Cheap Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $11.40
Today's Bonus: 62% Off

No one can resist the urge to keep playing Resistance: Fall of Man once the game is started. Chapter after chapter of exhilarating battles against a plethora of creatures that you use a plethora of weapons to defeat (and they'll use them against you too).

To really put the plot of the game in context (if you care about the plot), it's well worth the visit to the official Resistance: Fall of Man web site; there's a ton of story there that I'd bet 90% of the people who start the game are unaware of. For me, the story helped me "get into character" for the game. If you just want to start wasting some nasty beasts, "Get to it, soldier!" Rest assured, the story won't help you beat the enemies or evade the barrage of defenses that will be fired at you by them.

As a relatively new gamer, I'm glad that I played Call of Duty 3 Call of Duty 3 before I cracked open Resistance: Fall of Man. It was good FPS training (set in approximately the same time period) for this much more difficult PS3 title.

Resistance has an M (mature gamers only) rating which miffs me a bit, but then I'm a bit more liberal when it comes to what I think might warp the little minds of kids these days. I've seen this classified as a Horror title, but I think that Sci-fi Action is much more fitting. Resistance deserved a T (teen) rating. My kids and I get hung up all too often on sunny days playing Resistance's Co-op Mode when we should be outside playing ball. And hopefully that alone speaks volumes as to how addictively fun this game is.

Co-op Mode is split screen of course because the game is FPS; it would be nice if some games could give the option of switching to a single screen, third person view for Co-op in order to negate the need for split screen, but that would distinctly change to look, range, feel and some of the weaponry...so I assume that's why it's never offered on Co-op mode.

Multi-player is very cool. Multi-player is not like Co-op where you play the Campaign Mode with a partner. In Multi-player you battle against your friends offline (4 player max/split screen) or online (40 player max/full screen). You get some areas of battle to play in that you encountered in Campaign Mode and some new map scematics.

But Resistance's real challenge is in single player Campaign Mode.

Your weapons are plentiful. You start with a pretty standard machine gun (M5A2) that includes a grenade launcher that will become your best "little friend" in the game. It's very useful on the enemies that you encounter most throughout the game. You also get several mean weapons that you pick up from your fallen comrades and defeated beasts including the enemy's main machine gun (The Bullseye...very handy), grenades, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a radiation blaster (The Auger), a mine thrower, a rapid fire subsonic bolt dispenser (The Hailstorm) and a rocket launcher.

Grenades are key to survival...use them, but you'll want to keep in mind that you can run out real real fast...so use them pretty much exclusively to take down groups of enemies.

(And five other weapons aside from the ones that I mentioned above are unlocked only after beating/completing the game once on medium difficulty or higher.)

If you missed the countless gamer magazines' synopsises of the creature types and the power of the individual weapons, there are some great gamer help web sites that are worth taking a look at to help you strategize (just click on my profile above and email me if you'd like me to point you in the right direction).

And speaking of getting pointed in the right direction, part of the fun of this game is figuring out on your own how to get from chapter to chapter. There are no maps, which at times was frustrating. Let me tell you that if the phrase "the best route is not always the most obvious" ever applied to trying to get from here to there it applies in this game on more than one occasion.

You'll also need to at times navigate a jeep and a tank.

So what exactly are you fighting? Where exactly did they come from? If you're up to the challenge to find out....You're Sgt. Nathan Hale, and you're the only one with a Resistance to the Fall of Man. Prepare for some serious battle.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Resistance Fall of Man is a first person shooter that combines World War II era environments with Doom-like horrific enemies to fight. It also offers great online multiplayer gameplay.

The plot is that, around the time of World War II, enemies attacked the world, starting with Russia and moving westward through Europe and England. In the 50s, the US launched a counter-attack, landing in England. You're fighting, at least to start with, with WWII era weapons and outfits through the streets of England.

Let's start with the graphics. The game goes for a very Call of Duty style of look not quite realistic, more "cartooney" or stylized. Textures are smoothed out, some objects are simplified. That's not to say this is a Disney kiddie look. The monsters are grimey and nasty looking, the war-torn streets are very gritty. If anything, because this is set in a WWII type atmosphere, much of the game is brown, grimy and shell-shocked.

The HUD is reasonably well done and not intrusive. A small series of bars on the left indicates your health. An equally small but useful display on the right tracks your ammo, magazines and grenades.

The sound leans towards epic thundering scores, a la Gladiator or Conan. Players who love heavy rock music might not enjoy this, but I actually love this kind of music. I own both of the soundtracks I mentioned :). So to me, this really draws you into the atmosphere. The yells, gun noises and so on seem relatively realistic to help you feel you're really in the middle of a fight. I also like that, during gameplay, it's usually done without music. If I'm trying to sneak somewhere and listen for enemy movement, I don't want that objective made difficult by a soundtrack.

Gameplay itself is typical FPS fare. You can crouch, jump over things, zoom in on your enemy, throw grenades, strafe, and so on. Your friends and enemies are rather good about taking cover and not just rushing an enemy head-on. There are a few situations which seem quite scripted if your pals are meant to die, you could play perfectly and take out every enemy quickly and your friends will still be killed by mysterious off-screen snipers. Still, the game needs to keep you on course for the plot so this is to be expected.

Checkpointing is reasonably good, although sometimes it sends you further back then you might like to start again. Healing is done via canisters you find, but depending on your skill you might wish there were more canisters scattered around :). That's why they have 3 levels of difficulty here.

The interactivity with your environment is pretty impressive. Say your enemy is hiding behind a car. You can shoot out the car's windows and then shoot the enemy through the open space. Or you can shoot the car to damage it, and have it explode a la the infamous 'red exploding barrels' found in most shooting games. If you shoot at a window a few times, it will first crack, then pieces will fall out.

Not only is the game great in single player mode, but you can play co-op with a friend at your home, or online in larger groups with friends or strangers from around the world. This helps turn the game from a play-for-a-few-months-at-home style game to a play-eternally-with-friends-online game.

Well recommended!

Best Deals for Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

I don't know how any one can get the real picture on this game with reviews from the fanboys and haters being so predominant. I hope my review is helpful to you.

This is the best first-person-shooter for a SONY platform. The gameplay is fun and solid. Controls are responsive and, as stated by another reviewer, hit detection is accurate. It's a must own launch title for the PS3.

The graphics are in a bit "flat". They don't have that multi-dimension feel that I expected from a next-gen title on such a powerful system. There's no depth to inanimate objects such as grass, boxes, chairs and so forth. Also, you can just run right through dead characters. You don't have the ability to push the bodies around. Also, when walking through grass you literally walk "through" it. It doesn't move you just pass through it. The environments also aren't very interactive. There's not much more you can do besides run, hide and shoot.

The smoothness of the gameplay is impressive. Even when there are loads of characters on screen everything still runs smoothly. This is a testament to the PS3's power. That being said, it also means that this game doesn't really stress the hardware. Resistance delivers and goods and does everything well.

We have to remember that the PS3 is still in its infancy and has a way to go before the software catches up to the hardware. We'll have to wait for the next round of high end games to find out just what the PS3 is capable of.

Honest reviews on Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

I am really, really picky about my FPS's. Over the years, only Halo, Halo 2, Half Life 2, Socom 2, and Counterstrike have been able to make me say "wow" and keep playing for months. My games have to have it all (story, gameplay, online, sound). This is another one to add to that list. Resistance is all around incredible. I would say this is one of my favorite games ever (and thats saying a ton for a launch title). The single player comes second only to Half Life 2 and the multiplayer is on par and may be even a little better than the rest of the titles I mentioned. I have been playing relentlessly since launch and plan to play for months to come. Throw in the coop op mode and all the unlockables and leveling up in the online game and you have an instant classic.

Probably the biggest stand out in the game are the weapons. This game has a weapon that shoots through walls for goodness sake. The sniper rifle slows down time. Even the rocket launcher can be stopped in midair, fire its own volley of rockets, and then be aimed again and launched in another direction. Its just amazing how much thought and innovation went into these weapons. The sound is great, the story in engaging, and the graphics are very good. They aren't Gears of War good, but then again, Resistance puts more than 4 creatures on the screen at ones and keeps a steady framerate.

And last but not least, the online play (20 vs 20) is LAG FREE. I have yet to see one instance of lag in my entire time playing the online game, and everyone else seems to have the same results.

