Buy Dance Central 2 - Xbox 360

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For those of you who have the Kinect, Dance Central was THE game to get for it. With songs like "Poison" and "Brick House", it was the first game that actually made me want to get off my butt and dance. Though to be fair, Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures are great games in their own right, there's nothing quite like the feeling you get when your dance moves sends your friend crying off to mommy. Haha but in all seriousness, Dance Central made dancing fun. With Break it Down mode, you could learn moves at your own pace, and the actual song never stopped just because you weren't doing so well that one time.

If you didn't think it could get any better, trust me -it does. The main feature to come to Dance Central 2 is the ability of two people to play at the same time. The function works well enough, though it does get awkward depending on which songs you do. It's actually not a fault of the Kinect, just that one person's body movements sometimes gets in front of yours, and it confuses the game. A nice addition to the game is that when you pick a song, before you play it, the game actually does a little preview of the dance moves involved with the songs a nice quick way to see how difficult the moves actually are (or aren't).

You also can import your songs from the original Dance Central, unfortunately you have to pay for the privilege. I really shouldn't have to spend Microsoft Points to redownload the songs just allow me to store the songs from Dance Central on the HDD or USB stick, and play them from there in Dance Central 2. Also, one of the commentors had mentioned that the dancers don't do their little quirky sayings and moves in the beginning of songs anymore. He's correct, but I'm sure I like it or not. Having them making random sayings or moves gave them personality almost making me choose one over the others. Maybe it's just me though....

One more thing that can be hit or miss: the game now allows you to go through menus and change options by the regular hand swipes, or with your voice. The voice recognition does work, but I've noticed that it sometimes has a hard time picking up your voice when you're in a song. I really don't like having to turn my TV down when I'm singing "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz, ok Harmonix??

Those are really the only three things I can say that are somewhat a negative to this fantastic sequel. They also changed up the songs somewhat picking some more 90s and today's hits, like "What is Love?" by Haddaway and "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. I have to say it flawless performance on this, Harmonix. Another thing I enjoyed: Dance Battles just got a whole lot more interesting. Instead of having Freestyle like in Perform It mode, they took it out, and put in Freestyle Moves, where the game shows you 4 different moves, and each person can choose whichever they want to perform, but if you and the other player start performing the SAME move, you basically go head-to-head to see who can finish the move correctly FIRST. I can't tell you how much more fun and competitive that made Dance Battles. Also something to note Dance Central 2 introduced Gold Moves, which are worth 4x the points. And yes Gold Moves are in Freestyle Moves (can't tell you how much of a competition that creates).

Between the awesome selection of music to the once-again awesome and nice twist of humor in the move names (Sir Mix-It-Up, Funky Charleston just a few of the ones I noticed), Dance Central 2 proves that if you just put the time and effort into it, sequels really can be better than the originals....

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I'm an old lady, but I love the Dance Central series. And DC2 is a worthy -better than worthy -successor to DC.

Like in DC, you'll get to learn new dance moves and choreographies, sweat, and generally have a good time set to good music. But there are a few differences.

1) Graphics. The graphics are a lot better this go-round, from the backgrounds to the way the characters move. Instead of being set in a gritty city setting, they've moved down to a Cali/Miami-styled place, with richer and brighter colors. DC2 looks amazing. The incidental music feels more sophisticated.

2) Instead of dancing as a particular character, you dance with a "crew," whether that means the athletes of Riptide, the club kidz of Hi-Def, or one of the other styled crews. I haven't seen Dare or Oblio, two fan faves from DC, so far in a few hours of play. Boo. However, the crews mean there's a campaign mode. You select the level of difficulty for the dances at the outset (Easy, Medium or Hard), then cruise from one crew to the next dancing their routines with them. This means you get to go through the campaign three times, if you want, and the personalities of the crews come through.

3) Fitness is tweaked. There are playlists, which load pretty rapidly, so you can either do a 20-minute low-impact workout or a 50-minute "long hall." The game estimates calories for you, though I'm curious to know how it does so since a medium-sized old lady like myself burns a vastly lower amount of calories than someone significantly larger and a lot more than a skinny kid. You can also create your own playlists. If there were a "shuffle mode" that would have been perfection.

4) Break It Down mode is WAY better. You can actually get through it faster than in DC, and using voice commands can slow it down, video your movements and check against the dancer, and focus on one or two moves you may need to get through. The only reason I'll never have all the achievements on DC is because one is "get 100 percent on all songs in break it down." If this tech had existed for DC, I might have gotten it.

5) Import all your DC songs. This is great, but 400 MSP? Come on. I'm glad I got the pre-order free points to do it. But the instructions were wrong -don't redeem code from inside the game for this, go through your XboxLive account. Seriously, there are too many digits for the in-game code redemption, which works for the 240 MSP card you get inside the package.

Speaking of songs, there are some really good ones on DC2. Lots of them are not family-friendly, even with words blipped out. And there are a lot of "meh" songs. I think my biggest disappointment in the DC series is that there is a lot of great dance music out there, but a lot of what DC licenses is ... "meh." What's up with that? Why don't they get a whack at better songs? They get a lot of great songs through "Rock Band," why is a dance game such a challenge?

While I'm on about song choices, I think one of the things that hampers the series is its music choices are all in a limited genre -hip hop, classic disco/funk and pop. Why not bust out an occasional jazz standard, rockabilly or country song, at least for DLC? Here's where having characters and crews kind of limits the range, one way that the Just Dance series overcomes these limitations. Of course, Just Dance 3 is way more family-friendly than DC. But my point is that if you're going to limit your range, you need to get the best of what's available from that range, and I don't know that Harmonix necessarily does that (I mean, three novelty songs -the Numa Numa song, "What is Love?" and "Baby Got Back" are supplemented with the Humpty Dance. This is too much novelty. At least they're fun to dance, if not to have stuck in your head -damn you, Haddaway.)

6) Two people can dance at the same time. Yay! Party time! And there are mini-games in the multiplayer mode.

7) You can shut off Freestyle mode and just do programmed moves for all the DC2 dances (not so much the older stuff you have).

8) The way it reads your moves seems to have improved. Although going "down" in a scroll menu you can still have a rough time of it getting "stuck."

At any rate, there were reasons that DC was the best, most-popular Kinect title on the market forever. And those same reasons -fun, fitness, challenge, friendly multiplayer -are still around, and even stronger, in DC2.

Best Deals for Dance Central 2 - Xbox 360

When you think about the Kinect, there are a handful of games that come to mind. Without doubt, Dance Central has earned its spot in the Kinect Hall of Fame. There are dance games and then there is Dance Central. Millions of fans have benefited from the fun approach of dance instruction and often club floors are living testimony of Dance Centralfs impact. Now, the DC crew is back and better than ever in Dance Central 2 for Kinect.

FEATURES

There are many positive things to talk about with Dance Central 2. Immediately you will notice the clean interface and ease of menu navigation. The original version of DC was already clean, but Harmonix took their time to make navigation even more of a breeze. This aided tremendously by the addition of voice commands. Within seconds of popping in the game, you can be dancing. For me, all it took was literally saying, gXbox, dance, song, Like a G6, XBox danceh. And off I went.

For those that have already played the first Dance Central and even purchased songs, everything is ready to transfer directly into Dance Central 2. Purchased songs will automatically show up in Dance Central 2s playlist. To carry over all the songs from the original Dance Central, you will need the code that came with the first game and 400 MS Points (5 USD). The transition is smooth, but you will need a harddrive or USB drive, as well as a connection to the internet. Once the songs carry over, everything is integrated into the game. Your play list becomes HUGE. All of Dance Central 2s new features are supported except the option to skip the freestyle part of the song.

The new game play modes are subtle, but add a lot of play value to Dance Central 2. My personal favorite new additions include the ability to make my own playlists and the Dance Crew challenges. There are already a decent amount of pre-made playlists, but you are able to pick your own songs for some killer back-to-back dancing sessions. As for the Dance Crew challenges, this is as close as you are going to get in a story mode for the game. Essentially, you meet a Dance Crew, dance the selected songs, and unlock the next crew. This makes it more of an immersive game versus dancing for the heck of it.

One huge bonus of Dance Central 2 is the ability to have two players, either playing cooperatively or battling it out. The second player can hop in and out of the game with ease and at any time. Like the song? Jump in and play. That easy.

One of the main niceties of playlists is for working out. Our Kinect to Fitness and Health group has already seen great success in people losing up to and over 100 pounds from playing the original Dance Central. On top of the improvements already mentioned, the workout mode now has its own screen in Dance Central 2. Calories are tracked from every activity, including Break It Down mode. When doing the playlists, the songs flow from one to another without interruption. What I absolutely LOVE is how quickly you now move into the song. No more waiting for your dancer to bounce around and talk buckets of smack. They might do a quick move and a few words, but nothing like the original Dance Central. And finally, when the dancing is done, the calories are added all up. The calorie tracker may not be totally correct (no weight or gender asked), but you definitely have an idea of how close you are to burning off that Halloween candy.

