Frag FX Shark Controller for PS3, PC and Mac

Customer Ratings:
List Price: Price Unavailable
Sale Price: $99.90
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i'm a pc gamer. hardcore. mouse and keyboard since the quake 3 arena days. i have never been able to compete on the consoles because i can't get my thumbs to make a controller do what i want. while all of my friends play on consoles.

for people like me the Shark is a godsend.

i own the original wired fragfx, a fragenstein, and a scorch. the shark performs well above all of these.

the mouse movement on the shark is perfect. playing mw2 with the in game sensitivity at 9 and the shark set around 2.

my only problem with it is the size. the mouse is just too big. i need to hold my hand a certain way just to reach all of the buttons..kind of annoying. and we can really do without the rapid fire and macros.

when i wear this one out i'll definitely buy another.

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I play games in bed with my TV at the foot. It gets uncomfortable after awhile with my arms holding a dualshock 3 over my stomach. This controller allows them to rest on either side of me. You can also set this controller to the same input as your dualshock Eg. 1. That way you can have a dualshock in your right hand and the fragchuck in your left. I love the "fragchuck". It fits well in hand and everything for the left hand is there, plus motion sensitivity, macros, rapid fire, and more! Could pack 2-3 more buttons in, though.

The mouse feels good, the buttons take a little getting used to, but are intuitive and easy to adapt to. The mous pad is good too. However, it's a little too big for me and I have good sized hands 7 inches from my middle finger to the bottom of my palm. Because of the shape, It actually fits better in my left hand than my right, of course then the buttons are imposable to use. I could have gotton used to the size but didn't want to since it wasen't very compatable with some of my games (See details section below).

There is a lot of disinformation surrounding this product. There are a lot of positive reviews from people playing Calld of Duty (Newer ones) and a lot of bad reviews calling it a "rip off". Aparently compatbility is hit or miss since PS3 was not made for a mouse and the fragfx shark has to emulate a thumb stick. To be fair to Splitfish they made a niche product, great for some of todays most popular games, but it's game manufacturers that are not making their titles compatible with Splitfish controllers. But then, why should they? It is a 3rd party controller. Also, why would Sony make the PS3 compatable with mice when most console gamers like the dualshock 3? I should add that some users don't like to use mice and the only refuge they have from the advantage a mouse gives users is on a console.

Pros:

The Concept is sound

Wireless, no lag

The design looks sweet

The "fragchuck" is almost perfect!

Great Battery life

Works with some F.P.S. games

Cons:

Price!!!

Dosen't work with some F.P.S. games

PS3 Games were ment for Dualshock controllers

3rd parties don't get much support from developers

OK as an optical mouse (Not great, Not laser)

Mouse is a little too big in my opinion

Disinformation about it

THE BOTTOM LINE: DOES IT WORK, AND IS IT WORTH $89?

Yes and no to both points! It works with some games and not with others. It may be worth it if your game is supported, you get past the learning curve, and you really want to take your "hard core" gameing up a level, or if you seriously want to get into PC gaming without the keboard. Otherwise, it's not for you and you will end up unsatisfied. I suggest you keep everything, and thouroughly test out all your games as soon as you get it, then you can get a refund if it does not meet your expectations.

Price I would consider keeping it for (Opinion):

$34.99

Price I would buy the Fragchuck alone (Opinion):

$29.99

DETAILS:

There was no combination of ingame look sensitivity and "dead zone" sensitivity that removed diagonal "staircasing" without making tracking too slow for most of the games I've tested. I saw reviews that mentioned the same thing before I purchased. I decided to give it a try anyway. To their defence, I tried evey combination of dead zone to ingame look sensitivity in the games below with limited success.

Homefront (Demo):

Staircased at dead zones of 0-5 and required too much mouse tracking with 6-9. 6.5 was almost workable except it required me to repeatedly pick up the mouse and reset it to look around. Was less efiecient than the dualshock.

Call of Duty: Classic

Same as aboave, but worse.

Call of Duty: Black Ops (Demo)

Works really well but seems to move up/Down slower than lept/right. No staircasing/jittering with ingame sensitvity at max (Insane) and deadzone = 3. Workable but will take some getting used to. Recommended for this game but it's not perfect.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Demo)

Same as black ops aboave. Abviously, these are the game it was intended for.

Killzone 2 (Demo):

I was able to resolve staircasing and jittering. Requires maximum ingame sensitivity and a deadzone of 4. Too slow of movement, mouse has to be picked up and drageed all over in this one. Not recomended.

Killzone 3 (Demo):

Better than above but not as good as COD:MW2 or black ops. It is still too slow. too much mouse tracking.

Battlefield 1943:

No staircasing. I needed a dead zone of about 3 to get rid of the jittery/jumping when trying to "pixle point" at an object. Although better, I found tracking was still too slow/difficult to play with. Would take some getting used to. It makes driving vehicals or flying extreemly difficult, if not imposable.

Infamous:

Works well enough to play. Better feel than the dualshock but jittery/staircasing not completly gone.

PC USERS:

When set as a mouse it is fine, sweet to have four extra buttons! Not as good as my logetech MX 5000 laser mouse but it tracks as well as an optical (A cheap one). Also, since I was a console gamer before PC, I tried this on a game I have always dreamed of having a "fragchuck" for...The Descent series. Although windows 7 x64 recognizes it as a gamepad and all of the buttons/analog stick work, it would not recognize the anolog or mouse movement in Descent 1. In Descent 2 this problem is fixed but the mouse has dead zone issues, and when that is ajusted it's too slow, requires too much movement, and is'nt as accurate as my MX5000 laser (Not even close). So, it was esentially useless. Too bad! Fine, I can just use the MX5000 instead by choosing the mouse and joystick option. Worked perfect, very addicting. I set drop bombs to the motion sensative melee and afterburners to the joystick button (L3)! That is sweet and there are 10 buttons on the fragchuck, if you count L3 and the D-Pad, to assign functions to. They could have packed 2-3 more buttons in though. I also, tested a few other FPS games (Older School) that did not work to my satisfaction. Bottom line: if your game supports joystick and mouse operation in tandom (and gives you complete control over button reassignments) then it "might" work like you want it to, otherwise it's a crap shoot. Don't know about newer games like far cry, fallout, and etc.

Note:

I really wanted it to work for me and to give it a fair review. I even pulled it back out of the return box to test it agian on a few titles I forgot about, just to make sure I wanted to return it. No go. Given the range of experiance I got out of it and the problems I was able to almost resolve, I would say my unit was not defective. It just almost works. Maybe it will work better for the games you want it for. Good Luck.

PS:

that guy on youtube (zDD) is displayed prominantly on the packaging and endorsed by Splitfish. Not to say his videos are fake, but his incentive is to paint the product in a positive light. Therefore he's not going to post a video showing what games it doesn't work in! A one sided story is at best a half-truth. So, don't be supprised if your experiance is different form his.

Buy Frag FX Shark Controller for PS3, PC and Mac Now

After several hours of researching the Frag FX Shark, AIMON PS, EagleEye, and XIM3, I finally settled on purchasing the Frag FX Shark controller. Here's the lowdown:

The Frag FX Shark does work as promised, depending on the game being played (based on what I've read). I have only tried it on COD MW3. The best thing about the Frag FX specifically is the sensitivity dial on the controller. This makes it as plug and play as can be with this type of setup. No need to download game specific firmware or any other garbage. The controller is fully customizable as well (remap buttons, macros, blah blah). Basically, you plug in the wireless stick into a USB slot, turn on the mouse and controller, and presto -it works. It is recommended to set in game sensitivity to max and then adjust using the dial on the controller. I've found slightly past 2 to work best for me.

Yes, there is some staircasing with the Frag FX. It won't affect gameplay much for the average gamer and it might even get sorted out with a firmware update later on.

The wireless works well and I had 0 problems with interference. I have a wifi TV, 2 routers, cellphone, cordless house phone, iPad, and the ps3 all in the same area. Did not have any problems at all.

My biggest issue with the product is the ridiculous size of the mouse. I can get over the cheap feel of the plastic, but the size of the mouse is as if it was designed for Captain Banana-hands. This isn't enough to make me return the product.. it is, however, the MAIN reason I knocked the Shark down to 4 stars. The only other issue is more of an annoyance than anything else... even when the controller and mouse are turned off, if the USB stick is plugged in, the ps3 will assign it to controller 1-4. This is annoying in 2-player games if you want to use the dual shock controller and play by yourself as the game will ask player 2 to hit X to join (or automatically add player 2 into the game).

If you are a typical gamer, this is a great product at a great price. It's not as great as a PC mouse in terms of accuracy or quality, but it does do the job.

If you are a hard-core FPS gamer looking to dominate everyone just get the XIM3. This is one area where you definitely get what you pay for.

