is a very fun game

Buy Gun - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

That basically sums up this unrequited gem from the dawn of the 360. After picking this up for just over ten dollars, I was pleasantly surprised to find its incredibly fun. Granted, I played this on easy, for when I see a listing of easy, normal, hard, and insane, I read rather no frustration, some frustration, frustration, and homicidal rage primer. Even on easy this managed to be challenging at points.

You play Cole, a hunter by trade. After your father and you drop off your latest chops to a steamboat, the boat is ambushed by a fake preacher and a detachment of confederate holdouts. After your father is killed, you run to Dodge City at his instruction, carrying a silver token that earns you a deathmark. The story follows like a fairly decent western as you try to unravel your fathers history and the plot of a rogue confederate general.

Along the way, you play cards, hunt wild game, scalp bandits(or innocents), chase down outlaws, and serve as a dodge city deputy. All of these serve to increase stats and supply you with cash for gun upgrades and other improvements. Combat is incredibly fast, and while you can easily be overwhelmed by the materialization of a dozen brigands, your matrix like quick draw powers can easily even the score, and the mechanic is theatrical enough to not ever lose its charm. Sneaking and other non-combat mechanics are rather lame and overly useless, but you'll not really notice. Voices and characters are detailed and engaging, and several voices are perfect for there parts, and despite the main character failing to impersonate Roland Deschain or Clint Eastwood, you'll find yourself rooting for him all the same.

Not much replay value, unless you're a diehard gamerpointer and enjoy frustration, but its a fun experience, an easy 900-ish gamer points, and a story that'll make you smile.

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Loved this game, people say its short but thats because there is no filler. Th story moves along at a good pace. Alot of really good gaming moments in this. Also not that it is a big deal, but the voice acting is superb. It helps the story so much. I love this game and I can see me playing it again. I can play good games over and over, with maybe a small break. Ths is one of my favorite games on the 360. Such great style. Musc = very good, voice acting = never seen better in a game, Gunplay = entertaining.

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If you like borderlands or red dead redemption I recommend this game highly, quick game but its lots of fun.

Honest reviews on Gun - Xbox 360

I played Gun years ago on ps2 and it was one of my favorite titles on that console. A lot has changed in the gaming world since Gun was released in 2005, however this game is still on my personal top 5 list of Xbox 360 games out there. Gun is very deep and has a great story line. It also offers a lot of extra features like side missions, etc. I still have just as much fun playing Gun as I do playing Red Dead Redemption. You will not be disappointed with this game.

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Classic shooter set in the wild west. You will see better games but for its day it is the top.

complexity 3/5

graphics 4/5

bots 2/5

gameplay 4/5

story 3/5

overall 4.5/5

age: 10+

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Customer Ratings:
List Price: $229.99
Sale Price: $109.99
Today's Bonus: 52% Off

I purchased this controller for my sons birthday,he's been wanting a modded controller for a year now,out of all his birthday gifts this was his favorite hands dowm,thanks geniusmods360 and amazon.

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The only game I play with this controller is Black Ops 2, and only in multi-player mode, so please keep that in mind and don't read any further if you're curious about how it works in the other games it supports or even in the original Black Ops as I do not play those and won't be making any further reference to them. There's an important tip specific to BO2 and rapid fire further down too so you may want to scan for that if you already have the controller and have found it not working quite as good as you expected.

I'm also going to be comparing this to another controller I have, the Scuf Gaming 'animal' controller. The Scuf is not a modded controller from a functionality perspective, but it is modded in that it has alternate locations for some buttons; i.e. it will not give you rapid fire or drop shot or any of that stuff but will let you have more than the standard Xbox 360 controller buttons.

So, getting started, this controller from Geniusmods has their 'master mod' setup which is a lot better than their older controllers. I believe only two or three have the master mod as of summer 2013 so you may want to be careful what you purchase in case you want some of the master mod features. Their website makes no mention of which ones have master mod and which do not, I had to email them to find out which had it and they sent me this and one other.

Master mod has the ability to do jump shot in addition to drop shot while many of the older controllers only have drop shot. Most of the time jump shot seems like something you'd never want to use but I've found it can be useful in the BO2 'gun game' or my runaround knife class where you may not be playing a typical game style and jumping would be more likely to help you out than dropping.

Master mod can do drop shot in either tactical or standard controller modes; the older ones can't. It also has sub-modes on the drop shot while the older ones only have one mode, drop/stand automatically any time the trigger is pressed and released.