All in all, this game is amazing, and the fact that it is a launch title makes it all the more impressive. BUY THIS NOW. If your waiting to buy your ps3, BUY IT THEN.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Resistance: Fall of Man - Playstation 3

One thing you're sure to hear from 360 fanboys is how Gears of War blows away Resistance, etc etc. Since I own both systems, I went ahead and gave this game a shot a couple days ago, and I was _not_ disappointed. The game may not be as pretty, but it still looks great, and is a blast to play. I wished for a while that there was a cover feature like Gears, but really every other shooter I've played doesn't have it, and I was used to it within minutes.

Pros -

* Campaign plays like a story, feels like you're playing through history.

* Co-op campaign mode, I'm a big fan of this, for me it makes the game much more enjoyable.

* Great gameplay and graphics, not quite GoW quality, but looks awesome on an HDTV, controls and gameplay are standard, but pretty much flawless.

* Easy to launch into multiplayer play, I downloaded the patch and was playing (for free even) within a couple of minutes with 39 other people in the game, fun stuff.

* Atmospheric, great AI. Challenging for all skills levels, get a feeling of immersion playing through.

* Weapons! These can make or break a shooter...if the weapons aren't fun to shoot, then a shooter can lose it's appeal quickly. I enjoyed pretty much every gun you get, but I didn't really understand why you need to beat the game to get access to a few new weapons...not a good reason to replay a game in my opinion.

Cons -

* Not _quite_ the graphics I expected from PS3, but it's first gen, so very minute complaint. Only supports 720p I'm actually not sure if this going to be standard for PS3 games, or later games will be 1080p, (ala blu-ray)but it would have been that much nicer for it to look that much better. If you don't own an HDTV, don't worry about this, if you do, you might not even have 1080p resolution, so this "problem" really doesn't apply to most people.

* I'm noticing a trend here with games like this where the campaign is only around 10 hrs...it's a great 10, but it kinda sucks to be done in a couple of days, and I don't gain much satisfaction from beating it on a harder difficulty. (I beat it on medium)That being said, the free multiplayer option is nice. (Also, it's about 10hrs not including restarts, moving at a fairly fast clip through the game, it could take novice players double that at medium difficulty)

Overall -

Very fun to play through the story, I honestly got as much of a kick out of it as I did GoW...very similar yet somehow not as mindless in presentation. If you want to play through the story once, and don't enjoy multiplayer, _RENT IT_. If you like playing through on different difficulties, or especially if you enjoy multiplayer shooters, _BUY IT_.

4.5 stars.

Review of Chulip - PlayStation 2

Customer Ratings:

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

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

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

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

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

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

Best Deals for Chulip - PlayStation 2

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

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

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

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

The playground tries to kill you, too.

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

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

**END OF SPOILERS**

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

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

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

Honest reviews on Chulip - PlayStation 2

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

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Chulip - PlayStation 2

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

Buy CSI: Miami - PC

Customer Ratings:

Among other things! First off, let me tell you I'm a huge fan of CSI, and will buy anything that comes out with the CSI moniker on it. I've played both of the CSI Las Vegas games, and have had fun playing those.

CSI Miami is technically the same game as the previous CSI PC games. When there's a sequel to a game, you hope that the user interface hasn't changed much, but the gameplay has. This game plays exactly like the other ones to the point it's formulaic. You play 5 cases, 4 with CSIs and 1 with the Lead CSI. The last case always incorporates the previous 4 cases. I spent about 10 hours playing this game, and I've played it before. It wasn't that it was hard, just how should I put this gently, ridiculously nitpicky. What I mean by this is, you can pass up huge pieces of evidence and it not cost you any points, but the smallest task you don't do, will hold up the game for an infinite amount of time while you go back and re-check all your steps. This happened to me in the 2nd case and it was a stupid fingerprint that had been checked on earlier evidence, but not another piece of earlier evidence. It was maddening.

The voice acting was done by the original actors, but the only one who managed to speak with any sort of believability was Horatio Caine. Speedle was the worst offender, sounding at times like a Ben Stein stand in "Wow."

I did enjoy playing the game the story lines were excellent and believable, and tied up well in the final case with Horatio. (After playing this game, I have learned never to join a country club). I found no bugs in the game which is a relief after the mess that CSI Dark Motives was when they put it out earlier this year. Upon further inspection, there's a patch on for bugs, but I played it through with no problem, but I suppose it would be better to install this and head off any problems before they occur.

So in the end, the game wasn't a bad way to spend a snowed in Sunday, but if I had my druthers, the game would be much better. If you're not a die hard fan of the show, don't bother with it and invest your money in the upcoming Season 2 DVDs releasing shortly. Die hards pick it up with the understanding that it isn't that great.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

System requirements:

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

Pentium 3 or AMD Athlon 750 Mhz

256MB RAM

DirectX 9 compatible sound card

16x CDROM or better

650MB available harddrive space

16MB DirectX 9 compliant graphics card

Rated "M" for Mature and suggested only for those over the age of 17. The rating is for blood, gore, violence, and sexual themes.

From the game manual: "Story: You are a CSI intern assigned to work under Horatio Caine at the Miami Date Crime Scene Investigation Unit. To discover the truth behind the crimes, you must visit crim scenes, interview suspects, and collect and analyze physical evidence. Luckily, you have the help of some of Miami's top CSI agents and support team."

From the game manual: "Object of the game: In CSI:Miami, your goal in each case is to gather enough evidence and information to lead to the arrest of a suspect. Using high-tech forensic tools as well as your own puzzle-solving and interrogation skills, you must close the evidence trinity by identifying the relationship between the suspect, the victim, and the crime scene. Only then will you be able to make an arrest and ensure that justice ahs been delivered to the victims."

This latest installation of the CSI game franchise is relatively good. The game manual seems to have more information in it, so that you aren't wondering how to use tools.

New to this game is a cryptogram puzzle where you have to decode a scrambled text message. Very enjoyable. I also enjoyed the "assembly table" in the lab where you get to reconstructed torn pictures and broken lamp glass. I was suprised at the number of pieces you have to work with .. these werent simplistic puzzles.

Otherwise, this game is essentially the same as the previous CSI games. Collect evidence, double check it for additional details, go back and forth to the locations and requiz the witnesses/suspects, check the dark places with your flashlight, search every pixel on the screen to find any zoom shots that you missed before, and it all falls together nicely. If you feel you need a hint, just take a look at the hint questions that you could ask your partner (but dont actually ask the question) ... merely looking at the question itself can lead you to re-examine something without losing points on actually asking for hints.

If you're familiar with how to play these CSI games, this will be a pretty quick play. I think overall the cases in this edition are simpler than the CSI:Las Vegas games. Note to parents: one of the cases is extremely sexual and not recommended for children.

--lynellen.com

Best Deals for CSI: Miami - PC

I couldn't wait for this game to be made. I miss the character of Speedle played by Rory Cochrane. If you really like role-playing and solving whodunits than this is the game for you. Its like being on the show with the characters. I give it two thumbs up.

C.C.

Honest reviews on CSI: Miami - PC

I bought this game at an electronics store for under $10. I spent about 15 hours total playing it and only had to look online for hints twice. The last case is very time consuming and probably the hardest, but case #2 is easy to get stuck on. I would go look in stores to see if you could find this game for cheaper, but if not, I'd say it's worth $20!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for CSI: Miami - PC

This was probably one of, if not, THE coolest games I've ever played. It is so well made. Graphics are good, stories are cool, just the right challenge level. It's just awesome.

Now I haven't played the first game although it's next on my list, so I can't verify or counter the other peoples' statements about it being too formulaic, like the first one. But I just had an awesome time with this game. I just couldn't keep away. I played it constantly and beat it in two days. I'm not saying it didn't have enough gameplay hours; they were probably sufficient. But I was just hooked and I played it all the time. The extras that you can unlock are pretty cool too.

And what an ending! The ending to the last case is awesome. I won't reveal any more, but what a surprise! Now, it's highly unlikely, but hey, this is drama. It's a cool story anyway.

If you are interested in crime, crime scene investigation, or forensics, this game is definitely for you!

Darksiders II (Asian Version) Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I thought this was a cereal with a darksiders toy in it. I put the disc in a bowl and poured milk on it. Then, I accidentally set on fire so I peed on it. I put it in my Xbox and it worked. Bravo

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Just Dance 3 - Xbox 360 Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $19.89
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

Like most of you, I was curious about a few questions with Just Dance 3. First, how does Just Dance 3 for Kinect compare to its counterpart on the Wii? Second, how does it compare to the gold standard for dance games on the Kinect, Dance Central? Third, how does it stand on its own as a game? I'll try to cover all those questions in this review.

