Review of Scholastic I Spy School Days

My 6-year-old son has all the other I SPY computer games and loves them, so we thought he would love this one as well. He doesn't. It probably would have been better if we started him on this one since it seems to be easier than Treasure Hunt, Fantasy, and Spooky Mansion. (It does say ages 5-9, where the others indicate they're for ages 6-10.) Also, it says it's compatible for Windows XP, but only if you switch down to Windows 95 through Windows Compatibility Wizard. Even then, it kept crashing, which of coarse means that it didn't save the puzzles my son completed, so he had to keep starting over. Even so, he thinks the puzzles are fun. It's just not his favorite.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Scholastic I Spy School Days

Review of Game Case (Nintendo DS)

Nintendo bag is ideal for the Garmin Nuvi GPS. the size is just right and protects it from dammage while i am not using my GPS in the car.
i cut out with cissors the "transluscent pocket game card holder" and inserted a foam pad. Works Great and keeps the unit insulated as well



Click Here to see more reviews about: Game Case (Nintendo DS)

Review of Wii Soft Sport Kit

we had purchased a different attachment kit earlier from somewhere else for the same price. the problem?it was too hard and i am a clutz:)the room we have the wii in is too small for me to be handling hard things like that, everyone was more worried about ducking me than playing the game, so i bought this one!it is soft enough that no one is scared of me and i still have the racket to help line up my tennis shots:) success



Click Here to see more reviews about: Wii Soft Sport Kit

Review of Planetarium 7.0

I dont know what I was really expecting to get when I ordered this software. This certainly wasnt the sort of software I was expecting to receive.

I was expecting something that was perhaps a bit colder but, what I received was an exceptionally user friendly product that has provided me with hours of entertainment.

This is a great product for children, too. But anyone with an interest in astronomy should definitely buy this.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Planetarium 7.0

Review of Mx Vs ATV Untamed

mx vs atv antamed is a great game lots of speed racing but the problem is some of the tracks on the game are darkits makes it hard for you to see but otherewise the game rocks



Click Here to see more reviews about: Mx Vs ATV Untamed

Review of Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card

To sum it up quick, this is the best deal you can purchase for Xbox Live.

Here is a quick breakdown:
1 month via Microsoft = $7.99 = $7.99/month
3 months via Microsoft = $19.99 = $6.66/month
12 months via Microsoft = $49.99 = $4.17/month
12+1 months via Amazon = $45.00 = $3.46/month

This card comes with THIRTEEN (13) months of Xbox Live for cheaper than directly from Xbox.I fully recommend purchasing Live via Amazon, but the choice is yours.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Xbox 360 Live Subscription Gold Card

Review of PS3 HDMI Cable

"no such thing as a better cable" is a misnomer.HDMI cables are rated by the bandwidth capacity (commonly known as bitrate per second), the higher the rate, the more info it can pass digitally in a given timeframe.Why is this important? Because, as games become faster, and higher-bit color graphics emerge, HDMI cables will need the additional bandwidth capacity to smoothly transmit the digital signal from game/video source to your T.V.Emerging technologies, such as 12, 16, and 18-bit color, and "lossless audio" will become standard in the near future.

There are some HDMI cables capable of 3.4 Gbit/s, which can more than handle today's 1080P/12-bit color requirements.Some manufacturers, like Monster Cable, claim 10.2 Gbit/s with their M1000HD series HDMI cable, but it's really 3.4 Gbit/s cable multiplied by it's channels (3).

Current sources, such as HD DVD, BluRay and the current crop of PS3 games are adequately served by the HDMI cable listed here.However it won't be long before a "better cable" is required to handle the latest technology.You don't have to sweat it, for the moment.



Click Here to see more reviews about: PS3 HDMI Cable

Review of Naki Wireless Dance Pad For PS2

My general rule of thumb is dont buy anything wireless, since it invariably sucks. I don't know why i thought this would be any different, i suppose i figured the developers would have forseen such an obvious problem pertaining to dancing games and made sure transmit time was at a minimum. Yet even for a medium-level DDR player such as myself there is quite noticable latiency time for the IR data to transmit and process, meaning one must step slightly before the beat in order to score a "perfect" for that step. Easy enough to get used to on slower songs, but anything faster than around 160 bpm and your screwed.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Naki Wireless Dance Pad For PS2

Review of PS3 Rechargeable Battery Pack

A word of caution for everyone else out there...be aware not everything listed under "battery pack" is the type shown on the main page for this product.

The cheaper items are actually replacement BATTERIES that you have to disassemble the controller to install. I was expecting a battery pack like is shown on the main page.

Confirm this with your seller before buying.



Click Here to see more reviews about: PS3 Rechargeable Battery Pack

Review of Age of Mythology: Including Titans Expansion

This game plays fairly well until........you try to use the internet for a multi player game.Then, they keep knocking you off to validate your cd-key.What a ruse.I own the game.I have the cd-key and it still won't let me play.I have heard that Micro$oft issued a number of the same cd-keys so they look like invalid or duplicate keys.Still trying to resolve.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Age of Mythology: Including Titans Expansion

Review of Classic Sudoku

There are 4 puzzle levels: easy, medium, hard and impossible. There are 5 "themes", but these are only background frames. There are settings for error-checking and timing. The numbers are large and boldface, easy to see/read. There is a "flash me" setting for hints if you get stuck. There is no annoying "theme song" to be silenced. The only "sound effects" are beeps for errors and at completion of the puzzle, but it would be nice to have some kind music or sound when a puzzle is finished correctly. (The bells-drums-shouts at puzzle end on the USAToday and Washington Post online Sudoku games are fun -- a sort of Pavlovian trigger which makes one want to solve another puzzle!) You get good value from this CD version.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Classic Sudoku

Review of Theatre Of War

Although it does say in the product description (at the very end buried under all the other system information), Theater of War does NOT support 64bit Windows Vista.I installed the game to find that the Mission and Campaign Editors as well as the Battle Generator will not work.If you try and start them, it tells you that the utilities are incompatible with this version of Theater of War and will not even try to start.The official site tells you that the game is not compatible with Vista and that they do not support Windows Vista when you look up this problem on their tech support page.End of story.Since I have just spent thirty odd dollars on what is essentially cripple-ware, I have no choice but to warn people off this product and rate it poorly.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Theatre Of War

Review of Wii Messenger Bag

We like to take our Wii system over to friends' houses, so we were in the market for a carrying case.We bought this at Target (for more than the Amazon.com price) on a whim, and here are our impressions:
Points For:
- It does hold the system, sensor bar, 2 Wii Remote Controllers, 2 Wii Nunchuk Controllers, and the associated A/V cable and power cord quite comfortably.In fact, the sensor car has its own padded, zippered compartment inside.That's everything for 2 people, plus an extra little spot for either 2 games (in cases) or one Official Nintendo Wii Wheel.
- The thoughtful addition of a couple elastic bands allows for the securing of a couple items.
- It features both a shoulder strap and a handle, for ease of carrying.
- The padding is decent enough to keep me from feeling nervous when setting the loaded bag in the trunk (or allowing our 4-year old to heft it around).
Strikes Against:
- It does only hold what was mentioned above.That's about it.I was able to shove one Wii Classic Controller in there too, but not by much.It's a tight squeeze for anything else, unless you use the front pocket for 2 more Wiimotes rather than a wheel, as we do.
- It feels lopsided when holding it by the top handle - not well balanced.
- It is, comparatively, smaller for the money than it's closest competitor, the Wii G-pak Console Organizer Case.
Overall, it's a decent case for those looking to port around a Wii with accessories for 2.For our family's needs, it's a bit small - we have 4 players and 4 remotes.It works for that, but you have to leave the wheels at home and bring the games separately.We use a car visor CD carrier for the games, and that actually fits behind the main flap pretty well.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Wii Messenger Bag

Review of Desktop Tower Defense

I love the flash game you can play for free on Internet, but this DS version is SO bad it hurts:
_ The graphics are very poor and have only, like, 32 colors. Don't expect the cool design from the flash version.
_ The playability is horrible. The buttons work during the game, but not with the menus, so you have to switch buttons/stylus again and again.
_ The user interface is NOT lisible and feels as a 1990s game. Why important informations like money and health are not display in bigger size ? Also it's hard to tell the difference between tower's upgrades.

