Best Game Gripper - Samsung Epic Game Controller, Xbox Style Buttons Deals

Customer Ratings:

Works great. Would recommend this item to anyone looking to buy a good quality item like this one. Very happy with it. however; seller is terrible. Never responded to why it came all chewed up like a dog had played with it before shipping it.

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Review of Rock Band Triple Tree Guitar Stand

Customer Ratings:

The Rock Band Triple Guitar Stand is PERFECT for Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars!! It doesn't take up much room, is easy to assemble and is a nice addition to the room. Instead of tripping over a guitar or knocking one over, you can easily place the guitars on the Stand, and when you want to get a different one, it will be right at your finger tips. It definitely makes a nice gift or a treat for one's personal collection. It is too small to hold full size guitars, which makes it all the more special for the Guitar Hero/Rock Band Super Star, as it was made just for them. Rock On!

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I was happy this tree could hold 3 guitars since that's how many I have now. I'm guessing it was designed this way for stability and it worked. The hooks and guitar rests are nicely padded; no worries over your guitars getting scratched. The stand also fits very nicely in tight spaces. This is a very useful product if you're looking for a way to protect your guitars from damage and get them out of the way when they're not being used.

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This stand is not huge so it doesn't take up a lot of space. It looks nice and it keeps our Rock Band guitars neat and from getting hit or kicked. Since Rock Band is set up right in our living room we needed to make our accessories look a little better when not in use.

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Purchased this guitar stand along with the Dreamcast Warbeast guitar controller. I already have two RB2 strats in my collection and adding the Warbeast made this guitar stand a necessity.

The stand itself is built well and looks to be a quality product. Good weight makes mounting 1, 2, or 3 guitars possible with no worries of tipping over. Because the height is adjustable, the Warbeast fits perfectly... so don't hesitate buying if you are worried it is too short for this full-sized replica guitar controller. I'll post pics soon!

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Wow what a difference, no more guitars leaning against the wall on top of each other. The Rock Band Triple Tree Guitar Stand can securely and safely hold up to 3 guitars without worrying about scratching or damaging them. The guitar's neck hangs off soft padded hooks and the backs are kept away from the stand by another padded bar that rests against the back of the guitar. Since the stand's height can be easily adjusted, this can be used with different gaming guitars. I personally use it for the Guitar Hero gaming system.

Made of heavy duty metal, it will securely stay in place without any worries of it tipping over. Much better "eye pleaser" to see the guitars nicely hanging on the stand than just laying around. Great buy!

NBA 2K12 (Covers May Vary) Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $20.60
Today's Bonus: 48% Off

Fun and Frustrating...

This is only the 4th NBA 2K game I've played (2K, 2K1, 2K11 now 2K12). I haven't gone through everything in 2K12 but here are my impressions on what I've played so far...

I play My Player mode the most so I'll start off with that...

It's a lot easier to jump into than 2K11. You play 1 pre-draft game, not the 7 or so in 2K11 that you had to grind through.

You are interviewed by three different GM's and you can "pick" what team drafts you by answering negatively or positively. The questions themselves sound pretty realistic. I made a power forward and told the Rocket's GM I wasn't happy with being Scola's backup so they didn't draft me. I also turned down the 76ers but told the Wizards I'd like to be part of their young front court and got drafted by them. The minor downside is you don't know which three teams are going to be interviewing you, but it'd be silly if you were able to choose what teams to interview with. I also made a shooting guard and it seems the interview teams range from decent core of talent (suns, sixers) to rebuilding teams (wizards, pistons).

Draft night, you watch virtual David Stern announce all draft picks. You can't skip his announcements. If you're picked #21 you have to watch him announce #1-20, which sucks.

You start the NBA season and there are a few changes. You start out at a higher player rating than last year. I started at 62 while 2K11 had me start in the low 50's I think. You upgrade offensive and defensive attributes just like last year with the skill points earned in games. This year they also added an area to upgrade abilities, these would be the special moves you can do in the game (fade away, cross over, post hook shot, etc...) but they're ridiculously expensive. It costs ~10,000 sp to do an ability upgrade.

This year you can also buy stuff with the money you earn from your contract. You can buy additional skill points, increase the cap of your offensive/defensive attributes, but it's pricey. ($50K for 50 measly sp).

Post game conferences are the same. You're still ranked in league wide popularity, team chemistry and fan support but you can track where you stand in these categories. If you need a boost in these categories there's a menu where you can spend your money to host a b-ball camp (boost fan support), give to charity (boost league popularity), or host team parties (increase chemistry). I'm not sure if any of these actually affect anything though. Like will a high team chemistry score actually get you the ball more? Will low fan support mean the GM wants to ship you out?

Game play is still frustrating (in my player mode at least. I haven't played too many regular mode games)

a) The aggressive pass defense is back this year. It doesn't bug me too much cause I think I've just accepted that I need to be smarter about where I throw the ball to. Lead passing and Total control passing are back this year to help with that. But it's annoying seeing the CPU complete full court passes with no problem.

b) You're team mates are still idiots. Examples are taking dumb shots (shooting when double teamed, driving into a crowded paint and throw up an off balance shot) and standing with the ball as the shot clock counts down and either pass it to you with 5 seconds left or shoot from wherever they're standing at. Basically it feels like they all must have "F" ratings by the end of the game.

c) Moving around feels a bit smoother than last year. However you'll still get stuck to an opponent when you collide into them while trying to run past them and jumping to block is in slow motion (by the time I reach the peak of my jump the guy I was defending is already starting to run back on defense).

d) There are a lot more bounced foot animations and they happen pretty frequently. My PG tried to drive into a crowded lane and the ball bounced off someone's foot, I threw a fast break pass up the court and my teammate dropped the ball and it rolled off his foot.

e) A lot of attempted threes are made. Yes you can adjust sliders but I've always hated going through that trial and error process of finding the right settings.

f) The grade penalties are the same as last year (hogging the ball, call for bad pass, allow man to score, etc...) and they're as annoying as last year.

g) The typical 2K physics are still there and seem to be standard for the game. My teammate threw a bounce pass in the paint to the other big and in the replay you can see the ball actually travel through the defenders body.

h) Dynamic goals are new and they're basically impromptu goals given to you during the game. Some are easy (commit zero turnovers rest of the quarter) and others feel impossible (score next 10 points for your team) since they require you to demand the ball and the teammate won't give it to you.

i) I'm 11 games into the season and the past 2 or 3 games I'm starting to notice that my power forward keeps getting the ball stolen while posting up. I get the ball near the key, push Y to get to post up, as soon as I attempt to start backing down the big guarding me just swipes and picks the ball away. This has happened at least 4-5 times the last couple games, I hope this doesn't happen every game or else I'll need to start my player over with another position.

Greatest Players Mode

This mode has 15 different matchups between two classic NBA teams. You unlock these teams for normal play by winning these matchups. I'm glad they included even more legends (they went way back and included Bill Russell's Celtics and Wilt's Lakers) but there's not much to accomplish in this mode. It doesn't have any objectives like last year with Jordan where you had to repeat his famous moments. All you do is win and unlock the teams. Some probably like this better because some 2K11 Jordan achievements were a pain to accomplish (like 4 steals in his last bulls game). But it just feels like a step down from 2K11.

I gotta say the attention to detail on presentation is staggering. 2K made presentation to be true to the era that you're playing in. When playing as Russell's Celtics the game is shown in black and white, there's no 3 point line and jump ball happens every quarter. It's amazing how they tried to re-create 60's basketball.

The commentary is weird. Throughout the game you'll hear the commentators call the game but switch to recalling their favorite memories of the superstar. So when playing Bulls vs Hornets from '92 you'll hear commentary about the game in progress than they suddenly start reflecting back what a great player Jordan was in his time.

Online

Haven't tried any of it because servers were down this past weekend and didn't seem like it was anything 2K announced ahead of time, if you play online a lot than you'll probably be pissed cause the servers seem to be unstable again this year.

Training Camp for Controls

The 2K controls are infamously complex and take lots of practice. 2K added this training camp mode and I think it's a god send. The computer literally shows you how to pull off all the moves contained in the game. I found this insanely helpful because I never mastered the 2K11 controls. In 2K11 you'd get instructions of how to pull off a move but kind left to yourself to decide whether you actually did it correctly. The training camp presentation is pretty nice, a CPU controlled legend will demonstrate the move and have you control a current star and try to mimic the move.

