Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD - PC Review

Customer Ratings:

Let me get something of my chest first. I have noticed a lot of bad feedback on reviewers who give higher ratings to products that are developed by Microsoft. So just to make it clear I am not reviewing Microsoft, I'm reviewing the simulator.

So.. how fun is this game? Well it's your system that can actually answer this question. This game is amazing from my point of view. I have used everything, from FS98 to latest X-Plane.. and nothing is as good as this.

The Good:

Stunning graphics. This is the most beautiful game I have ever played. From the water effects to shadows from the plane.. every effect and particle is breathtaking.

Gameplay. It is an amazing gameplay, indeed. You can now fly in any seat you like, control literally any view of the airplane, most of the cockpit controls work and function the way they are supposed to. The weather system is amazing.

Multiplayer. This one speaks for itself: FUN FUN FUN. It is very entertaining since you get to see people from all over the world. However, there are few cons.. like the Bad ATC guys who often mislead you and cause you to crash etc. It was foggy, so I depended on A/P. I was told to turn 074R, which I did. I heard the ILS Frequency so I put it on APP but ultimately, I was put into wrong direction and as much as APP fought to align me to the right direction (while keeping up with sped and altitude) i still landed in the ocean.. and of course crashed (since you're not able to actually land on water in this game). Of course, there are plenty of pefect ATC's out there but even with few that are not as good it's still VERY fun to play. Try it and see for yourself.

The Bad:

ATC. ATC has not changed much from FS2004 other than a new "window" that it displays in. Still no ability to declare an emergency which is sort of a disappoint since you ARE able to set engines to fail or to run out of fuel (or both). So.. if your engines die out on you don't you think you deserve a right to report the situation to ATC? LOL

Crash dynamics. If you're hoping to be able to crash your plane into a mountain and see a giant explosion and earthquakes then I have to disappoint you. While I almost never crash in Flight Sims I still wish there were better crashing dynamics to make it more realistic. For example, if I land heavily on my nose I'd love to see my plane's nose gear to fail and act like it would in physics.

Also, why can't we have the ability to land on water? Boeing 737 CAN do that (if propely executed). Here, no matter what amazing pilot you are.. as soon as you touch the water you crash. Oh well. It's a very small thing but I wish it was improved a bit.

The Ugly:

System requirements. I agree with what many reviewers said this game depends more on CPU than it does on video card. This game will most likely NOT work at the Max settings if you have a brand-name PC (eMachines, HP, Dell).

When I first installed the game I had AMD Sempron 3300 (2.01GHz); 2GB DDR, Radeon X1650 Pro with 512MB. I ran the CanYouRunIT tool from System Requirements Lab.. the report said that I exceed RECOMMENDED requirements and should have a great experience with the game. I didn't really believe that since I have a 3rd class CPU but I played FS2004 and HL2 on the HIGHEST settings with absolutely NO lags so I thought it would work fine.

I was.. wrong. The game was not playable unless I set all of the aircraft, transport and texture settings to Minnimum Low. It lagged horribly on my native resolution of 1680x1050 32 which I had to put into 1440x900 16bit.

I purchased a new video card which is Geforce GTX 8800 with 740mb of RAM and can now play without any lags on my native resolution with settings set to Medium High but still not maxed out. Why? Because this game needs CPU. In this case, the CPU is the heart not the video card. If you buy it make sure to get the SP1 for this ASAP.. there are few performance updates which could be crucial if your video card or CPU isn't the best.

So to wrap up I highly recommend this simulator to any Aerolover as myself. But make sure you have a GOOD CPU and card. If you have them you'll find yourself spending hours and hours flying above gorgeous landscapes, commmunicating with people all over the world, surviving a dead engine and/or faulty mechanics and generally having fun. This amazing software is both entertaining and educational.

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Let me start this review by saying that FSX is really a great product with much growth potential for future development. I have been using Flight Sim from the early days of the Commodore 64. I have purchased every version since it was created. Every version starts a bit rough but between updated patches and some tweaking it performs beautifully.

Each version is usually a year or so ahead of existing hardware, which basically means that you will not be able to achieve the maximum performance with your one-year-old computer even if you think you got a great system. If you search the flight sim forums you will read how even those with gaming machines complain about not enough frame rates or hi resolution scenery or stutters during flying. Here is what I have:

Microsoft® Windows Vista(tm) Home Premium

System Manufacturer Dell Inc.

System Model Inspiron 531

Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+, 2310 Mhz, 2

Total Physical Memory 2,045.88 MB

Available Physical Memory 1.33 GB

Total Virtual Memory 4.21 GB

Available Virtual Memory 3.53 GB

Page File Space 2.29 GB

Video Card NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE

SATA 260 Gig Hard Drive

If I set all display sliders to Medium High I get very smooth frame rates of 20-25 FPS with very nice scenery resolution. If I put all sliders to Ultra High my machine almost comes to a stand still. This really is normal for Flight Sim. So unless you have a computer twice as powerful as mine do not expect maximum performance from this sim. At that level it would be like you were flying in the real world.

.....................

You might ask if I am so satisfied with FSX why do I give it only 3 stars.

Allow me to explain as best I can. Microsoft has done something that I find a bit upsetting. I have been playing with adding scenery and aircraft to Flight Sim for years. I have Flight Simulator Design Studio Ver 3.5 and EZ-Scenery both programs I paid for and that was OK since they are great programs for enhancing the scenery in Flight Sim. I also use lots of other freeware utilizes to help in modeling scenery. All these programs rely on a set of Microsoft development tools called SDK. You really do not need to know what the details of these are other than you need them on your computer to use all these other modeling programs. Up until now these tools SDK were free from Microsoft except with FSX. I purchased the "STANDARD" version with out even considering this issue of obtaining the SDK tools for FSX; I just assumed the "DELUXE" version was more expensive because it had more Aircraft and more Airports with greater detail. Infact if you read what the difference id between the two that is exactly the impression you get.

I installed the STANDARD version with no problem than started to use my other software for adding and modifying scenery and lo and behold. The programs asked where FSX SDK tools were.

Well I did not know so I researched the subject and was told it was on Disk one and had to be installed separately. So I looked on disk one and no SDK tools. Than I found out it ONLY COME ON THE DELUXE VERSION.

No problem I said, just go to Microsoft's web site and download the FSX SDK just like I have done with previous versions. Now I find out that you cannot get this set of tools unless you buy the "DELUXE" version. So no what. I now need to get the DELUXE VERSION. You can download the PATCH for SDK but not the original set of tools.

If you do plan on modeling and modifying the scenery of FSX DO NOT BUY THE STANDARD VERSION. If any one out there can show me I am in error please do. But so far I have found 12 incidences of other persons buying the STANDARD version and finding out they should have bought the "DELUXE" version because they needed the FSX SDK for their other designing software.

Personally I think this is one big rip off from Microsoft but I did buy the DELUXE version even though I had initially purchased the STANDARD version and will use FSX because it is in fact a good product. Because I think this was a deliberated deception to force users to buy the deluxe version instead of the standard version I can only give three stars.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator X is the tenth editon to the Flight Simulator franchise, and it certainly delivers. Like previous installments, FSX puts you in the cockpit as a pilot for any number of aircraft, including Boeing 747s and the LearJet 45. New this year, however, is an Airbus A321 and an AirCreation Trike Ultralight (think of a waterski with wings and wheels attached). Flight Simulator 2004 had many commemorative aircraft for the one hundredth anniversary of flight, but these are gone for FSX. I wasn't really bothered by the removal, although some will be disappointed that you can't recreate the Wright Brothers' Kittyhawk flight anymore.

Graphics-wise, Flight Simulator X is a great improvement over Flight Simulator 2004. You may now see animals on the ground and traffic on major highways, depending on the age and quality of your graphics card. Make sure you have a DVD-ROM drive, because FSX is a gigantic game and takes up two DVDs. In comparison, FS2004 took up the equivalent of about half of a single-sided DVD.

One can make almost any decision they want in Flight Simulator X, from using the provided Air Traffic Control feature to choosing to make your experience as realistic as possible. Veteran FS gamers will feel instantly at home with FSX, mostly because the general look and feel remains untouched. Its only flaw is that it is not fully enjoyable unless you spend an extra twenty dollars or so for a joystick. Even so, you can still use a keyboard and mouse to control the plane. As a side note, the deluxe DVD is not much of an improvement over the standard version. Really, the only added feature is more aircraft.

