Review of Chulip - PlayStation 2

Customer Ratings:

Chulip is a very interesting game. It's a completely different concept than anything else I've EVER played before, but in a good way. You play as a boy trying to win the girl of his dreams. Earning the trust of the locals means kissing them, and that's a lot of the game.

Positives of the game include that the overall feel of the game is a nice one, and the graphics, though not utterly amazing and realistic, fit the game to a T. The characters are all a little on the weird side, but that's one of the reasons that the game is funny. Earning some of the kisses require you to do odd things, like play on the (very dangerous, as the sign says) playground equipment in the park, riding to all of the train stations, and running out of the bath-house without your clothes on.

A definite con, if you ask me, is that when you're out past curfew (in the town only) and get caught, you are shot and it's game over. However, some of the kisses require you to go out at night, so it adds a little more challenge to the game. Also, because the main character is so poor, it's a little hard to maintain and earn money in the game. Your main source of income is digging in trashcans, where you can find many things from sweet potatoes to poo (which has value in Chulip, oddly enough).

All in all, it's a great game, and I would easily recommend it. Though it's not too bad, you might want to pay attention to the fact that it's "T" for "Teen"

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The concept of Chulip is not to beat your enemies up to a pulp, but to simply kiss them. Yes, kiss them. That is what I love the most about this game: It's very innocent and yet also probably one of the most challenging games I've ever played. This game proves that it's not easy to kiss someone. This game will definitely have you addicted. I bought this on a whim because it was so cheap and I've never regretted it ever since.

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I really love this game. It is by far the weirdest game I have ever played (and I have played a lot of games!). I mean it, every time I describe this game to someone, they look at me with one eyebrow raised and say "no, you're just kidding." They can never believe that this game is just THAT weird.

**Sorta SPOILER ALERT!!** ("Sorta" because these are things you find out very very soon after starting the game)

Okay, so you go around kissing everyone. And I mean *everyone!!* This includes a lion statue, a dinosaur, and a lady with an onion for a head. In order to complete the game, you truly need to kiss everyone.

You go around streaking, smoke cigarettes (this kid is 13), and disobey the town's curfew. Oh, and if you get caught after curfew by the cop, he shoots you. And I don't mean like a warning shot because he is surprised, he aims at you until you die.

The playground tries to kill you, too.

Also, at night, be careful of the demon doctor. He has a massive needle with him and goes around trying to take all of your blood.

Basically, everything in this game is out to get you (everything!!).

**END OF SPOILERS**

This game is wonderful. It is the most unique, interesting, and creative game ever. The sound effects are infectious, and they're so amusing and strange. They fit perfectly. The game teaches you very clearly how to play the game, but the "puzzles" are quite complex and difficult to figure out. I would've lowered this game's score for this (it is insane how obscure the puzzles are, and it's just a guessing game) if the instruction booklet didn't come with every single answer in it. I have used it quite a lot, and it has everything. This includes every map and secret in the entire game. I assume they knew how complicated this game was, and that they would drive a lot of people to insanity if they did not provide a cheat sheet.

The only reason I took one star off of this score is because there is only one thing to do. It takes a very long time to complete, but it gets a tad repetitive after a while.

All in all, this game is a true gem and I recommend it highly to true video game fans. If you like some games, but are picky, then I strongly suggest you look at something less unusual.

Honest reviews on Chulip - PlayStation 2

It's straight outta Japan, so it's kinda freaky plot-wise. You and your dad move to some town where you are expected to kiss a bunch of people to build your reputation. Strange, but it's fun to play to get a few laughs with a some friends if you have nothing better to do.

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Came sealed just as I ordered it. It was for a friend though, so I can speak to the quality of the game itself.

Reviews of Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w/ 3.5g Arctic

Customer Ratings:

I began having the symptoms of the RROD on my March 2007 Xbox console with GPU Rhea. It first shut down with an E74 error. Then started randomly freezing. Then colors started showing and graphical glitches started appearing. It was apparent my GPU was overheating. Then my console RROD once, but after cooling worked fine.

So I ordered this kit. Took about 1 week to arrive. Cam in a small manilla envelope and the parts were in small plastic bags. Came with "generic" cleaner and purifier that smelled a lot like lemon juice, much like you clean stainless steel grills off with. The cleaner bottle came with the sides squeezed in. No liquid escaped though. The kit included a website that you navigate to to get to the instruction PDF. The book wasn't as detailed as expected and some things you would have to imagine such as prying the X-Clamp off.

I have had previous knowledge on installing parts on and disassembling the Xbox 360. Following the instructions, it took about 25-30 minutes to install this kit. the T8 screwdriver was a bit small. Seemed like a T7 and could have caused stripping of the screws if you dont have an regular sized screwdriver.

As stated in a previous review, the screws attach through the motherboard and not the metal casing. The screws slightly raise the motherboard up causing you to tighten down the metal casing screws causing potential bowing. Also uses the overheating method to the GPU, which is potentially hazardous.

Console works like a charm for now. Will attempt to update if problems arise. I assume the last reviews haven't had issues, I shouldn't.

The Low Down: Pros$20 for a $200 system repair.

All tools included needed. No soldering, no hardware mod.

Includes Arctic Silver 5, an amazing heat dissapating compound I use on my Intel Core i7.

ConsCauses bowing in the motherboard

Instructions needs internet and are at times unclear.

Uses overheating method which may cause worse problems.

4/5 Rating, Recommended.

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Took a little bit longer than they say, but I was more careful than most. Directions are good and easy to follow, but just a tip for some extra help search what your trying to do on Youtube for a visual of the process. My Xbox was just over 3 years old(barely out of the warranty) and it red ringed. I plan on buying a better fan and possibly a core cooler to keep it longer. Great fix, I will update if anything happens again in the near future..... I hope it doesn't.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w/ 3.5g Arctic

I ordered this kit, because I had a xbox 360 that would turn on fine, but would freeze after 10-20 seconds or when I inserted a disc. I wasn't sure if this product was the solution for this problem, since I didn't have the 3 red lights, but I figured it was worth a shot. I just finished fixing my xbox 360, following the instructions provided (the kit comes with url's for two pdf files that contain the steps for fixing the system). It took me about 1.5-2.0 hours from start to finish (I was taking my time on certain steps), I fired up the system and it was working beautifully. I tested the system for a little bit before I completely reassembled the console. The temperature radiating from the heatsink was very much reduced. I reassembled the system completely and started it up once more, it seems to be working great. I will put the system through more rigorous tests, but I seriously doubt there will be any over-heating issues.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w/ 3.5g Arctic

so this kits works for sure, however it comes with 8 bolts, when you put motherboard back into case the 8 new bolts line up perfectly with the 8 mini black torx screws and the torx actually go into the head of the new bolts. When this happens it makes it so that you cannot take apart your xbox easily the next time. I had to drill out all 8 torx screws to fix this problem. I suggest not using the 8 black torx screws and drilling out the old holes for them to allow the new bolts to slide further down in the metal case which will allow the motherboard to sit in a more natural position.

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i bought this on christmas when my xbox pooped out on me.

took about 4 days to get the package. at first i did everything it said and i still got rrod, then overheated it and tightend the screws as hard as i could as it recommended, and bingo, all 4 green lights.

played a couple rounds of modern warfare 2, no jumps or freezes, i highly recommend this as a first resort!!!!

Reviews of The Price is Right - Nintendo Wii

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $25.49
Today's Bonus: 15% Off

I've been watching The Price Is Right for over 25 years now, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out there was finally going to be a video game adaptation coming out. This game does not disappoint at all, however there are a few things I think could be improved upon.

As other reviews have stated, this game is extremely easy to play and fun for almost everyone. For years I'd sit there and rip apart dumb bidders on the show. Well now I'M the dumb bidder. It's hilarious how I really don't know how much anything costs. The realism of contestant's row is great. I bid $290 on something, and the old lady character next to me went and bid $291 and won just like the show! You're bidding on REAL name brand items. An actual video from a Price Is Right episode plays and you hear the description pretty much as it aired on the show. It's really great. My only complaint here is that the picture for this is pretty small and sometimes you can't really make out what the item looks like.

The pricing games that I've played so far have been a blast. One glitch I noticed on Cliffhangers though, the item I was guessing the price on was Citrical, however the text description of it said it was Ragu spaghetti sauce. Another very minor gripe I have with the pricing games so far is that many times the prize is just some amount of cash, whereas on the actual show, the prize is usually a car or furniture or something else. Does this make the game less fun? Absolutely not. Also, sometimes the descriptions are a little vague, and you can't form a good guess on the price. One example is that they showed a package of Chips Ahoy cookies but didn't say the size of the package. I guessed $2.50 but it turned out to be a snack size and the retail price was 50 cents. Unlike the show, you can't ask questions about the items to get a better description. I ended up losing that game because of it. Once again, not the end of the world.

The classic TPIR moments that you can unlock by winning these games are awesome, however, some of them are sponsored! That's right, I had to sit through a commercial for the 2009 Toyota Corolla before watching a highlight! So far over several games not one pricing game or item has repeated.

As far as graphics go, the TPIR video is great, the game graphics are pretty lame. The audience consists of about four people wearing four different colored shirts, just repeated over and over. You only have a choice of about eight different characters. Their animations and expressions are very limited and cheezy, even for the Wii.

The sound is great. You get it all here, it's the same music and sounds that have been used since the old days. My all time favorite, the loser horn is used quite often, much to my delight.

I have a feeling this is going to be quite a successful Wii title without much fanfare. For $39.99, pardon the pun, the price is right and the game is well worth it. I'd love to see a sequel to this, since there are still a ton of pricing games that they can use.

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If you're looking for a game that will get your party going, or something just to have fun with, then The Price is Right for the Wii may be just what you're looking for. Being the game show enthusiast that I am, I was delighted to hear that this timeless classic was finally making its video game debut; and it does not disappoint!

While it is not aimed at hard-core gamers, it certainly does its job with providing endless hours of fun. I feel it did a very good job recreating the feel of the actual game show. While I was a bit disappointed with the absence of both Bob Barker and Drew Carey, Rich Fields is a great, and sometimes even exciting, host. Up to four players can participate at a time, or you can just wing it solo. Either way, you're guaranteed to have a good time. :)

Controls are very user friendly, making it easy for anyone of any age to play, even if they've never picked up a video game in their life. The graphics are great, and I couldn't keep myself from laughing at some of the ways the on-screen players react; very cute.