Break It Down mode has returned and has been made more inviting for us impatient folks. The same mode from the original has returned, but with added voice control. There is a sweet satisfaction in yelling, gskiph after being told to perform ehitch a ridef for the millionth time. Better yet, for the returning veterans, you will be able to pick out certain steps to learn, versus learning the routine. And for the curious mind that wants to know exactly what they are doing, you can shout, grecord videoh and a video of you dancing a particular move will show up behind the dance leader for comparison.

The final added feature that really brightened my day was the cleaned up store-front. The first Dance Central had the ability to buy extra songs, but was made cumbersome by having to pull up an extra menu and scroll through a few songs at a time. The new store is built into the game and is just as easy to navigate as the playerfs song list is. With a quick flick of the wrist, you can be jamming to James Brown in no time.

GRAPHICS AND SONGS

Despite all the nifty new features, the dividing point between Dance Central 2 and Just Dance 3 seems to be the songs and the graphics. Ifll have a more detailed comparison of these two games up later. As for Dance Central 2, the graphics are very similar, but have definitely had an overall. Character models are similar, but backgrounds and special effects have been smoothed out and upgraded. The game is a lot more pleasing to the eye. Between the scenic locales and neon hand paths, everything feels more alive than the original.

Everything in a dance game comes down to one thing: songs. The fact is, if you enjoy the music, you will enjoy dancing to it. Dance Central 2 has everything from Gaga to Willow in it. There isnft a song on the list that you probably wonft hear at the club. The song variety is a little more eclectic than the first Dance Central, but you still wonft find anything your granny might be anxious to jump into. The songs are all fun, even the Bieber one, but thankfully there are those playlists to pick your favoritescjust in case youfve had your fill of ethe Biebh.

THE FIVE Ffs

When reviewing games, I like to look for the five ffs: family, fitness, fun, functionality, and firsts. Dance Central 2 is rated for the teen crowd and above. Mostly for lyrics, but there are a few mildly suggestive dances. I mean, do you really think you can dance Baby Got Back or The Humpty Dance without smacking some booty? For the fitness folks, there isnft a better game I can think of that will get your cardio flowing. Playlists and trimmed song intros will make sure you are getting a full heart-pounding workout. Without doubt Dance Central 2 is one of the most fun games around. Now with two player tracking and voice commands, the same trusted functionality of the original has been upped. There isnft a lot ground-breaking features that Dance Central 2 brings to the table, but you can expect a lot of additional features compared to the original. Calorie tracking, playlists, uploading to Facebook, and more have all been done by other games, but now you can have the complete package.

PROS

Streamlined play

Two players

Playlist creation

Calorie tracker

Many more!!

CONS

None!

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you have ever been interested in a dancing game, then this is the one to get. With the streamlined play, ability to bring in your previously owned songs, and added player tracking, youfll be partying for quite a while. The song selection has spread out, but still maintains its roots. Essentially, the bottom line is, if you own a Kinect then you will need to eventually own Dance Central 2.

Honest reviews on Dance Central 2 - Xbox 360

I must say the song selection, character design, co-op play, and newly renovated moves are refreshing, but sadly this game has one design flaw unlike Dance Central 1, which worked well with my large frame and helped me to lose 100lbs (Yay me!), I have found within the first hour of play, that it will not register me below the waist at all (Even though I am wearing skin-tight pants, and have checked to make sure I appear fully in the camera frame), and it will barely register my arms, although this may be due to a baggy sleeves issue. However, this was never an issue before in DC1, wearing the exact same clothing. I feel like I have wasted my money in a game that keeps telling me I am doing the moves wrong when I know, as a veteran 5-Star DC1 player, that I am doing them right. I can't imagine what the issue here is... a change in programming perhaps? However, I really regret pre-ordering it now, as it cannot be returned (as it is opened). It's really too bad. I feel like I am stuck with a game I cannot play. I hope other larger people like myself will be helped by my review, and at least rent the game before buying to see if it will register you correctly. I gave this a five star rating for fun, because even though it would not register me, I got a great workout and had fun playing this game with my husband and friends. It gets only a 3 star rating overall because of the issue I have described. I should mention, to make sure this is not a camera or hardware issue, that all my thinner friends registered for the camera and were able to play just fine.

UPDATE 1/13/2013: Dusted off the game after basically ignoring it for awhile to find a series up updates available which seem to have fixed my problems. It reads me fairly well now, and while not perfect, makes the game fun.

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Dance Central was a huge step forward in dance video games when it was released as a launch title for the Xbox Kinect. It wasn't the first video game to let you use "real dance steps" (Just Dance had pioneered the concept a year earlier on the Wii). But by making use of the Kinect, it offered unprecedented accuracy in evaluating your precise moves. The question is, does Dance Central 2 move the platform forward? The answer is a resounding "yes".

As soon as I started up the game, one thing I noticed right away was that my whole body was getting picked up by the Kinect sensor, even though my TV is only about 6 feet from me. I can't tell you how many Kinect games can only detect my torso and above.

Something else I noticed right off the bat was that the user interface that Harmonix developed was the best I've seen of any Kinect game. You can scroll through long song lists easily, and menu selections require simple and foolproof "swipes" of the hand. Microsoft should require every game developer to use this instead of the current situation where each invents their own.

Okay, on to the game play itself.

There are five menu options when you start Dance Central. They are:

Dance

Crew Challenge

Fitness

Options

Buy New Dances

As with the previous version of Dance Central, you can just jump right into dancing by selecting "Dance". You'll be shown a list of songs to choose from. I noticed that as of today the Amazon product page doesn't have the list of songs, so I'll provide it here (the complexity of the song is in parentheses):

Atlantic Connection and Armanni Reign Reach (1)

B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars Nothin' on You (3)

Bananarama Venus (2)

Bobby Brown My Prerogative (4)

Britney Spears Toxic (7)

Bruno Mars Grenade (4)

Chingy Right Thurr (3)

Ciara ft. Petey Pablo Goodies (4)

Daddy Yankee ft. Fergie Impacto Remix (2)

Daft Punk Technologic (6)

Darude Sandstorm (1)

David Guetta ft. Akon Sexy Chick (7)

Diddy ft. Keyshia Cole Last Night (2)

Digital Underground The Humpty Dance (2)

Donna Summer Hot Stuff (3)

Electric Valentine Body to Body (3)

Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull I Like It (3)

EXILE I Wish for You (4)

Far East Movement ft. Cataracs and Dev Like a G6 (5)

Flo Rida ft. David Guetta Club Can't Handle Me (3)

Gnarls Barkley Run I'm a Natural Disaster (6)

Haddaway What Is Love (5)

Justin Bieber Somebody to Love (6)

Kevin Lyttle Turn Me On (2)

Kurtis Blow The Breaks (2)

La Roux Bulletproof (2)

Lady Gaga Bad Romance (5)

Lady Gaga Born This Way (5)

Lena Satellite (7)

Little Boots Meddle (4)

Mary J. Blige Real Love (1)

Missy Elliot Get Ur Freak On (7)

Montell Jordan This Is How We Do It (2)

New Boyz You're a Jerk (3)

Nicki Minaj ft. Sean Garrett Massive Attack (4)

O-Zone Mai Ai Hee Dragostea Din Tei (1)

Remy Ma Conceited There's Something About Remy (5)

Rihanna Rude Boy (3)

Sean Kingston Fire Burning (3)

Sir Mix-a-Lot Baby Got Back Mix Mix (6)

Tweet ft. Missy Elliot Oops Oh My (3)

Usher ft. Lil' Jon & Ludacris Yeah! (5)

Usher ft. Pitbull DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love (5)

Willow Smith Whip My Hair (5)

For each song, each player can select a difficulty of Easy, Medium, or Hard. The "complexity of the song" plus "difficulty level" together dictate how complex and intricate the choreography is.

As others have noted, new to Dance Central 2 is the ability for two dancers to dance at once head-to-head. Once you select a song, the screen basically splits into two sides, where both dancers select the difficulty level they want to dance to (this allows for a "golf-like handicap" where strong dancers and weaker dancers can compete head-to-head). Here's where you really do need at least 8-10 feet of space and to stand separately, or you'll be bumping into each other and confusing the system if your motions cross.

I was a little perplexed as to why the system automatically assumed that two players; I would have rather seen the split screen come up only when another person stepped into the camera. Still, if you're playing solo, you can just ignore the left side of the screen and select "Play Solo".

