Darksiders II /PS3

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Love the game, it was as described. Only problem was the shipping...it took so long to get to me but other than that its worth every cent

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its not what i wanted i wanted the us version i dont know that its was going to be a uk import i had no idea but the game plays so its a good thing and i love it and i am enjoy it the best mistake i ever made

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Designer Skin for Playstation 3 Remote Controller - Mad Hatter

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List Price: $9.95
Sale Price: $4.97
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

my controller look sick... i love it. is favorite controll now noone can take, ez to know which one is mine...!!!

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i love the skin looks great the origanl art work was awsome good buy fit on easy dont come off fun to have

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eFashion Full Housing Shell Case For PS3 SONY PlayStation 3 Wireless Controller Black

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I got this for my ps3 dual-shock controller, but it turns out this is made for earlier models, so the hardware won't fit properly when you try closing it, there too much plastic in the way. I ended up messing up my controller by accidentally ripping the wires that lead up to the dual-shock vibrators by trying to get them to fit properly. So, I don't recommend this.

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This is a good shell to replace the original. Good quality and very complete, with buttons and all you need.

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PS3/PS2/PC USB Universal K.O. Arcade Fighting Stick

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This stick is my first stick needless to say I wasn't too great at first. The over all stick itself is really small, which can be uncomfortable for extended periods of game-play. At first I hated this stick because the directions wouldn't respond correctly, I know nothing about modding sticks so I thought I would have to get a new one. I decided to try it on all 3 platforms it was compatible with, same result till it was used for AT LEAST an hour. If you buy this stick, be warned if the joystick is unresponsive it'll fix itself just play through.

For those of you wondering YES on a pc the stick is POV not analogue, I recommend getting a program called Xpadder for use with PCs that way you can just assign the buttons to the keyboard controls for what ever game you're playing (I play touhou a lot so I had to get Xpadder to use this stick for my touhou games).

You may be like me and if this is your first stick, don't be discouraged by how much harder it is to play at first because you'll get better with it as time goes on. I bought this for it's cheap price I'm happy with it for now but I do intend on getting a different one.

Here's one of my videos of me playing my MUGEN with this stick , as you can see it works really well. There's other videos on my channel before that one of me using my keyboard to play by comparing them you'll see that you can get as good with this stick as you are with whatever playing style you're used to.

The button arrangement fits for how small it is, Standard SF controls are square = LP, triangle = MP, R1 = HP (the row right below is the kicks). I recommend still using those instead of trying a different set up. All in all worth it.

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This is a decent stick for the price. The joystick itself is somewhat flimsy, but it works. The whole unit works, however it is loud and clicky, but that's not a big deal. While it's not the best stick out there, it does a decent job. Overall a decent product.

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There's two things that would make this stick "great": 1) it needs more weight to hold it down 2) the stick & switches are way too loud. I own a Hori Fighting Stick 3 stick that is superior to this stick. For the price, it's a decent stick. For all you modders out there, it's extremely difficult to mod. Everything is glued to the switches.

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It is good exept for the joystick itself is a little loose and wobbley. Get this if you wanna play PS2 games on your PS3 or PC. Other than the joystick beying wobbley I loved this stick and it perfors well. The best part of it is the price!

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wow there is one minor problem that doesn't truly come from the product do NOT hold this against this product i just need to relearn the joystick skills but it is great it helps me with the moves i want it to i am not sure how else to praise it this is worth buying big time.

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WWE '12

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List Price: $49.99
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Let me just say that I have been a fan of this series of games since the original introduction of WWF Smackdown! on the PS1. There have been things I have liked and disliked for each iteration but overall the gradual progression of the series has been good. WWE 12 is no exception to the evolution of this series.

WWE 12 with its new Predator technology is certainly different but not so much as to turn off any fan. The controls are simpler and the motions are more fluid, along with improvements to the body texturing. With all this said you still know it is Smackdown Vs Raw underneath it all. Lets get to what I personally find good and bad after a few weeks of gameplay:

GOOD

Improvements in fluidity of moves and movements. The grapples and strikes seem more natural now, less jerky movements.

Textures of each character are improved, although I did find some hair models lacking still.

Gameplay is fun, reversals are more difficult but can add to the excitement of a match. The new limb targeting system also adds another layer of gameplay.

WWE Universe is improved to allow for incredible customization, edit and create brands and each wrestler within. You basically can control the entire experience. Vastly improved!

Creation mode. The addition of arena creation is a great addition, but most all the other creation modes are exactly the same as Smackdown vs Raw 2011 unfortunately.

Menu screen music! No more artist tracks being played in the background, now it is just background music that doesn't drive you nuts after the 100th listen.

NOT SO GOOD

Glitches and bugs, small things but certainly noticeable. Props to THQ for addressing some of these issues in a recent patch.

Online. Recently it has improved but for quite some time most things were unavailable due to server issues. Still some lingering issues now and then.

Lack of improvements/additions in moves and create-a-wrestler. Was really hoping for some improvements in CAW mode, skin tones are really disappointing still.

Tables. Still limited to what can be done on tables, no climbing atop tables remains disappointing.

Those announcers, they still hoot and holler and are as annoying as ever, also rather late to announce moves.

OTHER

Have not played Road to Wrestlemania as of yet in fear that all the other reviewers are correct and it is a big pain with little to no fun.

Overall I do enjoy the game if only for its deep customizations which allows you so much creative freedom. The new Predator tech seems to be on the right track and with some more tweaking over time can really grow into something great. One thing I want to mention is that I still miss the GM Mode from previous games, I found that incredibly enjoyable and would love to see it back in the series. WWE Universe does a good job of emulating certain aspects of GM Mode but I still miss many of the features.

As a side not I was supposed to get a code to download the Rock from Amazon and never received one, unsure if others are in the same situation.

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Am I impressed with it? Well.... let's go through 10 points of the game, at a maximum of 10 points apiece and find out.

THE AI 4

It sucks. There is no real improvement on it. Basically, on top of reversing everything you do the higher up you go in difficulty... NOW all they do on top of that, is try to spam running grapples. It's ALL THEY DO. You simply cannot have an intelligent, well-paced match against the AI. Multiple person matches are ridiculous to try, as the AI will break up most moves you try to do. I did a 6 man battle royale, and ended up hanging back, because I couldn't do anything. Every single move I did, another AI would walk over and break it up. Some improvement, Yukes!

ENGINE 5

Now come on... Yukes and THQ spent the last several months hyping this up as a revamp... a "do over" of sorts with the WWE video game franchise, and this... the basic set up of the game... a decade old engine that cannot POSSIBLY be screwed up... was indeed screwed up. How you may ask? I have no idea. 2011 was probably the best showing they made with the engine ever, and they managed to take that good coding, and make it worse. Firstly, the new weapon physics from last year are just about worthless now. Wrestlers bounce off weapons like they're being thrown into a wall, instead of simply landing on them. Several times already, I have dropped people on chairs, only for them to stop before hitting the weapon, and bounce like they were thrown into a wall at 30mph. Winning Table Matches are borderline impossible now, as now the moves are harder to turn with. I spent over half an hour in a Tables Mtch as Jack Swagger last night, not able to EVER turn the gutwrench powerbomb towards a table... the engine just would not let me do it. The new rope physics? The ropes now act like taffy... moving where ever, and when ever they please, and it's looks very unrealistic. I do not know how they managed to mess all this up!

CHARACTER MODELS 7

Most of the roster looks relly well done. How ever, you still have your normal issues. Natalya looks about 100 pounds soaking wet... Mark henry is nowhere near his real size... Brock Lesnar has an added 100 pounds of muscle mass than he really has... Triple H sports a 6 pack he could only wish to EVER claim to have owned... Nash's hair looks matted to his head... Demolition look like the early 90's figures that were 1 solid piece of plastic... and Rock has no hair on his head or face at all. The models as always, are mostly well done, as Yukes only ever seems to be interested in making them look good, as opposed to playing well. I have not yet gotten all the wrestlers unlocked, and I do not have any DLC though... so I cannot comment on the DLC, or LOD, Vader, Booker T, or Vince McMahon

MOVES AND MOVEMENTS 5

Even more backwards than 2011. As I already mentioned, an almost perfected method from 2011 was bastardized and ruined this year. You can rarely get what you want out of a move, unless it's a slow set-up, such as the Tombstone Piledriver. Hit detection is beyond horrible as well. As The Rock, I tried to throw his trademark punch after dazing my opponent, but it missed 5 out of 6 times. Top rope moves... which were fixed in 2011, to hit no matter if the wrestler was looking at you or not... gone. It is back to the old routine of "if you're not lined up perfectly, it will not hit." Even running attacks have taken a step back, because if you're not lined up, you will miss entirely. How does a company like Yukes praise their game before release, when playing it is this difficult? Taunts look better, as when I performed a taunt with Kevin Nash, he had a full facial expression including eye movements... how ever, THIS is the biggest compliment I can give for this portion.