So, if you're looking for some fun for everyone, The Price is Right for the Wii is the way to go. Trust me; you will not be disappointed! :)

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I love the price is right and was very excited to see the game but there are flaws. First of all, I agree that the wheel spinning doesn't need much thought, but my biggest complaint is that at least with my game, the games always have the same products to bid on. I have only seen 4 different showcases and I've played probably about 10-12 times for the most part to just see if the game ever changed. So there is never a challenge to guess the prices. Maybe it's just my copy that is defective, but if not then much more thought should have gone into this game.

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I review Wii games on youtube. This is an edited version of the review I did for the game. If you want to see more of my reviews, go to youtube.com/wiiviewr.

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So I read many of the reviews and had no idea whether I was going to enjoy this game or not. I finally decided to purchase it and after all of that, it's a pretty good game.

Yes, the game could have been made better. The small videos of the prizes you are bidding on are rather small, but I can still see them and the announcer tells you what they are so it wasn't that bad for me. There are other little things that could have been done better, but overall, I thought it was done well. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because even though it is a 4 player game, you all have to share one remote. I don't quite understand that.

But... the game was fun. I played it with my wife and my two boys, eight and five (my five year old spun the wheel for me). We all had a fun time and have played it at least five times in the first 24 hours. My 8 year old woke up this morning and was ready to play again. If I didn't have to go to work early, I probably would have played again as well.

So all in all, it was a good game and one that will probably be fun for our whole family. It could have been done better, but I could say that about plenty of other games too.

Cheap Marvel Ultimate Alliance for Xbox

Customer Ratings:

I bought this game twice I played it on 360, PS3, and now original Xbox.

I bought it for the original Xbox, because there really are a lack of good games for that console.

Perhaps I am just spoiled by the modern technology, but I still love my original Xbox, and I have collected quite a few games I enjoy frequently play, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is one of them.

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This game is awesome for anyone who love heroes. Full of action, and a great storyline. Very fun. Worth getting

Best NHL Hitz 20-02 Deals

Customer Ratings:

Quite simply, this is one of the best games I've ever encountered in my twenty-plus years of gaming. I've never liked sports games before, but from the moment I started this game I was hooked. I've always loved hocky, but found that most games were either too dull, too complicated or just didn't have the graphics that make this game light up the way it does on the Game Cube. If you don't own this game, buy it!

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I was going to the video store one weekend (actually, my dad went for me), and I wanted to rent a game. Our video store has a large selection of GCN games. I couldn't seem to make up my mind (but I'm sure that you have probably already igured out what game I rented). So I picked NHL Hitz 20-02.

I was a bit skeptical about the game at first. I mean, I've got the 'awsome, eyecandy' of a hockey game called NHL 2002 by EA Sports for my computer, so I didn't really know if I was gonna like this. I tried it out a little...and...GUESS WHAT!?!?!? I fell in love with this game. It's NHL hockey as it was MEAN'T to be; Big Hits (and I mean BIG HITS!!!), dramatic goals, HUGE FIGHTS, and CHEAT CODES! ;)

This game is the NHL version of the Midway classic known as NFL Blitz (which also had sequels each year for roster updates, graphics improvment, and more features). You start the game off with 3 gameplay modes: Exhibition, Season, and Franchise. And there is also some extras like: the Hockey Store, and Create-a-Team feature.

Exhibition is the basic mode of the game if you want some classic fun (and you can also play this mode multiplayer with up to 3 other people). You pick your team from a colection of ALL the NHL teams in the league (but I am sorry to say: NO international teams). You can also buy more teams at the hockey shop. Once your done picking your teams, you pick three players (from a list of six) for your team to have as your line for the first period. After that you will procede to the section where you have 5 seconds to type in cheat codes (like bigger hits, huge heads, tennis ball puck, ect.) Once your done picking your hockey dudes and doing cheats, you will go to a cool, and somethimes comical, Pre-game show.

There are NO penalties in this game; the only way for your player to be kicked out of a game is...LOSE a FIGHT!!! If you lose a fight, the player that lost the fight is out of the game. The fights are awsome: VERY DRAMATIC.

In season mode, it is basically that same as most hockey games: you go through the season and try to win the STANLEY CUP.

In franchise mode, you try to make your created team better (as you get more points to improve created players with each franchise win). You try to win the MIDWAY CUP.

At the Hockey Shop, you can buy various nostalgic jerseys, new arenas, new teams, and special heads for created players. You earn points for playing exhibition games and season games, and you use these points for the hockey shop.

It create-a-team mode, you can create a team by customizing your jersey logo, jersey color scheme, and team name. You can create six players and one goalie for your team. You start out with a limited amount of points to make your player attributes. BUT that is what franchise mode is for: yo earn points to make your players better. You can chose different faces for your player. You also custumize your player's body size and stuff: the players can look any way you want.

There are also alot of options to customize like game speed and music style. The Graphics are a bit on the weak side (as they could have been better). The sound is awesome. The commentator is pretty funny. Also, the controls are pretty easy to learn.

If you are looking for adrenaline pumping hockey action, NHL Hitz is for you. It's no were near a hockey sim, but that's WHY it's fun. If you want a hockey sim, I suggest buying NHL 2002 by EA Sports for PS2, X-Box, or computer...or you can wait till fall of 2002 till the SEGA NHL 2K3 comes out for the GCN. But if you want a FUN, arcade style hockey game, this game is for you.

I also have one more thing to say: GO WINGS!!!!!!! ;)

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Hey Lets Face it if you like hockey at all you like nhl hitz 2002. Its the best hockey game ever yeah so maybe there is only three guys on the ice, but how often do you get to smash a guy thru the glass or knock the helmet off Mario Lemieux(example not that i hate lemieux i love him.)The best part about this game isthe killer graphics on the winnable arenas the one arena i have saved at my house you play on apond and if you go to replay you see under the ice little fish swimming around. This Game rules in every and any aspect.

Go Buy It Or Sit At Home and Sulk With Regret!!!

Honest reviews on NHL Hitz 20-02

As a die hard hockey fan, I eagerly awaited this game. I was not disappointed. Midway has kept true to its style of pro sports games. Having the GameCube as a system to work with, Midway excelled in all areas! The graphics are excellent for a hockey game(only NHL2K for Dreamcast is better). Game play is intense! Fast, furious and nonstop! Although you can control the speed of the game in the options screen and slow things down, but why would you? Control of the skaters is a bit awkward and difficult at first, but is easily overcome with practice. Smooth player movements and precise commentary add to the game. Options, and many of them!! Choose your favorite NHL team, one of Midway's "special teams" or create your own. Choose your teams colors, jerseys, logos, your teams stadium and yes, even nicknames that the announcers will say during the game! And plenty more options to choose from! Trade players, fights, and even trivia questions that can earn you points to increase your players skills. There is even a "Skills" game that helps you increase your hockey skills to be a better opponent for the computer! This game has more features and options than I have mentioned here. Bottom line is this, NHL Hitz is the best 3 on 3 hockey game for any game system! This is a MUST for any video game player, even if are not a hockey fan! Go Avalanche!!

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I bought NHL HITZ for my son, Mark, who just turned 18.

Since he is now on Christmas Break from school, he plays

it every night before bed...so, I can safely say, he loves

the game!

Discount UFC Undisputed 2009 - Xbox 360

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $13.04
Today's Bonus: 57% Off

Keeping in context that this is THQ's first attempt to make a UFC game and you have to admit they did an amazing job.

This was obviously a very hard game to make because it's based on real fighting technique's and has to be grounded in reality. They didn't have the liberties to do impossible moves with super hero like abilities to dish out and withstand punishment like in other games. It had to be as real as possible and that alone must have made for a challenge. Why it's so much more challenging than a wrestling or fighting game is also for the fact that you have to be able to have as much ability to attack and defend from the ground as you do on your feet. A handful of moves won't do it either as it'll get old and stale real fast. Considering they had no existing engine to work with like they're WWE games and had to build a new one from the ground up, it's all the more impressive.

I've been playing it all morning and so far I have to say it's alot of fun. The controls are good although they take a little getting used to but it won't be long before your dishing it out like a pro. The fighters all have their own unique move sets so they're not just different looking, they actually play different from one another. I love the variety of ko's and submissions and I went alot of matches before I saw any of the same finishes twice. I started by jumping right in to exhibition mode to just go at it and get a feel of it. Then I went to tutorial mode to learn the various technique's to play the game how it was meant because I could only go so far on my own. The games excitement ramped up alot after that as I found myself eager to apply the new strikes, takedowns and submissions I had just learned. It really started to look and feel alot more real when thinking and strategizing during matches. Other than those, there's a deep career mode where you get to build your own fighter from scratch, train him, and fight up through the ranks to become one of the elite. Also included is an online mode and classic fights mode where you get to recreate some of the best fights in recent UFC history where your rewarded with unlockable video montages of those fights. I thought the original pre-fight interviews they show you before the fights were a nice touch. I'm also very impressed with the 80+ roster of fighters from all 5 weight classes.

Graphically, it looks great. Most all the fighters look very close to the real ones and some are almost spot on. The only one who doesn't is Mark Coleman and the strange thing is that he instead looks EXACTLY like Frank Trigg. Dana White also looks a little too unlike himself but I was happy with all the others. Otherwise, there's a great attention to detail with the rings, muscles, sweat, cuts and clothing all looking pretty real.

The audio is really good. You'll here the same theme songs from the Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed and Fight Night. Also included are background music you'll hear played often at the events. It's all rock type and meant to get you pumped up for some fighting. The commentary is better than I've heard on any wrestling game. Mike and Joe don't repeat themselves nearly as much and actually have alot of informative things to say. They're also synched very well with the action going on in the ring. The crowd noises ramp up with the action or slow to a boo with inactivity and the smacks and thumps of combat are well represented.

It's not a perfect game though. It could be a little faster, ko's come a little too frequent and easy while submissions are pretty tough to pull off and the cpu doesn't attempt to ground you and try them very much. I'd like a little more blood effects from the fighters as in bleeding down they're faces, getting in they're eyes, and more on the body and shorts. Not to be gory but if you've watched alot of UFC you'll know it happens often enough. There are no ring entrances which also means none with customizable music which is what I would've like to see for my fighter in career mode. And why not have your created fighter start out on The Ultimate Fighter show for a chance to be the next Forrest Griffin? I'd also like to save my best matches, highlights and maybe have a tournament mode like the old UFC where you'd have to beat 3 or 4 guys in the same night. But that's all secondary. What matters is that the core game is intact and it was no doubt a very tough task but I believe they pulled it off.