All in all, this game is a quick, dirty port of a wonderfull PC game. A lot of homebrews are way better than this and are free !

So if you enjoy tower defence games, i suggest to stick with NinjaTown (wonderfull gem, but sadly too short) until another one came out.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Desktop Tower Defense

Review of Wii Controller

Used this for a month now, no trouble.I like the grips and so far seems just as good as nintendo's nunchuks (and I paid less too).



Click Here to see more reviews about: Wii Controller

Review of Sim City 4 Deluxe (Mac)

When so many games these days focus on death and destruction, it's nice to have a constructive alternative that is still truly addictive. Filling that niche, as ever, is the prominent Maxis series SimCity.

The latest offering, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition, contains all the robust play offered by a completely new version of the city-building legend as well as a plethora of additional content, tools, and mini-games previously sold separately in the Rush Hour add-on pack.

Like it's predecessors, SimCity 4 is a deep and visually rich simulation. As Mayor the player gets to turn blank plots of land into complex thriving communities with the added challenge of linking them together to form a productive inter-dependent region. With that much realestate to manage, it should hold the interest of creative problem-solvers.

It's a complicated game, but not overly so, and the hierarchic interface is intuitive, which helps a lot since it takes a few hours to get a good grip on the basics of making a successful city (I highly recommend completing all the tutorials before striking out on your own). Once you can figure out how to grow while keeping a positive cash flow, the game becomes immensely rewarding.

Aside from obviously improved graphics resolution and building variety, the biggest change is that every change in the city is calculated around individual sim-citizens rather than grand formulas. Your job, more than anything else, is to keep your sims happy. If you can do that - provide them with jobs, shorten their commutes, educate them, care for their health, and keep them safe - you have what it takes to be a Mayoral Mogul!

That new perspective also means you can get much more involved with the denizens of your metropolis. You can get down to the street-level and ask them what's on their mind or even give them a hand through mini-games.

Driving many vehicles (fire trucks, speed boats, and crop-dusters to name a few) you can navigate the city you've made. While the simplistic pilotage can be clunky, change of perspective is both fun and helpful. It also splashes a little variety on a game that can get slow once in a while. Besides, what soldier can resist taking a joy ride in a tank or skimming the rooftops in an attack helicopter?

What really keeps you playing this game though is layer upon layer of replay possibilities. Since there are no criteria for winning you can set your own goals and measures of success and you can use any number of approaches pursue your ambitions.

You can play one city aiming for a large population and another for the greatest income possible. You can play the good guy or the ruthless dictator and create everything from slum-ridden industrial towns to tiny farming communities to towering pinnacles of civilization!

And of course you can blow it all up and start over...

There's no multiplayer in SimCity, but an active online user-base provides both a community aspect to the game and a wealth of new land marks, buildings, and utilities you can download to keep your virtual communities fresh.

If you own The Sims the people you've created can even interact with your SimCities. What's more, there's a little Mac-only integration in the game. Unlike Windows, you can override the default soundtrack with any playlist in your iTunes library.

While that's a nice touch, the manual refers to Windows keyboards and there are known graphical problems (especially when "drawing" roads or zones) that are unlikely to be addressed (turning on the Z buffer in the options helps). They aren't fatal, but I found my building techniques developed around minimizing the effects those glitches rather than productive gameplay.

Even with drawbacks like performance and price (when compared to the Windows version), it's a quality title and a handy long-term time-waster for creative, micro-managing, or ambitious future base commanders!

SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition is a great gift and worth owning if you remember SimCity 2000 on the Mac or are looking for a constructive game that exercises your creativity. Of course the inclusion of military facilities like Army and Air Force bases and ICBM silos earns it some kudos too!



Click Here to see more reviews about: Sim City 4 Deluxe (Mac)

Review of PS3 Wireless Dance Mat

We bought this for Christmas, but the pad does not sync up with our ps3.



Click Here to see more reviews about: PS3 Wireless Dance Mat

Review of Civilization 2: Test of Time

What is this, then?It's a rip-off of a wonderful game; the technology trees make no sense, the graphics are horrible, and it adds nearly nothing to Civilization II in terms of gameplay.In many superficial aspects, the designers tried to make a complete break from Civilization II; however, they tried to do so while making as few changes to the underlying engine as possible.The result is a somewhat muddled mess.

Graphics first.The graphics engine, in fact the entire game engine, is virtually the same as that for Civilization II.This is an engine that was made in 1996; made, essentially, for 640x480 resolution, and it suffers greatly.This isn't helped by the poor quality of the graphics.

The learning curve can be difficult, to say the least.Many of the games have multiple worlds, each with their own separate terrain types, none of whose effects can be easily learned.In Civilization II, the task of remembering which terrain type does what is reasonably simple, since terrain types correspond to terrain in real life:there are mountains, hills, grasslands, plains, rivers, swamps, tundra, deserts, and glaciers.Imagine trying to remember that many terrain types for each of four different worlds, without being able to refer to real life.What sort of effects do you think metallic hydrogen would produce?Without the terrain chart and the technology tree poster, things rapidly become ridiculous.

This was a game made without Sid Meier or Brian Reynolds, and it shows; though there is some promise to the concept, the execution seems to have consisted of taking the buildings, units, and technology of Civ II and scrambling it all up; it's Civilization II with new names for everything.Not even that much; in scrambling everything around, it loses the excellent game-design of Civilization II, and punishes prior knowledge of Civilization;if you've played Civilization, you know that all of the buildings and wonders are simply renamed versions of the old ones, and to know that, and to know that you'll have to relearn the names of the scrambled buildings, is a depressing thought.

If you truly want a follow-up to Civilization II, buy Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, or wait for Civilization III, both from Firaxis and both done with Sid Meier.If you like the idea of a fantasy game, or like the idea of multiple parallel worlds, the concept was done much better in Master of Magic, a game, that, though five years older than Test of Time, looks and plays much better.It's simply too bad that the sequel was never completed.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Civilization 2: Test of Time

Review of Memento Mori

Memento Mori is a third person adventure game where you find clues and use inventory items to overcome situations in the game. The plot is fairly strait forward but a bit odd. You play as two indenities, Max and Loria. I like Max though I found the acting bewtween the two to be well, very dry. The acting is weird, dumb humor but maybe that's just me.

Warning Spoilers below!!!!

You start the game and find out that Max has copied priceless paintings to sell. Not a bad idea except the Russian government catches him. If this would have occured during the Cold War he would most likely have been shipped to a East Siberian prison and never heard from again no questions asked. So you end up in St. Petersburg, now Russia attempting to correct your mistakes (a parden anyone?) when you notice a bald monk stealing paintings right off the wall. Then the story goes from not making since to downright weird. Maybe you have to be from Europe or Russia to get a true understanding out of all this but I was like huh? Don't get me wrong I love a suspenseful plot heck, I was one of the few who actually liked the plot in Next Life but this is well, kind of weird and really dry on the suspense in the story. I mean what excitment or danger is there in stealing paintings? The Nazis stole tons of paintings in the nations they occupied during WWII. This fact is even mentioned in the game when the Russian government hid their most priceless paintings underground in the sewers.

The graphics and effects can be breathtaking at times but mainly what you expect from a game made in 2009. To be honest I thought The Lost Crown and Secret Files have better charactor animations and background effects than this game. The sounds are decent if a bit scarse in places. I was a little surprised they used music rather than sound effects to create tension which worked for the most part do to the music quality. The voice acting however, is not very good in my opinion. You have the typical European accents that are to be expected but they are to dry and stiff. Again, Next Life had much better use of European accents with even some good slap stick humor.