AUDIO & VIDEO 3

Wow. I cannot begin to tell you how bad this is. This is another thing Yukes hyped up for months... saying they spent hours reviewing WWE footage to make it a "real experience." Let me tell you, the whole 3 points I gave this section are JUST because the camera angles are realistic. Entrances? Turn 'em off... they're unbearable to watch. Everything sounds like it's playing down a 400 foot hallway with you on the other end from the speaker. I guess this is part of the "realism," but half the time I can't even tell if the music is playing for several seconds. The echo just makes this whole experience terrible, as even the ring announcers can barely be heard sometimes, IF they even speak, because there is a bug where they randomly do not intrroduce the wrestlers. The other major "hype" by Yukes was where in Universe, the opening of the show would play while the first match was loading. This is probably the worst thing I have ever seen. First, the opening video for the show is less than standard definition, and it skips and freezes every 2 seconds! While this would not be so bad... in Road to Wrestlemania, you HAVE to see this EVERY single show! To me, this is an unforgivable thing from Yukes... there's no way this should have gotten so bad!

NEW FEATURES 6

The "all new Breaking Point Submission" system... is crap. I won't even try to insult your intelligence on this one. All they did, was remove the system from 2011, and replace it with the button-mashing crap the fans begged to be removed from the previous versions. There's no skill involved in forcing someone to tap. You wear them down, lock 'em in... and button mash. Absolute crap! The grappling looks better this year, though after about 50 matches... you do get frustrated with it, as there are only about 20 animations altogether for it, with most being previous animations just looped into a new system. The belts are indeed fixed, and most look incredible... though if the belt was always ugly... it still does, you can't fix it with a video game. Community Creations is said to be a little different, but I would not know, as it has been down since I bought the game. I have dabbled a little bit in Create An Arena, and it's about what I expected... a little hype for something that will need a LOT of future work. For what it is... I guess it's ok. Until the community starts getting into really detailed custom logos, we won't see anything unique, though making Starrcade for use in Universe is a go for me. Finally... being able to break up moves, has ups and downs. You can be trying like hell to hit a finisher, but the AI will STILL walk over and throw random punches, even if it's your own team-mate! Backstage brawls are SLIGHTLY improved, though your moves are weakly limited still, but there are actually environmental grapples this year, unlike last year. But... only having the ONE backstage area does not make it fun once you've done it once.

UNIVERSE MODE 6

I would not call this year's a massive improvement. Basically... you can do what ever you want on a card, and it will now count towards rankings, unlike last year. Plus, you can put a Title on the line when ever you please. It's pretty straight-forward all around. How ever, I have noticed that while you can pick which belts you want on your brand, as well as customize RAW and Smackdown to something else... there are glaring issues. First, as you unlock Titles, you can vacate them in Exhibition, but you cannot in Universe. I have several unlocked, but I cannot pull them off the wrestlers in Universe Mode... why? Did no one think of this when they programmed it? Unreal. I am also seeing the same matches... over... and over... and over. Every week on RAW, the Main Event is Stone Cold vs. Randy Orton. EVERY WEEK. I have not come across the injury feature yet, though I have read complaints about it being too frequent, a complete 180 on what Yukes said it would be. Interfering in matches is not as easy as it sounds, either. Basically, you have 1 minute while the ref is down to do what you want to do. The issue? Good luck doing it! I interfered as Punk on Santino vs. Triple H, to help Marella win. But, I could not attack Triple H! Every time I picked up Hunter for the GTS, Santino would walk over and randomly take swings at Hunter, and I would lose the move. The match ended up getting thrown out because I couldn't even leave the ring due to the AI getting in the way every time I got near the ropes.

ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA 4

It has it's own purpose. How ever, you have to repeatedly do the same things over and over, to the point of where you wonder why this mode isn't so much shorter. Basically, I am over 6 hours into it, and still not even through the Outsider Story. This mode has 3 parts, which are almost never-ending. There doesn't even seem to be any kind of a set schedule with it, either. One week you will just have a random match... another you do a backstage segment... then you do multiple backstage brawls. What kills this mode, aside from length, is that it's built around cut-scenes, which would not be so bad if done in a regular way. How ever, in this Road in WWE '12, almost every match concludes with the triangle button flashing over your opponent's head when they are beaten down enough. You hit the button... and we commence to a cut-scene, which most of the time, doesn't even make a whole lot of sense. Without giving much away, Triple H has been in 4 WWE Title Matches already... and every one of them ends in interference. The story takes so long to progress, that I keep getting bored with it, and do some Exhibition. At one point, I swear to you I went through 3 PPV's without the story EVER going anywhere. I still have a story and a half to go... and I'm running out of patience with it. If it weren't for several wrestlers needing to be unlocked in the Hero Story, I would not even bother with it. It's too long... too boring... and nothing ever happens that is note-worthy. Anyone who has this game will know the "beat him to the right of the vending machine" shows up every 3 to 4 shows... there's no creativity in the story, or in the programming.

CREATE A WRESTLER/FINISHER/ARENA 8

The highest score out of this whole review... and to be honest, it's mostly because the Wrestler and Finisher modes were more or less completely untouched. I haven't made a wrestler yet, as I want to unlock everything first, but I looked through everything, and if there are things removed, I don't notice them... everything looks pretty much the same to me. As was my thought, and confirmed by people online, Create a Finisher was not touched at all. No new moves or animations at all... I can fully see this feature being removed... because to be honest, it serves no purpose other than kids creating painfully long finishers to spam online to laugh at. With Arena... it serves it's job, and as I said, hopefully good artists will come up with some neat designs down the road.

REPLAY VALUE 6

I will be honest, playing as a lone person against the AI... you will only be able to stomach it for so long. With me, I have a few friends who love to sit around and play these games, and we make our own entertainment out of our matches, as, unlike the AI, we pace our matches to look decent, instead of spamming the same thing over and over. When it comes to Road to Wrestlemania and Universe... only die-hard WWE fans will continue playing through these modes up until the release of 2013. Road is basically a one-time deal... if you go through it twice, you either LOVE the WWE Kool-Aid... or you're a glutton for punishment. Hopefully with a patch, Yukes will at least fix the constant rematches un Universe Mode to make it more enjoyable, but I see myself sticking to Exhibition when playing alone... as the added headache of changing every other match can be done by me, outside the mode. Personally, if I hadn't gotten this for free, and paid full price for it... I would be very upset, and probably returning it within a couple weeks, and continuing to play 2011. It just.... doesnt feel improved, it feels like a rushed, broken-down lump of attempted fixes, that when broken, were never attempted to be corrected.

OVERALL SCORE: 54 out of 100

Seeing the videos online... seeing the hype for it... I knew not to expect a great game. How ever, I didn't expect it to be THIS bad. Yukes took about 5 steps forward with 2011, a leap they had never bothered to try and make in 12 years. This year how ever... seems to be the year they send out a broken down game in order to hype up WWE '13 as "all new and improved," where they will put back in the features they took out, and fix the issues they purposefully broke. No one can tell me they didn't do these things on purpose... as there was NO reason to remove the fixed top rope attacks... nor make colliding with a move, punch or kick so hard to do. Business is business... and Yukes knows how to play people. The selling is also faster, which means escaping the cage takes good timing, as the AI will always be up before you are halfway up the cage, no matter what you do to them... it's just horrible timing, horrible programming... and makes me shake my head at what the people at Yukes believe makes a great game.

Rent it first, folks. Whether it be from a video store or an online program... RENT IT. I am far from happy from this release, and cannot believe it was ever approved to be shipped in the shape it's in. Whether people agree with me or not... doesn't matter to me. I know what I like in a video game, and being frustrated about not winning due to difficulty should be my only problem... NOT getting frustrated because half of what I try to do... will not work.

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This, game out of all of them is the best so far. The Only thing I don't like is that you can't choose your character on the road to wrestlemania!

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A good deal of customability and over all polish makes this game a winner! Create an Arena is awesome and the WCW rings and title are a cool throwback to the glory days of wrestling. Go Starcade!

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The latest wrestling game released by World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE '12 offers incredible customization but somewhat lackluster gameplay.

WWE '12 is a wrestling game styled after the WWE's signature television shows, such as "Monday Night RAW" and "Friday Night Smackdown!". It includes every talent currently on the WWE roster, as well as unlockable characters from the franchise's history. The basic mechanics of wrestling will be familiar to any fan of the shows, but in essence gameplay generally revolves around either weakening an enemy so they can be pinned for a 3-count or fulfilling some specific objective dependent on the match type.