For reference: (based on my e-findings)

FRAG FX SHARK $60 (when I purchased) $90 now

See above for review

pros (no setup, sensitivity dial, includes lap board, great fragchuck design, 'snipe' button which slows mouse movement)

cons (cost, mouse size, staircasing, works better on some games than others)

AIMON PS ELITE $80

pros (better mouse, less staircasing, better 'quality')

cons (complicated setup, firmware flashing required for each game, no MAC support to do said flashing, possible wireless signal issues, cost, no sensitivity dial)

EAGLE EYE $55

pros (real keyboard and mouse, cost)

cons (complicated setup, need PC to set up the hardware, game specific settings required)

XIM3 $150

pros (unsurpassed accuracy and quality, real mouse and keyboard, LCD screen to assist setup, 1:1 conversion)

cons (requires an xbox controller to be plugged in, can make a mess with all the cables necessary to use product, very high cost, no mac support for updating firmware, made for xbox and requires adapters to use on ps3)

note: $300 on amazon market. It costs $150 at the maker's website (google xim3)

SUMMARY:

Average gamer who wants a plug and play solution? Get the FRAG FX SHARK

Want a higher quality product and don't mind tweaking settings and tinkering? Get the AIMON PS ELITE (then head to their forums and read up)

Want to use a real keyboard and mouse at low cost? Get the EAGLE EYE (then head to their forums and read up)

Insist on the absolute best, regardless of price (hardcore gamer)? Get the XIM3 (then head to their forums and read up)

You can't really go wrong with any of the 4 options.. I got the Frag FX because there's no setup and amazon prime shipping was offered.

I will update this review after testing the Frag FX on Battlefield 3.. I've held off because I doubt it will work very well as the game itself currently has lag issues.

Read Best Reviews of Frag FX Shark Controller for PS3, PC and Mac Here

I was scared when ordering the shark. I thought it may not be worth the money. but i am glad i did get it. It works great in call of duty and battlefield bad company 2. i also tried it in fall out 3 and new vegas. I works ok but it does smoothly go diagonally in these games. ALso in the fallouts you can not get the sensitivity high enough to make it seem like you are playing on computer i have to constantly pick up the mouse. In call of duty is where it shines it gives me pixel by pixel aiming i can turn quickly up down side to side diagonally it all works really good.

i mostly play call of duty black ops so the controller was worth it to me if you play games other than fps it might not work good but for fps it is alot of fun. It makes target acquisition much easier as well as following moving targets.

the build feels sturdy doesnt feel cheap. It is really easy to set up

comes with a mouse pad that is pretty good

Want Frag FX Shark Controller for PS3, PC and Mac Discount?

I just picked up the new fragfx shark... I have never used a mouse for gaming before, as I never game on a pc. Been gaming on consoles since Atari, but wanted to try this out based on all the hype about mouse being better than analog sticks for aiming and all. The thing cst $90 plus shipping, but I took the plunge to try it out with black ops. Got it in thursday after playing black ops for a few days with my dualshock 3. The first day I thought i had wasted over $100 on something that I could never learn. My first 3 matches I went roughly 1 kill and 23 deaths average. Considering I had been going 21-16 K/D with the dualshock it wasn't very promising. I decided to stick it out for a week before putting it on craigslist and ebay.. I am sooooo glad i did that, because after only 2 or 3 days I finally got used to using the mouse to aim, and now I feel quicker and better in game. Played a round of Battlefield and went 36-9 K/D playing conquest on white pass, No camping , moving from flag to flag the whole time. On Black Ops had my first ever 7 kill streak and did it twice with a k/d of 21-9 in one game. granted the game is new and I undoubtedly got better as I learned the maps, but I have been playing BFBC2 since launch and this was my best round ever.. I got the Shark which is wireless, and I have noticed no lag, but the price is steep. I have no experience with any of the other models, but this one works great for me and I will probably never go back to using the dualshock for an fps.

A few side notes. I have heard reviews say the mousepad isn't good. I am hoping to buy a better mousepad to compare but the one it comes with does seem a little smaller than I would like.

I bought a 4 pack of pre charged duracell 2000 MaH rechargeable batteries with the charger at walmart for $13 and still haven't ran the first 2 batteries dead. The battery life is very good, and with rechargeable batteries cost should be minimal.

UPDATE...... I bought a rocketfish gaming mousepad from best buy and would highly recommend it. A little bigger, way more responsive, and has a speed and control side. I prefer the speed side but both are better than the one provided by splitfish.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
Sale Price: $29.92
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

Every once in a while a video game based on a movie comes out and it turns out to be a great game. But most of the time movie based games are full of generic and uninteresting gameplay and seem to do little more than plug the movie they're based upon. This is one of those games, pretty standard fare and just like the myriad of movie games you've played before, only this time it's Johnny Depp's likeness and not that of some other Hollywood heartthrob.

In the interest of fairness this game is not a total waste, though it's close. The combat is amusing for a minute or two, mostly because Jack (that's who you begin the game as) has some pretty cool animated counterattacks. But it gets tedious fast, and pretty soon you're just mashing buttons in between yawns as you fend off another generic group of enemies.

This game does have a 2 player co op mode, but from what I can tell you can only play a mission in co op if you've already completed it alone (this may change later in the game). Pirates also features a system of dueling, which is as dull as the regular combat option. I've only played the PS3 version of this game, but I assume the game was made to play on previous generation consoles like the PS2 and then just released as is on the PS3 as well, because the graphics, while not bad, just don't seem worthy of the Playstation 3.

In short, At World's End is just another generic video game based on a movie. If you're really a Pirates fan I guess you could rent it--I doubt the game would hold your interest longer than the rental period anyway.

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I didn't see any instructions on what key combinations to press to kill a super opponent. Therefore, I couldn't go any farther in the game.

Otherwise, I would have rated it a 5 star.

Buy Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Now

It is a nice game, entertaining, but don't expect it to be great. The graphics are decent, but not great. The duels were horrible, it is the most annoying setup for boss fights that you could imagine. But being that I'm a big fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, I will still keep the game. If you get it for cheap or used you'll have a good time for a good amount.

Read Best Reviews of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Here

Great game i like it perfect for PS3, nice graphics i really like it and i need to keep in my personal collection

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Una buena compra a un bajo precio. Me gusto mucho hacer esta compra. Muchas gracias por recibir rapidamente mi compra.

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PS3 PLAYSTATION 3 Modded Controller (Rapid Fire) COD Black Ops

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List Price: $189.99
Sale Price: $99.99
Today's Bonus: 47% Off

You know, the black game controller design is now very old fashion. It's time for color and graphic. And that's why I like it. Not only the graphic, the main features are fantastic. I like it.

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Modnation

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $19.32
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

ModNation Racers seeks to do what no other kart racer has done; allow unlimited customization and involve a community to be creative and share their ideas. While it's similar to LittleBigPlanet because of the "Race, Create, Share" tag that Sony and United Front Games have put onto this title, I feel that it expands on this idea even further than Media Molecule's hit. The controls and interface a simple to navigate and the developer went to great lengths to personalize the experience with ModNation Racers.

Everything you do within the game occurs in the ModSpot. A central hub where about 5 other players (when you're online) will congregate and you can see them drive around. There are all kinds of things to do in the ModSpot. Here you have access to the races, including Online, Online Split-Screen (up to 2 players split-screen), Offline Split-Screen (up to 4 players split-screen) and the Career Mode.

The Online racing experience is pretty smooth. Players can join a random match, or they can host matches with their friends, or just for other players to join. You can choose to race with "XP Mode" where your online profile will gain XP to rank up among other players. The competition is pretty intense though, so make sure you're familiar with how to handle the karts before heading to this mode. If you're not in the "XP" mood, you can just race casually for fun. All of your stats from races are tracked to your profile, and you can see the stats for each track that you've raced on as well.

Driving karts is a breeze. I equate this something slightly more complicated than Mario Kart 64. You accelerate and brake, fire weapons after picking up the powerups, and you *absolutely* must learn how to drift. Pressing and holding the 'X' button allows you to perform a drift around corners which fills a boost meter on the side of the screen. The boost meter is used for sideswiping opponents, boosting your speed, or using the shield equipped to your kart. It will take a lot of practice to get the timing down on your shield as it only lasts a few seconds with a full meter of boost, but it can make the difference between placing 1st and getting blown away at the last second of the final lap. Weapons come in 3 different styles: Missiles, Lightning and Sonic attacks. Each powerup can be upgraded up to 3 times. Stage 1 attacks are pretty light and can only hit 1 car (the Sonic level 1 weapon has a pulse discharged from around the car so it could potentially hit multiple enemies), Stage 2 attacks will hit 2 to 3 racers in front of you, and level 3 attacks can knock everyone out (think 'Blue Shell' from Mario Kart) if you manage to fire it from last place. It can be difficult to do this though, as if you are hit with a weapon, you will lose your current weapon and have to pick up a new powerup. Weapons appear to be random too, just like other kart racers.

So far, it sounds like a pretty good game right? Well, it is; the only catch is that with each thing that you do in this game, you might as well take a bathroom break or go fix a sandwich, because you will literally be waiting over a minute for some of the tracks to load. Not that this is a game-breaking deal for me though, the developer has stated that they will be patching the game to reduce load times which will be a well-liked feature when it is finally released.

