Reviews of Train Simulator 2013

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $26.25
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

I have been a train lover since I was a kid and this game brings it all home. The switching in the yard is tough, a lot going on you must be aware of. I got the USA collection and almost every train you could want to run is here. The steam locomotives have a deep learning curve. I ran out of water the first couple of times. You cannot run these like diesel. You must balance the regulator and reverser just like a real steam engine. Keep the water up, I got stuck a few times on Donner Pass with the Cab forward and had to build up steam before I could get going again, but what a rush when I made it. The scenery is also beautiful. I live in Reno and have taken the Amtrak to Sacramento many times and the route is right on. I am a diehard Southern Pacific fan and they even have the SD40 tunnel motor to get through the pass's tunnels. I also enjoy the European trains, very different and enjoyable. If your like me and could watch trains all day then you will love driving them in this game. A railfans delight. Gotta go, makin a run to Mojave.

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My first ever Railroad Simulator was the one you see in the title, I won't get into it here but my experience with it was truly awful. It is riddled with bugs.

Out of frustration I looked for another Railroad Simulator and found Railworks 2, as I bought it so close to the release of Railworks 3 I got a free upgrade to that via Steam. Nice touch. The game has simply loads of scenarios to drive, as I'm Irish I particularly love the BR Blues and Sommerset Dorset Steam Railway. I would prefer some Irish railways but it looks like I'm going to have to create it. That's OK, it's easier to create sceanrios in Railworks 3 and make good ones at that. Give me a few years to put the Irish Midland Great Western Railway rail network together. I have no idea how to design locomotives but first things first.

Since I moved to the Unites States and living not very far from a Union Pacific Switching Yard, I've become interested in them. Driving their locomotives over the Cajon Pass is great fun, more so because I see them all the time. Another project is to recreate this town, Eugene at the height of it's railroad era. There are spur lines going everywhere, I need a map before I can begin.

I could compare both simulators side by side and each has both good and bad points over the other. The main thing that sticks out about Railroad Simulator 2012 is that it doesn't work. It's something I call "Irritainment". Railworks 3 on the other hand does work, I wish the cab view and controls were more like RR2012, but they're not, still the simulator WORKS. The executable has a tendency to stop working on my machine sometimes. It just drops out and I'll have to restart it. It has been known to do it a lot in some particular scenarios it seems to have a lot of problems with "Call of Duty" with Union Pacific on the Cajon Pass Route and crashes eveytime you approach Castlerock Intermodal Load/Unload. It can also get quite tempermental about Quitting and Reloading if you try it more than twice. Overall I have to say it's been an enjoyable ride, there's tons of DLC, so I'm not going to be stuck anytime soon.

So in summary Do you want to drive trains in the USA, England, and Germany? Then this is the one to go for.

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I ordered this simulator thinking that the pretty package with "Train Simulator" all over it would actually contain a CD with a Train Simulator program on it, that I could install on my computer and use to learn how to drive trains. What I got instead was a CD (with Train Simulator all over it) that contained nothing but a mandatory account setup for "Steam", which turned out to be a time-consuming and invasive online account that I had to set up before I could do anything else. After all, am I buying a train simulator, or a machine gun permit?

Once that laborious process was complete, I had to mess around their complicated menus to find out that I actually had to download the entire program from the internet, which took 30 minutes. In the simulator program itself, there is no "Help" menu, instruction manual, or tutorial about driving a train. You are thrown to the wolves on this one, and if you don't already know what you're doing, good luck with the learning curve.

When I buy software on a CD, I expect that software to be ON that CD, so I can install it. Sure, we're all used to getting online to download updates to our newly installed software, but this package added a bunch of hoops to jump through that made this process way too complicated. Why should I wait several days for a CD to arrive, when I have to download the actual simulator anyway? Furthermore, this game CANNOT be played unless you are connected to the internet. So, if your signal is down, you are SOL. None of these facts were stated on Amazon, but are vaguely stated in the fine print on the back of the CD box.

After writing down 53 keyboard commands for the train I chose to drive (yes, there is no on-screen help menu, unless you want to pause your scenario EVERY time you need to figure out what button does what), I finally got the train moving. I even figured out how to stop it, no thanks to this non-intuitive software. And if you do pause, be prepared to wait a long time for it to reload and resume.

For my first exposure to a train simulator, I was very disappointed with this nonsense, and consider it a dismal failure. I want to play with a train, not get an online "account", be part of a "community", or jump through a bunch of password and registration hoops just to download what should have already been on my disk.. I also expect an instruction manual, like the ones that come with all the other software I've ever bought.

Buyer beware....if you get this package, you're going to waste a lot of time just getting to the point where you can actually see a train....then good luck learning to drive it. Furthermore, the customer support is nonexistant. LakePlaceGames dragged me through a drawn-out correspondence that went from "We don't know what you're talking about" to "Are you SURE the game is like that?" to "It's not our job to explain every detail in the products we sell" to "Sorry for your luck". Once in awhile, you deal with a business that would rather quibble about a $35 refund, than to accommodate a customer and stand by their product. This is one of those businesses. Their attitude is, it's not their job to advertise their product accurately, and if you're dissatisfied, it sucks to be you.

Honest reviews on Train Simulator 2013

I concur with reviewer David Owens. Although I purchased the game as a dvd,

I was still required to establish a password and user account with " STEAM "

in order to install the game and run it. And each and every time I want to play the game I have to log in and if the user and password are forgotten or mis-placed, changing them can be " hoop-jumping-through ".

I was willing to tolerate this but the final insult came when I opened the game folder where Steam stores the computers specs and settings and not only was that info listed but everything residing on the hard drive was listed, programs, utilities etc. I mean EVERYTHING. At that juncture I decided that that was too much information for a solitary program.

Why would STEAM need to know what all is on my computers hard drive ?

What personal information is being sent back to them ?

So I promptly uninstalled Train Sim 2013 and did a system restore to remove any and all traces. I can understand them needing Copy Protection but this carrying it a bit too far and the end-user should not have to log-in to the Internet each and every time to play a video game he or she just purchased at a brick and mortar store. It's a good game but comes with uncessary baggage.

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I found the program installation was a bit difficult. You must install "Steam" first then add this program to "Steam". There after you start "Steam" to use the program. Steam seems to be a carrier for games, it is said this is the best way to use your games. This is all new to me, (There could be other ways to install). I do not have many games so this review is not from one who has a lot of experience.

The instruction did not inform me to install the way I just mentioned, I quite by accident found this out when I tried to install it the way I have installed programs for years. (Double click on the xxx.exe file or auto start the installation, select from a menu) The program is well laid out, graphics are great (just make sure you have a good video card). Be prepared for the learning curve to get up and running with out selecting the "easy" method.

Cons: Not to friendly a installation. It broke the Train sim from N3V already installed and working fine.( had to reinstall it) The more powerful the video card and computer you have the better. (My set up: video card ge Force 550 ti, w/1GB memory, CPU Intel i5 2600k) 8GB memory) with this setup thing went rather smoothly just a small hick up here and there)

Discount Half-Life 2 - PC

Customer Ratings:

I stopped keeping time after 2am so I can't be sure what hour it is, nor can I tell you when I ran out of the cannister of Malt Balls and Peanut M&M's I brought as supplementation. What I can tell you however (in the humble opinion of a dedicated PC gamer for 15 years), is that Half Life 2 is the the most mind blowing game I've ever played.