I like to run tactical but their older mods had the drop shot functionality locked to the B button, which in my case is melee, so every time I'd shoot, the controller would try to stab. This controller fixes that issue. Regarding the sub-modes, it adds four drop shot sub-modes where the default is drop while shooting and stand when not, same thing but only if you're aiming down the sites, drop but don't stand, and drop but don't stand if aiming down the sites. I found the drop/stand while not aiming down the sites very useful if I'm using a scope on my FAL because most likely I'm stationary somewhere if I'm aiming down the sites, and don't want to drop, while if I'm running around and not aimed down the sites I do want to drop.

Master mod can lock the triggers for dual wield mode if you want both to fire. It can also do rapid fire on both triggers for dual-wield of semi-auto pistols.

It has burst fire that will give you higher accuracy of non-burst rifles; i.e. just shoot a full auto a few shots, then repeat, rather than just full on firing. This is useful for people who don't require full-auto and want higher accuracy while using full auto weapons.

I saw someone else's review that mentioned it being larger than a stock 360 controller as if it were some custom made piece. It's not, it's the same size plus whatever thickness the cover material is, which is not significant enough for it to matter. Takes the same batteries, uses the same connectors, so on and so forth because it is the same controller, but modded.

If you play Black Ops 2 and like either the FAL or SMR assault rifles, you will probably love this controller. Is it cheating? Yes. So you decide if you want to or not. Currently the game doesn't detect/disable this controller from doing what it does. The rifle rapid fire mode will let you use the FAL or SMR at a faster rate than the 'select fire' option gives you, much faster, so basically you're getting an improved version of select fire AND you're not wasting one of your slots on it that you can then use for different attachments, more perks, etc.

If you like any of the semi-auto pistols, it's awesome for those as well. However, there's one complaint there. You will probably not want to use a semi-auto rifle and pistol class in the same game. The problem is that there are two different rapid fire speeds that are meant specifically for Black Ops 2 pistols and rifles. So, if you have your rapid fire set to the rifle rate, it doesn't work well on pistols, and vice versa; so carry an auto pistol with your semi-auto rifle or semi-auto pistol with your auto rifle. Why can't you just change rates? Well doing so requires holding the mod button for 3+ seconds to switch speeds, and going back the other direction requires holding the trigger plus mod button for 3+ seconds, so it's not easy to do mid-game unless you're camping somewhere, and don't mind firing when trying to set it back to the previous rate.

Now, the important tip about rapid fire mode. It is very easy to overlook the fact that in the manual, it describes rapid fire mode 1 as for MW2, MW3 and Black Ops rifles. It is very very easy to overlook the fact that rapid fire mode 3 is for Black Ops 2 rifles. Huge difference. If you mistakenly use the Black Ops rifle mode, you'll randomly run into issues where the gun stutters upon the initial firing and you'll probably end up dead. What I mean is I'll start to fire and there will be some glitch between the speed at which it's trying to fire and the game and the first few shots will have long pauses before it kicks in to proper firing speed. As long as you make sure to use rapid fire mode 3, for Black Ops 2, it will work great with not only the FAL and SMR, but I've found that it works pretty well with the three burst rifles as well (Chicom, M8A1, SWAT-556), firing their bursts as fast as you could pull the trigger so might as well use it and just hold down.

Second tip. You can go back to a previous rapid fire mode by holding the trigger and mod button. So, if you play Black Ops 2, set it to rapid fire mode 3, and then you can easily step back to mode 2 for pistols, and forward for rifles.

Jitter fire is a mode it offers designed to fire quicker for all weapons. In reality I've found it does not work well at all for me in Black Ops 2; have not tried it with anything else. I've tried to use it on the M8A1 and SWAT-556 burst assault rifles, along with the full auto pistol, but it's pretty buggy; i.e. it manages to make the gun jump all around and can exhaust your whole magazine in a second or two so you'll end up out of bullets with hardly any put in your target, which means if you encounter multiple bad guys you're going to die.