Memento Mori is fairly long taking over ten hours to complete but in the end you just feel like your going through the motions and we all know that is what life is all about these days. That is why we play games to escape from this vicious cycle but only to have it staring you right back in the face in Memmento Mori. This kind of defeats the whole purpose?



Click Here to see more reviews about: Memento Mori

Review of Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power

I have been a fan of KOEI's Nobunaga's Ambition series. The series is like most of KOEI's games which means its either a hack'n'slash game like Dynasty Warriors or turn-based strategy like its very popular and long-running Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. Nobunaga's Ambition is more the latter. I can say that Nobunaga's Ambition was the one of the first turn-based strategy games to become popular. While Romance of the Three Kingdoms have had more entries in the series it will always be Nobunaga's Ambition which I prefer for being as detailed, engaging in its gameplay without ever becoming too complex and too micromanaging about every little detail.

Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power is a port to the North American market of the same titled game which was originally released in Japan several years earlier. This long gap between Japan and North American release will show how dated the graphics and user interface in comparison to the more recent Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI. While some gamers will turn their nose up at the graphics in this game I will say that graphics have never been a strong point of the Nobunaga games. There's enough of an updated look in Rise to Power to make it look like a PS2 game instead of a PS1 title. The gameplay is where Rise to Power really shines in terms of fun.

For players who do not have the patience to deal with managing the fiefs and military assets of their kingdoms this game and all games similar to it will be quite the bore. For those who enjoy the strategy aspect of such games then Rise to Power will be a joy to play. While not as micromanaging as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms titles this game has enough options in how to build up one's own fiefs in terms of commerce, agricultural and military to not dumb down the game. The game allows for commanders who may have low military skills to be actually be of help by making their higher political stats be the main component in how to manage a fief better. In this way it makes all types of commanders usable in some way instead of just making the ones who are powerful military leaders be the top-tier leaders.

One new addition to the Nobunaga series which made the game a bit more palatable later on is the option of "Kessen". Kessen allows players deep in the game to fight another daimyo in a battle take all skirmish. If a player wins said battle then the losing daimyo will reliquish control of all his fiefs to the victor. This makes the game become less tedious once a player and their opponents have gained so much territory that trying to conquer each and everyone would be a practice in grinding it out rather than dynamic gameplay.

The real-time feature of the battles themselves is a win-lose proposition. It's a win in that battles themselves doesn't take as long as the previous type which had been turn-based. Where it fails is in how the units themselves are controlled. Too many times friendly units retreating from a fight will get in the way of a fresher unit in their attempt to charge an opposing unit. This pretty much stops whatever advantage such a charge will have. The many instances of units getting in each others way way too many times sometimes throws tactics and strategy out the window. At times its better to just let the computer play your side and let the battle take place without the player controlling anyone.

While Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power is a dated North American port release for the PS2 its still has much to offer for fans of the series. It is to those fans that this game will be most enjoyable while players who usually can't be bothered by turn-based strategy games will most likely call a pass on this title.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Nobunaga's Ambition: Rise to Power

Review of Total Annihilation

You've probably heard of (or even played) other strategy games like Starcraft or Command & Conquer, and they were great fun, so why should you get this one? Because after playing Total Annihilation (TA for short), you'll never go back. (120 unique full-3D units battling among acid lakes and abandoned cities intrigue you? Read on.)

The story isn't really important here (basically, you fight as Arm or Core to rid the galaxy of the other guys in a 4000-year blood feud), but the giant robots, tanks, etc. allow for some spectacular explosions and heavy weaponry. A nuke's explosion annihilates everything on an 800x600 screen, unless your opponent has missile defenses, which are vulnerable to a strategic bomber strike, unless your opponent has flak cannons... and that's just the beginning!

TA's most important feature is its impeccable balance and rush defense. Instead of starting with a single construction unit, you have your persona, the Commander, the most powerful weapon on the battlefield. Your Commander can take down nearly anything the opponent sends at you for ten minutes by himself, meaning no early-game rushes will win you the game. And once you can defend yourself, you'll see that neither of the sides has the upper hand. There are no game-breaking units, because everything has a delicate speed/power/cost balance; during the course of a typical game you will use over two dozen unique units!

TA also stands out for its amazing realism. Warfare among the trees can start forest fires, which damage units around them and spread according to the same wind speed and direction which turns your turbines at varying speeds. Explosions produce shrapnel which arcs realistically and damages units hit by it. Every weapon has an area of effect, and shells often miss fast-moving enemy units and crash into hillsides or even your own troops! Aircraft act like real planes: bombers can take out several targets at once, but then have to swoop around for another pass, fighters do barrel rolls to avoid enemy fire, and seaplanes run along the surface until they have the speed to get airborne.

For seasoned strategy veterans, you'll be happy to know TA has over TEN DOZEN unique units. That's more units for each side than all the races in Starcraft have combined! Instead of researching new technology, just build a different factory to access a new slate of units! Your options include two levels each of vehicles, robots, aircraft and ships; free downloads on the company website give you everything from hovercraft to minelayers to resurrector units to underwater fusion plants.

The maps in TA are bigger than any of the competitions (up to 63 by 63 screen lengths), allowing for full-scale, 4-6-hour epic battles. Players routinely run into the 500 unit limit! To control all this, the interface is amazingly easy: just hold Shift to queue up unlimited orders for anything, from factories to infantry to construction units. Want your guy to repair this building, move to that area, build a radar tower, and then patrol the area? Would you believe five clicks? (Not just waypoints, but a starting target, repair order, and patrol route direct from the factory!)

In conclusion, there has never been a better time to pick up the "best game of all time" (PC Gamer magazine). For ten bucks, you can find more fresh gaming experience than you can in the forty bucks you'd pay for the latest two-dimensional Warcraft knockoff with 30 guys that all look the same. And when you're ready, you can check out the still-active fan following (over 300 players every day on the MSN Gaming Zone).



Click Here to see more reviews about: Total Annihilation

Review of Chrono Trigger

Pros:

+A very well done storyline
+A good battle system
+Several sidequests to undertake
+Some new content to experience
+Lots of replay value

Cons:

-There's a good amount of new content but it might not be worthwhile to those who've already experienced Chrono Trigger before; likewise, there's no improvement in the visuals... this may or may not please some gamers

In 1995 Square released Chrono Trigger.A game commonly hailed as one of the greatest games of all time.In the years following it became one of the most highly sought after Super Nintendo games of all time.The game saw a rerelease on the Playstation in 2001 along with Final Fantasy IV in the Final Fantasy Chronicles package.This marks the third time Chrono Trigger has seen a release since it first debuted.The game has aged very well but some gamers may find there needs to be more of an update.

Chrono Trigger has a well known story but it never hurts to go over it for some who may not have played this gem.In the year 1000 AD, the Kingdom of Guardia has the Millennial Fair.You play as Crono, who goes to the fair and bumps into a girl named Marle.After wandering the fair with her for a while, Crono and Marle decide to check out his friend Lucca's new invention, a teleportation device.When Marle steps into the device, it reacts to her pendent and she is suddenly transported through time.Feeling somewhat responsible, Crono decides to go through time after her.What begins as a simple rescue mission turns into something so much more when you go into the distant future and see that the world has ended.Now, in an attempt to save the future, Crono and his friends will stop the apocalypse from happening.Their adventure will take them through time and they'll meet several interesting characters.

It is because of the characters and the well put together story that Chrono Trigger is so memorable.This version features a newly translated script that is much better than the original (as if the original needed a tune up).

Another aspect that makes Chrono Trigger stand the test of time is the gameplay.You'll roam the field normally until you come into contact with an enemy.Where as most RPGs have to transition from the field mode to the battle mode, Chrono Trigger instead has your characters spread out and pull out their weapons.The battle system itself utilizes the ATB battle system from Final Fantasy for some fast paced action.