I've been very excited about this game from it's announcement and early screens and video, till picking it up today and I have to say that I'm not disappointed at all and believe most fans of the UFC and video games won't be disappointed either. For the most part, it lives up to the hype. It's also light years beyond any other UFC game that's ever been made and one heck of a start to capturing the feel of the UFC and MMA in general. I give it 4 stars out of 5 for room for improvement next time but also a big recommendation for UFC fans.

Update: I've been playing the game alot over the past 4 days since I got it and am just continually blown away by how authentic it is. The fighters fight alot like their real life counterparts. Chuck Liddell backs away and counters, Anderson Silva constantly tries to get you in a muay tai clinch to punish you with knees and Brock Lesnar attempts to ground and pound you out, brilliant. There are also tons of reversals and escapes on the ground to make it a really fun and interesting part of fighting. I'm also really enjoying the commentary by Rogan and Goldberg, as they'll also recognize and talk about previous matches between fighters who had significant matches like Arlovski vs Silva, Liddell vs Ortiz and Silva vs Franklin, very cool. Congrats to THQ and Yukes, they really did their homework.

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UFC Branding: 10/10

This game is extremely faithful to the UFC franchise: the arenas, announcers, referees, commentators, Octagon girls, and of course the fighters and coaches are all there and look and sound very realistic. I thought the coaches mumbled too much and didn't really give good advice but at least you get the feeling of advice being given (moral support?).

Controls: 8/10

I wanted to be able to jump more and generally be more reckless. For example, I wanted to do flying kicks (the flashy kind real fighters never do unless they want to lose in the first few seconds). There are a lot of really cool moves like Superman punch and flying knee but these can only be activated contextually (you have to be a certain range from your opponent). I have never played a "wrestling" game before so I wasn't sure what to expect but the use of the right analog stick for a lot of grappling/wrestling moves seemed to do the trick. It is somewhat intuitive but I am still struggling with transitions (there are easy and hard transitions and the hard ones don't always seem to work). I would have really loved customizable controls but I did not see that option (probably because the practice/tutorial mode would be harder to script), but the defaults are fairly intuitive and get the job done. I don't like having to press the analog sticks inward (left inward to run, right inward to submit) The left bumper and trigger are height modifiers that convert strikes to high and low respectively. This also modifies grappling: high to clinch and low to do a takedown. Then, on the ground you can still modify for head shots or body shots. So, that much is intuitive. The right bumper and trigger are defensive height modifiers, though even if you block you'll still take some damage. I had to take off one point for the lack of jumping and fun controls and one point for the omission of customizable controls, otherwise they are reasonably comprehensive and intuitive.

Tutorial: 8/10

The tutorial is very long and takes a while to get through it all. I am happy it exists and had to go back and consult it a few times. I think there could be better integration of this with the training camps in Career mode but it's still decent.

Practice Mode: 10/10

This mode has everything: choose your fighter, opponent, and opponent's AI level. This lets you configure whether your opponent will be an inanimate punching bag, someone who will defend only (with many options here), or someone who will fight back (and you can set the difficulty level). If you or your opponent is knocked out or submitted, it's no big deal, the fighter positions reset quickly and you can resume practice. If there is one thing I would have liked, it would have been to have more options for where you fight (instead of just the gym).

Historic Fights: 2/10

I thought this was cool but it seemed to force me to play as one of the fighters and not just have the fights play out as they actually did (or have AI's fight it out and simulate what might have happened). I guess I just don't see how you couldn't do pretty much the same thing with Exhibition Mode.

Exhibition Mode: 10/10

This is the normal "versus" mode of the game. I had no problems with the options presented. Yes, you have to choose your weight class (an appropriate constraint), but you get to use custom fighters and toggle stats and fighters who have actually fought in more than one weight class are able to be selected in both (e.g. BJ Penn). I think you can even choose your arena and referee (but not the Octagon girls). Importantly, you can choose how many rounds it will be (which constrains the arena selection a bit): 2, 3 or 5.

Career Mode: 7/10

This mode is hard. First, the fights are hard. Second, the time management can be tricky. Basically, everything is done on a weekly basis and most physical actions take a certain amount of stamina away. So, you can't do Intense training twice in one week but you could do Intense and Moderate training and then have virtually no stamina left. There's nothing wrong with using up your stamina except that it might be bad if you have none on the week of your fight and you can only recover part of your stamina in one week so you need about two weeks to fully recharge. This is rough because you may only have 4 or 5 weeks to get ready for a fight so half your time is wasted to recharging. I loved the sparring and training camps options (and actually felt like the training camps helped me learn and improve) and you can even use points from sparring to boost specific stats (and they are very specific let me tell you) or you can focus on Strength, Speed and Cardio (if you prefer the macro level). There are also emails and interviews and making public appearances (e.g. at other fights) which all seem fine but maybe a bit of a time waster for people who just want to fight. Of course, this is career mode so what do you want? Oh, and if you really like detail, you can add sponsors and micro the logos on your trunks for reputation points. The nice thing about career mode is that it is VERY forgiving. If you screw up and lose a fight or two, you'll still be given opportunities to step back into the Octagon. Dana White and your manager/agent are very nice and bend over backwards to promote you and help you along.

Graphics: 9/10

I thought Dane White, Herb Dean, and a few fighters did not look right. However, the vast majority are convincing. I think the camera angles are great and have no complaints there (you don't even notice it). The movement of the fighters is very impressive and there is a lot of attention to detail to things like breathing and hunching over when low on energy. I love the ragdolling (though maybe it's too frequent and it seems knockouts frequently cause the opponent to lose his mouthguard). There is too much sweat and not enough blood, but the sweat doesn't detract that much. I loved how you can create a fighter and customize so much about his physical appearance (it is very thorough). I would have liked to see more options for hair color (for Chris Leben etc.) but that's about it.

Voice Acting: 10/10

Music: 2/10

I hate the default music (even though it is true to UFC style) and turned it off as soon as it got annoying. I would have liked to have seen an option to use custom songs for your fight entrance (which by the way is oddly absent in this otherwise very detailed and realistic game) and otherwise have a song library to play as background music. I think the commentators are spot on in terms of how they sound and what they say. I think there is a tendency for the commentators to overstate how crazy or epic every fight is, but otherwise they do a good job of stating the obvious. I don't know about the licensing and stuff but it would have been great if they could have had the fight entrance songs (e.g. when Quinton "Rampage" Jackson enters and Roy Jones Jr. "Can't be Touched" plays). Oh, and the game obviously doesn't know how to pronounce whatever jacked up name you give your custom fighter so it just uses a preset nickname (you can choose from a dozen or so) like "Headhunter" when doing announcements at the beginning and end of matches. I would have liked more nicknames to choose from (why not include actual fighter nicknames?) but it's not a big deal.

Miscellaneous:

There are some load time issues. I also think it gets a bit confusing when it's autosaving (do Exhibition matches count toward my Custom Fighter's Career Mode?) or you go to save redundantly. It's not a big problem and isn't terribly confusing just a bit weird (it shows all the steps it does in each part of the save process when it probably could have suppressed some of it).

I have yet to see Jens Pulver or Mark DellaGrotte (not sure they aren't there just haven't noticed them) and I'm sure a lot of MMA geeks will bemoan that there is no Fedor but this is explicitly UFC Undisputed and not a general MMA game. If you want to you could probably create him with the custom fighter options anyway which should be the default response to any qualms over missing fighters.

It is probably worth mentioning the fighting styles. In this game all fighters are classified into a striking style and a grappling style. There are three striking styles: Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai. Only kickboxers can do head kicks (as far as I can tell). Only Muay Thai can do special moves in the clinch (e.g. knee to the head). There are three grappling styles: BJJ, Wrestling, Judo. BJJ has the best transitioning and submissions. Wrestling and Judo let you do throws and slams and I think you have to be a wrestler to do certain throws (or have a guaranteed ability to do them). I'm not sure whether the style limitations are problematic but considering that fighters are normally encouraged to be well-rounded and learn everything (and how that's the whole point of MMA), it's weird that these limitations are built-in.

There are a lot of nice little touches in the game and if you're an UFC fan or at all into MMA this title will probably hold your interest. If you're looking for Street Fighter mechanics and the ability to do Hadoukens, you won't find it here. However, if you're looking for a level of realism never before seen in this genre of video game, this is it. I was skeptical that you could ever develop a control system to faithfully translate MMA into a video game format, but this game gives me hope. I do think it tends to emphasize the strategic rather than the visceral aspect of the sport but it is a video game after all (if you want something more visceral, then try the real thing I guess or get a button masher).

Best Deals for UFC Undisputed 2009 - Xbox 360

A great fighting game with deep controls and tons of replay. The online gameplay with created fighters and known UFC vets alike is fun and rewarding for anyone who put hours into their create-a-fighter.

Some folks have complained that leveling up your character through the training sessions were boring, menu nonsense, but I also really enjoy RPGs so I found this menu system intuitive and way faster than going through mindless mini-games over and over for hours on end (you're building a fighter's career that's years long!).

The fighting in the game is fluid and deep. Getting the controls down is made easy with the in game tutorial and a bit of time in the octagon. Once you're familiar with the controls getting in there and punching people in the face is tons of fun. The different Striking and Grappling techniques make interesting combinations possible that should please any fight fan. The animations and sound effects are very good. It's truly satisfying to drop a Superman punch on someone or deliver a truly spectacular head kick that rocks your opponent! Whether you're a fan of the UFC or just a casual gamer I think that this game will keep you playing for a ling time.

Honest reviews on UFC Undisputed 2009 - Xbox 360

The fighting is ok, but this game is packed with so many idiotic limitations I wonder if the developers were actively trying to frustrate gamers.

Problems with this game:

1. No open weight fights. Not only can you not have BJ Penn fight Brock Lesnar, you can't even have Georges St-Pierre fight Anderson Silva. This game is absolutely rigid in their restrictions on who can fight who. And disallowing certain fights is not even realistic a lot of these fights have actually happened. Penn fought Machida, Nog fought Henderson, etc. But not in this game.

Fight Night games allow for open weight bouts you could have Pacquiao vs. Tyson if you want and that's something that would NEVER happen in boxing. But EA realizes that its a video game and that it would be stupid to not allow all fighters to compete with each other. Meanwhile, UFC started as an open weight event and PRIDE was holding open weight tournaments relatively recently.

