Best 187 Ride or Die - Xbox Deals

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $9.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

This is honestly one of the best Xbox games I have.This game is like a mix between GTA, Twisted Metal, and Need For Speed.It has the features of GTA (guns,cars,gangs) the cars of Need For Speed (fast,big,auxilary, sport cars, ) and the whole game is like Twisted Metal! The weapons are great too.You get 9mms to Desert Eagles to AK-47s to tons more different kinds of guns.The cars are the best!you get lowriders and hummers and trucks and lots more I haven't unlocked yet!Plus, the missions are very easy, but some took me 3-5 times to beat.The whole game is nonstop racing and shooting.But be aware this game has explicit swearing in it.So, if you like Twisted Metal, GTA, or N.F.S. then get 187 ride or die!

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Just looking gor games before you can't find them anymore, the kids seem to like this on and it was cheap.

Best Deals for 187 Ride or Die - Xbox

I'm so glad that I rented this turkey first instead spending 50 smackers on it. While the graphics are nice they are hardly ground breaking. This didn't hold my attention for more than 15-20 minutes and even then I was looking for an excuse to eject the game from the console. I think ubisoft messed up some where in the gameplay area sure it has elements of twisted metal gta and a few others but that just didn't cut it for me. The controls are the bloody worst thing I've ever had to get used to when trying to drive and shoot at the same time. Better luck next time guys.

House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii Reviews

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $17.98
Today's Bonus: 10% Off

House of the Dead: Overkill is the first new original game in the series for a long time. Gameplay is largely unchanged from its arcade roots, which is good because House of the Dead has always been known as a quality light-gun shooter. It is bloody, gory, violent, profane, and above all, very fun. It has solid multi-player support and even includes some 2-4 player competitive modes.

GAMEPLAY: Gameplay basically consists of pointing the Wii remote at everything that moves on screen and blasting away. It doesn't get simpler than that. Luckily, the game provides a lot of variety despite the simple mechanics. Enjoyable as a one-player game, the game is twice as fun with a second player. The multi-player mini-games are also enjoyable, but the true strength of the game lies in re-playing and trying to beat your high scores. The higher your scores, the more cash you earn. The more cash you earn, the more weapon upgrades you can buy. The better your weapons, the easier it is to get higher scores. It works really well.

GRAPHICS: This game looks good, but there are better looking games on the Wii. Some character models are rougher looking than others and some textures feel really low res. There are times where the dialogue and mouth movements on characters aren't synched up very well, but that's really minor. There are some frame rate issues at times, but overall the game looks great and none of the issues I mentioned get in the way of me enjoying the game.

LEVELS: The levels consist of seven extremely campy and cheesy Grindhouse movie themed missions. Seven levels doesn't sound like a lot, but there's a lot here. When you're done with the regular mode, you can turn on "Extra Mutants" or move on to "Director's Cut" which is basically expanded levels with increased difficulty. Or you can turn on "Dual Weild" and "Director's Cut" at the same time. I've already played many levels at least a half dozen times and it is likely they will be played several more times each.

PRESENTATION: A lot of thought has gone into the presentation of this game. While the game is horror themed, the primary focus of the dialogue is generally funny. The music is amazing. The menu presentations are phenomenally well thought out. The whole game oozes seventies style and spoofs many horror movie and Blaxploitation themes, for good or for bad. This game wallows in the cliches that have persisted in low-budget Hollywood films for decades. It is also probably the most vulgar game on the market that I can think of. One character, an obvious Samuel L. Jackson knockoff, uses the f-bomb like a comma. Talking like that would get you kicked out of even the toughest biker bar. The game developers even realize this and make fun of the excessive swearing. Oh, and something disturbing happens at the end of the last level which is so vile and disgusting I'm still kind of shocked. I honestly think the game should have been rated AO (Adults Only) instead of M (Mature).

This is probably one of the better game purchases I've made. There are a lot of light-gun style games on the Wii, but this one plays better than all the rest. The most comparable competing titles in terms of quality would probably be Link's Crossbow Training, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, or House of the Dead: 2 & 3. The only serious drawback to this game is the absurd amount of profanity and over the top vulgarity. SEGA went a little too far at times, especially near the end of the game. Way too far....

I highly recommend Overkill as a purchase or a rental to open-minded and tolerant adults looking for a thoroughly enjoyable multi-player co-op game. I generally oppose censorship in nearly all of its forms, but I also believe that there is something to be said about exercising self-restraint. If you are easily offended or even moderately offended by profanity and crude humor I have to recommend staying away from this game because it frequently crosses the line of good taste.

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This game is, to date, the best Wii game I've ever played. As a fan of the previous HOTD games, this is the best version for the following reasons:

If you died in the previous II / III you had to start from the beginning, EVERY TIME. This version allows you to save after completing each chapter.

Graphics are great. The 70s cinematic feel. Total 70s-ploitation. Anything cliche off these movies is in this game... gore, 'big guns' and vulgarity.

Of which, the vulgarity is rampant in this game, which I love. I think the gaming industry is completely missing the aged-gamer. I want my games like I want my music and movies... unedited and uncensored. I am so sick of imported anime creatures and doe-eyed fetishes. How much longer can that genre last? aauh! The vulgarity is so overused that its hilarious, to the point it loses its effectiveness as obsenity.

Game play. I like games where it doesn't take every button on the controller to move your character. A previous reviewer called it 'rail' play (or something), which enables you to spend more time killing off zombies.. and the creepy flipping clowns.

Difficulty. Aside from the bosses, game difficulty seems easier than other shooter games.

Co-play. Co-op mode is awesome. My husband and I grab a pitcher of margaritas, our guns and play together. No one has to control the character (Like in Call of Duty), and both people play off the same screen.

I have noticed a minute delay in the gun tracking during bits of game play, nothing that is critical, nor nothing that would cause me to change my rating. Don't confuse it with the slo-mo mode which you get when you shoot a specific icon on the screen.

A big kid game for a big kid gamer. I'm sure it won't take long for some parent to buy this for their tween and freak out. So, if you are considering it for your kid and you're cool with hyper-sexuality, extreme vulgarity and an excessive amount of gore and violence then buy it, if not, DON'T.

Best Deals for House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii

House of the Dead (HOTD) Overkill is the latest in the HOTD series. This game is not made by SEGA, but rather a studio called Headstrong Games. Like other lightgun games, HOTD is a point, click, and watch the splatter affair.

The only strategy you need to know is to aim consistently at the head of a zombie and don't miss.

Graphically, HOTDO is very detailed for a Wii game. Without HD graphics, the visuals are as good as one can expect; however, this amount of detail is suspected in causing the game to freeze, slow down, and even "hang" (where you don't progress anymore because the Wii is trying to load a massive amount of graphics for the next part of the rail), resulting in often times jerky performance.

This jerky performance screws with your accuracy, which ultimately, jerks with your score and your ability to unlock new guns and content.

The sound and music are top-notch, being deliberately bad to reflect the grindhouse presentation of the game. SEGA and Headstrong make no apologies in the massive number of F-Bombs, swearing, incest, and other sleaze, chiefly because HOTDO is a B-rated movie turned into a game (hence the ESRB M-rating). Concerned parents who want their children to live in a fantasy world will have to avoid buying them this game.

The chief problem of HOTDO is its scoring system. While you get more money by beating a high score in a stage, the high score slots will eventually get filled up and you will earn no more money. This is a problem, since the game requires you to earn about $50'000 to buy and upgrade all the weapons to unlock extra art and bonuses. Chances are you will get tired of earning money so slowly and stop playing.

Apart from the money problem, there is little else wrong with HOTDO. If you've played HOTD3 on the Xbox and enjoy other lightgun games like Vampire Night, Time Crisis, Silent Scope, and Elemental Gearbolt, HOTDO ranks well with the top lightgun shooters.

Some tips:

(1) Buy the autoshotgun first. It is probably the only weapon you need to power-up to get the combo hits (read the manual on how) for high scores.

(2) In story mode, keep $10,000 to unlock some extra songs. Once you have, you can spend the money afterwards (the unlocked songs save to your profile).

(3) You can quit after getting a high score (check the stage's high score tables to know the minimum score you need). By quitting early, you get your name on the high score table, some money, and avoid setting insanely high scores you can't beat later (and forever lose out on money).

(4) Money and weapons in story mode and Director's Cut don't carry-over, so you need to earn all that stuff again if you want a complete file.

Honest reviews on House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii

"Are you going to tell me what the (bleeping) G stands for?" Detective Washington

"Nope." Agent G

It's been said 100 times over on reviews, but I can't get over how fun this game is to play. Take your typical grind-house movie, throw in a House of the Dead vibe, and some tunes that Quentin T. wished he could have used on Pulp Fiction (here and there anyway!) and you've got the makings of a laugh-out loud funny game.

I was wondering how far the TV-MA rating would be taken. Rest assured, SEGA leaves no room for doubt...the profanity in the game (rumor has it that it made Guinness for the most profane game ever), the violence, and the somewhat near "was that what I think I saw" Janet Jackson moment definitely does NOT make this a game for the family. It's fun for me, though, when I would like to unwind after a hard day at work and want to do something else besides play Super Mario Galaxy with my 6-year old daughter.