I was at E3 with my pyscho gaming buddy cleaning the Pizza flavored drool off his chin when we got a preview of HL2. Like most, I counted the days, cursed Valve and Sierra for delay after delay, put all my faith and hope into Doom 3, was underwhelmed, went back to playing Desert Combat...basically went insane with anticipation.

In the brief moments before firing up HL2 for the first time, I was hopeful, but expecting to be dissapointed.

And I was.

Really, no multi-player! I'm one of those that have an absolute allergy to single-player games. Small beads of angry sweat began to form on my back...

But I soldiered on, and in:

10 minutes I was impressed,

at 30 minutes I was completely immersed,

at 1 hour chills were running up and down my spine, and occasional girlish yelps of horror began emanating from my pitch dark office...

...by the third hour I came to the conclusion that HL2 was/is the most impressive game software I've ever had the privilege of living in. Some highlights:

1. The engine is truly revolutionary. Doom 3 has a darn good engine, HL2 in my opinion is vastly better. Indoor AND outdoor environments are near photo-realistic (I have a 3.2GHZ w/ 1GB RAM), the physics are jaw-dropping AND deeply integrated into the play of the game, texture and lighting, faces, water, you name it, this engine is now The Standard.

2. Vehicles. Well, not only do they have them, they're really fun to operate (or be chased by as the case may be).

3. The Gravity Gun. This weapon comes later in the game, and in my humble opinion, is easily the most fun weapon I've ever used. Picking up and throwing items, using it to activate latent elements of the environment (often as weapons) is unbelievably fun. Which brings me to:

4. Humor. This game has some really funny moments. I almost busted a gut when I ran out of heavy/sharp things to fire at zombified creatures that were teaming up on me in close quarters. I desperately pulled over a large can of paint, fired, and splattered huge gobs of white paint all over their (now more upset) faces. I died, but I died laughing. And finally:

5. Immersion. The screams were obvious signs of immersion, but beyond that, I noticed myself making facial expressions of anger, empathy, anticipation...all throughout the game I found myself genuinely caring. That's a first for me.

I really could go on and on, but I can't, literally, I fear that dawn isn't far from my window and I'd like to pretend that I myself won't be a zombie tomorrow.

Enjoy,

Christian Hunter

Santa Barbara, California

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As one of the 3 people in the universe who didn't much care for the original Half-Life, I was hardly awaiting with baited breath the release of this sequel. The things I didn't like about the original, namely the clunky and flawed controls, dated graphics even for 1998, outweighed the undeniable genius of the game as a story. I wasn't ruling out Half Life 2, but I was much more interested and looking forward to Doom 3.

Fast forward to the present. Having just built myself a top-notch gaming PC capable of running both games with ease, I took the plunge, but decided to install and play Doom 3 first. My initial reaction to that game --awe at the graphics and production value, creepy atmosphere-was quickly replaced with tedium and boredom as the game played out like a 21st century scavenger hunt (find the key card! Get lost in the dark!). When I played Half-Life 2, however, I was BLOWN AWAY. The graphics are as good as Doom 3, but the big difference is that you can actually see them, because the entire game is not in dark tunnels, but rather takes place over a variety of terrains, ranging from beautiful coastline to wonderfully post-apocalyptic cityscapes. This game is truly deserving of all of the "Game of the Year" awards, and here is why:

GRAPHICS: Simply stellar. The textures are terrific, and the water effects are super, second only to Far Cry. The character models are very nicely done, and the way their eyes follow you around the room is both creepy and amazing.

SOUND: Very, very good. The sounds and music are very well done, and complement the game's moods quite ably.

GAMEPLAY: A gift from heaven. The game engine is ruled by physics so real, you're going to try picking up every object just to see what happens. A brick feels and reacts different that a doll, a tire swing responds realistically to a push, and bodies fall convincingly when shot or falling. The control is simple, smooth and effective, and the weapons are generally balanced. I wish there had been a better sniping weapon than the crossbow, but hey, that's what mods are for!

STORY: Again, stellar. It's so noticeable when a story grabs you, and when a story is just filler, a pretext for the setting of the game. In Doom 3, I couldn't care less why I was there. I certainly wasn't about to read the myriad boring PDA's you find on corpses, and the story is really trite. Half-Life 2, much like Knights of the Old Republic, makes YOU the star of the game, and gives you little chunks of info, but never overwhelms you with random names that mean nothing to you. As a result, you internalize the info, and actually come to care about the other characters. The scripted scenes are always logical and never forced, and they are just plain funny at times. I can't say enough about the great immersive world of this game.

NEGATIVES: Much like everyone, I dislike the "Steam" program which basically means that each time you play half life, you need an active internet connection. It's the company's way of authenticating your software, and while it's logical to be paranoid, (after all, this game's code was famously stolen by a hacker last year) it's a bit much. That said, most people have internet, so this is somewhat moot.

OVERALL: I personally don't care for online games; I find that people often act like children or jerks, and that the few games that are fun to play in multiplayer are shooters like Unreal Tournament of the Battlefield series. I can't express enthusiastically enough how happy I am to see that a game developer still cares about putting out a polished and amazing single player game.

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I followed this game from about a year after it was announced and I had the privilige of sitting through all of the releace date set-backs and I can tell you, it was worth it.

I will now list the games pros and cons as to catagory

Grafics:

This game looked exellent and near-photo realistic. The grafics were also very stable and I had no problem running them on my mid-range PC. Lip-synching was dead on and all of the emotional ranges the charicters could go through was amazing. All of the enviromental effects were superb as well, the water was amazing and reflected EVERYTHING, enemies, geografic features and even explosions. All of the items were extemely well off and all of them were photo-realistic in quality. Metalic objects had a sheen to them, and textures even up close looked very beleveable.

Sound:

The sound design was incredible, halfway through the game, my ear was trained to hear the individual, distinctive sounds of any number of the multiple creatures that could be just around the corner. Nothing is more freaky than hearing a poison headcrab and tring to find it just by tring to listen for it. The dialog was exellent, and the music, while rather artificial, fit the mood of the game.

Level design:

The levels were well spaced out and very well planned. The only issue I have with this part of the game is that the level take FOREVER to load on a 2.1 GHZ prosessor, which is above average (It takes about 1.5 minautes to load a new area, just count those seconds out without anything to do, its a very long time)

Gameplay:

With an extremely impressive physics system and a way to impress your will upon that system, the average gameplay is addictive and you can play in any form you want to. Imagne running through a hallway, and there is a zombie at the other end! so you pick up a 2X4 with the gravity gun and hurl it at the zombie! The zombie hunches over and slides down against the wall. You pick up a radiator to block the bullets from a man with a machine gun across the hall, then you throw it at him! It beans him in the head and his entire upper body flips around and he flies over a railing to crash down on the floor below! That is the standard in half life 2 if you play with the gravity gun.

Overall:

This game is worth a 10 out of 10 for all of the great things that are in this game. And this game has almost infinate replay value. This one is for the ages.

Honest reviews on Half-Life 2 - PC

I don't know about other gamers, but I've been getting frustrated with games recently. They look better than ever, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. Game play, also, is in desperate need of betterment. So without further ado, allow me to make Half-Life 2 the "poster boy" of recent PC games. I like this game a lot, but I just feel that it reflects some of the contempt that the gaming industry is showing toward its customers.

I won't say too much about Steam because other people have been very vocal about the troubles it's causing. I needed to wait about an hour to install the five CDs and then sign up with Steam. It was an unpleasant experience, but not that bad.