Where the game truly shines, however, is its Tech system.Every character has a series of unique techniques that they can utilize.At first the system doesn't sound that interesting, but your characters can combine their techniques together to pull off double and triple techs.It helps to make battling more interesting and fun.It also assures that you'll try using every character at least once just to uncover all the double and triple techniques out there.More than that, however, it adds a lot of strategy to the game given that each characters techniques are unique to them.You may find that what makes the difference between sending a character into battle and not has to do more with their techniques than their base statistics.

There are plenty of side quests to keep you busy, and the time traveling element makes some of them more fun to partake in than others.As if that wasn't enough, the DS version also includes all the animated cutscenes from the Playstation release.If you'd prefer to enjoy the game in a completely classic way, you can turn them off if you desire.There are also a few extras added to the DS version such as new dungeons and touch screen controls.The touch screen controls themselves work fairly well, although you may still find that using the buttons and D-pad is still much easier.

Chrono Trigger is by no means a challenging game.It's also a fairly short one.At most you'll probably take twenty hours to complete it your first time through.Veterans may find themselves completing the game in less than fifteen hours.Chrono Trigger makes up for being a short game by having a lot of replay value.First there's the New Game+ feature which lets you go through the game again carrying over your techniques, items and equipment.The game also throws in multiple endings, which will encourage you to play the game again.

Musically, Chrono Trigger has one of the best soundtracks around.Some of it sounds better than the original Super Nintendo game.Many tunes will be stuck in your head for years to come, mainly because so much of it can convey so much emotion.

Graphically, however, is where Chrono Trigger can be a mixed bag.The character models and backgrounds look incredibly detailed, and in the DS port some things have been smoothed out.Artistically, Chrono Trigger will probably never fade into oblivion.On the other hand, Square-Enix released Final Fantasy IV and Dragon Quest IV earlier this year with improved graphics, bringing the games into 3D.Final Fantasy IV, in particular, showed major improvements in its presentation that made the story more emotionally gripping.It's a wonder why Square-Enix wouldn't do the same with Chrono Trigger.It would've been stunning to see some of Chrono Trigger's best moments in a new light.

The good news, however, is that Chrono Trigger hasn't had many releases, and there's so much more added than simply a new dungeon.This means even if you did play an older version of the game, there's a good berth of new content worth checking out.Whether or not it's worth forty dollars is subjective.

Chrono Trigger is a remarkable game.If you've played it before, one more go can't hurt.If you've never played it, this is the definitive version.Every RPGer should play this timeless classic at least once.Age has not slowed Chrono Trigger down one bit.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Chrono Trigger

Review of PS3 Wireless Guitar

Was not what I had expected this does not compare anything to the Rock Band 2 guitar was disapoointed in item



Click Here to see more reviews about: PS3 Wireless Guitar

Review of PSP 2000 Clear Case

This is a good solid case.You can flip it open and play with your PSP still inside the case.The charging cable can be hooked up while the case is fully closed.The only problem I ran into was the fact that there is no cutout to be able to hook up headphones while it is still seated in the case.



Click Here to see more reviews about: PSP 2000 Clear Case

Review of Nintendo DS Lite 3 Pack Stylus

These are not very well made.The tips of 2 of them snapped off within a week.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Nintendo DS Lite 3 Pack Stylus

Review of Wii Wireless Nunchuk Kit (does not include Remote or Nunchuk)

Performance is decent. But no decent instructions on how to make they sync if using multiple units.

The kit makes nunchuk the same size as Wiimote - better handling for larger sized hands. Due to the light weight of the nunchuk, the 2xAAAs makes it slightly unbalanced on the back end.

Small hands will feel like they are "choking a bat". Small hands are better served by the completely wireless nunchuk, but that will set you back $35 - $40.

Cord difficult to fit in per instructions leaving extra length outside. Turned out for good. Actually gave up slightly more length to use as a "wrist strap" of sorts. Helps balance & keep the back end up - it would still fly out of your hand if you throw it.

Forget using protective Skins unless Intec brings some out since the adapters extend the length of both. Means you'll have to clean them more frequently due to sweaty hands from active games like boxing.

Use rechargeable AAAs.

1 of my 2 unit's battery door doesn't stay "clicked" closed. Piece of tape works fine.

Watch for specials with free shipping offers or you'll better off probably getting the self-contained wireless nunchuk for $35 - $40.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Wii Wireless Nunchuk Kit (does not include Remote or Nunchuk)

Review of Legendary

I believe this game would be much more noticed and get a lot more attention had it not been released so close to the big games. It doesn't really compete well with titles like: Fable 2, Fallout 3, and Gears 2. With that said, there still is fun to be found with this game. It's a little different than most of the first-person shooters out today. Your powers in your hand are different and nice for a change. Also, the enemies are original, your not fighting nazis or japanese for once. It however isn't perfect, but is still worth playing. I would recommend Fallout 3 and Gears 2 over it anytime, but it is still worth a rent or even a purchase if you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Overall 7.5-8.0



Click Here to see more reviews about: Legendary

Review of Afro Samurai

I was pretty excited about this game when I heard it was being developed as I am a fan of the series. Upon reading several reviews such as IGN, GamesRadar and GameSpy I almost passed on getting it. It seemed that yet again something I liked had a poor game made based on it. I bought Afro Samurai anyway and man am I glad I did, here's why. First off let me start by correcting a few erroneous errors in some of the reviews I read that lead to their scores.

GamesRadar claimed that the instruction manual listed the wrong command for dashing. The manual lists clicking the left stick to dash. This is correct. While moving Afro in any direction clicking the left stick results in...guess what....a dash. Clicking it while stationary does nothing. Like many other action games with a run button you have to click it in conjunction with a directional input.

Gamespy noted a "game-stopping bug" that prevent ropes from being cut in the game. There is no bug. The ropes in question can only be cut by using the focus mode and executing the perfect slice maneuvers...along with aiming the slice to cut properly with the analog stick. It can't be done by button mashing. It's a precise cut that requires you to use the perfect slice system.

The IGN review bugged the daylights out of me as it was really off base (and I usually understand IGN's reviews) IGN claimed to be able to get through the entire game by "alternating attacks and mashing buttons". This same review claims an overly frustrating and cheap Brother 6 boss battle. Well it shouldn't be frustrating if the game can simply be beat with mindless button mashing I thought. If it's frustrating it really can't be so simple, right? Read on. This battle I did 3 times to test. The 1st time it took me 10 minutes after I died during phase 3 on my first attempt (I was not using the two bears they give you to restore your health during the battle). I then proceeded to kill him in 3 minutes both of the next two times without using the bears. How? Using a dash attack (An attack that can't be done by mashing buttons). I dash attacked Brother 6 and then proceeded with a simple combo of XXXX until brother 6 knocked me away. As soon as I hit the ground and roll recovered I dashed right back in with a dash attack and interrupted his attack animation. This dash hit stuns him and then I use XXXX again. I repeated this pattern for ALL of the three phases. 3 minutes using one dash attack, one combo and no bears to recover life. Hardly frustrating or worth mentioning as "cheap". If anything, I was cheap by abusing one move and one combo.

Several reviews said there is no way to track XP as you progress or what moves you'll unlock. False. When checking your moves list (something many reviewers openly admit not doing) there will be moves with white slashes through them. These are locked. There will also be moves with blue slashes through them. These moves are the ones you're gaining experience on. When the slash fills completely blue you'll gain that move when the screen next flashes "level up".

Another review mentioned that you have to click R3 (nearly an industry standard) to re-center your camera. The complaint was that doing so removes your fingers from the buttons rendering you defenseless. This would hold true if the block/parry button (defense right?) was a face button...but it's not. It's the R-trigger which can be held while pressing the re-center camera button if that is an issue for someone. So you're not defenseless. Also the inverted X-axis is listed as a major issue in some reviews. To anyone who has been gaming long enough or who has played titles from regions other than the US an inverted X-axis on the camera is not new. It's not prevalent here in the states, but it's been around for a while in a few titles here and abroad. It should be old hat and easy to adapt to. And it's not game breaking either. Like learning any other controls in any other game it should be factored into the learning curve....not listed as something to drop the score or the opinion of the game...unless you're a gamer that has issues learning new controls. If that's the case then be fore warned the camera is inverted and cannot be changed.