Looking at the back of the box you may be wowed by the idea of 80 fighters, but guess what? Each fighter can only face 15 other fighters so don't get too excited. And in career mode you will end up facing the same couple guys over and over. I played a welterweight career and literally fought GSP, Hughes, and Serra 6 or 7 times each.

And if you want to argue that those bouts would not actually happen in the real UFC, I say to you: you are wrong. GSP may very well go up in weight and fight Silva. But you cant do that in this game which is so ridiculous it is mind-boggling. If I want to have Florian vs. Cro Cop I should be able to! And if Florian gets murdered, so be it.

The lack of open weight cuts a huge element out of an already shallow game. It would be exciting to see if you could beat your friend while he is using Nogueira and you are Dan Henderson... oh wait, Nogueira and Henderson actually fought before, but they can't in this game. Yeah, that makes sense.

2. Can't use UFC fighters in career mode. This is especially awful because you will soon realize that the UFC fighters can only be used in the exhibition mode or online. This means that if you want use, say, Rampage Jackson against everyone in his division, you have to go through the menus and manually select each different fighter in exhibition mode. It's clunky and slow and gets old fast.

3. Career mode is WAY TOO SHORT. Look, it's THQ, so that's an iron-clad guarantee that the career mode will disappoint. I knew that going in, THQ is obsessed with ending your career just as it's getting started. They've done it on every wrestling game they've produced and they did it here. Except in the WWE games you get 50 matches. Here you get 35 and then you are forced to retire. The career mode lasts 7 years. That means if you make your created fighter 18, he is forced to retire when he is 25. That's blatantly stupid and has no relation to an actual UFC career. Why can't I just continue for 100 matches or more if I want? SO STUPID.

Fight Night Round 4 is going to have a career mode that's going to last at least 10 years from what I have seen, but then again, EA is making a sports game and not modelling their career mode on wrestling games.

Basically the whole single player game amounts to the career mode and thats it, so why not let it go on for a while? Why is THQ so obsessed with ending your career prematurely? Why not have it be open ended and just go on forever?

4. There are hardly any modes. There should have been a basic Arcade mode or something where you can pick a real fighter and fight in a bunch of fights. That may be a dumb idea but it's something... ANYTHING. The single player game is wretched, you get the career mode and that is it, then there is exhibition for fighting your friends, online, and... that's it. I won't even bother to review the completely worthless "classic" fight mode. They leave out tons of stuff, yet give you the classic fight feature which is a genuine, honest-to-goodness waste.

There should be a dozen different modes. Tournaments, Arcade, a career mode that simulates an actual career.

5. No title fights. That's right, outside of career mode you can't have any title fights. If you choose a 5 round fight, Mike Goldberg will call it a title fight, and he'll call the winner the new champion, but it doesn't mean anything. No one actually wins a belt. There are no title fights, if you want to win the belt you have to do it in the career and that means you can't win the belt with a default UFC fighter. Imagine a UFC game where you can't win the belt with a UFC fighter. You don't have to imagine, here it is. So much for running your own fed with your friends.

6. Create a fighter is pointless. You CAN'T create a great fighter off the bat, the basic CAF mode only allows for average fighters to be created (75 is the max rating). So you can not create Fedor or Couture or anyone good right away, which makes the basic CAF as unusable as the stupid classic fight mode.

What's the point? Who wants to sit around making bum fighters? No one.

That leaves you with the career mode which allows you to create a fighter and build up his stats. But you can't have this fighter have both special punches and kicks like many real fighters do, and there are other limitations: your created fighter will never be as good as a real fighter.

Apparently you are allowed to create up to 100 fighters, but the game only lets you choose from *TEN* different nicknames. So that pretty much ruins the idea of creating 100 fighters. Are you supposed to create guys with the same nicknames over and over? As far as I am concerned, you can only create 10 fighters because I have no interest in having 2 different guys with the same nickname. I should also mention that the nicknames are horrible and make your character less cool for having to use one of them.

There are dozens of decent nicknames on here that belong to the default fighters that would have been ok for gamers to use, they could have easily allowed that but they didn't. They gave you 10 of the nerdiest nicknames you could possibly imagine.

What should have been done is this: you should have been able to type your OWN nickname, whatever you want it to be. Then there should have been a list of names for the in-game announcers and commentators to call you during the fights, and if you did not choose one, they could just call you, "the fighter". This is basic technology that has been available since the birth of PS2 at least. Sports games have been calling me by my real name for years. That was something this Bush League game could not manage, so I guess I have to name myself "Big Nasty"... =/

10 nicknames! Why not just spit in gamers' faces?

...

Honestly, this is an ok game. You'll have a little fun with it. But it's so obviously rushed, barebones, and cheap that it gets old super fast. A game like this should be overflowing with modes and options. Everything I listed here should be in this game and more. There is no comparison with Undisputed and any serious sports game. UFC Undisputed is not a serious sports game. It's a more realistic wrestling game.

When Fight Night Round 4 comes out, everyone is going to realize what a class fightsport game looks like, and this game will look POOR in comparison. Count on that, and save your money if you are only going to buy one.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for UFC Undisputed 2009 - Xbox 360

UFC 2009 Undisputed is a very good game. THQ has put in everything to make a great MMA game they included every detail and put everything into the game.

One problem is that every Muy Thai fighter is the same, every Boxing figher is the same, and every Kickboxing fighter is the same. All the moves for each style is the same and also for the BJJ, Wrestling, and Judo fighters. That sometimes makes the game repetitive.

The career mode also gets repetitive after a while especially after you win the title because you fight the same four or five fighters all the time. I got very agitated that in career mode you are forced to retire after seven years.

But overall the game is very good and i believe is definetly worth 50 bucks.

Best Shaun White Snowboarding - Xbox 360 Deals

Customer Ratings:

As an avid gamer and snowboarder, I felt that this game has been unfairly assessed by critics and gamers. For the reviewers who gave Shaun White a low score, I often wonder have they ever even snowboarded before?

If you're a gamer looking for a snowboarding game in the vein of SSX you're going to be dissapointed. Luckily, that isn't what this game is about. I've been snowboarding for 7 years, and have been waiting for a game that captures the spirit of what snowboarding is all about. To date of the 3 most popular snowboarding games: SSX, Amped, and 1080, they focus on either one or the other: racing or obtaining the highest score possible on a linear path.

Here's a quick summary of what you should expect:

Gamers will hate:

the controls (they take a while to get used to) and they should be customizable

half pipes and impossible tricks are missing

runs have no straightforward path

Snowboarders will love:

+ you can choose any path on the mountain you want (almost no boundaries)

+ Graphics are the best yet with the Assasin's Creed Engine

+ Hitting challenges with friends over xbox live or psn

+ Having a plethora of real merchandise to customize your character to match the gear you actually wear

+ No fake tricks (ie SSX), pulling 360 rodeos in the game feel realistic and fulfilling

+ 4 mountains to choose from (Europe, Park City, Japan, Alaska) that allow you to carve down the entire mountain any way you please

+ backcountry, gaps, and lips to explore

+ physics are for the most part accurate. Uses havoc technology for the momentum of the tricks, and speed (gravity) you travel down a mountain. Characters have a weight to them.

In the end, this isn't the perfect snowboarding game that it could have been. There could be a bit more polish (controls should be completely customizable, interface and animation could have been a bit smoother) But, this is by far the best snowboarding game I have ever played. I highly recommend Shaun White Snowboarding for xbox 360 or ps3 with the caveat that you snowboard and play videogames, if you're a gamer expecting a Tony Hawk snowboarding game look elsewhere.

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This game is great in many ways, but it's also lacking many things and has quite a few glitches in the online mode. My biggest complaint with this game is the controls. As an avid gamer, I can quickly adjust to almost any control setup, but this was really bad and they aren't customizable. The controls are not setup well for doing tricks, which is why most people online tend to just rotate, or do flips.

The graphics are terrific in most areas, the mountains look great from afar and whether you're heading down the mountain or looking up, it all looks terrific. As I mentioned previously, it's great in many ways, but also lacks many things, this is one of those areas. When you use the board to slow down and turn, or other various positions it looks as if they're just stretching the pixels because the trail looks the exact same as the area right behind it.

Throwing snowballs at other riders is really fun at times, but it can also be incredibly annoying. One rider can keep two riders pinned down and if that rider continues to keep you pinned the only thing you can do is pray they get bored or that someone comes to your rescue and hits them with one. Even then, you may not have enough time to escape.

You can customize the riders appearance with a number of different jackets, pants, gloves, backpacks, goggles, bindings, and even a speedo. All the items cost money with the exception of the bindings and the speedo is the most expensive at $20,000!

The boards in this game make a huge gap for competition. If you're using a beginner board in online play, it will be near impossible for you to win a competition if someone is using one of the better boards because of the large gap in quality. The speed and velocity of the better boards put the beginner boards to shame, and they're also unrealistic in some ways. The top boards you can do front and back flips with as you're riding on a somewhat flat piece of the mountain and land it perfectly. There's no chance of that with a beginner board. Now imagine trying to keep up with that differential on the halfpipe!

Online play is really where it's at, but there are multiple glitches. Sometimes two riders will do their halfpipe run at the same time, each collecting a score, but you'll only be able to view one of them, and the "second" person usually gets kicked out after being "idle" for about 15 seconds and this happens frequently. For some reason unknown to me, you can get stuck. I was stuck right in the middle of a run, not inside the mountain or a hole like that, but I just got stuck on the mountain. People tried throwing snowballs at me to knock me from that spot but they just went through me. The only thing that fixed it was someone putting out a challenge and I accepted it. I've also had "NICE RUN" flashing on the screen for multiple runs and challenges and it made a noise each time it flashed. It finally disappeared after 15 minutes, but I don't know what the remedy was. Online play is like single player, because you can still accumulate points, money, and collect the euro's, but you also get to talk to other people playing online and compete against them in challenges. If there is an on-going challenge, hope you're near the top of the mountain because the chairlifts will not be working no one can get on them.

One area with no downside, however, is the soundtrack. This game does not have a single bad song in it. It just plays hit, after hit, after hit.

The maps in this game are huge, and the entire mountain can be part of your run. You can jump across to different slopes and take advantage of the entire mountain.