The banter between the straight-up well-tailored G and the foul-mouthed Detective Washington (who sounds like a dead-on Samuel L. Jackson impersonator) is great. G has his foul moments as well which makes it even funnier. The scene with the ice cream truck cracked me up beyond belief where G and Washington are debating music choices.

Another fun moment is when Agent G and Washington find themselves on a little kiddie amusement park ride that moves around like Disney's Snow White through a haunted house...Washington blurts out )after G admits that he's a little scared to be on the ride), "Are you holding my hand?!?" "Yes." "Let go of me (string of expletives)."

The gameplay is great although the frame rate does take a hit here and there if you've got loads of zombies and rapid gunfire. That said, the simulated film scratches and pops actually add to the feel that you're watching a real 35mm movie that occasionally jumps, so it actually adds to the mouth-popping popcorn experience to the whole game. The environment is pretty well done and the variety of gore does take into account where you're hitting the zombies.

Who ever would have guessed that an on-rail shooter game would be this much fun?

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for House of the Dead: Overkill - Nintendo Wii

If you were looking for a more adult oriented Wii game, you've certaintly come to the right place with House of the Dead: Overkill. The game has over the top violence with it's blood and gore effects, and defiantly goes over the top with the language.

First off, if you're easily offended by harsh language, then you may want to steer clear of this game. Literally, like every other word out of one of the character's mouth is F this or MFer that. I know a lot of people will find offense to the amount of F bombs dropped in this game, but for me personally, it didn't bother me. I felt it went right along with the theme of the game.

Graphics wise, it's a very good looking Wii game. The blood and gore effects are awesome, with body parts flying off and blood splattering all over the place. Especially if you use the shotgun. Unfortunetly, the game will constantly take a dip in the frame rate department to try and handle all the effects and graphics on screen. The frame rate drops don't really get in the way of the game, but it does happen enough to make things a wii bit annoying. In my time playing with the game, the frame rate only interfered with the gameplay, where the game would freeze up for a second and then I got hit by an enemy because of it, only once or twice.

The storyline is interesting and makes things really fun. You have Agent G and Isaac Washington hunting down a guy named Papa Ceaser who has somehow unleashed these "mutants" (they wont call them zombies for some reason). Agent G is trying to stop the mutant outbreak, while Isaac is looking for revenge because Papa Ceaser killed his father. They end up hooking up with a stripper (sorry, she never takes her clothes off but does provide plenty of cleavage for the cutscenes) named Varla Guns, whose also looking for revenge of the death of her brother.

I liked how the game's regular story mode doesn't really punish you all that bad for dying in game: if you die, you get to select to continue or not, and if you do, it just hacks your score in half. Which basically means that when playing the normal story mode, you'll be able to blast your way through every level and just have an all around good time shooting mutants, if that's all you want to do. So in that regard, I think the game can appeal to a more casual crowd.

But the game can also appeal to the hardcore crowd too, because once you beat the story mode, you unlock the Director's Cut mode, where it bumps up the difficulty, adds extra mutants, and you're given a limited amount of continues to use. You'll also see extra parts of the level that you didn't get to see in the regular story mode.

By beating the levels and beating your high score, you earn cash that you can spend on buying new weapons and then upgrading the weapons you do have. There's a pistol, a shotgun, an automatic shotgun, an SMG, and an assault riffle. You can upgrade the reload time, the clip size, the power of the weapon and other things like that to make the weapon more effective. Also, while playing the game, you can carry two weapons at a time, and can switch them on the fly while playing.

Basically, if you're looking for a good shooter that is defiantly geared more towards the adult crowd for the Wii, then you've come to the right place. Some people will be offended by all the F bombs, but to me, it just goes right along with the story and the type of game this is. Although the game suffers from some minor technical flaws with the frame rate drops, it's still a real blast to play.

Reviews of Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack - Shroom Boom

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List Price: $9.99
Sale Price: $8.95
Today's Bonus: 10% Off

Shroomboom is a life element character whose main weapon is using his slingshot to shoot mushrooms at his enemies and can also create a shield of mushrooms in a circle around him to protect him if lots of bad guys are all around. Another useful weapon is his ability to slingshot parachute looking mushrooms into the air that float down and attack his enemies from above. His attacks are slow as is he at moving around, but he's a very silly & cute character! Does not work on the original Skylanders Spyro's Adventures game, only works on the Skylanders Giants game. WORKS ON ALL SYSTEMS: Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, & Playstation 3.

HIS BACKGROUND STORY: Shroomboom was most unfortunate to have been born in a pizza topping garden belonging to Kaos. Growing up among his fellow fungi, he knew it was only a matter of time before a late night craving would bring about their demise. So Shroomboom took a twig and a strand of spider web and made a slingshot. One by one, he launched all of his friends over the garden fence before flinging himself over to join them. Then he guided them all to the edge of the island and leapt to freedom, using his mushroom cap to catch a friendly breeze. Now as a member of the Skylanders, Shroomboom continues to perform courageous deeds... but he can be hard to find on pizza night.

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Mt kids love this game, they love all their characters. This one's power is it shoots up into the air

Best Deals for Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack - Shroom Boom

I made the "mistake" of introducing one of my best friends' son to Skylanders for the Xbox. This character was on sale for a fantastic price on Amazon and I snatched it up to add to a couple other ones I've found on sale for him for Christmas. A definite must for all Skylanders junkies!

Honest reviews on Skylanders Giants Single Character Pack - Shroom Boom

Great addition to the growing collection. One more step to completing the collection and we are moving on to the next find and possible purchase!

Cheap Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex - Xbox

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Crash is almost a must-have on the Xbox.

It's fun for everyone in the family (my 7 year old played it without a problem but younger kids may not be able to). It will keep you busy for a while (there are about 25 different levels to fight through, plus 5 "bosses" and you can revisit levels to get more lives or other bonuses). There's almost no learning curve.

It's just plain old fun!

If you liked Fuzion Frenzy, and you don't mind single player games, then you'll like Crash.

Some complain that it's graphics aren't breakthrough but they are certainly sufficient for you to clearly see what is going on.

The only real complaint: I wish there were a 2 player mode.

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First sitting I was worried that i just wasted 50 bucks.The game feels very diffrent than playing Naughty Dog CRASH.The reason it feels strange is cuz this game was developed by Travelr's Tales.Wich means the artistic value is kinda missing, the controls feel a little weird at first, also the camera seems akward...So i was not really enjoying this version of CRASH. But I kept playing and sure enough started to love it (got used to the change)...there are some sweet suprises thrown in. If your a returning crash fan looking for CRASH for the year 2000 get Naughty Dog's new baby ((jak and daxter)) on PS2...But if you just want a new Crash with richer graphics gET THIS GAME.

Or if your someone who has never played crash and have an xbox go and buy it. This is only the FIRST next generation CRASH and I can't wait for more...I think CRASH will still be a cool game for the next 5 years. this game is kinda slow but is really fun at times!...you heard it from Lunar Larry

Best Deals for Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex - Xbox

I've played every Crash game ever made but nothing could prepare me for the dissapointment I felt when I bought this game for the Playstation 2 system. The load times were LONG to the point of really making the game unplayable. Everytime you wanted to change levels you had to wait an ETERNITY for the levels to load up. But I really wanted to play this game so when the XBOX version came out I bought it hoping the load times would be much shorter. And that they were. The load times average about 7 seconds on most levels and once you get past that the game is actually a lot of fun. The graphics got a little touchup, nothing fancy, but the fur coating on Crash really looks cool. I will say that although this game is rated for EVERYONE, it is a very tough game. Younger children might have a hard time with this one, heck I've been playing video games for over 20 years and even I had a hard time finishing this one. Great game but not much new or innovating here. Just your standard Crash on the run game! Good but not outstanding. Definately worth the [] bucks it costs now though.

Honest reviews on Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex - Xbox

The game is average in just about all aspects: graphics, gameplay, and storyline. The game doesn't provide anything over the standard Mario-type-smashing-crates-and-collecting-fruit game, but is still fun, nonetheless, and provides a good amount of play time. Many of the levels are too challenging for younger players. There are some levels where the player "dies" by missing a jump, falling into water, and drowning. I thought the image of the character floating face down in the water wasn't appropriate for younger kids. For the most part, though, it will provide entertainment for all ages.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Crash Bandicoot Wrath of Cortex - Xbox

There are some things in life that just help keep things FUN (albeit frustrating at times). One of those things is a Crash Bandicoot game. I've played the first two offerings for the PSX but have basically stayed away from Crash since then. But my trusty old Xbox needed something new so I decided to give CRASH BANDICOOT: THE WRATH OF CORTEX a try.