The Career mode pits you the player against 25 different courses with challenges and shortcuts littered throughout the courses. It will probably take you a few tries to beat each track, especially since there are "achievements" within each track to unlock new items used in the Creation Studios. You will likely want to collect all of these, as the creation tools expand exponentially every time you add a new item to your creative pallet. Some of these challenges are "Grudge Matches", where after defeating an opponent on the track AND finishing 1st place, that opponent will challenge you 1-on-1 for the right to use their mod in the game. These matches are TOUGH, and you will need to be an expert at the course and handling your kart if you even are going to stand a fighting chance at beating these. Also littered on each course are tokens that can be used to purchase new items in the Shop, which is located in the ModSpot and the Creation Studio.

Now for the cream of the crop: the Creation Studio. Everyone has likely been comparing this game to Little Big Planet because of the customization you can do. In my opinion, this allows way more customization of your character than LittleBigPlanet. Through the use of unlocked accessories, hair pieces, clothing, shoes, gloves, hats, eyes, ears, noses, mouths, etc. you have the option to make your character as strange or awesome as you see fit! After putting the body together, you can change the color of anything you place on your mod, including different styles (which can be tweaked with a full color wheel) that can be unlocked. The color system is something that I tremendously applaud for this game. Anytime you place an object on your mod, or use something of a certain color, that color is added to either of the "Mod Colors", or "Kart Colors", so you can easily match colors and set things up just the way you want quickly and easily. It's so easy I was able to create look-alike characters from TV shows and movies within just a few minutes. There also is an aspect of stickers for the creation studios where you can layer and tweak each and every sticker that you want to put on your mod. From shapes, letters, numbers and other decals like flames, etc. you can dream up your imagination and put it on your mod or kart. Then you can resize, rotate, skew, cut, copy, layer and repaste your sticker designs on other parts of your mod or kart and even save them as sticker sets to use again later.

Each portion of the Creation Studio is divided into sub-menus which are not too complicated, but you will need more than just the game's instruction manual to become a master. UFG really did an excellent job with the creators, allowing simple creation, or really advanced creation. Each part you put on your mod or kart can be left as is when it first goes on, or you can dive into the deep customization abilities to create something so genuine that only you could create it. The L2 and R2 buttons are used to move to the next "area" of that specific menu, and the L1 button is usually reserved for advanced / basic edit toggling. The triangle button is typically the color option, whereby a color wheel can be viewed by pressing triangle again. Once you get the system under your belt you'll be amazed at the creations that you can come up with in ModNation Racers.

To top it off, you can then select your mods and karts that you have created, OR downloaded to race with friends and online/offline. That's right. Upload your creations to the PlayStation Network, and let other people download them. You can also allow players to "remix" your creation, where they will edit your creation and then re-upload it to the PSN. You still get the "creator" credit, and they get the remix credit. This system is absolutely solid, and it works extremely well. The Share spot of ModNation Racers is really easy to use and the developers took care to make sure that the karts, mods and tracks people create would be easy to find and download. There's an area for "Most Downloaded", "Most Raced", "Newest", or you can search by keywords which are used to describe your creation when you publish it.

The Track Studio is the only creator I haven't talked about. It's massive, and incredibly deep. Choose from 1 of 4 themes for your track and you drive a steam-roller to pave your track. You can create a simple loop, or you can go back and add monster jumps, bridges, tunnels, bank the road, make it narrow, add road hazards like construction barrels, crates, even rotating platforms. I could literally write a whole review on just this editor. It is that deep. You can change the elements and the direction that the sun shines, level of the water, and the type of road you will drive on. You can also create shortcuts, forks in the road, and add boost pads and weapons. Just like in LittleBigPlanet, all of the tracks in the career mode were made using the Track Studio. It's just incredible.

I played this game for literally 7 hours straight and I could not stop playing. It is FUN to play, and the community's imagination will blow you away. I saw downright amazing mods that looked like Mario, Iron Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and even the Master Chief from Halo. Over the coming months players will upload unlimited content to choose from, and race from. If you don't like what other players do, create your own! It's that easy. Oh, and if you're worried about creating a super-looking track that people would actually want to play, you can just Auto-Populate your track in the editor which automatically adds scenery and gameplay items to the track so it looks like it took hours to make, when in reality it was only mere minutes.

I've waited a long time for a game like this to surface. Finally we have something on the PS3 which rivals the greatest kart racers of all time. Long load times will be fixed down the road, but the next generation of kart racing is here. If you're skeptical about your purchase, download the demo off the PSN. Trust me though when I say, if you buy this game, you will NOT be disappointed.

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Modnation Racers is the newest Kart Racing game in the Genre, and in my opinion, it is way ahead of the competition. Of course, this game is being compared to Mario Kart. Having never played the newest Mario Kart for Wii, I can't really compare the two much. I have, although played the older Mario Kart, and if the Wii version is nearly the same, I believe Modnation Racers tops it.

The Good: Modnation Racers is the kind of game that anybody can enjoy. The Track, Mod, and Kart creator are super simple and it has loads of different hairstyles, clothes, shoes, stickers, accessories, etc. I can easily see this having a huge library of user created content just like LittleBigPlanet. When you start the game, you automatically are entered into the MRC Qualifiers race and after a brief introduction you are taken to the ModSpot. Here is where everything happens on Modnation Racers, such as entering Online races, Split Screen, and Career races. There is also an area where Top Mods and Karts are displayed. I've seen mods of Mario, Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Joker, and many more. With this many mods in just a few days, I'm positive there will be a TON of amazing mods in weeks. Other players connected to the PSN are also in the same ModSpot as you and can just ride around drifting or just simply enter one of the areas in the ModSpot.

The controls are also great. Drifting is easy and insanely addicting. When racing an Action Race, collect pods and you receive weapons. If you're tired of getting blown up, select Pure Race. Before you enter a race in the Career Mode, there is a little cinematic, sometimes with these two Hosts, or with you and your mechanic. These cinematics are filled with humor to give you a laugh or two before a race.

The Bad: The load and install times on this game can get ridiculously long. Though it's not something to keep you away from the game, sometimes you'll just want to jump into a race but have to wait almost an entire minute to begin. Mic support is a good feature, but I wish there wasn't so many people cursing and talking crap through their headsets, but there isn't really a way to fix that. Other than those two things listed, there really isn't much I've run into that is degrading to the game. *One more bad I ran into recently is that it takes forever to start up an XP race, which is what gives you the chance to progress on the Multiplayer side of Modnation. I'm not sure if people just don't know their way around the menus, or they all want to just race casually. Although it's a little disappointing as of now, I'm positive that in a short amount of time there will be much more people on the XP races*

Overall, in just a few days that people have had the game, there has been some really neat creations coming from the community. Hopefully in the future, there will be an update to help the load times.

All PS3 owners, GET THIS... or at least try it. :)

Buy Modnation Now

Lets make one thing clear right off: if you liked LittleBigPlanet and you like Mario Kart and other cart racers... stop reading and buy this game now!

Especially at the current price listed on Amazon (plus 10$ credit) which leads me to beleive its not selling well becasue people are hesitant, I can understadn that, so was I but a little preorder premotion and I thought "what the heck?" and I'm glad I made the plunge even at full fair (I got my Ratchet and Clank Mods for it so I'm happy)

That said, this game really surprised me, as I said before this was somethign of an impulse for me, I enjoyed the demo well enough for waht it was, but what really pushed me over the top was the preorder R+C mods, they get me every time :)

The first thing that I was surprised by was the imediate plunge into a rather enjoyable story including cutscenes which for some reason I did not expect at all. The story is somethign of a remix between Pixar's Cars, Days of Thudner, and Talldega Nights, and althoug the influence is storng, it has its own twist and flavor coupled with fantastic voice acting, the results are gold. The two announcers really steal the show, which is good becasue you'll be listening to alot of them, they have yet to get repetitive for me but its only been a day.

The racing, which i enjoyed in the demo, was not done justice by said demo. its great, drifting is much easier to pull off than Mario Kart, even the wii iteration which is incredibly drift friendly. But thats part-in-parcell with the MNR attitude, drifting is easiy and FUN, boosts are plentiful, jumps are abundant and weapons are thouroughly satisfying (you might remember soem of them from Mario Kart, adn the rest from wipeout ;) )

Right away I was amazed with the user creations in Character Mods, Kart Mods, and Courses. I'll save discusion of coruses for one paragraph. The Mods peopel have made are AMAZING considering its day one. It's definately a diparture from the LBP attitude where Sackboy retained his likness no mattter what making certain customues something of a technical feat. In MRC the tools are much more robust, and the result is (among other's) and Iron MAn that you'd swear was designed in Maya as opposed to in-game. KArts are the same thing, I'm currently racing around on a perfect replica of the A-team van, how awesome?