As with the Wii version, the opening menu of Just Dance 3 is delightfully simple. You're given four choices:

* Dance

* Just Create

* Extras

* Shop

"Dance" has four options. "Songs" allows you to jump into the songs and start dancing. You scroll through a list of songs. As with the Wii version, you'll see icons signifying the difficulty level (gears) and the intensity level (drops of sweat).

If you know and love the Wii version, it'll be an easy transition to play the Kinect version. The gameplay and the graphics are virtually identical. A colorful silhouetted figure will dance on the screen and you have to dance the "mirror image" to it. The more accurately you dance, the more "stars" you'll earn. At the end of the dance, you'll see your point total and earn "Mojo Points" to unlock new songs, choreography, and playing modes (the first gift is "Jamaican Dance Mashup")

Ubisoft has wisely kept the songs and the choreography identical across the platforms, which means you can learn the dances on a Wii and know the routines inside and out when visiting a friend with an Xbox (and presumably with a PS3, once that version is finally released).

There are two important distinctions from the Wii version: first, you're not holding a remote in your hands so you have complete freedom of movement. Second, you see a little postage-sized silhouette of yourself in the upper left-hand corner which lets you easily compare how well you're performing the dance with the on-screen silhouette. Both of these things are definitely an improvement over the Wii.

One thing that is decidedly not an improvement over the Wii version is multiplayer mode. It says that up to four players can play together, but all four players have to squeeze together in a staggered pattern to fit within the Kinect camera range, and players are so tight that you invariably end up hitting and bumping into each other. The way the system tries to automatically detect players can be spotty as well. Before the song, each player has to stand in front of the silhouette whose moves they want to follow and follow it throughout the dance routine. I found that it can take several tries before getting it right, but once you get it right it's a lot of fun, especially if you have four players (You can see from the song selection icon whether the choreography is designed for one, two, or four dancers).

Before each song you can choose a "difficulty level" by raising your hand. You can choose between "Easy" and "Normal". The "Easy" setting icon shows a person whose torso is highlighted but whose lower body is white; presumably this was added to the Kinect version because some folks' Kinects (like mine) are set up in a small room where there's not enough space to capture the whole body. But to be honest, I tried dancing to the same songs on both settings and I really didn't notice a difference between either.

The motion tracking seems to be spot on, if a little lenient. The first time I danced to "California Gurls", I easily got 10,295 points and 5 stars. I started to think pretty highly of myself until I noticed that for practically every song I tried (even ones I never tried before), I'd get 4 or 5 stars. As an experiment, I tried just standing still and flailing my arms up and down through the whole song, and I still ended up getting 3,613 points and one star. I think Ubisoft learned from their experience with the original Just Dance that it's better to be a little more lenient in scoring than to be overly harsh. Some people (particularly kids or newbies dancing in a party setting) will welcome this, while others may be a little annoyed that there's not much of a challenge in racking up a high score. As for me, I've learned to ignore the score and just enjoy the game on its own merits.

The best way to sum how up Just Dance 3 deals with motion detection is that it seems that the greatest emphasis (as with the Wii version) is placed on arm movements and general body movements, more so than precise detection of where your hands and feet are at any given time.

This is probably a good way to describe the difference between Just Dance and Dance Central. Dance Central definitely is a superior title if you're looking for a much higher degree of precision or something approaching "detailed dance instruction". On the other hand, Just Dance 3 is arguably the better title if you just want to hang out with friends and have a fun time. And this is just personal preference, but I much prefer the simplicity of Just Dance's silhouetted characters over the overly stylized hipster doofus characters in Dance Central.

The other options under "Dance" include "Playlists", which lets you choose from similar types of songs grouped together (e.g. oldies, songs that make you sweat, duets, etc.); "Specials", which lets you play unlocked play modes; and "Sweat", which lets you activate "Sweat Mode" and accumulate "Sweat Points" with every song you play. Just as in the Wii version, about 4.2 sweat points = 1 calorie burned. As you hit milestones, the system will offer encouraging comments (after 1000 sweat points, it'll tell you that you just exercised the equivalent of walking across Central Park).

The "Just Create" menu is unique to the Kinect, and it is where Just Dance 3 for Kinect really shines. In it, you can record your own choreography. You can select "Coach Me", where you can create your choreography based on the existing Just Dance 3 choreography (the dancers will be dancing the standard routine behind you as you record your movements in front), or "Freestyle", where there are no background dancers and you just create your choreography from scratch. There's also "Dance Off" mode, where you'll dance most of the song to the pre-set choreography, but be able to go off and freestyle during specific parts in the song. In all these modes, you appear on screen as a grainy silhouetted figure yourself, not exactly the same as the usual on-screen characters, but close enough.

After you create your dance moves, you or your friends can play them just like any other Just Dance song, complete with scoring (not as accurate as the pre-set choreography, but you'll have so much fun you won't care). You can even share your original creation with the world in the online "Gallery", or play other peoples' creations. While no doubt there are some dancers who will use this to create intricate and professionally choreographed dance routines, I get the sense most people will use it to just goof around and have a lot of fun with friends to see who can come up with the silliest moves. The good news is, it works well for both.

Under Extras, you can view Credits, enter an Unlock Code (presumably a future feature that Ubisoft will use for promotional purposes), select a Hard Drive "for loading and saving your progression", and turn on/off Pictograms, Lyrics, How to Play Tips, Short Dance, or Short Create.

Under Shop, there are only three choices as of this writing: Fame by Irene Cara, Heart of Glass by Blondie, and U Can't Touch this by MC Hammer (these were songs that were available on the original Just Dance for the Wii; I assume over time they will port all of those over eventually).

You may notice that I give the game 5 stars for "fun" but overall 4 stars. And this is mainly because of Ubisoft's very poor execution of the Kinect user interface, which seems like a trivial point but really impacts the overall enjoyment of this title.

The first indication of a problem was when I was selecting the list of songs. It was painful to try to choose one. There's a very long list of songs to scroll through, and you have no control over the scroll speed. You just lift your arm to scroll up and lower your arm to scroll down. When you find the song you want, it takes several tries before you can pinpoint the one you want, and then you have to keep completely still to select and "swipe" it in a very precise way. The controls are so hypersensitive that the slightest body movement in the wrong way and you need to start over, which can get very annoying. This could have been executed much, much better.

The hypersensitivity of the controls is a problem throughout the menu selection process. Here is a true story: I played a few songs before sitting down to write this review in front of the TV. I then looked up at the screen and saw a purchase of downloadable content had been made. What happened was, the Kinect continued to track my body movements and had, completely on its own, selected "Shop" > "You Can't Touch This" > "Buy It", and then checked out (deducting 240 Microsoft Points from my account) all without me realizing it! So the poor execution of Just Dance 3's user interface ended up costing me in a very real sense. The irony is, while the system is horrifically hypersensitive on screens like the home screen, in other parts of the program you have to swipe and swipe at a menu option before it'll let you select anything.

At the end of the day, I turned on my Xbox Controller and stopped trying to use the Kinect to navigate the menus. That made things a thousand times better.

Poor execution of the Kinect user interface notwithstanding, Just Dance 3 is overall an extremely enjoyable game. If you're more of a dancing purist, I would hold off and see what Dance Central 2 has to offer. On the other hand, if your goal is to just have fun and get exercise, I think Just Dance 3 definitely rates just as high or higher than Dance Central on these fronts with its easy-to-master dance moves and its whimsical sense of humor and fun graphics. And the Just Create mode, unique to the Kinect for now (time will tell if and how well they incorporate it into the PS3 version) is worth the price of admission--it really expands the fun you can have with the game and ensures that it'll be one you play with friends over and over again.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

After its hugely successful predecessors, the third installment of the JUST DANCE series has arrived and this time it is also available for both the Xbox and the PS3 (you can thank UBISOFT being in financial trouble due to the overzealous DRM scheme they use in their PC releases). Anyway, JD3 comes with tons of fun and it will make you sweat while having it. If you are or feeling young, if you want to get your kids out of the couch or if you want to burn calories yourself, this is the game for you.

A MODE FOR EVERYONE

On top of the good old Classic Mode, fans of the series will be able to enjoy their favorite exergame in numerous different ways.

Duet Mode & Simon Says: Duet and group dances as well as the dance version of Simon Says make JD3 a good idea for parties and sleepovers. If, like me, you are over 35, this also offers the opportunity for numerous very humiliating experiences with your young ones.

Medley, Non-Stop Shuffle & Just Sweat: Very good for getting your heart rate up and keeping it in the aerobic range for as long as you can handle it, without interruptions. If you are really pumped, try giving the Dance Til Dawn Mode a try. unfortunately there is still no calculations for calories burned.