Now, the comparison. I also have a Scuf Gaming 'animal' controller which I find myself alternating with this one. I find that when I run around, I prefer the Scuf, and when I tend to stay more stationary and shoot people from medium range with a FAL or SMR, I'll use this one. The reason is rapid fire on the Geniusmods controller means I save a slot when I'm using FAL or SMR, but I don't tend to run around as much with those weapons. If I'm running around, there's a much higher chance that I'll want to jump and stab, and although I like drop shot, I prefer being able to quickly jump or stab. What the Scuf controller gets me that the Geniusmods controller does not is two (or four in the case of the 'animal') paddles on the back of the controller under your fingers that you can use without having to take your thumbs off the sticks. So I run tactical setup on my Scuf and as I'm running, I can jump, aim and shoot without any thumbs or fingers coming off their default stick/button. I can also run tactical mode and stab using my index finger paddle instead of needing the B button. The inner paddles, which are harder to reach, I have set to swap weapons and sprint, so again, without having to move my thumbs, I can switch to pistol while in the middle of a fight or easily keep running without having to push on the stick.

So, if you only have the money for one controller, you may want to consider those options. Scuf with the under-side paddles and trigger stops if you run around a lot and want to easily jump and stab (or whatever you map the paddles to since you can customize it when you order), or Geniusmods if you like the idea of having a much faster version of select fire without even needing it, AND drop shot, etc.

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Hi, this control to Xbox, is superior, I like the shutter speed and the ability to shoot in bursts, the reload speed is very good, in general all the arrangements to have work very well. Thank you.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CIGHZQG/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

Honest reviews on Quickscope, Jump Shot, Drop shot, Auto-aim, Battlefield

We are a family of gamers, and this is one of the mods we recently purchased. This modded controller has some other features that our other ones don't. This is the highest upgradable controller available from Geniusmods and let me say it has TONS of mods.

Every controller we have gotten from Genusmods has been exceptional. Very professional product. Comes in a Genusmods package similar to the OEM controllers, not in a bubble mailer like other sellers have sold us controllers in. The instruction manual is an actual color booklet printing on nice paper, not just some word document someone printed on an inkjet printer.

So anyway, we normally like the rapid fire and drop shot features the best. They work EXCELLENT in Call of Duty Black Ops 2. This controller has some other useful features too though, like quickscope and jumpshot. I'm not much of a sniper, but the quickscope function is useful. Because of it, I may start sniping more often.

We do not play Battlefield or Gears of War so we did not test those functions, but the fast reload in Call of Duty definitely works. It is a bit tough to set up, because you have to first set it by timing it which can be tough, but once you get it you can see that it does work. Not exactly sure how effective it is, but it looks like it shaves some time off your reload. Just gotta get used to it I guess.

The zombies shell looks great, love the black buttons and red LED lights. Compliments the controller nicely, and the print on the controller is great quality. The print on the controller is professional and I have no idea how they made it but it is great.

HIGHLY recommended.

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I mostly use rapid fire for black ops 2 online multiplayer and zombies. It is very easy to use and the instructions are very simple. I also was very shocked that this controller was shipped very fast an delivered so quickly to me. I give Genius mods two thumbs up you guys know what gamers want. Yes I would recommend this product to a friend.

Best Saint Seiya Sanctuary Battle (Playstation 3) Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $159.99
Sale Price: $41.99
Today's Bonus: 74% Off

If you loved this series growing up, You'll love the game, tons of time to power-up your character, easy and amazing gameplay, one hell of a game for the PS3!!!!

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I grew up in Europe being a fan of the series in the late 80's / early 90's would still catch episodes when i can. i have always wished for this game and it was finally a reality. Being able to play with beautifully rendered childhood heroes is priceless...

yes the game can be repetitive but true fans will never get enough using their special moves and exploding their cosmos! i have already spend some 30 hours on it in the first 2 weeks.

The soundtrack is Japanese and adds to the realism of this game. there are subtitles and menus are in English.

a must must have for fans of the series.

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Got this for my boyfriend who grew up watching the series. He loves it, it's an instant classic if you love Saint Seiya. Beautiful to watch.

Honest reviews on Saint Seiya Sanctuary Battle (Playstation 3)

Got this for my fiancé. And he loves it. Got here in great time and good price too. He can't stop playing and I think he already finished and is now playing the other parts within the game. It's pretty fun.

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If you grew up watching this show as a kid like myself you will love this game. It has tons of replay values with power ups and a mission mode where you can play as individual characters. It plays on PS3 consoles for the U.S grab it dude!

Best All Star Baseball 2003 Deals

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List Price: $24.95
Sale Price: $14.99
Today's Bonus: 40% Off

After being severely disappointed in World Series Baseball on the Dreamcast, I was pretty reluctant to shell out fifty bucks for the first generation of baseball games on the Xbox. If this describes how any of you are feeling, disregard it and buy this game ASAP.