Course creation is ABSURDLY easy, another departure from LBP. I made two courses in barely 20 minutes total which I'm sure would impress my friends, but when you sample soem of the things created by a truely dedicated player, well the results speak for themselves.

Unfortunately this leads me into the only bad... they did a great job which this hub world where other onlien palyers race around with you, very reminiscant of Home, but its pretty hard to get into an online game as it stands. I wasn't feling very patient so I din't bother wating around for peopel to join me, especailly as they would enevitably be strangers. Unfortuantely none of my freinds have purchased this game which might make a difference but if you liek me, most likly alone in your friend group on you interest in this game, you might find getting into an actual online race a bit of a pain. this combined with soem rather cumbersome loading times is a bit of a stumblign block on what is otherwise non-stop fun. But on the other hand the ability to access other peoples content on you own time is incredibly easiy, with fantastic AI on nonplayer opponents, adn a time trail mode which allows you to feel like your part of a larger comunnity without hte hassle of finding any of them to race with you.

And the single palyer circuit is fantastic! That alone will keep me happy for hours I'm sure.

All in all, this game is a great Kart racer, with very robust user creation tools and a well thoughout and setup infastructure for sahring them, clearly United Front Games learned from LBP in this regard. But for a game which is so clearly ment for online play its a bit difficult to get into a gme and more importantly share a game with others. To be fair, some of this is equation has to do with the ammount of user's, but it felt like I only had access to one game option when I tried to join, whcih was empty, an no one joined my hosted games, its hard to say why, it jsut was. I will edit if this experience drmatically changes. But also the laod times are a bit logner then we have coem to expect, I've heard a patch is comming but this game was day one patched as well...

But I don't want to end on hat note because this game really blew my mind in all the right ways and if you have an interest in the genre then its a steal at full price let alone what its listed on Amazon. You will not be sorry you picked up this little gem. Obviously thsoe who dislike Kart Racing games need not aply.

P.S. for the record I own and LOVE Mario Kart Wii, this game is not a MK killer, but its worthy to be right up there with it.

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To start off with, the game play of this title is Fun with a capital F. Think Mario Kart on steroids. The user created content that you can download is unbelievable. I am amazed by the artistic ability of people. But by now, you've read the other reviews about the game play , etc etc, so I will not go into the details just to beat a dead horse.

For me, as much fun and original as this game is, I find myself thinking about returning it to Game Stop or simply selling it on eBay.

One of the features that was in Mario Kart which I absolutely loved and would be game-breaking without, was the different "cup" series. Each MK cup series had its own difficulties based on tracks and opponents. MNR does not have a single player version. There is a multi player mini-series (if can really call it that), where you can play 5 tracks in succession. That's fine and dandy except I don't think I've finished a singles series. Maybe got through two or three races before the other players dropped.

The career mode was very hard and I'm not knocking it at all, but I would have liked it a lot better had they included a true championship mode (even if you need to unlock it somehow) where you can race some/all the tracks in a series against the elite CPU drivers that you faced in the career mode storyline; a series that would tally points for you and the computer, based on your finishing position of each race and let you race all the tracks and give a 'Champion' at the end. What you are given instead, is a career mode angled toward the user created content. Most of your unlocks during the play through are for cosmetic tools and graphics for your track/mod/kart creations down the line. Also, once you go through the career mode and go back and run a previous race in it...it still splashes the same cut scenes you already encountered at the same points. In fact, if you re-race a track in career mode, you actually unlock the same items you've already unlocked. I'm not sure why they even called it a "Career Mode", it should have been titled "Story Mode". Even though they do include some rudimentary stats for your 'offline' play, there really is no offline career to be had. All career-"centric" play time is centered on the online-multi player scene.

And currently the online multiplayer piece of this game is lacking. Most of the time, you enter an online race and you are the first one in the lobby. It could easily take 5-10 minutes to get enough players (4) to start a race. If you are lucky, those players will stick around for another race afterwards. If not, it starts from square one, with you waiting for other players to join.

I am sure, without a doubt, that the load times for the races and the multi player aspect of the game will be fixed with future patches and I don't have a problem waiting for it; my main beef is not having the single player option to run a series as it completely ruins the re-playability of MNR for me. So all in all, if you are into creativity and multi-player racing is your thing, then this game is for you. As I said, with the glaring problems the game has in the online world, I have no doubt they are working on a fix and you should definitely go out and buy this title.

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I've only owned ModNation Racers for a couple days, but I'm already absolutely certain this is the best kart racer ever made (sorry Mario Kart). This is, simply put, the LittleBigPlanet of racing games.

The base game and tracks are fun in themselves, but the real beauty here lies with all of the customization. Everything from your racer, your kart, to every little detail of the track you're making is fully customizable. You can choose to make your racer into somebody famous, or choose to make them into something totally outlandish. All the options and how to utilize them are easily learned, so much so that my kids were creating some pretty impressive things in almost no time at all. Even the track creator is amazingly simple to use, much more so than LittleBigPlanet's level creator.

The load times can get a bit tedious, but with how smooth the frame rates and overall gameplay are, it's well worth the wait. Replay value is tremendous, and the community is already loaded with user-created content to check out. This game is definitely kid friendly in almost all aspects, but if you let your kids play online I wouldn't recommend letting them wear a headset, as foul language is rampant and not moderated. That's not the game's fault though, it's pretty much the same with any other online-enabled game out there.

Overall, ModNation Racers is a great game, and I would highly recommend it for young and old alike.

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Playseat World Rally Championship Gaming Seat

Customer Ratings:
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I have had my Playseat WRC for about 4 months now and can say it was worth every penny. Extremely comfortable, even for those multi-hour Gran Turismo endurance races. Solid feeling when you are in the unit -I had my doubts about the pressure locks when I first got it and can say that the unit does not move a bit during play, even with multiple drivers rotating through 7 hours of Suzuka in the rain.

Getting in and out of the seat can be challenging, especially with the optional gear shift holder in place. The wheel support coming up from the seat makes the positioning very stable, but also limits your positioning options (since height and distance from your seating position are tied together) and can be tricky to get your leg around when getting in. I've seen other reviews saying it interferes with pedal operation but nobody using my WRC has noticed that problem.

This unit was obviously designed for the Logitech G25/G27; my G27 mounted perfectly with the included screws. Cable routing can be a little tight but with a few zip ties or velcro straps you can keep everything nice and neat (A shame Logitech does not build longer/detachable cables into their devices...). A tray for holding the AC adapter would be nice, but you can zip tie that to the crossmember under the chair to keep it out of the way.

Recently upgraded to a Thrustmaster T500RS; the wheel fit perfectly, but the pedals did not line up to the foot plate. I have heard Playseat is working on an adapter kit, but in the meantime a few zip ties will hold the pedals solidly in place.

In all, very impressed, just a few rough edges would easily recommend.

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A pleasant surprise: The seat worked just as promised, and just as good as the other reviewers said. The wheel I am using is the new Fanatec GT2 wheel and the clubsport pedals.

Assembly:

The unit assembled with little difficulty. All of the parts and tools are included. The items were wrapped well and NO scratches on anything! I would say it took abut 15 minutes to assemble and faster if you have a ratchet driver. The upholstery on the seat smoothed better than I thought a folding design would, and the fasteners appear to be of good quality.

Comfort:

A solid fit for a 190lb person.The padding is fine in the seat and there are no rough spots. I will be adding a small lumbar pad to make it "just right". All of the metal parts are well finished as well.

Quality/solidity:

Quite good. No creaking and only a small amount of flex. No demerits here. The clamps on the sliders are VERY solid and secure.

Cons:

A few nits to pick: 1) the bottom of the seat's rails should have rubber feet. You cannot just drop the chair on a hardwood floor and go racing. It would be a disaster. Rugs would be damaged over time as well.

2) there should be mounting plates for different wheels. Lets be honest, there are only 3 or 4 wheels that anyone would use with this. (logitech, thrustmaster, and fanatec) Why can't they have a kit that accepts all of the models?

3) angle of the pedals. It should be adjustable. but, it is not hard to just shim and modify it a bit for a better fit. Still, it would have been nice to have it included in the kit!

I only give 5 stars if the item goes "above and beyond". This item does not, but it is very much a satisfactory product that is only a few small nits from perfection!!

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This is a review i wrote for a better version of this playseat cockpit but the construction and quality are all the same.

This racing seat/cockpit/mount is amazing. I need as much space as i can get, so out of all the available cockpits that are on the market now, none can be as compact as this. Not saying that it doesnt extend for us tall people, im 6'3" and ive got room to grow in this seat. I find the seat to be a little snug and not have much back support, but i doubt your gonna be sitting in this for over 5 hours.

Ive tried out tons of cockpits and done a bunch of research. This by far gives you the most bang for your buck. It does everything the other cockpits and more. But just like everything in this world there are downsides and room for improvement.

You cant adjust the angle of the steering wheel's mount. You can adjust the elevation and how close it is to you but not the angle at which it faces you.