As for the graphics, they're better than anything else I've seen including Doom 3, but they're not perfect either. Outdoor levels have low resolution, and as a result the trees often look fuzzy. Nevertheless, buildings look good with vivid colors and lots of detail. This graphical sophistication comes at a price, and my system really strained under the weight. I'd recommend a 3 Ghz CPU, 1 GB RAM, and a 256 MB graphics card if you want to run the game smoothly.

Sound is very good although it often stuttered. Evidently my hardware is a little slow for this game, and I believe the demanding graphics slows your system which can adversely affect the sound.

Considering the game play, it's very similar to the first game. The crowbar is back along with the head crabs. You can really get engaged in the game play, but in some parts of the game it fell flat. I found myself fending off tough enemies while having little idea of how to either escape or destroy them. It could be as much fun as swatting at a cloud of pesky gnats! Finally, after several tries, I would find the place to get away or the weapon to kill the thing attacking me. Do yourself a favor and get a good strategy guide for this game. It will save you a lot of frustration.

In closing, I find myself wishing that game developers and publishers would take better care to see that the customer is getting a good product. Half-Life 2 delivers some fantastic experiences, but these achievements are marred by frustrating and annoying game play on some of the levels, the demanding system requirements, and a bug or two that disallows continuation of the game. And I must really protest the requirement to set up that annoying account with Steam. Personally, I'm fed up with all this, and as a result, I have no plans to buy anymore computer games for the foreseeable future. So developers and publishers, you just lost a customer.

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Well, after having shelled out what, after all, is a lot of money, I haven't been able to play this game yet. They've got got this little anti-piracy software called Steam (Completely understandible, after how much the developers went through prior to launch) on there that you have to register with before so much as running the application. Too bad that this has been an unpleasent surprise and a heretofore insurmountable obstacle! So we understand how often this is mentioned:

On the website: 1 time (a link to the Steam site.)

On the box: 0 times.

In the documentation: 1 time (mentioning that an account with Steam is required.)

Well, now as I've got it and have gotten mired in it, I find that it takes forever to register, and that you can more or less kiss any hope of it working goodbye if you do not have complete control over your network settings (i.e. if you are on a college campus). One day I will get this to work, but I will not purchase another game that has something like this. Assuming that I even get notice of it. I have no doubt in my mind that Half Life 2 is as revolutionary as the original, but I suggest everybody make sure they know what they're getting into.

For those who want to see the volumes of things that impede Steam working, check out the support section of their website:

Discount Monster Rancher DS

Customer Ratings:

Monster Rancher has gotten a bad name in recent years due to the substandard games that have been produced in the series. Ask virtually any fan which was their favorite game, and the most common answer you would get would be "Monster Rancher 2". Well, the good news is that Monster Rancher DS plays very much like Monster Rancher 2, and this is a very good thing.

For those new to the franchise, Monster Rancher can be thought of as a cross between Pokemon and a virtual pet. Through various methods, you generate a monster and take it to your ranch where you have to carefully choose how to train it, what to feed it, and when to let it rest. In return, you can battle the monster in tournaments for money, fame, rare items, and the ability to unlock newer, more powerful monsters.

One thing lacking from previous games in the franchise was combining monsters to get a hybrid that combined the appearance of both base monsters. Lately, these monsters were simple recolorings of the base monster (as seen in the Monster Rancher Advance games), or where removed entirely (Monster Rancher 3). Combining makes a triumphant return in Monster Rancher DS, with not only different skins for the hybrid monsters, but new models as well.

All of the tournament styles we've come to know and love are included, from elimination to round robin, as are the more difficult training options that increase/decrease multiple stats at once. A new method of learning moves, called "Drills" creates an interactive board-game like experience instead of simply watching your monster succeed/fail in successive stages of errantry.

The monster list is a mixed bag, however. While we see the return of some "forgotten favorites" such as Monol and Centaur, others like Dino/Zuum are nowhere to be seen. Why the series insists on never having a "complete" monster list in a single game is perplexing, as the Pokemon games now have hundreds upon hundreds of monsters that can all be obtained in every game.

The lack of some classic monsters and more popular newer monsters, along with the somewhat random nature of what Main/Subtype combinations are allowed is the only thing that holds me back from a full 5 star review. Don't get me wrong, there are over 270 different monster combinations in this game, but it doesn't quite live up to Monster Rancher 2's "Everything combines with everything else" mantra, even if it does get almost everything else that made MR 2 great.

Its one of the best Monster Rancher games in the franchise, beaten out only by Monster Rancher 2. A must have for any Monster Rancher fan, and an excellent place to get into the series for new players.

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The Monster Rancher series has translated very well over to the DS system, bringing back many fond memories of the early titles. While it does not quite live up to Monster Rancher 2, and certain elements that were "improved upon" should have been left alone (the new exploring format doesn't quite work as well as in earlier games, for example), there is no doubt that anyone looking to relive the classic Monster Rancher experience will find it here. The new monster creation techniques are very fun to play with, the monsters have retained their capability for individual "personalities" I have one monster that is a spoiled brat no matter what, just like in the old games , and the battle system works very well. Unlike some port-type games (Kingdom Hearts comes to mind) everything on the screen is easy to read and the controls are not too cramped on the touchpad.

I would have preferred to give this four and a half stars for minor things, such as some of the smaller monsters looking very pixelated in battle scenes and how occasionally battles seem to drag on with nothing happening if both sides only have high-energy attacks. Some of the sound ballancing is very poor with monsters being VERY loud for the soundtrack, and it is occasionally frustrating to draw very different things in the generator and get the same monster. I would not say that any of these things take away from a very good game, however, and as a parent who played the originals for years I am happy I got to introduce my child to the series with this title.

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I never played the PlayStation versions, only Monster Rancher Advance and Monster Rancher Advance 2. I think this is a good next step from those versions, while preserving the feel of the franchise. The graphics are improved, and the fact that the models are other than just a change in color is a real plus, although a few of the models are quite ugly. I do not like the -ish monsters; they are useful for combining, but I wouldn't play them because they don't have faces! I was disappointed that they removed the Zuums, as they were one of my favorites to play.

I like the drills, which are a change from MRA trials. With good luck, you can raise your monster parameters pretty high in just one drill. I think the the errantry is a little bit of an improvement over the exploration, although tapping on the screen can be frustrating when he won't seem to listen. I found a lot of items when I was looking for the unlockable monsters, and they are good to sell if you don't want to use them.

To begin with, you get two ways of generating monsters, and I used both to get a good base of monsters. Later you get a third method of generating monsters. My favorite way to fill out the encyclopedia was by combining monsters. It is such an fun interface, and there is an improvement of how many monsters you can freeze at a time, so I could regenerate and combine to my heart's content.

Unlike the other versions, getting enough money to upgrade was not a problem. Some people might find that this lowers the challenge. I liked it because I was able to accommodate the bigger monsters much quicker.

This is an enjoyable little game with lots of neat-looking monsters to play. If you liked the Monster Rancher Advance games, this has a number of improvements. I am glad that I bought it!

Honest reviews on Monster Rancher DS

I was excited about this game. When I was much younger, I liked the Monster Rancher games for the PS1. However, thinking back on it, my favorite part was raiding the house for CDs to scan and to try and make a new cool monster from. The monster creation part on the DS is not nearly as satisfying. The gameplay was more dull and repetitive than I remember. Perhaps my nostalgia had just made the game more exciting in my mind, I don't know. Either way, I was disappointed, and I feel like there are more games out there now that have similar mechanics and are more fun.