So now that the air is cleared of some incorrect stuff let's get to the review.

Presentation, graphics and sound are great with some minor issues. The game has a definite anime/comic look to it with comic paneling and cutaways to coincide with the cel-shaded looks. The menus are simple and easy to navigate and the load screens are animated instead of static. The music really gets you pumped to play. There are very minor instances of slow down and clipping is very noticeable when it happens. But oddly enough the slow down blends into the game since you have a slow down mechanic of your own. So it often ends up appearing stylistic even though it is a technical concern with too many body parts and too much blood animating on the screen. The moves list is very well done as it demonstrates the commands needed for each move and even includes a video demo of it so that you can see the timing involved and know what the move should look like when done properly. The game is over flowing with violence, blood, gore and nudity just like the series. It is very much an adult atmosphere. Parents, you have been warned.

The gameplay is very good, almost textbook. Actually it's not almost textbook it IS textbook with pages borrowed (read: STOLEN) from other textbooks.

You have the near endless array of combos in the vein of games such as God of War, Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden. You have an upgrade system that adds new moves to your repertoire based on experience...which is gained by killing enemies. These upgrades include moves such as reflecting bullets, fragmenting bullets, the ability to execute multiple precision cuts in a row, the ability to cut through more enemies with each strike, etc. You have your standard attacking combos, throw moves, combos that link into a throw animation, dodging moves, blocks/parries/counters, etc. You can instantly link many of the games combos together to make near infinite combos, you can launch and juggle enemies and pressing block cancels your attack animations to put you in a blocking stances or to parry instantly....well most attacks. Some of the higher powered moves can't be interrupted. Bigger damage, bigger risk.

A special feature of Afro Samurai is the innovative...ok I mean overdone focus mode that allows you to slow the game down. What Afro does different with this old mechanic is give you manual control of where to attack when in this mode. Focus mode slows the game down and gives access to other moves most notable of which are the perfect slices. These moves allow you to sever enemy body parts precisely by aiming the slices with the left analog stick and choosing horizontal or vertical slices based on the button you press. When Afro's focus meter is full you can press a button which puts Afro into overfocus mode. For those familiar with the old Punisher game this will sound VERY familiar. The screen turns black and white and everything slows down. All of Afro's attacks are now one hit kills on most enemies. It's essentially a manual smart bomb.

Speaking of Afro's focus meter an observant gamer will notice that there are no meters displayed in-game. Afro Samurai joins the legions of recent games opting to use a HUDless system. Thankfully it works well. Afro's life is displayed on his body and this also applies to opponents. As characters near death a red aura starts to show on the body. The closer to death they are the darker and more apparent the red glow becomes. Attached to the hilt of Afro's sword is a medallion. This is his focus meter. When the medallion has a black aura around it Afro's meter is empty and he needs to score some combos to increase it. As the meter fills up the medallion begins to flash with a pulsating white aura. When the medallion has a constant solid white aura the focus meter is full and the aforementioned overfocus mode is available.

The platforming in Afro Samurai is passable and only so because of one key issue. It's inconsistent. In games like Ninja Gaiden and Devil May Cry the platforming moves such as running on walls can be done at any time. In Afro Samurai these moves can only be done in certain places and at first you can't tell where. There are subtle clues like level geometry and flashing ledges to give hints but even these are more questionable than they should be.

Replay value depends. For fans of the series, you'll be playing this a lot as it feels like a good representation of the source material. For those who like a hyper violent action game with slick visuals and responsive controls...you'll be loving this. For those who can't get passed the camera inversion, avoid this game. For those that have problems with pattern recognition and timing, avoid this game as that's what the boss battles consist of mostly and to a lesser extent the battles with the weaker enemies.

Overall I give the game a solid 8 out of 10. It's not pushing the envelope in any given area, its best features are ripped from or inspired by other games and it has enough minor issues that prevent it from achieving A status. I'd rank it as an 8 even if it wasn't an Afro Samurai game, but I also won't rank it higher just because it is based on a series I like.




Click Here to see more reviews about: Afro Samurai

Review of Xbox X GameCom X10 Headset

The headset seemed a bit small at first,but fit ok.The earpeice side is slighty ajustable,which is good.Does slip off occasionaly. Peformance is very nice, the quality is great.

It would have been perfect if it were a bit more sturdy.

WARNING: Does NOT come with xbox communicator (the controller plug-in) ,luckily I had one from my previous headset. If you dont have a communicator you will be spending an extra $20.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Xbox X GameCom X10 Headset

Review of Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault War Chest

This game plays just fine on my Intel Core 2 Duo iMac.Don't know where the previous reviewer got his info.

This is a somewhat obsolescent game but still worthwhile.Graphics are pretty good and game play is generally smooth. I am a fan of combat games and have played through the Ghost Recon series Ghost Recon: Desert Siege (Mac), the Call of Duty series Call of Duty Deluxe Edition (Mac) (Call of Duty, Call Of Duty United Offensive)Call of Duty 2 and Blackhawk Down.

Weapons effects are poorly modeled-a silenced .22 caliber pistol has more knockdown that a 9mm or .45 caliber submachine gun or a .30 caliber rifle!I know because I have trained in real life on almost every US weapon in the game (I'm an old guy!).

There is some excessive mission-to-mission variation in enemy "toughness" ; in some, a single body shot does the job. in another it might require multiple shots, even with a heavy caliber rifle or head shots. The difficulty between missions is also uneven.Some missions were impossible to get through, even with difficulty set to Regular, without resorting to a "cheat"-something I've never had to do before.

I recommend this game at it's current price.I wouldn't pay $50 for it, though.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault War Chest

Review of Nintendo Wii Charger Dock with¿ 4 Battery Packs

This charger is not what it says.Yes it comes with 4 batteries, but it says it charges and docks 2 remotes and 2 extra batteries.It only charges the 2 batteries in the back.The remotes are only in a holder and the holder doesn't even fit the remote it it is wearing the jacket or even with the strap.I'm returning it and trying something else.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Nintendo Wii Charger Dock with¿ 4 Battery Packs

Review of Final Fantasy

It's hard to review a re-release of the first Final Fantasy.On one hand, the game is pretty good; great for it's time.The keywords being: For it's time.On the other hand, with yet another re-release of Final Fantasy, you kinda wish by now that Square-Enix would do something to make it more "modern."Regardless of where you fall, Final Fantasy is a good game.The problem is that for the more modern day gamer, there's no assurance that you'll really get into this if you can't deal with the 20 year old mechanics.The other bad thing about Final Fantasy on the PSP is simply that if you've already got Dawn of Souls or Origins, then there's no real incentive to pick up the PSP version.The fact that the other re-releases included Final Fantasy II can also be a sting to the PSP version of the game.

Final Fantasy is a simple basic storyline.Four warriors must come forth and save the world by using the power of the crystals.Your main characters don't say a word, and you begin the game by choosing their character classes.There's no narrative to drive the story along either, and like a ton of RPGs made in the 80's and early 90's there's also no way of telling where you're supposed to go next without talking to lots of people and then running around aimlessly, while gathering tons of levels in the process. To me that spells fun, but if you're an RPGer who began with the later games in the series (particularly from the Playstation era), it's hard to say you'll really love Final Fantasy if you can't let those little tidbits slide.The game is also incredibly slow paced.Again, it's something that RPGers who began with later Final Fantasy games or later RPGs will have to take time to get used to.