The pedal mount will also require constant maintenance unless you buy some loctite in which case you run the risk of stripping your screws. There is a very inconveniently placed screw that requires and allen wrench and doesnt have a lot of room for you to apply down pressure to make sure you dont strip the screw. In my case, i most likely wont be removing that screw and if i need to, the construction is made of metal and heat allows loctite to dissolve/melt away so you can remove screws or what have you easier. The reason for all of this is because if you dont use loctite, or constantly tighten this screw, and the one next to it you will have a lot of play on the pedal mount. Eventually just pressing your foot on the throttle will cause the entire pedal mount to rotate to the right and same goes for the left side.

Other than that the only other complain i have is that the mount for a shifter has a lot of play as well. Im constantly feeling the shifter whether its from fanatec or the g27 racing wheel set to move forward and backwards. In order to solve this problem i needed to use popped bubble wrap to help, not solve this problem. But if your storing this in minimal space like i am, your gonna be removing the shifter constantly and the wrap will tear. Im currently trying to solve this problem now thats its been a year of owning a playseat. All playseats are constructed the same, the only thing that changes is the seat or the color of the metal.

The great thing is this thing has tons of room under the seat for mods and the buttkicker gaming amp you can buy. Even if you have a fanatec racing wheel like me you dont need to worry, the g27 bolts right on, but the fanatec wheel comes with a template for drilling the holes, so as long as you have a drill and a bit you can easily fit almost any racing wheel onto this thing. The metal is very easy to drill through.

Just remember that this seat is not at all a good seat for use with PC games unless you like getting out of the seat every time you need to use a keyboard/mouse and wanna hunch over your setup and or desk. For just a tiny bit more you can find tons of better cockpits that will come with or allow you to later purchase keyboard, mouse, and monitor mounts.

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First of all I just want to say thank you to Playseat for creating such a great piece of equipment. I have been playing GT5 now since 11/24/10 and I play every day. The game is a great game for the driving enthusiast, but after putting 42 thousand miles on my game cars before buying the Playseat, I am looking back and asking myself why, oh why did I not do this sooner. The Playseat just adds so much more to the driving experience. You really do feel like you are driving a real car with the low slung seat, which is not hard to get in and out of. I mean, once you are in... you are in for a long time. These things are that comfortable. Everything is adjustable and very well made. I had a very small hole in my seat cushion when I received the product. After I noticed the "hole", I contacted the company directly and asked if they would help me with this very minor issue. To my surprise, Playseat sent me free of charge a new seat cushion top... and bottom. They went above and beyond the call to satisfy their customer. I am very happy with the customer service I received from Playseat and very happy with the overall product. These seats might be expensive and all, but if you are thinking about getting one of these stop thinking and just buy it already. YOU WILL BE SUPER HAPPY!!! I know I am, Thank You Playseat WRC!!!

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I have had this seat for about one month now. I am very happy with this racing seat. It is made with a good quality of materials and is ergonomically very comfortable. It took me around 45 minutes to assemble. It has made playing auto racing videos so much more realistic. The only flaw that I have found so far is the steering wheel tends to shimmee down the mounting shaft when I race road courses because I am doing more shifting and probably tugging a little harder on the wheel. I alleviated this problem with a little duct tape on the mounting shaft to make it a bit thicker and now the wheel holds firm. I would definitely recommend this seat if you are into auto racing games. It makes the game so much more realistic.

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Assassin's Creed III

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $25.88
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Assassin's Creed 2 restored my faith in open world games. I've played every one of the AC games and each title has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Out of the entire lineup, Assassin's Creed III has some of the best characters and delivers one of the best stories in the series but not enough thought was put into so many important areas of gameplay that Assassin's Creed III turns into a flawed disappointment.

**THE GOOD**

-The characters are memorable. Here's the thing: Connor isn't Ezio, nor should he be. If you're looking for a wild, charismatic guy who flirts with ladies and does whatever he wants, then Connor is the exact opposite of that. In fact, I'd say Connor's personality is very true to his culture. If he acted like Ezio as a young boy, I'd imagine his people would have thought something was seriously wrong with Connor. His quiet and humble nature suits him well. The side characters have their moments as well. The interactions between Charles Lee and Thomas Hickey, as well and Haytham and Connor are very fun and keep the player in guessing what happens next. The characters on your Homestead are also very funny and a delight to help out from time to time.

-The story is also engaging. Seeing what you read as a kid during history class in elementary school brought to life and getting to play in that environment is amazing! Being a part of the Boston Massacre and The Battle of Bunker Hill seriously gave me a special feeling inside. I'm not a history buff or anything, but the amount of research involved with both story and characters is done exceptionally well. For non-Americans, I've noticed a large disconnect with the events that happen in the game. A few of my European friends that played the game have stated this and found the story pretty dull. So a person not familiar with early American history may find the story a bit boring.

-The naval battles are so much fun that it should have been the entire game. Just sayin'.

-Wolfpack mode is perfect for those that don't like the competitive modes in multiplayer. It's pure co-op and it can even be completed on a solo run if you have no one to play with. The player can earn all the multiplayer trophies/achievements strictly playing that mode if they really wanted to. I think it's a wonderful addition to the online portion.

-The Desmond stuff isn't bad this time around and he finally feels like an assassin for once.

**THE BAD**

-Gameplay is a mess. It's not bad, but it could have been much better. The free-running is the same as it always has been, but Ubisoft has never fixed the issue of running up things you never wanted to climb in the first place. This becomes a hair-pulling experience when it accidentally happens during chase portions of the game. Another problem is sometimes when you walk casually past some Red Coats, they become aware of your presence and will come after you for no reason! It doesn't matter if incognito is your status, sometimes they will go to full alert and chase you for no reason. Sometimes I'll be chased by Red Coats and will run by Blue Coats. Guess what? They start chasing me too! Why?! They're two opposing forces and they should be fighting each other, not acting like buddies and chasing me! Lastly, the guns feel like it takes a lifetime to reload during fights. I know it's more realistic that way, but when you really need to use something other than your fists in a fight, you'll most likely choose other options before picking gun due to the reload speed.

-Tutorials aren't really helpful. The fighting could have used more of an explanation and the gameplay involving the Assassins you recruit by liberating areas of NY and Boston could have been more thorough. The mechanics will be familiar to people that played Brotherhood and Revelations, but individuals that haven't picked up the game since AC2 may feel a bit lost.

-Fight mechanics should have stayed the same. The Batman games by Rocksteady are amazing when it comes to fight mechanics and it's understandable why Ubisoft have stated that the Arkham games were a big inspiration for the overhaul. Honestly, it's not good in AC3. I'm not even sure why the slowdown animation during the failed parry attack exists, because even if Connor doesn't press anything during the animation, he pushes the enemy back automatically so you're able to try your attack again. If your looking for cool Arkham style fight mechanics, go with the game Sleeping Dogs. Otherwise, this just feels dumbed down and makes me miss the fantastic fluid fights I had in the past AC games.

-Not enough climbing points in the frontier. Sometimes I'd want to perform a hanging attack using my rope dart, but unfortunately, I would rarely find a climbable tree near an enemy for me to do this with. Like, there are soooo many trees. Some of them are like a puzzle to find the exact beginning climbing point. Then there are other trees that are just there to take up space for design reasons and aren't climbable. It becomes annoying, especially when you're looking for a way to get the upper hand on taking down an animal or enemy from the above position. Finding crevasses to climb in the mountains can become equally frustrating for the same reasons.

-The bugs cripple the experience. Even with all the flaws I've listed, I still would have been able to recommend this game to fans of the franchise. However, there are too many random bugs that make me wonder if Ubisoft were too concerned about making the Fall quarter release date that the Assassin's Creed series is known for, that they also managed to forfeit the quality of their product. I've seen so many random bugs and glitches. I can't tell you how many times I had to restart my checkpoint just to fix some of the issues. Sometimes even markers on the map don't show up like they should, so it makes finding objectives harder. I'm sure over time Ubisoft will patch a lot of the issues that exist in the game, but until that day comes, I'd gladly recommend Brotherhood and Revelations over AC3.

**OVERALL**

Assassin's Creed III isn't a bad game by design. It's the glitches and bugs that make it a bad game. It also feels like a poor effort was put into some of the gameplay elements. Even though the influences from Batman: Arkham Asylum/City to Red Dead Redemption turnout to be lackluster, the originality found in the naval battles is something completely new and maybe should be looked at in future releases of the franchise. They really have something special going on there. I thought this would be my Game of the Year for 2012. Even after playing a great game as Borderlands 2, I still believed AC3 would take my top spot. Yeah...Assassin's Creed III doesn't even come close to my Top 5 this year. AC3 is an okay game, but it feels like a disappointment over what the past titles did as far as gameplay and it should have been much better.

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AC3 had a huge amount of potential, a great story, and tragic flaws that made it more irritating to play than fun.