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I love this game!

I've been playing Monster Rancher games since 2 was hot on the market, and this one is right up there with favorites. The concept of "drawing" your monster leads to hours of entertainment, and it's both easy and fun enough for kids and adults to understand.

It may seem really easy, but you'll be playing this game for weeks trying to collect every sub-type and get them all up to S-class. Plus the sidequests, errantries, and drills have gotten a revamp to make this even more fun!

I'd recommend this for any kid who likes the idea of monster raising :3

Buy Universal S-Video/Audio Cable

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $14.99
Sale Price: $5.99
Today's Bonus: 60% Off

I got this for my xbox360. Cable doesn't always work on first try. You have to wiggle it around to get it to work, then hope it stays working. This is the correct cable as described, but the picture is for the older cable which supported PS1/PS2 + GC/SNES/N64 + Original Xbox. This cable supports PS3 + Wii + Xbox360.

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I had some trouble getting the plugs to fit properly at first, but it eventually fit. Once it did fit, everything worked well. I used this for my PS2.

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I bought this cable to play a PlayStation 2 and GameCube on an HDTV. It's advertised to work with a GameCube and it doesn't even plug into one. Nowhere on the package does it say it will, so what's on the site is false. Plugging into composite ports gave me just as bad a picture and no sound as the original PS2 composite cable does and plugging into component gives me a decent, though black-and-white picture with sound. Do not buy this cable if you're looking to use it for a PS2 or GC!

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Great product and for the price, hard to beat. Has universal connections for most (xbox 360,wii, ps3 & ps2)video game consoles. The cables have both rca cables (red,white, yellow) and s-video.

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The product came packaged in a box that fit it perfectly. While the product was slightly difficult to open, it functioned as indicated for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Is compatible with the Dazzle DVC100, and Pinnacle Studio 15.

Best Need for Speed: Shift - Playstation 3 Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $21.22
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

I can't for the life of me figure out why someone who (in general) likes driving games would not like this game!

Pros:

The graphics are eye popping and run smoothly throughout on both my PS3s (80GB fat and a 120GB slim).

The sound is top notch, especially on 5.1 (or better?) systems.

Driving can be challenging or easy and is highly configurable to let you decide which is best for you.

There are a ton of different cars to master that all drive differently (as it should be).

You can upgrade each car with engine, suspension, braking and other technical improvements.

You can customize the visual aspects of each car if you're into that kind of thing.

You can be either a precision or aggression style of driver and you earn points for both along the way

There are many different racing styles represented (standard, manufacturer events, drift for example)

Cons:

At release, there were some bugs but they have been addressed now as far as I can tell.

This game melds elements of arcade and simulation racing which may put off hard core fans these genres.

The Need for Speed series is a tale of two franchises really and that is why the widely differing reviews I think. If you are a fan of NFS: Hot Pursuit and other "cops and robbers" racing games, then you will likely not like this game because there isn't a cop in sight. You are racing on tracks and other closed courses and not in city streets with other civilian cars running around. If you need to see flashing red lights in your rear view mirror, or just have to run down a mother and her baby carriage then look elsewhere.

What this game is a pretty simple I think. It provides you with all the best elements of actually racing in environments designed for racing, plus the ability to tweak your ride to a reasonable level. This is where simulation meets arcade to me because while games like Gran Turismo allow you to tinker until your knuckles bleed, NFS: Shift dumbs all that down a bit so you can just concentrate on driving and having fun.

Bottom line is this; If you want an all out utterly realistic simulation, this ain't it. If you want chase epic scenes, running from the cops and driving crazy fast amongst the general population, this ain't it. But if you want to just have fun while driving nice cars on actual race courses with limited tweaking -then this is the ticket. If you can accept what this game brings to bear, you will enjoy it.

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I purchased the game after going off the IGN review (9.0 out of 10). I would not rate it that high personally. The game takes getting used to. I admit to liking the NFSU games, but knew this one was different and closer to a GT racing sim than the earlier titles. Anyway, I think that the game performs well in some areas, not so in others. The load times are ridiculous. The same questions come up on each time you start the game. With the HD in place there should not be such long load times between races and saving. There is no menu option that I see to quit mid-race. Hopefully the cars will be more stable and easier to control at high speeds as you advance through the tiers. The BMW M3 on tier 2 is way too loose even after all upgrades. I probably need to do more tuning but it's hard to keep on the courses. I suppose this is to lend to the more realistic simulation but it's frustrating at times. Drift mode is an adventure; I've never been great at drift racing but the initial impression here is that it's almost prohibitive in it's difficulty. I haven't found the right balance of throttle and brake yet. It seems overly sensitive compared to the previous titles. While it shouldn't be totally easy, it takes a lot of getting used to and I find it annoying at times.

The courses are pretty awesome although many have already been done in the GT series. The graphics are very good. I have not noticed the high speed blurring as mentioned in other reviews, maybe because my car tops out at 150 or so. We'll see when we get into the high end cars if it is noticable.

I typically don't do the online racing because of the issues with rewarding aggressive/dirty tactics in all online play so I can't speak to that experience yet.

I think it is a disservice to gamers that EA did not make it compatible with the racing wheels out there. How does anybody make a driving sim that doesn't work with a wheel controller?

In spite of it's flaws (maybe they are my flaws, not the game?), I am enjoying the game so far. I am giving it a 7.5 after limited game play. Maybe when my skills improve I will look at it differently. Not a bad effort.

Best Deals for Need for Speed: Shift - Playstation 3

Ok where should I begin? This game fancies itself as some kind of a perfect cross between a sim and an arcade racer, but the truth is that it totally fails to accomplish this goal. It seems that being stuck in the middle ground isn't doing this new NFS installment any favors and let me explain why. Individuals who like arcadish racing games will find this title a bit too difficult for their taste, since some sort of driving physics, albeit exaggerated and inaccurate, still exists and the car is not exactly easy to control. Hardcore sim fans will be thoroughly disappointed as this game is just really not much of a driving simulator at all; physics does not feel realistic, speed feels artificially exaggerated to" enhance the action experience", finally, besides top speed and acceleration, cars do not feel all that much different from one another. Overall, the physics of this game does not even come close in comparison to something like GT5 prologue.

If all this wasn't enough, there is the graphics, which really does not seem all that sharp, as it appears to have been tuned down to prevent frame rate issues. Furthermore, the gameplay was not very impressive at all, as it is an extremely linear progression, which does not allow much freedom whatsoever. Last, but certainly not least, there are compatibility problems with Logitech G25 steering wheel. The wheel feels off-center with a huge center deadzone (I tried playing with the options and didn't help) and finally the force feedback is all messed up all this adding up to a pretty terrible driving experience with otherwise the best steering wheel on the market.

Overall, this game is stuck in a non-sim/non-arcade land, which really makes it hard to be appealing for fans of either genre. In certain ways it is similar to GRID, but does not have the same impressive graphics, innovative features and crash sequences and so in other words, it brings nothing new to the table. The final nail in the coffin is delivered through its sloppy integration with the Logitech G25 steering wheel, which turns a pretty crappy racing experience into a truly horrid one.

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Setup:

PlayStation 3 120 GB

Logitech G27 Racing Wheel for PC and PS3

I have yet to wreck my car so bad that I couldn't drive it any longer on NFS:Shift. It is a much better sim than any previous NFS game. The arcade mode is still there in that you can use any car ahead of you to slow down into a corner. Get behind? Drive like a maniac and then slam into the cars ahead, sure the hood will crumple but you will blast them off the track and if your good you can then run ahead on to the next set and slam into them. Its like a mix of a demolition derby and a racing sim.