Gameplay wise, Final Fantasy hasn't changed a bit.Not in the slightest.Battling is as basic as ever.Completely turn based.However, Final Fantasy is usually pretty fun to battle in.Provided you don't mind that sometimes combat is sluggish (or that you could be attacked by nine enemies at once).The music in battle is upbeat, and the enemies are really nicely drawn.Just the same, it's pretty strategic.You choose a class for each of your characters at the beginning of the game.You can make them a Warrior, White Mage, Black Mage, etc.It makes a huge difference in how hard or easy the game can be as a whole.For example, only Red and White Mages can heal, but only White Mages can learn the more advanced White Mage spells.So battling remains pretty fun, even if it is pretty straightforward.

What will probably annoy gamers is the unforgiving random encounter rate.There are times when you just don't feel like battling.It also doesn't help that the failure rate of running is also somewhat high.If you've been playing RPGs since the SNES days, the slight dip in difficulty might annoy you.The game is still challenging, but not nearly as challenging as its 1987 original, or the 2003 version.It's even easier than the Dawn of Souls remake.

The biggest problem that Final Fantasy on the PSP suffers from is that if you've already played through the adventure in one of the other remakes, there's really nothing here that justifies doing it again.Final Fantasy is a gem; a game everyone should play at least once... but some of its aspects have not aged very well.For PSP owners the only plus they get (aside from all the extras in the GBA version) is one new dungeon.It also doesn't help that the other re-releases of the game came with Final Fantasy II, and they were priced at the same value.

On the positive side, however, the PSP version is the best looking version of the game yet.Everything is given a lot of artistic detail.The sprites and enemies have never looked better.It doesn't quite push the PSP to its limit, but it's still really beautiful to look at.Just the same, the music also sounds really good.It's also really cool that you'll be seeing the game in widescreen too.

Really, the only big problem with Final Fantasy is that it's a remake of a remake of a remake that doesn't offer enough new content to justify a buy to those who've already played it before.Also, like the re-release of Final Fantasy III, its age is really starting to show.There are just some aspects of the gameplay you wish Square would've thrown in for the sake of updating the game.What it boils down to is simple: You're buying an NES game.Expect the NES limitations.

Regardless of whether you believe it needed a more "modern" update or not Final Fantasy isn't a bad game, but investing in another remake if you've already got Origins or Dawn of Souls?That's hardly worth it.

Even if you haven't played Final Fantasy before, the PSP one is hard to justify when you put into account that the other remakes also came with Final Fantasy II, and they were priced at the same value.If you absolutely MUST play Final Fantasy and you haven't done so, I suggest heading on down to your local used game store and picking up the GBA version.It may not be as pretty, but you get Final Fantasy II with it, and it's cheaper.

Pros:

+The prettiest version of the game yet
+Still sounds good
+There's a bonus dungeon

Cons:

-The pacing of the story is really slow
-The random encounter rate is really high
-There are just some aspects of the game that don't age very well
-It's another remake of Final Fantasy... but this one offers little in the way of new content.You get all those GBA extras, but the only PSP exclusive extras are some enhanced graphics and a brand new dungeon.It's hard to urge a gamer that already has the GBA version or even the Origins version to go out and get his one.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Final Fantasy

Review of Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

I have always enjoyed the CoH series and this expansion pack in a sense gives us a little bit more of what they wanted and that's being able to get up close and personal with some of the major battles that has been fought in the game. I like the idea that Relic has moved this game from more of the same to a more tactical RTS. But it's not enough...read on and see what I am talking about.

This game is reminiscent to the recently released Men of War but prettier and contains much less micromanaging.

I do like the idea that you still accumulate resources and use them to upgrade your men based on the amount of kills incurred. Also some of your solders get new abilities based on the upgrades like calling in artillery strikes or healing your solders. Also I like that this game is a bit more fast paced than Men of War where ONE scenario could take a long time to play with sometimes overwhelming odds only problem is, sometimes it feels arcadey.

The controls are sometimes a bit touch and go as the direct firing system you have to learn to manage and switch over to access another squad without taking the present unit off of an objective.

One of my complaints right now is that sometimes the enemy AI doesn't respond to attacks and just sit there while fired on or sometimes they retreat from my unitsfor no reason or that some kills on enemy armor is insanely quick.

But my biggest gripe of them all is there are ONLY 9 MISSIONS total?? (and it doesn't help that I am 5 missions in!) Ok...wait you mean to tell me this is called a 'standalone game' in which you don't need the original games and you ONLY OFFER 9 missions that you can breeze thru in a day or 2 Relic?

This is not a good deal unless the people who want to play this game online don't care and unfortunately I am not one of them. This wouldn't fly as even a seperate solo game!

Relic, listen closely...when you produce a game like this for the single players out there, 9 missions is NOT ENOUGH. Try doubling that number or better yet, go back and let players use old maps from the originals to play in the new mode, don't cheat us by giving a thirsty person a sip and steal 30 bucks for it!

Worse yet you don't get any new countries such as Russia, Japan or Italy to tangle with and the new units just don't feel all that special.

I will be the first to admit that I fell for the okey doke because I liked the other 2 games but this felt like an afterthought and not worth a 30 dollar purchase. SO be warned.

Heck take notes from the little guys from Russia that produced Men of War!!!

You guys dropped the ball on this one!



Click Here to see more reviews about: Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor

Review of Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

I had great expectations on this game. I loved the original Flashpoint, but this just doesn't cut it.
I'll keep myself real short. This game is not a 5-star game like its predecesor, because:

1. It's just not as exciting as FP1. You don't feel as much in controll and your AI co-players are stupid. I dont know if its because of bugs but often they'll end up just about anywhere when given the orders to form different formations, and when they end up going in front of you into the killing fields and not taking cover and getting killed, well then it becomes annoying.

2. Your AI co-players will spot enemys 400 meters away while you will unlikely spot any farther away than 50 (unless your co-players hadn't spotted them first or the enemy fired at you, which they will long before you would have noticed them).

3. Its difficult. Alot of missions are hard for the sake of being hard. Often giving orders and using tactics doesnt make any difference. You might be placed 300 meters away from your enemy who is lined up behind fortifications with machineguns. Perhaps you can flank them but that would take like 20 minutes and although realism is often positive, it just becomes tedious keeping your forward-movement key pressed for that long while sitting back in your chair. Videogames are not real life and never will be.
Anyway, your only choice, (if you dont have art-support, which is awsome to watch) is to lie there and shoot back. If you dont want to lie there forever waiting for your teammates to use up all their ammo, you better start killing. In FP1 your teammates were good shots. Not here.

4. Lots of bugs.

5. Driving vehicles SUCKS. you're locked at looking straight ahead and cant use the mouse to free-view! And the stearing is so sensitive that any sudden turn will make your vehicle spin. Didn't the creators test-play this game before it was released???

5. Shooting the assultrifles is boring and thats the kind of weapon you'll use most of the time. It's difficult to hit, and I guess thats positive (its not a shoot-em-up game) but if it was "fun hard" it wouldve been great! but its just hard, and boring. the enemy AI usually just stand around doing nothing, even when they fire and get fired upon.

5. Sometimes checkpoints are too far between, and the reason I think people would want to have them closer together is not just because it takes time to replay, it's because its pretty BORING to replay alot of parts, which is basically why I give this game only 3 stars.

ps. Battlesounds are REALLY good.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

Review of A Boy and His Blob

The Wii has become the welcoming home for a series of wonderful 2D games lately, from Muramasa: The Demon Blade to World of Goo, and the forthcoming New Super Mario Bros Wii (worst...title...ever).Add to this list A Boy and His Blob, which is an ultra-charming reimagining of the NES "classic."I say "classic" because, like Battletoads, it's one of those old games that people remember fondly until they try to play it again and realize just how crazy hard the game is.

The Wii version is much easier than the NES game in some ways, although it offers up plenty of challenge in its own right.The boy now has an unlimited number of jellybeans to feed the blob, which means that you can now focus on the puzzle at hand rather than worrying about rationing and backtracking.Further, there really is no backtracking anymore since the Wii version does not contain an open world; the game is split up into self-contained levels in four unique worlds.There is a final goal to reach in each level, but there are also three treasure chests hidden in each one.Get all three chests and you open a whole new challenge level at your treehouse "hub."Beat the challenge and you're rewarded with behind-the-scenes footage of the game in progress, including sketches and artwork.It's a great system that's easy to understand and really boosts the replay value of the game.