After Ubisoft milked Assassin's Creed 2 into 3 games, I said to myself that I'm not going to pay for this game. As luck would have it, I was able to check this title out at my local library... boy am I glad that's the case. I can't believe people actually had to pay $60 for this half baked game! It REALLY could have used several more months of development to iron out some of the game breaking bugs.

Pros:

1. Great story.

There's no way around it, this franchise has some of the best stories ever made for the gaming world. Although it's easy to see that there was never a mysterious Native American running around and influencing every major event during the period, the story of Connor is quite entertaining and interesting.

2. Excellent characters.

The voice acting for all the characters was very well done. I enjoy that they actually developed the Desmond story a little bit and let you run around quite a bit in the current time as Desmond.

3. Huge world.

There is a lot to explore and a lot to do in the world of AC3 and it looks amazing when the choppy frame rate isn't nauseating you.

4. Lots of side quests.

In AC3, you won't run out of things to do. There's always a side quest and they are well varied. You can trade, do ship missions, save citizents, go hunting, etc.

5. Naval missions are very fun.

The new addition of naval missions was well played and well executed. I enjoyed this facet of AC3 almost more than I enjoyed the actual game.

6. Frequent autosaves.

When the game freezes because of a bug and you have to restart your system, it at least remembers where you left off if you were in the middle of a mission.

Cons:

1. Frequently poor frame rates.

A lot of other reviewers said that this issue wasn't so bad for them. For me, it was a different story. The game would get choppy quite frequently and I often had to walk away for a few minutes because it made me dizzy. I never get any kind of motion sickness from visual stimulation, so this is a first for me when it comes to gaming. Maybe Ubisoft bit off more than the hardware can chew... but as experienced developers, they should be well acquainted with hardware limitations.

2. Riddled with bugs.

There is no doubt about it, even after patches, that this game has a ridiculous amount of bugs. If I didn't see this game on the shelves and played it, I would be convinced that it was a beta. I've had it randomly freeze on me about a dozen times, most often while on a mission. A few times, I tried to mount a horse next to a bush and got stuck inside the bush. Once, I fell through the ground and died. Needless to say, Ubisoft should not have released this game with this amount of bugs. I understand that there are a lot of challenges to overcome when making a game of this size... but that's why the consumer pays $60. No one is asking for a perfect bug-free game, but come on! This is just down right shameful.

3. Combat system has been ruined.

Previous AC games had a really good combat system, this one is irritating button mashing. Maybe I just haven't figured out how it works yet, but what I do know is that as long as you're holding circle you are invincible to everything but projectiles. Understandably, they have to make a lot of changes in a game to keep each new release fresh and innovative, but in this case they broke what didn't need fixing. I read an interview with one of the lead developers in a popular gaming magazine several months ago that they were re-thinking the combat system for AC3 to make it more fluid... I was genuinely excited to see all the cool combos, but all I got was a clunky button mashing experience that left a lot to be desired.

4. Menus are tragic...

The menus are confusing and difficult to navigate. It's often frustrating to figure out how to do something because there's no explanation as there was in previous AC games. Maybe I missed something...

5. Slow pace in the beginning.

The first several hours of the game are very slow paced and made me lose interest. There was too much tutorial that didn't teach you anything, left you confused, and didn't add much to the story.

6. Still running up random walls.

This has been a problem in previous games and there's been a lot of complaining about it, it's really irritating. I need not say more.

In all, this could have been a great game if it had more time in development. If Ubisoft wasn't so bent on milking us for our annual 60 bucks, I would have gladly paid for this game and would be eager to do so with the next iteration. Sadly, I will not pay for the next one either because it will also be a half done mess. Quite frankly, I don't think I'll even play the next one. I've been a fan of this series since the beginning, and they've finally lost me for good. I was disappointed by Revelations because they didn't really reveal or add a whole lot, and I'm disappointed with this one because it was just an expensive and messy beta (for those who bought it). I'm sure Ubisoft will go ahead and milk Connor until he's as dried up a skeleton as Altair was and only the quality of the franchise will suffer with everyone that forks over their cash...

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First, I have not completed the game yet. I'm about halfway through. I am both incredibly pleased and impressed with parts of the game and mildly annoyed at others.

Here's the nerdy history guy's take: If you like history -particularly the American Revolution -you have never had a chance to experience such an accurate and detailed deception of life in colonial America. As someone who has been obsessed with everything related to the American Revolution, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Granted, you don't seem to actually participate that much in the actual events of the revolution, but you still get to experience the environment, architecture, etc. And you get to meet some influential Americans from the time. And take part in a couple battles (at least). The historical accuracy is both surprisingly great and stupidly wrong. Tiny details, like the humid horrid battle of Monongahela during the French and Indian War are surprisingly spot on -even down to steaming earth and soldiers grumbling about the weather. The flags in all the battles are represented accurately, as best I can tell. This is historically spot on -unlike the ridiculously inaccurate (but entertaining) movie The Patriot. However, the depiction of British and Colonial soldiers is not right at all. British dragoons lead foot soldiers on foot patrols with bright red uniforms? (Dragoons are mounted cavalry troops and wore bright green and white uniforms) British Highland troops did fight and wear kilts, but they fought in independent groups, not generally interspersed among random other troops. Also, every "musket" I have seen so far appears to be a Pennsylvania or Kentucky Long-Rifle. This is totally inaccurate. The Brown Bess was the primary musket used on both sides. Rifles played a very small (though important) part of the war.

So maybe that is nit-picking, but I promise that I'm actually omitting many of my other thoughts on this topic. All in all, for a popular mainstream game, this is a super valuable change to go beyond Johnny Tremain and The Patriot and get a more immersive feel for the tension and style of the time. (Just ignore all the Templar/Assassin mumbo-jumbo)

Also, for those of you on here complaining about the flintlock pistol being slow, its actually about twice as fast in the game as the best re-loaders of the time could achieve. Not too mention it never jams, misfires, blinds you, burns your hand, explodes, and always works, even if you fire it right after swimming around in the ocean. I know games take liberties, and I think this one is reasonable for the sake of game play. Still, all you whiners need to understand that tactics change. A pistol was typical only fired once in a battle with wicked inaccuracy. Even musket volleys in a full battle would generally only last a dozen rounds of so (if that). These battles were still won largely in hand-to-hand combat. The same goes for people complaining about the game becoming more Warrior's Creed than Assassin's Creed. I get it -it's called what it is for a reason -but you have to understand that this was kind of like the wild west only less developed. Somebody could commit a crime in Virginia, move to Connecticut, and no one would be any wiser. Assassinations out in the open was much more common than the clandestine periods depicted in the earlier games.

However, I am not just a historian, I also enjoy playing historical games. I've been a fan of the series and I think this game both delivered tremendously in certain respects, but also made for some really horrendously boring and tedious game play choices. The game also suffers from a small amount of gliches. I hope that they do continue to expand this series a little longer. While I'd love to see the war of 1812, I suspect they will move to France for their revolution. While I enjoy the American Revolution the most, I think the French Revolution might be slightly more conducive to the assassination nature and climb-on-roof tops style of the games that many fans have come to expect.

4 out of 5 stars for historical accuracy

4 out of 5 stars for game play

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WARNING: This review is being handled differently from my previous reviews in that there will not be an overall score and I won't be going into many of the overall game play and story. This will mostly just be a list of issues I've found with this game. This will probably piss some people off but this is based on my experience with the game. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from playing this game but if you know any of the things that I talk about in this note tend to piss you off, you might want to reconsider this game.

So yeah, Assassin's Creed 3 is the game I have been looking forward to all year long. The trailers have been amazing; the setting of the American Revolution is rather original for a game like this, an interesting new character to the Assassin's Creed series, and a time in history most Americans should be familiar with. This game had so much potential. Also it's been getting near perfect scores from several game review magazines and sites. I have to ask, what game have they been playing? Because the AC3 I've been playing is not a perfect scoring or high scoring game. I was so sure this was going to be game of the year material for me and it makes me so sad that I cannot even recommend it for a top 5 slot for games of the year. For me, this game is just not very fun most of the time. It's been mostly frustrating and stress inducing. That's not why people play video games and if that's why you play games then maybe you're a masochist. Very rarely have I had fun with this game. There is a lot to it, I'll give it that. It is a very big game and it is impressive in that aspect and it is a very beautiful game. Something like it hasn't been quite done before. Sadly, that comes with a price.

The graphics in this game, while beautiful, run into a lot of frame rate and slow down issues. There are times I've noticed in the cities where things just don't move so smoothly. You see slow down here and there in these massive areas. Not always but sometimes. Glitches are another issue. Granted, I've run into glitches in all the AC games (AC had some of the worst) but AC3 had some game stoppers. One involved me just running along and then I suddenly just fell through the ground and died. Another I hid in a pile of hay and got stuck in it, forcing me to restart the area I was in. More minor glitches include odd clipping, animals getting stuck in trees, and other silly things that you run into in open world games. Only a few of these glitches really hurt the game play but they were on the rare side. I can't help but feel that this game is just pushing the PS3 to its limits but the minor visual errors are minor compared to other problems in the game. UPDATE: A friend of mine experienced a glitch that prevented him from beating the game because a cutscene would not start.