The game has several main modes. The simple exhibition mode is just a throwaway one-shot match for up to four players, with all sorts of applicable conditions. "WWE Universe" is a sort of "season mode" where specific bouts take place on the WWE's different shows, setting up title bouts and other major competitions. In this mode it's also possible to set up new franchises and edit the attributes of existing wrestlers. Finally, "Road to Wrestlemania" is a sort of "story mode", following either the Heroes or Villains in a linear set of matches where the player assumes the role of different WWE superstars.

The gameplay is relatively simple. Wrestlers primarily use striking (i.e. chops/slaps/punches) and grappling (throws, chokeholds, etc) to wear down their opponents. Certain special move conditions, such as attacking off the ring's ropes or attacking from a run, also exist. While every character has recognizably different moves, their playstyles aren't really dependent on them. The striking is simply attacking, while the grapples are executed with little player input (i.e. you would press forward-plus-X to do a certain grapple, and other than that it's not that different).

The player's defensive options are, quite annoyingly, limited to hitting R2 immediately before being attacked; there's no blocking options or anything similar, so if you miss that small window to counter an attack you're basically stuck. In some cases, you're not even given an opportunity to hit R2, so you just have to sit there and watch your character get pummeled. Conversely, it's easy to get an enemy caught in a long combo, because they've got the same problem.

In terms of customization, though, the game is absolutely amazing. Characters can be customized in terms of their facial features, physique, outfit (or outfits), abilities, moves, crowd response, and entrance. The moveset creator, in particular, is incredibly detailed, with a huge library of wrestling moves for every possible situation. Characters can even be given names that will be said by the announcers during their entrance and as commentary on the match, though these names must be chosen from a (fairly large) list. Furthermore, all these things can be uploaded and downloaded on the PS3's network, giving players access to a wide variety of custom characters, movesets, and even arenas. It's even possible to import custom music and videos from the PS3's hard drive to apply it to the game.

The game's graphics aren't that great; the textures seem kind of flat, especially for a PS3 game. The animations are good, though they tend to have problems when the ring itself gets in the way. The game doesn't look too bad when it's in motion, but in any circumstance where the graphics are the focus (such as entrances), they just look noticeably low-quality. They're hardly awful, especially given the customization of the characters, but they're not great either.

Overall, WWE '12 isn't really good enough to recommend to non-wrestling fans. Its somewhat frustrating controls and gameplay aren't really made up for by its incredible customization if you're not into wrestling already. On the other hand, if you ARE into wrestling, it's about as comprehensive of a game as one could hope for.

Rating: 7/10.

We purchased this game with our own funds for the purpose of doing this review.

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Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Skin (PS3 Slim) - NEW - WINTER WHITE

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I just bought a ps3 slim 2 weeks ago. I wanted the original phat ps3, but the gamestop rep said not to bother with a "gamestop refurb," so I got the Black Ops Slim. The original ps3 looks much nicer with the Piano black, whereas the ps3 slim is an ugly duckling. In order to fix the looks, I bought this skin. Once applied, the skin looks great! There is enough of the skin to cover every part of the ps3, even the bottom and most of a controller (comes with 2 controller skins.). It took me about 15 minutes just for the top part because it's the biggest part. Take your time and it will come out really nice. I posted some pictures of mine above.

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If you take your time putting the decals on, it ends up looking pretty nice. It's also very easy to mess something up even just slightly, and it'll end up looking pretty stupid. The decals are EXACTLY the same size as the piece they're for, any slight stretching will make the piece thinner and leave black showing on the sides. It's easy for the decals to stick to themselves as your trying to apply them, and pulling them apart is tricky without stretching or tearing. I got a smaller decal for the controller stuck to the back of the big top piece, I had to peel it off with a knife and ended up with a tiny little bubble there once I applied it. When you apply them, make sure you use a credit card and dish soap solution they talk about in the instructions. Otherwise you'll have a lot of bubbles, and you definitely won't get it in the right place the first time you place it. The controller decals werent important to me, the one I did apply looks kind of dumb, they're even harder to apply.

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Let me say I've always wanted a white ps3! Ordering one from Japan for at least $550.00 was not cost effective for me. Being as though my 2nd ps3 is not even a year old! That's where the skins came into play! The skin arrived on time and unwrinkled. Only put these skins on when you have the proper amount of time! If you rush, I could see how you could destroy the skin. Pulling and stretching the skin will make it lose it's shape! You don't want that because each piece is tailored to fit! Hint: this is not a two person job, but the extra eyes and hands helps with the application and saves time! End result you ask? Flawless white ps3! Everyone down to my wife ask me if I bought a new ps3! It's a great product! The white really stands on! Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention the controller decals suck. Don't waste you time! I just went and bought a white dual shock controller! It looks soooo real! Sorry I didn't post any pics but you get my drift! For anyone wanting to give their ps3 a face lift this is the way to go! Remember TAKE YOUR TIME during the application process! Now back to MW3!

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This really adds a great look to your otherwise boring PS3. A few things to keep in mind when applying:

-Take your time! The amount of effort you put in to the application is directly related to the end result.

-Use the spray bottle technique/card squegee technique. You're able to slide the pieces around instead of stretch them one they're on.

-It really helps if you have another person to help. Having another person helps with perspective.

-If you have a sweet bod with a plumage of chest hair like me, wear a shirt.....

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A pain to apply but looks really good right after! It makes it look like my PS3 is actually white. The seller is A+!

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Official Street Fighter IV Cloth Wall Scroll - Group

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The art in this wall scroll is great, though a bit blurry when it is viewed up close. The only thing is if you live somewhere where there is a lot of moisture in the air, then the scroll will start to curl in at the sides. It would be better if the scroll were actual cloth, not some vinyl-like material.

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It curls up on the side. No matter how much I flatten it out it would still curl out. Its the official street fighter 4 poster by madcatz. The quality is 4/5 and smells like brand new paint. Only thing i was dissapointed by was the art is not as clear as pictured on the website. Overall its a nice poster but the quality could be better.

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This wall scroll is a great have. The only thing I notice living in the tropics is that it will fold on the sides since it's really hot here. Taking it down and rolling it up fixes this issue for a couple of months but then you have to do it again. Not bad though since if you're cleaning your room and dusting it.

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This isn't a poor quality product, but like the other reviewer said, it could be a much sharper quality print, even as far as "cloth" wall scrolls go. I have a lot of wall scrolls, and this is the first one I've seen that's printed on a vinyl-like material. It has that plastic "pool toy" smell to it, and it doesn't come with a string for hanging. I'm not sure why, but the hooks at the top slide across the plastic bar for some reason? I'm happy with the product, but it's not what I had in mind when I think of a "cloth" wall scroll. It's a cool poster, and it looks good from across my small room. I think any SFIV fan would be happy with it! It's a fair price, and it's certainly more durable than a regular paper poster!

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I have this wallscroll in bedroom door, I always wake up full of energy, I haven't played SF IV though, I'm just and old school gamer... SF II baby.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Collector's Edition

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Sale Price: $64.87
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Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the sequel to the controversial 2010 release Final Fantasy XIII. It is loved by many, and hated by others. This is something that it has in common with many of the predecessors that came before it. Square-Enix was determined to try and fix many of the mistakes they felt that they had made.

Personally I have enjoyed every Final Fantasy, even Final Fantasy XI, XII, XIII, and XIV (now). I come into each, and every one of them with a different set of eyes. This is not a series that is not going to stay along a specific formula. Each chapter in the Final Fantasy saga is constantly evolving, and changing. It is up to the fans to embrace that change or sadly this Fantasy may be Final for you.

Story (Spoiler free):

The story in XIII-2 is pretty interesting. It plays off similarly to a mystery. It starts off 3 years after the events of the previous game. Lightning is gone, and Serah is determined to find her along with Noel. They set off on their grand adventure. Where did Lightning go? How is Noel involved? Who is Etro, and how is she involved? What is the main goal of the antagonist? All of these questions popped into my mind several times. Luckily XIII-2 succeeds in the story department, especially in the later segments of the game. XIII-2 has an excellent cast of characters, with one of the best antagonists in recent memory.

If you aren't a fan of getting the overall plot in smaller portions, and then a grand finale in the later segments of the game. You will more than likely dislike XIII-2s story. Also one needs to remember that this is a time travel game so you need to keep an open mind of what is happening because there are certain things that don't make sense at first, but they will later on. Outside of the story from the cinematics, some bits and pieces are told through data logs and through NPCs (Talk to ALL of them). This was a nice addition because I really enjoyed reading those extra tidbits from the datalog fragments.