There are a ton of redeeming qualities in this game though, so dont think its all bad;

Cockpit:

The cockpits of these cars look very authentic. I am a fan of Top Gear and have seen every car in this game on that show several times (except the Camaro) and the cockpits here look identical. When you drive a car it tallies up the miles you have driven it which is cool to say you have driven a few thousand miles in car X. It makes you want to keep a car longer just so you can become more proficient.

AI:

Not bad, many of them want to kill you and they will try to run you off the road. Which can help you get ready for online races because they will do the exact same thing.

Cars:

Very accurate but indestructible. Drive a Zonda or Veyron into a wall at 200 MPH and it will only dent the hood slighlty and may break the lenses.

I can only compare this to another driving sim even though its an off road rally game. Comparing this to Dirt 2 and you will see some glaring issues. First off in Dirt if you hit a wall or even a hay bale at speed you may risk ripping a body panel off or even the wheel; ending your race. In Shift you can slam into anything you want and it will keep on going.

Issue 2: the gravel is impossible to turn on. I realize hitting gravel at high speed means you can not turn as sharply but in Shift you hit it at anything over 20 and you will hit the wall.

Issue 3: The car customizing is really difficult to do. Want to do ralley stripes on your car, it can take 30 minutes or more to get them all in place, hit a wrong button and all that work is gone.

Pros:

>> Wonderful car models

>> Drive some of the rarest cars on the planet

>> Accurate cockpits

>> Cool animations when you hit things

Cons:

you have maxed out your upgrades.

The controls are similar to GTA, which is a good thing as the controls are fairly logical. One nice thing is that you don't have any annoying "checkpoints" of earlier racing games.

The game does a great job of providing variety in races. You can race "manufacturers challenge" where every driver gets the exact same car (that way nobody has an advantage w/their vehicle). You can do head-to-head challenges between two different cars. There are also lap eliminator & time eliminator races that are thrown in as well.

Almost all of the major car manufacturers are on the game; Nissan, Toyota, Aston Martin, Chervolet, Ford, Lamborgini, Audi, Mercedes, etc. The only major brand that is omitted is Ferrari. That's too bad as I'm a huge fan of Ferrari! Ostensibly, the licensing didn't work out as I can't see the makers of the game simply forgetting about such a major manufacturer of exotic automobiles.

If you like racing games, then more than likely you will like this one. Sure, the laws of physics are toned down in the game, but to have more realistic physics would be to degrade the playability of the game. This is at once one of the most frustrating games I've ever played, and at the same time it's one of the funnest games I've ever played. You can drive with the precision of Mario Andretti, or you can be so aggressive that you make NASCAR drivers look like downright courteous operators. In short, it's everything a racing game should be!

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First, let me say that this game has its share of technical problems. So why do I give it 5 stars? I'll get to that in a moment. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. Load times are rather long, and as you get farther into the game, they can get really long. There's a bit of frame rate slowdown occasionally, but it's not at all common. However if there are 10 cars ahead of you and 5 of them are having a massive collision, the frame rate can drop to 0 for a second, and next thing you know you're 100 yards farther down the track than you were before. The sound can cut out on occasion, requiring you to quit the game and restart it. Again, this is rare. There's also a problem with the replays if you're using a steering wheel, the replays cause the wheel to turn, which in turn causes the on-screen menu to start cycling through its options, creating an annoying clicking sound. In the past, a couple of tracks had terrible slowdown problems, causing the game to run in slow motion. However, they've fixed this with a patch which you can download for free.

So now the good stuff. Technical problems aside, this game is an absolute blast to play. They start you off with a race in which your driving abilities are analyzed. The game then sets the difficulty level to suit your experience level. You can also manually choose whatever difficulty you want, from casual to professional. And you can set the AI opponents to easy, medium or hard. With casual difficulty, the cars almost drive themselves, you don't even need to use the brakes. With professional difficulty, it's a very good driving simulator, and quite realistic. And you can choose anything in between. So it appeals to just about any race fan, from beginner to expert.

As far as the cars and tracks, there's an excellent selection. Other games may have more cars, but this game has about as many as I could want. A very nice selection of American, European and Japanese cars, from low powered ones like you might actually own, to the most exotic and expensive stuff made in the world. I believe there are about 68 total. There are also two DLC packs, the "Team Racing" pack which is free includes some nice classic American muscle cars. The "Exotic" pack which is not free includes a nice selection of 7 exotic sports cars, along with a new track and a whole pile of extra events to race in. The selection of tracks in the game is about as good as anything on the market. Seriously, you will never get bored with the selection of tracks because there are just so many of them. And it's even got the Nurburgring!

The game is arranged into 4 tiers. You start on tier 1, with the lower powered cars. After you've gained enough experience, you move to tier 2, with more cars and a wider variety of tracks, and then to tier 3 and 4. The 5th group of races is the Need for Speed World Championship, which is a series of about 10 races. There's also a "star" system you earn stars for various things: 3 stars for a 1st place finish, 2 for 2nd, 1 for third. You can also get a star for completing a lap within the specified time, running a clean lap, earning enough points for precision driving or aggressive driving, etc. There are 50 levels total, and each time you make it to a new level you get a prize of some sort. It might be cash, or access to more features. So all throughout the game there are a myriad of incentives to keep you working towards getting better and achieving a higher level.

The best part though is the driving. It's just so fun and immersive. The force feedback you get if you use a steering wheel is awesome you can feel every bump and ripple in the track, and feel the tires losing traction and then gaining it back again. It really feels like you're driving a race car. The sound is also excellent, with directional sounds coming from all sides if you've got a surround sound system. Hit a wall on your left? You'll get a big crashing sound to your left. Collisions also cause your vision to momentarily go blurry and the color disappears, which goes even further to immerse you in the experience. And the cars are an absolute blast to drive. They all have their own unique handling and acceleration. There's no such thing as two cars that feel the same to drive. The physics are very realistic if you set it on professional or even experienced difficulty level. By the end of a long endurance race, I notice I'm sweaty, my arms are a bit tired, and my nerves are frayed. In other words, it provides that visceral and emotional experience that few others can match.

Overall, a great game. My favorite racing game of all time, hands down. I think I've got over 200 hours into it so far, and still having a blast.

Review of Batarang Wireless Controller for PS3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $21.25
Today's Bonus: 57% Off

The controller is great in almost every way. I like the offset/reverse thumbstick layout.

Pros:

Great look and appearance, I got this controller pretty much just for the fact that it's Batman related and made by Power A.

The buttons are responsive and I prefer the stiffer L2/R2 triggers.

The controller is wireless with no noticable lag or dead zones playing Batman AA, and has a built in rechargable battery.

The D Pad is also responsive and I had no issues selecting items in the diagonal directions.

It lights up, has some rubber on the grips, and includes an On/Off switch with a power save function.

Cons:

My only issue with this controller is the placement of the LED Color selection button and Battery Power Indicator button being located inline with the Start and Select buttons. If you use this controller to play any other games, that use those buttons some what often, you will find yourself switching the LED Colors randomly when you try to pause the game, or you will be constantly checking the battery power level (no biggie there), unless you look down at the controller to find the buttons.

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Pros

This controller feels similar to xbox 360 controller for anyone who like's that layout.

The batarang controller has 7 LED colors you can choose from.