Any gamers familiar with the old Crash games will find the controls and graphics as reliable as ever. The formula also is solid (5 stages per level 5 levels in all) giving players the ability to choose where they go in each level. Levels vary from basic platforming to running from charging onslaughts to vehicle levels to underwater levels to battling bosses. Some of the levels are a cake-walk while others will leave you with "rage building!" (I like to throw my controller and utter some favorite words). The most frustrating apect on this new offering (and the only downside) are certain levels that leave the player with tricky camera angles and poor depth perception.

Aside from merely winning a level and getting your gem, Crash allows numerous areas for repeat playing:

1) Find and destroy every crate per stage (harder than you think) to get a BONUS GEM! Collecting all these gems opens up new areas.

2) Getting through certain stages without dying to open up a Death Gauntlet where hidden gems await. These hidden gems will then open up new stages on other levels.

3) TIME TRIAL! Try to conquer a level in record time. The game saves all times and completing all 25 levels this way opens up even more hidden wonders.

All in all, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex will keep any platform gamer happy for days (weeks if you're not very good). It's not the greatest game in the world but it does manage to capture the two key essentials of any good game...

IT LOOKS GOOD AND IT'S FUN!

Cheap Universal PC/Stereo Gaming Headset - Yapster TM-YB100A – Black

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $31.25
Sale Price: $19.99
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

This video shows off the mic quality and the headset's features.

**Update 2/10/2013**

Well, it has been over a year since this review.

The headset itself has held up to lots of use and even drop abuse.

The one thing that I would like to note (which is why I gave it a 4 star in the first place) it is a cheap headset, so the wiring is where they cut corners. The wires themselves are very tiny, and re-soldering is impossible (I found this out when my pet chewed through my first pair.) The second headset I received has had issues after a year of use, the little control box on the wire is put together cheaply and can cause static if the volume level is maxed. The microphone also has a tendency to go out so I have to tug on the wire from the box to get it to work.

However, my brother who still has his original pair has had no issues at all.

**Update 10/22/2013**

I will be needing to replace this headset soon, my mic has gone out (unless I want to try moving the wiring around the control box) and the speakers are starting to develop static when the wire is moved (also mostly around the control box.)

I will say this for the manufacture, removing the control box would be awesome, I use it rarely. Some of my friends that have the same headset use the control box, but only because it's available to them, as most voice communicating software comes with an easy way to mute your microphone.

I consider volume control on a headset worthless, since it's easy to change the audio volume on your computer.

My brother's headset is still working like a champ. (I'm envious.)

They are okay headsets, not stylish, but comfortable and quite affordable.

On another note: I am looking at other headsets or even just headphones and buying a dedicated microphone at the time of writing this update. I may buy another pair of these since they are cheap. However the pair that I got last were not the quality that I had before and I am looking at other options.

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This does not come with a USB hook up. I'm personally happy about that. It frees up my other two USB ports. It comes with a two pronged hook-up, for the microphone port and the headphone port. You can plug in just one or both, depending on your needs.

Just make sure you have a mic and headphones port on your computer, the small round ones. (I don't know the technical term.)

If I just want to listen to music, I can use the headset alone. If I just need the mic, I can unplug the headphone jack from the port and have my computer's sound come through the speakers. The mic still functions.

It's very comfortable, unlike some headphones. I can wear it for hours and forget I have it on. The sound is great, and the microphone seems to work well for my gaming needs.

One tiny negative would be that it encloses your ears completely. So hearing the sounds around you can be somewhat difficult. That can be a positive as well, though, since it blocks out other noises.

Over all, this is a great uncomplicated device. I plugged it in, and it worked!

Best Deals for Universal PC/Stereo Gaming Headset - Yapster TM-YB100A – Black

Yapster TM-YW100A nice sound quality, sensitive mic. I checked mic in Corel Video Studio Pro X2. Recording quality: loud, clear, no white noise. I liked it. Sound is great also! Good enough bass and high frequencies.

Fit exactly for my ears. Feels a little tight, but if you want to unbend it be aware that it is plastic under soft leather so be careful.

Headphones have volume control, mute button. Both work so far flawlessly.

Very nice design. Mid size. Cord 168 cm though not 2.2m as in description, but it's still long enough to not pluck off if you will stand up suddenly. The mic handle is very pliable and long enough for anybody's head. It's about 7.5'' or 19 cm from plastic part of center of connection with headphone to the end of plastic part of microphone. You can bend it on anyway you want. Very handy!Other characteristics:

3.5 mini-jack;

Microphone:

Noise reduction design (however I'd recommend adjust it lower otherwise your breath from nose will be heard);

Omni-directional;

Frequency response: 30 16Khz

Sensitivity: -59 db

Headphones:

Frequency response: 20 20KHz

Sensitivity: 100db

Max power input 50mW

Right price, right size, right headphones with microphone right on, right on!

Update: 6 months later I bought some unbranded VOIP/SKYPE Headset w/Microphone which was cheaper and I regretted it. As old says don't buy to cheap you'll pay twice. It was a step down after Yapster. So, on the second day I ordered from Yapster and received (in couple days) my well known TM-YW100A. It's my second headset (first one was taken from me by my kid) and I still happy with it. Microphone quality is outstanding and so sound quality.

The only thing I'd highly recommend to Yapster Company is to include the Microphone Cover which is noticeably reduce a breath noise.

The rest is awesome!

Long life to Yapster! :-)

I still recommend it very much.

Honest reviews on Universal PC/Stereo Gaming Headset - Yapster TM-YB100A – Black

I've had these for over 4 months now. Like many previous purchasers, I was searching for a headset that suited my budget as much as it would suit my needs. Since then, I've had ample time to run this headset through its paces. And frankly, I must confess that I am stunned by its exemplary performance. Over the past few months I have used the Yapster for everything from Skype & video narration, to watching movies and/or listening to music, to gaming (on both the PC and an Xbox 360), to audio books. Here's how it fared:

Skype: This headset is absolutely brilliant for Skype (and all other VoIP applications I would suspect). In my work, clear and constant communication between all parties is vital. With my previous headset a Logitech Clear Chat voices sounded hollow and distant. With the Yapster, those I conversed with came through clearly but warmly the way human voices should. Not once did I feel the need to ask others to speak up or repeat themselves. I heard and understood them the first time, everytime. And the sensitive microphone performed flawlessly. I have been able to converse with others without ever once raising my voice or repeating myself. For me, this was (and continues to be) a clear advantage. I've not had my voice go hoarse much less lose my voice since I began using the Yapster, despite having spent hours a day in online communications and presentations.

Movies & Music: With a name like "Yapster", I assumed that the headset would only excel at chat and not much more. I was stunned to find that the Yapster was surprisingly stellar with the wide dynamic range found in cinema and music. The low-frequency response was flat-out top-notch, producing deep and impactful bass notes in music, and tightly defined hits in film. The highs were equally impressive. The upper registers of voices were airy and angelic. Cymbals and hats were almost like-like. And even the subtlest background nuances in films came through flawlessly. But perhaps what surprised me most was the presence of a substantial mid range to tie all of that together. Most consumer headphones these days tend to emphasize bass and treble, leaving all the mids behind. This was most certainly not the case with the Yapster. As a result, sweeping orchestral scores actually swept. And as you would imagine, being superb with voices, the Yapster rendered dialog impeccably well with both clarity and warmth. Although these are by no means audiophile-quality, they are in fact quite good! Much better than their price would suggest, and far and away better than comparable headsets I've used. I found myself continually demanding more and more in terms of sound quality and performance, with the Yapster largely continuing to deliver at each and every step.

Gaming (PC & Xbox 360): This is where the Yapster's performance sealed the deal for me as it were. Since gaming requires the ability to handle all of the above simultaneously well (music, effects, dialog, and mic sensitivity), I was a bit doubtful as to whether it could in fact deliver on its promises. Needless to say, the Yapster acquitted itself in sensationally. Crysis 2 took on a much more cinematic scope, and Oblivion came alive as I made a bit more progress in my most recent playthrough. With the help of a simple 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter I had laying around, the Yapster was easily and quickly converted into an Xbox 360 headset. Playing Medal of Honor became an entirely new experience for me. For the first time, the sound of a fellow sniper discharging his weapon near me was frighteningly realistic and scared the daylights out of me as it rightly should. Bravo Yapster, bravo.

Yes, I understand that it is only a $20 headset. But if I'm to be honest, the Yapster has undersold itself severely. Its wealth of features and consistent performance make this an outstanding headset in my book. But its affordable price should make this a truly exceptional headset in anyone's book. I've tried, but I can find no fault with the product whatsoever. And should I ever lose or break the one I have, I would buy the Yapster again in a heartbeat, and without any hesitation.

My only complaint is that it could have been named better. Telling those who ask that I use a "Yapster" does very little to convey an image of maturity or masculinity.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Universal PC/Stereo Gaming Headset - Yapster TM-YB100A – Black

this is a circumaural headset, which means, it captures sound from 360 degrees while playing in a first person shooter pc game. i find the bass very deep for a headset. this affordable headset is excellent. did alot of research to enhance my gaming and spent needless amounts of money to find that "perfect" headset for under $30, and i finally found a "near perfect" one.