Gameplay:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a time traveling game. You will be delving through the Historia Crux jumping between the timelines to enter new areas. In these areas you can of course do the main plot, but Square also implemented many outside additions for the players to do. These biggest additions include:

Monster Hunting One of the best additions to the game. The 3rd slot in the party belongs to a monster, so hunting is essential. You can capture tonberrys, cactaurs, ochus, and even in some cases primals! Each monster has a different role, and can be leveled through the Crystarium (similarly to the main characters, except they take monster components). In certain cases, there are even one of kind monsters. So choose wisely before you level them up. Monsters can be infused to inherit abilities, and traits. One can lose hours of their lives with this system, especially if you want to catch them all.

Sidequests There are tons of these throughout the game. There are simple fetch quests, killing quests, detailing a map, obtaining 100% of the beastiary, solving puzzles, answering questions, and many more. The nice addition that Square did here is that every character in the game has a voice over, and they aren't reused. If Square did re-use voice actors for NPCs they did a darn good job of hiding it, and I'm pretty good at catching that sort of thing. Also every quest is started in the form of a basic cut-scene. Gone are the days of long dreadful text walls.

Paradox Puzzles Square implemented puzzles to the game in the form of Paradox Puzzles. These puzzles take place in what seems like a rift between time, and there are three different forms of puzzles. Running tile puzzles, connect the dots of sorts, and the brain crunching clock puzzles. Some of these puzzles had me stumped. One in particular took me close to an hour to figure out. (By the way, those clock puzzles are random. Good luck finding a guide).

Serendipity This optional area is a theme park of sorts if you wish to call it that. There is Chocobo Racing, Slot machines, and more that will be added later via DLC such as card games. There are dozens of adornments to be found, tons of prizes to win, and lots of money to be lost.

The battle system is pretty much the same as Final Fantasy XIII. At first I actually had a hard time readjusting to it because it's so darn fast. I still dislike the "Auto-Battle" option but I do understand why it's there. You never have to use it once through the entire game if you wish not too.

Square redid a lot of the animations, especially in the magic department. The later tier magic spells seemed to have a lot more effects than its predecessor which I found to be really nice. Though there was a lot of reuse in abilities such as "Ruin, Blitz, Imperil" and more. Monsters from XIII are also reused in a lot of areas, which is also understandable because it's still the same world so they aren't going to just disappear. However if in the future a sequel is made (oh and there will be) I would like to see more additions. There is enough for it not too be annoying, but I would like to see more variations.

Characters advance through the Crystarium, a system used in Final Fantasy XIII. While it may look similar in style to its counterpart it's actually a lot different. There is still a one way path for each role, but depending on what role you level and when, the stats you have at the end of the Crystarium may differ greatly from another player. When leveling the "Bigger Orbs" there are stat bonuses determined by that role. For example a Commando is a 2 STR bonus, while a Ravager is 2 MAG bonus. Choose wisely.

Square implemented dialogue trees, and cinematic actions for more of a western appeal approach. These additions were alright, but as a fan of JRPGs over WRPGs. I hope that in the future, they stay far away from the genre. It's not that I dislike them, but I would rather appreciate 100% of the story, and watch the impressive cutscenes.

Music:

The music in Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a bit of a departure from other games in the series. A good portion of the soundtrack which boasts over 70 songs has vocals. Luckily the rap tracks have been eliminated from the western version, but almost all of the songs are a delight to listen too. Naoshi Mizuta, Masashi Hamauzu, Nobuo Uematsu, and Mitsuto Suzuki put together a very decent soundtrack.

There were only a few songs I really disliked, and unsurprisingly they were composed by Nobuo. I am a big fan of Nobuo's early work but that Crazy Chocobo theme was entirely unnecessary, and didn't fit with the Final Fantasy universe at all. Head banging, and really crazy death metal isn't my style especially in a boss fight or, when riding a cute little bird.

Naoshi Mizuta continues to impress me with themes like "Warrior Goddess" and "Caius Theme." I really hope that he is a part of all future Final Fantasy installments. In my opinion he is the new Nobuo Uematsu of this time period.

Technical Problems:

In a generation where video game technical issues seem to be the norm, it is nice that Square-Enix is ahead of the curve with their single player Final Fantasy games. However the game is not perfect. There are frame drops in cut scenes. They aren't anything that will significantly irritate the player (and most people probably will not notice it at all) but it does break my focus.

Thankfully though out of the entire time I spent with the game that was all I encountered. No freezes, no screen tears, no cutting out music, hell my entire 24MB save didn't drop to 10 frames at all!

What I played:

My adventure in XIII-2 lasted about 65 hours (the main story took me roughly 35 hours, and I skipped some content). That time will differ heavily depending on what content you do. The Platinum trophy has been obtained, and I have conquered a majority of the games content. I have seen every Paradox ending, the secret ending, and all 160 fragments have been found. I however did not capture every monster (but I did kill them all ^^), or obtain all of the adornments that can be found throughout the game. I also did not collect the weapons that require ridiculous farming time.

My score and final thoughts:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is by no means a perfect game, because it isn't. Not everyone will enjoy XIII-2 but I do believe that Square succeeded in bringing back the joy for many Final Fantasy Fans. XIII-2 boasts a very decent story, great music, decent characters, one hell of a protagonist, and one of the most memorable endings I have ever seen. Time literally flew by while playing XIII-2 for me, so thanks Square for the fun.

Quick Recap:

Pros:

Characters

Story

Music

Caius is EPIC

Monster Hunting

Ending

Illusion of freedom is back

Collector's Edition has an amazing casing

Neutral:

Dialogue Trees

Cinematic Actions

Re-use of Monster assets

Cons:

Inconsistent Difficulty (Luckily the Final Boss is insanely fun!)

Frame drops in cut scenes

Nobuo's ridiculous head banging music

Note: This review has also been posted on the standard edition, because I purchased them both. I think it's fair that it gets credit on both fronts.

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I'm one of those that liked the first one, though I had some problems with its game design. XIII-2 fixes most of those problems. The combat is faster and you're thrown into the story without a 12 hour tutorial. The graphics are gorgeous, the music is gorgeous, and the gameplay is a lot more fun.

However, you had to have finished FFXIII to really understand whats going on.

If you liked FFXIII you'll love this one.

If you hated FFXIII you'll hate this one a bit less than you hated XIII.

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I just want to say that I really enjoyed the first one, FFXIII. I had a lot of fun with it and nearly spent 120 hours on it, damn you treasure hunter trophy, but i've also played every other final fantasy except FFX, FFXI, FFXII, and FFXIV. If your going to compare it to the best the final fantasy franchise has to offer, sure it's going to be a little disappointing. Though it still is a really fun JRPG. I feel people just hold it to an extremely high expectation because, will I mean come on FFIX,FFVIII, FFIV, FFV as well as FFVI...which all are really incredible games so it's understandable to a point. In my opinion sqeenix was doing what they always have done, which is to change the formula of their own standard they set on the previous title. They generally outperform, or at the very least are on par, with their previous title. I will have to agree that they fell short on quite a few aspects, definitely not the graphics though, on their FFXIII title.

FFXIII-2 is so much of an upgrade, as far as my 6 hours of game play can tell, that it's astounding some of the reviews that gave it a lower score than it's predecessor. I'm enjoying the story and especially the fighting of this game, it is roughly the same, which I personally loved the battle system of FFXIII to begin with and the only thing they changed was instead of a third person as a party member you get to choose any number of monsters that you tame throughout your journey. I feel this is a decent trade off from a third person party member but I will really have to see with more experience with the game. I do like the idea of it all though. The environments of the areas I've explored as well as the character designs and enemy designs are fantastic. I especially love the way Sarah looks, quite cute if I say so myself, and the boss you fight at the beach area is really cool looking, but a bit easy. I'm playing on normal and only every once in a while I get 4 stars, but it's quite rare so I'd have to say that it's pretty easy.

One of the best changes is the fact that you get gil from winning battles. My god the most annoying thing about FFXIII was the fact you couldn't get gil any other way besides selling things. That is why the treasure hunter trophy is stupidly hard to get. Not sure how this will effect trophies but it's much better than having to hope you get something worth selling. Another welcomed upgrade is the fact that there are NPC's which you can talk to, and towns which you get to explore. This, to me at least, is what final fantasy is all about, I mean who doesn't love to explore areas endlessly in the hopes that a rare treasure is behind some random corner, or even that some NPC will give you the scoop on the best item in the game if you talk to him a couple of times. It's one of the appeals to the franchise in my opinion and this definitely has that.

I do wonder though, if this is a case of a little to late. I feel people were so turned off by the linearity of the first one, in combination with all the things aforementioned in my review of this title, that it makes it hard for people to even give this a chance. If FFXIII would have been more like this title then I definitely feel that it would have gotten better reviews. Ultimately anybody who is a fan of the final fantasy franchise will really enjoy this title as it's aesthetically pleasing and has fixed everything wrong with the first title. The only thing would be if you didn't like the battle system of the first one you wont like the battle system of this as it's essentially the same. If you were ok with the battle system then please pick this up as it is by far and away an improvement and I don't see how you wouldn't enjoy it.