Probably the biggest issue in the game is the new combat system. Wow! It sucks! It is a huge step back from the combat system from Assassin's Creed 2. The first thing I noticed when I got into a big fight was the camera: It doesn't follow your character. It just doesn't. You have to adjust it manually. When you got so much shit going on around you, you don't have time to adjust the damn camera. Something always seems to get in the of the camera too, be it a tree, wall, part of a building, ect. The combat itself feels less skill based. Every now and then, Conner will pull off some of the awesome finishing moves we saw in the trailers but I have no idea how I did them. I still have no idea how to use someone as a human shield and it is an almost mandatory move to know if you want to survive firing lines. The majority of the time you are hacking at the enemy's defenses and countering them whenever prompted. It becomes a button masher. A lot of times I would press triangle to try and counter because I am so used to the combat from Arkham City but that's my fault. There is also no real lock on method in this game. It seems to want to try lock on automatically in combat but it does a poor job. You end up missing your target or accidentally running up a wall or something. It's very frustrating and takes awhile to get used to especially if you are familiar with the combat system from the previous games. It took me about 10 hours of playing the game to get a hang of combat. There is no place you can go to practice like in AC2. You pretty much just have to go pick your own fights with British patrols and learn the hard way. Shooting and firearms have been added to the game which makes sense but the shooting mechanic is trick to get a hang of but once you do, it's pretty handy even though you have to deal with the slow reloads of the time.

The story is another issue and the one I have the most mixed feels about. I won't go into details or spoilers or anything but I will talk about the pacing. The first 5 hours of the game is very slow paced but does have a good pay off with quite the bombshell of a plot twist. Then it bounces around from being fast paced, to slow paced, and just jerks around a bit too much for my liking. Other people don't seem as bothered by it as much as me. It does have some good moments like some epic battlefield scenes and the naval battle missions that, thankfully, actually live up to the hype! You could make an entire game based around the naval missions and naval combat system. It's fun. But there are only three mandatory missions where you control a ship on the seas. There are side missions for this in addition the many, many, many diverse side missions you can find though out the game. There is over 70 hours of content in this game, so it's not short. You do get your money's worth in terms of content with this game. I usually had more fun just running around doing all these side missions than the actual main missions.

The next major issue I felt that goes along with the problem of the story's pace is that the first 7 hours feels like a very long and slow tutorial that spans out over this time. If you're a veteran of the series, some of this stuff isn't new to you but things like learn out to use the shooting mechanic could have been handled in a better way. You learn how to actually shoot your weapon in combat simple enough but right after that you have to shoot these powder kegs to blow open a door. Okay, simple enough. At this point you think pressing the triangle button will let you shoot at anything and L1 is what you use to manually aim. There is a wagon with these BIG barrels on it and the game just told you to shoot at the barrels so naturally you aim at try to shoot them but nothing happens. I sat there for like 5 minutes pressing every button on the controller trying to figure out why the shooting button just no longer works. Then I notice that if I drag the little aiming cursor over these small barrels below the big barrels, the small ones light up and I can actually shoot them. It doesn't tell you to shoot the little barrels that light up. WHY NOT?! I know for a fact I am not the only one who has had this problem! It's turn into a little meme on the internet, I think. The game has several moments of poor conveyance. It introduces new mechanics poorly such at the Battle of Lexington and Concord where you have to run back and forth between ranks and order Colonists to fire on the British. This is a really cool mission but when it starts they don't tell you how to give orders and it took me a few minutes to figure this out and ended up failing the mission a couple times. You have to stand in little circles that appear in order to give the commands. They could have made that much clearer. A lot of things could have been made clearer on how they work and this goes back to the combat system. You can't just equip whatever weapons you want when you want. You have to go to a general store (the place you most likely bought your weapons and equipment) and you can only equip things there. These general stores are not common you will only find two or three in the two main cities of the game, New York and Boston. If you know how to equip weapons in a different way, please let me know!

Every mission has sub-objectives to complete each synchronization and I HATE THESE THINGS! They are completely optional but if you're looking to complete this game 100%, you're going to have a bad time. Some of these are nearly impossible and half the time I end up failing them before I even know what they are because they only flash on the screen for a brief moment on the corner of the screen. They make missions unnecessarily difficult. If you want that kind of challenge, go for it. There is one where the game expects you to chase someone through a crowd without pushing anyone. Ha! Good luck with that. Speaking of chasing missions, they make for some of the MOST frustrating missions, especially this one near the end of the game. All of this stuff together ultimately leads to this game being very frustrating and just not as fun as it should be. There is nothing wrong with a challenging game but that challenge should be fair and not based on issues with the overall game play.

Now like I said this is all based on my game play experiences. Maybe you have or will have better experiences but for me, ultimately this game is a big letdown. Assassin's Creed 2 was just so much better in just about every way and was way more fun to play. If you are not familiar with Assassin's Creed, AC3 is not game to start with. Now I can't stress this enough, this is all my opinion. Maybe I just suck at the game and there is something I just completely missed and I am playing it wrong. Don't let this review completely steer you away from the game as it is something that should be experienced to a degree. This game is an impressive technical achievement in many ways and it is a HUGE game. It's just too frustrating and ultimately unenjoyable to me overall which is very disappointing as I was really looking forward to this game.

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If you're a veteran of the series, this game feels off.

Many of the gameplay mechanics were changed from the earlier games. Some good (free run is automatic), some unusual (block using Circle button), and some beyond frustrating (rotate the camera to control your direction). If you rotate the camera to get a better view of the upcoming obstacles, Connor will cheerfully free run into a wall or off a cliff.

Since AC3 was in development prior/during the AC2 games, it's missing all those great little improvements that were added in AC2 Revelations (automatically walk with NPCs, bomb crafting, etc).

While it's cool that the AC3 voice actors are native speakers of the various languages, it doesn't mean they can actually act. Except Haythem, he could read the phone book and I'd be happy.

The main story line is forgettable at best. Connor may have helped win a few key battles, but it's hard to tell how much impact riding a horse back and forth between 3 circles had on the actual outcome. If you turn the camera to watch the actual battle, your horse runs into rocks/trees and the guys depending on you to reach their little circle just stand there patiently getting shot while you try to maneuver around the impenetrable bushes of the Boston wilderness.

The side quests are designed to turn you into a tourist, literally walking to designated spots just to get an animus journal entry. The architecture of the time didn't have towering cathedrals or crumbling ruins, so this game doesn't have the same visual impact as the earlier ones. It also means many of the free run paths are ground based, unless you're in the forest.

Thank god for the naval missions. These side quests have the best characters and story arcs of the entire game. I often find myself grinding through the main story just to unlock the next set of Privateer Contracts or pirate treasure hunts.

If you can, wait for the price drop. There's some cool moments but this is hardly a must have game.

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Rockband Rubber Tip Drum Sticks

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I have the Rockband 2 wireless drums with cymbals, and I love these things! The rubber tips are removable. They don't cancel much noise, but the bounce they produce on the pads is incredible! They make drumming so much easier. If you have the cymbals, they are just as loud and don't quite bounce as well. They are also thicker, so if the cymbals are too high, you will be hitting them with the stick instead of the tip. The tips also seem to wear rather quickly, but all in all, these are worth it.

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Sticks are great, much sturdier than the set that came with my Guitar Hero drums. Rubber tips stay on, and are quieter and provide better bounce off the heads. Recommended if you need new sticks.

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I actually prefer the drum pad silencers with the regular sticks. I purchased both the pads and the rubber tip sticks at the same time though. After putting on the pads, I find that the regular sticks sound about as quiet as these rubber tipped ones and the regular sticks provide much better bounce on the pads. Save your money. Buy one or the other not both. Not that these do not work, just that they are not needed if you have the pads and actually I doubt I will ever use them now. They just do not work well with the pads, in my opinion.

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I bought these for someone else, and she doesn't like them very much. They are cute, but they aren't very useful.

She says they make it very difficult to "feel" what's going on with the drums. I'm not a drummer, so I'm not exactly sure what she means by that, but I assume she means the rubber tips make it hard to feel the appropriate vibrations or bounce-back.

They don't mitigate the sound as well as you would hope, either. The rubber tips are supposed to cut down on the noise from drumming, but they really offer very little sound mitigation.

She also says the tips tend to fly off, especially after you've had them for a while and they start to get stretched out.

If you just want some cooler-looking drumsticks, these are probably fine. But I wouldn't buy them thinking they will dull the sound much.

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Just wanted to point out that these drumsticks aren't exactly rubber tipped they COME with rubber tips, and the rubber tips are red rather than the white that is the tip color of these sticks.

If you're looking for drumsticks with a cool pattern that say RockBand on them, you'll like these they're 5A's, btw. Otherwise you can buy rubber tips for your sticks at some online music stores.