PROS:

great bass sound

great surround 3D immersive feel

good quality mic

mic length adjustable

mic on/off switch

volume control

CONS:

headset kinda feels flimsy. don't care, it's cheap.

cord is only 6 feet long, good for me, hate tripping over cord.

earpiece feels kinda tight but comfortable, may irritate ear cartilage with prolonged usage.

overall:

i'm still amazed at the quality of sound this thing produces! when i first put this on and got into a game...i said to myself, "WOW!". the old saying..."you get what you pay for" isn't true at all in this case.

Buy Def Jam Fight for NY

Customer Ratings:

Although I am not a big rap or wrestling fan, I love fighting games. Since I enjoyed Def Jam Vendetta, I figured Def Jam Fight for NY would be worth checking out. It has turned out to be the most entertaining fighting game I have ever played.

The game's single-player storyline revolves around a turf conflict between rival gangs, in which the ownership of clubs and other territory is determined by fights. Over the course of the single-player story, you unlock new fighters and venues which can be selected during other game modes, and develop your character.

The create-a-fighter feature was brilliantly incorporated into the story, and provides a good deal of control over the look of your character. You choose the body type, height, weight, skin tone, head shape, eye shape and color, hair style and color, facial hair style and color, even eyebrow shape and color, and select from one of five fighting styles to start out (kick boxing, street fighting, wrestling, martial arts, submissions).

As you progress through the game, you earn points which can be used to improve your fighter's abilities and learn new moves and up to two additional fighting styles. You also earn money, which can be used to purchase clothing, jewelry, tattoes, and hair styles. The number of choices, which is huge to begin with, increases as you get further through the game. The better dressed you are, the more the crowd favors you, which helps during fights by increasing your "momentum" meter. When this meter is full, you are able to go into "blazin" mode, where you can perform special moves.

Due to the variety of fighting styles and fight modes available, I think this game will appeal to anyone who enjoys fighting games regardless of their style preference. If you prefer martial arts you can create a fighter that uses kick boxing or martial arts (looks like kung fu in the game), if you prefer wrestling you can create a fighter that uses wrestling and submissions. If you just want smack the hell out of people and aren't concerned with style, you can create a fighter that uses street fighting.

Even my fiancee, who doesn't care much for video games, has found it entertaining. She watches the fights, then when it comes time for me to buy new clothing or jewelry for my fighter or choose a new hair style, she helps me choose (I know a bit about fighting, but nothing about hip hop fashion).

Pros:

Intuitive controls

Great create-a-fighter feature

Impressive graphis

Lots of variety (fighters, venues, styles, clothing, fight types, etc.)

Cons:

I figured I should include a pro and cons section so that this review would be balanced, but I've been sitting here for a few minutes and still can't think of anything about the game that I don't like.

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A year after the out-of-the-blue sucess of Def Jam Vendetta, EA Games releases, Def Jam Fight For NY, with similiar results. Def Jam Fight For NY is an excellent wrestling game with tons of replay value, and a cool hip-hop influenced storyline to boot.

Notice how I referred to the game as a "wrestling" game? Unlike the game suggests, Def Jam Fight For NY is predominantly a WRESTLING game. The fighting system is based upon performing grapples and simple strikes, and performing combos and special moves. With so many moves to choose from and unlock, the fighting system is suprisingly deep, but the fights get just a bit repetitive after a while.

Def Jam Fight For NY story mode begins when D-Mob is being taken away by the boys in blue, when suddenly, a mysterious car topples the police cruiser and allows D-Mob to escape. The driver of the mysterious car, as you soon learn, is you, and you then create the appearance of your character using a police composite sketch, a pretty clever way to create your character. D-Mob then asks you to join their force of fighters to try and take over the whole fighting circuit of the city.

There are over 40 Def Jam labelmates appearing as fighters in the game. Snoop Dogg, the Top Dogg (naturally) of the opposing gang, with Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe and many others on his side, while your crew consists of the likes of Method Man, Redman and a few others. As the story progresses and you win fights, you can earn cash to spend on new clothes for your character, supplied by urban name-brands like Sean John, State Property, Joker, Enyce, and Ecko to name a few, new hairstyles for you character, tattoos, shoes, and many other accessories for you character to rock, and of course, there are many others to unlock as you progress through the story.

The story mode is long and deep, with a compelling story complete with story twists, and takes a lengthy 8 hours of play to complete. Of course, once you beat the story mode, you'll be coming back for more. As usual, there are many hip-hop tunes included in the game, courtesy of Def Jam of course, and multiplayer action is also included. Fans of wrestling, wrestling games, or hip-hop would find this game very appealing.

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I love fighting games, but I'm not as skilled with the more popular games, but I found Def Jam Fight for NY to be user friendly on the controls and to have a high level of entertainment factor to it. I was disappointed that the main character you create for yourself couldn't be female, but I did enjoy dressing the guy up for new and different fights and making him 'appeal' to my taste. I guess that's one of the differences for a female playing as opposed to a male, I was worried about how good he looked for each fight.

Anyway, I did beat the game and I really enjoyed the different scnenarios between the various rappers, etc...

Honest reviews on Def Jam Fight for NY

I really like this game. It's extremely entertaining, but I found it extremely difficult. Does this mean you will? Not really, but I sucked at this game. I only write a review for a video game when I beat it, so obviously I did. But, in the beginning it was one of the hardest games I have ever played. First, you create a character which you will use for the rest of Story Mode. Then you begin to fight. You fight for money, respect, women, and to help the story progress. You can also earn Devolopment Points to make you tougher or give you better upper body power. Stuff like that. Then you can go to places to buy clothes, jewelry, get tattoos, and get a haircut. Turning the difficulty to easy is most likely a must and another thing that is really cool is you get to pick your girlfriend. Either,

Lil' Kim or Carmen Electra which is really cool. Also, the last boss which is Crow (voiced by Snoop Dogg) isn't even the hardest guy in the game. I personally found Xzibit to be quite difficult. The fighting styles and techniques and blazing moves were terrific. So, the fun ranks an A+ and it's a terrific game, but if you have ahrd time beating hard games, this game is not for you.

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One of the most addictive games...

I wrote a review on this game under the Xbox title a few days ago (5 stars), and now that I've conquered the Single Player mode and had time to sit back and enjoy other aspects of it, I'm itching to write another review with a little more insight... so I'll review the PS2 version of the title. Hey, it's virtually the same game on both consoles, right?

First and foremost, this game is one of the most addictive games I've ever played. It's missing a few things, which I'll go over later, but the stellar gameplay and character involvement absolves it of its few issues.

The single player campaign is one of the best I've seen. Despite being completely linear (you can't make any choices at all, with the exception of choosing your girlfriend, but I don't believe even that has any real affect on the outcome of the game), it's a pretty interesting story and you find yourself taking a genuine interest in your clan's survival on the street. There were one or two occassions when I desperately wished I had a choice to make because a plot twist ticked me off (it's not a cheap twist or anything, but you're forced to do something that, given the choice, you would likely not do), but it wasn't anything that affected my enjoyment of the game at all. The story is simple, yet interesting.

On top of a good story, there are a TON of customization options. I won't go into the details of buying clothes, gear, jewelry, etc, but rest assured, it's all there and it's done very, VERY well. In fact, the level of customization available for this game is beyond any other console game I've played.

Anyway, this game REALLY shines in 3 major areas of importance: gameplay, graphics, and sound:

GAMEPLAY 10/10

I like fighting games, but I usually find myself getting bored with them after about 5 or 10 hours of play (Soul Calibur II is a good example great game, but got boring). I rented this game for a WEEK, and as soon as the rental period expired, I went out and bought my own copy of it. There are several traits that shoot this game's replay value through the roof. The first one (and most important one) is the fact that there are four very distinct fighting styles. What's truly amazing is that the styles are so different, but the controls don't feel awkward if and when you decide to try a new one with a new character. That's quite a feat to achieve. These different styles all have their distinct advantages and disadvantages, and later on in your character's development, you can pick up two secondary styles in addition to your primary one in order to balance your character out. The second trait is what you can do after beating the game. Obviously, you can go through it all again with a whole new development strategy, or you can play any of the 80 characters in one-on-one, 2 vs. 2, free for alls, etc. I've put around 20 hours into this game so far, and I'm still itching to play it.

The fighting mechanics themselves are first-rate. As I mentioned in my other review, controls will likely feel a bit sluggish for your first few matches. But as soon as you start developing your "speed" attribute, that feeling will quickly fade.

I did find the default difficulty to be a bit too challenging. I knocked it down to "Easy" and it felt pretty good for me. You might find "Medium" or even "Hard" more to your liking, but the point is that you can adequently adjust the CPU's skill level.

GRAPHICS 10/10

Of all of the console games I have played or seen firsthand, Def Jam Fight For NY has the best graphics, hands down. Each of the arenas are visually appealing, and the characters' detail is absolutely amazing. There's not much to say in this department other than "the graphics kick !#$".

