Reviews of Toy Story Mania! - Nintendo Wii

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At Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, the manic, wildly entertaining Toy Story Mania ride opened in 2008 to rave reviews, long lines and a lot of ecstatic, happy customers. When Disney announced production of a home version for the Nintendo Wii, fans rejoiced, but with a touch of skepticism: Could a home version possibly do justice to the amazing ride? Turns out, the answer is....yessss.....mostly....

Toy Story Mania (the Wii game) is a polished, beautifully crafted game that captures the ride's most important element--the pace and feel of the target games--perfectly. The plate-smashing, balloon-popping, hoop-tossing fun arrives intact. What's missing, of course are the giddy spinning of the ride vehicles, state-of-the-art 3D, water spray and air blasts...And the half hour waiting lines.

Writing as an adult fan of the ride, let me answer the question other theme park fans want to know: Is the home version worth a purchase?

Yes. Just keep your expectations realistic. This is, at its heart, a mini-game collection based around the themes and characters of Toy Story. All the games from the ride are represented (including the pie toss practice round), but not as they appear at the parks: That would be impossible to replicate. Instead, each of the ride's five main games are each represented by three separate, smaller shooting galleries, each filled with goals and secrets. The home version is padded out with additional carnival-style games that range from fun (skeeball and basketball hoops) to average (simon-says waggle fests). In addition to a front-and-center story mode that roughly follows the ride's progression, there are 5 additional story modes--one for each theme (Space, Western, Army, Barnyard and Bo Beep). By playing through each themed story mode, you encounter each theme's 3 shooting galleries and 2 to 3 additional games. Once you unlock each game (through goal achievements or prize tickets), you can head to the game creator area and make your own version of the game to play through. I imagine most players will immediately line up all the shooting galleries and never look at the other mini games again.

Here's the heart of the matter: The shooting galleries are pure gold. No question, they are the reason to consider buying this game. Aiming and firing with the Wii remote feels great--I recommend turning off the cursor for a truer-to-the-ride experience.

The presentation starts off beautifully, with a fully animated intro in which the toys set up the game you're about to play. This is the backstory of the ride, and it's great fun to see it finally brought to life with dazzling Pixar animation. It's right about here, however that you'll also notice one big disappointing aspect of this game: The compete lack of actual music from the films. The game's music score is pleasant (and actually very effective in the army and space sequences), but it's a bit disheartening to find that, with all the care and attention to detail that went into this game, the Powers That Be couldn't fork over a bit of extra cash to license "You've Got a Friend In Me." Cue the old hag from Princess Bride: "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" One other beef: Most shooting galleries end by asking you to shake the remote for extra points. Note to all game producers: Shaking the Wii's remote over and over is not fun. It's never been fun. It never will be fun. No more shaking!

Back to the positives: The character animation throughout is superb. The visual style of the shooting galleries is perfect. The voice work (by almost the entire original cast) is great, though there should be more (you'll hear the same gags repeated before the round in progress ends. R. Lee Ermy is his usual awesome self in the army sequences.

The game includes six 3D renditions of select shooting galleries which must be unlocked and played using the included 3D glasses. Do not expect the same 3D you get on the ride. This is the red/blue style that drains away the color. It does provide an effective, fun sensation that you're actually firing into your television screen. After a few 3D rounds, however, I came away with a headache. Still, it's a nice bonus feature. Ride-themed Wiimote faceplates are also included.

All in all, it's a fun, good-humored, visually dazzling home version of the ride. With the do-it-yourself game sequencer, you can eliminate the extra mini games and simply play the awesome shooting galleries.

Not bad at all. I recommend it for fans of the ride and anyone looking for a fun party game.

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Toy Story Mania! is a collection of carnival-type games featuring Toy Story characters and themes. It is supposed to be inspired by a Disney theme park ride, but I've never ridden it so I can't comment on how it resembles that experience. This game features a few "3D" games, which are made to be played with the included two pairs of 3D glasses. From my experience you'll want to be in a dark room with a LCD or Plasma TV to get the full effect. It didn't really make a difference with our old TV.

The game is built around 30 or so mini-games in which you earn points and tickets that are used to unlock bonus stuff. I haven't played them all, but I think I have a good feel for them. These basically fall under a few categories: "point-and-click" shooting galleries, repeating motions, and carnival type games. The shooting games are pretty simple, just point your cursor at the target and press "A". If you are playing with multiple players everyone plays at the same time. Sometimes you trigger events that require waving the remote, usually once or twice a game. At the end of most shooting games is a small "bonus stage" where you are awarded bonus points by vigorously shaking the remote.

A few games are just mirroring the motions on screen. For instance, one game has Hamm dancing and you twirl the remote around just as he is spinning. You get points for correctly following the motions. Not the greatest games, but are a nice change of pace. If you are playing with multiple players each player takes a turn.

The last type of game is where you are playing a Toy Story themed version of a classic carnival game. One has you tossing rings on the Little Green Men (the Pizza Planet aliens) and rockets, which is essentially the same as a shooting gallery just aiming at the top of the targets. Another is a Gold Rush version of "Skee Ball" (my favorite Chuck E. Cheese game!) which is good but not great.

I think the best way to describe the game structure is to compare it to Mario Party. You can play "story mode" which strings together a bunch or random games. To continue through the games, you must meet certain point goals or tasks. There is a "free play" mode where you can play games you have unlocked either by playing the in story mode and completing all the goals or by unlocking them using the tickets you earned. One gripe about the free play mode is that the interface is very confusing at first, which is very odd compared to how simple the rest of the game is. The 3D games have to be unlocked using tickets and played from the free play mode.

I was very pleased with the quality of the look and feel of the game. The animation of the characters is very good. I watched the credits and many of the voices are the same actors as the movies, including Tim Allen ("Buzz"). Woody is the most obvious voice change, but it is Tom Hanks' brother and sounds pretty close (the same as the intro to the Buzz Lightyear movie from a few years ago if you saw that). The only voice I heard that I thought was completely off was Weezy the penguin.

The game experience is basically like you are playing a carnival staffed and decorated by the Toy Story characters. Games are grouped by themes, such as western for Woody, space for Buzz, tea party for Bo Peep, and army for the Army men.

This is really a fun game. The quality use of the Toy Story characters and themes adds much to it, but in the end it is just another collection of mini-games. This creates a huge problem since many of the games are very repetitive. Shooting a cactus in a western shooting gallery and shooting a submarine in a army shooting gallery fell the same after a while.

The best value for this game is as a party game. A single player will become bored after experiencing all the games. The simple controls and interface are great to just pick up and play. My three-year-old was playing with me on most of the games with little frustration. I can see how the many of the games would be a blast with four players.

On the subject of multiple players, one thing they overlooked in the game is that you set up your players at the very beginning of the game. You can't add or change players on the fly. Additional players can "drop out" of games, but can't rejoin until after completing a mini-game.

THE BOTTOM LINE This is a very well presented and great looking mini-game collection. I think it would be great for small kids and as a family party game. The problem is that there are many, many, many similar games on the Wii from Mario Party to Super Monkey Ball to Wii Sports. This is among the best in looks and character appeal, but in the middle of the pack when it comes to games. They are fun, simple, and look great. It is a blast to play at first, but I have my doubts about long term playability because you can only play mini-games so much. I only gave it a three star review because of the similarities of many of the mini-games and my doubts about long term playability.

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If you are looking for a family friendly game that is fun for the adults and safe for the little ones, then this game fits the bill. Also, if you are totally addicted to the game at Walt Disney World or Disneyland then you will also like this game.

There are two main modes to this game, story and free play. Free play CANNOT be utilized until someone has gone through the entire story. With that said, as you complete and area of the story then the corresponding area opens up in free play. The main areas match the boards from the game at the parks with secondary games that seem to be designed to prevent repetitive motion injuries.

Pros:

Just like the game at the parks!

Fun for everyone with clear and easy instructions.

In free play you can pick and choose which games you wish to play.

Prizes that you earn are actually extra mini-games!

3D function is only in the minigames section, everything can be played in 2D.

Cons:

You HAVE to go through the story board to open up the free play.

Some of the secondary games are kind of childish. But they do give a wrist break.

The 3D glasses are the cheap red and blue glasses that have been around for 20 years. They suck. With that said you can pretty much figure out what the 3D looks like. But 3D is not mandatory to play the game.

Majorly addicting!

After playing for several hours tonight, my arm hurts but I can't wait to play some more! Way cool game!

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Early this year Disney World debuted a new ride at Hollywood Studios named Toy Story Mania.....well this is like being on the ride from the comfort of your living room! I ordered this on pre-order and it arrived today, the day of release. It was fun for the whole family. The kids were so excited during each section of the game....they would say "Hey, I remember this part from the ride!".

Game play is simple....aim and shoot pies, balls, etc at the targets.