The controller feels Great and very natural too grip on and the Buttons are accurate.

Cons

But Using The batarang controller on Arkham City, MW2, Uncharted 2, I felt some delay on the right analog stick when I was playing.

So I switch back with the Dualshock 3 to compare it was way better and accurate.

And with the batarang controller you can't turn ON the console with the controller but you can turn OFF the system.

So Overall it's 3/5 stars for me

It's worth a try if your looking for a 360 controller for an alternative.

but I would say just stick with the Dualshock 3 if you want your controller accurate.

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I've been playing with this controller for a few days now, and I have to say I like it very much. It feels good in the hands even with playing for long periods of time. It has a very solid feel, and I like the sculpt of the grips. The triggers (L2 & R2) are also very good, certainly much better than those on the standard PS3 controller. All of the shoulder buttons, as well as the D-pad, have a texture to them that's a little more noticeable than the texture on Sony's controllers, which I also like. The D-pad is serviceable and is better than the standard XBox360's D-pad, but not as good as the standard PS3. The lights on the controller certainly look cool, but I play with them turned off because I find it annoying to have a colored light shining in the periphery of my vision.

The main problem with the controller comes from the analog sticks. They do have a dead zone. Reading the other reviews, I was expecting a much larger dead zone than the controller has. Personally, I wasn't bothered too much with this issue. I think that the quality of your experience with this controller will largely depend on the types of games you play. For most strategy, role-playing, and general action games, this controller will work great. However, if you play many games that require great precision and very small adjustments of the analog sticks, such as driving games and first-person shooters, you might want to pass on this controller. I definitely would NOT suggest buying this controller for use in any kind of competitive play. For general gaming, though, it's great.

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I got the controller and charged it fully before trying to play with it. It wont work unless I have it plugged in at all times. It says fully charged but as soon as I unplug it, it shuts down. I recommend it as a collector's item, not as a useful controller.

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This is by far the best controller I've ever owned. I ordered it about 5 months ago and so far I've had zero major complaints. I've never owned a non-sony controller so I was hesitant that it would be worth it, but I'm glad I placed the order. Needless to say I've never owned a controller with a joystick configuration like this, but it didn't really take any getting used to.

Here's some things I love about this controller:

-It's sturdy and all the buttons are extremely responsive especially on games that require that like Dark Souls

-instantly turns on, whether your using the very handy on/off switch or the home button after inactivity it instantly turns on unlike even the Dualshock 3

-the previously mentioned on/off switch

-the display power button has four levels and is more accurate than the Dualshock

-the R1 buttons are flawless and don't make the annoying clicking sound that 360 controllers do

-the R2 buttons are triggers

-it's super comfortable

-it lights up! (but unless I'm showing off I leave them off to save battery

the few minor things I don't like:

-the face buttons fade over time

-the stuff on the back fades almost overnight if you remove the stickers

-the biggest complaint is with the button placement at the top, it's vey easy to hit the home or power display button when aiming for the select button// hit the light button or the home button when aiming for start

Overall I think this controller is better designed than both the PS3 and 360 controllers (since it's basically the best of both thrown together) and as far as I know cheaper than both as well.

Cheap ESPN International Winter Sports 2002

Customer Ratings:

This being an original xbox game, I was told to buy a hard drive for my 4Gb console. It took 2 tries to get a hard drive that works. And now that I bought and installed a 250Gb, and it still will not work. Original xbox my rear! Since I bought an xbox 360, the 360 would infer it encompasses all xbox games!!! Too bad...so weak.

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Discount Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack Core Series 2 Flameslinger

Customer Ratings:

This skylander is FAST! Excellent for beating time themed missions. Also once upgraded he his fire arrows can be shot higher in the air hitting otherwise untraceable enemies. He has less armor than many other skylanders but is fast enough to avoid most attacks while attacking from afar with his arrows. Also a plus that he can work on the old game as well.

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The whole faminly loves this game. Its fun for all ages and we rec'd this package on time and as listed in the details. Great game for any family to play!

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Love the game! Love the choice of characters. Such a great game for your children. Get it for them, you won't regret it.

Honest reviews on Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack Core Series 2 Flameslinger

I would def recommend flameslinger to any parent or child. He is an awesome character to have in the game. He's a series two which means he can play with spyro or giants.

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He loves slander products... All of them . So anytime he has a chance to get a few from us he does.

He likes them!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles - Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

When Oblivion first came out for the 360 i put 80 hours into, finished all of the guilds and most of the side quest, after over saturating myself i took 8 months-1 year break, and decided recently it was time to get back into it and I have beat Knights of Nine(which is also on this very same disc) and am half way through Shivering Isles. And here we are...

Knights of Nine

-Good-

~Lengthy quest (5 hours), fun beginning, cool ending. You get a new outfit with fairly nice benefits, nothing jaw dropping though.

~Kind of boss fight at the end in a cool environment(i don't want to spoil it)

-Bad-

~Half of the quest deals with you traveling all over the map to touch shrines(to become blessed), you have to find 8-9 of them. You get a map, but the actual locations aren't marked on your main map so sometimes it takes longer then it should to find one. Became some what tedious.

~More fetching type activites then actually meeting interesting characters, go in this cave to find this, go to this other cave to find that, etc...

~Everying thing besides the new boss where you fight the boss, and armor, you've seen before.

Shivering Isles

-Good-

~Very interesting story, great ideas and concepts.

~New environment, new weapons, new armor, new tougher enemies, great dialogue.

~Great main quest, and some entertaining side quests ( the first side quest i did; i was told by a distraught civilian that he hated his life and wanted me to kill him, but he didn't want to see it coming)

~You come across some interesting characters as mentioned above.

~Lengthy, i've put 15 hours into so far and am probably only half way done.

~Decent price, you get what you pay for, after all, $30 isn't cheap for an add-on.

-Bad-

~Review after review stats how different the two worlds are, mania(happy/energetic) and dementia(sad/angry), but honestly, they're not that different. Don't get me wrong, you can tell which is which, but it's not nearly as extreme as i was made to believe. Let's take leaves off trees and paint the vegetation in darker shades and call it dementia. So far that's my only complaint.

For $30 this is a good deal because you actually get what you pay for. An additional 30-40hours to an already extremly lengthy and well made game. One side note, i bought this game downloaded it onto my 360, brought it my friends place and downloaded on his as well(he also had Oblivion). Therefore, if you know someone else who wants it you guys should split the cost because you just download it on your hard drive and don't actually need the disc to play the game(you only need the Oblivion disc).

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Right in the middle of the Niben Bay of Cyrodiil lies the entrance to the realm of Sheogorath called the Shivering Isles. Here you'll find some bizarre things and even more bizarre people. Shivering Isles is the expansion pack to the brilliant Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

Key Features:

Two New Armor and Weapons Sets

Many new special weapons and magical items

About 20-25 hours of new gameplay

A good amount of new enemies

New conjuration spells

New greater power spells

Gameplay 7 of 10

As odd as it sounds, the gameplay is not as good as Oblivion even though they are based on the same combat system and the quests are very similar. First off, even though the map is about one-fifth the size of Cyrodiil, it seems smaller. There are only 30-40 places to go. Quests are either found by talking to Sheogorath or seeking out random quests within the realm. There are caves, ruins, homesteads and New Sheoth-the capital and only city in The Shivering Isles. New Sheoth houses both Crucible and Bliss which represent the opposite sides of the Isles mania and dementia. Side quests are sort of uninspiring. One quest entailed finding calipers and tongs to sell to some idiotic guy who was collecting them.