Presentation

2K maintains their high standard here. Minor complaints would be I haven't found the classic Bulls Sirius entrance from last year (not sure if it's in 2K12 at all. The substitution windows still take up a good chunk of screen space but I haven't seen it block viewing the game after inbounding the ball. The slam cam replay comes up after a big play and I've turned off action replays in the options menu but the slam cam still pops up. The commentary is still great and sounds like a TV broadcast. You still get repeated lines but that's a minor point. One thing that I hated from 2K11 was if a ball rolled to mid-court, you had to wait for the ref to grab the ball, walk over to the end of the court and hand it to the guy inbounding the ball. You couldn't skip straight to the inbound pass. I haven't seen this yet & hoping it's not in 2K12.

To get the game or not, it depends on what you're looking for. Personally I was hoping for an improved My Player mode experience. I love the GM interviews, it's great you get drafted right away but the annoying game play quirks are still there. In the end I still like the game because of my player and I found 2K11 my player a lot more tolerable once you're player actually develops and starts putting up all star numbers.

But if you love playing online a lot you might want to wait a while `till the servers become more stable. If you're a casual sports gaming fan and didn't like 2K11 last year you'd probably give this a rental at best. If you're a hardcore NBA fan it's probably worth getting the game as there's no other option this year other than NBA Jam OFE. There so many modes to play that you'll probably be able to invest a lot of time into the game and get enjoyment out of it somewhere.

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I just want to say, I had some reserves about this year's title. I liked last year's 2K11 but I could not seem to really get into the game much. Honestly, I think last year's version was more difficult overall. So far I have tried to unlock the Dr. J challenge and was unsuccessful...lol Even thought I didn't win to unlock his challenge it was still fun to play. Those old school players still "got game" they can ball. I had so much fun with the Legends and My Player modes that I haven't even touched the regular game modes yet. I have officially been drafted in My Player, I had a ball creating my players every nook and cranny...very detailed and so much fun. You can create your players complexion, height, weight, eye color, facial hair, muscular physique, tatoos, equipment ie braces, bands, headbands, socks and sneakers (name brand w/ player endorsed footwear) I have the 2011 Hyperdunks Gray/Black/Red. I was also able to create my players signature style and moves. After I did all of that, I was entered into a pre-draft all-star game being watched by NBA team scouts. I did pretty good 24pts.,(3)rebounds,(2)assists,(4)steals and(4)fouls...yikes. All of your stats are on the top right side of the screen so you can keep an eye on your progress and you also get graded A thru F. The commentators are hard on you if you mess up and will praise you to death if your doing well, they will make comments about if you are draft material or not. This game has a lot of pressure centered around it...all for the best I guess. After this game was over I had(3)interviews one with the Pacers, Suns and the 76ers. I was drafted round (1) pick 13 by the Phoenix Suns. You would have thought I was drafted in real life... it was so exciting. I could go on for ever about the fun I had playing in My Player mode.

I am not the greatest NBA 2K player by far, but now I have some motivation to go to the next level and try to get better and be competitive. I thought last year's 2K 11 was ground breaking, but the critics were right this game is by far the best game of all of the NBA 2K series. It makes you wonder what is in store for next year's edition. FYI, I read that because of the current NBA lockout; 2K Sports was forbidden to put any of the current NBA players on the cover of this year's edition (NBA 2K 12). Personally I like the Legends being on the covers. I like the fact that this year, you can choose (1) out of (3) Legends on your copy of the game, that is Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Erving "Magic" Johnson. All and all this game is worth it to buy, I don't suggest you rent it because you will have to send it back, JUST BUY IT!!!

Best Deals for NBA 2K12 (Covers May Vary)

First of all , this is the best overall itteration of 2k yet. Yes, it is better than 2k11.I have been playing this game since dreamcast and have never left. This game has excellent,commentary,animation,immersion,and gameplay. The legends mode is fun also. Overall a very,very solid game. I will say that the online needs fixing. But we are reviewing the game at its core. Meaning can a person without internet access enjoy the game. The answer is yes. I also won't blame 2k for the lockout. They can't add certain things into the game until the lockout is resolved. To all the reviewers who give 1 and 3 stars. Sounds like a personal problem or you misled your own self because when I read your reviews, they are both petty and ridiculous. 2k has been talking about what will be in the game for half a year. So if you purchased it expecting to have nothing but Jordan challenges, the wnba, and an nfl combine mode , then you may need to stop playing games altogether. Awesome game. Better than 2k11. Learn to adjust and adapt. If you don't like it, go buy EA's new basketball game whenever it comes out.

Honest reviews on NBA 2K12 (Covers May Vary)

2k sports does it again an amazing basketball game no wonder ea sports left the NBA video games, If you a basketball fan you will love this game

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Nba 2k12 is a great game overall. Some people are very harsh when it comes to judging video games. If you love basketball video games, your gonna like this. Some people like nba 2k11 better than 2k12. If you have nba 2k11 already, I suggest that you should get nba 2k12. If you dont like it you could always return it.

PS3 Guitar Hero Les Paul Wireless Guitar Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I'm a huge Guitar Hero fan. The design of this product is fantastic. But the responsiveness is where it sucks.

Let me explain why. It will work great for people on Easy and Medium. But when it comes to Hard and Expert, it will not be very willing to cooperate. The guitar uses a 2.4Ghz wireless USB dongle instead of the PS3's built-in Bluetooth (Great, I have to search for it if I lose it). If you have to strum up and down on fast sections, it will not register some of the notes. I can get over 600,000 points on Through the Fire and Flames on Expert on the Wii version of this game, but I can get only around 400,000 with the PS3 version using this guitar (Yes, I'm serious, I'm an expert player). It always doesn't register a note on the Intro during my 2-hand tapping and I have strum again to get back on the hammer-on and pull-off path. When I have to strum up and down on fast sections, it won't register some of the notes. (Wow, I wonder why this is getting so many 5 star reviews.)

If you plan to play on Easy and Medium the whole time, this guitar is ok. But if you plan to play on Hard or Expert, then I recommend finding a different guitar.

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I have the GHWT kit and needed an extra axe. I picked up the Legends of Rock Slash les paul double guitar/game set.

The guitar is shorter than the stock GH guitar so playing it while sitting is painful because its too short for an average sized adult. It feels like your playing a child's toy.

The action is rough and laggy due to the sloppiness in the strum bar. The stock GH-WT guitar is beautiful compared to this guitar with the slider on the neck and the crisp quiet strum bar that is so much more responsive and quick to recover during fast strumming.

I really thought this product would be of better quality. With the Gibson name on the head I guessed Gibson quality would shine throughout, I was sad to learn this was not the case.

I'll be selling both les pauls on ebay and looking for a new guitar.

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It took Red Octane to much time to get their act together and sell an unbundled Les Paul Guitar controller but they finally did. Guitar works great and I have not noticed any interference between the two guitars when playing multi-player. The addition of a second guitar makes this game even more fun.

Amazon also sells this controller $10 cheaper than if you buy it directly from Red Octane. The order process through Amazon was also outstanding. I paid for two day shipping and got the controller one day after placing the order. Great work Amazon and better late than never Red Octane!

Honest reviews on PS3 Guitar Hero Les Paul Wireless Guitar

I have purchased this guitar and it arrived fast. But the blue button was not working, and shortly after the yellow one didn't as well. Thank God Amazon has an awesome return policy but the guitar is total crap! You can buy standard guitar hero controller or purchase one that is not wireless.

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Wasn't sure if this was going to work with games:PS3 Guitar Hero 5 or Rock Band 2 It does...AWESOME. Had problems locating 2nd guitar for guitar hero 5 PS3, this does the job and for the price I'm gonna order a couple more so we can all play. I love the compatibility of Guitar Hero 5 with Rock Band 2; drums, guitar, bass etc....