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First of all, let me just say I absolutely fell in love with FF13. I sat there mesmerised when seeing the intro sequence for the first time. I was completely captivated by the story. I fell in love with the characters (I even got to like Snow in time). Even outside of the main story, there were so many moments I loved... It was so nice to see Light levitate a behemoth for the first time and then jump after it and continue her work... I laughed out loud the first time I saw Lightning head towards an opponent to start her combo and then very skilfully stab the empty place where the monster used to be... It was so nice to finally beat a (ne)ochu thanks to vanille's unique skill... The first time using an eidolon and the first zantetsuken... So many firsts, and so much to enjoy... What can I say, overall it was a masterpiece, and in my opinion it is almost impossible to improve it. And as far as I'm concerned, 13-2 did not improve it in any way.

It's impossible for me to try and judge it as a standalone, so mostly I'll just compare it with the original. The gameplay / battle system is mostly unchanged. You get the same six roles, the same paradigm system, but just two playable characters. The third member of the party is always a monster you have to capture. Unlike the main characters, monsters only have one fixed role, and you can use only three monsters when building your paradigm deck. Naturally, this limits the strategic choices available, and as such the introduction of the possibility to save/load paradigm decks is quite welcomed (this being a feature I for one would have loved to have in the original as well). The game feels more difficult at maximum level, but you can so easily be over-levelled for a particular area during the main story that overall the game is considerably easier. This is in direct contrast with the original, where it was pretty impossible to be over-levelled for a particular area (I for one was completely humiliated by a shaolong gui on my first visit to the archylte steppe (yes, shaolong gui, not adamanchelid)).

Visually, the game still has the same (extremely high) quality, the only loss here is that the gorgeous cut-scenes from the original are no more (from what I understand they are no longer pre-rendered but generated live, and you can see this loss of quality quite clearly in the game).

The fights overall feel faster than in the original. The ATB bar seems to fill faster, paradigm shift is always instantaneous. This is not really a bad thing, but compared to the original, I found myself relying much more on the auto-combat option. While in the original, halfway through I changed the default option from auto to manual, for this one it was impossible. I simply do not have time to manually queue commands (well, maybe if I'm really efficient, I can populate a queue with 5*fire) without wasting a at least half a turn (and this is non-hasted with standard weapons, I won't even begin to describe how many turns I'd waste when the character is hasted and wielding a +50% atb rate weapon).

The adding of the "playable" monsters unfortunately also means no more summons (and implicitly no more zantetsuken ;_;). The ultimate character-specific moves are still there, but are considerably easier to get, and nowhere near as impressive as the original. You won't see Lightning's time dilation inducing army of one, or vanille's rather frightening death here...

The story is... well... you get a lot of choices. And for people who value the illusion of freedom, this may be a good thing. My opinion about all this is that no good game offers that much freedom to begin with. For me, a good game is one that tells a story worth hearing, worth living, and I for one do not know of any good story that can be read with its chapters shuffled. I did play many games offering the illusion of freedom, but the truth is that although you may choose to go to B before you go to A, more often than not all you can do once there is learn that you should go to A if you want to advance the story, and this is why I called it "illusion of freedom". Choices are never a bad thing, the real problem with the story for me was... well... it's really difficult to say exactly what... it just falls (waaaay) short of the original story. As others said before, it's difficult to have a good story with time travel as the main theme, and the story is really not that bad, it's just... not impressive.

About characters... Now, since she's Light's sister I won't say anything about Serah, I'll just say that compared to the first, I was greatly disappointed by the lack of real characters. There's just Serah and Noel, and neither gets much of a story. The "bad guys" get a much better story here, for me Noel just felt like Caius's shadow just as much as Serah is just Light's sister. Serah already had a story and character, beautifully exposed in the original, but Noel could have used a better story imo.

It is painful to give a game featuring Lightning anything but a perfect score, but things just went in the wrong direction in my opinion. While 13 was designed around a story, around characters, it had a different battle system, and the result was nothing short of a masterpiece, this one just feels like a "let's give the fans what they want" version. There's nothing wrong with listening to fans, but people should try and remember that fans are created by great games and great games created by fans are rare to say the least. It still has enough of the original to make it a very good game, it just lacks that certain something that got me addicted to 13.

Is it still worth buying? Yes. Would I have had a better opinion of it if I played it without having tried 13? Yes. But to call it an improvement in all aspects over the original, that it fixes all the things that were wrong in the original... That just feels like a joke to me. Then again, I honestly do not think there was anything important in the original that needed fixing.

All in all, it's a good game, with considerably more playable content. It will keep you busy probably twice as long as 13 and getting all achievements is a titanic task. Oh, and I would highly recommend buying the guide too if you are interested in 100% completion, there are certain vital things that can be so easily missed the first time you play an area (or in my case the 10th time as well).

It's just not the same without Light. And it's a pity too, because Serah had such potential as a character...

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I love Final Fantasy and have been playing each installment ever since I was young. I also enjoyed Final Fantasy 13 even though many did not, it may not have been a great Final Fantasy but I enjoyed the game anyways. Because of the enjoyment I had playing Final Fantasy 13 as soon as I heard Final Fantasy 13-2 was announced I wanted it. Unfortunately, though the game is fun it is not as good as I had hoped.

PROS -

-The game has much more explorations and gives you a lot of freedom from the start.

-The monster mechanic is pretty fun and collecting and infusing to make an ultimate monster in endgame will prove to be very fun.

CONS -

-The story is not even finished, I payed $80 for an unfinished game to say I am angry would be an understatment

-The music though not necessarily bad is by far my least favorite of all the FF games which is disappointing since I payed $40 more for the collectors edition.(since Amazon was giving $20 credit on normal edition)

-The game is unbelievably easy even on normal difficulty. Final Fantasy 13 wasn't necessarily hard but at least it wasn't so easy you dominated everything. The game is so easy I kill bosses usually in less than 90 seconds and I haven't went out of my way to farm at all, in fact I stopped spending crystarium points about 25 hours into the game because I was hoping the game would get harder but no it hasn't I still kill every pack of monsters I run into in less that 5-10 seconds.

-Lastly my biggest gripe which is the scourge of gaming in my opinion and will only get worse, DLC. It has already been announced that things that would normally have been in a Final Fantasy game will be released in the future as DLC, this includes a finished story. Yes, you read right the story is not finished and it has already been announced that extra character stories will be released in the future and that Lightnings would bring about the resolution of the end of the game. Also, in the casino there is a card game that has not been implemented yet and when asking how to play it gives a message saying will be available in future downloadable content. The coliseum which is kind of like the one in Final Fantasy 10 where you can pick a boss to fight is also a mainly dlc feature with the earliest bosses being classic lightning and master sergeant Amodar for $3 being released on February 7th.

CONCLUSION -

This is the first review I have ever written so it is not that great. Yes, I know there is probably lots of grammar errors if you want to point them out in comments so I can correct them in future reviews that would be great. Overall, Final Fantasy 13-2 is still fun which I why I gave it a 4/5 for fun. The reason for the 3/5 rating is because the game is unfinished with the rest of the story being released in DLC at a later date which just sickens and infuriates me, I think my 3/5 is very generous considering this but I am enjoying the game regardless so I will cut it some slack. I can only hope this money milking trend called DLC does not get any worse than it already has but I foresee a future where 75% of a game is with held for DLC. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against DLC my main problem with it is the rampant abuse of DLC currently in the market. I have bought every single Final Fantasy since 7 the day it was released (excluding FF11 and FF14) but if Square continues this disgusting practice it started with FF13-2 I will wait for each one to drop to $20 before I buy them in the future for a couple of reasons. Not only will waiting for it to drop to $20 make up for all the money I will be spending on DLC but I usually do not even bother with DLC even if it is something I would want because after beating a game I rarely go back to it as I am busy with other games.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops LTO (Standard LTO)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $29.96
Today's Bonus: 40% Off

Great game...Great price. Contrary to the other reviewer the code worked fine. The game comes with the promo code and how to redeem it. Unless there was an issue with his/her code that I am unaware of, If you follow the directions it will work fine . I really need to practice and play more, so I stop getting beat by all the 9-13 year olds, and everyone else who has been playing for so long...LOL But, the game is a blast!!!

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im a total girl gamer and i always get the new cod when they come out. i liked this game a lot. the storyline was good and i liked the gameplay. i love the maps too. they arent squished like some other maps have been. i like this better than mw3 and play this way more than that. arrived early.

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This is a very good game and I still play it because I don't like mw3 that much but I really liked this game because of the good graphics other than what Infinity Ward creates and that it had Zombie Maps that were awesome and you could play with your friends and that came back from World at War and was the best! This is one of my favorite Call of Duty games and I recommend that you get it because you are gonna have some fun times with everything included on it!