This game is not like SSX, although it does have racing competitions available. This game is very realistic and you shouldn't expect to be able to do 1080's on every jump, this game is very realistic, although the "falls" could use some work. Rather than wiping out, you just pop up and keep riding, and sometimes you may not get points for the tricks because you fell, but you stayed up the entire time. (If you play the game you'll understand what I mean.)

Overall, I would say try to find this game used, or on sale. It's fun for a bit and will make you want to get your board out and ride, but I don't see myself coming back to it very often.

Best Deals for Shaun White Snowboarding - Xbox 360

So I'm a snowboarder and I've been annoyed with the arcade style of most snowboarding games to date. Amped was good because it gave you real mountains but I felt like technology needed to catch up in order to get the snow and physics right. I think we're getting closer with Shaun White Snowboarding.

The graphics are par for today's games except there are frame rate T

stutters when you're riding the chairlift and looking around at the whole mountain. The frame rate is good when it actually matters.

The game starts you off with a crappy board and you have to earn cash to buy better ones for ridiculous prices. Just hold out for a mid grade board and once you upgrade you'll start to really feel what this game is like. Once you u have one of the best level boards, the game gets even better. It's a shame they don't at least tease you with how good the controls feel with a real board because some people will simply give up before they get a good board. So give the game a chance and it will grow on you.

Honest reviews on Shaun White Snowboarding - Xbox 360

The game play in Shaun White snowboarding is excellent. Definately the best snowboarding game created up to this point. The game is loads of fun. There are 4 different large mountains with a ton of challenges for solo and multiplayer play. There is also a huge selection of gear boards,bindings,jackets,hats, etc.. You can take the chair lift or jump out of the helicopter. You can do pretty much all the tricks in the real world in this game, including flatland tricks. The realism is unprecedented and extremely enjoyable at the same time. The game even has avalanches that you can outrun or be swallowed up by.

If you want to take a break from doing tricks the game even has races for Single player and multiple players..

All in all this a great game, i recommend it for any one that enjoys snowboarding or skateboarding games, or for people looking for a new kind of gaming experience..

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Shaun White Snowboarding - Xbox 360

they really werent trying when they made the engine for this game. there is such a limited bag of tricks its rediculous in this day and age. the graphics are sub par at best. the animations are stiff. the challenges are boring and repetitive. the controls are clumsy to say the least.

there is honestly no excuse for a snowboarding game to be thrown together like this. not after we saw the greatness of SSX Tricky and SSX 3. those games did just about everything right. from the controls, to the trick list, to the character customization. this game did none of that right. everything is so simple, limited, and poorly implemented its horrible. it feels more slapped together than a Courtney Love makeup job.

the only redeeming qualities this game has to offer: a good soundtrack for the most part, and fun online. getting a few friends together for a trip down the mountain can be entertaining (wears thin after a couple days though)

the fact that this outsold Prince of Persia(the other big ubisoft holiday game) is a travesty. to be fair though, neither game lived up to their expectations or potential. the thing is, where prince of persia is barely above average, this is just awful. barely worth a rental if you ask me.

i think im done with snowboarding games till we get a next gen SSX.

Reviews of Batman: Arkham Asylum -Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

First off, thank you Eidos for finally producing a comic book game that lives up to its source material! The graphics and character animations are nothing short of spectacular. Be sure to take a good long look at the Joker model from every possible angle, amazing detail all the way from the spats on his shoes to the holes in his tattered suit and on to his lifelike hair.... simply beautiful.

Another tip of the hat for bringing in the voice talent from the animated series. As far as I'm concerned, Mark Hamill is THE voice of the Joker and Kevin Conroy's menacing voice never has to resort to the sometimes ridiculous rasp that live-action actors insist on bringing to the role of Batman. Another big plus I haven't heard a single line of dialog repeated yet... not even from the generic thugs.

As for the gameplay, I'm loving the free-flowing fight system, very cinematic. I'm not very far into the game as yet, but the what I've played so far has been outstanding. All of the moves I'd hoped to see are there, not to mention those wonderful toys!

Now for the ugly... I wouldn't bother with the Collector's Edition unless you're a big fan, very disappointing. The game case is great... huge, but cool. My big issue is with the batarang, what a piece of plastic garbage!

When I first opened the box I thought the batarang had been damaged during packing, it seemed to be covered in random scratches. Upon closer inspection I realized that these scratches were intended to simulate a brushed metal surface. I'm pretty sure someone just takes it and runs it randomly over a belt sander before placing it in the box. As it stands, I'd be embarrassed to display it with my other memorabilia. I'll probably end up doing some work on it myself in order to make it display worthy.

The leather bound journal is also a bit disappointing, I was really hoping for a bunch of new artwork, but all that's there is illustrations and character bios from the game itself.

I'm hoping the "making of" DVD will compensate for the other weak extras, but unfortunately, I can't review it until I finish the game and avoid any spoilers.

To sum it up... BUY THE GAME!!!!... but buyer beware of the Collector's Edition.

p.s. Another big shout out to Amazon for their "deliver on date of release" shipping option. It was well worth the $5 and change to receive the game on its release date. I probably would have bought the game locally if they hadn't offered the option. Gotta love instant gratification!!

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Okay, so the game itself is Excellent!! Just buy the regular edition game. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

WARNING!!! Do NOT buy this special edition! This is the second worst special edition game I have ever bought. The Batarang is NOT made of metal, nor is it highly detailed, nor does it have any articulated accents!!! It IS however made out of horribly molded plastic and it is FUSED to an extremely cheap grey plastic base!!! To make matters worse, someone took a box cutter and scraped it up all over so it just looks like a complete piece of junk!!! It looks like they literally rubbed this plastic piece of garbage on the sidewalk too!!!

I saw this special edition at E3 and thought WOW!! They have pulled a complete switch on us, this is NOT the finely crafted Batarang they had in the display case.

I payed full price for this garbage too!! $100!!! That's $40 for a box (which is the best part sadly), a leather book with some pictures and this horrible horrible horrible excuse for a Batarang.

I am extremely disappointed. Just get the great game. The people who put this special edition together are jerks, thieves and ripoff artists.

Best Deals for Batman: Arkham Asylum -Xbox 360

Amazing game with an awesome story that fits nicely in Batman lore. Graphics are unbelievabely detailed right down to damage to the bat suit as you progress through the game. The slight collection side quest of Riddler trophies actually adds to the game rather than being frustrating like the collection sides in games like GTA.

I haven't even finished this game yet and am already looking forward to the next Batman game from Eidos. Just simply an amazing game.

My only very minor gripe is that there is a fair bit of back-tracking in the game, but unlike other games with a back-tracking issue this one fills the areas where you have already been witn new and sometimes tougher enemies. Still I'd rather continue on a different path to get to the next area than going back through the same rooms/paths I've already been on.

That is a seriously minor gripe though and like I said because the areas are repopulated with enemies it really isn't much of an issue at all.

All in all I was considering this as a rental because I'd heard it was pretty short, but got tired of finding the empty shelf at Blockbuster and went ahead and bought it and I'm really glad I did. Outstanding game worth every penny.

***EDIT***

I didn't realize I was on the Special edition when I decided to review the game. My review is for the Standard edition and solely on the game.

Honest reviews on Batman: Arkham Asylum -Xbox 360

I had been waiting for this game since I seen the previews for it a year ago and it was well worth the wait! First off 5 stars go toward the game itself, the collectors edition however gets 2. When I heard about the sweet 14 inch batarang that was going to come with it I was willing to spend the extra money thinking it would at least be a full fledged replica, sadly it is not. It's made out of what feels like ceramic not really a plastic at all and worst is the stand is permantly attached and feels like it will break if you even try to take it off. And even worse is the paint is crap, just solid black no silver on what would be the "blade". The only item I was pleased with other than the game itself was the leather bound journal which contains character bios and some really great artwork. Also included were downloadable crime ally challenge maps and since I got it at game stop I also got one called "dem bones" which features the scarecrow both of which I have yet to try. Anyways all that aside time to talk about the game. I picked it up at midnight last night but only got to play for 2 hours before I had to go to work and so far its been one of the best games I played on the 360. I'm a huge batman fan and I grew up with the animated series from the early 90's which I was hit with a great feeling of nostalgia when I heard Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as The Joker and Arlien Sorkin as the lovely Harley Quinn, I don't know yet if any of the other actors reprised their roles yet beside them. On that note, I'm in awe at what they have done with Batman's rogues gallery in terms of looks, Joker looks more like a twisted version of Jack Nicholson's Joker, Harley looks very sexy and this is how she should look if they make a sequel to The Dark Knight haha, Killer Croc is very intimidating and I can't wait to face him one on one, and The Scarecrow looks like a mix between a tagger and err... a scarecrow. Fanservice aside, Batman AA looks beautiful and really reminds me of Bioshock in terms of sheer details in buildings,character models, lighting, etc. I'm really glad the developers took their time in making this game. As for gameplay the perspective is over the shoulder just like RE 5 and Gears of War which I didn't like in games at first but after awhile I don't mind it as much. Combat is very very entertaining, its great to just get out numbers by some of The Jokers thugs and just clear the room with little effort (when unarmed that is). Attack buttons are hit, counter and stun. While it is easy to button mass on the x button the whole time, you won't get the most out of it as you would if you utilize all the moves in combat which is very easy to learn. Right now all Batman has is his trusty batarangs which can be used in a varitey of ways: stuning enemies, breaking locks and stuff like that and are also very useful during a fight. Certain parts of the game require you to do into detective mode which turns everything into a x-ray screen that can detect armed thugs and help with puzzles. A feature that I really loved was the grappling hook, with it batman can shoot from object to object without alerting anyone plus when an unlucky victim walks under you, you can repel down, get him in a choke hold and string him from the roof to set a trap for more bad guys. Arkham Asylum really gets a hold of all Bruce Wayne's qualities as a fighter and a detective and no other Batman game had ever succeded in doing this. So all of this is just a taste of what to expect I don't want to ruin too much for all of you, just go and buy it if you are a Batman fan or just rent it if you are looking one of the few good action games out there.

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The Game is good, am planning to trash the collectors items so i can make space for something else. I really can't complain as i got the collector's edition on a lighting deal for about 50 dollars.... If you are planning to buy the collectors edition, it is not worth the money, just go buy the game...

Beetle Adventure Racing Review

Customer Ratings:

This game is a blast. If you race someone who is at the same level as you, then you really have a challenge. You can race alone with the machine and it is alot of fun.It has great graphics and the scenery is beautiful. It has short cuts and different weather conditions and tracks. Place 3rd or better and move to the next track, eventually you will get to do space trucking and earn cars as you win races. Our family really enjoys it. We range from 8 years old to 49! This game is ageless.