A big high 5 on this one wtg....thanks

Discount Xbox $10 Gift Card

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I used to get these codes from ebay but it takes time and faith on the seller, Microsoft will save your credit card and it will take forever to remove it and most of CD-keys websites are fishy, if you wanna buy a game code so amazon is the best place :)

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I had no problem redeeming my code, it took me only seconds to redeem it. I recommend this product. :)

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You get your code right away and its simple and easy. so its perfect good service dfd fgdf dff dfd

Honest reviews on Xbox $10 Gift Card

I love the use of Xbox Gift Cards instead of Microsoft Points cards. I think it was a great idea for Microsoft to do instead of Microsoft Points because u know exactly how much ur spending now.

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Helps when you're not looking to go above $20 and not having to spend $20 without having a choice. Not much to say as it gives you and added feeling of security of you distrust the security of the site or just don't want to give out your credit information to Microsoft XBL.

Reviews of Lips Number One Hits Bundle -Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

While the original "Lips" game had several issues, they were forgivable since it was the first game in the series; however, like the previous reviewer I am pretty unhappy about the 2nd installment of this franchise. I just want to make a couple things clear for anyone who has not yet purchased this game, especially if you already own the first game.

1. Despite being a "4-Player" game, only 2 people can sing So don't buy the game thinking that 4 people can sing. The problem if you own the original Lips is that you already have 2 wireless mics and Microsoft doesn't currently offer a standalone version of this game. You need to pay a premium price for the bundle, only to have an extra mic that you can't even use.

2. If you own the original Lips and want to sing songs from the original game, you need to switch discs even if you have the original game installed on your hard drive. Then after you're done with that song, you have to reinsert the Lips:NOH disc. If you want to sing 2 songs consecutively from the original Lips game, you would still need to reinsert Lips:NOH and the insert Lips again! Not only this, but sometimes the game will freeze during the whole process.

3. As of 10/30/2009 most of the downloaded songs from the original games are now working, but there are a couple songs that do not work.

Overall this game is a slight improvement on the original, but if you own the original you may want to wait until Microsoft works out some of the kinks and/or until the release a standalone version, because you won't be able to use the extra mic and this game is definitely not worth $60.

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Lips Number One Hits (LOH) ships with a extra microphone (one extra microphone) This isn't enough if you just bought the game as a stand alone game and it is completely worthless if you already own the original lips. They are just trying to milk customers so that they buy a extra microphone to go with the game.

The menus are slow it takes 20-30 seconds to load your avatar

It no longer shows your overall ranking if you are ranked less then 1000

The preview clips for the songs are too short, they will play several times while you are getting the settings correct for the song you want to sing, this gets very annoying when you have to change a few thing before you play the song.

They should allow you to shake the mic to determine who is going to be the solo singer, instead you have to go to the assign mic screen first (and listen to the too short preview clips several times)

For a game that is really no more then a Add-on (as evidenced by the 250 achievement points available) You shouldn't have to switch the discs back and forth this is annoying if the Xbox 360 is near you and it is virtually impossible if the 360 is in a cabinet

A lot of the new songs aren't very good or they are not well known

They make it hard to improve your singing because it doesn't show where your pitch is compared to what they are looking for (like rockband)

It displays the total number of songs available on the home screen, not just the songs you own but also all the songs that they want you to buy.

I wish I could return this game

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While the 'game' alone is fun to play, and it offers a few improvements over "Lips", "Lips Number One Hits" is not a full game and is in fact a game add-on that you can play on it's own.

Not all Lips DLC works with Lips NOH.

This game offers only 250 Gamerscore points.

"4 players" means 2 singing on mics and 2 making noise with noisemakers via Xbox360 controllers.

Even though you see all Lips, Lips NOH, DLC, and Store songs in the sing menu, you cannot download Lips or Lips NOH tracks to your hard drive to play together. If you have the Lips NOH disk in and want to play a Lips song, you have to switch disks and then back again for each Lips song.

At this point in time, there is no way to purchase Lips NOH without a mic, so if you already own Lips, you will not have 3 mics, and ony be able to use 2 at a time.

While it is fun to play when you have the sing menu sorted to only show Lips NOH songs, it becomes more of a hastle than it is worth to play otherwise, especially if children playing keep calling you into the room to 'fix it'.

So far, iNiS and Microsoft have not addressed or acknowledged many of the issues listed above even though they have been brough tup on many threads on the official forums.

Honest reviews on Lips Number One Hits Bundle -Xbox 360

Lips Number One Hits is definitely an improvement over the original Lips. The lag time while menus are loading is greatly reduced, the interface is much improved with better menus and presentation. Not only do the menus look cleaner, but they make more sense. For example, now you will see five albums across the perfect width for your tv, so you only need to scroll down to see all the tracks. Also, unpurchased tracks from the store are in their own section at the bottom, so you don't need to leave the main "Sing" menu to hear samples or make a purchase. One of my favorite new features are Trophies. You earn these by ranking high enough on the leaderboards. They add a new challenge in the game that is an addictive element as you strive to get more valuable trophies, or any trophy. I find myself playing the tracks I ordinarily wouldn't (not my cup of tea) just to have a trophy in them. The tracklist has some outstanding songs in a variety of genres, and your download content from the original Lips will work here with no hassle whatsoever. Unfortunately though, if you want to play a track from the original Lips you will need to choose the track on the #1 Hits menu (yes, they are listed albeit without the benefit of album cover or sample) and then open tray and put the Lips disc in to play the song. Then you need to swap discs again at the end. This really disrupts the flow of gameplay and is generally more trouble than it's worth. It would have been far better had they been able to allow the upload of Lips tracks into #1 Hits the way the Rock Band tracks were uploadable into Rock Band 2 (with the exception of only a few). They claim it is a licensing issue. If you are looking for gamerpoints, you will only be able to get 250 on this game instead of the 1000 most people have come to expect from a $60 game... one consolation about the price, however, is that the game includes a wireless mic. I did have a lag problem when I first got the game but it seems to be fixed now. I wish to note that most of the tracks on this game come with the original music video. Only a few (in most cases because the song came out before music videos were standard) have a "stand-in" video created by the developer. But as far as I'm concerned the videos are vastly more entertaining to watch than the avatar on stage we get in some other music titles. As for download content, it is released every Friday and usually includes at least three new tracks.

Although not perfect this is the best karaoke game I have played. Compared with the original Lips, the Singstar PS3 games, and the Karaoke Revolution games this one is superior (I love these kinds of games and have played them all). I recommend the game for anyone interested in karaoke.

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Very disappointed that the Xbox 360 Mic that comes w/ it is not usable on other karaoke games. I am returning it because of this. The song selection is not very good, either.

Cheap xFart - PC

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $9.99
Sale Price: $3.99
Today's Bonus: 60% Off

I bought this because I thought it would be amusing and keep the kids occupied in the back seat on our long car ride. It turned out to be one of the funniest things we had seen in a while. We were all laughing turned out to be fun for the whole family!

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I can't believe I fell for this. It is not a 'game' per say. It's alot of unrealistic fart noises, dumb jokes and just plain boredom! You're much better off downing some beans, broccoli and eggs and creating your own fun. PLEASE don't waste your money!

Discount Turtle Beach Call of Duty: Black Ops II Tango Programmable Wireless

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List Price: $299.99
Sale Price: $180.75
Today's Bonus: 40% Off

I am posting because I was looking for a comparative review between the Astro A50s and the Turtle Beach Tango before I went out and bought one and I couldn't find one. I saw gamers here waiting for a similar review so I decided to do one. This isn't a professional comprehensive review this is just my take and how I ended up with one over the other. I am not saying which you should buy I am just noting my opinion. IF you have either one of these headsets then you have a great headset and you will be very happy. For me there were some things that stood out over the other and because of that I was able to make my decision and I feel I made the right choice!

So I picked up both the Astro A50s and the Turtle Beach Tangos to test out. I used each one for about two days on various games and tried all the features to help me decide which of these 300 dollar headsets I wanted to keep.

In the end I felt the Tango's are well ahead of the Astro A50s in terms of awesome features like software to create user custom EQ presets for audio or chat, surround angles, removable microphone and Bluetooth, which makes it compatible any Bluetooth device like a real headset. The sound quality on both the A50s and Tango are great so any edge the A50s may have isn't enough to lose out on all the features the Tango's give you. Honestly even if the Astro A50 were $100 cheaper I would still opt for the Tango's. The Astros just don't have enough features, and with no Bluetooth you have to use them with the transmitter only. The Tango's have incredible features and since I can use them with my Vita, smartphone and tablet I feel has more use and therefore a better value.