The 3D levels were ok.....the glasses gave me a bit of a headache, but my kids loved it.

I gave it 4 stars because it doesn't use the Mii profiles. The profiles are there so you don't have to always type in your name and to be able to keep a tally on your performance.....yet they don't do that.

As far as game play, I can see that this might get a little boring after a while and it won't be a top played game in our house after the newness wears off, but when we miss Disney and want a piece of the magic and feel like we are playing on the ride, we can pull it out and have some fun!

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I got this game for my kids last weekend. We finished in a couple of hours. The shooting gallery is pretty well done, it reminds me of the ride at Disneyland. Other then that, well... there is no other then that. The "Story" mode has no story, none at all, you just go gallery to gallery. The 3-D is non-existent, the games look much better with the glasses off. They didn't take advantage of the motion controller. You have to point it at the TV of course, but there are only 3 games that use the motion sensors (a hammer, a tilter, and skee ball). Lastly, the game isn't replayable unless you have a Wii party. Otherwise, who wants to do the same gallery over and over? The bottom line: I have a 5 and 10 year old and guess how many times they've asked to play since we finished the first day? You got it... zero.

Xbox 360 NFL New Orleans Saints Controller Review

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My son got this to go along with his X Box for Christmas. He loved it...wish you made it in the cordless one. He still uses it quite a bit even though it has to stay plugged...wireless would be great. Thanks. Good Quality and durable. Recommend

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Activision Skylanders Giants Single Character Granite Crusher Reviews

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Folks, you can see from the picture that it says "Only at Target", so this should come as a surprise to no one that this is a resell. The question is, do you need it? If you've already got a regular Crusher figure, this one just has a different name and appearance. There is nothing he does differently in the game. Do yourself a favor and find it retail or just go with the regular one. If you need to have every single figure variation, then by all means pay twice as much as you should. If you're just looking to complete the collection of figures to enable in the game, there's no need.

BTW, I haven't played the game yet as it's a Christmas gift. I'm basing my rating on my experience with last year's game, which my son and I had a blast. It's gratifying to see that Activision was a little more prepared with supply this time around. I can find just about every Singleand Three-Figure pack on shelves or online. For those looking for other figures whose prices are jacked up at this time (i.e. Hot Dog, Ninjini, Eye Brawl, Thumpback, etc.), have some patience as it's more than likely what you're seeing is someone who somehow got their hands on an advance release. Just like the last game, Activision is releasing the figures in groups, though it does appear that there are significantly more available now than they had during the initial release of Spyro's Adventure.

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My son loves this limited edition Skylander Giant Character. He is a fun Giant who runs around bashing things in with a huge club-like weapon. When you are a 6yr old boy, it doesn't really get any better.

We picked one up today(12/28) at our local Target, where they had 62 of them in stock. This is the 4 Points Target in Austin, TX, if anyone is wondering. Yes, it's limited edition, they will not be on the floor, but apparently, there was a whole box of them in the back if you asked. So, we paid the normal $14.99 plus tax for this figure, not $30.

I would seriously call around to your local Target stores and ask them to look at their back-stock before paying twice the price for this figure. They guy in electronics said they were told to take them off the floor after a certain date, since they are supposed to be "limited edition", but they can continue selling them. I don't know what's up with that, but I bought two, one for my son, and one as a gift.

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This item when at target is so much cheaper. That's the problem. When Target is out and the child wants the item very badly. So we go out and pay more to please them

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My son loves everything Skylanders, he calls himself a "gamer" and we go "Skylander Hunting" often on Amazon, they have the best selection!

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like many people have said this is just like the toys r us exclusive legendary characters it is just a recolor. but its just like how mario is red and luigi is green it makes it easier to tell who is who if you are both the same character. i actually got this one for myself so that i could play with my kids without having to worry about which characters were what. either way i like this dude compared to other characters he is fairly strong straight out of the package but like the other giants he is yawn inducingly slow. otherwise great for crushing.

Best Batman: Arkham Asylum Deals

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I played this to completion when it first came out, but didn't own the game. I picked up a copy of the GotY edition today because I wanted to play through on a harder difficulty, and also the challenge modes are the kind of thing it's fun to come back to every once in a while for 15 minutes of fun (which can easily turn into 2 hours).

This is an awesome game and I can't recommend it enough for people who haven't played it.

A couple gripes about the GotY edition:

* My saves and progress from the original version are not compatible. I'm guessing this means that the leaderboards for the challenge modes will also be separate. This is a big disappointment, as I won't be able to compete against my friends who have the original version.

* The 3D is a cool gimmick, but not quite cool enough for me to want to play the whole game that way. I turned it off after about 30 minutes.

Again, I highly recommend this game if you don't own the original, but can't say it's worth picking up if you already have Arkham Asylum.

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I've been a gamer for a long time now, although not a die-hard core gamer that has to have everything. I just recently bought an XBox 360 after lots of research. And the reason I bought it was because of this game. I was at the store looking for some PS2 games and saw this advertised with trailers. I was blown away by the look of it. So now I have the GOTY edition, and it is incredible. I've only played it through once, on the easy level, but it was tremendously fun and brought Batman to a new light for me.

I've been a comic book and superhero fan for as long as I've been a gamer, but I've never been a big Batfan. This changes that however. You can fight it out, throw batarangs, use grapples, talk to Oracle, climb up on roofs, into ceilings and ventilation systems, and stalk the bad guys. You can even do the ultra cool crash through the ceiling onto the unsuspecting bad guys! Adding Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill to the voice casting was just the icing on the cake for me.

Hands down, the best video game I've ever played, on any system. You become Batman, and do all of the cool stuff he is known for. Oh, and no Robin!

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So, I debated between buying this version and the collector's edition. This is the edition I chose because I read a line that said Joker is a playable character...it said this even for this 360 version of the game. I probably should have done more research, but no Joker is not. Joker is only for PS3, sadly. I was very disappointed to find I had kind of been duped by Amazon's general explanation of the game.

That being said, I did enjoy the game. It was, to be frank, fantastic. Wonderful graphics, smooth gameplay, and multiple levels, made this game very addicting. I look forward to the sequel and hope that Joker (or something of equal value) will be given to 360 owners.

Also, *DO NOT* just buy this game for the 3D. It uses green-red lenses and actually made me sick. The game looks okay, but not exactly the best with 3D. This game was still VERY fun. I highly recommend it. :)

Honest reviews on Batman: Arkham Asylum

I don't even know where to begin with this game. I'm a big superhero geek so I dig a good story involving a superhero. I don't like every piece of garbage that might pass as a "superhero" tale, but once in a while you get a really legitimate piece of gold that contains everything you want in a superhero/comic book game.

This game essentially can be broken into four parts: fighting, scarecrow sequences, riddler challenges, and exploration/plotline. The plotline really delivers on a few really awesome notes. One thing that everybody loves about a good comic book hero/superhero is the he always has a history. A superhero doesn't just pop into existence and start beating the crap out of people. They become this hero. Batman especially has this extremely rich backstory that has been built upon and delved into numerous times. Enough that it's almost common knowledge. This game truly is a love story for anyone that loves the Batman universe and mythology. The shoutouts to old villains and characters that have somewhat fallen by the wayside are amazing little tidbits that captivated me almost more than the main story or gameplay. Which leads me neatly into the next part.

The Riddler challenges are a glorious little gem that may be somewhat overlooked in most reviews. If you don't really like thinking too much and exploring the environments to find little nuances in the scenery than don't bother too much. However, if you want to take a break from the fighting and bataranging, just open up these riddles and get searching it's awesome to see these homages to old characters in the Batman mythology. Definitely a great addition. The Scarecrow sequences don't really make up a very integral part of the story, but it does help to flesh out Batman's backstory as you delve into why Bruce Wayne became Batman and what really haunts the Dark Knight.

Last of all is the fighting. I love the way that this brawler is done. The animations are fluid and there are rarely times when the character models glitch and a henchman receives a phantom blow. 99% of the animations are flawless and look as though the bad guys are getting hit. The overall mechanic to the fighting is simple to use, but really hard to master. The mixture of strike, counter, stun, and the occasional gadget make it a three ish button system. As you strike, you bring henchmen to the ground. The occasional baddy does come up and try to throw a punch, but a quick counter fixes that. Nothing feels better than stringing torgether a 30+ combo in a huge fistfight. With the addition of 3 new challenge maps and 3D the game really is awe inspiring. (The 3D of course is not even noticeable unless you have an HD TV, btw)

Overall, Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the best games I have ever laid my hands on. It deserves Game of the Year completely and delivers at every turn. A complete story, collectibles, challenges, fighting, exploration, and thinking make this game worth every cent you would pay. Definitely worth whatever you pay.