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This is a racing game for anyone, and it features only the new version of the best selling car of all time, the Volkswagen Beetle. It is a great game, with different difficulty levels in the championships, challenging opponents, and progressively harder courses. This is also a great game for multiplayer, with the very original and fun "beetle battle"

Courses:

Coventry Cove: A simple course for beginners, not very hard, and many interesting shortcuts

Mount Mayhem: Significantly harder than Coventry Cove, this course takes you on a trip through a decked-out mountain, with many surprises and shortcuts and even a ski jump that you can take your car off of.

Inferno Isle: Self Explanitory. It's a course taking place on an island that is competing with a volcano, and there is also a spot where you can dive into the volcano (not into the lava, of course, but into the volcano for that matter)

Sunset Sands: Egyptian themed course, running through ruins. Unlike the other courses, this one has shortcuts that make a very significant difference in your position.

Metro Madness: also Self-Explanitory. A drive through the city streets at top speed, and an interesting shortcut that literally lets you drive through a hotel.

Wicked Woods: A "scary" drive through a Sleepy Hollow style setting. Rightfully, the hardest course in the game.

Altogether, I think that this is a game for anyone into the Volkswagen Beetle, racing games, or multiplayer. It combines the best interests of all elements of the racing game.

Best Deals for Beetle Adventure Racing

When I purchased this game I didn't know what to expect. A friend had recommended the game to me and I took his word on it. When I played the game for the first time, I was amazed! This game is a step ahead of all other racing games and it has kept me entertained for hundreds of hours and counting. Reasons for you to get this game:

1. Exciting course themesFly through cources with UFO crashes, T-Rex attacks, haunted houses, abandoned castles, and much, much more!

2. Length of coursesDon't play this game expecting to finish a race in 5 minutes. These courses are 3 laps each and will take over 8 minutes to finish the race.

3. Secret shortcutsI had this game for 3 months and I was still discovering new shortcuts. These are hidden behind bushes, glass, up jumps, and hidden in tiny gaps. These entertaining shortcuts can take minutes off your race timeif you can find them...

4. The Beetles themselvesYou start with 3 cars but as you complete championships you can earn faster cars with designs like racing stripes, lightling bolts, and flowers. The final championships promise prizes such as the alien car and the best car in the gamethe police car Beetle. For amusement, beep the horns on these cool VWs.

5. Amusing itemsWhen playing in championship mode, crash through colored boxes for points, turbos, and, if you can find the flower boxes, cheat options. The point boxes can earn you continues and bonuses.

6. Multiplayer actionBreak out your other controllers and gather your friends for the muliplayer options. Compare your skills in a simple race or, for the ultimate in multiplayer entertainmentthe Beetle Battle. The object of this game is to collect all of the different-colored ladybug boxes. Fans of Mario Cart will love items like rockets, armor, and mines to help you blast your buddies. You can switch to one of the other multiple courses available when tired of one.

I can only hint at the immense entertainment this will give you. To experience it for yourself, you need to get this game. Gamers of all ages will love this zany game. Nobody can resist the fun that this game offers. Buy it yourself to buy hours of wild gaming excitement.

Best Xbox 360 8 MODE Rapid Fire Controller LIME GREEN Shell with RED Deals

Customer Ratings:

this controller is great! It works great. the only problem is that the left stick doesnt click but still presses in so if you are sprinting in call of duty so when you push it, it wont click. but over all a great product for a great price.

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this controller is a beast it works on all games left for dead all call of dutys including mw3 i will rate this 5 stars thanks

Dead Island Review

Customer Ratings:

Dead Island is 5 times better than Outbreak. No enormous lag time between levels, no frustrating problems with dumb A.I.s, automatic saves for smooth transition from one level to the next. Has a more interesting choice of characters with different skills such as expertise in bunt weapons, firearms, edged weapons, and throwing weapons. Cash and items that can be resold are used to buy better weapons. Large capacity inventory list can hold a lot of items. When one weapon such as a broom stick or hammer is used up throw it away and grab another from inventory or the environment. 1st person game with fabulous graphics design for up close and personal destruction of zombies. The high quality of this game should make Capcom embarrassed for the poor design of Outbreak. Set in a lush tropical resort in Papua, New Guinea, the character I selected wakes up after a night of heavy drinking to a zombie apocalypse. From that point on it's a fight for survival. Not for weak stomachs as destroying zombie with an iron pipe is vivid and bloody. Each type of weapon is rated for destructive power and durability. The inventory controls are a little complicated but after a couple of hours of play can be mastered. Plays flawlessly on a Japanese XBox. I,m putting away Outbreak and playing only this game.

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Review of Xbox 360 Black Play and Charge Kit

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $16.43
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

This is a must have with your 360 and a controller. And in black to match your Elite controllers.

You can plug it in via USB to your Xbox 360 and charge the included battery pack while you play your game.

You can also remove your battery pack, and plug the cable directly to your 360 for wired gaming (so your controller won't shut off while you are in the middle of that hired driver Forza race.

This charges via any USB port on your 360, your computer, your cable box, or your dog (if he has included USB hub).

I recommend buying one of these, then buying the Quick Charge Kit. Then you'll have 2 battery packs, the quick charge dock, and a USB charge cable.

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I enjoy the ease of use, it is convenient to just plug it in to recharge the batteries.

Unfortunately two out of three of my battery packs died within 6 months of purchase, which means they are only usable while plugged in. As such, I have returned to using rechargeable Energizer batteries, which are cheaper and more reliable (as long as you keep a few extra pairs on hand in case you run out of juice mid-game).

If you're a gambler, you might as well pick up at least one Play & Charge kit for the sake of convenience, but keep in mind that it costs as much as four AA rechargeable batteries and a charger.

Best Deals for Xbox 360 Black Play and Charge Kit

Not sure if this is a common occurrence but mine broke within 6 months of use. I can still play with the controller while plugged in but it no longer charges the battery.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Black Play and Charge Kit

I bought my play and charge kit when I first bought the system. It worked wonderfully the first few times. You plug it in when you are playing and it will slowly charge the battery. However, after not playing for awhile, when I went to charge up the battery it wouldn't charge anymore. The controller was definitely connected to the 360 as I could play the games while connected.

However, the battery light indicator on the controller would glow red, to indicate it was charging, for about five minutes. Then it would turn green to signify that it charged the battery completely. I thought that perhaps it was charging, despite the light not being red, but that was not so.

I kept it plugged to the 360 while playing for a couple of hours, and then tried playing wirelessly. 5 minutes later, the controller died.

Ultimately, I think it is more of a problem with the batteries than the cord itself. I bought an extra battery to go with my white controller and it suffered the same problems.

I seem to be one of the few that have had this problem, and they are not too expensive, but be warned that this problem does occur.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Xbox 360 Black Play and Charge Kit

works. the battery lasts forever. charger recharges. price is right. half the price of the quick charge kit, only a few dollars more than 1 battery. includes a battery and allows you to play in case the battery runs dead.

Discount Drop shot, Auto-aim, Jitter Xbox 360 Modded Controller COD MW3

Customer Ratings:

What an amazing buy!

So I bought this controller so that I could help my friends create a "Mk14" clan, where we all just ran around with mods and got people angry and stuff. After much research on the market, I had my sights set on an Evil Controller, but to my dismay, their controllers were a little out of my budget. Having tried my friend Sam's Evil Controller, I can say that those are of high quality. So I was a little disappointed when I saw the price tag. Hoping that Amazon might have them at a cheaper price, I came here to search for a modded controller. After a couple days of window browsing and reading reviews, I bought this one and, believe me, I could not have been happier with my choice.

This controller is sleek and pretty. The color buttons are colored black and look very stylish. Honestly, if you don't know where the A,X,B,Y buttons are by now, then you're not playing Xbox enough so there really is no detriment in taking away the corny colors. The triggers are pretty standard, no difference noted so far. The bumpers are also equally as responsive. But I think people will be happy with the directional pad. It is less clunky than your standard Xbox controller, an important feature to have when selecting which killstreak to activate mid-game and also a bonus for other games you might play.

Where the controller stood out to me were the lights. The thumbsticks and the home button both light up. They are a nice, strong set of colors. My only complaint here is that the home button does not feel nearly as nice as the original, metallic home button. I understand they did this so that the light would show through much better, but it always nags me in the back of my mind whenever I hit the button to join a party online. It's a small voice that says, "Man, that feels so cheap." But, of course, it is quickly shoved aside once gameplay commences and you turn on the mod.

Should you order this product, as with all GenuisModz controllers, it will ship in a very professional looking box. In fact, I saved the box simply because of how nice it looks along with its manual. The manual is aesthetically pleasing AND informative. There is nearly no room for confusion when reading the manual's instructions, and once you give it a look over or two, you probably won't ever be needing it again. Customizing the mod is pretty easy indeed.

And for my final comment, the mod button seems fine. I've always liked mods that have an extra button. Never liked using the sync button to shuffle through the mods either and GeniusModz did the right thing, I think, in adding a button on the backside in a convenient area that is easy to reach but will not interfere with the manner in which you hold the controller.

Overall, it's a great buy. You won't be disappointed.

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These controllers are awesome. I don't know I've managed all this time without them. These are great for COD playing Zombies. I'll definately buy from these guys again and recommend them to anybody.

Best Deals for Drop shot, Auto-aim, Jitter Xbox 360 Modded Controller COD MW3

I am updating my previous review. Genius mods did get a new working controller to me. A little later than I hoped but my brother is happy it works great and looks amazing. I ordered this as a gift For my brother. I received it and tested it out to make sure it worked. I placed new batteries in it and it turned on and synced up with my xbox 360. I was testing out how the thumbsticks and guide buttons changed colors, the guide button did not work. After a few minutes it did(and the LED's look great very cool) however it turned off and did not turn back on. I tried different batteries nothing the thumbsticks light the rapid fire buitton lights but it will no turn on. I contacted customer service who is hard to reach, and left a email, vm and face book message. THey advised me to send it back. I had to go to the post office pay to send it back (they did reimburse me) I provided them a tracking number and asked them to send a replacement overnight so I could get it to my brother for his bday. They assured me they would send a new one once they received the old one. I sent it on a Tuesday and they received it on Thursday. I did receive a working controller a little later than I wanted but it does work great and I appreciate there help with the situation.