I am not a fanboy I have wanted the Astros for a long time, when the A50s came out I decided to make the plunge, I was a bit disappointed which lead me to try the Tangos. Between the two the Tango's are it. Turtle Beach really made an awesome headset that is packed full of gaming features and is comfortable and stylish. The Astro A50s are bare bones compared to the Tango and the lack of features and comfort does not make up for the slight sound difference.

So on to it!

Setup: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50: It wouldn't power on via the PS3 Slim USB port. I had to go online and install a firmware for both the headset and the transmitter. Once I did that it worked somewhat. Every time I would power off the PS3 and power it on again the transmitter would not come on I have to keep switching USB ports to get it to turn on. Not what I want to do for a 300 dollar set of headphones. Also you have to turn on both the headset and transmitter manually. No charge and play cable so I had to wait for it to charge before I could use it (I didn't have a long USB)

Turtle Beach Tango: No issues. When you turn on the headset the transmitter turns on automatically small but great feature. The Tango's also came with a long charge and play cable.

Sound : Verdict: Astro A 50 (but only by a slight edge)

Astro A50:

Very nice, warm deep rich sound. I wouldn't say I was blown away but they were nice. They have a bit more bass and volume then the Tangos.

Turtle beach Tango:

As with the Astro I wasn't blown away but again these sound great. The Tangos produce a different sound from the A50s, they aren't as warm but they do seem to have great clarity and still sound very awesome.

Surround Sound: Verdict: TIE

Both do surround sound and both sound awesome, listing to both I am happy with either one. The A50s do 7.1 the Tango's do 5.1. I don't think you need 7.1 as most movies and games aren't even in 7.1 and really that is more used for bigger spaces. Also the 7.1 is almost too much for headphones and can make it a little harder to pinpoint direction like footsteps you still will be able to great it just may be a little less accurate. 5.1 are plenty for headphones and you will be able to pinpoint better in my opinion. So for surround sound, they are both great!

Surround Sound Angles: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50: none

Turtle Beach Tango: 6 surround angles. This is a very cool feature that lets you select 6 different surround angles,. The angles are basically simulating different distance and angle setups for the front and rear speakers and it works well. I use setting 5

Comfort: Verdict: Turtle Beach Tango; Feels great even with extended gaming.

I wore both headsets for extended periods of gaming

Astro A50:

They are a heavy headset. The ear cushions feel great no issue at all however the head strap felt uncomfortable after about 40 minutes due to the weight and was definitely noticeable. After longer game time I started adjusting the position of them on my head.

Turtle Beach Tangos

They have memory foam, are lighter and they did not get uncomfortable at any time of extended gaming, they never got heavy feeling.

Presets EQs: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50s: Have 3 presets

Out of the 3 presets only number 3 sounded great, the other two I doubt I would use they just didn't sound that different yet they weren't as good and the volume was weaker.

Turtle Beach Tangos: Have 9 presets:

I use number 4 and it sounds great. Each preset sounds different from each other. There are presets to focus on footsteps, action, chat you name it.

Customizable EQ: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50: no option for user generated EQ settings, the 3 presets is what you are stuck with

Tangos: Has an awesome feature and software that allows the user to create customized EQ presets for audio and chat. The online community will even upload presets specific for various games. Treyarch even has a preset specific for COD Black Ops 2.

Microphone: Verdict: Tangos

Astro A50: The microphone is hardwired to the headset so you can't remove it. This concerns me because if there is ever an issue with the MIC you will need to pay to ship it to Astro to have them repair it. To mute the Mic you have to flip it up, to un-mute you flip it back down so this will be getting plenty of wear. I do not like the idea of not having a removable Mic and I don't like having to flip it up and down to Mute and Unmute.

Tango: Has a super bendy removable microphone which is nice, if I ever need a new one I can just order it and put it on myself. To mute the microphone there is button you press which I prefer. I can also remove the mic if I am just streaming music or using it with my tablet or vita.

Chat clarity: Verdict: Tie

Both sounded great

Chat Presets: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50: None.

Tango: 9 chat presets, some even alter the voice pitch. Again you can create custom ones if you want.

BlueTooth: Verdict: Tango

Astro A50: No Bluettoth feature at all. You have to use these headsets with the transmitter or they will not work on their own. You can run a wire to the back of the transmitter from a headphone jack of something like an Ipod but you need to stay connected to the transmitter.

Tango: Bluetooth on the headset. You can connect two Bluetooth devices at once so you can answer or make a call while gaming or even stream music. You can also use the headphones as a real stand along headset with a tablet or smart phone or even a Vita. This feature alone gives me so much value out of the Tango headphones. The Tango's can be used for any Bluetooth device and doesn't need to have the transmitter in range, they can be used as independent headphones I can take them to work if I want and stream music from my smartphone.

Style: Verdict : Tango

Astro A50: The head set is nice but the stand looks cheap and doesn't form fit the headphones very well. I actually thought it looked bad on the stand, lots of dead space and kind of just hangs there.

Turtle Beach Tango: Looks great, the stand is the transmitter and fit the headphones. It looks awesome with the orange trim on both the headphones and transmitter.

Connection

No issues on either one, no static or pops. Both use the 5ghz band

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Ordered these on October 25th 2012 and they were released on the 26th for shipment. Being that was a Friday the 1 day business shipping didn't get them to me until the 29th as expected. First impressions: These appear to be MUCH better made than my Turtle Beach x4's that they are replacing. They are solid, appear to be made of good material and have a nice feel to them. Included in the box were the headset, transmitter, Bluetooth chat puck, (1) optical cable & (1) USB power cable (The transmitter is powered by a USB power cable & does not plug into an outlet but into your Xbox), (1) short USB cable to plug into the headset for charging purposes when sitting on the transmitter, & (1) long USB cable to charge & play. The headset is factory paired with the Bluetooth puck so no set up required. Just hook up the transmitter with the two cables to the Xbox and go. WOW! Sound is amazing. 100% better than my x4's. They are paired with the transmitter via dual channel wireless where my x4's were infrared. IR required line of site & anybody or anything (my very large Weimaraner) walking between you and it would cause static or fallout of sound. There is NO problem like that with the Tango's. Sound is very crisp with no static, hum, popping or fallout. Since Black Ops II isn't out yet I fired up Modern Warfare 3. FANTASTIC! These things flat out ROCK!!!!! There are a number of presets built into the headset for different sound profiles that can be accessed by just a button push. These cover both chat & game sounds. It appears you can even program your own which I will try at some point. I have been using the presets but will experiment with all of the available options later. Also another very cool feature is the Bluetooth is dual pairing which means you can pair it with another Bluetooth device. I paired it with my Samsung Galaxy S III with no problems which enabled me to listen to my music while playing the game and chatting. How cool is that!!! Also supposed to be able to use your phone to make & receive calls while playing. Have not tried it yet but see no reason it wouldn't work since the music does. My son has Astro A40's and these beat them hands down. They also make my TB x4's seem archaic. If you are an Xbox gamer & and can afford them then I don't think you will be dissapointed.

PROS: Too numerous to list! Best headset I have ever used or owned.

CONS: None at present except maybe price. But I guess you get what you pay for.

Best Deals for Turtle Beach Call of Duty: Black Ops II Tango Programmable Wireless

Ok so this is my third headset, the others are Turtle Beach X12 and Tritton 720+ (I highly recommend both of those).

After getting tired of seeing "OMG this headset sucks it has such a low volume" I have to make an update and put it first

THIS HEADSET HAS PLENTY OF VOLUME

USE THE ADVANCED SOUND EDITOR PEOPLE!! THIS IS WHY ARE YOU PAYING SO MUCH MONEY FOR THIS HEADSET

Pros

-Sound Quality is great, in MW3 I could easily tell where the enemies were. I'd give these 9.5 and Trittons 720+ 8.5

-Advanced Sound Editor (ASE), make all the adjustments you want to your audio and chat. With a lot of room for presets.