Campaign 9/10

Zombies 10/10

Multiplayer 8.5/10

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This game is awesome. Campaign is mediocre but zombies and online multiplayer rock. It is much better than Black Ops 2.

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Paid $15 during the XMas sales and it's been worth every penny. Still tons of people online playing COD Black Ops at time of purchase almost two years after initial release. I'll do the same thing for Black Ops 2 in like 2014.

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MLB 10: The Show

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First of all, let me just say this is a fantastic representation of a high level of baseball. I am a former pro and I love the realism of this game. The pitcher/batter interface is perfect. The new gameplay cameras are outstanding. The immersion factor is just like a real game, both playing and watching it on TV. The more you understand the mental part of baseall, the better you will do, if you execute what you know. Job well done Sony!

It is a nice, solid upgrade over 09. If a few people have trouble seeing that, they need to look in the mirror. The new upgrades are definitely there, in presentation and gameplay.

I have noticed a theme in the reviews about the difficulty of hitting the ball and recognizing if the pitch is a Ball or Strike. I think it is very well done and realistic. Hitting a round baseball with a round bat has been said to be the hardest thing to do in sports, especially when its got late movement and coming in 90+ MPH In reality, getting a hit 3 out of 10 times makes you an all-star. Which means failure 70% of the time for the very best players. That is the nature of the game and it is represented very well in The Show 10.

Walks have always been difficult to come by in video baseball games, due to user imput and patience. Plus if you are good at squaring up the ball, you have less of an opportunity to see enough pitches to get a Walk. That is the nature of video baseball. However, this game will reward you greatly for your patience and achieving Count Leverage. I use the default Catcher view to hit. It is a GREAT view in this game for that purpose. The pitch physics are excellent and batter response is very quick. When you face a teams top Starting Pitchers, it is very challenging. Which is how it is in reality. I got shutout 2-0 by Zack Greinke of the Royals my last game using the Angels. It was a great game and I loved the challenge. With more discipline, I might have gotten to him, but he had nasty stuff, which he does in real life. You will chase pitches out of the strike zone against pitchers with nasty stuff, especially if you are down in the count. That is the reality of the game. It is not The Show's fault, I didnt have the patience that was necessary at the plate to be successful against Greinke. Next time I will make the adjustments and have better success. That is how the game of baseball works. That is what I want represented in my video baseball and that is what I get with The Show 10.

This game will make you a better baseball player, if you want to have success at it. You will become more disciplined and put into play your real baseball knowledge and hand/eye coordination. One without the other will lead to a lack of success. On the other hand, if you want to blame Sony for your lack of baseball skills, both mental and physical, then you need to maybe go with MLB 2K10. It is made for the arcade crowd and people who dont really know the game of baseball, and get upset when they cant be successful the majority of the time. People who dont have the patience and makeup to look in the mirror and take responsibility for their own shortcomings might look away from The Show. The fun for me is in the realism and challenge of a real video baseball game simulator, which is what MLB 10 The Show is. Best sports game in my 25+ years of video gaming.

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I've been playing The Show series since it's inception, and have previously offered my reviews concentrating only on the baseball gamer who enjoys playing through a full MLB season vs: the CPU. This review will be much the same, emphasizing the pros and cons of this game, largely compared to previous game versions. I'll only mention the other available game modes in passing (Road To The Show, Home Run Derby, etc), as I don't play those much, if at all. I'll start with my background, since I think it's helpful to know where a reviewer is coming from, in terms of specifically baseball experience/interest, and also in baseball gaming experienceparticularly since with this series (Road To The Show), it should be clear by now that this is NOT a game for casual gamers, or those with only a passing interest in baseball. I'm 55 years old, played competitive baseball up to a college level, and have remained an avid fan since hanging up the spikes about 33 years ago. I've played just about every variation of baseball games down through the years, starting with (and still with) the Strat-O-Matic baseball board game (more on that below), and then through most (if not all) the videogame versions, from the earliest pc versions to the present console games. Every year, I play through an entire season (Spring training and all 162 games, and playoffs) with one team vs: the CPU (my home-town Chicago White Sox). What I like in a baseball videogame is much the same as what I enjoyed about Strat-O-Matic baseball as a board game: fun gameplay, challenging to win (I don't want to "master" any game, since the best MLB teams rarely do better than a .600-.640 win percentage),steeped in strategy, and perhaps most importantly, realistic stats/outcomes. This review will likely appeal most to gamers who share a similar background and interest in gaming. The following is my take on MLB The Show 2010, PS3 version, concentrating mostly on playing a full season on Franchise mode with one team, vs: the CPU. As with my review last year, the comments section will provide more details, for those interested.

Graphics: the best yet, in both this series, and in any current sports videogame, for that matter. The player models are spectacular, with many more individual batting stances, pitching motions, and mannerisms than even last year's excellent game. The stadium graphics are still a bit bland, but also better, with more individuality in crowds from park to park, and the addition of variable lighting effects as the game progresses (stadium shadows, etc) is not only spot-on, it also adds an element to gameplay (picking up a 96mph fastball as it goes in and out of a shadow around the plate, for example). Player uniforms get realistically dirty with play during a game. Crowds tend to be thin in parks where the home team isn't doing too well, and appropriately huge (and loud) in big games, with contending teams.Only complaint here is sometimes during day games (particularly in Spring Training parks), it can be VERY hard to pick up the ball off the bat (too much glare).

Animations: I consider this separately from the graphics. A game can look real nice, but that doesn't mean too much, if the player motions on the field aren't right. In most respects, this game captures player motions quite well. The main exceptions being: Many animations for swing-and-miss are still pretty awful (when you miss a pitch badly, the animation rubs it in your face); representations of fielder throwing errors are still hokey (most often , the guy still takes his time winding up, then calmly heaves the ball 10 rows back into the stands); and tags of baserunners in close plays at the bases seems to bear no correlation with the outcome (player beats the throw by 5 feet, yet is called out, etc). And once again : NO COLLISION GRAPHICS (other than the pivot man getting upended on some double plays), which could add so much to not only the visuals, but gameplay as well (influencing outcome of the play, injuries, etc). It would be nice to make you choose whether or not you want to risk colliding with another outfielder going after a ball in the gap, for instancebut since those kind of collisions still don't occur in this game, you can go get everything. Missed opportunity for more challenging gameplay there.

Sound: sounds of the ball hitting the bat, the glove, the crowd noisesall of this is excellent, and creates a very immersive and believable stadium experience. The announcers, however (same trio again) are still stale, and pretty awfulthough you will notice this most only if you play a lot of games. Many instances of where the commentary doesn't match up with what happened on the field, and way too repetitive in what they say.The two "color guys" are particularly awfulpretty irritating to even have to be insulted by these repetitive bozos too, when you are having a bad game. It seems as if almost NO upgrade was even attempted to the commentary this year, and it showsthose who have been playing this series the last few years will be particularly irritated by this: same old thing as last year, almost to the letter. What desperately needs to be added here, is more individual player info by the commentators, as is done very well in the MLB 2K series, for instance. Unfortunate, toosince good gameplay announcing and color commentary can add so much to a sports game experienceI always point to the NHL game series an an example of how well it CAN be done. While the MLB 2K series remains an inferior overall product compared to The Show, it does continue to have superior game announcers. Come on, Show developers: get this right!

Gameplay: the Big item in any sports videogame. Get all the rest right and mess this up, and any game will stink. Most serious baseball fans want a game that just FEELS RIGHT, especially with gameplay. Major ongoing complaints about "CPU control" in this game, where humans feel like gameplay results are ultra-pre-programmed: see my comments section about this, if interested (many definitely are). The most outstanding gameplay element of The Show series, this one included, has always been the spot-on physics of how a baseball travels. The Show perfectly captures the realistic feel for the variety of batted balls that occur in any game: dribblers, line shots, Texas Leaguers, towering pop ups, bad hops (a particularly new good animation), and best of all, the way individual pitches move coming out of the pitcher's hand. It's a major rush to blow 96mph high heat past a hitter for a K in a tight situation, or to snap off a knee-buckling Uncle Charlie for a called strike three, or to freeze their big hitter with an unexpected 3-2 changeup, with the bases loaded. And here's something that many reviewers to this site find irritating about this game, that I find ultimately gratifying (though still VERY frustrating, at times): just because you do everything right with your gamepad does NOT mean everything will go just right on any given pitch. See my comment section on this, as space does not allow me to do this topic justice here.