The first time you play, you start out by reviewing the basics. For those who don't know, the concept is simple: you try to mirror the movements of an on-screen dancer as if you're looking through a mirror. A series of unique flashcards, with real dance move names like "cabbage patch", "snake", and "shoulder pop", will tell you which moves you should be performing as well as which ones are coming up. You have a couple cues to tell you how well you're dancing--a "spotlight" under your feet will display encouraging words when you hit the moves, the onscreen dancers will glow red if you're out of place, a boombox will display 1-5 stars depending on your progress through the song. Gold flashcards are worth 4x the points, and if you nail multiple moves at once, you'll "pump up the room".

Most of the reviewers have already talked about how spot-on the motion detection is, and all I can say is I agree. Every motion of your arms, legs, and body seem to be tracked almost perfectly. There are certain types of actions that the Kinect isn't necessarily great for (gunfire, precision sword fighting, and auto racing come to mind), but it's games like this where the Kinect's capabilities really shine.

After the song is done, you can view Photos of your performance. A nice new touch is that there is also a "Break Down" section, where the system will identify which areas of the song you didn't perform very well in, and review which areas you need to practice.

"Crew Challenge" is another new feature of the game. This is a 2-player "story" mode where both players perform as a "Dance Crew" battling to get to the top. Scoring works the same as in Dance mode with a few differences. For example, during dance battles, each member of the crew will be able to "go solo" where good performances will result in double the points. During a "Free 4 All", the dancers have to perform any of the moves of the song to score points. And so on. I was a little disappointed that the mode required two players, as this leaves out a large percentage of people. Having said that, if you've got a dancing buddy, you're going to love it.

To play "Fitness" mode you need to sign into a gamer profile. There's no option on the main menu to do this, you need to go to the Kinect menu and do it. Once you're signed in, you're brought to a menu where you can "Enable Fitness Mode". Once you've done this, the game will begin to track the calories you burn and the length of time you've played the game, both per session and lifetime. There are also a couple suggested workouts song mixes you can choose from, with names ranging from "Easy Start" (a 20-minute workout consisting of lighter songs such as Last Night and Hot Stuff) to "Sprint" (a 10-minute workout consisting of intense songs such as "Run (I'm a Natural Disaster" and "Toxic") and "The Long Haul" (a 49 minute marathon consisting of just about everything). I would have liked some more features within Fitness mode, such as the ability to set goals, set a schedule, see graphs of your progress, and so on. But regardless of all that, Dance Central 2 does have the potential of being a great way to work out that surpasses any step aerobics class at the gym.

In the "Options" menu, you can turn on and off Photos, Freestyling, Autosave, and Voice Control. There's also an intruguing option called "Enter Cheats".

"Buy New Dances" leads you to the downloadable content store. As of this writing there are 32 additional songs, each costing 240 Microsoft Points (about $3 a song). You can also purchase Dance Packs for 480-960 Microsoft Points each, and Marathon Packs for 1400 Microsoft Points. There's a pretty good variety of artists to choose from, from Ne-Yo to Rihanna to James Brown to The Black Eyed Peas to Sean Paul.

Bottom line, Dance Central 2 is a great sequel to an already great game. Of course, there is going to be a debate over whether Dance Central 2 or Just Dance 3 is the "better game", and I'm sure opposing sides will defend their choice with religious ferocity. But from my point of view, they're very different games. Just Dance seems to put more of an emphasis on being party game that's just "fun" (with more frivolous and lighthearted choreography and multi-platform play, but perhaps at the expense of precise motion tracking), while Dance Central definitely puts a higher emphasis on technical accuracy and perfecting the dance steps. But at the end of the day, both are extremely enjoyable to play, and both can provide a great workout.

But when all is said and done, from a motion detection perspective and a game which can teach you real dance moves that you can take onto any dance floor, Dance Central 2 right now represents the pinnacle of "real dance move-based" dance games on any platform.

PopCap Arcade Vol. 1 (Bejeweled 2, Astro Pop, Feeding Frenzy, Zuma) Reviews

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If you price these separately on Xbox Live Marketplace, you'll find that this collection on disc is actually a decent value. And unlike purchasing the digital download equivalents from Xbox Live Marketplace, you will be able to resell this disc later if you no longer want it.

Of the four games, the most entertaining games for me are probably "Feeding Frenzy" and "Zuma". "Feeding Frenzy" is somewhat easy to complete, offering two different modes -a basic 'career' mode and then a 'timed' mode. The controls are decent, requiring twitchy thumb movements because your "fish" never actually stops floating in the play area. "Zuma" is addictive -it gets very fast-paced and hectic and you'll find your heart racing at times just trying to stay ahead of the increasingly challenging levels. The music is extremely entertaining and addictive. "Bejeweled" comes in as my third favorite, and is a very simple game to understand and play. If you've played Hexix HD, and you can find patterns in colors, you can play "Bejeweled". "Astropop" made the least impression on me, and is not the type of game I enjoy playing. It involves building groups of like-colored blocks in order to "pop" them, as they descend from the top of the screen, with the goal to clear the screen. It's not a difficult game, but after a short while I did not find it very entertaining.

What is odd about the collection is the way it runs from the Xbox 360 console. When you insert the disc, the game disc will load, and then deposit you back on the 360's dashboard, in your list of Arcade titles where the games will be listed. When you select a game from the list, the disc spins-up, and the game starts. I probably would have preferred an on-disc menu -in other words, if you start the disc, you can select one of the four games from a "game" menu. The game disc runs/spins the entire time you are playing, so your console ends up being much louder than if you purchased the downloadable content versions from the Marketplace. This is unfortunate since the games are very small in size.

The games include the same achievements that are available in the downloadable versions, so there is a total of 800 achievement points available. The achievements are somewhat challenging, which gives this collection excellent replay value, depending upon how much you like each of the individual titles.

Overall, a good collection for the money, with decent replay value, and potentially good future resale value as well.

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PopCap Aracade Hits Vol. 1 is a collection of games that were playable through Xbox Live. Now, if you missed out on any of these games, now is your chance to play them!

Bejeweled: Probably the best game of the bunch. A modern-like Tetris involving jems instead of blocks, and they don't come free-falling so you have time to make a match. Match three identical jems in a pattern to blast them off the board. There are four different modes to play, and I would recommend first-timers play endless mode to pratice before you start problem solving mode or building a score in the normal mode. This game is truly addictive!

Astro Pop: It's like a classic arcade game, grab blocks and blast them away. For me, I didn't prefer this game much.

Feeding Frenzy: Fun for any age! Eat fish that are smaller than you to grow bigger and advance through the different stages to become top of the food chain. The last floor is the most challenging, and it might drive you nuts after awhile!

Zuma: Problem-solving game. Shoot balls to make a combo and keep the balls from falling into the golden skull. The further you advance in the game, the faster the balls move. You've gotta' be quick fingers to do this game!

Overall: A nice set of arcade games that are hours of non-stop fun! Custom soundtracks are available for all these games if you want to play by your own tunes. Recommended for all ages!

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bought this for myself since these are the games I play online. but then my wife took over & I'm even lucky to play it at all. the controls are different from playing on my computer, but with a little time easy to master on my 360. would recommend this game for a good past time.

Honest reviews on PopCap Arcade Vol. 1 (Bejeweled 2, Astro Pop, Feeding Frenzy, Zuma)

I don't play this game much any more, I merely got it because I jumped from lightly using an n64 to an xbox, so not much of a gamer I was nervous about how to handle the controller and work it.. This buy was for all intensive purposes to get acquainted with software... it did the job.. and I have young neighbors who like to come over and beg to play the thing so instead of handing them something like fable (Adult content, lots of reading, of which they are currently learning), this is a great crowd pleaser to them. Hours go by and parents come looking for them, laughing all the way over.

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This game is a great addition to you Xbox 360 library! You'll have fun trying to beat your friend's high scores or even your own!

Reviews of Xbox 360 LIVE 4000 Points

Customer Ratings:

First off, I'm an otherwise very happy Xbox Live Gold member. Instead of buying a points card from a retailer, I made the mistake of buying the points online from Microsoft through the Xbox. I used my gamer tag account and entered my credit card on the TV and I bought 500 points. I got the email confirmation that I bought the points. I then used the points. So far so good.

Over the next two days, four other Xbox charges totaling $30 mysteriously appeared on my credit card. Someone bought more points and a game subscription using my credit card info. I called Xbox Live supporttheir answer was "we don't give refunds." I explained that it's not a REFUND if my account is used fradulently. They still said no.

Note that clearly the security leak was with them, as no other fraudulent charges appeared on my credit card...just Xbox charges.

I then asked them to delete my credit card info from my Xbox Live account. They said they could not do this. I could not believe this! Given that someone had access to my credit card and they were unwilling to remove my credit card info, I had no choice but to cancel my credit card.

My advicebuy the points from a trusted source like Amazon. Don't ever give Microsoft direct access to your credit card info. I hope this helps.