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In general, superhero video games are bad adaptations of the comics on which they are based. Usually, at best they are just an average game (the only exception to this being when a superhero game has a great co-player mode, such as JUSTICE LEAGUE HEROES from a few years ago). That changed with the release of BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM. I didn't have an opportunity to play the game until earlier this year. However, after having played, it is in my opinion the best superhero game ever made so far.

Taking a cue from the graphic novel of the same name, players get to play the game as Batman. The gameplay is great. Just like Batman, you have to use certain weapons to complete certain tasks and defeat different villains. There's a good mix between platform games, puzzle games, and action games. A key to making it through to the next level is using stealth; you can't just jump out of nowhere and beat up everyone in sight. To be successful, you have to stay in the shadows and sometimes wait for the right moment to strike. There's a lot of free range in the game and there are all sorts of collectibles that a person can get as you explore the asylum.

As far as the story goes, Batman is at Arkham dropping off a prisoner when the Joker sets forth his greatest plan to date: Batman is trapped in Arkham during a lockdown where all the inmates are set free. Batman battles one foe after another, including Bane, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, and Poison Ivy. Along the way you save workers who are trapped, solve riddles, and unravel the Joker's master plan. The climactic battle finds Batman facing off against the Joker that is much a battle of brawns as it is brains.

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM is a must-play game for gamers and anyone who is a Batman fan. It's also highly recommended for anyone who likes superhero games or just enjoys a great single player game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky - PC Review

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Having been a big fan of the original STALKER, I was very eager to get my hands on this prequel. After a few days with it I have to ask: could this game actually have been made in Chernobyl? Because it is infested by pretty serious radioactive bugs! But first things first.

Like its predecessor, STALKER:CS has amazing graphics and, yes, they are demanding. Barely making minimum requirements means barely enjoying the game visually. Having said that, I have to admire the work that went into the graphical design, from playful rays of light and shadows of moving branches to dilapidated buildings and endless skies, the game will grab you from the opening scene.

The gameplay does not veer off the original but there are more customization options, both regarding the weapons and your character. What one will notice early on is that STALKER:CS is a harder game. Not only are artifacts much scarcer (making it harder to save up for that precious suit which will allow you to reach more precious artifacts...) but there are also instances when your character could be stripped of everything! Immersion is one thing, aggravation quite another.

Speaking of which, be prepared to experience not a few crashes and freezes. The game was either rushed and still in beta(!) or this is another form of Russian anti-piracy method: release the game unstable and then keep it dependent on downloadable patches. In any case, wait for the major patches to be released because saved games will usually not work with later patches.

On a final note, Amazon.com customers should count our blessings: everywhere else in the world (including Amazon.co.uk) STALKER:CS harbors StarFORCE but not here!

Thank God for anti-rad and class-action suits!

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Let me preface by saying that I am a huge fan of the first STALKER and played the redux mod numerous times so a few glitches and crashes don't annoy me all that much. I got the game immediately upon release and installed and played it for several hours before the game repeatedly crashed at the same point. I went and installed the most recent patch I could find and things became more stable. Unfortunately, my saved games were not compatible so I had to start over from the beginning.... Oh well, the game is fun as hell and I really love the new maps and little changes to the original ones. If you were a fan of the first STALKER this is a must own just be sure to patch it before you play.

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I played Shadow of Chernobyl five times in a row. Finish it. Start again. Ridiculous, but true. It had plenty of bugs and issues and required a lot of patience, but it was completely worth it.

Having loved the first game, I was incredibly excited about the release of Clear Sky and have watched it as it developed over the last year. There have been a lot of negative reviews from various sources, and yes, this game is also very buggy. It has the Stalker Curse of hardware issues and wierd problems.

But I've been playing it for several days now with no significant (read as "game stopping") issues, and it is every bit as cool as I hoped it would be. I'm loving it as much if not more than Shadow of Chernobyl.

So, if you're patient and not afraid of the fixer-upper games that GSC is apparently intent on releasing, and you liked the first Stalker... I say give it a go.

Its brilliant and brutal, just like the original.

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STALKER Clear Sky (SCS) is a sandbox shooter in the style of Fallout 3 and Far Cry 2. As with those examples, SCS is a long game as compared to many more linear FPS games. The extra time consists largely of traveling from one place to another, but this format also facilitates a more complex scheme of interaction between the player and the game environment. There are many places to explore, objects to uncover, and interactions with the game's many characters.

Being more of a fan of mindless run-and-gun FPS games, this is not my favorite game. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that a huge effort went into creating the STALKER games (including Shadow of Chernobyl) and the outcome of that effort was an impressively detailed and well orchestrated adventure. To me, Clear Sky is a thoughtful improvement over Chernobyl and is the better of the two games, but Clear Sky also capitalizes on the first game. Changing it too much would ruin it and disappoint those who got Clear Sky hoping to get more of what Chernobyl offered.

I admit I did a terrible job of playing the game, so probably didn't get the level of enjoyment possible by someone who immerses themselves in it more deeply. I went from mission to mission with very little exploring. I had no money and never did any trading. I finished the game on the VETERAN difficulty level without ever having a suit with any protection from radiation or bullets. I highly recommend having a look at one of the guides available on the internet. A few pointers can save you some grief and make the game more fun.

At the time I installed it, there was one patch available, which I installed. I had no technical trouble with the game under Vista x64 running on a core 2 duo with 4GB ram and dual SLI-linked 8800GTS 512 GPUs. I had video options set to max and the graphics were definitely on the leading edge of what's commercially available. There is a huge amount of detail to the environment, excellent lighting effects, and weather so real you can almost feel it. The lightning storms are impressive. One in particular was just stunning. You could see the bolts of lighting flash in the sky and the entire landscape would flash in harsh bright black and white with stark directional shadows. The best weather effect I've seen in any game to date.

Depth of field was a nice effect and worked smoothly without being an annoyance. Sound effects and voice acting were also top shelf. Aside from what it takes to accomplish a mission, I don't usually pay much attention to story line or character development, so I won't speak to that. The game allows user saves, including quick saves and it allows you to change the difficulty level mid-game which is a rarity.

I recently finished Far Cry 2 and thought SCS was a far better game in terms of variety, surprises, and action. SCS compares favorably with Fallout 3 in that the area of exploration is huge and each place is not just more of the same (as seemed to be the case with Far Cry 2).

The things I personally didn't care for in SCS were the annoying (invisible) radiation fields that you could stumble into as well as the amount of non-fighting game play that is required. I prefer non-stop shooting, but that's not a strike against the game so much as saying that this game targets those gamers who like to get more engaged in the RPG aspects of the story and environment.

Toward the end, the game seems to slip into more of a traditional FPS in that the missions (and shoot-outs) occur one after the other. As soon as you accomplish one aspect of a mission, you are immediately pointed toward the next step and the shooting is almost non-stop. Also, I really liked the environment better during these sequences. It was tough for me because, having no protection from bullets, I was easily killed and spent a lot of time watching the "LOADING..." screen. The game does not load very fast.

So, if you liked the first STALKER, Fallout 3, or Far Cry 2, you'll probably like SCS, which is the best (in my opinion) of all of them. It doesn't have a long learning curve, but take time to learn about the vests and the artifacts and what you can get by trading and upgrading weapons, etc. The manual could be better, but there are guides on the internet that make up for it.

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I played the first one, which was really buggy but incredibly fun. This game had less bugs (1.5.05 retail patch) until towards the end of the game, where it would crash almost instantly. If you saved the game in a place that the game "didn't like," it would crash upon loading. For reference, my setup involves an AMD 6000, 3.5GB (recognized under XP, 4GB physical), Ati 4870 512MB, XP SP3, Ati 8.9 drivers. The 8.8 drivers seemed to cause the system to crash to desktop even more.

Anyway, game-play (when it's working) is absolutely incredible. Immersive, fun, challenging, visually stimulating, etc. About 80% into the game is where all the bugs showed up. That, coupled with the utterly lackluster ending (also bugged) killed the game for me (since I had expectations from the first game). I would gladly have waited another 6 months for a finished game, a finished ending and less bugs. This could easily have been a 5-star game.

Regardless of it's shortcomings, it's still a good game and I will be purchasing any future Stalker games. The plot, game-play and immersiveness are too good to pass up.

Rock Band ROADIE Bass Drum Pedal Reviews

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Our entire family enjoys Rock Band. When our drum pedal cracked, I researched all of the options out there to repair it: A cut out piece of aluminum diamond plate that screws onto the original broken foot pedal, a fancier machined piece of aluminum that also screws onto the original foot pedal, a machined aluminum billet foot pedal that compelely replaced the cracked piece but used the rest of the original Rock Band pedal base, and replacement pedals made out of Maple wood or clear Plexiglass.