-Mic is 10/10 just like the X12

-Very nice design

-Wireless with no interference at all, everything works great

-Voice morphing, yeah, this may be stupid and unnecesary but it can be real fun, you can make tons of jokes with this option

Cons

-Sound out of the box is meh, you have to go the ASE to get great sound quality

-"EAR GUARD" THIS IS WHAT MAKES THE HEADSET TO HAVE "LOW VOLUME", YOU CAN TURN IT OFF IN THE ADVANCED SOUND EDITOR! DOWNLOAD THE MANUAL FROM TURTLE BEACH WEBSITE

-The most disappointing thing for me is that they do feel a bit cheap not what I would expect from a $300 headset, To me the X12 and Trittons are way better in this category, both feel more resistant to falls and everything

-Optical cable, it is sooooo slim but I guess this isn't a big deal...

-Price is a little high since they feel cheap and the sound out of the box is not what you would expect

I had to return these because I had some problems (sound would cut off for 5 seconds from time to time and it would make a distorted noise in the right earcup every 10 mins approx)

Even with the problems I had with the Tangos I would say this is a nice headset (although a bit pricey imo) and probably better than the Astro A50 (I am sure my Tangos were one of the very few that were defective, but the A50 it seems like 50% are good and 50% are defective) and from what I've seen all over the internet the Warheads sound is somewhat mediocre for $300.

UPDATE 01/25/2013

After trying the old Astro mixamp with the Sennheiser PC 360 (which, lucky me, they were defective too) I am back with the Tangos.

I wanna say the old mixamp is really good imo.

The Sennheiser PC 360 are beautiful for music but in games I don't know if it was because they were defective or I had to get used to their sound (like it happened to me going from TBs X12 to Tritton 720+) but it was harder for me to hear footsteps, I am not quite sure as I just tried them for a few hours.

Anyway, I am back with the Tangos and I am pretty happy with these, no defects so far, everything works great as I was expecting. This is the best headset for gaming I have tried so far.

If you can get them for $199 that is a great price or even $249 would be fair imo.

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I've had both the A50s and the new Tangos. Sound quality is close probably favors the A50 ever so slightly but the other features pushes the Tangos way ahead

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I received these headphones in good shape. I have been using them for about 30 hours and have had no issues. They are much more comfortable than the XP 500s. Also, there is absolutely no cracking of connection and in fact I was able to wear the headphones and still talk and hear game play while two rooms away from the receiver, still no crackiling or cutting out.

Voice is clear and concise and I was able to hear my music through BT while playing without any problems. This is a expensive headset, but extremely worth it. I have not tried voice morphing or manipulating any of the sound functions through the computer.

Pros:

Sounds Quality

Presets

Range

Voice Quality

Comfortable (caveat: ears were sore after 8 hrs of straight game play, but any headset would be at that point)

Detachable mic

rechargeable battery

battery life

Con(s):

Pricedefinitely takes a while to save up for them

lack of carrying case

Warm around the ears

top of the head can get sore from the weight

***Update 8 NOv 2012***

Was able to chat with the wife while gaming. I was interested to see if the voice morph would work just with regular cell phone usage. It did and it was pretty damn funny, think it was preset 8...start laughing and it gets the creepy demon like laugh. Wife didn't care for it too much though :)

Bummed...order this early and pay 299.99, now it is 269.99.

Best Learn Math - Nintendo DS Deals

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After reading some great reviews of this game, I had high hopes of being able to use it with my boys in 2nd and 3rd grade to help reinforce their math skills. Neither of them seemed enthusiastic about it, so I sat down myself to give it a try.

I went to the 3rd grade multiplication section, and immediately had issues with it. It shows you a grouping of objects (such as five groups of four playing cards), and has a space to enter both the addition answer (4+4+4+4+4=20) as well as the multiplication which was where I first found problems. I entered "4x5=20." The vampire shook his head no. What? Has it really been that long since I did multiplication? I tried it again "4x5=20." Still no. So I switched it up "5x4=20." Oh, NOW the vampire said I had it right. Why on earth would I not want to reinforce the idea that 4x5 is going to be the same as 5x4?

Next I went to the time section, and again got the vampire shaking his head over what was a correct answer I just somehow didn't enter it in the order he wanted it! I'm sorry, but if it's confusing and frustrating to me, I'm not going to inflict it on my kids! I'd return it if I could.

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I bought this game after successfully convincing my daughter to play "Personal Trainer: Math". Compared to the later, "Learn Math" is very colorful and school-friendly. Unfortunately the game has somewhat poor code execution. The result: an unresponsive game which gives little feed back. Most buttons have to be clicked in a very small area and the place to click seems randomly distributed. It would have been nicer if the pieces were to be dragged in place than clicked. If you answer a question wrong the mascot only shakes his head but does not offer a feedback. Toggling around the fill-in spaces is horrible and surprisingly it does not take any inputs from cursor buttons of console. Nevertheless, the game must be praised for fairly high standard of problems. However I have modified my previous review because the game has managed to keep my child motivated and she has not been put off by the quirks of the game. She enjoys playing it though our favorite remains "Personal Trainer: Math". I wished the developers could fix the technical aspects of this game.

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I bought this game for my 6yr old son. Given the choices of problems available, I'd say the game is a great fit. However, the lack of feedback from the game doesn't allow a kid to learn from its mistakes. For example, the game asks the child to calculate the results of 10 additions (one number remains the same and has to be added to 10 different numbers 3+1 =4, 3+5= 8,...). So, when the kid does all the calculations correct, the game acknowledges that. However, if one or multiple answers were incorrect, the game just says that this was wrong. It doesn't tell which calculations were incorrect or what the correct answers would have been. Similarly, the game only acknowledges a correct answer if it has been entered in a certain way. As another reviewer pointed out here, you have to enter a multiplication in the right order without the game telling you what the right order is. So, the game accepts 5x4=20 as correct, but claims that 4x5=20 is incorrect. The same issue appears in puzzle games. If you have to create a shape out of smaller shapes, the game seems to expect that you come up with one very specific solution even though there are several possible solutions to the problem.

Needless to say, the game was "played" a few times and never touched again.

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I hated math when I was a kid and I was not so good at it, either. Now, I use math in my job every day. Some of my co-workers are better at doing numbers in their heads than I am, which is why I bought this game. If you do some math drills, you will get better! And you will not need a calculator for everything. I've been using the game a few times a week, whenever I have a little spare time. The drills are fun, they are repetitive enough to help you improve, but not so repetitive as to be boring. It is a fun and interesting challenge to see how many problems you can get right and to work up the levels. As a professional instructor, I think this game will actually teach you something worthwhile. This game is suitable for kids ages 10 and up and also for adults who need to keep their job skills competitive.

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Great game, entertaining and educational. I am using it to help my granddaughter get a head start for 2nd grade. It worked wonderfully on vacation. Kept her occupied on a 8 hour drive.

Review of MechWarrior 3 - PC

Customer Ratings:

When you look at all the games that have been out concerning Battletech and Mechwarrior you have to admit that this one far surpasses any other, not only that it blows away any other game in this genre. Besides the incredible graphics and game play (which I will get to in a second) This game also closely parallels the Novels and the RPG story lines. By doing this it gives the novel fans a bit of a thrill and makes the game more fun.

Now on to the graphics and Game play (see I told you I'd get to it.) The Graphics are incredible, both in their realism and in their mesmerizing detail. This game is just loaded with "eye candy" no more do we have the blocky hexagonal mechs tromping around slowly on incredibly poor scenery. Now we have accurate death machines stealthily moving through incredibly detailed scenery to lay waste to the enemy that you are determined to blow away. The reality of the weapons is incredible, it really makes you think like you were actually in the mech. Certain tactics and maneuvers that would have prevented you from getting hit in Mechwarrior 2 and Mech: Mercenaries, will now just leave the Smoke Jaguars smiling and saying " You are one dead Stravag". You are now forced to keep adapting new tactics and fighting styles according to the Mech you are piloting. While the enemies AI is impressive they do have certain weaknesses. This can be used to your advantage, but you also will experience disadvantages due to the games AI system. One...The enemies will sometimes learn from your previous actions. Two.. your lance members will not always act intelligently. Picture this. You're being swarmed by elementals, and they are really tearing into a lance mate, well your lance mate is just sitting there letting them hit him, you have to order him to defend him self. This did not happen all the time, but it did happen enough to be an annoyance.