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This is a lot better than doing it through your xbox. For one, no tax. The other reason, for me at least, is that if you put your credit card into xbox live, you cant remove it. You can change it, but it will always have a credit card on file. Buying these points through xbox live would have cost me $54.12. I would rather save that $4.12, thank you.

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I've lived overseas in Europe for the past 8 years working with the military. The thing about Xbox live is that they dont accept APO address's for the credit card (Armed Forces Overseas address). Now i can order the code in 5 seconds instead of having to buy a card and have it shipped to me. Thankyou sooooo much Amazon.

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This is a great denomination to release Microsoft points in. Since most games on Xbox Live Arcade are purchased in 400 point ($5) increments this card give you the ability to download ten 400 point games or five 800 point games or some other combination (you get the idea). $50 is also a much more acceptable amount than the $62.50 for 5000 points. Since this is on a card it makes this possible to give as a gift or buy without using a credit card. This would be a worthwhile purchase for anyone with an Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

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These reviews show up on the list for all four options, the one, three, and twelve month subscriptions, as well as the marketplace points. Carefully choose the "Size" above, which is where you choose between live "gold" months and marketplace points. Amazon just put all of these different products onto the same page, calling them different sizes.

There is of course a difference between months and points, as you can spend points without a gold subscription (just use the free included "silver" subscription with every XBOX 360), and you can certainly buy gold months without having to get any extra points. So one is not required for the other. The points get you extra content downloads, and the months get you online play time.

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

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List Price: $199.99
Sale Price: $119.99
Today's Bonus: 40% Off

I think I have a problem. I can't stop getting modded controllers from these guys. Me and my friends have gotten 4 controllers in total from them and have not been let down once. All different styles but each one is awesome in its own way. The chrome controls just pop with my gaming set up. We've got the custom pc custom xbox custom ps3 a sweet tv and a bunch of custom controllers. These things are awesome

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My son loves all the special effects that the regular controller doesn't have.Thanx for the invention of the modded controller.

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This controller is my new favorite. I spend like all of my paycheks on custom drop shot controllers. The shell is soo shiny. I cant even use it in front of a window because it blinds me. MAke sure you read the directions and dont change the programming mode for COD or it wont work right. I think its like 8 shots per second for the FAL. Stay in mode 1 and 2 for COD and it is awesome.

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I received my first $85 controller I purchased for my son and it stopped working within 5 minutes. I then had to pay my own shipping expenses to return the controller, they sent me another controller only after prompting them to find out if they had received me returned item or feat the status was on it. After receiving the second controller it stopped working within one day if receiving it. At this point I sent back the second controller paying once again my own shipping costs. I asked for a full refund, and have sent several emails and have gotten NO responses and no refund. Do not order from Genius Mods through amazon. You will receive defective products, you will pay for your own shipping costs for refunds and ultimately they ripped me off for over $$85! Just a fair warning! Do not purchase from this company!

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It is cool having the drop shot, and the manual makes it super easy to use, but it randomly turns off A LOT. Plus, the headphone jack is broken, and that makes my mic not work at all, so when I use the controller I can't use a mic.

Global Game Gear GGG0024 Black Xbox Thumbsticks (4 Pack) Reviews

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I purchased these Analog Sticks to replace the ones that were chewed up by my dog. I installed them on a Halo 3 Wireless controller. You can't tell that they're not made my Microsoft. They fix snugly and have the same texture as the original sticks. They are exactly the same. Would highly recommend to anyone that needs to replace damaged Analog sticks on their controller.

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Just to let you know there are 2 sticks in one package. There was another reviewer that only got 1?? Idk whats up with that, I read that and bought 2 so now I have 4 sticks...They also come with a small "allen wrench shaped (L)" Screw driver for the controller. I didn't see that in any reviews or the product description and bought a screwdriver. It was only four dollars but I still didn't have to buy it. The sticks are nice and have nice grip and shape to them. They feel just like the ones stock from MS.

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I play mostly shooters, MW2, Black Ops, Halo, etc. Its a little rough on controllers and even if you get refurbs they are $30 each. These, for a couple bucks, made my sloppy worn controller feel almost like new again. I assumed the mechanism in the controller wore out but it turns out that most of the wear seems to be these joysticks, I will buy these again when they wear out again.

FYI, amazon, this is NOT a video game so why am i rating the "fun" level>?

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I got reaped off. I only got 2 thumbsticks and a L tool wrapt in plastic held togheter by tape nothing like the product shown in the picture...when i ask 4 my other 2 thumbsticks they ask me 4 a photo of the product which i send, that was about half a year ago...

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if you play fifa or any other games that requires you to really push those analog sticks then don't buy this!

the first time i played with it, within 3 days i had to change it because the protective rubber slipped off into my hands. The next day the new one only lasted 3 hours because the rubber also slipped off in my hands. All 4 thumbstick rubber slipped off into my hands. Wouldn't recommend this to anyone!

Cheap Trine - PC

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $4.50
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'Trine' is a 3rd person, horizontal platform scroller, which I downloaded through 'Steam'; the cost...$29.99

However, don't let my opening statement regarding 3rd person scroller, put you off; this is an interesting and addictive game. In fact it won the 'Best Downloadable game' by 'Gamespot's' 3E Editor's Choice Awards.

The Game:

Three characters (a wizard, a thief and a knight) are physically joined into one person by a magic object called the 'Trine'. They must travel (all the while using their collective skills of conjuring, jumping, swinging and fighting), an evil-laden labyrinth to escape, and thus return themselves into their individual persons.

Each character has different 'skills'. The wizard...object creation and levitation; the thief...a powerful bow and grappling-hook device; and the knight...a fighters sword and shield AND a hammer. Only one character can be activated at a time so you must determine which 'skills' are needed to accomplish the task/puzzle before you.

As you proceed along you will find 'treasure chests' with upgrades and bonuses; there are also experience points gained while fighting, with which you can upgrade your characters abilities and skills. And this is were the game really becomes interesting, because sometime these chests and bonus vials are just visible at screens edge, so you need to figure out a way to get to these precious objects, in order to obtain the bonuses contained within.

The only annoying thing about this game is the game-save method; games are automatically saved at game-generated checkpoints; if all characters die, you restart back at the last checkpoint reached...and this is OK because this checkpoint is usually not too far back, The problem is if, for some reason, you must exit the game and restart at a later time (without having finished the last level you were on)...because then, you must restart from the very beginning of the level. So a restart at the beginning of the last level is not only quite repetitive but also very irritating, because some of the levels are quite long.

Conclusion:

This is not a particularly long game...maybe 8-10 hours if played continuously, but it is addictive and it's one of those games that just keeps you coming back. It does have some replay value as you'll probably not find all the 'bonuses' on the first time through. Lack of full, anytime game saves is a minus...and thus the loss of 1/2 star. 4 1/2 Stars.

BTW, the ending is quite tricky.

Ray Nicholson

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First of all, I would like to mention that I have NEVER before had problems with DRM protected games not working on my PC, or DRM messing up my PC. I am not one of those people who go around writing bad reviews for everything that has DRM on it, this is the first time I even decided to review a game on here.

While I am AGAINST DRM (the idea of it, and the principal) this is the 1st time I have had a major issue with it. I bought this game (TRINE) at BEST BUY (the store... not online). I physically went down to the store, and purchased the actual game. I did NOT buy the digital download, or order it online.

I have an external USB DVD RAM Drive, and no CD / DVD drives inside my PC. I WAS able to install the game from the DVD, however, my drive was making all kinds of crazy noises (I swear, I thought my drive would take off and fly out of the room under it's own power it sounded like a freakin' helicopter LOL), and the install went VERY SLOWLY, for a game of this type.

After installing, I tried to play the game and immediately got an error from the SecuROM CD verification check. It told me to insert the ORIGINAL CD, not a backup. Well, I never made a backup, and only used the original. I went to their website and checked for patches. Updating to the latest patch at the time (1.05) did not help either. I tried to register on their forums to get help, but after waiting for hours and hours, I never got the e-mail verification email from them (it's been 24 hours already at the time of this review).

The publisher's site had some generic (BS / non-helpful) information about the error, and I didn't get anywhere with their "support" either.

So after a lot of frustration I decided finally to return the game the very next day. Unfortunately, no one lets you return "opened software" anymore, but the supervisor at BEST BUY was in a particularly good mood, and decided to let me exchange it for another game of the same price.

There is absolutely NO WARNING on the box WHAT SO EVER That it is protected by SecuROM, nor that even has any DRM on it. For this very reason, I wanted to warn people to be AWARE that if they buy it they do so at their own risk. The game MAY or MAY NOT WORK... as SecuROM may interfere with certain drives / driver configurations.

Since I never got to actually play (and enjoy) the game, I can not give it any stars. I am strictly just telling my (short-lived) experience with the game, and wanted everyone to know: IT COMES WITH SECUROM DRM.