What I found was most people were happiest with a replacement billet aluminum foot pedal, due to the extra weight overcoming the very stiff stock spring of the Rock Band pedal. However, durability of the original plastic base then became a problem, with no easy fix to replace or repair a broken base unit.

The only other option was a host of real drumset bass pedals that have been modified with the switch and cord necessary to plug into the Rock Band Drum Kit. These were all reviewed very highly by expert players for their "real" feel, and because they were genuine all metal kick pedals the durability was unquestioned. However, these modified kick drum pedals were very expensive, and I found none under $100.

Then I found the Rock Band Roadie pedal. It is actually the same pedal that will be included with the $300 premium Ion drumset for Rock Band II, so that was one point in it's favor. Second, further research revealed that is is actually a hi-hat pedal sold for electronic drumsets, which is a second vote of confidence in it's favor. Finally, the price at $39.99 for an all-metal foot pedal and base was very reasonable, and within a few dollars of the high end billet aluminum replacement foot pedals.

The pedal that we received had a proper 1/4" right angle plug on one end and a 1/8" plug on the other. No 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor as shown here. The pedal has a lighter return spring tension, which makes it much easier to play the fast notes, and greatly reduces leg fatigue. Another factor that makes this pedal easier to play is that it is at a lower angle to the floor, so you don't have to raise the toe of your foot nearly as high.

After a month of the entire family beating it to death, including a 15 year old playing expert, we all agree that the Rock Band Roadie pedal is the best option for your broken Rock Band drum pedal.

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***THIS PEDAL WILL NOT WORK WITH THE ROCK BAND 2 DRUM SET***

It will work fine with the Rock Band 1 kit, or the ION Drums, obviously. However, performance is extraordinarily poor and almost always fails to register on the Rock Band 2 drum set. While the pedal itself is quality, and certainly will not break, those attempting to use it with the RB2 drum set will be in for a large disappointment.

Best Deals for Rock Band ROADIE Bass Drum Pedal

I play a lot of Rock Band, and stomping down on my pedal is something I usually do. In fact, I've only bought a new PS3 EL RB1 kit and the stock pedal already cracked near the hinge, and I have a problem with double hits on it. Upgrading to the Roadie somewhat improved my scores on Level 1-4 songs, but when it came to Level 5-6 songs, I wouldn't even dare heel-toe-ing it to death.

This is actually a hi-hat pedal, not a bass pedal. A hi-hat is designed to open and close gently or sort of hard, not to be stomped and heel-toed on. That's what a bass pedal is for. I was also disappointed that it's still getting double hits, because of the small switch clamped to the IC. That's the reason I don't want to stomp on it so hard, is because that clamp can end up breaking, and with my weight (I'm 220lb, and the force I apply when I stomp on this pedal is definitely strong) I can pretty much half the expected life of these things.

If you play on Medium, Hard, or early Expert tiers, get this pedal. It'll definitely increase your scores. If you're like me and you play on Expert drums all the time, and are looking to finally FC songs because your stock pedal dropped notes for a GS, I recommend getting something more durable like the Rock Pedal, Destroyer, or Value Pedal.

Honest reviews on Rock Band ROADIE Bass Drum Pedal

This fabulous pedal was manufactured and designed well. One can truly pedal faster and with less fatigue with its smooth spring mechanism. And, the Velcro (or screw-down) stabilizer keeps your foot securely parked in place! It is a little louder than the original pedal; but honestly, it is not noticeable while rocking out. Regarding customer service, I ordered the product on a Monday and received it on the proceeding Friday (under promised and over delivered shipping date)! Buy this pedal now!

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This product is for a expert drummer if your a novice i would stick to the stock pedal and maybe a medal plate reinforcement all in all this pedal is very durable if ur goin threw fast taping it works very well and is very easy to press down, gets kinda of noisey like metal on metal taping,if your stereo is loud enough its not very noticable but its why i gave the product 4 stars instead of 5 but i still highly recommand if your wanting a precise drumming experience on expert!

Nintendo 3DS XL Gold/Black - Limited Edition Bundle with The Legend Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $317.14
Sale Price: $258.79
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

[Just to let fans know THIS IS STILL AVAILABLE from retail stores! Don't waste your money on marketplace sellers just yet. Stores currently stocked: Game$top, BestBud, Wally World, Toyz R Us, Target]

It's a 3DS XL and it's Zelda does anything else matter? Every piece of Zelda merchandise I've ever owned has been top quality, and I don't expect this to be any different. With that said, I have seen the hands-on video of the unit making the rounds, and it looks fantastic! I really like that the inside is gold instead of just black (a la that stupid black "Zelda" Wii U), and the gold lettering on the buttons is a nice touch. The way they did the light Triforce on the front and the dark Triforce on the back is so clever. They even moved the informational text on the bottom to the side so it doesn't interfere with the Triforce. Good job, Nintendo!

But alas, it looks like the stylus isn't gold :(

The gold finish is matte, not shiny :)

Also, the bundle comes with a digital copy of the game, not a physical copy.

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Just as others have stated dont buy the one from the marketplace. This is still available for preorder and they will have them in stock on black friday save yourself hundreds of dollars. This comes with a digital copy of the game and looks sweet.

Best Deals for Nintendo 3DS XL Gold/Black - Limited Edition Bundle with The Legend

Do not order this for $488, it is still available for $219!!!!!

Pro Sell are a bunch of rip offs for offering this.

Honest reviews on Nintendo 3DS XL Gold/Black - Limited Edition Bundle with The Legend

This 3DS is not worth nearly this much! Its only worth $220 dollars everywhere! I don't know how they think they can get away with raising the price double of what its worth.

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don't order this through the amazon marketplace. you can preorder this at gamestop for $219. totally not worth overpaying for this item

Best Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None Deals

Customer Ratings:

First of all, it's important to explain what type of game this is. This games is a traditional, 2D, point-and-click adventure game. You walk around and explore, talk to people, collect objects and clues, and solve puzzles. I'm a big fan of these types of games, but if you're not as a rule, I would skip this.

As a long-time adventure gamer, I was waiting for the Wii release to play this game. If you've already played it on PC, don't bother. It's exactly the same. The Wii controls are barely used, and when they are it's kinda annoying.

This game definitely has its flaws. It's not a great game. The action is pretty slow and sometimes repetitive. It's not exciting or unpredictable (especially if you've read the book, which I have.) The game is actually not very linear, in that you can do a lot of optional actions and you can do things at different times. That gets confusing sometimes because I felt that I had not done things I wanted to do and was afraid I wouldn't get a chance. But I did.

I have resorted to a walkthrough for a few parts of the game, but I have a low frustration tolerance, so that's not strange. In all, I've been really enjoying my time playing this game. I can't quite put my finger on what I like, but it's soothing and relaxing. I have been monopolizing the TV for several days playing it.

So, if you have liked this type of game in the past, I would recommend it. I understand the later PC games in the series are improvements on this game. I hope they do Wii ports of them as well. Otherwise I'm going to have to get them for PC.

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I review games for the Wii on youtube. To see more of my reviews go to

Best Deals for Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

I love a good murder mystery and this is the first one for wii. Yes, it took forever to complete and there were some very tedious times trying to figure out what you needed but all in all I got wrapped up in this game and hope there are more in the genre coming out. I DID have to go online and find some cheats in the middle of the game or I would have never finished and just given up but I still enjoyed it. If you are a fan of Christie you will like the game. It is geared towards adults and I think most high school and college kids would find it too slow to be fun.

Honest reviews on Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

My suggestion: borrow it, play it, return it.

Let me first admit that I have never read the Agatha book, or played the PC game. So I started with a blank slate. I will also admit that I am an ADHD gamer, and wasn't interested in this game. But my wife wanted a low action, easy-to-play, 7th Guest puzzle game.

She did not get what she wanted. My wife lasted only about an hour in the game, and then she was done. I lasted 2 more hours, and then I was done. I decided I wanted to see the ending, so I turned to a strategy walk-through cheat guide on the Internet. With the guide's help, the game was over in a few more hours.

I used a walkthrough guide based on the PC version, and found it 99% identical to the Wii game. So if you played this on the PC, there is really no need to buy the Wii version. Yes, there are a few puzzles that you can use the Wii motion-controls, but I found these very few controls to be awkward and unresponsive. Opening doors drove me crazy throughout the game (and I opened a ton of doors in The Godfather).

The game has a few puzzles that require you to assemble various inventory items together. But these puzzles are NOT required in order to complete the game they are just sidebars that provide superficial entertainment. And if it wasn't for the cheat guide, I don't know how anyone would have ever figured out some of these puzzles, or where to pick up the inventory items. For instance, the location of the antidote appears to be completely random (and only makes sense AFTER you know the ending).

The puzzles did not drive the plot along, and the plot did not move you to and through the puzzles. This is what separates this game from some of the other historic success stories in this genre.