Since it also is compatible with Windows Vista (provided you have met all of the requirements), I recommend that you go out and buy it today for yourself or an aspiring pilot.

Honest reviews on Microsoft Flight Simulator X Standard DVD - PC

Before I purchased Standard FSX, I downloaded and ran the trial version. Like others that have posted, I was very disappointed in the performance. At first I was thinking it was my graphics card (ATI Radeon X800XL, 256MB) so I ran the game with Task Manager Performance Monitor displayed. I discovered that my CPU was max'ing. This didn't make sense because I felt that I had plenty of processing power (Pentium D 2.80GHz, 512 RAM) and the game was not consuming more than 40% of the memory. So I loaded a second clean install of XP and loaded only my drivers and then the game. Bingo! The game ran great.

I can still overpower my CPU if I run the graphics detail to full on all settings (and it looks damn good when I do) but running at the default settings or a little higher is not a problem.

I appreciate the ability to adjust individual graphics settings. This allows me to distribute the power to graphics which are of the most importance to my desired gaming experience.

On a side note, after I loaded a clean version of XP and verified the game ran properly, I then began to load my other applications into the new OS load. BTW I have most of the apps loaded again. The one app that had the most negative performance impact was Norton Internet Security. I use McAfee now and keep it at minimum settings.

Most importantly, I discovered my system registry had tons of old entries from previous installed drivers and apps. Once I installed a clean OS, my boot time decreased by 50% and other applications ran much faster.

I blame the performance problem on me not keeping my system and registry clean.

Then I purchased the Standard version of FSX and installed it. I think this game is fantastic. The experience is challenging and educational. I enjoy flying over areas that I have visited in real life and seeing the details the developers put into recreated real-world locations.

Intel recently announced their quad-core processors. At some point in the future, I will upgrade. I am thrill to know when my system is upgraded; my FSX experience will take advantage of that upgrade and provide an ongoing better experience. Since the game has very detailed adjustments so you can run it on slower machines, in my opinion, it makes the game future-ready so you can play now and enhance later. Others may disagree with this line of thinking.

Cleaning your system may also solve the installation issue that some are experiencing. This sounds like driver issues. However I don't know for certain because I didn't have that issue with my install.

I hope this information is helpful to others.

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i received fsx as a gift for christmas. i've owned fs2002 and fs2004, and am relatively familiar with the game. first of all, as clearly stated in the product title and specs, the game comes on dvd format only. i had no problems installing it on my dell dimension 4800 (P4-3.2, 2GB ram, ATI 9800PRO). however, the new FSX is definitely a beast. with all the quality settings turned down and running at 1024x768x16, i got < 15 fps so the gameplay was unacceptably choppy. i have read that with all the settings turned down you should get similar performance as fs2004.

i was disappointed by the performance and contemplated returning the game. but what microsoft has done here is produced a next generation flight simulator. did we really want another fs2004? i tried the game on another system which had an ATI X1650XT, which is relatively old, but a lot newer than my 9800PRO. the game ran well with medium settings at 1024x768 (>30fps), acceptable at 1280x1024, and barely playable at 1600x1200.

i ended up building a new system (it was overdue anyway), and have been playing on an 8800GTS, which gives 25-35 fps at 1600x1200x32 with the highest quality settings. there are a couple guides on the internet that provide tips/tweaks for increasing performance, particularly on older systems. here is one of them:i have to say that the graphics are phenomenal. microsoft intends on releasing a direct x 10 patch in the next few months, which should improve the quality and performance even more on vista.

as far as game play, i haven't noticed any major changes. the full set of lessons from fs2004 still exist, but now there are missions you can fly for practice. i don't recall how detailed the pilot record tracking was in fs2004, but it is awesome in fsx--tracking landings, hours, and certifications/awards from completing lessons and missions. the introduction of multiplayer play in fsx has been quite fun as well.

i highly recommend this game, with the caveat that you should test the demo (free download from microsoft's site) to see how well it performs. this game is a beast and requires a nice system with a nice graphics card, but you won't be disappointed in the results!

Buy Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations - Playstation 3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $59.95
Sale Price: $29.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

what can i say!! am a huge fan of this great anime and actually this is my first naruto game i play on the ps3. i've been playing ps2 games though.

anyway, i rarely write reviews on amazon but i couldn't resist writing this one because CyperConnect created an awesome game for an awesome anime!!!

you gonna laugh so bad when you reach the ending of the story mode i don't wanna spoil it but i personally laughed and danced.

this review gonna be short because i really want to go back playing this addictive game i'll just mention pros and cons...

pros:

1fluid and very responsive game play

2a huge number of characters!!

3some anime scenes and comic you never seen before not a lot of them but still will interest the Fans.

4an awesome story mode where you gonna see different aspects of the anime story.

5few modes that will keep you playing this game for along time such as tournament , survival ,and online battle mode.

cons:

1-they did not include what happens after naruto defeats pain like how he got this new yellow power from the nine tails daemon (Kyuubi)

2-No Adventure mode this time is such a disappointment, the developer decided not to include one this time.. WHY!!!!!!

to conclude this review i want to say if you are Hesitant whether this game is worth your money don't be if you like the anime i guarantee this game you will love it. and i hope this review was helpful to you

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I Have played both Ultimate Ninja Storm 1 and 2 and I can happily say that Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Storm Generations is without a doubt my favorite Naruto Game out there! With more than 70 playable characters this has the largest roster in a Naruto game to date! I have been playing it non stop since I picked it up this morning and wow am i really enjoying it! While i can say a bit was taken away from the story as a whole most major points are covered and of course more stories are told not included in the other two games.The graphics ars stunning as always and combat is really fun! Do yourself a favor and pick it up

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The creators of the Ultimate Storm video game series seemed to shoot themselves in the feet with UNS: Generations. This game appeared to be, at least to me, a sort of buffer between UNS: 2 and UNS: 3. The fact that Generations came right in the middle of the Storm 2 and Storm 3, combined with the lower quality of this game, makes it obvious that developers were trying to keep fans of the video game series interested while waiting patiently for the 3rd installment. Unfortunately, as a fan of the series, I was not satisfied with this game as I anticipated to be.

PROBLEM AREAS: (Sadly, there are many.)

-Lack of story mode: Obviously because developers were putting Naruto Shippuden UNS: 3 into process, and did not have the money to spend and the time to promote a more extensive game with longer game play and larger worlds. Taking away a key component of the game series to be able to move around as Naruto, Sasuke and other characters in a story mode where one can gather items and interact with the environment is a HUGE draw back to me. It'll lead me into my next point...

-Fixed, narrated story mode: This made up for the lack of free play. To me, the narration was inconsistent and the individuals used for narration in the Japanese version, which I vastly prefer over the dub did not seem to mesh well with the personalities/storylines of the characters they were narrating for. That's just an opinion, but for example, the Japanese narration for Sasuke's arc was heavy, drawn-out and awkward sounding. Not to mention that I didn't feel like sitting through a lengthy, verbose narration about things I already knew well of the characters in the game! With this new and mediocre mode, one unlocks new arcs without free play by finishing initial arcs first if you beat Sasuke's tale, you unlock Itachi's, and so on and so forth. To me, this didn't seem challenging.

-Lack of difficulty: Again, this game did not have a difficult layout. You beat one arc, you unlock another, and if you are very bored of watching 5-10 minute narrations about things you already know [if you've watched the show or read up to date what is happening], you skip the cutscenes, head into battles we've sometimes even seen before in previous games, and then move onto another narration/cutscene. The game itself is very FLAT.

-Some CGI glitches: Just something I noticed. Movement could get awkward at times. The developers aimed high to make character movement more fluid but now and then it becomes difficult to maneuver the characters and how they move. Hopefully it will be better in UNS: 3.

-Poor concept art: I might be picky with this since I am an artist myself, but I found the art for this game the drawings of characters as we select them for battle in the free play arena/computer vs. player, etc. mode to be poorer than previous concept art we have seen with the UNS series. I found the new drawings of our favorite characters to be somewhat... off, and not as aligned to Kishimoto's vision. Essentially they seemed like a fan artist's version of these characters, a very good version, but not the Kishimoto version. This irked me, and seemed to reinforce that the time put into this makes it a cheap buffer game and nothing more.

-New substitution meter: For some reason, developers put in a substitution bar for doing substitutions that makes it impossible for one to do an unlimited number as we could in Storm: 2. You have a certain number of substitutions available and if the bar runs out, even if you have chakra at your demand, well... good luck! This was annoying. Substitution is a huge win factor in the Storm series. Without it, you could very well die...all the time.