A pity, it looked like it would have been a neat game. I recommend getting the STEAM version, or another digital download version as those do not have the SecuROM protection.

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These are the years of PC gaming that will be known as the Underdog Era: full of indie masterpieces and megapublishers flops. World Of Goo, MOUNT & BLADE, iFLUID,CRAYON PHYSICS, DEFENSE GRID, all released by small independent companies, were rewarded by much better financial returns than overhyped behemoths of the likes of RED ALERT 3, ANNO 1404 and SPORE. It was not unexpected; after all, just like Limited Installations, greed only pays for a limited number of turns.

TRINE is an excellent physics action/arcade game. You control three interchangeable characters (a thief, a wizard and a warrior). Each has his/hers special abilities, from shooting griping hooks to levitating objects and smashing things up. At any point, you can select which one suits you best. Obstacles have to be turned, balanced, jumped over or simply smashed. Enemies have to be wiped out. And vials have to be discovered and collected before reaching the goal.

Between levels there are checkpoints but, annoyingly, no regular saving is possible (hence the star withheld). If a character dies you are only left with the other(s) to finish off the level. If it is impossible without the missing character(s)' abilities you can always revert to the last checkpoint.

The graphics are just beautiful! If you have seen the DIABLO III trailers, they are comparable. PhysX is required however, so nVIDIA gamers rejoice.

The sounds and voices are nicely done and clearly add to the enjoyment of the game.

Overall, I have been playing this gem for almost a week now and apart for the checkpoint saves I can only say good things about it.

TRINE comes with STEAM (in fact it was released first on that platform) and you will need to be online to post accomplishments but there are neither limits on the number of installations nor any RootKits of the likes of SecuROM.

RECOMMENDED!

Honest reviews on Trine - PC

The graphics in this game are gorgeous. A bit too glossy, and with over-saturated colours for for my tastes, but still gorgeous. Traversing its levels is like hopping through a sumptuous, lovingly crafted fairy tale land. In terms of gameplay, it's essentially a two-dimensional game, but everything is constructed in three-dimensions which, together with the subtle camera changes that this allows, helps give it a nice richness and depth. I think that's why I was already two-thirds of the way into the game before I realised that I wasn't actually having that much fun.

The premise of the game and the basic mechanics are great. You can switch between three characters who each have different skills, many of which are inherently very fun. For example, the thief can swing around the place with her grappling hook, while with the wizard you can draw a square with your mouse to make a solid block appear out of thin air. The movement mechanics are very good too. Your characters feel fast and responsive, even when swimming underwater, and despite the fact that each of the three moves in almost exactly the same way, the animations are good enough that they each have a personality of their own.

So, the game looks great, the animations are great, and the core mechanics are great. Why then isn't it as much fun as it should be? The answer, in my opnion, is the level design. With all of the emphasis placed on physics and object manipulation in the game, I expected all sorts of interesting puzzles and problem-solving along the way, but these never really came. Sure, there were lots of obstacles to overcome in the game, but most of the time, the way to overcome these was just too obvious. There are usually at least two different ways to get across an obstacle (for example, to get to a higher ledge, you might grapple up there with the thief, or build a stack of blocks to jump from with the wizard), and you're almost always likely to figure out at least one of them without much thought. In the end, you seem to spend most of the game doing the same type of things over and over. Sure, there are a few slightly trickier moments here and there, but very few of them really felt clever, so I rarely had a significant feeling of achievement when I got somewhere.

What does make the game somewhat more difficult is the enemies, though this isn't necessarily a good thing. There are only a few enemy types in the game, and though they're all well animated and pretty dynamic, they get old really quick. The problem is that they keep respawning. It's so unsatisfying to skillfully fight off a horde of skeletons, or to crush one in a meticulously constructed trap, only to have new ones respawn in the same place. It nullifies whatever feeling of achievement you had for destroying the first batch. Pretty soon, rather than feeling challenging or ominous, the enemies just feel pesky and unwanted.

I think it's telling that even though I finished this game very recently, I can't say which was my favourite level. In fact, I honestly can't remember any of the levels properly; they all somewhat bleed into one another because they all felt kind of the same.

I seem to be in the minority, as everyone else seems to rave about this game, and not just on Amazon. But I wonder how many of the reviewers were so charmed by the game's excellent visuals and impressive production values that they never fully noticed its mediocre level design and repetitive gameplay. I don't think that Trine will remain in people's minds for years like so many other platform games of the past have. But if they can make a sequel with more diverse level design that takes its audience a little more seriously, then maybe they will have a classic on their hands after all.

I'm giving this 4 stars, but only just, and probably only because it's an indie production. It's still worth a play though, especially as it's not very expensive.

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Don't buy this if you intend to register on steam. I don't really like having to lug around games outside of steam anymore

Reviews of Final Fantasy VIII

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This is where it begins. Watch closely, people. If you are wise, you are (or will be) playing a game that trancends almost every idea to grace the human mind on creating a videogame masterpiece. Final Fantasy VIII is as such a classic, that if possible, should be displayed in the most important museums in the world. I'm pretty sure most reviewers 'greatly' disagree with me, but then isn't everyone entitled to share their opinion? I respect theirs as I expect mine will be.

What I cannot fathom are the intensely negative reviews coming from the people! How can a game of such caliber, genius, beauty and artisty be seen as "the worst FF ever...and so on"? I simply don't comprehend. Ive heard others like "I like all FF games, 'cept 8", or "It just doesn't belong in the Squaresoft catalogue....". Why? Upon critical analysis, I think it's because people fear change. It's part of human nature. If you adapt to something, why would you want it to change?

I have almost always noticed that some of the 'hardcore fans' proclaim that Square's old style is what should have been on this game that they miss the old style. NONSENSE! Squaresoft wanted to do something different, temporarily. They wanted to exercise their minds a bit to stray away from the typical RPG standards. Even possibilities of 'harsh criticism' wasn't going to stop them.....they were going to experiment. You see, even though we have an inner instinct to fear change, the human will to experiment and 'move on' conquers all (look at where experimentation has gotten us: our technology is advancing). There is no such thing as 'the way things (RPGs) ought to be'. There's nothing wrong with prefering things to remain the same, but at least, people should keep their right to experiment.

You can actually see where Squaresoft wants to take their work. FF8 houses the most significant changes ever to grace the Final Fantasy series so far. Everything from the different "Junction" system, to the "realism" of the characters (not just the models, but also the humanism), to the "science fiction-themed" dramatic love story, is proof of things yet to come. Where FFIX represents all Final Fantasy as a whole by blending the old and new Squaresoft ideas, FFVIII begins a revolution. The future of Final Fantasy (as has been presented in FFX) is hinted in FFVIII.

To sum up, FFVIII is a marvel to behold. Don't dismiss this game because of negative reviews, as I did. If you do want to go by the reviews, take into consideration that some of them are written by hardcore fans who don't appreciate change....who want the same redundant ideas in their videogames. Don't let them fool you. Take it from someone who appreciates good art, and knows a good videogame when he sees one. I am usually a harsh critic when it comes to most things....and I truly do mean it when I say this game gets 5 stars. A classic!

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As a girl obsessed with the likes of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time, I was completely unfamiliar with turn based RPGs. When I recieved Final Fantasy 7 and 8 for Christmas, I naturally tried 7 first. I was horrified when I saw that you were unable to run around in a free roaming enviornment hacking and slashing at your leisure. Waiting my turn to deliver one blow was not my idea of a good time. Disgusted, I removed the game and inserted FF8. I was floored by the opening cinema. When the game started, I was confused by all the new terms. SeeD? Balamb Gatrden? Junction system? What the hell? But something compelled me to push onward. I was instantly hooked on the characters, which to me are much more appealing than the lego characters of the previous Final Fantasy games.

You play as the quiet lone wolf, 17 year old Squall Leonheart, a member of a group of mercenaries for hire known as SeeD. SeeDs reside in academys known as Gardens. When an evil sorceress gains the trust of President Deling and the people of Galbadia, Squall along with fellow SeeDs the perky Selphie Tilmitt, the loudmouthed Zell Dincht, the ladies' man Irvine, and the recently fired 18 year old instructer Quistis Trepe set out to assasinate her. Along the way, the lively and beautiful Rinoa Heartilly, a member of a resistance faction known as The Forest Owls teams up with them. Along the way, she struggles to bring down Squall's icy exterior and help him voice his feelings. The plot soon throws many curveballs, eventually bringing forth issues such as romance, possesion, time compression, prison abuse and escape, and traveling into the future.