The game is beautiful.It's hand-drawn and the level of detail is astounding, in a subtle kind of way.Stop for a while and appreciate the light swaying of trees in the background, the animated frogs jumping at your feet, and the very nice lighting effects, especially during the night stages.Like a Miyazaki film, you can feel the love that was poured into this game.Heck, the animators even went so far as to include a feature where you can hug and scold your blob, for no other reason than "because you can."These elements also greatly add to the charm.The music is also subtle but quite nice.Chances are you won't be humming the tunes later, but the music fits well with the visual style.

Controls are tight, for the most part.Some sticky points can come in when you're trying to direct the trajectory of your jellybeans, which requires a very light touch on the analog stick.Also, flying can feel too loose and the screen gets kind of jerky, which leads to quite a few accidental deaths.Luckily, there are a wealth of save points within each level so you're never sent too far back after a death.My biggest beef with the game is that only one player can save a game at a time.My fiancee and I are both big puzzle fans and it's annoying that we can't each have our own game going at the same time.

Long story short, buy this game if you're a fan of puzzle games.The pace is not fast, but you'll love the animation and the challenging levels that build in the latter half of the game.Support 2D games, let the developers know that there's still a market out there for them.



Click Here to see more reviews about: A Boy and His Blob

Review of SanDisk Wii Gaming SD Memory 1 GB (retail package)

I was startled at first that the box for the Gaming SD Memory card did not say "Nintendo approved" but this one has given no problems on our Nintendo Wii. The product page on amazon.com has "for Wii" but the package arrived only saying "SanDisk SD Memory Card." No problem. But I see on the nintendo.com web site that SanDisk is selling these memory cards packaged as "for Wii" and "Nintendo approved" (tested, etc).



Click Here to see more reviews about: SanDisk Wii Gaming SD Memory 1 GB (retail package)

Review of Conflict Desert Storm

Conflict is one of those games that you and your friends could play forever, but when it comes to single player it lacks. Mult. is a heck of alot of fun, the first night we got it we played from 8pm to 4 in the mourning. Its cool because you can cover each other, and help one another. In single player you have to move every person around, or just have them follow you, but the A.I. is about as smart as a box of rocks, if your team is following you and you get fired apon they just turn around and start ripping shots off, instead of taking cover, or i'll sneak around a corner and i'll turn around and my guys decide they will just run balls to the walls around the corner and then stand there and get shot, one time I used the heavy weapons guy to creep up on a tank and I hide him behind a transport truck, then I switch to another guy. but when I switched over the computer decided he would blow up the truck I hid him behind,then he stood there and took a tank shell to the face....(that resulting in some f words). Alot of people have complained about the controls when moving you troops, but its not hard at all, at first you get alittle angry, but you'll get the hang of it, really I dont know what people expect the developers to do, they did about the best job they could with a console controller,(the xbox doesnt have a keyboard people!) The hummers are really cool they have a rocket lancher and a machine gun, they are sweet, but the controls when you drive them [stink]. It almost seems like your driving on ice, there are just way to touchy. Other than that the controls work very well, you move your guys just like halo, which I believe is the best controls you can ever have for a FPS. All in all if you have some friends to play this game with get it you'll enjoy it, if not maybe rent it first, or go with another squad based game, where the A.I. is alittle smarter(Ghost Recon)
So basically, Multiplayer=Conflict: Desert storm
Singleplayer= Ghost Recon



Click Here to see more reviews about: Conflict Desert Storm

Review of Aion

Aion is a good looking game, this is true.Looking past the pretty façade I however am left underwhelmed by the game.It doesn't seem to offer anything particularly new or exciting.

Character creation is decent, there are quite a few options to customize both your facial and body features.I can't really fault it in any way considering that you'll eventually be decked out in armor and character creation in such a game usually stands as a generic look.There unfortunately isn't much avoiding looking like everybody else in a broader sense because there are only two races.Upon close inspection you should find that most characters manage to create a pretty unique look.As you progress through the game you can choose to maintain various armor looks despite equipping other pieces though which is a nice way of looking unique in the long run.

There have so far been pretty annoying race lockouts on certain servers in an effort to balance them.For example I haven't been able to play with many of my guild mates because no more Asmodians are being allowed on their server.I imagine this will be fixed to some extent but I can't really lie and say that I'm not a bit bitter about being blocked from playing with my friends.Hopefully those who choose to jump in to the game after my writing this don't have this minor annoyance to deal with.

After some initial hiccups at launch the game actually runs quite well.Again the game looks gorgeous with interesting environments and flashy attack animations.The default UI is alright, pretty standard action bar with health bars, but if you're coming from another game it may take some getting used to.I for one am hoping for add-on support or UI customization though since I would personally prefer a slightly more minimalized UI.

The introductory zones come paired with help messages which offer limited video and audio help which I found to be a pretty nice newbie feature.Quests also have a keyword location feature which is like a built in quest helper.I find this feature to be pretty neat, I feel that it adds a sense of authentic adventuring to it for some reason and it doesn't clutter you map with all sorts of quest waypoints. So with these two features getting in to the game and advancing up to level 10 is rather painless.

At level 10ish you become a Daeva which grants you wings and allows you to choose from 2 specialties with your class.There isn't really anything of particular note here but it does add a bit more depth to game play.

Following level 10 it seems that the game becomes increasingly grindy which I don't much care for.Following level 15+ leveling is still quite doable but the rate at which I'm being rewarded for my time is a very important factor for an MMORPG for me and I don't feel that I'm gaining skills or equipment quite fast enough to hold my interest in the game.This has nothing to do with slogging through content too difficult for my character or being oblivious to other questing hubs, I'm simply noting that experience gain tapers off quite quickly.Gaining levels doesn't appear to get you anything aside from skills another factor contributing to the slow feel of the game.It has thus far been quite common for my character to go 2-3 levels getting very little aside from statistical boosts.This is hardly an issue unique to Aion but again it's another one of those things that takes away my desire to get from one skill to the next.

Eventually you get access to Stigma Stones which are sort of like a generic talent tree that allows you access to more skills.I was a rather let down to find out this was the feature which NCSoft was heralding as the way to play your character totally different from another player.While it is true that it allows you to diverge away from other players within your class specialty it isn't so broad in its choices that you'll find a slew of viable builds.I'm looking at it right now as something that will easily be theorycrafted to a point where everybody competitive will play a given class in maybe one or two ways.

Skills are pretty standard for the most part but one pretty cool thing so far is that you get chain skill where one initial attack triggers the use of further more powerful attacks.Unfortunately you can't use chain skills out of sequence but I do like the feel of an attack coming off cool down allowing you to unload on an enemy all at once.Having more than one chain attack generally allows you to be in constant active control of combat.The various chains and what you need to complete them are listed in your skills window and there appears to be quite a variety for the various classes.

Another feature I like is having your own personal shop which others will be familiar with from games such as Ragnarok Online or Fiesta Online.Basically you can open a little shop anywhere and sell your stuff.I far prefer this to auction houses typically because it allows you to be more competitive as a salesman than an auction house typically does because location becomes a valid choice and undercutting doesn't kill all chance at profits.It's also good for going afk for extended periods of time.

Flying is a big part of the game considering you have wings and all.I haven't liked flying much at all so far and I'm really kind of dreading parts of the game where it becomes more necessary.The controls seem very clunky and the limitations of cool down between use and the overall flight time lead to a high preponderance of ineffectiveness of death.You can modify your wings and combat abilities while flying so perhaps by the time I really need to worry about flying it's more tolerable but up to where I'm at now it seems little more than a poorly implemented gimmick.After quite a bit more practice with my wings I'm still only finding the flight mechanics to be marginally more tolerable, perhaps I suck but be fairly warned.