POSITIVE AREAS: (Yes, this game does have some positives, but not many!)

-An attempt at more fluid game play. Stated in the above. It was a major improvement from the last game and I appreciate this despite some glitches.

-Very attractive visuals, which is always a huge plus for this game series.

-A wide range of characters to unlock and play... but perhaps too many? It's really a matter of opinion. I see the 'generations' theme they were going for though. I think that the wide range of characters could be fun for individuals who are newer to the Naruto/Shippuden series.

-Some interesting new battle areas. Not fabulous, but the effort is put in and you can tell. They were going for variety here.

VERDICT: This game is definitely a buffer game, and take that as you will. You will NOT find the high quality, free play story mode of Storm 2 and previous games, and this might make some of you out there, if you're anything like me, very frustrated. The visuals are excellent, but is that worth paying even 27 or 28 dollars for this game, when you could save up to pre-order Ultimate Ninja Storm: 3? Absolutely not. If you're a big fan of this series you're bound to face disappointment.

Don't waste the cash. Even though I was thinking of giving this 1 star, the effort put into SOME areas, like visuals, more fluid game play, and a greater variety prevented me from giving this game 1 star, but it still not worth paying the money for. It's only so-so.

Honest reviews on Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations - Playstation 3

I'm pretty sure I've played most, if not all, of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games. While this one is my favorite (mainly because of the new characters you can use), there are some things of the past I wished this game had.

Game Modes: There's no explore Konoha and surrouding areas RPG mode! While this aspect isn't necessary in a fighting game, and I've seen other recent fighting games also eliniate this part, it definitely allows the player to take a break from the sometimes monotony of continuously battling. I'm not a big online battler either, so an RPG mode would have been greatly appreciated. The story mode is interesting as it takes you through the perspectives of different characters. I was definitely looking forward to the new Anime scenes that were being promoted, but, honestly, only a couple of them were of any real worth or fun to watch. Another downside to the story mode is that, even though you do get to play as different characters, some of them have intertwining stories, and therefore it's possible for you to fight the same battle two or three times...just as different people. That to me became too monotonous to a point. Also, the lack of "cinematic/quick time" battles leaves the mode a bit lacking. Free Battle Mode has your typical VS, Online Battle, and Training. There's also a Survival Mode and Tournament Mode. I have tried Tournament yet, but I do like the survival. It provides a good amount of chalenge at times, and I'm only at the intermmediate level right now. You have to start at Basic or Beginner Level (can't remember what it's called) and work your way up. The other modes are the Store and Collection, which are all self-explanatory.

Gameplay: The battle system really hasn't change from the past couple games. The attack, jump, item, and chakra charge buttons are all the same. Every character has one jutsu attack and one Ultimate Jutsu (which, sadly, were all recycled from the last game except for the new characters). This is actually one of the things I hate the most about the last couple games. in the past, although you could still use only one Ultimate Jutsu, but at least almost every character had a few of them to chose from. There's still Awakening Mode. For those new to the series, this mode becomes available when your HP gets below 50%. You charge your chakra to the max, and your characters gain heightened defense, attack, etc. You also still have to support characters, each with pre-assigned characteristics (attack, defense, or balance). You have a team gauge, and the more you use your support characters, the more the gauge fills. When you fill the gauge up once, it automatically activates your supports' passive abilities. If the ability is Attack, your support will join you for a few hits when you attack your opponent with regular attacks, and when you knock and opponent back (either with a jutsu or regular attack) your support will appear to knock them back for an extra hit. If their ability is defense, your support will protect you while you chakra charge or when an opponent tries to dash at you in order to stun you. Finally, if their ability is balance then your support will join you when you when you chakra charge and throw shuriken and they will also take your opponent's Ultimate's Jutsu instead of you getting hit (which can be useful but it also knocks out that support for the remainder of the battle). Now, if you fill the gauge up a second time, it allows you to do a team attack, which is always fun to watch and can take away almost 50% of the enemy's HP. The one thing I wish the game implemented was switching out your team of characters during battle, kind of like Marvel vs Capcom instead of having one main fighter and two supports. The only really big change that I noticed was that you can't spam the subtitution jutsu. You have a gauge that lets you do it a maximum of four times, and then you'll have to wait for the gauge to refill any of the four bars before you can use it again. This definitely adds more strategy to the game, which is good.

Characters: Yes, there are over 70 characters that span from the beginning of the Naruto timeline to the 5 Hokage Summit Arc. Here's my beef though. Only like 20 of those characters are from before Shippuuden, which is disappointing to me because I was really looking forward to playing as characters that they stopped using in the recent games like (Anko, Kurenai, the Sound 4) and maybe even some new ones from that generation like (Genma, Raido, Ibiki). Oh, but it's not that those characters don't appear in the game, they're just support only. So not only are there less characters from teh first generation, the ones you can use are just younger versions of Naruto and his friends. More diversity would have been nice.

The only other thing I can think to comment on are the stages. There's a good number of them, but there is also some repetition. A few of the stages are the same place just different times of day or different weather.

Despite all of the things that I found to be a downside (they are all personal opinions), this game is a ton of fun, and the new characters are a definite welcome addition.

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Well, I bought this like three months ago, I usually don't care about online playing so I just spend my playing time against the computer or completing the story modes, so for a fighting game is the same than all the others naruto games for ps3 very repetitive, so the only way you enjoy this game is if you love this tv show otherwise it doesn't have much to offer, besides the big character roster.

I will by ultimate ninja storm 3 when the price drops because even if it's like the second part which was very good, naruto games don't deserve to be so expensive. They are too silly for being so expensive :P

Buy Japanese xBox 360 Console

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I was looking for a way to play region coded imported games without hacking into my Xbox 360 S. This was the solution I was looking for. Hacking a 360 S runs the risk of voiding the warranty and getting banned from Xbox Live. The Japanese Xbox also plays Xbox original games after downloading backwards compatibility from Xbox live. It has audio and subtitle English translations so language isn't a problem unless the game played is strictly a Japanese language game. It has a little more machine noise than the 360 S but not noticeable once a game starts. I was skeptical about buying a second Xbox but it was well worth since I'm into playing hardcore, gory, adults only import games.

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Best Kinect Nat Geo TV - Xbox 360 Deals

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $22.49
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

I'm not too excited about my child watching a lot of TV even less so about video games. But when we do either I want to make sure there is some education or learning taking place. This game combines two things that my child loves to do: Learn about nature and playing games. Her friends that come visit also enjoy playing it and I have to say its even pretty fun for adults. Its really funny to see Grandma and my daughter pretend to be a bear :)

You can read about the product details but I wanted to throw in my two cents that I think the game is a solid investment for your 4-8 year old.

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We've tried many Kinect games but this one is truly educational and I plan to buy future versions as well as it's a combination of watching/learning TV as well as some mini games. Definitely would buy again!

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My kids ( 7 and 5 ) love it : they learn a lot, play also. It is a perfect gift.

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My girls love this game. They get to pretend to be the animal that is featured in the episode (bear cub, mountain lion, etc.). It gets them up and moving while watching an educational tv show. I'm very happy we got this one.

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Recently bought the kinect to play with my almost 3 year old daughter. Out of all the games I bought, this one is the most fun of them all. Easily recognizes me at 6ft and my daughter at 3ft. Fun to see our bodies with animal head and hands. While I found the actual show part interesting, it didn't keep her attention for too long so we've mostly been playing just the games. Definitely recommend for young kids and adults to play together.

PlayStation 3 160GB Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Bundle Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Necessary disclosure: I do not own this model but do I own the 60GB model, recently upgraded to 320GB. I am also very familiar with the latest 80GB model (which is basically this one with a larger disk) because one of my neighbors has one and I am the neighborhood's unofficial and unpaid 'computer' consultant :). I did some research in anticipation of us purchasing a second unit because I promised the kids "their own" if their grades were going to meet a certain standard.

As compared to the 60GB model (see this model's pluses and minuses and what all PS3s have in common):

______________________________________________

+ Less expensive (I paid $599 for my 60GB PS3)

+ 266% more storage

+ Improved power efficiency

+ Dual shock controller (rumble)

+ Bundled Drake's Fortune and Pain voucher for a PSN download

+ Amazon Blu-ray movies promotion (buy 4 movies from list and get $100 off through end of 2008)

= Wireless Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet network connections

= Bluetooth for controllers, keyboards, earpieces, etc.