All I can say is that ASB 2003 is the most realistic baseball game I have ever played on any system. Having played baseball all the way up to the Division I college level, I was always upset with the realism in most games. Games with 4 or 5 home runs every inning just don't happen!

First off, the batting interface is going to frustrate a lot of people, and you should be prepared for a lot of early strikeouts. If you want the arcade-style game where every hit is a monster home run, don't bother picking this one up. But, simply put, you're not supposed to know what pitch the pitcher is throwing, it kind of takes all the sport out of it. The addition of the easy batting feature is a nice way to get the timing down, but the game really rewards you when you turn it off. Trying to guess the pitches and their locations is exactly what you would do in a real game and it's about time it became such an integral part of a video game.

On the defensive side, the pitcher really has to move pitches around the strike zone to do well. You can't just blow everyone away with the fastball. Plus, I noticed that the strike zone isn't always the same....some umps call the outside corner a lot more, just like they do for Tom Glavine in the real world.

Fielding is excellent this time out, and it's a quantum leap ahead of the World Series Baseball franchise, though you can choose auto-fielding if you want. The assisted fielding option is another good starter method until you get used to the control scheme.

All in all, I see no reason not to give this game 5 stars. Granted, there are some AI issues (The computer has baserunning problems from time to time, and there are NO pickoff attempts by the computer on the easy difficulty levels), but they really don't affect the gameplay all that much. And, the gameplay is, in my mind, the true mark of whether or not a sports game is "good". Add that to the sheer beauty and realism of the player and stadium models, and you get one heck of a baseball game....at least until World Series Baseball comes out in May.

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I've owned the All-Star Baseball series since it first came out for the N64. I've continued to buy the new games and have loved it year after year. When I bought and X-Box, my first choice for a baseball game to buy was naturally All-Star Baseball 2003. The graphics were outstanding. Flawless fields and player models. The backgrounds and crowd were just mediocore though. Gameplay is overall pretty smooth, but there are several glitches. For instince, I hit a ball over the wall and it soared far over the OF's glove for a CATCH! And another time I slid into third base and was called out even though the 3B never even attempted to put a tag down. Expansion and franchise modes will keep you busy for hours. You will probably find yourself playing these modes more than any of the others. The developers focused this game mainly on franchise mode and didn't spend enough time on it's exhibition mode. You can't set the number of innings and you can't save exhibition rosters. It's create-a-player mode isn't available in exhibition mode and even in Franchise mode there are only 4 TOTAL faces to choose from for your player (no Latino or Japaneese). Little things like that can just ruin a great game. This a a game you should rent before you buy, even if you are a hardcore baseball gaming fan.

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This is a pretty good baseball release from Acclaim. Not as good as World Series Baseball 2K2 for Dreamcast. If you're on

a budget, I might advise waiting until a few more games get released to see which one is the best.

Pros

1. Good, but not great, graphics.

2. Nice franchise mode, even has an expansion alternative. Imagine the New Orleans Midnight playing in the Louisiana Superdome?

3. Keeps track of stats & generates end of season awards.

4. Fielder mobility and control is good.

5. Pitching control is good. You've got a good chance to get guys out if you mix up your pitches and locations.

Cons

1. Fielders make a lot more errors than in actual MLB games.

2. Hitting can be tricky. The cursor just doesn't move as

quickly as it needs to.

3. Franchise mode has a salary cap in points rather than dollars. Additionally, negotiating with a player doesn't happen it's take it or leave it.

4. There's a distinct lack of control when a game is just starting. There may be a way to change the lineup & pitcher, however in a week of playing...I still haven't figured it out!

Again, this is a pretty good game. I've had it for a week and I'm still not bored. However, this one clearly would have benefitted from a little more testing.

Honest reviews on All Star Baseball 2003

Graphics are pretty good. There are some artifacts, but I am on a 53" TV. Some of the artifacts are things like the players holding the ball on the outside of their glove when picking up a grounder or the detail image of the ball leaving the players hand is static, not dependent on where the player throws the ball. Even with these shortcomings, the graphics are nice. Some of the faces on the players look life-like. Jason Giambi (in NYY penstripes) looks great. The crowds have been scanned in also. So although I hate to see people sitting in the stands wearing Braves hats (especially when my Astros are playing someone like the Cubs, who would be wearing a Braves cap at that game?) at least Acclaim went far enough to make it look more real. Compared to the baseball games I have seen on the PS2 this is a superior graphic version.

