Hyrule.net has a screenshot from the Beta of Twilight Pricess. The caption with the image just said “look closely and you might see something new”. I wonder what that means.
You can see the screenshot [url=http://www.hyrule.net/?get=newsview&date=1262&lan=en]here[/url].
Source: [url=http://www.hyrule.net/?get=newsview&date=1262&lan=en]Hyrule.net[/url]
I recently jumped onto the wireless bandwagon. I’ve started getting everything, from wireless keyboards and mice to the famed Nintendo Wavebird. So I figured why not bring my Xbox into the group, and began searching for a worthy wireless controller. Since I was so pleased with Logitech’s Cordless Action Controller for the PS2, it seemed only natural that Logitech’s Cordless Precision Controller for the Xbox would be the best choice, and while it has some design flaws, it is probably one of the best, if not the best cordless controller for the Xbox. The Precision Controller shares most of the qualities put into Logitech’s Playstation 2 controller. It has a 2.4 GHz frequency, which holds up flawlessly up to 30 feet, and only requires two batteries (which are included). Also like the Action Controller, the Precision controller is Logitech’s second-generation wireless Xbox controller, which is also much smaller and comfortable than the previous model. One thing the Precision Controller doesn’t share with the PS2 Action Controller is the receiver, which we’ll cover in a bit, but before that we’ll look at the structure of the controller.
The Precision Controller recreates the feel of the Xbox’s own Controller S, although some things are noticeably different. For starters, it looks slightly thinner than the Controller S in the mid-section, and the most notable change is that the memory card and Xbox Live ports are missing from the top of the controller (we’ll find those in a bit though, don’t worry). Other than that, it is just about the same size as the Controller S and has all the buttons placed correctly. The back of the controller is molded to fit the human hand, so it’s fairly comfortable to use. One thing I really like about the controller’s looks is the clear green analog bases and the green ring around the Logitech symbol, they really make the controller stand out from just another all-out black controller.
Like mentioned earlier, button placement is dead-on with the original Controller S. There is a new button near the left-most analog stick that turns the vibration function on and off, and the trigger buttons have a slightly different feel to them, although they pose no problem. Other than that, there isn’t really any change to the original structure layout of the Controller S. You might remember me commenting on how the D-pad felt a little cheap in the Action Controller review, and sadly, this is a quality the Precision Controller shares with the PS2 Action Controller. Actually, if anything, the D-pad on the Precision controller feels even cheaper, and almost feels like it would be fairly easy to pull out from the base, although it has yet to happen.
Now onto the memory card/Xbox Live port absence from the controller. Now, they have them included in with the controller, however, they are located on the receiver, which is roughly ten times bigger than the Action Controller’s receiver. The receiver plugs into the console through a very short cord, and resembles one of those real old receivers you would find in with say, the old SNES Super Scope, although the design is sleeker. This is understandable of course, seeing as how they have to put the ports somewhere, but them being on the receiver actually defeats the purpose of having a wireless controller if you are using your Xbox Live headset, since you will have to sit right next to the console to use the headset.
The Cordless Precision Controller is probably the best you will find on the Xbox. While the clunky feeling D-pad can be annoying, it is easily overlooked, especially since most games use the analog sticks (even if you happen to be playing say, a 2-D fighter, the D-pad still works fine). If you are using the controller for everyday gaming, then you can’t do much better, but with the Xbox Live port being next to the console, you might want to break out that corded Controller S, lest you enjoy sitting right next to the television screen with a wireless controller. As a wireless controller though, the Precision Controller is a great piece of hardware.
Ever since I bought the Playstation 2, I’ve had the standard controller that came with the system itself. Countless times, the distance between the furniture would prove for an uncomfortable gaming experience of either leaning forward, sitting on the rather hard flooring, or leaning back in fear of the plug popping out. When time came to purchase a new controller, it seemed only natural to go wireless. The problem is that there are so many different wireless controllers out on the market, most of them being third party, and unreliable. I then came across the Logitech Cordless Action Controller for the PS2. Being officially licensed by Sony (as indicated by the sticker in the package), this seemed like the best bet, but the question is, does this stand out in the crowd, or fail like many of the other third party counterparts.