= Controllers charged via USB wires

= Free, unlimited access to the PSN network, including online play

= Full PSOne compatibility

= Blu-ray player

= DVD player

= CD player

= HDMI, component video (component wire included but no HDMI cable)

= Surround sound

= Internet browser

= Allows for installation of third-party operating systems such as Linux

= Disk is easily upgradeable without voiding warranty

= Quiet operation

No memory card interfaces

2 USB ports vs. 4 USB ports on the 60GB

No PS2 compatibility

______________________________________________

STORAGE and STORAGE UPGRADE:

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This model comes with an 160GB drive. This is nice because, based on my own experience, 160GB should be sufficient for a few years of use for as long as you don't plan to purchase lots of movies from the PSN store or download to many full games if you are thiking about storing movies on your PS3 disk, consider upgrading to larger storage. However, unless you believe that Uncharted + Pain are worth the extra $100, you may be slightly better off buying the 80GB model for $100 less and then upgrading.

To give you an idea of the amount of storage you may need on your PS3, I recently checked the status of my 320GB disk and I found that I had 198GB free. That means that, one year after purchasing my (then) 60GB box I was using 122GB already. The space is taken by family pictures, a little music, lots of demos, many 'disk' games that dump gigabytes of data to the disk to improve performance, many videos the kids are making with the 'Eye' camera, game saves. I suspect that 'Home', when it becomes available, may require a few more GB's for its own use so 320GB may be what you need if you don't want to constantly worry about deleting old stuff before you run out of space.

If you are on the upgrade path, $80 would buy you a 320GB drive. I used the Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320 GB Scorpio Sata 5400 Rpm 8MB 2.5 inch myself but that was back in June/July and I paid about $150 then; you could get much larger drives for less now. 500GB drives are available for less than $100 and you should try to get one of those if you are planning to store lots of videos. One that I tested would be the Western Digital 500GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD5000BEVT which replaced my laptop's 60GB little drive and I helped a friend upgrade his own PS3 with. The nice thing about upgrading your disk is that you are also going to be left with a perfectly good 80GB or $160GB drive which you can place into a cheap enclosure, and the StarTech AT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure worked for me. I am using the free leftover drive as a backup device for family photos.

Upgrading the disk is (relatively) easy and you can find a lot of advice on the Net. Search for "PlayStation 3 Hard Drive Upgrade (HOWTO)" for videos that should help you decide if you are comfortable with upgrading. If upgrading is the first thing you do (before installing games or uploading personal files), everything becomes very easy because you need not worry about backups or restores. I upgraded my box in a couple of hours WITH the backup/restore steps.

MEMORY CARD INTERFACES:

-----------------------

The lack of memory card interfaces is annoying but you can get around it. Copy your stuff to a USB drive or flash drive and... problem solved. You can then upload your things through the USB. It's somewhat inconvenient but it's no big deal.

USB PORTS:

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My old 60GB model has 4 USB ports and I am using all of them. One for the PS3 Eye (camera), a second has a wireless keyboard dongle, the third is where the racing wheel plugs in and the last one I use to charge controllers. Of course, you can and you WILL be able to live with 2 slots but it is likely that you will be doing some plugging/unplugging if you begin adding peripherals. One way around it is to get a USB port multiplexer. Another solution is seek Bluetooth peripherals (wireless) if you can find them. Bluetooth keyboards, for example, are available.

PS2 COMPATIBILITY:

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This model does not support PS2 software. Since the original PS2-compatible PS3's are hard to get, this has to be accepted as reality. I assume that Sony, after polling existing and future PS3 users, found that most users don't need PS2 compatibility. Soon after we upgraded to a PS3 my kids were playing Kingdom Hearts and Destroy All Humans but I haven't seen them doing so in quite a while. It is nice to have PS2 compatibility but its lacking would not stop me from buying a PS3.

PSOne GAMES:

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The PS3 has full PSOne compatilibity. Lots of them are available for download at the PSN store. They are quite inexpensive and some of them are still fun to play.

SUMMARY:

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If you like Drake's and you do not consider upgrading, buy THIS model. In fact, you should buy this model regardless of Drake's because you are likely to be unhappy with an unupgraded 80GB model like I mentioned above, I am already using over 120GB and this is BEFORE Home.

If you are planning to upgrade, you're better off with an 80GB model selling for $100 less because you can use the $100 you save to buy yourself Drake's for about $40 and use the balance to help pay for your disk upgrade.

Get yourself a USB port multiplexer if you need more than 2 ports

Transfer your photos to flash drives to get around the missing memory card interfaces

Or or, even better, get the Playstation 3 Media Hub+ for 2 extra USB ports AND a card reader

Keep your PS2 if you have one and still wish to play PS2 games in the future.

Enjoy your new PS3.

_____________________

Note: I am not taking off one star for the lack of PS2 compatibility. I understand that Sony must compete on price and make a profit and times are tough. However, I simply can't see why Sony cut the number of USB ports from 4 down to 2 and this explains why this unit gets 4 stars instead of 5. This is a relatively significant inconvenience and I can't see how it would cost Sony more than a dollar or 2 if it provided 4 ports instead of 2.

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When I was looking for Blu Ray DVD players, the PlayStation came out on top of every review I read. So I started looking at games available for the system and saw the review for the Uncharted game over on Gamespot. Uncharted looked like the best game for me, and considering the other bundles available, this seemed like a good deal, with a larger hard drive, (we all need more space) Uncharted, and PAIN all included.

First of all the SIXAXIS controller is fantastic. Easy to hold, easy to use, bluetooth wireless, and it has motion sensing capabilities like the Wii. In Uncharted you have to use that feature to toss grenades and balance as you cross some objects.

Second, the DVD player is wonderful. Since the wireless features are bluetooth there is another remote available to play DVDs. But, I don't think you need it. You can use the game controller easy enough. Anyone familiar with the interface on a PC or MAC DVD player will instantly get it.

The menu system on the PlayStation has been criticized in some reviews, but I don't get that at all. It is very easy, and the same interface is used on their Bravia TVs. I wish more electronics had menus like this. I have used FrontRow on the Macs, and I like this better.

The wireless feature configured on the first try with my network, which has two layers of security. I have more trouble getting some of my Macs on my network, than the PlayStation.

Finally, Uncharted is nothing short of amazing. Imagine you are part of an Indy Jones or National Treasure movie. That is the experience. Period. The music track gives clues to when you are heading in the right direction, and Nate Drake has awesome moves once you get used to the controller.

PAIN is ok, more funny than a real challenge. I suppose you could take it seriously, but it is best to just fling the character at everything in site and then use the controls to bounce and hit as much as possible. The physics is very realistic, and there is no blood. Great game when you just relieve some stress by smashing something.

If you are looking for a BluRay player or a game system, this is really the best value. I compared to the Xbox and with that system you have to keep buying extras to build up to the capabilities of this single purchase. In other words, don't just focus on the lowest price, consider the total value. For example, many of the games you can download from the PlayStation store are about $10, and the PlayStation network is free. Not to mention all the free demo games, movie trailers, movie and tv show downloads that are free or just a few bucks.

I could probably find enough free demos to play all year, but I made the mistake of visiting the Prince of Persia web site and now I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Uncharted alone would make this a deal, but add 160GB hard drive, and a BluRay player--don't think, do. Get this system.

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I have never really been a PlayStation fan since purchasing the very first PlayStation nearly 10 years ago. As a result most of my console gaming was on Nintendo's and Microsoft's consoles. However, between my XBOX Pro and Elite consoles, I have had to send them back them to Microsoft seven times in less than two years. Even the "more reliable" Elite console had to be returned twice last year. I decided that I spent too much money for that kind of unreliability so I reluctantly contemplated a PS3 purchase. Now before all of you Microsoft fan boys start calling this a fan boy review, think again; I call them as I see them and I never really understood why someone just can't have two or all three of the gaming systems anyway. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my XBOX 360 console, have around 25 XBOX 360 games, and still play it regularly. However when I spend nearly a grand on two Microsoft consoles, I expect them to last longer than a few months. I don't know about you, but I work hard for my money, paying for all my things out of my own pocket and I refuse to spend another dime on Microsoft's money pit of faulty consoles.