Just Create: a mode that is not available for the Wii. It allows the player to create his or her own dancing moves, save them and either repeat them or have his friends try to match them.

INCENTIVES

But the game is all carrot, no stick. The better you match the song's moves (and the Kinect here is veeery forgiving!), the more points you accumulate. mention getting the background to animate!). Increasing your points first allows you to animate the background and it also increases your mojo. And the more mojo you `ve got, the more dancing modes and songs become available to you.

IMPROVEMENTS

Graphics received a boost, in both details and backgrounds. You prefer singing to dancing? No problem, JD3 comes with all the lyrics showing on the screen for you to accompany your favorite group or singer (no, no points for turning this dancing game into a karaoke but who cares, right?).

NEW SONGS

If truth be told at first glance I liked the song collection of JD2 better. However, I think this will keep happening with every new installment of the series. These games just grow on you. You are having so much fun that the new songs will simply become as dear to you as your old favorites. Give it time.

So, yes, the song list may not contain the latest hits but it has some very uplifting dance songs and your list can be enriched online (although not cheaply).

This is the COMPLETE LIST of the songs contained in the game, alphabetically:

1. 2 Unlimited: No Limit

2. A-Ha: Take On Me

3. Anja: Dance All Nite

4. Aretha Franklin: Think

5. Bananarama: Venus

6. Black Eyed Peas: Pump It

7. Bollywood Dream: Kurio ko Uddah le Jana

8. Cee Lo Green: Forget You

9. Countdown Mix Masters: Beautiful Liar

10.Daft Punk: Da Funk

11.Danny Elfman: This is Halloween

12.Donna Summer: I Feel Love

13.Dr. Creole: Baby Zouk

14.Duck Sauce: Barbra Streisand

15.Girls Aloud: Jump (For My Love)

16.Groove Century: Boogie Wonderland

17.Gwen Stefani: What You Waiting For

18.Inspector Marceau: The Master Blaster

19.Janelle Monae: Tightrope (Solo Version)

20.Jessie J featuring B.o.B: Price Tag

21.Brahms by Just Dance Classical Orchestra: Hungarian Dance No.5

22.Katy Perry: E.T (BONUS only in the Special edition)

23.Katy Perry: Teenage Dream (BONUS only in the Special edition)

24.Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg: California Gurls

25.Kiss: I Was Made For Lovin' You

26.Konshens: Jamaican Dance

27.African Ladies: Pata Pata

28.Latino Sunset: Mamasita

29.Laura Bell Bundy: Giddy On Up (Giddy On Out)

30.Lena Meyer-Landrut: Satellite

31.Lenny Kravitz: Are You Gonna Go My Way

32.LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock: Party Rock Anthem

33.Madness: Night Boat To Cairo

34.MIKA: Lollipop

35.Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland: Promiscuous 832. Pointer Sisters: I'm So Excited

36.Pointer Sisters: I'm So Excited

37.Queen: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

38.Reggaeton Explosion: Boom

39.Rita Mitsouko: Marcia Baila

40.Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman: Somethin' Stupid

41.Robin Sparkles: Let's Go To The Mall

42.Scissor Sisters: I Don't Feel Like Dancin'

43.Sentai Express: Spectronizer

44.Sweat Invaders: Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)

45.Taio Cruz: Dynamite

46.The Buggles: Video Killed The Radio Star

47.The Chemical Brothers: Hey Boy Hey Girl

48.The Girly Team: Baby One More Time

49.The Sugarhill Gang: Apache (Jump On It)

50.Tommy Sparks: She's Got Me Dancing

51.Wilson Pickett: Land of 1000 Dances

Notice that the two extra bonus tracks by Kate Perry are only included with the Special edition. On top of that, more songs will become available online. Some of them may be free but expect most to be sold for...240 MS-Points each. So far three songs are offered online:

52.Blondie: Heart of Glass

53.Irene Cara: Fame

54.MC Hammer: U Can't Touch This

The Xbox-360 offers better graphics than the Wii, however the application of Kinect is a mixed blessing. One one hand, one does not have to hold the remote, since the camera takes care of finding you, and there is an extra mode. On the other, this also comes with the known restrictions of said camera: its range is not very wide and it requires the player to be at least 6ft/2m from the Kinect sensor. Not a problem when doing aerobics but dancing is quite another thing. I tried them both, and found that, for this exergame, the Wii to have a slight edge.

Overall, JD3 is a great game for the young of all ages.

RECOMMENDED!

Best Deals for Just Dance 3 - Xbox 360

There isn't a dance game around that has had the success of the Just Dance brand. Selling over five million copies worldwide, Just Dance 2 was a dance game juggernaut on the Wii. This time, the party has returned bigger and better than ever with Just Dance 3. And this time, the party is on the Kinect for Xbox 360.

No review of Just Dance 3 would feel correct without mentioning the other giant Kinect dance title, Dance Central. Once Dance Central 2 comes out, I will do a review of the game and then do another separate article comparing the two games. Do they compete or is there room enough for both? We'll soon see.

For now, my immediate thoughts on Just Dance 3 are about a game trying to make itself accessible to a larger crowd. The playlist (found here) represents a variety of songs from various generations, genres, and ethnicity. There are no opportunities to slow things down and learn each step. The idea of Just Dance is simple, just dance.

Those familiar with Kinect's other major dancing game will feel right at home here. As soon as the game starts, move your hands up and down to find the right menu, and swipe to select. Here is where I have to give Just Dance 3 some worthy credit, because there is a lot of content to play around with.

The first mode that will draw your attention is the Just Dance mode. Hop in, pick a song, and you are off. Instead of a menu of options, everything is decided on stage. Before you start the dance, you set the difficulty and number of players. Raise your hand to pick from easy or hard. If you have multiple players, have them stand side-by-side or by staggering, where they will all show in the feedback panel.

The difference between easy and hard modes is how the Kinect tracks you. For just upper body tracking, pick easy. This is a good way to ease in players coming from the Wii version. It is also a good mode for players that don't want to jump or spin. For full body tracking, pick hard. The tracking is where I have a small problem with the game. There is nothing to tell you what you are doing wrong or right. You are given a "X", an "OK", a "good", or a "perfect". This can be a bit frustrating when trying for high scores or to earn certain achievements.

Speaking of tracking, the tracking in Just Dance 3 seems very well done. If your living room allows for it, you can have up to four people dancing and tracked at the same time. I was able to cram myself and both kids into the routine and I scored just as well as when playing solo. For added fun, Just Dance has brought back Duets and added a Dance Crew for several songs. Duets is where two players can do complementary dances during the song. Dance Crew is similar, but for four people and usually involves an orchestrated performance. For those solo artists out there, don't fret. You can still have your own one-person party by selecting whichever Dance Crew coach to follow and then square dance the night away with your invincible friends.

The routines of Just Dance 3 are what separates it from most dance games. You will either love them or hate them. You will either let loose and have fun or you will dismiss them as being a bit too corny. If you are fine with dancing as a cheerleader to Britney or acting like Mr. Pumpkin man in a Halloween themed song, you'll be fine here. As I said earlier, the main thrust of Just Dance games is accessibility. Nothing says accessibility like swinging a lasso or playing a virtual guitar. Everything is done in fun and is choreographed perfectly with the music. The dances are easy to learn and follow. Instead of the choreography changing to reflect the difficulty level, the difficulty level is set by how the game tracks you (upper versus entire body).

Each song is scored on a five-star scale. Higher points are awarded to "perfect" moves and even more points are given to players hitting several perfect moves in a row, which is also called being "on fire". There are extra points available in the song through Gold Moves and Shout Outs. Gold Moves are specially highlighted moves during the song, which are an added bonus to the score. Shout Outs are specially selected portions of the lyrics, which are sung for even more points. Earning more stars after each song will fill up the Mojo Bar, which is a currency used to unlock items in the game.

There are several nice unlocks in the game, either through the Mojo Bar or by uPlay. The Mojo Bar is simply filled up by dancing. uPlay points are earned through special feats and can be used to buy anything from Ubisoft game themes for your Xbox Dashboard to in-game unlocks. The game specific selection for uPlay is about four items, while the unlocks from the Mojo Bar are many. Just in my first time playing, I unlocked special modes and new choreography for current songs. For instance, instead of rocking out to one song, I was taken to a gym to do aerobics. This is a very nice way to keep things fresh in the game.

Just Dance 3 features downloadable songs, with three available at launch. What is nice about these songs is the ability to demo them before purchasing them. At 240 points a piece, they can get a bit pricey, even though they are pretty fun. Hopefully we will see the store exclusive songs that were made for Best Buy and Target. I'm also hoping Ubisoft follows the pattern of Just Dance 2 and makes a couple of songs free down the road.