The missions that you are sent on are both challenging and original. The Salvage factor is one aspect that I love, shoot out the legs of your enemies and looky looky looky...you get more salvage than when you blow them sky high. Again the realism is at its best. I can not wait for the next game to come out. I can only imagine that it will be better, How? I don't know...but the designers have not disappointed me yet. I just hope that the next game is from the clans point of view. I root for the Inner Sphere, but I'm a real Clanner at heart. A great Idea for the next game might be that you are in Kahn Phelan Kell's Wolf Clan...that would be great. But until the next game, Mechwarrior 3 is undoubtedly the best of its type out there.

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If you like simulated giant robotic explaosive action this is the game for you! Its got 18 mechs for you destructive pleasure. you can even customize your mech with all kinds of weapons and equipment from laser and rockets to machine guns and jump jets which make you fly. it is a very fun and adictive game. You can play it through the game with a story behind it, play it on the net or play instant action where you pick how many and what type of mechs to fight. Also you can pick if you want a compuster AI buddy to help you destroy everything in sight.I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS GAME. you should also buy the stratagy guild..............You might need it!

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Some people can find fault in anything if they look hard enough. This game is a HUGE step above what MechWarrior fans have had to deal with up until now. The graphics are no less than incredible, from mountain ranges that "fade in" as you approach and skies that roll across the screen, to buildings and underground warrens that pull you into the simulation with every detail and shadow. Our sim has finally brought us to the level of detail and more that Air Combat sims have enjoyed for several years already.

The AI (Artificial Intelligence) is truly amazing. Yes the computer pilots make mistakes, and need to be coaxed in the right direction from time to time. But if you think about it, so do real soldiers and pilots. Personally, while some see this as poor game design, I think it adds yet another level of realism. An unintentional bonus if you will.

The damage model is more realistic also. Missiles can and do miss if you're not careful. They do not turn on a dime (as with MechWarrior II). The Particle Projection Cannon is a flowing stream of electronically produced artificial lightning, no longer just a blue fuzzy ball of fluff. Lasers burn afterimages in their wake. Mechs fall and never get up again if a leg is shot out from under them, where they used to become a stationary weapons turret turning on the one remaining leg (not very realistic at all, wouldn't you agree?) The Mechs will slow and start to limp if enough damage to the leg is achieved without actually blowing it to ferrofiberous dust and myomer shoelaces.

All of this has been done without sacrificing game speed or flow. The maps and gaming area of each mission are detailed to the last hill and storage container, yet "skips and stalls" are so rare and quickly corrected you wont even notice them unless your one of those who actually watches for that sort of thing. The Makers of MechWarrior3 have made an unusually precise effort to program to the minimum hardware requirements listed on the packaging. Even someone working on a machine with the bare minimums can enjoy this game, unlike many other games where the bare minimum just barely works without crashing.

The online multiplayer mode is every bit as good as the in system game modes. While the missions in multiplayer mode lack a defined goal, with a little imagination games like capture the flag and king of the hill can easily be agreed to and set up by the players. Played on any of the many maps available for multiplayer game mode, variations of these two basic games can be modified to produce innumerable possibilities for loads of fun and entertainment.

Of course there are things that I would like to see added to future versions of this game, but I will save those for the suggestion box at MicroProse. The people who worked so hard to put this game together for us deserve our thanks and support. They have done what used to be considered impossible and I'm sure they will continue to improve the game. I can't wait to see how MechWarrior4 turns out!

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Mechwarrior 3 is the sequel to the classic mechwarrior 2 which made me stay up almost every night. Now, I must say the graphics are beautiful. The lighting effects are shown well on my Creative Labs Savage4. Gameplay is pretty impressive too, I use a gravis blackhawk. For keyboard users, you do get a fold-out leaflet with all the keys, pretty intimidating at first. The biggest problem with this game is its length and difficulty. The missions finish way to fast and are way too easy. I beat most of the missions on the first try. I also finished the game in less than a week. But you multiplaying on any of those networks. I'll probably buy the expansion (I hope its good). There arn't many new mechs too, so another disappointment there. All in all, this is a good game, but to fully get its value, you have to play against other people.

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This game is visually stunning. I spent an hour or so just gazing at the graphics that this game presents. I have also seen Mechwarior 4 that is to come out later. The 3D environment that is created in in it is unsurpassed. If not for the gaming experience, this game should be bought because it is visually enticing.

Best Xbox 360 Wireless Headset Communicator Deals

Customer Ratings:

The "earloop" design is a little unsettling at first, but with a little readjusting it will fit quite comfortably (for many people, anyway). It does happen to be twice the size of most Bluetooth headsets currently available, but since this is the first wireless headset for the Xbox 360, I'll give them a little bit of leeway. Also, the lightweight nature of its design somewhat negates this fact. The unit also has no problems connecting with a 360 controller either. The real fault actually comes from using the headset on Xbox Live. You won't really notice any difference hearing other people than if you are using the regular wired headset, but the microphone is just the way too sensitive. While hosting a number of games, I noticed every once in a while there was a player whose microphone would seem to pick up a constant string of background noises, if not, the player breathing himself. That players mic always seemed to be constantly sending feedback (or white noise), as if they were constantly rubbing up against the mike. I now learned that it was actually a byproduct of the Wireless Headset itself, not the fact that someone just had and "over-sensitive" mic. Now that I knew the problem was in fact the wireless headset itself, I found that the only thing you could do was to turn it OFF and then back ON again, which would alleviate the problem. Depending upon which game you're using at the time, this might happen to you at least once every two hours. Yet, on other games it might not happen at all.

It's nice and having a wireless headset, but if you like to play a lot of Xbox Live (20+ hours a week), you might just want to stay with the standard wired headset. It might have an extra lyre going from the headset tier controller, but if you're like most people you probably don't really find it in the way that much. Unfortunately, since Microsoft has proprietary technology on any wireless product, will have to wait until they decide to fix the problem themselves. Honestly, just find yourself a normal headset for around $10-15 and you'll never have any trouble, because even though the wireless headset has dropped in price recently, it's really not worth the frustration at even $40. besides, we'll probably see a "streamlined" wireless headset version for Microsoft not too long from now -then we don't need to deal with that "earloop" thing.

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After waiting months for this to arrive I was very disappointed with this product. The earloop took a little getting used to but over all it did fit comfortably. I was a bit surprised at the size of this thing, its twice the size of most bluetooth headsets out on the market. I had no problems hearing my friends on XBOX Live, they came in loud and clear. It was also very easy to link the headset to the XBOX 360. The real problem comes in with the sensitivity of the microphone. The mike would pick up every little sound in the room which became very distracting to the other players. It would also start broadcasting feedback to the other players for no apparent reason. Once it started doing this the only thing you could do to stop it is to turn it off and on again. After having to do this 5 or 6 times in one evening I decided it was time to bring it back. Hopefully Microsoft will resolve this issue in future releases, until then its not worth the money or frustration.

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I picked up MS's new wireless headset a couple of days ago. I have to say I was very impressed with the unit. It is small, light, and all things considered, comfortable to wear. I hopped on Gears of War and it worked like a charm. I could hear everyone crystal clear.

*However*....during the game, a few people were complaining about racket. They said it sounded like someone's tv was too loud.....or perhaps a fan was going in the background. I came to discover in the lobby, that my in-game voice-active indicator (the little cartoon bubble that appears over your character when you speak) was ALWAYS on. That was a clear indication to me that it was *I* who was responsible for the racket.

Everyone yelled at me and said it was very distracting. I turned my TV all the way down, and my fan was off. It was *completely silent* in my room, but it was still happening. I ended up having to switch to my old headset to keep from annoying everyone.

On a side note a friend of mine also bought one (before me) and I remember telling him the same thing ("turn your TV down..........turn your fan off..."). Even he said it wasn't loud, and the fan was off.