The main reason I purchased a PS3 was because I was in the market for a Blu-Ray player. However during extensive research I discovered that the Blu-Ray player on the PS3 is one of the best on the market, and while I'm not a big fan of multipurpose gaming consoles, I decided on the PS3 opposed to a standalone due to my countless issues with the XBOX 360. I may end up getting a standalone Blu-Ray player eventually, but for now the PS3 will suffice. The Blu-Ray player does not disappoint; however since this is my first experience with a Blu-Ray player, I don't have anything to compare it to other than DVD players. That said I never experienced any issue with the playback on the PS3. The first movie I purchased was The Dark Knight and comparing the video quality to my DVD player I do see a big difference. While DVD's certainly look good, the Blu-Ray does in fact show a noticeable difference. Honestly I don't notice much difference in audio, but this could be because I have a very old A/V receiver. The Blu-Ray player on the PS3 also up converts regular DVD's (with an HDMI cable). To me, the up-converting is ok, but I prefer using my standalone for watching regular DVD's.

One huge advantage the PS3 has over the 360 is that Sony doesn't nickel and dime you on accessories like Microsoft does. An example of this is that the PS3 has built in wireless internet capability instead of making you spend a hundred bucks on an "adapter". Additionally, all A/V connections in the back of the console are spaced out so you can use multiple A/V outputs (i.e. using HDMI video with optical sound) without having to spend an additional fifty bucks on yet ANOTHER adapter. Also, the PS3 controller can be charged with the included USB cable and you are not forced to purchase a battery pack and a separate charger. Finally, all memberships to the Sony PlayStation network (the equivalent to XBOX Live) are absolutely free. Meaning it's free to play games online without having to pay ANOTHER fifty/year for a "Gold membership"; granted while it is not that much, free is always better. Keep in mind that you still have to pay for some downloads, but you aren't charged just to be member.

One small complaint I had right off the bat is that unlike the 360 I am unable to output optical sound to my receiver and HDMI sound to my television simultaneously. I found the ability to do this on the 360 to be quite convenient since when everyone is in the bed I can play games with the receiver volume turned all the way down and just use the sound on the TV. However with the PS3 you can only choose one or the other at a given time. So before I start playing games, I have to choose in the Audio Settings screen if I want to use HDMI sound through the TV or optical sound through my receiver every time. My receiver does not have HDMI capability so I do not know if this limitation applies if both the TV and Receiver have HDMI capability.

This PS3 package comes bundled with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune which is a very good game to start off with. Once you are done with this game you can easily download demos from the PlayStation network to check out other titles you are curious about.

Keep in mind that to cut costs, Sony decided to do away with backwards compatibility with PS2 games. Neither of the current versions of the PS3 can play PS2 games. Because I have no PS2 games, this is not a concern for me and since I'm one to keep my old consoles, backwards compatibility has NEVER been a concern for me. However, if you are one that wishes to play PS2 games, then I suggest getting one of the older model PS3's or just purchase a PS2 separately since they are inexpensive now.

So far the PS3 seems like a good console. Available titles are limited for me since I have most of the good cross platform games on the 360 already. Drake's Fortune is a good start, but I am hoping for more worthy PS3 titles in the near future. Reliability wise, I have experienced a couple of game freezes, but restarting the system seemed to clear the problem. Only time will tell it it's more reliable than the 360. I could be wrong, but I highly doubt I will go through 3 4 per year as I have with the 360.

Honest reviews on PlayStation 3 160GB Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Bundle

This is not my first console ever. I switched from Xbox classic and 360 and this was the best decision I've ever made. Free online gaming, much smoother running, hundreds of extra features and utilities, and now also the Playstation Home coming up makes Playstation3 absolutely unmatched by any of the others. This is the ultimate gaming and home entertainment system I'll be sure to stick to for many, many years to come. I highly recommend it to everyone in the whole world. You will know what I'm talking about when you get it. I also want to thank the lousy and completely useless XBox360 technical support who has opened my eyes and made me switch to Playstation3. I hope this inspires lots of other gamers who decided to settle for an OK system to make the same switch I did and treat themselves with the right stuff.

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The PS3 was first released in November 2006, just one year after its competition, the XBOX 360. What can be said for the console since its release back on that amazing day in 2006? Well one thing is that it continues to evolve even to this day thanks to new releases with bigger hard drives and numerous software patches to be downloaded for free through the Playstation network (PSN). Sony are a company that listen to their fans and although upon first release the creators think they know what's best, they are more than willing to develop the interface and the experience through feedback from gamers.

The XBOX 360 was released 1 year earlier than the PS3 because Microsoft wanted to get the jump on Sony by releasing their console for Christmas 2005 which presented absolutely no gaming competition. Good move from a business stand point, but this only hindered the XBOX experience with the numerous hardware faults including the dreaded red ring of death. Fans were angry and frustrated and certainly a lot of them felt robbed by Microsoft's shoddy hardware blunders. The PS3 was the saving grace as although we had to wait an additional year for it to be released, the wait was worth it.

The look of the PS3 is something I want to talk about first. The external appearance is something we all notice first and it's definitely something that made me buy it. Next to hardware, the look of a console on the outside and in the interface is definitely something quite important I take into consideration when deciding a purchase. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) is again something that looks very pretty and of course presents an easy to navigate interface. The PS3 GUI is known as the XrossMediaBar or the XMB. It is split into 9 categories. Users, Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, PSN, Network and Friends all make up an easy to find system when you're looking to perform a particular task within the operating system.

I don't know much about hardware and the technical stuff, but they've all been touched upon in other reviews so I'm going to just talk about the little add ons that really make it a worthwhile experience to buy this console. The PSN is one of its best selling points for the PS3 as although the 7th generation of gaming has taken a more positive leap to internet gaming, the fact that joining the PSN and being able to play your friends online is free wins it many fans. The wireless controllers are again another fantastic addition. This may be considered reaching for complements but it's the small things that have the biggest impact. Bluetooth and built in wireless internet capability are just immense considering if you want stuff like this, you have to buy the extras for the XBOX 360 to allow for such freedom

My favourite thing to do with the console is to be able to plug in my external hard drive and watch any film I have stored on my PS3. It seems to have the ability to play any video format on the PS3 and although that may not be the case, I'm happy and as a gamer, that's all that matters. Thanks to recent updates, Sony has now introduced the very welcome Trophy system which is a way of matching Microsoft's achievement system. Some would say it's better, others would say it doesn't matter, but to me it makes the gaming experience that bit more worth it.

The whole point of the PS3 is the gaming experience and that is the right approach to take which has worked wonders for Sony. No widespread hardware problems and no noise problems which were two of my main complaints about the PS3. It wasn't a rushed console and you can tell that from the start. It's an immense experience and just over two years on it has an impressive games catalogue that is guaranteed to get better and better. There's no doubting that even though it is just two years on, there's a PS4 at least at the discussion point of development and we probably won't see a finished article for about 4 or even 5 years.

That being said, I hope Sony learn a lot from this console and understand where they went wrong and what they did right. At this point, with all the software updates and other such changes, the PS3 is near enough the perfect console. One thing that does bug me a little is the constant new releases with larger hard drives and better add ons such as PS2 backwards compatibility. When we do see a PS4 we should get a large hard drive to begin with but if upgrades of hard drive space are made available, then we should be given an easy way to upgrade the hard drive without having to be a techno type of guy and having to take apart the console.

Just buy it, you won't regret it, I promise.

Buy Hard Drive Transfer Cable for Microsoft Xbox 360

Customer Ratings:

It did not make a link between the hard drive and the system. I had to get my buddy to bring his transfer cable to me, and as soon as we hooked it up, we were good. He originally had bought the same type of transfer cable and ran into the exact same problem.

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This cable wiped my hard drive. Seven years of game saves down the drain.

This warning from Xbox is not FUD:

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This cable worked beautifully for transferring the data from my original Xbox 360 hard drive to my 360S hard drive. I think they originally came with a disc for the transfer utilities, but I think Microsoft eventually built that capability directly into the Xbox OS.

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This is a useful device at a great price IF you're going to transfer to/from COMPUTER to XBOX. If you want to transfer from XBOX to XBOX, you must buy the OEM cable, from Microsoft.

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It shorted both my xbox's hard drive port my Xbox's can not read any hard drives at all, what the world

Reviews of Van Helsing - Xbox

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List Price: $19.99
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...that's my reaction to the Van Helsing game. Many people have criticized it as having a bad camera, not enough acting out of the story (too many cutscenes and such), as well as being repetitive, but they're all nitpicking.