PvP has so far been respectable, especially for a rather new game.I haven't personally encountered any particular class which I feel is broken beyond belief despite some community complaints of balance issues.There does seem to be an attitude of this game and its PvP being "hardcore" and I have to comment that I feel this is a rather glorified designation.The flying adds a bit of depth and skill to PvP but I feel that's where the unique aspects of PvP in this game end.I don't think anybody playing WAR or WoW, particularly PvP servers, are going to switch over to this game and be refreshed by the PvP.It's fun and well implemented but at its core this has been done before.

Pros:
Good looking
Overall solid game
Seemingly popular

Cons:
High grind possibility
Awkward flying
Race lockouts

In summary, I don't think I'll be sticking with this one for long, I'm simply not being moved in any particular way by it currently.It's different enough from other games to warrant some consideration but it also hold so many cliché similarities that prevent me from getting too excited about it.The game has great potential for many players but I recommend taking a long look at it before biting the hype bullet.If I had to recommend it I feel that fans of Guild Wars, Lineage 2, FFXI, or even first time MMOers would like the game quite a bit.




Click Here to see more reviews about: Aion

Review of Fable: The Lost Chapters

As an avid console gamer I am often skeptical of PC/Mac games. I have played my fair share of PC/Mac games to include (but not limited too) Black and White 1 & 2, F.E.A.R., Half Life, etc. And have actually enjoyed them all. After hearing that Fable was avail on PC/Mac I was fairly worried. I own Fable for the Original Xbox and was worried some things might get lost in the translation and controls. I must say that I am mistaken. This game is truly a gem. I know that a lot of individuals are now more interested in this game now that Fable 2 is around the corner (exclusive on 360 for now perhaps PC/Mac later). So this will be a possible want for some gamers. But the fact of the matter is this is a NEED for gamers. Peter Molyneux does an EXCELLENT job with Fable. The controls transition smoothly from console to Mac. The story remains the same. Fable is a game that truly lets you play how you want (good/evil/mix) and even changes your appearance based on the extremes. You constantly do evil things and have your moral slider over to evil you can grow horns and have glowing red eyes. On the flip side if you do constant good things and continue to be a hero you will "glow", your hair will become whiter etc. And the people will react accordingly.You can have different hair styles, tattoo's, expressions that will effect how people react to you as well.You can fall in love (with a man or woman), buy a house, drink at a bar, etc.There is so much to do!The story line is fantastics and once you get into it you will be hooked. I will not give out story details because I don't want to spoil any of this for you.There are also quite a few choices that you must make throughout the game. One's that I honestly had to pause and think "do I want to do this?" Lionhead honestly made a truly one of a kind game with Fable. But with its awesome praise there must come negatives. I found that the story may not have been as long as expected. For me it was around 8-9 hours. That's not to say it would be maybe a few hours more because I haven't completed all of the side quest. All in all it is a truly unique game that offers you a true choice to be good or evil. And in my opinion this is in my top 5 games of all time. This is a MUST HAVE for any gamer! Hope this game will bring you as much fun as it has brought me.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Fable: The Lost Chapters

Review of Aircraft Collector's Edition

very spotty support on FSX with Acceleration.Crashed to desktop twice!
Some of the visuals are not working, example props on the Avenger, trying to run on XP Pro 64 bit, which is what i have been running FSX on since it came out.using amd dual core 5200, GeForce 6100, 4 GB memory.The downloaded fix caused issues with Kiowa, actually gives a warning message every time you try to select planes.Works better on FS2004.I did find if I unclicked DX10 I could get the white planes to show their intended paint jobs and I had better luck on FSX without patching.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Aircraft Collector's Edition

Review of HDMI Cable 6FT: 1.3a Category 2(Full 1080P Capable)(Compatible with Xbox 360 & PS3)

When I bought my LCD TV, I paid a fortune for an HDMI cable at the retail store.Stupid me, I should have known better about the outrageous markups many retail stores put on video accessories.Recently, I bought several of these cables at a fraction of the price I paid for that first one, and I used them to connect a Blu-ray player, an Xbox360, and an audio/video receiver.Even with the high shipping cost, these cables are much cheaper than I found elsewhere.And they work just fine.

Remember, HDMI cables transfer digital info -- they pass bits, not an analog signal -- so, basically, they either work or they don't work. You'll either see the complete picture and hear the audio, or you won't (if the cable is defective).These are not like analog cables where cheaper, poor-quality cables can result in a poorer picture or sound.So if you get any HDMI cable that works, you won't get any better quality by paying for more expensive HDMI cables.Reviewers that say they see a poorer picture with cheaper HDMI cables are fooling themselves and don't understand digital vs. analog.



Click Here to see more reviews about: HDMI Cable 6FT: 1.3a Category 2(Full 1080P Capable)(Compatible with Xbox 360 & PS3)

Review of Need for Speed: Shift

I just received the game this morning (thanks amazon for the release date shipping!) and installed it in the evening to test it out. I obviously have not gotten far into the game, but once you play a racer for an hour+, you've played 90% of the core features of the game, so I figure I can safely write a review for it.

Unlike previous titles, there is no cinematic storyline that tells of some bad guy who hates you for some reason, and how you have to climb the ranks of some underground racers to one day best him in an epic race. Also, unlike a titles way back ago, all these races are legal and done on tracks--No intense police chases here. The basic premise here is that you start off at the bottom rung of an enormous ladder tournament that one day leads you to a world championship race with some of the most exotic cars on the planet. Sounds good, lets get racing!

You start off being put into the seat of a BMW that you only get for 1 day before you start off your career. You do a test lap and the game will offer up some suggestions on difficulty level settings (turning traction control on, ABS, etc). It did a pretty good job at guessing the settings I would have picked, so I liked that feature. You can tweak it as necessary, so this isn't a one time only thing.

The racing itself is incredible. It is a huge departure from the previous arcade style racing games that the NFS titles seemed to focus on. With max simulation on, it races like a car would race. You can't take 90 degree turns at 190 mph, you can't smash into a barrier wall at 140mph, backup and still win the race, etc. To help those of us who have a true "need for speed", the game does offer a racing line with speed indicators that change dynamically as you race (for example, it'll turn red as you approach a hard turn, indicating you should slow down.)

The game also has a system of style points, which you get for things such as tightly following the racing line, passing people, drafting, etc. One thing I did like is that these style points is not just for those of us who play 100% "nice". They have split up style points into "precision" and "aggression." Precision points are for those who like to finesse their way to 1st (drafting, passing politely, nice cornering). Aggression points go to those like me, who basically smash their way through cars until I'm in 1st place and half the group is totaled. You can even get points for spinning people off the track! Awesome.

These points go towards winning stars, and stars increase your driver level, and increasing your driver level unlocks more cars, modifications, etc. Like I said earlier, it is a pretty large ladder system of unlocks and races. I am incredibly impressed so far with how the game feels and runs.

A few final thoughts:

The interior mode of racing (which I highly recommend) puts you as if you were actually inside the car, and the details are INCREDIBLE. They really spent the time to actually copy what the car interior should look like. The BMW has the iDrive system even. Also, the graphics (when played on high) are unbelievable. There is unfortunately a significant loading time between races, but that might be because I set my settings to max on everything.

Also, it is clearly a port, because it tells me not to "turn my system off while saving." When was the last time I reached for my power button to turn my computer off, mid-anything? It's not like I'm sitting there, getting impatient mid-game while it's saving ,and then flipping the switch on my surge protector and being like, I'm outta here! Oh well. Despite that, everything else runs smoothly. (I'm running it on Windows 7 and there weren't any hiccups in the install.)

So overall, I am incredibly happy with this purchase. I'm also happy to see a real racing game from the NFS guys--it's about time they get back to their roots of simulation racing. The arcade stuff was fun, but this is what I'm really interested in. If you've played NFS before, buy this title. You won't be disappointed.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Need for Speed: Shift