Honest reviews on Drop shot, Auto-aim, Jitter Xbox 360 Modded Controller COD MW3

The pictures of this controller do not do it justice. It's gotten to the point where I almost always use this controller to play. I have a bunch of modded controllers already but this one is so fun to use at night. The leds pop and everytime I get a knife kill it switches color. The mods on these controllers have already been my favorite as I have a few using this particular program. I've been getting from this seller for awhile and they seem to have taken their controllers to the next level. The controllers now come in these really professional looking boxes with these giant colored instruction manuals. But the problem now is that in the manual there are examples of other controllers they make and now I want more styles. But I think whatever controllers I get from now on are gonna have to have these LED kits in them.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Drop shot, Auto-aim, Jitter Xbox 360 Modded Controller COD MW3

I've had a few modded controllers, and this is my current favorite. I love the LEDs in the thumbsticks and guide button, they really set off the controller. The LEDs can change colors as well! I didn't know how to turn them on at first, so I called the company and they explained it to me. Excellent customer service. For those who are wondering, the LEDs turn on by holding the sync button (this turns on the guide LED) and for the thumbsticks you hold the right thumbtsick and they turn on. To change the colors you tap the sync (to change the guide LED color) and you click the thumbsticks to change the thumbstick LED color. The colors are great since you can mix and match to whatever you like, definitely keeps the style of the controller fresh since you can change the color each time you play!

Mod was easy to use, came with a nice booklet and everything. Very professional. I definitely recommend this mod to anyone.

Best Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $179.95
Sale Price: $154.99
Today's Bonus: 14% Off

When it comes to capturing gameplay from your consoles, you want as good quality as you can get so you can show your friends or the world those amazing moments in detail.

The problem is there are so many different game captures to choose from these days such as Roxio, AverMedia, Hauppauge +more, that it can be a daunting task to choose the right one.

Whilst I can't comment on the others being bad or good due to the fact I haven't personally tried them myself, I can safely say that 'Elgato Game Capture HD' offers simple connectivity, ease of use and very high quality.

So what's in the box?:

Game Capture Device | AV Cable(PS3) | Unencrypted HDMI Cable(Xbox or use as pass-through) | Component Cable | Mini USB USB cable.

Minimum system requirements:

* Mac: Mac OS X 10.7, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

* PC: Windows 7, 2.0 GHz dual core CPU.

* Sound card | 4 GB RAM | Built-in USB 2.0 port | You will also need an internet connection to download the software from Elgato's official website as there is no software disk included.

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Setting everything up was extremely simple:

Step 1) Download the game captures software.

Step 2) Connect your console to the 'Game Capture HD' using the appropriate cable:

PS3: You need to use the AV cable rather than HDMI cable, this is because the PS3's HDMI port is encrypted (You can still get 1080i quality).

Xbox: Use the HDMI cable provided.

Step 3) Link the 'Game Capture HD' and HDTV together via HDMI cable.

Step 4) Insert the USB cable included to both your computer and 'Game Capture HD'.

Step 5) Load up the software.

Step 6) Turn on your console.

IMPORTANT PS3 Information: PS3 users will need to go to their PS3 "Settings" "Display Settings" "Video Output Settings" "Components / D-Terminal" When selecting resolution, make sure "1080p" is NOT selected, only go up to "1080i".

The PS3 auto-detects when an HDMI cable is used, but it doesn't auto-detects the AV input. The way I got around this was hooking the PS3 up directly to the TV(whilst AV cables were also connected to the game capture), I then went to the display settings and clicked on "Component / D-Terminal", once selected I had quickly removed the HDMI from the PS3 and connected it to the 'Game Capture HD', this solved the problem and took only 30 seconds for me to do.

Step 7) If there is no picture displayed on the game capture software, go to the 'Game Capture HD Settings' which can be located within the "Device" box under the "Capture" tab. The setting button is to the right-hand side and looks like a hammer and spanner crossed over. It is important to have the "Input Device" on the right settings, after selecting the right option, you should have your gaming consoles screen displayed on the software. *Note*; the software has a few seconds delay on game footage, so use your TV to play games.

Step 8) Tweak other settings if necessary, then your done!

Set-up took barely 5 minutes overall, I was very pleased with how easy it was to set-up. :)

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The computer specs I used whilst using the 'Game Capture HD' software were:

* Windows 7 64-bit Operating System | Intel i7 960 3.2 GHz Processor | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Graphics Card | 12GB RAM.

First of all, the installation process was error free(always a good start), the program loads up promptly and so far I have yet to see it crash.

The layout is basic in a good way and is very easy to navigate, you have simple settings to choose from such as where you would like the gameplay recordings to be saved, the quality of the video files(which will impact the file size) and adjustments in the picture output.

As for recording gameplay, couldn't be any simpler, just press the big red button to start the recording process and press it again to stop.

To the right of the record button you have a "time-shift" bar, this is probably the best feature I have ever seen. Lets say you decided to stop recording because the game your playing is not going in your favour, then out of the blue you do the most epic thing you have every done in gaming history, which of course could not be re-created even with the highest bit of luck... well don't despair, the software keeps an ongoing backup for a certain period of time, which by using the "time-shift", you can go back in time to record that epic moment.

There is also an edit tab available, however it is very basic. Tools available are 'trim' & 'delete', it basically lets you keep the good parts and throw the bad out. For those wanting that extra editing experience, I would suggest something like Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 (other software's available).

The final part of the edit section is a quick share where you can click on lets say "YouTube", then all you have to do is type in your account details and it uploads the video for you.

-

Overall I think this is a completely solid package, and whilst it may seem a tad expensive, I do feel you get your monies worth and would highly recommend!

-

♦ UPDATE: 29th December 2012 ♦

Since the review had initially been published, there have been several significant updates for the software:

1) Now supports 1080p.

2) Live Commentary: This is my most favourite update for the software, it lets you capture your voice by using a microphone that's connected to your computer, results are fantastic and I use it all the time.

To use, you have to enable the microphone icon and then select the microphone from the "Audio In", there is also an option which when checked, reduces the game volume as when your talking through the microphone which delivers a fantastic balance between game & microphone audio.

When you decide to stop recording using this feature, as you would before, give it 5-10 seconds after you have finished your gaming before you click to stop recording, this will ensure nothing is cut off.

3) Stream live gameplay onto websites such as Twitch.

4) You can now record from your standard definition retro gaming consoles.

5) Now confirmed it works with Nintendo Wii U via HDMI!

♦ Current software available is 'Version 1.2'. ♦ -

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Hello gamers if you're reading this review you most likely want to capture game content and upload your footage to YouTube well I hope you find this review useful. I'm going to be comparing the Elgato Game Capture HD to the Hauppauge HD PVR and the Elgato Eye TV. And my goal is to give you direction as to which one you should buy based on my experience as a regular uploader of gaming footage to YouTube.

The straight dope: IF YOU JUST WANT TO RECORD GAMEPLAY BUY THIS OVER A PVR IT IS THE PERFECT DEVICE.

To watch Drift0r do a video review search this code on YouTube: 1RXqiyQetiA

Here is Drift0rs how to live stream video on YouTube: dTsBQeoy-nA

This short and sweet review of this device is: Buy this over the Happauge HD-PVR or Eye TV I feel it's just a superior unit for capturing gameplay no extra pieces of equipment are required like with the other products that I mentioned. It's compact and just simply passes your signal directly to your TV and allows you to capture all your gameplay and just jump back simply if you need to grab a clip. I feel that Elgato has been paying attention the gaming community on YouTube and is bought out one of the better products for us to use. The price at the time of this review is $190 about on par with HD PVR's you might be considering and this works seamlessly with Mac and PC as the software is provided for both so to me it's a no-brainer.

Another very cool feature is that it does HDMI recording on the Xbox on the PS3 you need to use a special cable they provide. But I'll discuss that more below.

My only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) is that it doesn't capture 1080p and only 1080i. Not a big deal because I think it's 720p is perfect and when you get into 1080p video files they get ridiculously huge and add to render times. Just an FYI 1080i is 30 frames per second and is interlaced whereas 1080p would be a full 60 frames per second. But then again the files would be ridiculously huge and I feel 720p is great for YouTube.

***UPDATE 1***

The super benefit of this unit is it is bus powered (9aka draws it's power from the usb port) so no wall ac adapter (wall wart) needed! I feel if you want to go places and get gameplay (i.e. a gaming convention/a companies offices/a friends house) all you need is the Game Capture and a laptop. This thing is waaaaay better than an HD-PVR

The meaty review The Elgato Game Capture HD vs HD-PVRs FIGHT!

So most likely your gamer and you have awesome gameplay that you want to put out there on the YouTubes or you've been doing it for a while and maybe your HD PVR finally took a fatal head shot and you might want to get something new. I feel that this device is much better than HD PVR and here is why.

When you're dealing with HD PVR's if you're unfamiliar you have to use YpbPr composite cables (it's 5 cables that are like RCA cables that used to connect your console to your HD PVR) now these composite cables require that you purchase the correct one for your PlayStation or Xbox they cost around $10-$20. And the bundle of cables is a huge mess to deal with and kind of a general PITA. But just to get an idea the general layout is like this.

Console (connects to) HD-PVR (connects to both) your TV and your computer and or having to deal with composite cables when connecting your console to your PVR and then from the PVR to the TV. It is generally a major pain in the butt.

And if you were thinking about getting the EyeTV from Elgato it requires that you purchase a $70-$90 signal splitter to use that as a capture device for the Mac.

On a side note I believe that HD PVR's can be used to record television and such (not a feature I ever used but if you're interested in using them for that as the only scenario where they have an edge over the Elgato Game Capture)

So now on to the game capture and why I think this device is awesome. 1st off you can run HDMI directly from your Xbox into the game capture and then out your TV just plain awesome one cable very simple. Now for the PS3 since Sony are such sticklers for copy protection you need to use a special cable that thankfully Elgato provides. But again its only one cable and not a bundle of 5 cables that you have to deal with when you're using composite cabling. but the beauty of this device plain and simple is that it runs on both Mac and PC and its small and easy to take with you. It really is an amazing thing and beat HD PVR's hands down.