The only requirement to moving the plot along was talking to the other characters. The main challenge was to find where the characters have walked off to. So it was really just several hours of wandering around, checking the same rooms over and over and over again, hoping to bump into a character.

And save your game often, because there are some bugs. My game froze at the raft scene and I had to restart from an earlier save which only prolonged my misery.

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In terms of game mechanics, this game leaves a lot to be desired. Sometimes it's repetitive, or doesn't make sense, or you have to go online and look for clues from others who've already solved the mystery. To anyone who says it's not worth the time or it stinks, I truly understand that.

Having acknowledged that, I still love this game, and I'll tell you why. First, I have read almost every Agatha Christie novel and I love them. I've seen both film versions of this one and I've seen the play done really well. So I love the story so much and the setting so much, it's worth it for that alone. My husband and son played this with me and watched me play it for hours. My son helped me draw a map of the rooms in the mansion and keep track of clues, so it was a fun mother-and-son bonding thing. My husband and son both said that one of the things they love most about it is the soothing soundtrack, from rain storms to music. They also love the quaint English dialogue they still quote some of the games lines from time to time.

In short, I'd say this game is like a beloved family member yes, they leave a lot to be desired, yes other people might not enjoy their company (and you know why), but you love them anyway.

Discount Doom 3 Limited Collector's Edition - Xbox (Collector's)

Customer Ratings:

This is definitely one of the moodiest, best-orchestrated games I've ever played. It gives many nods to the kind of immersion (and outright steals a number of elements) popularized by Half-Life. This is pure DOOM though demons, possessed humans, flying skulls, creepy voices, etc. And of course, the two things you truly need for happiness while descending to Hell: a shotgun and a chainsaw.

If you like games that suck you in with powerful environments, DOOM 3 is the best you will ever find. The graphics are superb, dark, and downright freaky at times. Even better than the visuals, though, is the sound. Slithering sounds from nearby enemies, demonic laughter echoing down the hallway as monsters descend on you, etc. It all adds up to a powerful experience that can really tug at your claustrophobic strings.

Here's a low-down on the collector's edition.

THE GOOD:

* It's scary, it's visceral, it frays your nerves, and it's absolutely a ton of fun.

* Production values are outstanding, although the plot is paper-thin. But it's DOOM, so what do you expect? A Shakespearean play?

* Ultimate DOOM and DOOM II are included and very playable on the Xbox. Sure, they're outdated and clunky compared to this beautiful masterpiece. They're a walk down memory lane for those of us who remember the original games, and a good history lesson for those who don't.

* G4 "Icons" video with background info on the making of DOOM 3.

* Collector's Edition case is very cool.

THE BAD:

* No split-screen co-op mode! You can only play co-op if you use Xbox Live or system link. Lame!

THE UGLY:

* The interviews in the collector's edition are pretty lame. It's basically a handful of the top guys at Id Software talking for a couple minutes each about some aspect of the game or other. Even when John Carmack himself was talking, I quickly got bored with how pedestrian the whole thing was.

THE SUMMARY:

Don't mind those folks who whine about how you can't use the flashlight at the same time as you use a weapon deal with it! The game is still a blast, and it gives all new meaning to the phrase... GO TO HELL! Highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended.

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Folks all i can say is it was well worth the wait. Ive heard people cry that its dark. Yes it is in more ways than one. Its just dark enough to keep you nervous about what is around a corner or behind you. These graphics are without a doubt the best ever produced on any console. The nay sayers are dead wrong. I play (other than an occasional platformer) nothing but first person shooters and while i enjoyed the Halo games as well as Metroid Prime and many others they are well behind the design and gameplay of this masterpiece. This is not a "run and gun" game. If you play it as such, you will die and die often. Take your time and look around there is lots to see and find. Believe the hype folks! I did not think these graphics could be produced on any console. Play it in the dark and enjoy.

Best Deals for Doom 3 Limited Collector's Edition - Xbox (Collector's)

If one thing can be said about Doom 3, it's that the game merges new school and old school seamlessly. The visuals in this Xbox port are nearly perfect when being compared to the breathtaking atmosphere of the PC version. Basically this means that the cutting-edge visuals are still cutting edge, especially for a console, while they are becoming more accessible for a wider audience who may not have PCs beefy enough to run the game at full specs. As for the Doom legacy, everything a fan could want is here. The simple run-and-gun action from the socially taboo games I played as a child is mirrored perfectly in this remake.

However, once you strip away all of the gritty realism of the environments and the nostalgia of classic Doom, you are left with an extremely rudimentary corridor-crawler that is firmly based on derivative shooting and cheap scares for entertainment. At its core, the gameplay is absolutely repetitive, but masked by convincing character animations a bone-chilling scenery. The plot is also quite thin. Half of the time, it will feel like you are going somewhere simply because you haven't been there yet. At several points in the game, I actually had to check my PDA (which was a very cool feature, by the way) to see what my "objective" was supposed to be. Lastly, the feeling of dread and unease you get from not knowing exactly what's around the corner is somewhat reduced by the "QuickSave" anywhere function.

Close-quarters combat is used for 90% of your encounters, and while this helps add to the claustrophobic feeling that Doom 3 conveys so well, it also severely limits tactical decisions for you AND your enemy. In fact, while the AI is better described as "tenacious" rather than "stupid," there are very few moments in the game where the enemy will use clever tactics instead of rushing straight for you. Add that to the seemingly innocuous "monster closets" that demons will jump out of for a quick jump-out-and-go-boo scare (Jeeze, did the guys that designed this base actually make a conscious effort to give demons and zombies a place to hide?!) and you are left with a single, repetitive outcome to nearly every battle: a zombie/imp/soldier jumps out of a shadowy era, and you blast them away with your shotgun. Rinse and repeat. The game does have interesting events every now and then, such as gunplay in total pitch-black darkness or bizarre visions that will make you wonder if what you saw really happened, but these treats are few and far between. Derivative shooting ultimately drags Doom 3 down a few notches.

It should also be noted that, for whatever reason, headshots DO NOT do anymore damage than say... a shot to the foot. As a cardinal rule of FPSs, even on consoles, I have no clue as to why the designers decided to omit headshot damage. This was extremely disappointing.

What Doom 3 DOES do well, however, is atmosphere. The dingy, mechanical walls and flickering lights of the Mars base make you feel like you are in a living and breathing (sometimes literally) industrial environment. The level of detail is simply astonishing. Everything, from a giant, gyrating energy reactor to an insignificant ruptured pipe, looks REAL. Shadows are intense and lighting is generally clever; the game designers never let you see TOO much without the aid of your flashlight. Speaking of that wacky flashlight, it seems like it's almost become a fad to talk about how silly it is to not be able to attach a light to your gun. Well, this is one leap of logic that I'm actually willing to overlook. Having guns and light separate adds to the tension. End of story. What kind of tension, you ask? How about "the dirty feeling of isolation and claustrophobia resulting from maneuvering your nameless, voiceless marine through a dark, ominous air vent smeared in the blood of your fallen comrades, making it seem like you are actually there" kind of tension. Enemy designs aid the intensity of Doom 3's macabre scenery; it's really too bad that you really won't see many of them until the last quarter of the game. For the majority of time you spend playing, you'll be fighting the aforementioned zombies, soldiers, or Imps. Needless to say, this gets predictable (and rather boring) after a while. It really is a shame that every few levels or so, you may be introduced to an interesting new enemy (like, for example, the Maggot, Wraith, and Lost Soul), but you will most likely never see that enemy again until hours and hours later in the game. Once you advance far enough into the game, the balance of demons evens out, but Imps will still be your most common threat. Still, waves of identical enemies can't take away from an excellently crafted industrial atmosphere, which becomes so creepy that the latter half of Doom 3 that it looks like something straight out of Silent Hill (in a good way).

Oh, and just on a side note... I don't care if the Revenant was in the earlier Doom game. That enemy looks totally ridiculous. It's a skeleton with awkward rocket launchers grafted to its shoulders. Stupid. Really, really stupid.

Sound is great. It was an exceedingly wise move to use music very sparingly. The naturally grating, echoing, metallic sounds of the Mars base mixed with footsteps, demonic growls, and maniacal laughter is more than enough to convey a feeling of unease.

Although the multiplayer is abysmal (not even worth playing, in my opinion), the Co-op is probably one of the most interesting additions to Doom 3. You can't Co-op on split screen (boo!), but it's not hard at all to find someone via Xbox Live (or even System Link if you get desperate). The game has been altered to accommodate two marines instead of one, power ups and multiple demons have been added, and cut scenes have been removed. The result is an extremely fluid and addictive experience.