I will admit that this game is extremely ambitious and has its flaws. The very different reviews serve to prove one thing: it depends wholly on the person whether or not you'll enjoy this game. Some people enjoy the game enough to get by its flaws and appreciate its differences, while others simply don't have the time or patience for it. It depends on your personality. Before buying, you must understand that:

-This is a love story

-The junction system (attatching magic to stats such as strength and HP to raise or lower the stat depending on magic type and quantity) takes a long time to understand and get fully confortable with. No other FF has had a system like this, and you may not like it

-You need to play through FOUR discs and have the time to put in upwards of 70 hours in order to get through everything the game has to offer. Patience is important.

While I am an impatient person who gets put to sleep by other RPGs, I enjoyed Final Fantasy 8 a lot. The characters meant something to me because they were realistic looking and typical teens rather than lego people with absent mouths. This is the black sheep of the series, and not everyone will appreciate it. In my case, it will always remain a favorite. For its time, no game was more gorgeous looking and emotional, and no final battle was as long and intense. The stunning ending clocks in at around a half hour. But some people aren't bothered by the long frequent GF summons, and some are extremely bothered by them. I can understand it. As I said, it all depends what kind of person you are.

Best Deals for Final Fantasy VIII

It's eye opening to turn back the clock and play the old Final Fantasy games in the light of the remarkable production values of FF X. Each game in the series set a standard for console and computer games that has changed the way today's player sees the RPG genre.

I originally played FF8 in the PC version, so I was interested in how the PS2 version would compare. Even with a my leaky memory, my impression is that the PS2 version is a bit solider graphically. And, of course, the use of a game controller makes everything seem smoother, even if it really isn't.

FF8 follows in the classic Final Fantasy mode a team of characters headed by a serious minded leader, with a bunch of slightly wacky, but dedicated companions, take on an evil that seems to keep getting stronger and more capable with each advance of the plot. No villain ever really seems to die, the keep coming back in new and deadlier forms. And then there are the Guardian Forces, who provide all kinds of spectacle for the battles.

This time it is Squall, his fellow SeeDs, and the beautiful Rinoa. The story starts as a revolution, and then the characters discover that events are really being manipulated by a series of sorceresses who want to destroy the world so that they can rule it unchecked (I know that doesn't make any sense). All of this on a giant world make full of monsters convenient for leveling up.

And leveling up is certainly what a Final Fantasy game is about. Various side quests and challenges are provided so that reaching the levels needed to kill the final bosses doesn't become tedious, and an incredibly complex character building system makes sure that everyone's playing experience is different.

FF8 set a standard that is still higher than some games being written for the PS2 today, and managed to accomplish that on a more primitive platform. Graphics and character design are amazing, the plot complex, and the action satisfying. Proving that the best isn't always the newest and the loudest.

Honest reviews on Final Fantasy VIII

There are few series I consider to even be on the same level as the twelve official games in the Final Fantasy legacy, and of those I consider chapter eight to be the undeniable pinnacle. Which, considering its predecessor, the nearly omnipotent fanboy wet dream that was FFVII, says one hell of a lot. This title had every reason to underwhelm, from the groundbreaking success that preceded it (and the enormous shadow of expectations it had cast) to the wildly different path it chose to tread in terms of storyline themes and visual direction... yet it succeeds all the same.

As is the case with any RPG, the best place to start with FFVIII is its storyline. While chapter seven was focused on a maniacal egomaniac and his plans to destroy the world through the use of magic and spirituality alone, chapter eight concerns itself more with the political and technological necessities of performing such a feat. Not quite as exciting material at a glance, but twice as realistic. Sorceress Edea, the main protagonist of the story, sets about on her aspirations by overthrowing the government of the largest military power in the world, brainwashing its citizens through the use of the media, invading and obliterating everyone in her path, and manipulating her underlings to the point where she has their complete support without even expanding upon her motivations. Where the glam and glitter of Cloud and Sephiroth's tale has become legendary, the struggles of Squall and Rinoa against their oppressors feel much more weighty and, god help me, believable.

Likewise, the central characters in and around your party are much more relatable and varied than those in VII. Where Cloud, Tifa and Aerith, the previous leads, were generally one-dimensional and cartoony, spitting incredible dialog despite their shortcomings, VIII's characters each have elaborate personalities, perks, downfalls and tendencies. Though he's initially far less charismatic and appealing than Cloud, his immediate predecessor, Squall is a tremendously complex, well-rounded lead character with an established psychological excuse for his aggrivatingly anti-social nature. The villains are similarly developed, with an equal amount of redeemable qualities tossed in to keep their more prominent negative characteristics in check. You're never faced with a simple, black and white boss fight, as you were in previous chapters... there's always something about the person you're battling that you can relate to. You form such an incredible bond to the characters in your party that the final cinema is a truly emotional experience, one of the most rewarding and worthwhile conclusions I've ever experienced in gaming.

Where every previous chapter in the Final Fantasy story had basically opened with the lead characters already trained and experienced in their professions, FF8 is the first to tell the story of how these characters were first educated as super-soldiers, which natural reservations they had with their chosen role, and just how awkward their first steps as pros really were. In a way, this story is half Platoon and half Breakfast Club. The characters form a bond under extreme circumstances, both with each other and with the player, and develop into skilled fighters before they're even comfortable talking openly about their feelings.

Visually, FF8 was and still is an unbelievable sight. The photorealistic characters, settings and effects all but set the stage for the picturesque beauty of Final Fantasy X, the cutscenes remain an almost speechless affair, and the character designs and overall visual theme of the game itself are just breathtaking. This is a game I'd die to see simply reproduced in high definition at some point in the near future, as it pushed the old PSone above and beyond the limits of its hardware. The cinemas are occasionally marred by some artifacts caused by the necessary compression to fit this onto four discs, and the in-game visuals just scream for the power to deliver what they're so obviously capable of. The visual accomplishments of this game are just staggering, and the final cinematic caught me off-guard yet again by just blowing away the modern competition. This game was produced in 1999, and for its opening and closing cutscenes to tear apart their modern contemporaries more than a half decade later should say more than a few things about how awe-inspiring these graphics truly are.

And, equally complimenting the humongous strides in the visual department is what I'd loudly proclaim to be the best soundtrack of the series. As was becoming the norm by this point, each character, vehicle, town and dungeon has its own accompanying theme song, but never before had the tunes been so closely intertwined and related as they are here. The softly plucked strings of the Balamb Garden, your base of operations for the majority of the game, are touched upon and mentioned throughout nearly the entire soundtrack, bringing the entire experience full-circle and tethering it to what's quickly identified by both story and player alike as your home. Even the overly sappy J-Pop love ballad, "Eyes on You," which is possibly one of the more annoying things I've ever heard on its own, fits in amazingly when surrounded by the rest of this impressive score. Nobuo Uematsu has never produced finer, nor more immediately recognizable and emotional work.

No matter what I say, I can never feel as though I'm doing this game justice. It's a masterwork, the greatest end product to ever emerge from the renowned studios of Squaresoft. Its concentration on the organization, application and implementation of magic into each character's physical attributes appealed to the anal-retentive librarian in me, while the epic storyline, unimaginably cool cutscenes and untouchable characters swept me off my feet. I have my doubts about Square's ability to recapture this past glory, considering the slow downward slope they've presented with each new chapter of the Final Fantasy series since the turn of the millennium, but that can't drag down my utter devotion to the perfection of this title.

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I hate to admit it, but I used to think Final Fantasy was just a hack-and-slash series. I finally did some research into the series, and was amazed by what I read about FF8. I went out and bought a copy right away to see what it had to offer.

I was extremely impressed. Usually games offer something to adults, or to kids, but rarely do they get a combination that intrigues both. This has a training system that makes you figure out which kind of fighter you wish to be, what you want to earn points towards, how you want to talk to people, and which of your friends make the best allies against a certain situation.

In addition, an embedded card game series is quite complex, almost chess like. Often we were hard pressed to beat some of their masters, but winning the games brought great advantages going forward.

The combat and movement wasn't arcade like, where you had to hit the joystick just right in Spot A to hit the enemy in Spot B. It mostly was figuring out the right combination of healing, attacking, and defensive spells to cast to keep your party alive while taking out the enemy. There was little if any blood and gore. The aim of the fights was to outsmart your enemy, not to hack ribbons of flesh off of it.

And did I mention the cinematics? The dance scene in particular stands out in my mind as completely amazing. I would restart there on purpose to see the detail they put into the movements. If you love good animation, you could buy the game just to go from scene to scene.

If you enjoy role playing and graphic adventure games at all, I'd highly recommend this one. It does truly have something for everyone.

