Posts filed under 'Reviews'
Positively ecstatic feedback continues to come in for the new Xbox360 Wireless Racing Wheel. We are due to receive ours soon, and will post our findings. For now, check out some of the coverage:
Gizmodo: Fans of driving games traditionally either had to put up with filmsy wheels that made racing less convenient than using the standard analog stick controllers. With the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel from Microsoft, lousy first party racing accessories are a thing of the past.
In all honesty, this was the best racing experience we’ve ever had.
and a solid endorsement from Techie Musings with a few complaints I hope get addressed in the next version:
The wheel feels very solid and “real” - when you hold it, you feel like you can throw it around and it has a satisfying length of travel (270 degrees)…. all in all, if you’re into driving games, this is highly recommended.
Technorati Tags: Xbox360, Racing Wheel
November 27th, 2006
I’ve had the Sony Bravia 40″ LCD for a few months now, and wanted to share my impressions of it, specifically while using the Xbox 360. While the newer XBR2 and XBR3 are just starting to ship, now might be the perfect time to get a good deal on the original XBR1. According to nextag you can see the price dropping throughout the last few months, and is now in the sub $2k range:
I won’t go through all the specs, but here are the highlights:
- Viewing angle: 170 degrees
- Total output power: 26 Watt
- Speaker system details: 2 x Right/left channel speaker - Built-in - 13 Watt
- Widescreen modes: Full, Zoom, Normal, Wide Zoom
- Input/Output connections: 1 x Audio line-in (RCA phono) - Front, 5 x Audio line-in (RCA phono) - Rear, 1 x Audio output (RCA phono x 2) - Rear, 2 x Component video input (RCA phono x 3) - Rear, 1 x Component video input (RCA phono x 3) - Front, 1 x Composite video input (RCA phono) - Front, 2 x Composite video input (RCA phono) - Rear, 2 x RF input (F connector) - Rear, 1 x S-Video input (4 pin mini-DIN) - Rear, 1 x Headphones (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm) - Front, 1 x USB - Front, 1 x HDMI - Rear
The good:
- 720p resolution means pixel perfect matching with todays Xbox 360 games. There is a 1080p upgrade coming soon to the Xbox360, but we believe that it will be focused more on HD-DVD usage than on games.
- The TV’s UI is easy, and keeps all the proper presets for my games. I had to bump up the brightness a bit compared to normal TV watching as some games appeared a bit dark with the default settings.
- No ghosting at all. This was a concern with any LCD, and this one is spec’d at 8ms and so far so good. With my gamefly rental subscription, I’ve played over 20 games so far, and nearly every demo on Live — and have yet to come across a problem.
- Games look realistic and sharp. For those coming from PC games this is a welcome feature. The Plasma setups I’ve seen with Xbox360 seem softer and less sharp.
- Non Xbox360, but still cool: 1366 x 768 resolution means that my photos — when viewed via USB port or via Xbox 360 Windows Media Connect — look great and in proportion. Makes for great slideshows on the big screen.
The bad:
- only one HDMI port. The newer XBR series fixed this with 3 ports, but something to consider
The ugly:
- only wish it was 50″ :)
Summary: A great TV for movies, watching A-Rod choke in pressure situations ( sorry couldn’t resist ! ), and most importantly Xbox 360 games.
I give this TV a rating of 9/10. It would have been a 10 with more than 1 HDMI port.
September 30th, 2006
Let me first preface this quick review by saying that I love soccer — or ‘football’ as it really should be called. I played football growing up, it was my first sport, and I watch about an hour of week of various games/highlights etc. I also follow the world cup very closely, and will even purchase some football jerseys when I am travelling in a new city.
OK, with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get in to the game.
The good: Stadium details are strong, uniforms look very real, and the FIFA franchise has always had the best commentary — and this version is no exception.
The bad: What happened to improving on prior efforts ? The gamepaly is a step backwards. The physics seem off — as if the ball is guessing where it should be, and the camera angles reveal all kinds of visual problems - ghosting and strange player models.
The ugly: I think the PS2 and Xbox versions were better, and visually on the same level. This game was rushed out, or simply neglected by the EA folks. Online play is also poorly setup, using their own EA lobby method instead of the superior microsoft default one.
Conclusion: Stay away from this title. Major step backwards, and a worrisome pattern with EA rushing out sports titles for Xbox360 — which in my mind includes Madden 2006.
February 9th, 2006
Original review, update #1
So I’m now over a month into the Gamefly Xbox360 rental experiment, and wanted to share a few more observations.
Game availability: I don’t want to jinx it, but every game I’ve wanted has shipped out without any delay or short wait time. Perhaps this will change as people finally get their Xbox360’s — but for now, I have no complaints — and I know that availability is a major problem with some of the other game rental services.
Shipping Process: As I mentioned earlier, it took a week or so to receive the initial games, and I was concerned that the total return trip, confirmation of receipt, and then the shipping of the next game could really take a while.
But fear not ! Even for people like me in NYC, the total turn around has actually been less than a week for most of my games. How is this so ? Gamefly is using the power of technology to quicken the ‘confirmation’ / return process. They have partnered with the post office, so that as soon as the USPS scans the return envelope, they communicate that back to GameFly, and GameFly immediately ships out yor next game ( they call it FastReturn). pretty smart, eh ? here is the official blurb:
FastReturn will start the processing of your next game as soon as we receive confirmation from the U.S. Postal Service that a game has been returned in the mail. You may no longer need to wait until we receive the returned game in our warehouse before we send the next available game in Your GameQ!
How does FastReturn work?
When you return a game in the mail, the U.S. Postal Service will scan the return and send a confirmation to us. We will then send the next available game in Your GameQ BEFORE we have received the game in our warehouse.
Conclusion and thoughts after 1 month: So far so good. Between Xbox Live demos and new games arriving with GameFly I have no complaints. I think one immediate lesson of this experience is that it confirms that the day is drawing near where everything is on-demand. Why do we need NetFlix and services like GameFly ? With decent broadband access I’m happy to wait 2-3 hours to download a full game or movie. Don’t get me wrong, these serices have setup great businesses — but I wonder what these rental services plan to do when microsoft, sony, time warner, and others roll out full on-demand offerings ? Time will tell.
gamefly, xbox360
February 5th, 2006
I’m sure all of us remember seeing the madden footage on MTV or ESPN back in late April 2005. The press was buzzing, and future Xbox360 owners were salivating ! Fast forward a few months, and Madden 2006 is in our hands, and my reaction is very mixed.
The good: Graphics are top notch, stadiums look great, and the game controls feel solid.
The bad: Features are weak. There is no owner’s mode or training camp, no spring training details, no goals, no team management , etc. The mini-camp is gone, although EA promises that it will return in ‘07.
The ugly: Jaggies, vysnc/video tearing problems, and slow downs ! I’m running with HD component cables ( plan to try VGA soon ), and I get jaggies, some video tears, and some slow downs at the end of plays ( obviosuly cables are not at fault here ). For a top game game like this, I would expect perfection.
Conclusion: If you must have a football game, go pick this up, since it’s the only game in town. For anyone else, this game was rushed out, so skip it this year, and plan on getting the 2007 version.
Technorati Tags: madden06, xbox360
January 28th, 2006