Well, after this long, wordy, and somewhat negative critique, I bet you're wondering why I gave Doom 3 four stars. There answer is simple: this game is fun. In an age where the Xbox's FPS games are becoming more and more innovative (take Splinter Cell: CT and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath... both excellent games), it's almost, dare I say, "refreshing" to play a game that's actually easier to learn than Halo 2. It's an extremely cathartic experience. Sit back, relax, and let yourself become scared of the dark again as you blast through hordes of Hell's minions. It's the perfect stress reliever.

With the added features (including retro Doom games, as I'm sure you already know), the Doom 3 Collector's Edition for the Xbox is the perfect addition to any FPS and/or Survival Horror fan's library... repetitive gameplay and all.

Honest reviews on Doom 3 Limited Collector's Edition - Xbox (Collector's)

Yeah, Doom 3 is great. There's tension, darkness, a forboding feeling, and some awesome looking demons coming to tear you apart and drag you to hell.

I'm sure someone's already said that the fact that you can't equip the flashlight at the same time as a gun really makes things a little scarier.

The game is good. It starts to feel like it's getting a bit long, but then you get attacked by a new enemy or you get rocketted into Hell or something like that and you're suddenly loving it again.

The game can get to be pretty hard, but it's nothing you can't get through after a couple tries.

As for the Collector's Edition, I'd say only get it if you're a big fan of the Doom series. Of course. You've got some interviews and such, some concept art, and the original Dooms. There's really no reason to get it for Doom and Doom 2 unless you HAVE to have them on xbox for some reason. It is fun to get some friends together and play some deathmatches on the XBOX, but beyond that, there's really not much use to them when you could easily just get them for your computer and have the real experience.

I really only bought the XBOX version of Doom 3 because my computer would never run it. So yeah. If you have a computer capable of running Doom 3 you shouldn't even be thinking about the XBOX version.

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Doom 3 for the XBox is the BEST looking FPS out there at this time. The textures and normal mapping make the environment come to life in a way that is not even possible on my lowly PC without causing serious degradation in the frame rate.

The last game to give such a detailed environment was the Chronicles of Riddick. However, that game (as great as it is) was plagued with some issues. At times, the graphics would get very fuzzy. Also, there were clipping issues in some areas. But, those can be overlooked in a game that is not just a FPS, but also a stealth game as well.

Doom 3, however, is not plagued by those abnormalities. The graphics are ALWAYS clear and sharp. Frame rate reduction is minimal (almost non-existent) and doesn't affect the gameplay at all. If you want to really show off the XBox's graphics and sound capabilities, then this is the game to do it with.

Doom 3 is a re-telling of the original Doom. Forget that Doom and Doom II ever occured. In this game, you learn more about the UAC, it's operations and who caused the portal to hell to open and why. Again, you play an unnamed space marine called to the UAC base on Mars for a normal rotation in your active duty career. People have been disappearing left and right on what is not a large installation. Others have come down with serious cases of schizophrenia, while others have even resorted to cutting their tongues in two. Yuck!

If you've played the PC version, then be prepared for some changes. First off, the areas are NOT as dark as they were on the PCs. This was due to console games being played on the TV. It doesn't detract from the scary environment of the PC game and you still need a flashlight in many areas once the portal to hell is open. But, at least you get to see the lush environment and the minions of hell a lot better than you did on the PC.

Second, many areas of the PC game (such as the beginning where you actually walk through the scanning machine yourself as well as walking around the landing platform to get into the main entrance of the base) have been replaced by you watching it occur. You actually take control of the player when he comes to the desk to receive his PDA.

Other areas have been removed or paths have been changed. This was done to help increase the action and speed of the game. Whereas the PC game was more of a slow-paced scare fest, the XBox version is a fast-paced juggernaut that still scares the holy heck out of you. There have been areas where I knew there were imps yet, because the atmosphere of the game has pulled me in so deeply, I would still have an imp scare the heck of out me, causing me to drop my controller and curse out loud because I knew the imp was there. Also, certain areas creatures have been replaced to take into account that this is a console game with a controller and not a PC game with a mouse. It doesn't detract from the game at all. In fact, it makes it better.

The controls are laid out nicely, with the D-pad acting as your quick weapons select that you can modify to have access to your favorite weapons. Unlike Halo and Halo 2, you can save the game at any point. The Back button serves as a quick save button so you can save where you are at quickly and get back to the action. This is definitely a plus because then you don't have to worry about the game saving at a pre-determined savepoint when your health and/or ammo is low. You control when you save and in what condition your health and ammo is in.

The 5.1 surround sound puts you right in the middle of the action and is used to it's fullest potential. I can't count how many times I've heard a sound behind me (breathing, something falling, whispering) and I turned around in fright to only find nothing there. It adds to the tension of the game. The detail of the demons and people are the best I've seen yet. The level of detail of everything makes this the best looking XBox game to date.

With the Collectors edition being only $5 more than the normal version, I say shell out that extra cash so you can also get the original Ultimate Doom and Doom II games ported to the Xbox. They allow co-op play and are a nostalgic look back at the games that defined the FPS and deathmatch shooters era. Doom started it all.

The other extra features on the CE version include 4 FMVs about the making of Doom 3 and the history of Doom. They are really interesting to watch. There is also an art gallery as well as interviews with the creators of Doom 3. I did notice that the voices were NOT in synch with the videos, but it's minor and not that much of a distraction.

The online play seems well on it's way to bringing back the glory days of playing Doom on a Novell LAN. It only allows up to 4 players, but sometimes, those are the the best types to play. The levels have been created just for that type of game play and it allows for some exciting matches. There is deathmatch, team deathmatch and arena-type where you watch two players go head-to-head and when one dies, one of the other players waiting comes in and plays the winner. I did notice some lag at times, but it wasn't enough to detract from the gameplay.

Another issue with on-line play is when you search for games. It seems to take a long time to find them. Once I did find a game, there were numerous times when I selected that game, only to be told that it was no longer available. Hopefully, these issues are just due to the fact that I tried to play on-line on the day of the release and will eventually be fixed or reduced once the hype has died down a little.

Unlike the PC version, you can have coop play as well for the main story. The FMVs are gone and certain areas from the single-player game have been changed to allow for 2-players, but this is something we Xboxers can brag about that the PC players don't have. It makes for some interesting gameplay, especially in the dark areas. To see your buddy get munched by a demon while you hold the flashlight is something you just have to experience to really get the feeling of sheer terror that it can bring.

Overall, I was a little disappointed in that this was only a one-disc edition when the other limited CEs had two discs. Still, the inclusion of the original Dooms and the port of this game to the Xbox is nothing short of brilliance on the part of Vicarious Visions. They must be commended on this port. It actually makes this better than the PC version and looks almost as good for a console game.

Doom 3 is the BEST looking FPS out there. Does it beat Halo 2? Maybe in the single player version, but online is a different story. Each has it's own merits. If anything, Doom 3 can sit right next to Halo 2 and be equal to it. This is definitely a game every FPS fan should have for their Xbox.

Buy HDE Playstation 2/3 to Xbox360 Controller Adapter

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
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I don't understand why so many other people seem to be having problems with this, because it has worked flawlessly for me. It has worked with several PS2 DualShock 2 controllers, PS1 DualShocks, and even my old original digital-only PS1 controllers. As long as you make sure the switch is set to "360", and you have both a WIRED 360 gamepad (NOT a wireless+play and charge kit) and your PS2/PS1 controller connected to the adapter before you plug it into the 360, it works very well. And although I don't know if it makes a difference, I generally already have my 360 turned on before plugging in the adapter. All the buttons are fully functional with no lag, and they even mapped the Analog button to the Xbox Guide, so you can access the dashboard without having to use the 360 controller for anything. The only slight disappointment for me is that headsets plugged into the wired 360 controller through this adapter will not work, but I suspect a wireless 360 headset would solve that issue.

And that's just what it's advertised to do. Although there is no mention of it, it will also make all of the above-mentioned PS1 and PS2 controllers, as well as the wired 360 controllers, work perfectly on the PS3. Just flip the switch to "P3", and plug in only the controller you intend to use (no second controller needed). As with the 360, they mapped the Analog button and the 360's Guide button to the PS button from the PS3 controller, so you can access all functions of the system without the need for a PS3 controller.

Overall I have been very happy with this product. I would stress that you should make sure to use first-party (Sony and Microsoft) controllers with this for best results. I tried my Logitech Cordless Action wireless PS2 controller with this, and it does not work at all, not that I am surprised. Also make sure you are using a wired 360 controller. The wireless controller with play & charge kit only receives power from the USB cable, and still transmits it's data wirelessly, so it will not work with this adapter. I wouldn't be surprised if these two issues are the cause some of the problems people have had with this.

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Works great with Xim3 if you want your setup to run on a ps3 this is the adapter to get. Shipped fast took 3 days no complaints.