Best Pokemon - Blue Version Deals

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The year was 1998. I was twelve years old, in middle school, and the Pokemon games debuted in the United States for the very first time. A game so simple and yet at the very same time: So complex. Nothing was more addictive, nothing was more fun than playing Pokemon. If you remember the craze (the REAL craze, presently it isn't nearly as strong as it was back then), then you remember what it was like to go to school back in those days. Suddenly EVERYONE had a Gameboy. Suddenly even those who didn't normally play games or even know what the hell a Gameboy was, had it. And you'd go up to your friends and you'd trade Pokemon, you'd taunt each other about who was the better champion when you battled. You got in arguments over who the best starter was. Then you learned of those glitches to get all your Pokemon to level 100 by duplicating the Rare Candies. You caught Missingno and M-Block and caught Safari Zone Pokemon by exploiting what may very well be one of the most widely known glitches in video game history. And of course, you went to catch them all, and you probably had that ONE friend who you deemed your rival and you had to catch 'em all before he did. If you remember all this, you're a true Pokemon fan. This isn't a myth, this game debuted, sold gazillions of copies and started a craze that--while it isn't as strong--still exists today. This was one of the heights of gaming period.

The Red and Blue versions may have seen stateside release in 1998, but the game was actually made in 1995. Before the television show came around. When the TV series took off in America, the games came next and as I said, they sold more copies than the latest installment of Harry Potter. I'm not kidding.

Red and Blue began almost everything you currently see in the series today. The game begins with you naming your character (you couldn't choose between a boy or a girl in this one) and then your rival. Again, if you had Pokemon fever you probably named your main character Ash and your rival was named Gary (even the strategy guides referred to them as such). It began with Professor Oak letting you have a Pokemon of your choice (between 3 starters) and then ultimately he'd send you on a journey with a Pokedex and have you document the Pokemon you'd find. Along the way, you'd have to deal with Team Rocket, the bad guys who are always causing trouble and stealing everyone's Pokemon, as well as gather eight badges so you could challenge the Elite Four and become a Pokemon League Champion. The entire formula began here, and just about everything mentioned above has been done in each and every main series Pokemon game hereafter.

What was perhaps the strangest thing about Pokemon is that the game was surprisingly deep in terms of combat. It was your traditional turn-based combat. Simple, yet it was so complex. For one, the game has a Rock/Paper/Scissors method to it. Every Pokemon has a type, and every type has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Water is strong up against fire but it is weak vs. Grass. Grass is weak vs. fire etc. etc. No Pokemon is invincible. They all have a weakness to some type. Though in these versions the psychics definitely have an unfair advantage as the type they're weak against (bug) is almost non-existent and there are hardly any bug type attacks.

In the battle menu you're given a list of commands. Fight, Item, PKMN, or Run. You can switch Pokemon you've caught in and out of battle on the fly, but it'll usually cost you a turn. It's the strategic portion of Pokemon that makes battling fun and addictive. As you go through the game you'll be challenged by trainers and you never know what they'll throw at you! It's completely unpredictable and some of them are tough. It's also interesting because with 150 different Pokemon, the amount of teams you can make are endless, and it really makes you think about what types you want in your roster. Because most of the Pokemon types are weak vs. more than just one type. It's also important that you give them a variety of moves, as the moves are also typed. On paper it doesn't seem like much, but when you actually play the game, you'll find a clog in your drain you didn't even know you had because you thought your team was perfect... but then that one Pokemon comes along and exposes your fatal flaw.

Pokemon was no short game. It was full of all sorts of side quests. From the Safari Zone, to catching the Legendary Birds, to the Unknown Dungeon. There was plenty to do, and even after the game was over there was STILL more to accomplish. Of course, your main accomplishment was getting them all. Pokemon could easily keep you busy for well over 60 hours. In 1998 this is an amazing feat seeing as how most RPGs of TODAY don't keep you busy that long. The main quest itself only took a measly 15 hours or so, but all the extra content kept you on your toes.

Even more, Pokemon was one of the few Gameboy Games that made excellent use of the link cable. Since Red and Blue versions had different Pokemon, some only appeared in certain versions. You couldn't for example, catch a Magmar in the Red version, but you could in Blue. How then, were Red players supposed to catch all 150? By trading. Until Pokemon came around, my link cable was collecting dust. Trading was usually a slow grueling process, though. Traded Pokemon also got an experience boost so they were easier to train.

Even more exciting than trading, however, was what really made Pokemon a blast to play: Battling. You and your friends could get together and battle one another! Test out your Pokemon teams against your friends. They were, more often not, far better to battle against than the games trainers. It's always interesting to see who your opponents heavy hitter is. With your friends it was always interesting. Imagine how embarrassed you were to say a certain Pokemon sucked only to discover that the trainer actually did a good job training?

As far as the game looks and sounds, it didn't really look all that great when it was released in 1998 (it was after all, a game made in 1995). On the original gameboy it was pretty grainy (but very clear on the Gameboy Pocket) and of course it was black or white (unless you played it on a Super Gameboy or Gameboy Color). For a Gameboy game, though, it actually wasn't too bad. It was annoying to watch a Pokemon simply flinch to attack, and some of the animations weren't all that great, but it was to be expected due to the Gameboy's limitations. The music, however, was fantastic. The tunes were catchy--particularly the trainer battles and gym leader battles. The only really annoying thing was the sound effects. They weren't all that great, and its a shame that Nintendo actually continues to use those exact same sound effects in Pokemon games today. Still, for what it's worth, this was the game you wanted on the Gameboy.

Pokemon is a classic. It'll always be a classic. No matter who you are, if you played Pokemon ten years ago, the craze was completely undeniable. If you got addicted like I did, chances are you're still playing today. Because in its core, the game was far deeper than you thought it was, and the series continues to use that same basic formula even today.

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My kids and I all love the Pokemon Gameboys (the three of us each have our own Gameboy). The blue Pokemon game is very similar to the red, with the Yellow having some slight differences.

I like the way the Pokemon game challenges kids. I suggest also buying one of the books which shows the various routes and places. This allows kids to work at the tasks without getting frustrated.

The idea is to start at Prof. Oak's house, get your first Pokemon from him, and then journey all around the land of Pokemon, collecting various wild pokemon (which you catch by battling them until they faint), and doing battle with other trainers along the way.

In the process, kids learn to manuever through mazes of increasing complexity (which is why the manuals are a help), to gather and use items, and to develop strategies for fighting various types of Pokemon. My five year-old even started to read while using her Gameboy, from needing to know which items she had with her (in her Item List)!

All in all these are great games which can be played over and over (although only one game at a time can be saved), and which will provide your kids with hundreds of hours of fun.

Fortune Street Review

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It seems too many people can't do a little research on the games they buy or even bother to look at the back of the packaging either. Fortune Street is the newest game on the Nintendo Wii featuring characters from the Super Mario games and Dragon Quest series coming together to play a board game very much in style to Monopoly. If you can't stand Monopoly or slower, strategic board games, this is not going to be the game for you especially if you only want quick play sessions.

Yes, there is an easier mode where they take away the stock market trading but again, this is a board game in play. It will take you a while to finish a game. Don't really expect fast play sessions here. If you enjoy Monopoly and understand this is not trying to be Mario Party, you will enjoy and have a lot of fun with this game!

As for an age group, I would say this game is more for the older crowds, if your child has a short attention span or doesn't like waiting, family game nights are going to be hard to all stay together in one room without the little ones wanting to leave very quickly. For an actual age, I would say maybe seven or eight and up here? It is hard to say, remember, think Monopoly in play style, if your child can't keep occupied playing the board game version, they are not going to stay interested in this video game version even though Mario and friends are up on the screen. Just a small "warning" for the parents out there of younger children who may look at Mario on the cover and think "perfect!"

This is a really great game if you enjoy the Monopoly style of play (Yes, I have said this many times, so please no Mario Party thoughts!) and wanting to experience a fun take on that same style of gameplay, give Fortune Street a chance, you will have a lot of fun but you have to be patient with this title as it plays a little slower compared to other Mario spin-off titles.

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First and foremost, this game is nothing like Mario Party. If you are expecting this game to be anything like Mario Party, you may be disappointed. It, however, is a very fun, unique, and engaging game that combines elements from Monopoly and stock market simulation games--featuring Mario and Dragon Quest characters. It is truly a treat to be able to play this, because, for the last twenty years, previous iterations of this game have been highly revered in Japan only. It is truly a treat that Nintendo has decided to localize this game, so that we, too, can enjoy this unique game.

The gameplay is very easy to get into and understand. In fact, it offers a tutorial mode, which takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete, to help ease you into the gameplay. You first start off rolling to determine which player goes first. Each turn the player rolls the dice and moves across the game-board the specified amount of spaces. It is just like monopoly where you are able to purchase property as you land on them. In the same way, if you land on a player's property, you must shop there and spend a specified amount of money. If you really want to, you have the choice to force a buyout of the player's property; however, it would cost 10x the value of the property. Each turn allows players to sell stocks, property, and etc if needed. Also, if the player passes the bank (original starting location) again with all suits collected, he/she gets a raise, containing a large sum of money. Players are able to buy stocks at this point as well. To increase stock value, the player can invest in his/her own property by expanding it, which in turn also raises the shop's cost if anyone lands on the property. Stocks generally decrease as more people sell stock for a particular district. The goal of the game is to earn as much money/assets as possible, achieving the targeted net worth. The player who reaches the targeted net worth will win the game upon passing the bank (where you start in the beginning). Among these neat elements that combine stock market simulations and monopoly, there are some fun mini-games, such as slime racing and arcade spaces. There are also venture cards which you draw upon landing on the venture spaces, which could work in your favor or your opponent's favor.