SOUND 9.5/10

The sound is almost perfect in this game, and if you can play the game in 5.1 surround, you'll get some serious kick out of your speakers. From the great voice acting to the bone-crunching sounds of limbs grinding and breaking, you can easily tell that sound was a serious priority for this title. The ONLY reason I don't give the sound a 10 is because the music gets old (I'm not a hip-hop fan, so maybe this is just my problem) and you can't load your own custom tracks (only applicable to Xbox, I assume). Seeing as how most EA titles use their branded "EA Game Trax" (or whatever it's called), it's a very strange omission for this title.

CONS

Okay, now for the bad news. Coming up with something negative to say about this game is difficult. It's production values are first class, so I almost feel guitly writing this. But, hopefully, these things will be corrected/added in the next iteration of this series. None of these should be deal-breakers for ANYONE considering this game, but they're things that would only make it better in the future:

Online Play: The game has good multiplayer features to it, but it's all limited to living room game parties. What do you do when your friends go home and your wife won't let you wail on her for a few rounds (by the way, kicking the snot out of Carmen Electra has a very disturbing satisfaction to it)? Being able to jump online with the character that you've created and nutured would be at the top of my list of requests for the next title. Online play should feature online voice chat along with the basic game modes (1 on 1, 2 on 2, free for all, etc).

Custom Tracks: Frankly, there's no excuse for ANY Xbox game omitting this feature. I know this doesn't apply to the PS2, but for Xbox owners, it's a legitimate irritation.

REQUESTS

Okay, now for a few things that would be nice to have next time around, but the game doesn't really suffer without them:

More Styles: I know I'm getting greedy, but pitting these different styles against eachother is a blast. Other games have done it before, but it's always just been a superficial feature. It usually didn't really make much of a difference. In this game, each style has a specific purpose. I can't say what other styles I would like to see, but I say the more the better!

Non-Linear Storyline: I mentioned that the linearity of the story doesn't really pull down the enjoyment of the title, but it can't be argued that being able to make even just a few basic decisions along the way wouldn't be a great touch.

Ground Fighting: This is a minor request, but a little more attention to the ground fighting would be great.

That's pretty much it. If you have the slightest interest in fighting games, you will enjoy this title. Lastly, this game has an "M" rating. Needless to say, it earned every bit of it and then some. Keep it as far from children as possible.

GAEMS G155 Sentry Personal Gaming Environment (Xbox 360/ PS3 Reviews

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List Price: $249.99
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I am deployed and this item is a GOD send. Doesnt require much space ... loud as hell and the t.v best 15 inch i have ever seen !!!

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I managed to get this bit of kit overseas at an American PX. Its amazing. Most of the guys including me had never even heard of such a product, but now we can play Xbox in our down time.

Everything is easily contained in a hard wearing small case, which is really important for military personnel. All the cables neatly pack in either side of the console itself and there is also room for a few games. The screen is bright and clear and the sound is also loud when you want it to be, or has a dual 3.5mm headphone socket for when you don't want it to be.

Using the Xbox also means I/we can use it as a DVD player or use any of the Xbox's USB ports to plug our external HDD's into to watch downloaded films/TV etc.

An amazing product and I can't think of any faults?!

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I bought this unit so I can take my PS3 slim with me when I travel for work. The G155 Sentry reaches above and beyond my expectations. The HD monitor is top notch if you play in front of it. On the angle, it gets a little dark so if you're playing a two player game, it could be a handicap. The sound is what really is amazing. It is so crisp and can pump up to very loud volumes. The console and its wiring fits perfectly and the case itself is well-constructed and looks like it could take a beating. Surprisingly, even with the system in tow, the weight is still pretty light. The style of the case has a really cool logo on it too. Extra bonus is that you can use it as a second TV in your home. My girlfriend can watch Sex and the City for the hundredth time while I pulverize zombies all in the same room, so no more earful complaints that I'm not spending time with her. Success! Love it. Great product. Unbeatable value. A must buy for regular travelers or for those with nagging significant others.

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My husband is in the Marines and he travels and trains a lot. If he's away training or always on the road away from home, PERFECT BUY. Its so inconvenient to check into a hotel that doesn't host video game capability during our numerous stays when we travel. So I got him this and all you need is internet connection if you're playing online. He loves it and now I can have the TV while he enjoys playing PS3. Its clear and very easy to load up. pace for your chords and controllers. This was the best thing Ive brought him. GREAT GIFT! GREAT INVESTMENT.

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This product is amazing and i always use it for travel to play and haven't to use someone's else tv. The sound is awesome, the picture is great (even tho it 1080p which the box claims it 720p) and dual headphone jacks to listen privately.

Best product to recommend

Review of Silent Hill HD Collection - Playstation 3

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List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $17.70
Today's Bonus: 56% Off

"Silent Hill 2" and "Silent Hill 3" are gems of the survival horror genre. These games showed us how smart, creepy, disturbing, and insightful games can be. I really cherish them.

Because of this it's too bad that "Silent Hill HD Collection" is a broken product.

First, there are numerous audio problems. Sound effects pop in and out during gameplay. Lip syncing and sound effects are also often very delayed during cutscenes.

Second is the frame rate issues. Both games are pretty bad, but SH3 is far worse than SH2. Expect the game to look like it's moving in slow motion in environments with more than one monster, that are larger than a closet, have running water, or fog... yes... fog! There was one boss fight in a sewer like place (I won't mention the name of the boss for spoiler reasons) that was moving so slowly that all challenge was removed.

Lastly, are the graphical problems. SH2 looks worse than it did on PS2. This is mostly due to that lack of translucent fog. In SH2 on PS2 the fog became more dense as its distance from you increased until you couldn't see anything past a certain point. Now there is just an almost solid wall of fog that looks horrible. The worst part about it is that you can now see unfinished areas of the game that the fog was meant to cover up. Nothing like seeing water that just disappears after a few feet or a telephone wire that isn't connected to anything. They have also screwed up the contrast of the game. When you set up the brightness you can now do it so the lighting looks good either outdoors or indoors, but not both like the original. This means you'll most likely be dealing with very dark and washed out exteriors.

The very worst example of how much uglier SH2 is now is in the boat section. The water texture is missing completely making it look like you're rowing across foil or something and the lack of the translucent fog mentioned earlier means that the guiding light now looks like a crayon drawing.

There are two pluses to the collection though. The first is that SH3 looks fantastic. SH2 may look terrible, but for the most part SH3 looks great. However, this doesn't matter because the game runs so slow that you'd rather just have the original SD copy. Second, is that most of the new voice actors of SH3 are better than the original. However, Heather's voice is far worse. She is no longer an authentic teenage girl like in the original. Even though the rest of the SH3 cast may sound better, the main character is far less believable and that's the one that really counts.

The new voices for SH2 are all terrible, but there is an option to use the original so that doesn't really matter.

To fix these problems Konami a released a 200+mb 1.1 patch (that's after the inexplicable 4gb install), but it didn't actually fix anything. Even if you reinstall everything after the patch it doesn't do any good.

There is simply NO EXCUSE for releasing PS2 games for the PS3 and have them be plagued with performance issues. Konami and anyone involved in the creation of the HD Collection should be ashamed of themselves.

Such a huge disappointment. If you have yet to experience these games pick them up for the PS2. They're well worth it.

POST PATCH UPDATE:

Months after the retail release of Silent Hill HD Collection there has finally been a patch released that actually addresses most of the issues. Both audio and visual problems as well as the frame rate issues have been corrected. The game now looks and sounds as good as it should have in the first place. There are still a few problems, but I would now highly recommend picking up a copy.

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The Silent Hill HD Collection should have been a love letter to fans, but instead, it turned out to be a technical disaster on many levels. Missing textures and crackling audio was just the tip of the iceberg. What went wrong?

Senior associate producer on the project, Tomm Hulett, has revealed to 1UP that Konami's porting crew had to work off a beta build of the original source code. Apparently, Konami couldn't find the source code belonging to the original gold master. Whoops.

"We got all the source code that Konami had on file -which it turns out wasn't the final release version of the games," noted Hulett.

He added, "So during debug we didn't just have to deal with the expected `porting' bugs, but also had to squash some bugs that the original team obviously removed prior to release, but we'd never seen before."

On top of fixing bugs and other oddities in the pre-release code, the beta build wasn't complete asset-wise, either. Hulett says Konami had to rip textures and sound straight from the original discs and import them in. While it's an unfortunate situation, it's still no excuse for the crippled state the HD Collection was released in, we think. Konami should have bit the bullet and issued a delay, or canned the project altogether.

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Silent Hill has garnered a massive fanbase from lovers of Survival Horror games, and with good reason.

The games are extremely dark and atmospheric, with lots of fog and very little light to get by with.

Strange creatures and bumps in the night can be heard constantly, no matter where you are. Every moment

is fraught with tension. The stories are character-driven, the music is sublime and emotional, yet appropriate,

and the graphics are clean, especially when they're dirty as a bloody mop in a rusted toilet stall.

The reviews are in, and they have been for the last 6-10 years. Silent Hill 2 and 3 are the core of the

Silent Hill experience.