Now for my favorite, the Just Sweat mode. Essentially, this is a switch that is turned on and follows you around whatever you are doing. Everything you do is given a `Sweat Points' score. The more you dance, the more points you earn. The points rack up pretty fast and I don't think they can be associated with calories. They do give you an idea of intensity though. An added touch to the last game is various summaries of your progress. For instance, when I earned 1,000 Sweat Points, I was told this was the same as a brisk walk across Central Park.

The best thing to do while in Sweat Mode is to use the set play lists. Unfortunately, you can't create your own play lists, but there are many to choose from. My personal favorite is the Non-Stop Shuffle and Speed Shuffle. Each of these is a non-interrupted cycle of songs in the game. I wish there was a way to skip the slow songs, which I'm not really sure why they are included in the game anyhow. The difference between Non-Stop and Speed Shuffle is the length of the song. Just like in the regular song mode, you can pick to dance to a minute and a half or to the full song.

One of the last features, which is very unique to the Kinect, is the Just Create mode. Here you are given the chance to create your own routine and challenge friends to it. You are actually recording an image very similar to Ubisoft's other Kinect games, such as Michael Jackson: The Experience (reviewed here). The dance can then be saved to your Xbox for challenging others later. Or, you can upload your video to Just Dance Planet and have it ranked and downloaded for more competition.

Speaking of competition, any song that you are about to play, that has been played by one of your friends, will show the current high score and the person with that score. This keeps the game fresh and competition heated, but a leaderboard would have been even more appreciated. Perhaps some kind of stat tracking will show up on Just Dance Planet at a later date.

The presentation of Just Dance 3 is fairly solid with nice visuals and most music being song by the original artist. My only complaint about the visuals is how similar the Xbox version is to the Wii version. Not that this is a bad thing, considering how vibrant most of the visuals are with a changing background. There just seems to be that extra level of polish missing. This by no means subtracts from the fun or usability of the game, but I can't help to wonder why the two versions look and act so similar.

In reviewing games, I look at the five f's: fitness, fun, functionality, family, and firsts. As far as fitness, you can definitely expect to see some motivational stories come out of this. Just look at what this woman and this woman did with Dance Central. Now you have Just Dance 3`s approachable dance game, added with a non-stop playlist, and you have yourself a fitness masterpiece. What will produce those future success stories is the amount of fun Just Dance gives you. There are a large number of songs with a wide variety to choose from, with each being easy to learn. The functionality is spot-on. Occasionally I had an issue where the game thought I slid, when I meant to raise, but that is pretty minor. I wish there was a feedback on my dance performance to tell me what parts I'm missing or how. As for being a family game, everything is edited for proper language. If you are fine with the occasional Britney or B.o.B song in your house, there shouldn't be a problem here. Younger kids can play along with joy, but may have trouble navigating the menus by themselves. And, as for firsts, this is the first dancing game to allow up to four people dancing at one time. This is also the first dancing game that allows you to upload videos and use them as challenges for other people to follow.

In summary, Just Dance 3 is an extremely fun and accessible dance game that anyone can enjoy. There is a huge variety of music and styles to dance to, so this may not appeal to someone looking to perfect their club dance moves. This is a pick up and play type of game, with a lot of variety and content. People playing by themselves or in a party will find something to enjoy here. The bottom line is, if you own a Kinect and you like to have fun, you should definitely pick up Just Dance 3.

Honest reviews on Just Dance 3 - Xbox 360

I originally set out to purchase the Zumba Fitness game because a friend of mine lost weight playing it. I wanted a game that would give me a workout to burn some extra calories. In my search for videos of Zumba Fitness gameplay, I came across videos of people playing Just Dance 3. The game looked so much fun, so I bought it instead. I do not regret it. The songs come from several different decades and different styles of music, which I'm very happy about because sometimes it gets old dancing to the same style of music over and over again (like on other dance games). The dances are also different styles. It has hip hop, pop, Bollywood, African, 80's style, disco, jazz, etc. It even has a Halloween-like dance to the song This Is Halloween from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. I also bought Dance Central 2, but I find it boring compared to Just Dance 3 and the Dance Central characters make me cringe. Just Dance 3 has better characters. They are real people put through a filter to make them almost psychedelic looking and are very entertaining. The characters have more variety in clothing/costume style and also are in costume for each song (for example: the Apache (Jump On It) dancer is dressed like an Apache). I had never danced a day in my life and was very uncoordinated, and I realized just how uncoordinated I actually was when I first played the game. It seemed so hard, but just after playing that day and the next, I already noticed I was getting better. Since I've had it, I already notice a big difference in my coordination and I actually have some rhythm and can dance better now. It has different difficulty settings if you're not feeling comfortable at first. You can put it on easy where it's only tracking your arm and top half movement, or you can put it on easy where it's tracking only your leg movement, and so on. Besides just general dancing, it also has other modes you can play. You can choreograph your own routines and dance to them as well as other choreographed routines. One mode can record yourself dancing next to one of the dancers on the screen and play it back for you to see what you were doing wrong in comparison. You can play Simon Says. During Simon Says, you do one of the normal dances, but every once in a while a random command will pop up telling you to jump, twirl, stop, etc. and you have to do it just like in the regular game Simon Says. There is also a Sweat Mode to get you sweating (even though the regular dancing gets me sweating). Every time you dance you earn Mojo points. These points unlock more dances and games (like the Simon Says game). Some of the dances that are unlocked are new and some are mixes of the old dances, which are very fun to do. There are many different songs/dances on this game, but you can also buy more individual songs later from the XBox marketplace if you get bored of these routines. I don't exercise much because I get so bored with it, but this game is so much fun that I find myself dancing for hours and still don't want to stop. It definitely gets my heart rate going and makes me drink more water and burn calories as well as getting toned muscles. One more plus, this game is multi-player so you can have partner dancing or group dancing (up to 4 people). You can even do the group dances alone. You just pick which dancer you want to mimic and follow their movements and the Kinect will track you. If Just Dance comes out with more games for the Kinect I will definitely buy them. I really love this game, and that's coming from someone who thought dance games were dorky. I didn't think I would ever play one, let alone buy one and love it.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Just Dance 3 - Xbox 360

I really love the look of this game and the music. The problem is that it is very difficult to learn. Dance Central has "Break it Down" mode which makes it playable even for uncoordinated people like me. If there was a way to slow down or learn the moves in a different mode this game would get 4 or 5 stars. But, otherwise the moves are too fast and complicated for me. :(

eForCity Premium Gold Plated High Speed HDMI Cable Type A to Type C Review

Customer Ratings:

it's cheap and it work just as well as the expensive ones. Don't waste your money on monster cables and the like.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Exactly what I needed to hook up my android tablet to the TV. Works great and nice length. Came in very handy on a recent trip.

Best Deals for eForCity Premium Gold Plated High Speed HDMI Cable Type A to Type C

WORKS GREAT ... Still Guessing it's gonna work... But I still haven't got it...!!! Hopefully it works on my New PS3 :)

Review of Rome: Total War - PC

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $6.49
Today's Bonus: 87% Off

I've been following this series since I started playing Medieval Total War, and Rome is a beautiful sequel. I bought this for my dad, and he can't stop playing. It appeals to fans of the Civilizations series (like my father), as well as fans of Age of Empire's real-time battle sequences. Like Medieval, it's really two games in one, except with significant improvements over its predecessor. What's great is that if I'm not in the mood to fight lengthy battles, the option exists to autocalculate them but you won't get to lead the troops the way you want.

When I first started playing Medieval Total War, there was a steep learning curve to understand how to win real-time battles against larger forces. Some of what I learned in Medieval I've been able to translate over to Rome, so I can imagine anyone trying the game the first couple times might have some difficulty getting the hang of the battle sequences. Start with easy battles where you outnumber your opponents, and learn which units oppose which the best (horses against archers, spearman against horses, etc). Use Pause as much as you need. Eventually you'll recognize the strategy involved with flanking your opponent, hiding your cavalry in forests, and positioning archers behind a protective wall of infantry on a hilltop. If you suddenly charge an enemy from behind them, they will panic! If a general dies in battle, the troops will be demoralized! And if you destroy a building, or worse lose an heir, that will be reflected in the main game.

The reverse is also true. What units you build in the main game and where you position them on the map will directly control how the real-time battles will look when they begin. It's that kind of realism that makes this game truly dynamic and fun.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I remember playing civilization for the first time. I started playing friday evening, and only stopped when I could hear the birds outside on saturday morning.