Gameplay excels particularly in the batter-pitcher duels, where knowing your baseball is paramount to any success. This isn't just a chuck it and slug it gameas a hitter, you have to always be aware of the game situation, the pitcher, the count, the tendencies of what to expect in any given moment of play on the field. This game, needless to say, requires total concentration, if you expect to succeed. This is NOT a game for someone who just has a passing ineterest in baseball, and/or who wants to just play a game every now and then, and wallop the CPU every time, while you are eating chips and listenting to your I-pod tunes. The game rewards the hitter who works the count to his advantage, and who is patient and selective at the plate. Appropriately (though many who like TOTAL gameplay control of results may disagree), the game rewards you with a hit more often than not, IF you are hitting ahead in the countand punishes you, also quite realistically, if you swing at everything, and are always in a 0-2, 1-2 count at the plate. I've found that if I work the count to my advantage (and this IS very hard to do, especially against the better MLB pitchers), even swings that I don't locate or time perfectly will often go for hits, and if I'm hitting 0-2, even a perfectly timed/placed swing will result in an out more often than not. I think the game developers HAVE introduced a major "pre-determined" element in gameplay with that, but that I also don't mind, since it IS realistically reflective of MLB averages, when hitters are either ahead or behind in a count.

Fielding and baserunning, on the other hand, are still only mediocre in this game. The worst aspect of baserunning is pickoffs: no matter what you do with your gamepad, you will get picked off a lot, and this seems to be very random, and not even just with your worst rated baserunners, either. No matter how quickly you react to a pickoff move and hit the return-to-base button, your runner will randomly just freeze, and get picked off. VERY frustrating.

Fielding still is way too UN-interactive, too. You move your fielder to get in the circle to catch the ball, then you press the base button to throw it. That's it. On the plus side, more balls get past fielders (based on their fielding ratings) than they used to, and bad hops do occur, and the number of spectacular plays by the CPU has been toned down somewhat. The disappointing thing about fielding to me is it hardly seems to matter what I do with the gamepad, particularly with errorsthese also occur very randomly, without anything that I have done wrong with the gamepad to blame for it. Slider bar adjustments have allowed me to reduce the number of silly throwing errors, so how often they occur is at least more realisticbut the animation for them is still pretty silly (see above).

Pitching, like hitting, requires more than just good button-mashing ability. As before, each pitcher has his real repetoire of pitches, and reasonably good ratings for all the same (which you can also edit to your heart's delight)you choose which pitch based on what you'd like to throw, but also by what your catcher is calling for, and what pitches have been most effective for you, in any given game (and this may vary, from game to game, and inning to inning). You have the choice with each pitch to throw easily, or "reach back" for some extrathe trade off being that if you like to overthrow every pitch, your pitch accuracy/location will also suffer. Less power on the upswing of the pitch meter means more accuracy on your release, provided of course you are reasonably accurate in timing your release. Pitchers fatigue realistically (which, like just about everything else in this game, you can modify/edit if you like), and you need to be quick to get a tiring pitcher out of there in time, or the CPU will light you up. And again, what many find frustrating with pitching (just like hitting), even if you do everything right with your gamepad, there will be some days when even your ace just "doesn't have it", and most of is pitches will be fat, and you'll get clobbered. But that's just real-life baseball, folks: even Cy Young LOST over 300 games.

If I had to say what I appreciate (I didn't necessarily say "enjoy") most about the gameplay is the realistic VARIABILITY. Some of that is determined by whether a given player is on a "hot" or "cold" streak, but a lot of it is just what happens in real-life baseball. Some days you have it, some days you don't, and some days it won't even matter all that much what you are doing with your gamepad eitherbut that's not to say this game is "pre-determined", as many critics would have you believe. The better teams will still generally come out on top, over the long season, just as the better players will do so, over the long season. Play just a random game every now and then, and you might conclude this game is unrealistic, and not under your control. But play this game over 162+ games, and you'll come away feeling two things: you had plenty of influence over how your team did, and the statistics come out pretty believable too. And btw: the game tracks a huge variety of stats, toowhich I dare say is an absolutely vital part of any game that wants to call itself a serious baseball sim.

As always, the Franchise mode is very deep in giving you the option to either micro-manage every aspect of your team (right down to setting hot dog prices), or you can choose to automate as much of team management as you want. The continued irritation here is that they STILL haven't got player movement options down right, so you'll find yourself having to use a player option just to move a guy in and out of the MLB lineup, in SPRING TRAINING!!! Why this hasn't at least been fixed with a patch, beats me. Only hard core baseball fans will probably even notice this, but there it is. Still.

Once again, MLB The Show also incorporates a nice save game feature (which for some reason Madden and NCAA football games, basketball games, hockey games do not), so you don't have to set aside an hour of uninterrupted time to play this game. You can also fast forward within any game, to either sim the entire game, or inning by inningwhich sometimes comes in handy when I am getting my brains beat out by the CPU, and I just don't have it in me to finish.

As with previous games in this series, there are several difficulty levels of play to choose from, and then slider bars to adjust numerous individual gameplay facets, so you can find a level of gameplay that is right for you. Some critics maintain that, even on the easiest difficulty settings, this game is just too hard. I guess all I can say to that is : I don't agree. I'm hardly a videogame whiz, folks, and I'm getting the results I mentioned on one of the higher difficulty levels, with all the visual aides to hitting and pitching turned "off". Like just about any sports game I've ever played, though, I think most will find that you get better at this particular game the more you play it (especially with hitting, which you can also PRACTICE, btw, in a batting practice mode). If you have little baseball experience, don't get into the strategy in the game, aren't very patient, want instant winning results, and just don't get it that the best teams lose about 4 out of every 10 games, then you certainly will not enjoy this game too much.

I think I'll confine the rest (plenty more) to the comments section, since otherwise this might rival "War and Peace", in length.

Final conclusion: if you have owned/played MLB The Show for the last few years, this year's version is a mild upgrade; nothing too much has changed, but the subtle changes still make it worth buying (but mainly only for those fans who are in it for an entire season). So far, after playing about 100+ games (on All Star Level, with the White Sox vs: the CPU, Franchise mode, with slider bars generally set to favor me slightly, compared to default settings), I have experienced very believable results: team batting average around .290, team ERA around 4.20, average around 10 hits, one+ home run, and 5 runs scored per game, and have a winning percentage right around .600. I've experienced every variety of game, from low-scoring pitcher's duels, to big time blowouts, on both the giving and receiving end of the deal, too. This is, by far, the most challenging game in the series, but also the most fulfilling, for the die-hard baseball fan/gamer. There is currently nothing even close in the videogaming market, when it comes to the competition. For those picking up this game for the first time, however, with only a passing interest in playing a game every now and then, this game will be too hard for most (especially hitting). To be successful with MLB The Show 2010, you not only have to know some baseball, you have to be "in it" for the long haul.

Recommended for anyone who loves baseball, but probably best enjoyed by those who want a good (but realistic) struggle.

I'll tack on a few comments over the rest of my season, to expand on the pros/cons of this game, but if you are a baseball fan who has always been looking for a game that comes pretty close to the real thing, this is it.

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I will come back and write a more in-depth review of this game once I have established the newer dynamics of MLB 2010: The Show. I will say this, the pitching aspect of this game is virtually the same as last year. The challenge comes on the offensive side. They have definitely made hitting more of an artform on this year's game as opposed to last year's version. Basically what I have noticed is you have to absolutely square a ball up to make solid contact. On last year's this was critical as well, but in this year's version there is no way you can pull a ball on the outside corner of the plate and expect to get a base knock unless the pitcher just throws you a floater. So far, I have played 4 games, and have yet to win playing on the Legend mode on both the hitting and pitching side of the ball. Like I said, you will not notice a great deal of difference on the pitching side, but the hitting side has definitely become more of a challenge.

Another thing I am glad they have improved is the trade aspect of the game. Now, the trades are more realistic, and it is much harder to build your team. Right now my lineup for the Florida Marlins is Coghlan, Uggla, Ramirez, Delgado, Cantu, Hunter Pence, Cody Ross, and John Baker. I obtained Hunter Pence by signing Jermaine Dye in free agency and trading him to the Astros. I also signed Delgado, but I have to get into a groove hitting with him. Another neat feature is this year's version is if you are in the franchise mode and you get tired of playing your home games at your team's stadium, you can change the location of the game.

One other aspect of the game that becomes challenging on the offensive side of the ball is the angles the game throws at you once you have made contact. I don't know how many times I have already made bad baserunning decisions based on some of the angles the game has given me. It definitely makes it frustrating at times, but I think once I get use to some of these different aspects, I will enjoy this game even more. Long live MLB:The Show! :)

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I haven't played a baseball video game since 2002. I always felt it was the same ol' same ol'. I've heard about the MLB: The Show series for a while but it wasn't until I finally picked up a slim PS3 that I considered buying a baseball video game. I've had this game for a week now and here are some of my thoughts.