Now the software: Elgato software is amazing I personally use an Happauge HD-PVR for my Mac and use their Eye software so that I can use my Hauppage with my Mac because it only ships with software for Windows (and the Windows software for the Happauge sucks big time). But the software that comes with the game capture is awesome the cool thing is it allows you to not have to constantly be recording your gameplay but if you get a clip that you want to savor game is use the jump that feature and recorded when you're ready. And another awesome feature is that like their EyeTV software you can export and encode in many different formats. I have always and think I will always love the way Elgato gives its users options when it comes to transcoding to different formats. So the software apartment again another win for the game capture HD

The way I look at it if you want to capture game content this is the device that buy I think the day and age of the HD PVRs being used for game capture is over. This thing is awesome!

If you want to check out another cool review of the software by Tejbz search on YouTube for this video: fX5YGLyiUWc

So thank you for reading I hope you found this useful and easy to understand my recommendation is by this device plain and simple. Thank you for reading this please like if you found this review helpful.

Chuck the Capper

Best Deals for Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac

New Edit: Elgato is continually updating their software, so I've updated my review below with important points (and noted where things no longer apply, marked with three asterisks ***).

As the title says, ***this appears to be the opposite of the HD-PVR 2 in almost every regard***. -Since Hauppauge has now released their own capture software for their HD-PVR devices, and I have not used said software, I can't really compare the software.

Physical ease of use the pass-through just plain works. The HD-PVR 2 required the PC to be powered on and the software opened before anything was passed through. The Elgato, I didn't even have the drivers installed yet and the pass-through worked. Definitely a plus.

Video quality the 1080p bitrate on the Elgato is over twice the HD-PVR 2 (30 Mbps vs 14 Mbps). It's not a big deal for just uploading clips to YouTube (since they compress 1080p to the 2-6 Mbps range anyway) but for a filmmaker like me, quality is the number one priority, so the Elgato won out on this alone.

Software the Elgato approach is both good and bad. For filmmaking, HD-PVR 2 is preferred because you hit record, you made a file, and you stopped recording. Then you have a file. That's it. With Elgato, it starts recording as soon as you open the program and doesn't stop until (presumably) you run out of disk space. This is a plus for gameplay footage there's no need to record all the time and then go back later with a different program to cut up your footage, all this is built-in. You scroll back to before that big play happened, hit record, then edit it and export it. In-program cutting with no re-encode is definitely a plus.

***HOWEVER file management definitely needs work. As soon as you hit record, the ENTIRE FILE that it has been recording is saved. So if you open the program for 10 minutes, scroll back 5 minutes and hit record, it shows the latter 5 minutes in the program, but the entire 10 minute file is actually saved. And there's no way to get that first 5 minutes back unless you go get the raw TS file and cut it with a different program. You could have the program open for 45 minutes, hit record on only the last 2 minutes, and you'd have a 2-minute file in the software but a 45-minute file on disk.***

The previous behavior no longer exists during Timeshift recording, the program actually makes multiple smaller files, and then only saves the files it needs to depending on where you scrolled back and hit record. So it will have a small part of the "unrecorded" footage, but when you stop recording, it cuts the file down to exactly where you scrolled back to.

***So to save disk space, I would cut the clip I want and do the "MP4 Original" export, which cuts and remuxes the video into an MP4 format (which jives with Media Player Classic and Premiere Pro CS5 with no problems awesome). And then, after exporting the clip, I delete the original file, and the software DELETES THE EXPORTED FILE TOO. Unless you move the exported MP4 from the default folder, the program deletes it when you delete the source clip, which to me, doesn't make any sense and is why I only gave 3/5 stars. I lost ALL of my first-day test footage because of this bug. (and none of the files were recoverable because I kept playing after exporting and deleting, and recording the new file overwrote all the old ones).***

The above point has been fixed exported clips are no longer deleted when you delete the footage entry.

The "Input Device" selection is also very strange to me. As far as I can tell, it has a huge impact on picture quality. Even with an Xbox 360 plugged in, the "Other" option looks much better than the "Xbox 360" option (deeper blacks, better contrast, etc). So I leave it on "Other". However, when the software is not open, it appears that the option defaults to "Xbox 360" (even when a non-Xbox device is plugged in) so the picture looks worse when the software is closed than when it is open (and thus, recording). I removed the Elgato from the equation and plugged my device directly into the TV, and it looked as good as it did with the "Other" option checked and the software running. So the Elgato is doing some sort of processing on the signal, meaning the pass-through is not a bit-for-bit pass-through of the source material, which is a bit unsettling. But hopefully that's just a bug that can be fixed.

Overall, the hardware is amazing, but the software needs ***a lot of work*** (not as much anymore). It's definitely geared towards the less-technical user (the quality slider is just "good" to "best" and only recently did they add an indicator of what "good" or "best" means in terms of Mbps), so I'd like to see some more advanced options available, and maybe more explanation on what "Input Device" really does (and an option to turn off whatever processing it's doing).

But the bottom line is, it records 1080p at 30 Mbps, which is a better bitrate than even my professional video camera. So this device beats out the HD-PVR 2 (which is 14 Mbps) on that alone.

P.S. I tested setting my Xbox 360 to 1080p output using the component cables, and the Elgato read it and recorded from it just fine (albeit not as good quality as HDMI), but I'm assuming that means you PS3 users can record at 1080p.

*** Some other notes that still apply as of July 2013:

Flashback (timeshift) recording can be disabled, but when it is, you cannot pause the preview in any way.

Streaming to both twitch.tv and YouTube has been added, and works wonderfully

They added in-program commentary recording from any microphone on your computer

Dolby Digital will not pass-through the Elgato downmixes it to stereo for both recording and the pass-through

In conclusion, this is the best high-definition USB capture device on the market right now. The only better devices would be ones that don't have real-time compression (i.e. Blackmagic)

Honest reviews on Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have to admit that although I have been an avid gamer back in the college days, I don't spend any more than an hour or two per week playing video games. I don't own a PS3 so I didn't test it for PS3. For Xbox 360, it works right out of the box!

I found this device can capture pretty much any (unprotected) video source. I think Elgato should read this review and advertise this as a general HD video capture device not just a game capture device for Xbox 360 and PS3.

The best part about this device (as others have mentioned it), is that it uses one USB cable for both power and data you don't have to deal with separate power cable to hook up to an AC outlet.

Another thing that I like about this is that this device is so light and so small that you can take it with you anywhere in your bag. This is about the same size as the popular external hard drives only lighter!

______________________________

*** Xbox 360 ***

After hooking up the HDMI cables from this little device to my Xbox 360 and then back to my LED TV, I tested by recording Gears of War 3, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures. The software worked flawlessly with Windows 7. The captured video was HD-quality. The software allows me to do basic video editing and directly share it with my social network or post it on YouTube. Right from the provided software, I can also export it into Windows Movie Maker if I want to do more video editing.

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*** HD TV capture ***

I am into capturing live TV events for personal use. Though this was not advertised as a TV capture device, I couldn't see why it won't be able capture video and audio feed from my Comcast Motorola digital TV set-top box. So when I hooked up the HDMI cable to the digital cable box, the device's software quickly identified it as "Protected HDCP". But to overcome this, I instead hooked up an AV to component adapter cable and connected to my digital TV box using component cables for video and audio. Viola! I can now capture live HD TV!!

Here's why I would get this over instead of Elgato EyeTV even if I am only capturing live TV:

1. Both are similarly priced (~$180)

2. EyeTV appears to only work with Mac not PC. Game Capture works with PCs and Macs.

3. EyeTV does not support connection out to your HD TV since it has no HDMI out ports. Game Capture includes a HDMI out port.

In short, with Game Capture device, you can capture Xbox 360, PS3 as well as digital TV on both Windows and Macs, but with EyeTV device you are very limited in your choices. The only downside that I can see is that EyeTV allows you to schedule recording while this device's software doesn't have that feature. If you don't care about using this for DVR, this would be a better solution than EyeTV to capture digital TV (in my opinion).

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*** Screen capture from Windows and Macs ***

I've found some additional uses for this device that I'm sure other geeks must find useful. I tested it to capture the screen output from my MacBook Air by connecting a Thunderbolt to HDMI converter cable into the HDMI in port and It worked without a glitch with the highest video quality settings. Likewise, my Dell Studio laptop has an HDMI out cable so it works with that too. So not only can I use this little magical device to capture games, digital TV, but I can also use it to record training sessions on computer if I wanted to by capturing the screen output from my computer to another computer. This essentially provides the same functionality that you'd get if you used one of the software-based screen capturing applications such as Camtasia Studio that retails for $300.

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In conclusion, not only do I recommend this device to the avid gamers out there who want to capture their gaming feats but I also recommend this to people who are considering other HD TV capturing devices to capture HD TV and to people who want to just capture just about any unprotected HDMI source.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Elgato Game Capture HD PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 Recorder for Mac

From Matrox Mini, to miscellaneous PVRs, to Roxio's (anemic SD) offering, the gadget landscape is littered with "not quite there" products for game capture. Let's get this out of the way: I SUCK AT GAMES-I am a n00b in perpetuity. Yet I play them obsessively. But as a video editor by trade, I have been interested for a while in dipping my hand in Machinima. The Elgato unit is just what the doctor ordered! It is, pardon my French, pretty much "retard proof". The UI is super simple, clean and elegant. (I can't speak to the editor as I use Media Composer or Adobe Premiere to edit.) Not only can I use this baby for Xbox and PS3 captures, but for PC to PC captures. For folks playing GTA 4 (or Crysis) with GPU-heavy mods (like iceenhancer for GTA), here's a way to get your (near) photo-realistic Liberty City stories made! I have successfully tested the capture on 4 different Windows 7 machines: 2 laptops, 2 desktops. Yes, like all other game capture files, there is a bit of image softening, but nothing a simple sharpen filter can't fix. The image and audio pre-capture tweaks are a nice touch. And the longer mini-USB to USB cable is much appreciated. Even with the included short HDMI cable and the aforementioned USB cable, you can set your capture laptop on the sofa next to you while fragging a swath through Halo.

(For all those who offer up FRAPS as a cheap alternative for PC gaming capture, have you actually checked your frame rate while using it? On a 3+Ghz quad-core/Sandy Bridge rig with 24 gb RAM, my fps in games like GTA -even without iceenhancer modrarely stays at 30 or even gets to thirty. The same goes for Crysis, Dead Space, Deus Ex Human Revolution and a whole bunch of others.) The icing on the cake? IT'S BUS POWERED!!! No lugging around wall warts with this baby. All you also-rans trying to make these devices, surrender now. Game over. (I don't give out five stars easily.)