Creatures 7 of 10

Creatures found in the Shivering Isles reflect the essence of it. They are somewhat more magical or otherworldly. Where as you'll find bears, wolves and mountain lions quite commonly in Cyrodiil, here you'll see tree creatures, giant ant-like monsters called Elytra and Scalons which resemble lizards that walk on two feet. Almost everything here is stronger and more ferocious. My only problem with the creatures is I believe I can name off all of them without even playing the game. So in terms of variety, it can get old. You'll be fighting Grummites most of the time.

Story 9 of 10

Mania and dementia are the basis of the Shivering Isles; two sides of the same coin. When you first enter the "strange door" you meet Haskill which is Sheogorath's personal assistant. Haskill makes sure you want to enter the Shivering Isles. He has a rather interesting stoicism and indifference to his tone. After this you enter the Fringe.

To get past the Fringe you must defeat the Gatekeepera 12 foot tall creature with a weapon attached to its right arm. Once you've done this you can choose whether to enter mania-a land which vaguely resembles the inside of Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory or dementia-a downtrodden less colorful version of The Shivering Isles. Note that either side both have the same locations.

After this you are sent to see the madman himself Sheogorath. He asks you to do various quests and what not. It is sort of like being in a guild, but after each quest you end up with a much better reward than you normally would. The story is has a lot more of a plotline to it than the original game.

Armors / Weapons 8 of 10

There are two new armor sets: Amber and Madness for mania and dementia respectively. In the realm of Sheogorath, you must find the constituents of the armor to create it as opposed to just buying pre-armor. Amber requires pieces of amber to create both the armor and weapons, just as the madness armor does. The amber is a light armor, while madness is heavy armor. If you happen to find a matrix, this can be used to create a whole piece of the armor. There are also very impressive pieces of armor later on in the main quest line, which are much more powerful than anything found in Cyrodiil. Weapons here are all marginally stronger to begin with than regular weapons. One in particular dubbed Duskfang is very strong and has multiple enchantments.

Graphics 6 of 10

At first look the visuals are every bit as appealing and detailed as Oblivion. When you get a little closer, you see it isn't the case. Unfortunately only a few of the weapons and the Amber armor are really remarkable. Amber armor looks like a yellowish-orange glass armor set. New enemy combatants in general appear lackluster-especially the Elytras. It is almost like they left off the last level of 3-d rendering. The landscape of mania is very lit up, vibrant and rainbow colored. It is the only redeeming quality to the graphics. All said, the landscape has very little detail and parts of the trees are not even solid-you can walk right through them. Basically, instead of improving upon the graphics in the Isles, the developers actually took them a step or two down. Parts of it really remind me of Elder Scrolls III

What I would have added:

First off, you should have been able to purchase a house; though you can inherit one on one of the side quests. Secondly, there should have been a place to enchant weapons and create spells. It got really annoying having to fast travel from the Shivering Isles to the gate, out of the gate and then to the Arcane university. More monsters should have been added and more time should have been spent on the texturing and details of the landscape and creatures.

Overall the expansion is a solid 7 out of 10, but has little replay value for me. I was a little disappointed in the general gameplay and also the amount of playing time. I paid about $28 for probably 20 hours of game time, when I got an average of 120 hours for each one of my Oblivion characters. So the value factor is kind of low. Visually, the game has very few things that will wow you. So I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone. You'd have to be a pretty big fan of these types of RPGs or Elder Scrolls in the first place.

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As much as I liked oblivion I have to admit the environment became a little monotonous compared to the diverse areas of Morrowind. The Shivering Isles expansion is a great addition to Oblivion and somewhat completes some of the gaps that I felt were present in the environment.

The Shivering Isles is a new landscape that can only be reached through a portal in the Nibbenay Basin. The new area is quite large, approximately 25% the area of Cyrodil, adding many new places to explore. It is divided between the brightly forested area of Mania and dismal swamps of Dementia.

I haven't yet played the Knights of Nine quest yet but the Shivering Isles is enough for me to recommend buying this expansion. If you liked Oblivion then this is for you.

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After you download the disk onto your 360 you use your old Elder scrolls disk to play. It takes a minute everytime you start to play. New characters, plants and missions keep you interested. I have yet to find anything worth much as far as weapons. They seem to be the same old ones. The missions are a bit more time consuming though.

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As anyone who has played Oblivion would well know, it is a game that, even when the main quest is finished, there is still tons to do.

Well this expansion "The Shivering Isles" should not be missed by any fans or anyone who wants something new to do.

There are plenty of new creatures to fight and plenty of new items and weapons.

It is simply a must have, if you really must know.

There is also a new original back story for this side quest that is pretty interesting.

Review of Crash SuperPack

Customer Ratings:

I was really suprised how fun this game really is. Both games are equally fun and hard. I have had this game for over a month and I play it everyday. The Nitro racing game is pretty much like Mario Kart but there seem to be way more tracks and characters to race with. Overall I give this game the highest possible rating. This is the best game I've ever owned.

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When I played this game, I got so sucked into this game for 3 minutes! A must get game! ~A kid's review

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Crash 2: N-Tranced

If you have ever played Crash before, you know how amazing it is. There is side-scrolling, and then there is chase scenes, and being in space, and being in a hamster-ball-type-thing. Not many other games can boast such variety in their game play. And yes, this is a very challenging game, but once you complete even just one level, it is immensely rewarding. Maybe some of the levels are impossible at first, but that is the challenge. Besides, it is so easy to gain new lives during the course of the level. The boss levels can be ridiculously challenging, but again, once you finish the boss, you are rewarded from your hard work. It is more of a puzzle game, at times. If you have never played Crash, this is an awesome game, one like no other. Highly recommended.

Crash: Nitro Kart

I haven't played this as much, but it is very good. It is basically the same exact thing as Mario Kart, just with different content. The adventure version of this game is more like the Diddy Kong Racing on DS, and also, I haven't played this feature very much. Yet, if I ever get discouraged from playing Crash 2: N-Tranced, I just switch to this game to race.

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This is a great combination of games if you're looking for a dose of Crash to take on the go, but...whoever wrote the Product Description for this entry only has half a clue what they're talking about. The cartridge does indeed contain Crash Nitro Kart, a rather decent portable port of the console Kart racers. But I'm not sure where they got that 'N-Hanced' thing from--as even the box image itself tells you, the other game on the cartridge is Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced, which is a 'normal' Crash game with platforming and other elements. Though to be honest...waaay too many of the 'hamster-ball' levels compared to the classic platforming, IMHO.

Review of Darksiders II: Collectors Edition -Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

If you're a Darksiders fan, you've already got this game. If not, get the first one, then get this one. They are amazing. It's Zelda for current consoles with great voice acting.

The collectors mask is detailed, and well made.

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If you liked the first one then this one is more of that, but just way more refined. It would have been nice to have the first one be like this one and this one be a bit more dynamic but then again the grounds are def there for part three to improve upon!

Awesome action adventure game with a bit of puzzles and rpg elements to complement but the graphics need a bit more stylized definition other then that def a must own especially if you finished playing the first one.

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Mask is pretty cool, game play is great. would recommend to anyone who played zelda as a kid on nintendo.

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The product arrived promptly, and was expertly packaged.

I liked that I could easily register this item using the original packaging.