The first time I saw this game I was really looking forward to it. Well, I rented it and after a day or two, I hated it. I'd been playing games like Hitman, which require more strategy and "brain power", so I thought this was stupid, mindless game. However, I didn't realize one thing. This is NOT a "shooter", though most of the weapons are guns. This is an ACTION game, entailing tons of exciting movement, such as jumping and fighting while watching the really cool villains do likewise. In short, you have to be in the right mood to play this, or not expect too much. You may be dissapointed if you think this is another Red Dead Revolver or something. I bought it and had a blast because I knew what kind of game I was playing.

The gameplay has been called repetitive, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's really fun to just lay into your opponents', though some of the weapon' shooting (dual pistols) can become tiresome, despite its propensity for success. You basically have to use your tojos and/or twin scimitars to liven it up with some variety (I recommend tojos against most non-flying creatures and bosses, as it's really fun to tear through your adversaries). There are a fair amount of other weapons, such as the crossbow, shotgun, electric gun, and a few other great weapons I don't want to spoil for you, which all have strength and weaknesses of their own, making each of them a value and a hindrace (realism, folks) to getting through the game. The jumping/grappling onto things is a good bit of variety in the game, and when you have to use them, it adds a bit of reality (if you consider some of Van Helsing's jump "realistic") and makes sense with the mission. Last of all, there's a load of great monsters, such as possessed skeletons, giant owls, gargoyles, the main bosses you saw in the movie (including bonus fights with Frankenstein's Monster), and well, the list covers just about every major mythological/horror creature, way past the dinky litte list in the manual that comes with the game. It's great, trust me.

And now, some Game Tips:

Try beating the five challenges in "order" (that they presented in the game) and twice in order if need be (whatever works; I played the game 15 or so times through before I beat all the challenges so I'm not completely sure what unlocks the Rifle, though I suspect it's just order), starting with Challenge #4 (the maze is the easiest challenge and can be done the first time through the game), next Challenge #5 (time attack, should be attempted the second or third time through the game so that you have the gatling gun), then Challenge #1 (break the statues is easily the hardest, but can be done the first time through the game. You need to break the statues up high before breaking the ones on ground level; jump up and down to enrage the gargoyles, and if they don't come, immediately grapple the gargoyles and pull them into close quarters; you may want to try this when you have a lot of glyphs and the Armory Anytime cheat found in the second through the game so that you can keep buying Life Replenishers), then Challenge #2 (stay on the ring and don't let the owls knock you off; probably the second hardest and you probably want to wait till the third time through the game, having beaten the hard difficulty, so that you have the Unlimited Alternate Ammo cheat to use), and finally Challenge #3 (rising blood challenge; go to the right of the screen and jump onto the gargoyle head and follow the logical progression of heads until you get to about the six or seventh, where'll you be safe to grapple away and beat the challenge). If you need any other game tips, like where to find all the Life Increasers or whatever, I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend buying Prima Games' Official Strategy Guide to Van Helsing. This is an AWESOME tip book and helped me get almost everything on the game (I'm still missing some Increasers, though). It comes cheap, and will become your best friend when playing Van Helsing.

Now onto the graphics. The graphics are superb, though many criticize them for being simple for a such a graphically capable system such as the X-Box. The backgrounds are very well-lit, and the environments you're in are very time appropiate and detailed, rivaling and maybe even surpassing the movie's scope. While Anna looks a little piggish with her slightly upturned nose, the bosses are impressive (I really like Mr. Hyde), and the more common creatures are uniquely good.

Some other things, such as the sound and voice-acting are worth going over. The music is good, though sometimes backgroundish, and not entirely noticeable unless you listen for it. Not to say its bad, but seems rather distant sometimes. The voice acting is well-done, at least for the time the actors had to do them (they were on a tight schedule). Some of the Transylvanian accents, such as Anna's (sorry, Mandy), sound a bit stilted at times, but at worst it provides a chuckle.

Sure, I've sung the game's praises, but here are some admonitions, primarily for parents. Other than a minimal amount of blood spilled (not much but the dwergi and vampire bats "spew" it sometimes), Dracula's brides appear in a cutscene where they aren't, well, entirely clothed. However, this cutscene can be skipped by pressing "Start", so it's probably not much of a problem. The same thing goes for the green banshee women who remind me of mermaids; they hold green pieces of cloth against their chests, concealing, well, MOST of their bosoms, but not all. Nothing detailed here, but not very appropriate.

As a warning for gamers, don't expect to be able to play as a werewolf at the end of the game (probably the biggest letdown of the century), which would have skyrocketed this game right past probably my favorite, Red Dead Revolver. In my opinion, the game's greatest downfall, which put in some good stuff not included in the movie (Frankenstein fights, the exclusive game creatures and more weapons) but left out one of the movie's strongest points (the Van Hesling werewolf) in gameplay, which would have been so much fun (just use the Wolf Man's moves or something). Van Helsing does change into a werewolf in the cutscene but it's not the same. A good idea, in my humble opinion, would have been to have Van Helsing in human form fight Dracula in human form with his weapons, then have a cutscene where Dracula basically says the kid gloves are off and they both transform, then the gamer could fight with the Van Helsing werewolf against the Demon Dracula (that way the gamers AND the producers could have what they want).

Overall, the game was quite enjoyable, and had the potential to be even better. I would recommend at least a rental of this game, because its one of kind (or maybe it's that just because I haven't played Devil May Cry). Remember, you most likely have to be in the right mood and like this genre before you can appreciate and have fun playing Van Helsing. That's my two cents.

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After seeing the AWESOME film Van Helsing, I was more than desperate to get my hands on the game based on the film for my xbox. I must admit that I was very worried, as I have played many movie-based videogames, few with satisfying results (the last movie-based game I had played was Terminator 3 Rise of the machines! You can see why I was worried!!!).However, my worries amounted to nothing.

Van Helsing is a solid game on its own, but it is more fun to be taking up the role of Van Helsing. All his awesome weapons are there, and some new ones! The fact that you can lose your hat in a fight is a nice touch, and the original voices of Igor, Dracula and Van Helsing himself add much class.

Visually, Van Helsing is nothing new. Its no Ninja Gaiden, but it does have some truly gothic locations, excellent weapon designs, and Van Helsing himself looks the part.

I was a little disappointed in terms of sound (for me, this was the games weakest area). Sure, the voices are cool, but bar that, it was a let down. The film had some truly fantastic themes, while the game's score was very dry and basic (I rarely paid attention to it). There were some nice sound effects, but small things like Mr Hyde lacking his hilarious accent, and the Tojo blades making no buzzing noise were disappointing.

Gameplay wise, the controls are quite nice, with a good balance between guns and melee weapons. The grapple rope proved very useful and easily accessable. No faults in this area.

Overall, Van Helsing makes for a rather satisfying (if short)play. Its no Ninja Gaiden or Prince of Persia, but is one of the better movie tie-in games out there. For fans of the film, I'd advise it. For fans of the action-adventure genre, its worth a look at

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Based on the original hollywood movie, Van Helsing is an action packed game with voices of movie's cast. Instead of putting in cheat codes, you can cheats in the game by destroying secret doors, my favorite is the ghost body feature. As you go through the game, you battle tons of zomibes and monsters. You fight such monsters as Mr. Hyde, Wolfman, and, of course, Dracula. This game isn't for the Monsterpohbic.

Rating: 8.2 of 10

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Honest reviews on Van Helsing - Xbox

I went to see the Movie and had to get the game. Then the game came with a free pass and I went to see the movie again.

They are both awesome.

The only thing wrong with the game is it is too short by the standards of modern adventure games it took me 3 hours and 40 min to beat it the first time.

When you beat it though you get to keep your player and beat it again.

The best part is that it will not really spoil the movie. It sticks with the Dracula legend and adds a lot too it.

I wondered for almost a year how they were going to tie all the monsters together and I think they did a spectacular Job.

Play it for yourself and see.

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Originally purchased this thinking it was a different title and was unpleasantly surprised when I started playing it. Low quality game, lots of glitches and I couldn't get through more than about an hour of game play before I tossed it,

Battlefield 2: Special Forces Expansion Pack - PC Review

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The content of this release, while not top notch, does add some life to the already popular BF2 game. The sum total of the release adds new soldier classes, maps and vehicles. It does not (as many had hoped) patch a multitude of bugs in the original game. Many of the vehicles while fun at first really turn out to be nothing more than a novelty as they are not as effective as most vehicles included in the original game. Also, a blessing to some and a disappointment for others, there are no airplanes in this game. Still many die hard fans of the game won't be without this (or any other expansion pack), but the casual player can easily do without.