RTW is the same deal. You get drawn in totally to the world of strategy and compelling gameplay. There are differences of course. The main one is the added realism... better graphics, and it doesn't look like RTW cheats (Civilization did). In fact, the graphics engine was used in a recent TV program on BBC3 (a BBC channel, aired in the UK), where a team of tv personalities re-enacted famous historical battles in real time via a virtual simulation that was provided by a networked version of this game!

I have all the graphic settings up to max and it works a treat on my Radeon 9800 pro, 1 gig or RAM and an XP2800. In fact, the final game works better than the demo (in terms of performance and less bugs), although, admittedly I still see crashes to desktop once every 10 or so hours of play. In most games, this would be unforgivable, but I haven't docked any points because it always seems to crash immediately after auto saving, so just re-loading the game and hitting the Continue Campaign option seems to put me back where I was.

One of the defining factors of a good strategy game is that it gets more difficult the more successful you become not because you get to harder levels, but simply because being successful means you have to work harder to keep your conquests, and this game gets this perfectly. You start off with a few cities, but as your empire grows, you not only have to deal with enemy armies, but also keeeping your own people loyal (through either loyalty by keepin them happy, or by fear via large garrisons in every town). You also start to find your armies stretched, and cities well away from your capital become particulalry prone to attack from rebels. Being a good general on the battlefield is only part of winning this game.

The game also has a twist about half way through, where something unexpected happens within the Roman Empire (well, it was for me, perhaps I just didn't pay enough attention in history class!), and its something that totally turns the game.

You also get non-roman civilizations unlocked if you complete the Roman campaign, something that adds to the longevity.

A (very) minor niggle is some of the voice acting and scripting, which seems to be produced by the same casting people that produced some of the over-the-top Hollywood dialogue from the 1950/1960 era... the ham-it-up spirit of Tony Curtis lives on!

If you are a fan of the previous total war games, you really need to play on hard medium is just too easy, particulalry because on that level, the enemy doesnt seem to mind getting too close to your castle walls and just sits there and gets decimated by arrows. Previous fans of TW will also really appreciate the better modelling of castles, which are now more realistic. The battlements now work (you can place soldiers on them), and to storm an enemy stronghold, you have to either scale the walls, batter the gate down, or simply demolish the walls. Sea battles are still not modelled in real time, although the reasoning for this is probably so they have something for the next game (or expansion) because everything else is modelled perfectly, and in detail.

Overall though, its a must have for any strategy fan. There's simply nothing out there to compete in either scope, depth or realism, so I must give it full marks. Oh, and also because its just an addictive, thoughtful, thinking-persons strategy game, with enough graphics and fun-factor to wow the video console kids into playing the game!

S

Best Deals for Rome: Total War - PC

This game is INCREDIBLE!

I am Roman, from Rome, Italy. Classical studies are in my backgroung... this game is a perfect recreation of ancient Rome: its politics and, especially, the way Romans used to conduct war.

You can play the game in tactical and strategic way, deciding to just stick to strategic or to delve into tactical too.

In strategic, you govern cities, move armies, build new structures (as Temples, Academies, Stables, Training Facilities, Arenas), hire and train troops, etc. If you do battle you then decide if you want to go into tactical or just want the fight to be resolved based on the number and kind of troops you have.

In tactical you fight. You will see hundreds of soldiers on the battle field. All in formation, just as the Romans used to fight. You will battle hordes of barbarians, opposite Roman factions, greeks, etc...

What was in history... IS IN THIS GAME.

But most of all...this game is FUN.

Normally games that are too realistic are really boring. This game has it all.

I won't go on and comment too much on graphics, fighting engine, help menu, sound... because it is all so good it all deserves a 10 out of 10 and just one comment: SUPERB!!!

I'll just add a note on Soundtrack: I makes you feel like you were in the first 20 minutes of the movie Gladiator. Incredible.

This is one of the best games I EVER SAW IN PC.

If you are an RTS fan YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS GAME.

Honest reviews on Rome: Total War - PC

I got Rome:Total War [hereafter refered to as rtw] the week it came out, late in september last year. I got home at about eleven, from going somewhere, i don't remember, it's not important. What is important is that i played this game until five in the morning, then woke up at ten to keep playing it. It's that good.

You ought to start out with the Tutorial Campaign, which teaches you the basics of the campaign map and fighting battles. The graphics for the campaign map and battles are superb, really.

Well, before I continue, I should explain more about the system. Players start on the Campaign map, where you control cites and provinces, and can build buildings, recruit units, set tax rates, attack and conquer armies and provinces. This system is detailed to the point of laberinthine complexity. Fore example, at least ten factors can influence the population growth rate, the annual income, and the happiness, or 'public order' of a city.

You can construct a myriad of buildings in each province, such as walls, to augment the defensive capibilities of the city, Barracks, which allow the recruitment of better troops, and roads, which allow armies and other units to move further along them, and increase trade income.

One has to start out as one of the three available Roman factions: the Julii, the Brutii, and the Scipii. Each of these factions controls different cites, and have different natural enemies. The Julii, for example, will find themselves fighting mostly with the Gauls. These tree factions, or families, are allied with each other, and with a fourth faction, known only as SPQR [senatus populusque Romanus, or the senate and people of Rome], who controlls Rome alone. You'll soon find, however, that they pretty much control your lives, too.

Before I ramble about the Senate, I should explain about family members. Your faction is lead by a pater familias, the male head of your particular family. He has sons, who serve as generals along with him, and get married to have children of their own, and daughters, who can marry other men, who will enter the family, and become generals as well. You can also reward a valourous captain [the commander of an army when it is not lead by a general] with membership in your family, and bribe foreign generals with diplomats to join your family.

The Senate is extremely well integrated into the game. Most prominatley, they assign you missions, such as to take a province, blockade a port, or achieve some sort of diplomatic goal. But don't dispair: the Senate will give you some sort of perk for doing their bidding, be it denarii [money], an advanced unit, or priority appointment for an office. And, of course, it'll improve your standing with the Senate, but more of that a bit later. Anyway, yes, the Senate also assigns several offices to members of each Roman faction [including their own]. I won't go into details about these offices, except that some are obviously more prestigious than others, and give bonuses to the attributes of the family members who hold them.

Ok, well, anyway, you have a standing with both the Senate, and the People. At the start, your standing with the Senate is rather high, and the average citizen on the street hates your guts. Obeying the Senate improves your standing with them, whilst military conquests, and disobeying the Senate improves your standing with the people. If the Senate starts to dislike you, they'll start making more difficult demands of you, setting stricter time limits, and simply refraning from punishing you if you suceed. If you conquer enough provinces the Senate may demand the suicide of your faction leader, or you will be outlawed. If you refuse, the Senate will outlaw you, and the other families will declare war on you. Your next step is to take Rome, making yourself Imperator [emperor].

All this will take a while, of course. And after you beat the campaign as a Roman, you're allowed to play as many other factions, including barbarians, Greeks, and Egyptians.

Well, yes, this review is long, but I still have to discuss the battles. Whenever one of your armies encounters an enemy army, or attacks a city, you can either have the computer take all factory into consideration and automatically resolve the battle. Or, you can take the more fun option, and fight it yourself. The game goes to the battlefield mode, where the geographical features of the area where the battle's taking place will be taken into consideration. Your general [or captain] will open the battle with a speech to his troops, where he'll highlight such things as the numerical balance of forces, the makeup of each army, and your chances. You'll then be allowed to position your troops.

The battles themselves can go any way. Legionaries throw amor-piercing javelins known as pila before charging and can enter the famous testudo formation, cavalry can form wedges, amd archers can fire flaming arrows. The battlefield physics are great, too, men can be killed by falling stone from damaged walls, men go flying if hit by a cavlary charge or elephants, and men fighting downhill will have significant advantages.

Anyway, the graphics of the whole game are stunning, you'll find yourself hooked in mere hours. This is why I made my two suggestions. Trust me, as a veteran of both other Total War games, rtw is the best yet, graphics aside. Its level of detail is simply amazing, soon you'll find yourself thinking about what the senate'll think of you going out to the movies. Well, maybe not quite that involved, but trust me, you'll be hooked. If you have a good enough computer, this game is an absolute must!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Rome: Total War - PC

Over the years I have played a number of RTS games such as this but RTW has to be the absolute best so far.

The graphics and attention to detail are incredible and the gaming system is outstanding. From the novice to the hardcore gamer, everyone will enjoy this program.