The graphics and animation of course, are amazing. Players often resemble real life counterparts and they pitching and hitting animations looks accurate. The game takes patience to play. You can't just swing at any pitch and expect to score a ton of runs. Yes, it is challenging but as a gamer I swallow my pride and adjust the difficulty. There are sliders that help you improve your pitching and hitting. I also changed the setting for baserunning to Auto, because I found that the controls for having the lead runner take an extra base was difficult to master. I kept either accidentally choosing the wrong runner to take an extra base or kept getting thrown out because of delays in running.

There are tons of gameplay modes to keep you busy Quick Game, Franchise, Season, Road to the Show, Home Run Derby. After five hours of practicing I felt confident to try out Road to the Show. I was amazed that they had many pre recorded first and last names. It was pretty cool to hear your name being called. RTTS is a nice mode but I don't think I'll be spending a lot of my time there.

I like playing Season. Playing a game takes me about an hour to hour and a half to play. With the right difficulty, the game is not too challenging or too easy for me. My team is the Angels. I have won in a blowout (12-3, hitting 4 HRs) and I have lost only scoring 1 run. One game was pretty close, I was up 1-0 in the late innings but I left the starter in too long and ended up giving up a game tying home run. Then in the 9th my reliever gave up a 2 run homerun making it 3-1. In the bottom of the 9th I was trying to come back. With 2 outs I was able to get a single to make it 3-2. Runner on 1st & 2nd, two outs still. The controller rumbling heavy to indicate pressure. Alas, I ended up flying out to lose the game, haha. Still it was intense, just like how baseball could be. There would be moments when I'll get out of a jam with a timely double play and I'll be pumped up about that.

The game is not perfect of course. The announcers are pretty good most of the time, but some of their audios will get repetitive. There are some minor details that bug me, like for the Angels, the fans are dressed in either red, white or blue shirts. Nobody wears blue at an Angels game. Juan Rivera always gets a loud cheer when he comes up to bat, as if he is the fan favorite. Seriously? Tori Hunter is more of a fan favorite. The attention to detail is still overall pretty good and the production value is excellent. I tried the demo for MLB 2k10 on my Xbox 360 and the MLB 10 The Show makes MLB 2k10 look like a bargain bin game. The graphics didn't look as nice in MLB 2k10 and animations just didn't flow as smooth as The Show.

I don't plan to buy another baseball game in this current generation. I just need one. I could easily see myself playing this game for over 200 hours over 3-4 years. It's that good of a baseball game. You could always save money and buy older generations, as I had considered getting '08 for under twenty bones but I find that since it's a Sony product price reductions will take a long time. With all the new stuff that '10 have, it was definitely worth it to get the latest version. I have had no regrets pre ordering the game (for the bonus 6 stadiums).

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OK, so I have it on Rookie League, with my pitching sliders all the way up to 100%, their batting sliders all the way down to zero, my batting sliders all the way up to 100% and their pitching sliders all the way down to zero. I have them always throw strikes and never try to pick me off. I've been to online forums a number of times to learn the nuances of pitching, batting, fielding, and especially baserunning. And if that weren't enough, I also traded to get a team of All-Stars and Hall-of-Famers. My lineup consists of Ichiro, Ty Cobb, Pujols, Babe Ruth, A-Rod, Jeter, Mauer, Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, and my pitching staff is Lincecum, Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, Cy Young, Lefty Grove. Yet for all this, I still regularly get rocked by the CPU. My pitching staff has an ERA over 5, fielding is difficult at best, I'm unable to draw a walk or differentiate between a fastball below the strike zone and a fastball strike to save my life, and I'm successfully stealing base less than half the time despite having Ichiro, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Tris Speaker. My record currently is just above .500 in a league I doctored such that I should be close to 1.000.

I willingly admit that I'm probably the worst The Show player in the history of The Show. However, that's why a game should allow you to set it a Rookie and turn all your sliders all the way up and the CPU's sliders all the way down--so even the worst player can have an enjoyable time. The game is just far too frustrating, as a lot of the reviews here that are less than five stars (which is over half the total so far) either hint at or explicitly state.

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Metallic Gray Dualshock 3 PS3 Controller Shell Assembly Housing Playstation 3

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List Price: $34.99
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I tried this out but when I tried putting it all together the bottom plate didnt want to connect to the face plate because the edges are so badly made , so I ended using my old black one, I was disappointed.Overall it looks good and shipping was great, super fast, unfortunately it didn't work out like i hoped.

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Skylanders Giants Starter Kit

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The new Skylanders Giants starter pack did not disappoint. We seriously considered getting a Portal Owner's Pack, since we did have the portal from the original Skylanders game, but the Starter pack comes with TWO new Skylanders characters in addition to the one Giant Skylander that comes with the Portal Owner's Pack. Given that the Starter Pack was only $15 more than the Portal Owner's Pack, and the price of individual figures has risen to $14.99, getting a spare portal AND another figure made getting the Starter Pack a bargain!

Oddly, the portal is wired. The original PS3 portal is wireless. I guess we can still play if we run out of AA batteries, so that's nice, but unless the original portal breaks, I can't see using the wired portal much.

The Giant included, Tree Rex, is a lightcore figure. This means that when you put him on the portal, portions of the character light up. In this case, his eyes, and his Chlorophyll cannon. We haven't gotten any of the other Giant Skylanders yet, but so far, we REALLY like the new direction. Gameplay provides ways of getting through each adventure with or without a Giant in play. You can use your old Skylanders characters, and they can now level up past level 10, but you won't get credit for any of the series one characters in the collections awards/accolades, unless they are brand new. We had a fair number of series 1 characters, but the only one that registers as a collected character is the new Drill Sergeant Wal-Mart exclusive I had recently obtained (before the price increase) and had not played in the old game. He does register as a series one Skylander though.

Don't get me wrong, all the old characters bring all their old levels and powers in, and that can be a big help in playing (especially if you had a lot of gold built up), but they don't appear in the collections, if you switch hats, the old hats are no longer available (unless you go back to the original game), and a significant number of the accolades are related to buying new characters. Brilliant marketing device, but a touch annoying to parents.

One new portion of the game that I quite like is the addition of the Skystones games. In game, in addition to the rotating lock puzzles, there is now a strategic game involving tiles you accumulate as you play the game. The games against in-game characters gets harder over time, and in some cases you need to choose your tiles, as well as their placement, wisely in order to win. I like that the game is encouraging more thinking of children. Kudos for that!

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I bought the starter pack instead of the portal pack, because the kids didn't have cynder and jet-vac. So the portal was free when you add all the pieces together and I wanted a backup portal anyway. The new portal is USB powered only, the previous one was battery and wifi, which is better. No more battery or connection problem when the battery is low. The game graphic looks the same as spyro adventure, pretty rough. I was hoping for a higher resolution for the game. So minus one star.

The Giants eyes and other parts lights when placed on the portal. As for the gameplay, I can't say much, but the kids love it... for now... I remember when I bought them the spyro adventure last thanksgiving, they played on the weekend for about couple of weeks and then it sat there collecting dust till the Giants came along. Almost a year! What I am saying is that you don't have to buy all the skylanders giants or the skyalanders, watch and see if they really like it or not.

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My just got this for his birthday and he loves it. The coolest feature I think is that the individual figurines get there levels, gold, and weapons "transferred" to the figurine and you can play your character on other people's systems whether it be PS3, Wii, XBox, etc. Know that you only need one portal as this is only a one or two person game and multiple Skylanders can go on one portal. You should also look into Sidekicks and add on "weapons" as they are fun additions.

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One of the things I hated most about the original was that the Portal was wireless and took batteries. This one is USB powered. We would run into problems with the wireless one with the original because they would need changed in the middle of the game and lock the game up and cause us to lose our progress even after we changed the batteries. The design of all the characters in this version of the game look better than the originals. The Giants are huge and the one that came with this lights up when you put them on the portal. Very nicely done I think. The down fall is that Activision Inc. is charging more for all the new series 2 figures. The series 2 figures seem to go up to 150 max stats instead of 100 max stats. My kids all loved playing this game.

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We bought this game for our four year old this past Christmas. She is pretty technologically-advanced for her age, but had not mastered the Playstation controller yet. Thanks to this game and her extremely patient father, she can now enjoy videogames just like him. It is a huge hit, and only three months later, she is able to turn on the console, load the game, and play at least three levels with no help at all. It is a great bonding experience for her and her dad. They have a blast upgrading the characters and picking new ones to try out. We now have a respectable collection, and buying new characters is an easy gift opportunity or reward. It can be a bit of an investment in the long run, but worth it for what she's gaining. It is also encouraging her to read so that she can tell what she needs to do.

I highly recommend this game. It is a great concept for a game, the gameplay is challenging but not so much so that it gets discouraging and the characters are hilarious. I highly doubt you will regret getting this game!

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