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Though it has some technical glitches (i was stuck in the environment and a few times, and as reviewers have stated, there is some screen tearing going from one large area to another, but those things aside (which never stopped a full-on good time) the game is fun. It is all about the loot, the hunt for those items just outside your field of vision and figuring out how to get them. Death is nimble but still able to take a beating (if you level him up enough). His skill trees are varied enough without becoming a burden and the game warps up nicely. I clocked in about 39 hours without finding everything, but found a lot. It was definitely better than the first, which I really liked, but could honestly stand on its own without the first one.

It is a constant homage to every great game before it (God of War, Portal, Prince of Persia) but it is well done and when it invokes those titles, it does so in a way that makes sense.

Great game, great voice acting. Pick up the novel Darksiders: The abomination Vault, really got me into it before the game came out and gives you some good perspective on characters you will meet in the game

Reviews of StarTech.com COMP2VGA Composite and S-Video to VGA Video Converter

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List Price: $78.99
Sale Price: $48.98
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

This product does exactly what I anticipated. It allows me to play the Xbox using my PC monitor and speakers. The device is an all hardware solution, that once connected has a button to toggle the monitor/speakers between the Xbox and PC. Note that this device will also work with any other game console (Nintendo, Playstation) that outputs NTSC video.

I use the device on a 19" Trinitron monitor and the video displayed from the Xbox is not quite as crisp and clear as when the Xbox is connected to my 27" TV. But I found the quality to be very good and many people may not notice that a regular TV provided a better image if the two are not directly compared. The bottom line is that a purist may be bothered by the difference in image quality, but it provides me a great alternative for playing the Xbox when my TV is being used by others, or when a TV is not available, e.g. playing Xbox System Link games (like Halo) at a friends house.

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(first review)

Simply put, this item was DOA, straight out of the box. I attempted all of the following as input devices:

* Wii console

* VCR

* DVD player

and both of the following as displays:

* 17" ViewSonic CRT monitor

* 20" Samsung LCD monitor

and regardless of the configuration I got the exact same result -NO SIGNAL. I will attempt one exchange. If that one is DOA as well, I will get a refund.

(after getting the replacement)

I would like to amend a prior review where I gave 1 star, saying I would give 0 if I could, because it just didn't work. Well, the replacement does work, and I have successfully run the Wii through the analog port on my 20" LCD monitor. That's the good news.

The bad news:

* Piping sound through it is bad. Really bad. Tin cans and a string bad. Fortunately, you don't have to, and I don't any more. You just have to be inventive with your cabling.

* The video quality isn't great, but this may be as good as it gets with composite. Results might be better with S-video, but I don't have anything that delivers that. I blame outdated standards here.

* It doesn't drive 1024x768 like you may see in the specs, it drives 640x480. This makes the next point all the more confusing...

* It doesn't work with my 17" CRT monitor, which I had intended to turn into a TV with this, a VCR, and a pair of amplified speakers. The monitor works fine on the analog port of the video card, so there's nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't get along with the Video Game Jockey.

Also of note is that it sends an output signal even when there is no input signal. This means that if your monitor auto-detects source, it will lock onto the blank-screen analog signal if you try to connect the analog to the Jockey and the DVI to your computer. I can force-switch it, but occasionally it still flips back over to analog (and is guaranteed to if the machine is rebooted), and it won't go to sleep because it's always getting a signal. This can be dealt with by switching the Jockey to use the VGA input, even though I haven't connected anything to it. It does not attempt to drive a blank signal this way. I just have to remember to switch it back before I can use the Wii.

In short, it does what it says (other than the 1024x768 part) but it has crappy sound quality and doesn't work with all monitors. 3 stars.

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Bought this to be able to convert the composite video from my Directv box to VGA so that I could use an old computer monitor as my "TV." It does the job! No complaints.

Honest reviews on StarTech.com COMP2VGA Composite and S-Video to VGA Video Converter

This product is great! I hooked up the video / audio in in the right spots, yet the screen was flickering and wasn't clear. I think this is what may have happened to the previous reviewers and their bad responses.

ANYWAYS, i went and bought a connector for the PS2, that had the same connections EXCEPT it had an S-video input instead of the video plugs. Once I hooked it up this way, everything was great and I have never had a problem.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for StarTech.com COMP2VGA Composite and S-Video to VGA Video Converter

The static on this device on the audio line is intolerable in my opinion. However, newer computer stereo systems, as well as radio shack, have a converter that goes from left right audio to 3.5mm stereo jacks. That solved the static problem by bypassing the device all together with some creative cabling.

As for the video quality, it's not too good if your using a composite device. You'll imediately notice a flicker on straght lines and text that gave me a headache. However, if you are using an s-video cable (which is what I use for my ps2) then the picture is decent. Not the best product on the market, I'm sure, but a functional solution if your like me and don't always have a TV available.

Xbox Memory Unit Review

Customer Ratings:

Don't buy this memory card until you need it. Mine works well, but it only has one use: it transfers files from X-box to X-box.

The X-box has a huge hard drive, and since the hard drive is what you use to save your games, you can play for years without a memory card.

After fully testing the memory card, here are the restrictions:

-You can't directly transfer files from X-box to X-box, even with the system link cable, so the only way to transfer files is with the memory card.

-You can't transfer music files on the memory card. It would hold about two files, but the X-box won't let you. You can only transfer game saves.

-You can only transfer character profiles, so you can't transfer the progress on a game like Dead or Alive that doesn't have character profiles.

-You have to transfer character profiles one at a time.

Probably the best use for this memory card is if your friend has an X-box, and has unlocked a bunch of special features on a game, you can save the profile off your friend's X-box to your memory card and then transfer it to your X-box.

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You need the Xbox memory unit only if you intend to take your saved games to another Xbox (e.g., at your friend's house). The Xbox already has an internal hard drive which allows you to save games (among other things). The memory unit plugs into one of the two ports on your Xbox controller. Its light weight means you probably won't feel it in your hands.

The memory unit is fast. While I have not tested it rigorously (just sold my PS2 :), I think it loads and saves faster than PS2 -of course, it could be also that the Xbox is more efficient and/or uses less data. Anyway, I do think the price is a bit too high.....

You can pick up one of a few third-party memory units. I have not tested them so can't offer advice on whether they work well. I only know that third-party PS2 memory cards usually [stink].

Bottom line: if you intend to play your beloved games on other people's Xboxes a lot, this is a must-have. Otherwise, skip.

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It can be used to bring your saved games over to a friends house, but you don't need it if you don't know anyone with an xbox. The xbox has it's own hard drive that does the same thing, but isn't portable.

Honest reviews on Xbox Memory Unit

First, let me start by saying that if you're going to buy a memory unit, get a cheaper third party one. They're licensed by Microsoft and will save you (money).

Next, if you're used to the Playstation and GameCube style of saving games on your memory card, this is not neccessary for the XBOX. You can use the hard drive. But, having said that, know that you will need the Memory Unit if you want to take saved files to a friends house.

However, the best reason that I've found to have one of these is because of the game HALO. If you have progressed in a level, but have not finished it and you decide to show someone the beginning of the same level, you will erase all of your progress.

With the memory card, you can save your progress on it and demo whatever you want without fear of losing it all. Some other games may have the same problems, so for these reasons, the memory unit is a smart buy.

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Ok, technically you don't need a memory unit, thanks to the XBox's hard drive, but there is one reason why having one is a very good idea: backup. If you XBox hard drive decides to call it quits, all of your saved games will likely go with it. If you're into long games such as Morrowind, that is a large time investment down the drain. Spend the cash and keep 2 copies of your most important saves.