What Konami has given us here is unacceptable. There are lag, framerate and audio loop issues that were

present in the original version of Silent Hill 2. The framerate on the PS3 is actually worse than it

ever was on the PC. My PC could handle it when it came out so there was no framerate issue,

(but there was still that audio loop). I have hardly played either of these two titles and I am already

disgusted at the level of disrespect Konami has for its own titles, as well as its fan base. Cut-scenes are

out of sync with audio by over five to six seconds to the point your mind thinks the game itself has crashed.

I am studying to be a game developer and designer and I am sickened by this business practice of milking a series without

putting in the hard (simple) work of properly coding a title to run on the console. If you can't be sure

you can make it run with old code, get into the code and fix the problem, or better yet, just don't make

any announcements. Come on.

There are three good things about this release. The cover art is very sensual and erotic. There is a beautiful

cover song during their "credits" on the front screen, and the new audio recordings are surprisingly good. The James

character feels very natural and as if he could have done the original voice. But unless these things are just absolute

"must-haves" for a collector, my advice is to just play the old games on the computer at a fraction of the cost

and render them at their highest settings.

Please don't support this product if you are a fan or thinking about becoming a fan. You don't deserve this,

Konami doesn't deserve your money, and Silent Hill itself sure as hell doesn't deserve this treatment.

EDIT: There has been a recent update for Silent Hill Collections and now I fully recommend playing both these amazing games through multiple times! Please enjoy! I take back 90% of what I said, but I still believe Konami owes it to their customers not to release broken products at the time of release.

Extended Edit: I've changed the score at the request of someone who read this review. These games are fantastic--some of the best, the finest of survival horror. Do not miss these games. They will chill you, touch you, or at the very least, take you to another world where you will ponder the nature of your existence.

Honest reviews on Silent Hill HD Collection - Playstation 3

I'm a huge Silent Hill fan so it really hurts to give out one star to this long-awaited HD collection, it just makes me wonder: "What went wrong"? I already finished SH2 and I'm halfway through SH3, I'm actually trying to ignore the stuttering, sound glitches and ridiculously slow frame rate because I just love the early games of the series, but I feel like an idiot standing by this abomination when I can pop up my still working SH3 copy on my still working PS2 and blaze through the same areas where my PS3 is having such difficulties to render, why does it have to run so slow on a more powerful machine, why on Earth does it have to install 4GB's of data and what was that useless patch for? None of my other HD collections install data and they work fine, seriously Konami, you should consider bringing back Team Silent before you can even consider another franchise release, it's a punch in the nuts for all of us fans everytime you release a stinking pile of garbage like this with the Silent Hill brand on it.

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The PS3 version of this game is completely broken.

In the two hours I have played the game I have encountered these issues

* The game struggles to keep a solid framerate. It constantly chugs and freezes for several seconds in a row, I thought the game had froze several times but it was just the awful framerate. This happens on both games.

* The sound is completely broken on both games, audio is constantly out of sync and half the time the audio cues simply do not work.

*The controller often seizes up on Silent Hill 2 and stops working until I let go of the control stick and let it reset. I can not walk in a straight line for more than 10 seconds because of this.

* The Textures constantly flicker and in a few cases failed to load at all.

* Silent Hill 3 has froze on me twice during a cutscene

This is simply unacceptable because they delayed the game several times and still had the gall to release it in a completely broken state. It is obvious that Konami does not care about the fans.

I did some internet research and this seems to be happening to many other people who have this game on PS3.

UPDATE :

March 22nd, 2012.

I downloaded the update and then re-installed the game and I am still experiencing every single issue I originally encountered without the update. The update does not seem to have changed anything at all.

Reviews of PSU ENERGYZER

Customer Ratings:

Some people have had bad things to say about this product; since I'm not there I can't comment on these complaints. However the more I read across the net the more I feel that many of these issues are a result of "not following directions"!

The following information is clearly printed on the back of the box:

PEASE NOTE: The original XBOX360 PSU provides

203w / 12v DC @ 16.5A / 5v DC @ 1A

The PC PSU that you use must be able to provide this much (SUSTAINED) power (AT A MINIMUM) in order for your 360 to boot successfully.

I am a PC tech by trade and have repaired and built (MANY PC's) over the years so I'd like to believe that I know a little bit about this! Just a little info for anyone out there who doesn't know...most PSU only tell you the (PEAK POWER) not the sustained. For this reason you must be careful about the PSU you hook up to your Talismoon "PSU Energyzer", otherwise you are going to have problems!

For the customer who was complaining about his PSU almost melting because of this device, it's not the "PSU Energyzer" it's your PSU that's no good! What this person described is a text book example of what happens when you over load your PSU! To make a long story short try to find out what is the sustained amps & wattage of your PSU.

I personally own one of these PSU Energyzers and have no problems with it. You also don't need to buy and expensive PSU to run this properly, what you DO need is a lot of wattage and most importantly "amps". I bought a cheap $20.00 chiefMax PSU that has 450w of power and 28amps on the 12v rail, this is more than enough power to satisfy the needs of your 360.

I have the old 360 which requires 203w of power and 16.5amps as well as the new revision Falcon which only requires 175w and 14.5amps. The product is GREAT and has saved me much $$$ since a quality replacement PSU for the 360 cost between $60.00 & $100.00. The moral to this story is simple, "read before you just go plugging something up to your expensive hardware, and follow the directions that are given. Doing this will save you much time, money and aggravation!

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Purchased this conversion kit because wanted to get rid of the annoying whining fan noise from the stock 175W power supply.

As previous reviews suggested, please make sure your computer power supply can support the power rating,

Here the power rating from the 175W power brick from XBOX

12V 14.2A

5V 1A

Please check the sticker on your computer power supply before you plug into your xbox! MAKE SURE the 12V rail can supply at least 14.2A!! (or at least 16.5A if you have an older XBOX uses 203W power brick). If your computer power supply cannot handle this, don't use it!

I am using a Corsair HX520 power supply to hook to my XBOX, as this power supply is almost silent. Been running in the setup for almost a week now and haven't yet to hit any problem (4+ hour of running per day).

In conclusions:

Pros:

Works with the newer 175W "Falcon" XBOX, people can use this cable to swap to a regular computer supply for quieter operation or lower replacement cost.

Installation is a breeze, just plug and play. (but do make sure your computer power supply can support enough current)

Cable build quality is good and feels sturdy.

Cons:

Might not be for everyone because getting a suitable power supply requires understanding of the power rating and might confuse people.

Probably not happens to all: but the fan on my power supply started running once I plugged the conversion cable into the computer power supply (even though the XBOX is off). Does anyone have the same problem? I'll try to swap to other power supplies some other days when I get a chance.

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PSU Energyzer works exactly as it advertises. I'm using it overseas because I needed to plug it into a 220v outlet. Finding an ATX power supply to take 220 is very easy. I recommend buying a modular power supply, it results in less random cables and just looks cleaner. I recommend this to anyone looking to save money over an OEM replacement power supply.

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Works perfectly, just make sure you have a power supply that can handle the load.

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This is a great device that works great, PC power supply knowledge is a must. Please understand that PC Power Supply must be have a 20 pin main power connector and must meet the minimum requirements for your Xbox or it will not boot. I am using a 480W power supply, nothing fancy or new. Also it also helps if you "Power Supply has a Power Switch." So you don't have to hear humming when your 360 is off. All in all a great device, and I still have more power than I will ever have a need for. For all those little extras.

Madden NFL 25 - Xbox One Reviews

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Let's make this clear from the outset: this is not a brand-new game, but rather the "director's cut" of the title that released a few months back. Those expecting a whole new "Madden" will be disappointed, but look a little deeper and there's much to discover.

First, the game looks better and runs smoother; there's more detail everywhere, from raucous crowds to sideline personnel, but it doesn't scream "next-gen" like some other titles. There's still work to be done going forward, but it's not as if "Madden 25" looks ugly -far from it.

While the graphics might not dazzle, the immediately-noticeable improvement to the game's animations take gameplay up a notch. The war in the trenches that decide football games -intricate battles between defensive and offensive linemen -are far more dynamic and realistic. No longer do the lines simply ram into each other like buzzing electric football players of yore; they move with purpose, and they're a bit smarter to boot. Combine that with a more realistic running game, and one finds a new level of depth and challenge -along with the satisfaction that come with success.

The end result is a more thoughtful and rewarding on-field experience, where play-calling and execution involves much more than snapping the ball and mashing the "sprint" button.

Unlike the last time "Madden" moved forward from one generation to the next, nothing's been left behind; all the modes you'd expect are there, from the multi-season Connected Careers mode to the card-collecting Ultimate Team -if you're migrating from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One, all your cards will come with you; a godsend for those that have dumped plenty of hard-earned cash into the fantasy-team extravaganza already.

It's a very solid package, filled chock-full of content, and it's easily the definitive version of "Madden 25"; a game that creeps ever closer to becoming a true-to-life simulation of the NFL.

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First thing I need to say it is a definite upgrade over the last gen version. Graphics, gameplay, and details have all been greatly improved. The player models are much more high res and skin actually looks real instead of plastic. Faces look much more real and player helmets look amazing.