One tactic that EA has employed to try to keep you from doing without is that Special Forces owners are able to play on the original BF2 servers using the new goodies in the expansion pack. Many feel that this gives an unfair advantage as Special Forces players who are able to blind others with flash bangs and use other new tactics. It is a questionable marketing ploy as people who have paid for the original game must now decide if they must purchase the expansion to remain competitive. This has been a point of contention in the BF2 community and has been a constant complaint on many internet forums.

Beyond the marketing of this product, the real problems surround the complete swarm of bug reports and problem installations. Reports of computers that ran the original fine but now only get 15 frames per second are not uncommon. Also after install, a 280 megabyte patch must be downloaded (4 hours from EA with a broadband connection). This patch then decompresses to an unheard of 3 gigabytes. Many people have reported of problems with the install of this patch as the decompression doesn't always work properly leaving the user with even bigger problems than the game not running. All these problems smell of a product that was rushed out the door for the Christmas season. Quite a disappointment as the title really had unlimited potential.

Summary: A bit of new life to an already popular game but not worth the problems that many have had. You may find it worth a look... if you can get it too run.

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Believe it or not, Special Forces is in worse shape than Battlefield 2 was when it was released.

EA and Dice have been slow to address showstopping bugs in the original game, and against my better judgement, I decided to give SF a shot thinking that maybe some problems would have been addressed.

Nope.

Many people are experiencing a lot of difficulty just INSTALLING the game, let alone playing it. If you are able to get the game installed (and I eventually was), you're likely to find yourself up against a host of other problems including severe frame-rate drops and performance issues, even if the original game ran well performanse-wise (which mine did).

It would be nice if companies like EA and Dice were held more accountable for shoddy product they release to their fans, especially considering that the majority of their fanbase consists of financially-strapped college and high-school students.

This is awful.

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Same as my review for the original -a few new tools to use in the default kits. When I rate it a 4 as fun, I'm thinking it *would* be fun if I could actually make use of the entire game... because what you can access is pretty fun.

Also you end up downloading a 250MB (!) patch that you have to reinstall after installing the SF expansion pack. That's just uncalled for. Even with DSL every server I got made it creep along at 25 KPS, and I feel sorry for people who have dialup. If they do have dialup, they aren't going to likely be playing multiplayer either, which means, don't waste your time.

What I said about the original:

I admit it's enjoyable to play, but it's really frustrating knowing you can't access all the features of the game in singleplayer. You get half a game for the full price. I have played online, and i just don't care for it much because of the numerous problems with servers booting you off for who knows what For example, forgetting to stop in the middle of the 'heat of battle' and apologize for teamkills, or missing the little message that tells you how to forgive someone for teamkilling you. I got booted for too many teamkills when I hadn't killed any teammates. There also don't seem to be that many newbie servers where you can go to learn the mp rules and practice.

I just don't have the time for figuring out all the ins and outs of multiplayer at this point in my life. I might consider a LAN party at some point, but for now singleplayer is my main option.

You're also limited to the smaller maps in singleplayer, and smaller numbers of bots. There are tweaks you can do (if you know what you're doing) to increase the number of bots, and possibly the size of the maps, but as I understand it the bots won't know what to do with the expanded maps. In the expanded territory, it doesn't add to the number of control points or special equipment/vehicles etc. in those areas either, it just give you more room to run around alone. Yippee. So far no one has come up with a mod that allows you to access all the features of the game as single player.

You also can't unlock new weapons kits unless you play online on ranked servers and earn them, ANDn the endless hours of play needed to earn them seems a bit ludicrous to me! it seems to be made for people who have no other life, don't go to school or work and never eat or sleep.

I would like to be able to access the whole game as a single player at home, even if none of that stuff works on multiplayer unless I earn it on ranked servers.

This seems to be a common complaint on most of the forums I've researched, and with all the modders out there you'd think they'd have come up with a mod that addresses these things by now, if it wasn't that difficult to do. I'm about ready to start looking into it myself, but as a full time mom with three kids and two dogs and a part time job besides that, it just isn't that feasible.

Another problem is the realism. Why is it that a shot to the head doesn't drop anyone? I can't imagine that putting a 3 round burst of 5.56mm , or a single 7.62mm round into someone's skull from any distance, would allow them to continue on their merry way and turn around and shoot you dead (with the first shot, no less) from 75 yards with an mp5. It's a darn good things those medics can cure any injury with those shock paddles, if only they can get to you.

One thing about the AI that annoys me is that all the bots clump together. I realize pathfinding is the most difficult part of all to program for. But man, clumping together is the best way to get killed. I tend to sneak around and flank, but even if I tell the bots to follow me, they may comply for about two seconds and then go back to what they were doing. I think the Tom Clancy games handled this kind of teamwork AI far better, and without needing the high system specs that BF2 and BF2:SF require. I have enjoyed all of the Clancy games far more, with the exception of Splinter Cell too simple and easy.

Honest reviews on Battlefield 2: Special Forces Expansion Pack - PC

This game is deeply disappointing. While gameplay itself has been good, the quality of DICE's game menus and selection screens for multiplayer makes it almost unplayable. The GUI of this part of the game is completely counter-intuitive, appears to have been an afterthought, and does more to prevent players from joining games than it does to actually support them.

As an example the game often fails to load simply when you boot it up, sitting uselessly at the "Connecting To Account Server" screen during initial log in. Bear in mind, you're not logging into multiplayer here... the game needs to connect to the server so that you can even play it on your own machine against the computer, and often fails to do so!

Once in, finding a game can be impossible, or at least infuriating. The game often loads completely (takes forever), begins comparing data with the server, and breaks with no error message, returning you to the game selection screen. This process will not be unfamiliar to those of you who formerly owned Commodore Vic-20s with the Cassette Tape storage system.

DICE should be ashamed at the inattention to detail and overall poor quality of this software.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Battlefield 2: Special Forces Expansion Pack - PC

Ok, first off I sympathize with everyone who has problems getting this game to run correctly. I had my own strange problem where I installed SF after I already had patch 1.3 installed and SF would not run. So, I had to guess at re-installing the 1.3 patch. EA's qualtity control is very poor, everyone knows it, so we'll leave it at that. Anyway, after re-installing the 1.3 patch I was able to play for about 4 or 5 hours without any problems. Hopefully thats a good sign that SF is getting more stable, but lets' face it, BF2 in general still gets lockup and crashes to desktop randomly, so I'm not holding my breath. One tip to help with crashes, disable EAX sound in your BF2 audio options, it seems to help.

I'd rather focus on the game experience itself in my review, which is pretty positive. SF definately has a different look and feel to it than BF2, which is good. The changed models, weapons, maps and vehicles are a well done, and battling indoors is a nice change from all the outdoor scenes in BF2. New attack helis are sweet, and 4-wheeler really zips around. There is alot of cover in the maps, so you can sneak around and hide and get close to flags and take out enemies more covertly. This makes for a different style of gameplay than normal BF2. I'll admit, it was not worth the original $30 price tag, but now that it's down to $15 it's a decent buy. Overall, I really like SF.

Discount Mad Catz Devastator Wireless Stereo Headset for Xbox 360

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The tritton devastator headset is $169.99 and it is wireless strerio sound and cones with the headset and the base. The headset is like the tritton warhea and is wirless to the xbox 369 and the controller unlike any other brand

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this headset looks so cool when it comes out i want to get it but i hope the price is lower then $90 to make everyone want to buy it

Discount LEGO Marvel Super Heroes - Xbox One

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WOW! Really great game. I buy the lego games to play with my 5 year old. So this review is for the game being played that way. We are about 45% complete. I like the improvements over the other lego games. The hint system seems better and gives us hints where in previous games I had to look up gameplay guides. Also we loved the amount of characters before but now there are even more! Lots of content, really good variety. And of course the graphics are great. Just wanted to review on how we play and what we like since I saw there were no reviews yet.

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Buy Minute to Win It (Kinect) - Xbox 360

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List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $12.99
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There is something magically addicting about watching a game show on television. Tension and excitement build when there are big prizes at stake, and nothing spells tension like having a $1 million prize on the line. Minute to Win It is one of these game shows that feature high stakes, quick thinking, and lots of action. With the abilities of the Kinect for Xbox 360, such a game might be a nice translation.