Best Deals for HDE Playstation 2/3 to Xbox360 Controller Adapter

I've been using this converter for awhile now, mainly to convert my Xbox 360 stick to PS3. I've been using it for Mortal Kombat tournaments and every once in awhile it will randomly drop inputs. Also sometimes when you press a certain direction that direction will get STUCK in the game, for example hitting forward and the character continues walking forward without you hitting any buttons. Overall this is a cheap alternative to getting a stick dual modded, but it can cause you to make mistakes say when playing in tournaments.

Also you can't use this to convert any USB PS3 stick/controller to Xbox 360, since it only has 1 USB port you can plug into and requires a wired 360 controller plugged into it to work.

I give this a 3 out of 5. It's OK if you need an easy 360 to PS3 stick converter, but overall I would recommend any serious gamer/tournament player to either just buy a new stick or get your existing one dual modded.

Honest reviews on HDE Playstation 2/3 to Xbox360 Controller Adapter

If you're like me and want to use a PS3 controller to play on the Xbox 360 then AVOID this product. The title/description and instructions state that it supports PS3 controllers but it doesn't. In a nutshell, any controller (other than the 360) requiring a USB WILL NOT WORK. The title is very misleading.

The way it works on the Xbox 360 is, you plug in the adapter's USB into a USB slot on your 360. Next plug in a wired 360 controller into the USB type A receptacle, now all that's left is the PS2 adapter. As you can see there is no place for you to connect a PS3 controller. All PS3 controllers require a USB cable or a USB receiver to sync to a new console for the first time. The adapter has only one USB type A receptacle which is used by the wired Xbox 360 controller. I have also tried connecting the PS3 controller to the receptacle and switching to both P3 and 360. This doesn't work because the adapter won't even register without a wired 360 controller, the only thing it can do is charge your PS3 controller. There is no way you can get this to work with a PS3 controller unless there is another converter for PS2 to a USB type A receptacle, which doesn't exist, to my knowledge anyway.

You can argue that one could use a PS2 controller but what about other PS3 accessories that require a USB, such as fight sticks and racing wheels? Surely no one wants to play Forza with a controller. Who wants to fight an opponent in a versus game with a controller? Not me.

If you do a search on eBay, many sellers list this product as a "PS2 to 360 adapter." They also make no mention of this adapter supporting the PS3.

Xbox 360 controllers do work on the PS3, just not the other way around. I guess this product serves its purpose if you want to convert 360 -> PS3 or PS2 -> 360. But the reason why I even purchased this adapter was to use PS3 controllers on the Xbox 360 not PS2. So this piece of plastic is useless to me.

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I have used it for a total of about 4 hours of play so far, using it to convert my XBOX360 joystick to a PS3 for Street Fighter tournament purposes. Twice it has acted up on me, the first time I tried it, it was working fine for about 20 minutes then all of a sudden was unresponsive. I unplugged and reseated the USB part into the PS3 and it worked fine for another hour. A different day, I had been using it on and off all day, and it was fine all day, until a very important match when it suddenly got stuck and was forcing my character to jump repeatedly and wasn't taking any other inputs (stuck in stick up/right position for input, joystick seemed fine), I blame the converter again.

Generally speaking, it doesn't seem to have lag and works fine, but if you are serious about fighting games, don't trust this thing, you never know when it might give out. I was happy though that you do not need an extra official MS controller to dongle onto it to use it, it just straight works. For general/casual use, knock yourself out, decent product.

Review of XBRdepot eXtreme Complete Drill-free Uniclamp (TM) Essentials Kit

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $14.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

Fixed two machines, no issues. Cheaper than buying a new XBox. Just make sure you are using it for the right diagnosis codes.

And the email customer service was awesome, quick, and accommodating!

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I tried this and used it to the T according to the instructions. It was a total waste of time but not sure if that was due to the xbox or this kit. If I had to do it again, I'd use the money on a new xbox and wouldn't have thrown it down the drain with this kit.

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First off if you are gonna go through an upgrade like this you have to ask yourself first is it worth it? If your Xbox is still under warranty then no it is not worth it unless you enjoy tinkering around with projects like this. Second, if you are not familiar with opening an Xbox 360 and the internal parts then you need to sit down first and Google this stuff and get a good competent background and orientation so you have a good idea of what is involved. This project will take probably 2 to 3 hours depending on numerous different factors.

As for my experience with installation, it was pretty frustrating. Now I'm not sure if there would be an easier way to install these parts and I don't have any better ideas but certain aspects of the installation really annoyed and frustrated me. It is very tedious and you need to have a lot of patience. I followed the instructions which didn't even come with the product (it had a sheet with a website where I had to go to for the instructions) perfectly. After all was said and done I got everything put back together and when I turned on my newly upgraded Xbox, I unfortunately got the 3rrod. Took every back apart to adjust the uniclamp a little because supposedly from what I have read, the trick to getting the uniclamp to work is you have to have equal pressure all across the clamp which is very frustrating regardless of technique. I tweaked and tested till I got it to boot up without a hitch and then after I put back everything once more I booted it back up only to find 3rrod again.

After 3 more days of tweaking and testing and trying every possible way I could think of, I could not get it to boot up properly again after that one time. In fact I even got 3 different 3rrod codes throughout this installation process. Eventually I gave up and luckily they were having a black friday sale on Xbox 360 slims so I went ahead and just purchased one of those for pretty darn cheap.

In short mine could just have been a problem waiting to happen regardless, can't really say now but if you have an Xbox that is out of warranty and has 3rrod I would suggest re-flowing the chips if you are familiar with that and then trying this kit out to see if you can get it going again. Good Luck.

Cheap Corvette - PlayStation 2

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $9.99
Sale Price: $9.89
Today's Bonus: 1% Off

I'm a little lost why everyone is bashing the heck out of this title. It only costs $10 folks, and its worth it. The game is fun and simple. There are plenty of different modes to play and lots of things to unlock. Basic play is rather easy. Despite what people say, there are differences in the cars from year to year. for example, a 67 will out run a 63 in a straight line. If the cars were all the same, that would be impossible. The older cars have awful brakes just like they did in real life. The c5 a re fluid and graceful and the c4's are chunky and tempermental, just like in real life. (i've owned a c3, c4 and c5) The graphics are pretty nice, and the tunnel vision at 100mph is a nice effect. The courses are pretty good (although there are some that i dont care for).

Dislikes: 2 player mode makes you race the same era of cars. dirt and pavement traction is fairly similar. physics aren't too real, but close enough for fun.

The game could be imporved upon without a doubt, and if it was I'd pay the normal $50, but in this case i only paid $10, and I feel that the game is a great value for the money. I dont need a clone of GT3 or NFS or anything else. i have those and if i want to play them i will.

lastly, the most humorous defect i've found so far: When in 2 player mode, if player 1 wins, then player 2's car will not have any engine noise. You still hear tires screaching and wind noise though. rather funny.

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Listen, I'm not a corvette enthusiast... just an early 40s dad. I bought this for my boys few years ago in a video game lot... and it's one we played again all weekend. Love it... the career mode is fantastic.

Forget the accuracy of the cars or the realism of the driving experience, it's just a hellova challenge to get around the "career" tracks and place high enough to move to the next round. Really enjoying this game 8 or 9 years after it was released on the ancient PS2 platform.

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This game is a lot of fun. If you are a true corvette fan this game is even better. I think the cars look great and the tracks are neat. Tons of races and all the vettes, except for the c6 make this a super deal for 10 bucks! The handling in the game is not the best and not to realistic but not that off either. If you are looking for a game like Gran Turismo 3 then dont waste your time. If you love corvettes, then this game is for you!

Honest reviews on Corvette - PlayStation 2

This game is truly awful. It is, without a doubt, the WORST racing game I have ever played. Racing games I played on my old Sega Genesis were better than this boring, stupid game. The cars look ok, but they're not half as good as the ones in "GRAN TURISMO 3". They're just not fun to race. You can only race certain cars on certain tracks and that just plain STINKS! Even the opening movie is BORING. Two vettes endlessly racing down the highway for what seems an eternity.

Take my advice and stay clear of this game. There are better racing titles out there like "BURNOUT", "NEED FOR SPEED UNDERGROUND", "MIDNIGHT CLUB 2", "GRAN TURISMO 3" and even "FORD RACING 2". Try one of them but forget this game. It is TERRIBLE! -George Bauch.

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This game is so great. I have loved corvettes since before I was born. This game finally gives the car the respect it deserves. I mean Need For Speed put the Corvette into its games but not like this. This game lets you drive models all the way as old as 1953. The only thing is too bad this game doesnt include the upcoming 2005 Corvette C6 but it does include everything else. Graphics are a little more cartoony then real but they look great anyway. Too bad this game doesn't show damage to the cars, why not? There is no way to make this car look bad. For $10 it is the best value game out there. I recommend this to everyone. If you don't like this game, and you call yourself an automotive enthusiast you are wrong about one of those two things. If you're thinking of trying out this game by renting it at Blockbuster for $4, you might as well buy it. It is definitely worth it

X-Blades - Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $12.99
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This was South Peak's last chance with me. After the travesty that was Two Worlds I was skeptical of even this purchase. I will admit the cover caught my attention. While not the best illustration in existence, the concept of playing a scantily clad female wielding two devastating gun blades heavily appeals to me. So, with some reservations, I made my purchase. I figured it was a hack and slash, a very simplistic game concept, so how could South Peak really screw that up. Oh my, let me tell you how!