Once of the main things I really like about the game is the ease with which you can be up and playing the game without having to spend countless hours reading a complex game manual and more hours getting "slaughtered" learning to play.

The game includes a very good tutorial scenario that takes you step by step through the game play system. After that, you can be up and succssfully commanding your armies in short order.

To truly and fully enjoy the game does require some practice and getting used to managing your empire, however, the system is not overly complicated and if you don't want to attend to all the mundane details of administering your cities, simply turn on the "automanage" feature and continue with your conquests.

The automanage system does a fair job of keeping your cities running and the local population happy, however, from time to time, it will be necessary to intervene in the administration of some of your cities to get the best results or order them to build specific units. The only thing in this area I think they could have done better or differently is to make it possible to to manually administer cities that do not have a governor. The way it works now is if a city does not have a governor, i.e. one of your royal family members, physically in the city, the city defaults to "automanage" and you cannot order the city to build specific buildings or units, you can only tell the city what focus you want it to work towards, i.e. military growth, cultural growth, financial, etc. Otherwise it's a good AI system.

I couldn't find many negatives with the game or the play system other than some minor shortcomings mentioned in other reviews so overall I give this RTW a well deserved 5-Stars!

On the hardware side, I highly recommend upgrading your video card to get full enjoyment from the game. When I first installed the game, the graphics card in my PC was a 64mb

Ge-Force 420 MX and it was struggling to keep up, so I upgraded to a Radeon 9550 256mb card and the game now runs flawlessly. Having the more powerful card allowed greater resolution in the game and full use of all the special effects and full character/object rendering.

Anyway, enough for now, if you don't already own this game, this is a must have for the strategy and war game buffs. If you want a bloody, mindless, hack and slash game, this is probably not for you although there is plenty of action, death and mayhem for all.

Thanks,

Rick

Buy Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $28.18
Today's Bonus: 6% Off

I found this game to be more fun that any other RPG I've played. While the story doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat, it is interesting and takes many unforseen and amusing turns. The items system is the best thing about this game. It is based off of the use of alchemy, where you create items as Visse using components. Once you have unlocked an item by creating it once, you can make more of them wherever you are using elements which are found across the world. The result is that you are not afraid to use items, which makes the game far more enjoyable. At the same time, money is still important as you need it to buy recipies so you can create armor, accessories, and more expendable items. I suppose the item system makes the game less challenging, but I was too busy having fun to notice.

The battle system is innovative, and still remains simple. You can use a break attack, which delays the enemies turn and can allow you to do critical damage if you keep the enemy broken. You can use a charge attack which increases your skill bar, allowing your team to use powerful special attacks or healing magic. Or you can a skill or item. Simply breaking an enemy is not a path to victory, as bosses will not stay broken for long and will just bash you while you are doing small amounts of damage because you are not using skills. Against normal enemies, they show up in groups so it is rare you can keep them all broken unless they are so weak they die in one or two hits anyway. A combination of breaking, charging, and skills is required to effectively defeat enemies.

A large part of the game is spent playing as Viesse on Eden where there are no battles. However, even this part is surprisingly fun. As Viesse you go around Eden making pacts with Mana spirits to increase your alchemy abilities and to help the people who live there. Her part of the game is primarily character development as you learn about those who live on Eden and what Felt, the other main character, is up against.

The characters are an amusing group of rebels freeing a Kingdom that has been conquered by a foreign empire. The graphics are not amasing, but suit the world very well. The voiceovers add alot to that characters, giving them a great deal of personality. Between the item system and the skill bar systems, I never found myself worried that I'm running low on mana and items deep into the dungeon. Overall, I would describe this game as easy and convenient. It's the kind of game that doesn't challenge you too much, but also doesn't have any of those frustrating moments that usually accompany a more challenging title.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I'm an RPG buff, through and through. I've been playing RPGs ever since Dragon Warrior I and I just love a certain style to my RPGs. I played Atelier Iris 1 and, while the game was enjoyable, it had flaws. It seems that those flaws, all of them, were fully addressed in part 2.

The positives:

if you're an SNES fan this game is right up your alley, as the games feel like they're fresh from that system, just with anime clips throughout.

The music is outstanding. It just gets better and better with time, like a fine wine.

The storyline is a little confusing at first, but as you progress through the game, you'll unravel quite the thread and everything will start to make sense.

Dialogue is hilarious at times. Especially with a certain other character who keeps messing up Felt's name, and even at one point calling him Klein (from Atelier Iris 1).

Felt can actually fight on his own, unlike Klein who was useful for only one thing alchemy. This got you killed, because Klein was the only one who could revive others with items. If he died, your battle was done. In this one, there are revival items that anyone can use, plus ones that Felt OR Viese can use. Much improved.

The bad:

Viese is horrible to use at first. All she does in the beginning of the game is make items for Felt to use during his quest in the opposite world. Though some of her storylines are interesting, it starts to get old. Fortunately, a plot twist will happen which will finally thrust her into the real gameplay, and that's when the game starts to get really interesting.

Either Felt is a pimp or something's wrong with the game direction. Viese seems to think of Felt like a brother who she's attracted to, as sick as that sounds. The other females in the story seem to be attracted to Felt but don't really show it, and Felt is just in the center kinda breezing through with no real bond to any of them.

The map was removed in exchange for a point-and-click interface. You tell them where to go and they go there, and new locations are opened as you progress through the story. I call this a negative because I like free roam, though I understand why they did it; it speeds up the game play significantly.

Do I recommend this game? Absolutely. The best part is that you don't need to have played part 1 to understand part 2, it just gives you a little bit of insight, but part 2 is light years ahead of part 1 in terms of gameplay and graphics.

Best Deals for Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny

Game keeps you thinking all the time about every aspect. Always something to do and remember. Great for number crunchers and people who like long lasting RPGs. 60-70 hours game play when maxed out stats. Great game to come back to.

Honest reviews on Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny

Very enjoyable game.Make your own accesories and synthesize your weapons. Excellant story line.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny

thou this game is cliche its game play more then makes up for it and there are still shocking twist

Discount Pokemon Pinball

Customer Ratings:

This is an excellent pinball game. You get two different tables (red and blue) and a nice variety of targets, lanes, and other special shots.

The small size of the Gameboy screen is compensated for by having the pinball table be twice as high as the screen. The screen automatically moves from one half to the other of the table in order to follow the ball. I found this a little bit confusing at first, but very quickly adapted to it. The tables are designed so that this doesn't really get in the way of gameplay. The ability to "nudge" or shake the table to change where the ball is going is well done; you'll need to build up skill in when and how much to nudge if you want to get good at the game.

I was dubious about the rumble feature, but I found it to be kind of fun you feel many of the bounces that the ball makes with your gameboy buzzing and vibrating in your hand. I didn't find that it distracted me from the game; if you don't like it or aren't in the mood, just remove the battery from the game cartridge.

And, oh, yeah, there's Pokemon in the game! If you don't know anything about Pokemon, don't worry, knowledge of pokemon is not important for playing the game. If you are into Pokemon, during the game you get chances to capture various different ones; over time, you build up a collection of them. You don't really use the collection for anything, but it is fun to keep track of which you do and don't have, and it's exciting when you manage to capture a rare one.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Discount Skinit Rasta Flag Vinyl Skin for 1 Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $11.24
Today's Bonus: 44% Off

Skinit Rasta Flag Vinyl Skin for 1 Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller

easy to apply, looks great..secure adhesive which doesnt intefere with play.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Reviews of Major League Baseball 2K11 - Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

Let me start off by saying that I buy only one video game a year on release day and that is my yearly MLB 2K game. I prefer to wait and read reviews. However, I can't wait to unwrap 2K's baseball bad boy and see whats changed. I'm sorry to say that this year's edition is lacking!

First, the graphics are at times awesome. Stadium detail and environmental factors are wonderful. Spring training looks crisp with large rolling clouds and Florida palms. However, player development, appearances, and signatures come off on the lazy side. Batting stances and pitching deliveries look very similar if not identical to last year. As a devoted fan, I'm offended by this! I want more accurate appearances, tweaks, and signatures. I do not want a "new" $60 roster update. Secondly, The camera angles and fluidity of motion in gameplay is patchy. Sometimes it comes off flawless. However, the next time the camera will sometimes jerk and give unnatural pauses. Its almost like the visuals can't catch up to the gameplay. I have since installed this game to my hard drive and it runs a lot better. This may not be an option for you depending on your drive size. I'd give this a poor overall score of 2 out of 5.