The gameplay, although mostly the same does improve in more than a few areas. Momentum now plays a much larger part in how you run and cut on the field. No longer can you hold down the sprint button and expect to do a 90 degree cut on the field. The interactions between the offense and defensive lines have improved with better awareness and pocket formations.

Details in the stadium have been revamped mostly in the form of NPCS. The crowd is now fully 3D as well as everyone on the sidelines. Not only That they actually move and move with the action on the field. The UI has also had a minor facelift in the looks department.

Overall I think the the Ignite Engine and Madden 25 are both solid foundations for games to come. This is a largely better game than Madden 06 in its time. This game is fun to play, contains all the same game modes that previous gen had and if you play MUT you can transfer over content. I would say there is enough here for Madden fans to warrant a next gen purchase.

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The graphics and gameplay are almost IDENTICAL as the 360 version. The only times you notice that you are playing next-gen are in the cut scenes or when when players are in the huddle and you can see the reflections on their helmets. You also see a slight improvement in the detail of the grass on the field. This was almost an exact port from the 360 version, so if you own it, wait until next year when EA will build a true next-gen experience. Everything that was advertised is completely overrated, the living sidelines aren't noticeable (other than there being slightly more people), the stadiums look about the same and any physics tweaks aren't noticeable unless you truly dig for them. If you are looking for a game that you can use to show your friends how awesome the Xbox One is, this isn't it.

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Madden NFL 25 on Xbox One is an excellent start to this generation of football games. The graphics, presentation, and gameplay are all noticeably improved and the package is undeniably a step-up from current generation (X360, PS3) football.

Madden 25 on X360 and PS3 plays a pretty good (but not perfect) game of football. Madden 25 on X1 simply improves on the current-gen game in all aspects, which I'll quickly list here:

-Graphics. Madden on Xbox One is a gorgeous game. If you've been following the pre-release hype, you've probably heard (and maybe laughed) about EA mentioning the "blades of grass," but damn it if the grass isn't beautiful in this game, especially around center field logos. Realistic lighting, higher resolution players, coaches, equipment, and gorgeous stadiums highlight a really fantastic looking game. You definitely have to play it on a big 1080p TV to appreciate how good the game looks, since the ESPN MNF clips certainly didn't do Madden next-gen any visual justice.

-Gameplay. The big innovations here are "war in the trenches," "contextual awareness," and other miscellaneous improvements, most notably side line catches, which it seems like EA finally got right. War in the Trenches is a fantastic upgrade that people have been asking for for years and EA has done an excellent job with this feature, as the first time you see a DE bust straight through a double team is a sight to behold. Contextual Awareness is also a great feature, as it helps your RB's not run straight into their linemen and WR's and DB's make smarter plays on balls in the air. It doesn't always work, and there's some debate about how much user control should be taken away for the sake of "realism," (running, for example, is much harder on next-gen than current-gen, although this is undeniably a good thing) but I'm really digging the way next-gen Madden plays. Dropped the game speed to slow and been having a blast for two straight days.

-Presentation. There are a lot of cool new camera angles, the commentary is *slightly* better, highlights are back on Xbox One, and the crowd looks great. There are some issues here, however, as the commentary is still often inaccurate, which shatters immersion, and the Living Worlds feature hasn't lived up to the hype. I feel like the lack of women in the stadium (you get 40-60,000 men and men only) might be a bug because it seems like such a bizarre oversight. The sidelines are much improved, but still lacking, and I'd like the crowd--whether all men, all women, or both--to be more invested in the game, as it seems like their heads do not track the action and their reactions to big plays are often delayed or non-existent. Although the "Living Worlds" feature is underwhelming, I'm still happy to give Madden 25 a 5/5 on Xbox One based on the amount of fun I've had w/ the game the past 24 hours.

Overall though, this is a great looking, great playing game of football, and I haven't even begun to fool with sliders, dive into a Connected Franchise, or even figure out Coach Glass, which is Madden's unique and dynamic companion app for tablet devices using Xbox SmartGlass. There's a lot to play and do here in Madden 25 on Xbox One, which is remarkable when you think about what a stripped down, empty game Madden 06 was, which was the first Madden game on Xbox 360 and PS3. The potential for this generation is limitless at this point, and if you love football or are just looking to get the most out of your new Xbox One, then you'd be silly to pass on Madden this year.

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I played a decent amount of Madden 25 on Xbox 360 and enjoyed the overall experience. Madden 25 on Xbox One is a great start on next-gen consoles and is an improvement on the 360 version.

The line play is the biggest difference in my opinion. Running through holes created by your offensive lineman is an enjoyable experience as you can see them actually work hard. Previously, offensive/defensive lineman lacked tenacity and technique. Go into the instant replay mode on next-gen Madden and just watch the interaction...it is the real deal.

I still feel interceptions need to happen more often. There are way too many dropped interceptions by the secondary in the game. However, I have not messed around with the sliders to tweak that part of the gameplay.

Another great addition is seamless online play. I think this might have to do with a combination of better servers and 60 FPS. I have already played 10+ online games without any lag. I didn't have too many issues with the 360 version. However, there was always slight lag that would make it very difficult to kick full strength or make a tackle in the open field. This is now fixed and creates a great experience online.

I purchased Madden 06 on Xbox 360 eight years ago and it was a disaster. I am really excited to see where this series goes because it is off to such a great start.

PlayStation 3D display Reviews

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List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $349.99
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Like many of you, I spent a lot of money for my LCD TV several years ago. When Sony announced their firmware update that allowed for 3D gaming and viewing of 3D Blu-Ray movies, I was tempted to buy another widescreen TV, but couldn't justify shelling out a few thousand more dollars for it. 3D would have to wait.

Sony did something clever with this product. They bundled a 24" monitor with 3D glasses, the game Motorstorm Apocalypse, and an HDMI cable and priced it under $500. Suddenly it was a lot more affordable.

The monitor comes packaged in a large box with a carrying handle (another benefit of ordering a smaller TV is that you don't need a crew of people to carry it upstairs). There's a slight amount of assembly required, which is a snap (literally). You attach the monitor to the stand and the stand to the base. Then, you just plug it into AC (the power cord is only about 5 feet, which was a bit small for my needs), and then plug the HDMI cable from your PS3 to the unit.

It took me a while to find the power button, which is on the back of the unit to the right. There are six buttons in total: a power button, an input selector button (which switches between two HDMI connectors and one set of component (yPbPr) connectors), two volume buttons, a menu button, and a 3D button. They're all pretty generically shaped and lined up in one column, but to help you out an on-screen diagram will pop up when you press one to make sure you're pressing the right one. From the menu you can adjust the picture, including Backlight (0 to 10) and Picture Mode (dynamic, standard, cinema). You can also define a custom picture mode, setting your own brightness, contrast, color, hue, sharpness, and color temperature. It can be quite a pain to adjust menu settings with the buttons behind the unit, but you get used to it soon enough.

The PS3 recognized the monitor immediately. I was pleasantly surprised by the crispness of the display. The colors and clarity on the LED display were definitely deeper and crisper than my current LCD TV. Likewise, the sound was powerful (it has 2 channel stereo output at 3W and a subwoofer at 5W built in).

The 3D glasses come in a separate felt pouch, and the lenses come protected with some plastic over them (you pull off the plastic with convenient pull-tabs). It took me a while to figure out how to turn them on--there's a power switch on the inside for "battery" and then a separate power button on top, both of which need to be switched on. I was very happy to see a micro-USB connector on top (you need to pry open a little door to see it). I was afraid that like other Sony 3D glasses it'd be powered by a watch battery, but it looks like these glasses can be charged. Note that the connector is a smaller micro-USB connector and not a mini-USB such as the one used to charge the Dualshock and Move controllers. But happily there's a small USB-to-micro-USB cable included. I wear glasses, but the 3D glasses fit comfortably over them.

I popped in the game "MLB: The Show 11" to test it out. No 3D. I went to the menu options, and the 3D option was greyed out. I finally realized that I had to go to the PS3 menu under "Settings", and select Video Output Settings > HDMI > Auto and set the screen to 24 inches before 3D would be enabled. Once I did that I returned to the game where now I saw all kinds of new disclaimer screens I didn't see before referencing 3D.

Within the game, I adjusted the 3D settings. The first settings I tried had a lot of ghosting. But by adjusting the sliders a little I finally got a picture that was absolutely perfect. I wish that Sony had a "universal" setting instead of having us control it game-by-game, but bottom line, if the game developer did it right you will have control over the depth of 3D you can see.

Next, I tried a 3D Blu-Ray which I happened to get today in the mail, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The disc started up and went right into 3D mode, with the opening menu gloriously popping out of the screen. It was a clean, crisp picture with no ghosting as far as I could tell. As is typical with these active 3D glasses, the picture was very dark even with the backlight set at maximum (it's like watching a TV screen with sunglasses). But if you sit close enough to the TV and/or adjust the menu settings, you should find a viewing setting that's comfortable.