Pros:

+Beautiful levels

+Scantily clad female with dual wielding gunblades

+Excellent magical abilities

+Awesome combos

+Well developed booklet

+Leveling up mechanic is interesting

Cons:

-PLAYING THROUGH THE GAME TWICE!!!!

-Levels are the size of my room

-Bosses are really easy to beat

-Items are incredibly easy to locate (because there is only one room!)

-Ayumi's in game figure looks weird

-Lame story line

-Bad voice acting

-LEVELS ARE THE SIZE OF MY ROOM!

Details on the above list:

Actually, I'll start off with the good aspects first. The levels look beautiful. The texturing is quite impressive. Aside from some "too bright" lighting on the outdoor levels, I really had no issues with this part of the game. I did like their level up system quite a bit. You basically kill a bunch of creatures and you get soul points then you spend these soul points to get upgrades. The upgrades were really cool. You can get fire burst, ice, earthquake, and lightning magic. You then bind these to a button on the controller and when you get enough rage from hitting your enemies you can execute these special magical attacks. I actually did like this mechanic throughout game play. You can also upgrade your gun blades to get different kinds of firing options. These were pretty decent also. No machine gun option though... would have been cool, but very unrealistic.

One aspect that some people may be divided on is the way you heal. You heal by spending your soul points or hitting green crystals distributed throughout the levels. Maybe being able to essentially heal whenever you want seems like a cop out to some people, but if you run out of souls, you're screwed, so I actually liked this mechanic in the end. Plus the game has a built in element where it gets more expensive every time you use that feature, so I think this balances it out. I opted to save up my points and go for the regeneration feature. Of course you can always double back and replay levels you know you can beat and collect millions of souls to activate all the upgrades before the end of the game, if one is so inclined.

The booklet for this game is incredibly comprehensive. It gives you a full background on what your character is doing there and so forth. It gives you a run down of all the enemies and a few tips on beating them. If you're really getting into trouble there's a strategy guide section that you can read for tips on how to beat certain bosses. It also has all the normal stuff that goes over spells, upgrades and user controls.

All of that sounds like it should be a fun game shouldn't it? Yeah, I thought so too until I actually started playing through this game! Okay, I know I haven't mentioned it yet, you play as a girl named Ayumi. She's supposed to be a treasure hunter; yeah I thought there might be a Tomb Raider influence as well. Anyway this story is outright lame. I know my low rating might not make sense in context of my good review for Onechanbara (which also was recently released and is a hack n' slash). Let me try to explain, they both have fairly stupid story lines. I wasn't expecting anything incredible from X-blades, but I was expecting a little bit more from them. I mean, this company attempted to write an RPG and failed miserably, but I figured they'd try to at least learn from their mistakes. If you read the introduction in the booklet you already get annoyed with Ayumi. We're clearly engaging in a fantastical world and she's complaining about her parents wanting her to be a pharmacist! Seriously, read the booklet if you don't believe me. Luckily none of that makes its way into the game.

Okay, so the story is bad, but the script is even worse. Coupled with terrible voice acting, once again (just like in Two Worlds), makes the cut scenes atrocious. Okay, the voice acting is a little better than two worlds, but any time Ayumi talks it just doesn't feel like the voice actress fits with her. I can't really put my finger on why, but it just doesn't feel right to me. I know it's a minor quibble. But then they introduce Jay, whom you can also read about in the booklet. He's apparently supposed to be some sort of "love interest"? Worst execution of this I have ever come across. There is ZERO character development in this and that's what I had a huge problem with. At least Onechanbara attempts to have character development and they do a better job of it compared to this.

I was expecting Ayumi's figure to be a bit different. They boasted something about the combination of Anime and this video game. They're trying something new and I'm not really docking them harshly for trying out something different (read below to find out why I'm actually giving this a low rating). But I think people should be aware that Ayumi's figure (the one you control) in game and in the animated sequences does not look like something you would normally expect from the average video game. They don't appear to have used the usual rendering techniques on these main character types and her skin texture looks really bizarre to me. It's tough to explain and I don't know what they did on a technical level, just thought other buyers should know that it is not what you'd normally encounter.

Alright, onto what playing the game is actually like. Now, I don't do game reviews unless I successfully beat the game or at least get to the final boss. I beat this game. I suffered through every single level. Here's where X-blades does a face plant in the world of hack n' slash. The levels are incredibly small. Beautiful looking elements, as I said above, but I'm seriously playing on a level the size of my room! Here's how this game works. You enter into a level; it's mostly a gigantic room. Lots of monsters spawn, you kill ALL of them, and then you get a screen that says level complete! Are you kidding me?! This is ALL I have to do. There's nothing to explore, there's no hidden passages. Nothing! You can walk around within the one room and break jars or coffins to get items that give you souls, but that is IT. There is then a door on the opposite side from where you came in and you go through that and you get a stats screen showing your accomplishments. You are then brought into another room to repeat this process over and over again. There are a couple one room levels where you simply have to make it across something like spinning blades, but there are only three levels like that and they're both incredibly lame and very un-puzzle like. I'd rather be in the one room killing hordes... at least I get to do something semi-interesting.

I know, that sounds incredibly boring. At first cutting down tons of monsters is quite a lot of fun. As you encounter new monsters they get put into your bestiary (accessed when you hit start) and if you're having trouble the bestiary will tell you how to beat that monster. The bosses are less than challenging. Consulting the bestiary and learning the exact method to beat them puts their life span at about five minutes. The only one that took me a little while to beat was The Dark in one section, but that's because some wind weapon he used kept blowing me back so I'd have to walk back up and get close again. Other than that they're all incredibly easy to beat.

The small levels are by far NOT the worst part. If that's not bad enough you have to play through this game TWICE. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever encountered. I know doubling back in some games for a level is one thing, but seriously... an outright replay! You make it to one side of the map you beat The Dark there and THEN you have to go ALL the way back. You go through all the same exact levels again! Sure they have different bosses and slightly tougher enemies, but you still see the same exact level design over and over. What a waste of time! What lazy design!

I still can't believe someone managed to mess up one of the easiest game concepts in existence. I'm seriously giving up on this developer. Maybe someday they will produce a stellar game, but I will no longer be purchasing their items on release day. This was far from a good game and there are far superior games out there. If they could only capture some of the cooler mechanics they had and harness them into a well written game they'd have quite a gem on their hands.

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X-Blades was ok. It was semi entertaining for me, and the hack and slash type game play was kinda fun. Im dissapointed in how short the game is, considering for me it was beat in only 7 hours. I would rate it a lil higher would it have been a longer game. Only other complaint i have is it was a little too linear in the game play. Had there been some side story like optional missions or something of the effect that too would have caused me to be more optimistic about the game. Overall it was decent if youre into cheesy humor kind of games

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With the asking price of X-Blades it is now a worth while buy.

So here is the good the combo system is amazing and very free flowing the developers of some of today's games needs to pay this game a visit to learn from it.

The story was weak for it's launch price but with it's drop in price it is now strong.

OK comes the ugly.

The Achievements are over all great with some that has no place because they are almost impossible for the casual gamer.

Graphics are very dated and borderlands comic book styled.

Some times the targeting tends to be a hair clueless but not to the point where it makes the game unplayable.

I recommend a game studio give this game the orange box treatment face lift the game to look more realistic and iron out the targeting some and implement the download content into the game story mode and add a costume editor for fun.

Honest reviews on X-Blades - Xbox 360

This game is slightly broken but playable. It's a clone of devil may cry, tomb raider, and assorted other games. It's incredibly repetitive and pretty boring. The graphics and character design (of the enemies) are actually really well done for what was probably a low budget game (kudos to the developers). I'm not sure why the main (playable) character is wearing a thong while she's treasure hunting though. The gameplay is kind of stiff (and that's not a double entendre); might be a framerate issue or a character animation issue.

However, it is dirt cheap both new and used. It's not exactly a bad game but it's not exactly a good game either. Would I pay 7 bucks new for it? Probably. I paid around 2.50 used disk only and I don't feel ripped off. I've payed more for far worse.

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Fairly dull plot with a less than stellar ending (even if you don't buy any of the dark magic to get the 'good' ending). The game play was okay and entertained me for the duration. Could've been a lot better if the cut scenes weren't as cheesy though.