Not interested in playing the stock market? There is the option to turn this feature off, known as "Easy Rules." Whenever you are interested in spicing things up a bit, you can always switch back to "Standard Rules," which includes the stock market feature. Also, the game supports up to four players on one Wii, as well as online play. The game features many different modes, menus, and options, such as: Tour mode, Free play mode, Nintendo Wi-Fi mode, changing room menu, shops menu, display case menu, as well as a configuration menu.

Tour Mode: Tour mode features a campaign containing a series of levels to complete. Each campaign has a unique theme. For example, the first campaign features a Dragon Quest theme, containing levels related to Dragon Quest games. The second one features a Mario theme, and so on.

Free Play Mode: As for Free Play mode, this allows players to customize a game as they see fit, such as offering the player to choose which board/map, which play-style, and which (if any) NPC characters he/she wishes to play with. This mode is good for anyone who just wants to start a quick game with friends, customizing some aspects of the game.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Mode: If you are unable to get a few friends over to play this game, luckily there is the option to play online. The experience was a very pleasant experience, as I have not experienced any lag or slow-down of any kind. What's nice about the Wi-Fi mode is, not only does it offer the ability to connect and play with added friends, it offers the ability to play with random people WITHOUT friends codes. The player is given the choice of either playing with national players or playing with international players.

Changing Room Menu: This menu allows the player to customize and change the clothes on his/her Mii, as well as the actions (emoticons) that it is capable of performing. Emoticons are especially useful when playing with others online as there is no keyboard or voice support, so it is a nice little way to communicate.

Shops Menu: The player can exchange stamps, which are earned from playing the game, to obtain new clothes and/or emoticon actions for his/her Mii.

Display Case: Now I really like this feature, as I am a huge fan of achievements/trophies. Trophies in this game are obtained by meeting certain conditions. Some are very easy, while others can be very difficult. Not only can you look at trophies here, but you are also able to look at game statistics, as well as read information about game characters.

I'd also like to mention that it is recommended to play through the various game modes, especially tour mode, because there are many unlockable Dragon Quest & Mario characters and levels that can be obtained.

In conclusion, Fortune Street is an incredibly fun Monopoly/Stock Simulation hybrid that has a touch of Mario and Dragon Quest themes to add charm to these elements. While there's plenty to do--unlocking characters, unlocking trophies, unlocking levels, and etcetera--players will get the most out of the game playing with friends and family, as it is a highly fun and engaging game. If you love Monopoly, but also love Mario and Dragon Quest characters, by all means, get this game!

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As everyone has said, Fortune Street is not like Mario Party. It is closer to Monopoly, with the added ability to purchase stock in various districts. If you think someone is about to do some major upgrades to their property, make sure you buy some shares beforehand, so you can make money from their work and expenditures. There are bonuses and minigames that add to the fun. I usually get dominated by the computer, but maybe I just need more experience. Online multiplayer is solid, and it is fun to know that you are playing with people from all over the world. (sometimes their name is in Japanese) You can also play with your friends, by trading your friend code. There is a tutorial level that takes about 20-25 minutes to beat, and it teaches you everything. I had no difficulty jumping into the game after playing the tutorial. The levels are a mix of Dragon Quest and Mario environments, divided accordingly. I would recommend the game for anyone eight years old and up, because it does involve a bit of thinking. There is an easier mode for beginners, but I skipped it. I think it removes the districts, so there is no stock option. If you are looking for a new addition to your family game night, this is one worth picking up.

Parents shouldn't worry about their children getting online to play this one, because the only interaction the players have is through a set of emoticons. (smiley faces) Send them a thumbs up when they make a mistake that works in your favor.

Bottom line: This game offers limitless replay value, because every game session is different. Buy it.

Honest reviews on Fortune Street

I won't repeat what everyone else said, but instead clarify a few things. This is a fantastic adult game for board game fanatics with graphics designed for children. This game could have been designed without Mario and crew, and used an adult theme, and been sold as a serious board game. It wouldn't have sold as many copies, but it would be more honest not getting the cheap accidental purchases from kids or parents with young kids. Young kids will likely hate this game.

That said, I read about it first and knew what was getting, and as an adult board gamer, this game is FANTASTIC. I have played about 20 games with friends and against computer players. I've won 55% of them, according to the stats. There is very deep strategy. Some games I win easily, some I am scrambling to figure out what stocks to buy to catch up. Your strategy each game will be different depending on what properties you get early in the game, and what happens when the luck portion of the game kicks in. I love it. I have been way ahead and lost, and vice versa. The computer does not cheat. I have never felt like it got a roll it needed more than the 1-7 chance it is (yes 7, many boards have a 7 sided die).

Turn off the chatter for the computer players, and the game takes about 2 3 hours, though I won one in 1 hour by bankrupting a player lots of fun. The computer players have a letter grade, and use different strategies dependidng on how high, or smart, their letter is. But even letter D computer players have a chance of winning if it gets lucky in the early game.

There is a strategy for every situation. I just won a game where I only had 3 properties, and the computer players had 8 10 each. How is that? I smartly invested in the right properties, and tiptoed around the board avoiding paying big sales.

To me, this game is the perfect combination of startegy and luck. If this sound fun, GET THIS GAME!

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I've been waiting to play an iteration of 'Itadaki Street' (as this series is known in Japan) for several years. A version came out for the Playstation 2 and PSP which starred Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters. Then, a version was released for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, none of them were localized for the North American audience. Not until now! 'Itadaki Street' has finally made its North American appearance as Fortune Street, a unique game that combines aspects of Monopoly, the stock market, and the Mario and Dragon Quest universes.

Graphics 4.0

The graphics in this game are on par with most recent Wii releases. They look pretty rough when compared to the HD capabilities of the PS3 and 360 but the Wii is no graphical powerhouse. Ultimately, they remind me of the other Mario-themed games that have been released on Wii (Mario Party 8, Mario Kart, etc). They do the job but they aren't going to make anyone's jaw drop. The Dragon Quest characters look good enough and if you've played those games, you'll probably get a kick out of seeing them done up in 3D.

Sound 4.5

The music and sound effects are all pulled directly from Mario and Dragon Quest games. Depending on whether you're using a Mario or DQ character, you'll hear different sounds (ie. When a DQ character levels up in the game, the fanfare from the series plays). For anyone who is a fan of either series, the sound will definitely bring back some good memories. In fact, there were several Mario songs that I hadn't heard since the NES days. Also, the background music corresponds to whatever level you're playing on. These may seem like small things but they add a great deal to the overall feel of the game.

Gameplay 4.5

Many of the negative reviews that I've seen have brought up the idea that this game is confusing. It's not. Sure, it takes a little bit of time to let all of the rules sink in but it's only slightly more complicated than Monopoly. In addition to this, there is both an easy (this mode leaves off building districts and buying/selling stock) and standard mode. Everyone starts off on a 'Bank' space. You roll the dice by hitting '2' or shaking the Wiimote. Then, you can pick which direction you want to move and make your way down a path. If you land on a property space, you can buy the property (just like Monopoly). Now, every time someone lands on your property, you get some money. You can increase the value of each property by investing money in it or by buying other properties in the same district (districts are very similar to the different colored spaces on a Monopoly board). The goal of the game is to be the first to collect a predetermined amount of money and return to the bank. As you go around the board, there are chance spaces and short single-player minigames that you can take part in. You can also buy and sell stock in the various districts. Once you own stock, you'll receive an extra dividend every time someone lands on a property there, even if you don't own it. All of this is done through menus that are fairly simple. Over all, the game is easy to control and if you invest some time in learning how it all works, you won't be disappointed. There are two slight problems with this game. It starts out kind of slow but if you can get through the first 10 or so minutes, it gets much better. Finally, if you play the single player mode, you might get annoyed with the constant talking between the CPU players.

Multiplayer 5.0

This game's multiplayer mode is a ton of fun. It is a real blast to play if you can get three friends together and you can even play over Wi-Fi. Nintendo did this one right.

Replay 5.0

This game has a ton of replay value. There are a number of unlockable levels, characters, and clothing/accessories for your Mii. If you unlock everything, it will take hours and hours and hours.

Overall, this game is a fantastic investment! I'd highly recommend spending more than 10-15 minutes with it though. Take the time to learn the standard rules and you won't be sorry.