All in all, this headset is a big disappointment. The people with whom you play will be very irritated with you due to the constant "buzzing" sound coming from your mic. I have a feeling I'm going to be muting a lot more people now that this mic is available for retail purchase. I would stay away from this mic and wait for second generation...

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In a glance, this looks like a nice product. It's nicely designed, although it might be a little uncomfortable at first. You have to pull your ear though the little loop. The sound comes out nice and clear. The charger is nice, and the little LEDs are nice. Finally, i can go to the bathroom without having the lug the controller.

HOWEVER, people in your game will complain getting feedback. It will sound like your voice is echoing to others. The worst part is, is that it will make everybody else's mic echo too.

Problems from not syncing to feedback has been reported EXTENSIVELY on the official XBOX forums.

DO NOT BUY THIS

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If you read most of the negative reviews look at the date. Most of them are from 2006. This is 2009. Yes there are a few from 2009. The thing about the headset is it does work, in fact it works very well. I read a lot or reviews who were stating that they could not get it to sync up and buzzing sounds and drop outs.

I can tell you this I do not have any of these issues. Keep in mind it runs on a 2.4 gzh wave the same as oh cordless phones, wireless routers, etc...so people maybe having problems with that. Me I have a wireless network and no home phone, just use cell and this headset works awesome.

The mute button works (silver button that just has to be pressed 1 time), I can hear every one and they can hear me. I know that in Left 4 Dead on the wired headset (which I just got my xbox for Christmas of 08) I had to some times have to have the mic litarly in my mouth for me to be heard or speak very loudly. Not the case here.

It picks up my voice. Also this is very light weight. You almost forget you have it on. It does have a tendency if it's not on your ear right you can feel it which is why I gave this 4 stars. I would have given it a 4 1/2. This is a 5 star headset. Do yourself a favor, I know it's as much as a game, but it's worth it.

Company of Heroes - PC Review

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This game is brilliant.

First a little history. I am a 43 year old gamer (and bad speller)who has been around since pong. I have gone the route of Pong, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Atari ST and then the PC since the 386. Other than FPS (just not my thing, plus I suck) I have played all the different type of games many many times.

Even though these are my initial impressions of the game so far this is easily the most fun I personally have had with a RTS game since Total Annihilation. I have played the Age of Empires, Warcrafts, Starcraft, Rise of Nations, Dawn of War etc etc. All these games were different yet they had the same "feel" about them. COH feels new and that is something that the RTS genre really needed. The bar has been raised to a staggering height.

Why do I enjoy COH over these other RTS games.

1. Strategy: Flanking, Machine guns covering arcs, armor facing, etc. COH has real strategies that make you think instead of how fast you can click around the battlefield(more on this later). The battlefield is destructible which also adds a level of strategy. The brick wall that feeds enemy troops towards a choke point is great until that tank rolls through it giving the enemy another point of access. Wait until you come back to a great defensive point while you were busy at another area and see off-board artillery devistate your position.

2. Atmosphere: The atmosphere in COH's is awesome. The voices (warning crude language), graphics, etc. Every little detail is done to a new level of perfection.

3. A.I.: The A.I. is very good. Your troops will find cover if possible (unlike the report from a previous reviewer). If you have mortar teams back and a rifle company come upon enemy units they will automatically start bombarding that location. the computer player on normal is a very tough opponent for someone at my level in the skirmish mode (I have yet to bet him).

4. Resources: Resources are done like Relics pervious game Dawn of War with a added level of complexity. You have to take over points on the battlefield which will supply you with one of the three types of resources required. What is different is that each point is in a sector and these sectors must be joined back to your base (by being adjacent to another friendly sector). It is possible to lose a sector which will isolate some of your other sectors and their resource income. This adds even more strategy to the game.

5. Map: The map in the game is outstanding. It shows the sectors your troop locations with a symbol what they are, if they are pinned, suppressed, in combat. A excellent way to have a snapshot of what is happening.

Is this game perfect no but what is. Although some might find this game easy I (like most) find it very hard. Even with the advance A.I. I always feel like I am out of control and need to be at 20 places at once. The good thing is that you can pause the game, go through your troops giving them orders, gather your wits and then let all hell break loose again. I have not played online but at my speed I would probably get massacred. Even tough I think the language fits the game perfectly I agree with some that you should have the option of turning it off if you have kids around. I was also underwelmed with the first mission of storming the beach. I know they were trying to ease you into the game but i think they missed the marked and was more confused after the mission than I was before I started.

I highly recommend that you purchase this game, support Relic as they deserve it. Give yourself a treat pick up Company of Heroes.

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This little masterpieceis everything you want in a real-time strategy. I wasn't a fan of RTS before this gem came out--now I can't wait for the expansion pack that will offer more maps to play single player skirmishes... and perhaps even, weeeeee... a map editor!

The graphics are simply out of this world. I found myself watching a streetfight between the axis and allies and noticing that down there on the cobblestones was a broken piano. It's beautiful little touches like this that makes a game so remarkable. In fact there is all types of debris in the game, all types of house models, so much stuff that I can't wait to see each next map. The game is simply a delight to look at.

The AI really does run for cover, especially when there is a tank or a big gun shooting at them. If not--if they feel confident enough that they can take their adversary--they will stand boldy where they are, not bothering to take cover. I think, dare I say it, each little man has his own personality and will take cover when choosing to do so.

The campain is fun to watch. The game works like a first person shooter, but when the story stops and you get dropped into it, it pulls you back so that you can view the entire battlefield and have control over everything.

I can't belive how fun this game is. I never thought I'd get into a video game like this again, especially an RTS. The only reason why I gave it a less than perfect score was because they didn't provide a map editor. With a map editor, it would have been perfect.

And another thing... Why can't the allies or axis build trenches??? ... I want trenches!

Do yourself a favor and buy this game. It's worth every penny and more.

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First let me say other reviewers mentioned this is a difficult game to play and win because of all the action. It is difficult until you realize two very important things:

1) You can give orders to your units while the game is paused! This makes the game almost like a turn-based game. If you try to play without pausing it does become a very tough click-fest.

2) Relic themselves published a 'cheat' that allows you to adjust the game speed from its default of '10' all the way down to '1'. So if you do not like pausing you can simply slow the game in general.

So having said that how is Company of Heroes (CoH)? First the graphics are outstanding. They are almost equal to that of a FPS game of just a few years ago. You can fully rotate and zoom the view. Like Relic's previous 'Dawn of War' title you cannot zoom out very far but they did include an 'operational' map view that shows the overall battlefield with unit icons. This helps alleviate the problem with the inability to zoom out.

Sound is very well done. Weapons sound correct and the various audio clues of what is going on are vital. The units do swear, which is unnecessary and really adds little to the game, but it is humorous the first few times you hear it.

Game play is very similar to `Dawn of War' and most RTS games. What CoH does well is it includes the objective resource system from DoW but expands it to include four different resource objectives: fuel, munitions, gas, and area. Combinations of the four allow you to build and improve your units. In addition, as you capture resources you gain control of an area. It is also possible to cut off an area and thus lose the resources from it. This simple system encourages not only attacking but also higher level options such as flanking. This is unique to a RTS title and is very well done and works even better.

CoH is not a wargame but a RTS game with a bit of wargame feel to it. The game plays much like a normal RTS game. The unit choices are interesting and mostly historical. Most of what you would expect in a WW2 title are here. You can even call in artillery, airstrikes, paradrops, and other support functions. Engagement ranges are ridiculously short and this hurts some of simulation feel as vehicles and heavy weapons are not able to stand off as far as they should. But, again, this is a RTS title not a wargame.

The biggest complaint with the game is the AI. The enemy AI does a very good job overall especially for a RTS game. But the friendly AI reactions have some real brain dead moments that will either cause you a lot of grief or force you to micromanage more than you would wish. For example, an enemy tank will move up and fire on your infantry squad and wipe it out while a friendly tank of yours sits just half a screen away doing nothing about it. I've lost buildings to infantry attacks while my own infantry sat by and watched. Units will also make some silly moves. Tanks will sometimes ram each other and rarely try to flank each other or seek nearby cover.

But overall the limits of the AI and few other quibbles are overshadowed by the great game play and overall great `feel' of the game. It provides the most tactical and combined arms options of any RTS game to date and for that it succeeds and for that any RTS fan should pick up `Company of Heroes'.