Last, I tried connecting it to my laptop, which happens to have an HDMI output jack. To my delight, I was able to go to YouTube's 3D channel, play videos with the "side by side" viewing method, adjust the 3D mode of the TV, and see the videos in full 3D! Not surprisingly, the picture quality, resolution and color fidelity were excellent. I hadn't planned on it, but I will be most likely be making this my second computer monitor of choice.

The set does support "SimulView", which allows two people to play a game watching the same screen with both players seeing their own (2D) view of the game. I wasn't able to test because I didn't buy a second pair of glasses (which is kind of pricey at $70), but I'll update this review once I do.

To sum up, I was honestly a little afraid that at this price Sony might try to push a cheap TV on the masses. But everything about this set screams high quality, from the crisp picture, to the 176/176 viewing angle (meaning that multiple people can be between 2-8 feet from the screen and still see perfect 3D as long as they all have the 3D glasses), to the 5000:1 contrast ratio and 240 Hz refresh rate. Aesthetically, it's quite gorgeous too--the black, polished screen really looks distinctive, especially next to the sleek lines of the PS3 itself. And surprisingly, I put the 24" TV next to my 42" LCD and didn't really miss the fact too much that it was smaller (granted, I grew up watching a 25" cathode ray tube TV).

The one possible caveat I'd have about this set is what I'd have about all 3D sets--there are some people who might experience some mild-to-severe nausea. For this reason, I'd recommend you play at a friend's house or spend a good couple of minutes in front of a store display to make sure you're not one of those who are affected. For me, I experienced a tiny bit of nausea, but I'll admit that the coolness factor definitely made up for it. Worst comes to worst, you can switch off the 3D and still have a very high quality LED display.

One other thing to note is that this isn't a "TV", as there's no TV tuner. But with the extra HDMI connector, you can easily plug in a TiVo or a cable box. Ironically, I also plugged in an Xbox 360 using the component cables, and that picture looks crisp as well.

Long story short, if you've been tempted to try out 3D, this makes an excellent entry-level display.

Unfortunately, I have to end my review with a couple words about Amazon. I have always been blown away by Amazon's customer service and I routinely pre-order games and systems from them. In this case, I had ordered the PS3 Display back in September, because they promised that everyone who pre-ordered would get a free copy of Resistance 3. Lo and behold, like many of you probably did, I found out that my order was cancelled--my invoice of September had the correct price of $499.99, but some klutz in Amazon evidently repriced it after I ordered it at $4.99 and then $49.99. Because of this, my order was cancelled. I called their customer service, and the rep "Bill" was very kind and understanding, but said he had to "check with his manager" to see what he could do. A few minutes later I get a generic email basically telling me tough luck and that I should re-place my order--which meant I wouldn't get it for another few weeks AND I wouldn't get the free game. No apology or anything. Needless to say, I immediately drove to GameStop where they gave me the system and a free copy of Uncharted 3 to boot. My message to Amazon--clean up your act or you'll see a lot more people doing the same.

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After about 6 weeks monitor started blinking red and will not come back on. Terrible product, don't waste your money. Wish I could give it negative stars!

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I am not writing this review because I hate SONY products, but its my true experience about this particular product. I have never bought SONY TV, this was the first one. After exactly 31 days of use this TV broke on my. When I turned it on the screen went dark and the red light just kept on blinking. I've owned many TVs in my life, but this is the first product to fail on me only after about 31 days of use.

I bought it from Best Buy and their return policy only lasts for 30 days, it comes with Sony's 1 year warranty, but I have been having some issue with that. Their CSR department is not very helpful on solving the problem. They will try to avoid sending you a new display, by making excuses. Even after 5 calls, they have managed to get away from giving me a replacement TV.

In short, please don't BUY this TV. It looks like a good deal on a 3D TV, but think of it like and investment of $250-300 only for couple of months. Sony did not honor their warranty on this TV for me, even after I provided all the purchase receipts and serial #s. I am attaching some links to prove that this is not minor occurance. Its seems like a 50:50 chance that your TV will break in 1 year. Please be wise and save your money. Don't buy this crappy product.

User 1

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Official SONY PS forums

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Honest reviews on PlayStation 3D display

It is a shame that I have to write this, I love Sony, I really do, but people need to be warned and this product really needs to be taken off the market. The 3D display looks beautiful and has fantastic 3D effects. It is well worth the $270 I paid, but ofcourse there are too many problems to keep it.

A week and a half, that's all mine lasted before it started blacking out on me (this appears to be caused either by a power flux in the PSU or the HDMI is losing signal). At first the blackouts weren't a big problem, it took half a second for it to go black and come back and at most, you'd almost swear it was just your eyes blinking. But as the 2nd week went on, the problem not only continued to happen, but worsened, and quickly. The blackouts would last several seconds and started happening every 30-45 mins randomly. Some times it would go hours without one only to get 3 in rapid succession. This worsens even more according to other customer reports, to the point where the unit dies as soon as you turn it on. The Blue, Green, Red Light twice blinking problem which is about the same as the 360s RROD.

I took great care of this display as well, even coddled it a bit. I turned it off (something I've never been known to do with other TVs connected to my computers), I unplugged it (this is actually a recommendation via Sony support to someone on their 2nd display) and I kept it in a well vented area that had a temperature around 65 degrees F at all times.

Several people have speculated that this issue may be due to the PS3 being connected with a certain update. I can verify that this isn't the case, I don't own a PS3, so it was never hooked up to one. Some people thought this was a 'hard-shake' error and once again I can verify that it happened while compensating for those. Temperature wasn't an issue as stated above. Which really only leaves one possibility, the power supply.

I decided I was going to return mine for a full refund and it appears as if Amazon will be honoring that soon. But I urge people wanting to buy this, DONT! It has been 6 months and Sony has not fixed this, nor made an official comment. If you call their Customer Support, you are told that this is a rare issue, but if you look online, you'll see thousands among thousands of people all having this and even worst issues. I tried to find atleast one person who has had their display working perfectly for over 3 months, I couldn't find a single soul. Instead, I found angry customers who were on their 2nd display and some even on their 3rd and one guy who was on his 4th.

If Sony ever fixes these, I would be more than happy to buy another display from them, as stated above, the TV is marvelous and beautiful, I can only hope the $400 replacement I ordered can match it. As it stands, this TV is a poor result in their QA department not doing their job and should be marked as a disappointment to them as a company who prides themselves on being one of the great leaders in technology.

UPDATE: It even just happened writing this review...

UPDATE2: Came home from work (had the display turned off and unplugged), was going to package it up for my return, but I have a another day before UPS will pick it up. Within 10 mins, the display blacked out. Went nearly 2 hours with no problems and now has blacked out 8 times in 15 mins. Someone in the comments stated they have had theirs for 4 months, so I guess there are a few out there that are fine, but this is the first I've ever heard of someone going that long without problems. Also, I just wanted to add, I barely used the 3D. An hour here or there, so it's not like I wore it out trying to do 3D non-stop.

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Around Black Friday there were sales of these screens for $299 at Best Buy and I almost went for one but held back and regretted it. A few days later the price went back up, of course. The regret just grew and grew. I had already bought an LG 23" IPS screen that was pretty good, plus some speakers, so I couldn't justify the extra expenditure. But I kept on going back to the BB website, seeing if this screen was back on sale. Well, Amazon showed this refurb unit for even less money and so I instantaneously bought it too impulsive? Maybe. And the delivery was incredibly quick next day. So not enough time for buyer's remorse. As it turns out, the screen arrived not only quickly but also in great shape, no dead pixels, packaged well and with the free Motorstorm game still sealed. There was even some charge in the glasses so you could use them straight away. And I must say, while I am generally skeptical about 3D cinema, for certain games there is an incredibly immersive 'wow' factor. Also, even for non-3D games the screen is extremely clear and the widescreen format is great for certain games like FPS Battlefield 1942 looks beautiful. We haven't tried seeing films or Netflix yet, but frankly I am delighted with this screen and will be selling my previous equipment this is neater, has good sound, fewer cables, includes HDMI and has a great resolution. I'm actively seeking out 3D games to try out, and the build quality is superb. Great stuff Sony you don't always get it right but in this case you have hit the sweet spot for quality and affordability. I was thinking about purchasing a huge 50" screen previously, but we don't watch TV. So having a smaller, beautifully designed screen like this, for the occasional 3D game or Blu-Ray, is a strange but pragmatic compromise. Recommended.

EDIT: It is now three weeks later. I think you know what to expect at this point. After being wowed by the display, and downloading Crysis especially to play in 3D (it still plays well after these years, and in 3D it's a dream)... well, the red light of death. Hadn't used it for a while, went to turn it on and... nothing, the lights cycled through colors but no display whatsoever. Usually I balk at Sony's high prices for electronic products but you know that at least the build quality is decent. Not any more how many hundred of people are complaining about this exact problem, the blank screen after a few weeks? This is gonna cost Sony in terms of brand loyalty as well as return shipments. A real shame I now have no monitor or TV in the house, and am wary of ordering another of these. I have changed my rating from 5 stars to 1. Very disappointed.