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Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition

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Overall, I would recommend this to any MK fan, either those that have kept up with the series or those that haven't played it in a long time. It's a great reboot of the series, that essentially resets the story along with returning to the original gameplay (which is both good and bad). There are a few innovations that set this apart from other fighters and really moves the franchise forward.

Graphics:

The backgrounds of the game look fantastic. They are loaded with lots of interesting distractions, such as dragons attacking a city, Shao Kahn and his creepy pet cheering on your fight, flying pyroclastic debris, victims being dunked into the dead pool, etc., that really make the combat areas come to life. The levels are really thought out and highly detailed.

The characters look great too, again very detailed and move fluidly. My only complaint is maybe a couple of models look a little off. For example, Sonya and Shang Tsung actually looked more realistic in Deadly Alliance. Also, the costumes are the ones from the first three games, so they don't look as interesting as those in later games (e.g., Sub-zero "suit of armor" from DA). I understand that they needed to use the customs from the earlier time period, but still I miss the cooler costumes from Deadly Alliance and Deception.

The artwork used in the characters' ending uses a very different style from previous games (painted portraits or animated scenes [MK4]). I liked it, they look nice and it's interesting to see something different.

Because of the upgraded graphics, I should point out that the fatalities are rather realistic (more detailed than previous games). Some can be pretty disturbing (Noob Saibot's being the worst), so definitely not for the squeamish.

Story Mode:

They definitely outdid themselves on this. The story is great, it's really fun to watch and does a great job tying the first three games together. Without giving anything away, I loved how it ends, it's a nice cliff hanger for the next game (of course there will be another game!).

My only complaints: No chapter select? If you beat it, why can't you go back and just watch it like a movie? Or better yet, watch specific chapters? All you can do is play it all over again. And no way to pause the cutscenes? With life's little distractions, it's annoying missing some dialogue and having to start the scene all over again.

Music and Sound:

The music is just OK. To be fair, what they did was take the music from the first three games and did a good job of remixing it, so that's mostly what you have here. With that in mind, the music isn't as good as the later games.

The sound effects (the unsung hero) are excellent. From the freezing and burning effects of Sub-zero and Scorpion, to the metallic clashing of Cyrax and Sektor, this game has the best sound effects I've ever heard in a fighter. I guess the developers agree, because the default settings of the game have the sound effects practically drowning out the music.

Gameplay:

Overall, very fast, fluid, simplified (compared to previous games), and fun.

The multiple martial art styles from Deadly Alliance are now gone, as are the highly complex 6 and 7 button combos. Personally, I did enjoy the martial art styles, but I won't miss them. And now most of the combos are limited to 3 button combinations, and to achieve larger combos you now rely more on incorporating special moves and air juggling.

The enhanced attack system is brilliant, that adds a lot to the gameplay and I hope that remains in future games. Basically, you have a meter that allows you to perform advanced versions of your attacks that either do more damage (e.g., Scorpion throwing two spears instead of just one) or are more difficult to evade (e.g., Sub-zero having a larger ice blast).

I thought the X-ray attacks would be silly, but they turned out to be pretty cool, especially Noob's and Quan Chi's.

Also, the AI in the game is fun without being frustrating (except for Shao Khan). The difficulty is highly adjustable, and on Medium or below most of the AI opponents fight intelligently, rather than just blocking and countering everything you do with ridiculous clairvoyance. Even Goro and Kintaro are approachable, meaning that you can actually fight toe-to-toe with them, instead of just trapping them in a corner and doing the same move 30 times in a row (like how Kintaro was in MKII). Shao Khan is the exception. Even on the Beginner and Easy settings, he goes completely ballistic on you, and you are forced to just do a cheap combination of projectiles and teleporting until you finally wear him down. Fighting him is not fun whatsoever.

Also, no Motaro? No big deal, just would have been cool to fight him. I guess motion capturing a centaur was too difficult.

This game went back to the traditional 2-D plane of gameplay. I preferred 3-D, but I can see why others would prefer 2-D, so I can't really say whether this is a good thing or bad thing. Here are my pros and cons of this:

Pros: 2-D is much faster than 3-D, because it makes it more difficult to evade your opponent. Because there is less of a playing field, you spend a lot less time chasing after each other, and it's easier to trap someone in a corner.

Cons: Without the ability to move in 3-D, you no longer have throwable/interactive objects that you can get to and use. Also, having a smaller playing field doesn't allow for multi-level arenas (like those in Deception) that are really fun to explore. Finally, you no longer have interesting 3-D attacks and sidestepping, which made gameplay a lot deeper (without being too confusing). Personally, I hope they bring back 3-D gameplay, but I doubt that will happen.

Final thought: it's time to get rid of the block button. They made some small changes to the button layout for this game, but the block button is still here? Sure it's easier to do fatalities with a block button, but other fighters with fatalities didn't need this (e.g., Killer Instinct, Primal Rage). I think MK would get a lot more respect if they got rid of this button.

Online:

Very fun. They have one-on-one fighting, tag teams, and king-of-the-hill tournaments. I haven't had any lag problems and it's fairly active.

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This version komes with every dlc karacter and their kostumes. But the only thing that you'll either dislike or like is that all the kharacters are unlocked which means no old school fighting reward of unlocking additional fighters. But i guess the krypt makes up up for that.

Also the game includes the game soundtrack which you kan download and a digital copy of the first MK movie.

And this version does not require a online pass to play online.

Have fun

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For those complaining about the price, get a used copy.

Okay, now to add to the kudos about the game... this edition made me sooooo glaaad I waited. When I saw the game advertised in an ad, and that it included Freddy Krueger, I lept for joy. I haven't been this excited to purchase a video game since "Turtles in Time" for SNES. Don't laugh, the versus mode was much better than Street Fighter.

I didn't even know there was a story mode, but I had to start with that... this is the story mode to end all fighting game story modes. You'd think this was an action adventure game instead of a fighting game. The story was well-woven, the graphics are stunningvery detailed background while still maintaining the 2-D fighting. The character updates are amazingand the reboot to classic moves makes them so much less cheesy... like Barakas slicing move. I also like that the grab and throw move isn't just a simple toss, but a mini beat down followed by a punch or kick and a heave/hurl/toss to one side of the screen.

And I won't say anything about using Freddy Krueger you have to discover for yourself!

All in all, if you liked the original Mortal Kombat, you'll love this game.

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I finally adopted a next gen console when I got a PS3 for myself December 2012, this was one of the first games I bought. I have played the MK series of games since the original was released in the arcades. In my opinion this has been a great reboot of the franchise and helped clean up some of the storyline clutter that had gone on post MK3. The game play is back to more of an old school MK basics, which in my opinion is great because I never really embraced the 3d MK games. It has some stunning back grounds, a cool story mode, and of course fatalities. What more could you ask for? The online feature allows me to play with friends across the country, which is nice since I don't get to see them much. All in all, as a long time fan, I think this is the best sequel to come out since MK3 Ultimate, or maybe MK Trilogy.

As for people giving the game one star reviews for "missing" DLC let me explain how it worked for me. When I opened the package I saw two DLC vouchers, one for some music tracks and one for the original MK feature movie. The one for the feature movie expired 12/31/12 so I was out of luck there. Not really a big deal, except I thought it was a voucher for game content until I read it closer. Bottom line, this is the Komplete edition as it includes the DLC content. When you first load the game it does an update that installs the DLC automatically. All the characters and costumes are there. No need to bash the game because a bonus unrelated to the game itself is expired.

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Concerning the Package

The Komplete Kollection package is perfect. Everything is on the disc with absolutely no waiting time, there are no patches/DLC to download and install. The game is just pop in and go.

The only voucher codes in the case are for the Mortal Kombat movie through PSN and a voucher to download a music album off of a online music site. There is no lame online pass code. Again everything is on the disc and ready when you are.

Unfortunately though Mortal Kombat Movie is 6.6 gb, WOW. I was slightly interested in re-watching Mortal Kombat, but I don't want to use up 6.6 gb. As I was writing this review I wanted to see what the film download included since its a very large file.(Movie is converted to HD, also an extra animated movie after credits titled Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins) Well I ended up initiating the download by accident. I saw the usual download in background and that it would take about 100 minutes (I have comcast xfinity) I was about to cancel it but to my surprise another button appeared titled "watch while downloading" and the movie is now running. So you could just watch the movie and by the time the movie ends the download should be finished and then you can decide to keep or delete.

Concerning the Game.

I loved the story, it was very good. Definitely will replay. There is also single player ladder matches, 4 Test your... mini games. A 300 level challenge tower. Koins to spend on the krypt. Practise mode with MK mechanics tutorial and fatalities tutorial, also your standard practice arena against AI or Human. A Tag team feature which allows for 4 player couch play, YAY! Still have not checked online play.

Only two things annoyed me; you can't skip cut scenes in story mode and also the move list as no page scroll feature, you can only hold down to scroll and its doesn't even scroll fast or smoothly.

Well Netherealm studios know how to deliver a game.

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