Honest reviews on Company of Heroes - PC

Company of Heroes is the latest real time strategy game from Relic who are known for their excellent Dawn of War RTS titles set in the Warhammer universe.

In Company of Heroes Relic takes a more realistic approach to the RTS genre. Set during WWII CoH follows Able and Fox Companies from their landing on the beaches of Normandy through their closing of the Falaise pocket.

In CoH the gameplay has been adapted and enhanced from Relic's Dawn of War games. Instead of capturing generic control points on the map just for resources and territory, instead in CoH capturing points gives you control over that territory and in addition provides a population cap increase and generates more manpower. Manpower along with fuel and ammunition are the three resources that you will use to supply your army. While you gain manpower by capturing any control point there are specific control points that generate fuel and ammunition. Obtaining and defending those points successfully is a major part of the game.

Because of this gameplay mechanic, playing the game defensively is usually not a very successful tactic. The game rewards players that move in and capture territory. During the campaign as you capture territory and destroy the enemy you receive special command upgrades that allow you to obtain more advanced units, build units more quickly and call in air and artillery support among other things. These special abilities still cost you resources to use though and the person that has resources to use them when necessary will be the winner in an engagement.

The AI on both sides of the game is able to handle itself fairly well. Your soldiers are usually very intelligent about taking cover, but they still require micro-management to use their special abilities. All infantry units have special abilities that can tip the balance of an encounter in their favor, but without your guidance these abilities will never get used.

The vehicle AI is generally good with the exception of some pathfinding problems and an annoying tendency for vehicles to present their lighter armored backside to enemies at inopportune times. In tight combat situations micromanaging which armor side is shown to enemy gunners is critical and at the same time you'll need to maneuver your armor to flank the enemy and catch them from the rear. At certain points the enemy AI is very good at keeping their armor effectively positioned and at other times they ignore facing completely and present an easy target. Sometimes this is the difference between facing a green or veteran unit, but at other times the AI just seems to give up their back.

Another issue with vehicle AI is that vehicles when ordered to directly attack another vehicle like to run right up on that vehicle and collide with them rather than come to a stop at a distance and fire. This can be problematic when the enemy you attack is grouped to the rear of other enemies and your unit ends up presenting their rear armor to the other enemies.

The enemy AI can be challenging and in some scenarios overwhelming. The scenarios in general vary in difficulty that way, but usually the challenge is in finding the right mix of units and support to utilize. Each scenario presents primary goals to complete and a secondary goal which will earn the player a medal for outstanding performance. These secondary goals often involve inflicting additional casualties on the enemy or avoiding excessive losses on your side.

While there are only fifteen scenarios to complete these are packed with details and can often last for several hours as each scenario will have multiple goals embedded in it. For instance you might be tasked with capturing a town from the axis and then afterwards you must hold it for a period of time against a counterattack. The aforementioned secondary goals also add performance challenges that will make you rethink how effective you were in completing the scenario.

The graphic engine makes use of as much hardware as you can present. The units are well crafted and scaled, the terrain is detailed and the destructible environments are well done. Being able to reduce buildings and obstacles to rubble adds to the gameplay experience immensely.

Running on two year old hardware my play experience was limited by my Radeon 9800 Pro AGP graphics card with a measly 128mb of RAM and limited support for the latest technologies. In addition I'm running an Athlon 64 3200 with 1GB of RAM. While the game recommended running at 1024x768 with most of the more advanced settings turned down I found that even at that resolution I was getting a good amount of slowdown in large scale battles. I ended up lowering the resolution to 800x600 to keep things moving smoothly. I found the graphic presentation to be quite good even without being able to turn up the juice.

If you haven't bought/upgraded your machine recently with PCI Express and one of the newer video cards then you'll probably have the same experience I did in terms of performance as this game requires a lot of computer power in every area. Loading a scenario for the first time can take up to a minute on my machine even with a 10000 RPM SATA drive.

That said, once you are in the scenario there are no loading screens and save game loads within the same scenario are much quicker than the initial load. It's worth the wait.

The sound in the game is immersive. The explosions and weapon fire will rock you if you have a subwoofer attached to your sound system. The units will call out and alert you when they are under attack and in general respond appropriately depending on their status in a battle or otherwise. As one poster noted there is a bunch of harsh language mixed in, but I didn't find it to be out of place.

The campaign story itself is well put together, but certainly doesn't approach something like Starcraft in terms of tying the story and the scenarios together. This didn't detract from the gameplay, but I wasn't really drawn into the campaign story very much.

Overall, I found Company of Heroes to be a satisfying game in most aspects with only minor quibbles and very few obvious flaws or bugs in the initially delivered product. Unfortunately, now I think I think it's put me in mind to upgrade my computer.

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A very quick review since I haven't played the entire game yet.

First: this is a real fast paced game. You very quickly feel "out-of-control" and trying to keep your head cool is a very hard thing to achieve. Not unlike real war I guess!

Second: it is indeed a great game. It looks spectacular and the one thing you can't help but notice is how well polished it is. Yet another fine product from the fine folks at Relic.

A buying advice: get the regular edition, not the special edition: I got the special edition and the only difference is a small printed "real map" of D-Day, 10 little cards, a slim metalic box, and an extra CD with mostly text info and very little in the ways of content! I feel like I've been cheated.

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This game is incredible. I have a love/hate relationship with it. There is a learning curve to it with regards to drifting, which is a required skill if you wish to place in any of the races. At first I hated it, cars kept spinning out from oversteer... or I'd smash into a wall due to understeer. Went searching on forums to see if there was any kind of trick to it, general consensus is PRACTICE! Which is what video games are about. That frustrating, wanting to throw your controller through the wall because it "JUST WON'T DO WHAT YOU WANT!" feeling followed by pure ecstatic nirvana when you finally nail it.

This game is a sure departure from the original Ridge Racer formula where you're basically on rails and the cars float around the circuit. Bug Bear, the developer behind Flat-Out really knows how to make a racer!

There is an interesting aspect to the game that happens when nailing several drifts in a row and boosting through opponents, low-walls and shortcuts it seems to transform into a melee of flashes and hectic explosions that evoke pure adrenalin. Like raging out, hulk-status. Not in a cheesy way, but it does remind me of Mario after he gets the flashing star.

Another little thing I like is that once a level loads... it's loaded. You can restart the race with zero-load time. Which is great for when you fail into a wall and get dropped back to 12 place on your last lap.

A minor quirk that doesn't detract too much from the game is every once in a while after boosting though a shortcut or after a "takedown" and you get the (skippable) cinematic, upon resuming racing it might throw you into a wall or into the next curve at a very unsalvageable angle. This however happens rarely, but frequently enough to mention.

I am about half-way through the un-lockable levels of the city, I have yet to try the level editor and I don't play multiplayer. I will update this review if anything more needs to be said about it, or once I try the level editor.

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Yep, nothing like a real driving simulation, this is fantasy driving 101. I mean how real is Call of Duty part whatever? This is actually fun though. I didn't have success for the first 3 races, but it was enough fun that I kept going and won my 4th race. I also upgraded after a couple of losing races and got a new car and track, although I stunk. That was nice, and along with the fun, kept it entertaining. After the newness, I don't see myself racing this nonstop, but I can see popping it in for 4-5 races once/twice a week or so for a pure set of adrenaline races. It's kind of like a cross of Blur and a modernized Ridge Racer of old, meaning much better graphics. It's got cars galore, fancy, powerful, etc, but like blur you destroy stuff. You don't destroy it the same way, but you can boost your car right through buildings or other cars, and even without boosting, you can smash through quite a bit...again, this isn't a real driving simulation. Oh, as a final note, the sounds are amazing to me, I jacked up the surround, and IMO, no other racer has the sound effects of this bad boy!

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Very fun game

Burnout style at NAMCO quality Outstanding Graphics and in game footage

Totally different gameplay than the previous RR sequels

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I have had a lot of fun with this title. The action is great and the strategy for when to use your power-ups keeps the game intense. Highly recommend

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This game is incredible, but it's REALLY hard. You're going to find yourself restarting the race many times. This may be a good thing, but it can get annoying at times.