The game show itself, Minute to Win It, has been on American television since March, 2010. The premise of the show is to have increasingly difficult challenges which contestants must complete to win the big bucks. There are a total of ten increasingly difficult challenges offering the ultimate payout of $1 million. The first, and easiest of the challenges, starts off with a reward of $1,000. Each subsequent challenge increases the payout along with the complexity of the challenge. Contestants are asked if they would like to walk away with their current earnings or to stay and possibly win more. The caveat is the possibility of losing all their winnings if they fail their next challenge. As the title of the show would suggest, each challenge must be completed in a nerve-wracking 60 seconds. Audience enthusiasm and tension is orchestrated by celebrity host, Guy Fieri.

As for the game, Minute to Win It, is available on several different video game platforms, but is made most interesting by the Kinect through full body tracking. For people who have ever played the game 1 vs 100 on Xbox Live, the feeling is very similar here. The audience, host, and players all appear as Xbox Avatars. A word to the wise, how you dressed your Avatar, will be how they show up in the game. My Avatar was donning a tux and pig helmet, which seemed proper for a high-stakes game show. Guy Fieri makes his appearance as the host. Mr. Fieri's voice acting felt natural, but I'm still not totally comfortable with his Avatar. Perhaps I would favor a different look, but admittedly this is just a small personal nitpick. After all, I'm the one showing up with a pig helmet.

The entire game is very straight forward. P ick how many players you want (one, one vs. one, or up to four taking turns) and then pick your mode. There is the game show mode, a time challenge mode, and a practice mode. I found it strange that there is no online mode for leaderboards or competitive play, but I am reviewing an early build of the game and the developers could have added it before retail launch.

The game show mode is really the bread and butter of this game and where you'll be spending a majority of your time. The crowd of cheering Avatars is quite fun and you certainly feel a bit of the game show buzz when your Avatar appears in the spotlight. The challenges are surprisingly varied and as close to realistic as you can get. While I haven't performed all the challenges in real life, I would certainly imagine real life challenges to be more difficult than the Kinect counterparts. For instance, rolling an egg by flapping a pizza box seems like it would take a lot more effort in person versus the arm flapping I did in front of my television set. Some challenges are a bit silly, such as pulling out tissues and having to wipe away stray tissues from my face, but everything is done in fun and meant for a good laugh. Each challenge comes with their own blueprint, just like the television show. The show is broken up by make-believe commercials, which you act out as your Avatar. A video clip is available for laughter and ridicule after each challenge is complete. Sadly, I didn't see a way to share these hilarious videos online.

The Kinect tracking seems very natural and the challenges feel solid enough where they don't seem to cheapen the experience. When a virtual $1 million is on the line, bad controls can totally ruin the enjoyment. Thankfully everything seems to track very well, from rolling ping-pong balls to shaking pedometers. Albeit some tasks seem almost too easy, such as bouncing balls into cups, and some challenges seem pretty difficult, like rolling an orange with a banana between your legs. While the challenges do get tricky, there is a harder difficulty option for those daring enough to try. Overall, you'll have to let your imagination just run away with the show and just have fun.

In reviewing games, I look for the five F's: fitness, fun, functionality, family, and firsts. There are some games, such as Wipeout 2 that are naturally built for fitness; Minute to Win It is not billed as such. You will however be moving your arms and various body parts a lot, but nothing that will work up an incredible sweat. As for fun, the 20 challenges are wacky enough to keep you entertained. Being in the spotlight and watching after-event videos adds some solid enjoyment to the game. Mix in more participants and you'll have a blast. The functionality of the game is fairly solid, despite some of the challenges feeling a little dumbed down compared to their real life counterparts and other challenges being a bit difficult to master. If you are looking for a family friendly game, you've come to the right spot because everything in the game is clean and tasteful fun with just a hint of innuendo. With that said, several of the challenges may be a bit challenging for young kids to try on their own. As for firsts, Minute to Win It doesn't set any records for creating a new or unique experience. What it does, it does well. However, you have probably played something like this before or else already have an understanding of what the game is before ever playing it.

There are a surprisingly decent amount of challenges to explore and have fun with. The title also supports downloadable content, which opens the door for future challenge add-ons. I really would have liked to see competitive online modes or leaderboards, but again maybe that is just missing from the preview copy. For players that either host a lot of parties or otherwise have multiple bodies around, this game can be a lot of fun. As far as the single player experience, once the show is over (there are ten shows) there isn't a lot to keep you coming back for more. In summary, if you are a fan of the show, looking for a game show fix, or have people to play with, then Minute to Win It could be the party title you are looking for. If you don't fall into these categories, then this title might not be the perfect fit for your gaming dollars.

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This game is so overlooked. It has good controls, it follows the game show to the tee (has the same challenges from the show(, and is a ton of fun even if your alone. I dont understand why its not more known when there are all of these stupid kinect games that dont work being advertised like crazy. The only issue i have with this game is that it isnt too lengthy.

Best Deals for Minute to Win It (Kinect) - Xbox 360

While the game play is OK and is based on the TV show, the "kinect-ability" is horrible. Often times, sensor issues come up and game play is highly affected. I did not pay much for this game so I was OK with the loss. Other kinect games have no problems so I'm sure it's the game, and not my setup. Another complaint is how long it takes to go from game to game

Honest reviews on Minute to Win It (Kinect) - Xbox 360

I got this game as a gift for christmas and although the game play was confusing at first it's a great game. Amazon had by far the cheapest price and it included shipping! I will be checking amazon before every game purchase and would advise others to do the same.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Minute to Win It (Kinect) - Xbox 360

Grandaughter really enjoys playing the games and seeing family members in the audience cheering her on! Some games a little difficult for her but she still tries.

Cheap Star Wars Battlefront II

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List Price: $29.99
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Star Wars Battlefront II (SWB2) is not an enormous departure from the first Star Wars Battlefront (SWB1), but the differences are all positive. So what's the same, you can employ vehicles in combat in single player and multiplayer (though not as much as SWB1). You still have the ability to specialize your infantry between assault troops, snipers, anti-tank, and special troops (wookies, dark troopers, etc). Also at the writing on this review (Sept 2013), playing online directly through the game is still possible with several servers and lots of live players to play against.

So what's new:

This time you also get to fight as Jedi/Sith and against them. While they can still do enormous damage, they are not practically indestructible like in SWB1. There is a large selection of special characters that you can play during single player and multiplayer. During single player, special characters can only be played during certain parts of certain missions. You will be notified when this option is available. For multiplayer, there are different options. Some games are exclusively hero battles where light sabers rule, but you can also play as Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Boba fett. Other games allow one special character to each side at a time (again you will be notified to play the special character if it is your turn).

Fun space combat with X-wings, Tie fighters, and bombers. The space map boundaries are large which allows for fun dog fighting. You can attack the outside of enemy ships and can raid the inside with space marine raiding parties. I never really enjoyed flying in SWB1 because of the tight maps. However, there is very limited aerial combat in non-space maps. The snowspeeder on Hoth is the only one I can think of.

There are neat features that become available during missions. After you achieve certain conditions, you receive special bonuses like advanced weapons (I love the bonus rifle) and damage reduction. You also gain access to additional troops some of which I found really cool like chain gun troops, wookies, and Destroyer Droids.

The single player finally got some effort put into it. I thought the length of campaign was good. You can only play one side during the campaign, but this time the single player is not just practice time for multiplayer. The missions have objectives and the number of spawns is limited. The campaign follows the 501st legion of republic clone troopers as they evolve to stormtroopers. You basically start in episode 3 and continue into episode 6. I'm not sure if the encounters are all authentic to the series , but many of them take you to battles from the movies. While the storyline may not appeal to everyone, I thought it was well put together and was interesting to see the rebellion from the side of the stormtroopers.

So in summary, if you like first person shooter type games or Star Wars you should get this game.

Technical Note: The game played great both on Windows 7 (Intel i7, 12 GB RAM, 2GB Nvidia Video Card) and Vista (Intel Core 2 Quad, 8GB RAM, 1GB Nvidia Video Card) for me.

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I had originally played this with a friend on the original Xbox, and had tons of fun. I opted to purchase the PC version for myself, because of the "+123 Mod" which basically let all maps and game types be used together. I even had fun on the campaign, although you still stick around for the multiplayer with others or with bots (not enough games have bots!).

Not anything against the game, but the seller I got it from shipped an English 4-CD version of the game from Thailand, rather than a US English DVD version or similar. I thought it was strange.