Game play is pretty good. The controls are intuitive and offer a good range of play. You can know very little and still play a game with little effort. As you play more, you learn the finer points of drag bunts, widening lead-offs for runners, and superior batting. This game is not like most other console baseball games I have played meaning it's no homerun fever. I am pretty impressed with the pitching mechanics: choosing pitches and controlling them without the knowledge of the other player is a key to low scoring and good games (it's called "tension" Triple Play programmers please take note!) Acclaim's mechanics in this area are great; choose the pitch type and pick a location. During the windup you can then move the pitch in the zone via "ghost" mode: you can't see where you are exactly moving it, but neither can the batter. To give the pitcher a little more knowledge of how much he has moved the pitch, Acclaim has defaulted the vibration in the control pad to on. As you move the pitch out of the zone, the vibration increases; move it back in the zone it disappears. Greater distance outside the zone is a greater vibration. You can turn this feature off, but why? Set the pitch up way inside (vibration begins) and as you windup, move it a little into the zone (where the vibration suddenly stops.) Great idea, great execution. Batting is good too. The batters can "guess" what the pitcher is going to throw and if correct and if making contact, then the batter really gets a great hit. Guess wrong but hit the ball and you get things like broken bat singles (yes, the bat breaks and ball and bat are in play,) pop-ups and dribblers. You can also ignore guessing the pitch and focus on just hitting. You can control the angle of the bat: thus if you want a pop fly you can control that easily by pitching the bat angle. Need a grounder, pitch the bat the other way. This can help when you want a sacrifice fly to score a guy from 3rd or want to hit a screaming line drive down the 3rd base path. You also, as a batter, have two types of batting zones: a larger zone that encompasses the whole batting surface of the bat and a "sweet-spot" zone, which is smaller. Making contact in the sweet spot will generally produce a base hit; so with the stronger batters, like Helton, you might fly it out and with finesse batter like Ichiro, you might produce a line drive single. Controlling the players in the field is not yet my best skill; fortunately for me, ASB 2003 allows you to turn on some computer help. This puts the guys into general motion during a hit and allows a little easier novice play. There are also some cool features in controlling the players in the field: using the triggers will allow you to move both the infield and outfield to play depths. Have a guy on first? Move the infield to double play depth. Jeff bagwell up? Put on the "Bagwell Shift" and move the infield and outfield to an extreme right field shade. Barry Bonds up? Move those outfielders to deep, deep positions. You can adjust all this on the fly and it works well.

Outside of game play there are some pretty cool features in the ASB 2003. You can play Quick games, Exhibition games, and League games. There is also a batting practice session. During BP you can choose a left-handed batter who only throws four-seam fastballs, or you can choose a right-handed knuckballer. The choices are pretty deep in this area. You can also play Home Run Derby. Now here is the kicker: you can choose players from the "Legends of Cooperstown" collection. That means you could have Ernie Banks, Reggie Jackson, or Nolan Ryan on your side. Wow! I played Home Run derby last night and my national league team was as follows: Jeff Bagwell (Astro,) Lance Berkman (Astro,) Moises Alou (former Astro, now Cub,) and Joe Morgan (former Astro inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Red.) Joe Morgan is huge...and looks menacing. Acclaim has also taken a cue to put "players cards" into this game. As you accomplish stuff on the field you can earn points: retire the side and earn a single point (so unless you quit, you will eventually get a point each inning as you finish getting the other team out.) Retire the side with all strikeouts and get 5 points. Etc. These points accumulate and you can buy packs of Donnerus cards: each pack has 6 cards. You can trade them too, so I assume if you have a memory pack you could take them to other geeks' houses and trade away.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good game. I think I am going to get a lot of play out of it and at ... for ASB 2003, that's what you want.

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...Isn't that the best way to play multiplayer, so the other person can't see where your throwing the ball. It is also great that you are not always hitting cheap home runs.The hard batting system makes hitting a challenge just like in the big leagues.Who wants to hit a homer every at bat? how realistic is that.If you like home runs go to a home run derby.

I especially like the fact that there are broken bats in this game for the first time ever that I have seen. It just adds to the fantastic realism of this game.

I have heard people complaining about how the umpire does not shout out "strikes" or "balls". For one thing if you've ever been to a real baseball game the umpire does not shout out "ball". About the strikes I'm just not sure what could have happened.

Aside from that last fact if you buy this game you will be able to continually play unlike one reviewer said. This is a game with major league graphics and great fun with "hard to use at first controls".Overall this is a game that Acclaim may have hit a home run with.