The gameplay is solid. I have found the controls that 2K uses feel more natural and balanced compared to games like The Show. I felt last year's game had issues with analog movement and pitch recognition. This year's game seems to recognize this much better. I've found that holding the analog stick in place after delivering your pitch motion seems to help. I also like that the pitching is more accurate with ball to strike ratio. However, the umpires literally give you no corner strikes. The A.I. on the game will seriously test your patience. You can be up 0-2 on a hitter only to watch him pass on 4 straight pitches on the black. If you have a quick temper, you might want to take a few breathers. The A.I. batters will literally single your pitcher to death sometimes. The fielding controls seem to be fluid but highly sensitive. Its very easy to make simple mistakes by not adjusting your position or timing and release. You also have very little time to nail speedy baserunners. The batting remains mostly unchanged from last year and sufficient. Overall, I would rate the gameplay at a 3.5/5.

The intangibles of the game leave me pretty disappointed. My favorite gameplay is franchise mode and little has been done to improve this feature. Forget accurate waiver, F/A signings, or customization. I don't know who comes up with player contract information, but I have found several errors. For instance, Brian McCann starts a franchise in a walk year. In reality, McCann signed a six year contract in 2007 with a team option for a seventh. It would really awesome if somehow option contracts could make there way into the game. However, I would settle on 2k just getting the basics down first! Secondly, I've had several games where I've hit a homerun only to have the computer scale the wall for a catch. This is fine, but it ends up counting as a homerun and an out. Finally, one of the biggest complaints I have is in instant replay. This might just sound picky but the home plate umpire disappears. At first, I thought this was a glitch. However, every instant replay outside of swing analysis lacks the presence of a home plate umpire. Where does he go? 1.5/5.

I'll continue to play MLB 2K11 and hope for some patches to fix the flaws. However, I don't think they can't patch out all of the "lazy" efforts in the game. My numbers average out to 2.3, but I'm rounding up on the hope that 2K improves the game in the next few weeks. In conclusion, I truely believe if The Show was marketed to Xbox, 2K sports would up their efforts!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I'll give the game four stars, because it is really well-rendered and looks great. The play is also better. The only problems that still carry over from MLB 2K10 are:

1. Batters will still check-swing for no reason.

2. (Not a problem, just not understandable) When the game shows the replay of a hit (like a two-RBI double), it follows the runners rounding the bases instead of a wide shot showing the ball hitting the gap.

3. A problem I'm only encountering in Franchise Mode: the game freezes. That's a problem, especially since it doesn't seem to do it early on in the game. It tends to do it around the seventh or eight inning, when you REALLY don't want to go and play the whole thing over again. Your only recourse at that point is to shut the console down and fire it up again. No, it's not my console. I've checked the boards online and a lot of people are encountering this issue.

I have to add, I've NEVER encountered this problem just doing the Quick Play, although some on the boards say they have.

The pitching is about the same. The batting mechanics are the same. I've noticed, for some reason, if a grounder is hit up the middle and the SS or Second Baseman isn't right there to dive for it, if you try to run at it, he runs in slow motion and it gets by.

It's still fun to play, if you can get past the glitches. And, in my opinion, they're not MAJOR fun-killers.

Best Deals for Major League Baseball 2K11 - Xbox 360

So I picked up this game day-one because I was loving what I had seen from both the demo and multiple blogs/pics/videos. I was so excited to play a full game, and start a franchise. Yeah, once I played the first game, my joy turned to frusteration because the bugs started to show. Lets just get this out of the way now, the game is just OK.

The first problem for me was the way the game presents itself. I really dont know why they found it necessary to change the camera angles, especially in the field. When the ball is hit, I undestand the concepts that they were going for with a Television broadcast, it just doesnt work. The field looks distorted when they go to these views and they just look very poor. When you are controlling the fielders the view is just too close, on pop files is where this is really a problem. Last year, the game used a sky cam that still showed detail and here you go closer and get good detail but very hard to judge fly balls, whether your player is super good or super bad.

The game also is very graphically sound but it costs it in the frame rate category. The frame rate drops and gets really choppy on pop ups, really high foul balls and really high pop ups on the infield especially. The game is looking better but running worse, take your pick but I would rather a game flow better than look prettier.

The mechanics are much of the same and there are some minor changes as far as they go like more customized stances and movements, but overall it just doesnt make the game more playable and thats the biggest problem.

Pitching can be hit and miss and while I appreciate the "non-spot-on" because no matter if you are the best pitcher or the worst, none are spot on every single pitch. I really think that overall the delays that you get when you are watching the motion draws out the game in an unnecessary way. It moves too slow and can really throw off your timing.

Again, this game is OK, its not an improvement over 2k10, which I enjoyed, actually its probably a little worse. When it comes down to it I really feel like the developers had to know that these bugs were here but I guess when you have the rights to something that makes you the sole producer its ok to just put something out because when you own a 360 its your only option should you love baseball..... Like me :-(

Honest reviews on Major League Baseball 2K11 - Xbox 360

As a long-time player and fan of the 2K franchise, I pre-ordered this from Amazon, tore it out of the box, and started playing with my beloved White Sox. As eager as I was to play and as much as I continue to play it, I have to be honest and only rate it a 3 out of 5 stars. Why? Not much change from the previous version. I can't really say that other than the pplayer updates and a few cosmetic changes, that you need to rush out and get this version unless you are a hard core sports gamer. In fact, while the Madden franchise really put a lot of effort behind speedign up game play from 2010 to 2011, I tend to find the game play in MLB 2K11 somewhat slower than in 2K10. It seems to take a much longer time to choose and then deliver the pitch. One improvement I have noticed is that in 2K10 you could pretty easily foul off balls for a while. 2K11 seems to have gotten smarter in this regard and doens't let you do that quite as easily.

That said, you shouldn't be confused and think that it is not a worthwhile game. It surely is and it is the best baseball game out there for the Xbox platform bar none. You will enjoy the game play immensely. It is just not a major upgrade from the previous version--which isn't always bad!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Major League Baseball 2K11 - Xbox 360

If there were ever a game which was truly merely a Roster Update, this is it. I am so disappointed in this game, only because it is

last years, with a different menu.

That said, I so enjoyed 2k10! It was the funnest game I had played since Major League Baseball 2005.

Game Controls:

The controls are logical, and easy to learn.

-Pitching is challenging, but in a balanced way, not too hard, but not a cake walk either.

-Hitting with the right stick is much more interesting than simply pushing a button. Again, challenging, but the right balance between a need for focus, and fun; never frustrating when you get the timing down.

-Fielding is logical as well. Go get the ball with the left stick, and throw to the right base with the buttons. My complaint here, is the landing spot indicator is smaller in 2k11, than in 2k10, and until you learn it, it is Very difficult to pick up where the ball will land. Frustrating at first. An un necessary change.

-Base running is so much easier than on MLB The Show! The left trigger, or right bumper advances one, or all runners. An easy, well thought out system! The hard part? if you're on defense, throwing out a base runner is almost impossible. If you're playing, "Career Mode," and you are the pitcher, your catcher NEVER throws out the base runner. I've played 4 seasons, and have just accepted this as a flaw, that was not fixed from 2k10.

-Graphics are beautifully rendered. Stadiums are realistic, but the fans look like cardboard cutouts. The faces of players are generic as well. Now for me the fun is in the game play, so I don't really care about faces, and fans, but it is just lazy, and cheesy that the programmers didn't take enough pride in their work to make the look of the players better.

-Animations. Lazy, no improvement, and no pride in their work. This franchise has been around for many years. Why an outfielder throws toward third, and the ball goes to second; my player throws to first for a final out, than runs half way into the outfield before turning around to go to the dugout, or I can literally disappear into a wall is to me inexcusable. This game is not cheap. If you want to be taken seriously, like Madden, or "The Show," show some pride. Again, it doesn't take away from the game play, but no improvement in animations in years is just sloppy, and in excusable.

There are literally NO changes in game play, modes, graphics, AI, or animations from last years game. It is a roster upgrade, with a different menu. It is the laziest release I've ever seen in a sports game.

Love or hate the latest releases of Madden's, there are differences, and attempts at trying different functions, such as, "Gameflow." This game doesn't even pretend to be different.

The three changes I've seen.

1) Menus are easier to navigate

2) The throw meter is different. It isn't as good, or exact, but it is different.

3) The location of where the ball will land on pop up's and fly balls is smaller, and frustratingly more difficult to read.

Bottom Line: If you have 2k10, keep it. If not, 2k11 is a worthy game, however, you can get 2k10 for a whole lot cheaper than '11, so you might want to think about that as well.

I hope this was helpful.

Happy gaming!