The Action Controller is the second-generation wireless controller for the PS2 that’s made by Logitech. It is much lighter, smaller, and comfortable, all while packing in a 30 foot 2.4 GHz frequency. Two AA batteries power the controller, and the battery life can last for hours of gaming. In addition to working with the Playstation 2, the Action Controller also works on the PSOne as well as the original Playstation model, so gamers can play their favorite classics on the older systems with newer, more comfortable wireless technology.
Logitech did a nice job on recreating the feel of the official Playstation controller. Like mentioned earlier, the design is smaller than the original Logitech wireless PS2 controller, but it has also been remolded into a more comfortable feeling controller as well. The back of the controller is molded to better fit the structure of the human hand, while the front has some indentations, although they accommodate the look more than the feel department. The controller is small, but not too small, and it’s about the size of the original Playstation controller. It fits very comfortably in the hands, although the placement of the L and R buttons feels a little strange.
The button placement mimics the official Playstation controller. All the action buttons are in place, as well as the L and R buttons, start and select buttons, and D-pad. The mode button sits on the upper left of the controller, while directly across to the right is a vibration button that turns the vibration feature on and off. Like mentioned in the last paragraph, the L and R buttons feel a little awkward. It’s not so much that the placement is off but more that the buttons no longer sit atop their humps like they do with the official Playstation controller. It feels strange at first, but once you get used to it, it isn’t so much a problem. All the other buttons, and analog sticks are fine, but the D-pad feels very fragile. When you first touch it, it feels sort of cheap and easily breakable. It has held up very well through excessive gaming, but it still has that feeling that it may one day break.
All in all, I had a very good experience with the Logitech Cordless Action Controller. It is very well made, possibly the best third party wireless controller available for the entire Playstation family. It resembles the original Playstation controller in both size and build, so people should have no problems picking it and automatically becoming accustomed to it. The frequency never fails, and the miniature receiver plugs into the controller slot, allowing to keep in at all times while the user simply stores the controller away with no need of wrapping any cords up. If you’re looking for a wireless controller for the PS2, or even the PSOne, you can’t do much better than the Logitech Cordless Action Controller.
We’ve come to that point. Video game franchises made popular in the 80’s and 90’s are getting older, and with that, companies try desperately to make a buck off them by doing something to commemorate the fact that the franchise in point hasn’t fallen into obscurity yet. [i]Command & Conquer[/i] turns ten this year, so in natural form, EA has followed through with [i]Command & Conquer: The First Decade[/i], a collection of every game in the series on a single DVD. Being a fan of the games, I leaped at the chance to own all the [i]C&C[/i] games at once. I probably should have taken into account, though, that EA was producing this collection. While there is a great nostalgic sense to this package, EA has pieced this compilation together in a sloppy, bug-riddled manner and rushed it out the door. This is a collection strictly for [i]C&C[/i] fans only, and that’s if you can stand the bugs present in your classic games.
It seems a bit bittersweet that EA is making this glorified collection of [i]C&C[/i] games. After all, Westwood Studios-the now corporately swallowed company-was responsible for the groundbreaking series and its numerous sequels and expansions. Despite this, EA has now brought us every title in the series on one compact DVD. That’s twelve games (six games and six expansion packs) all on one disc, which is a pretty nice deal. However, it is very evident that EA has pieced this together very poorly. This package could have been a great homage to a classic game series, but the quality of [i]TFD[/i] is as if EA simply slapped each game onto the disc and hoped for the best.
There are some glaring problems right off the bat for some of the games found on this disc. While more recent games like [i]C&C: Generals[/i] seem to work perfectly fine, I particularly had issues with [i]Red Alert 2[/i] and its expansion locking up, and the first person shooter [i]Renegade[/i] has seen frequent drops to the desktop. Indeed, a look into EA’s forums revealed a number of people complaining of other issues, ranging from a lack of video in the campaign mode of [i]Red Alert[/i] to the individual games asking for their respecting discs despite the DVD being in the drive. The biggest thing to swallow in this whole story is that when I installed the stand-alone version of [i]Red Alert 2[/i] a few months ago, it worked perfectly fine. Combine this with the fact that EA has missed any opportunity to clean up any issues that plagued the older games in their day, and something has certainly been lost in translation.
Meanwhile, there are also a few issues to be found in the earlier games, although these can be attributed to their age rather than bug anomalies. Most notably, [i]Command & Conquer[/i], [i]Red Alert[/i], and their expansions are all missing the ability to play online. EA clearly states that online play may be discontinued on the back of the box, but it still feels like a missed opportunity that EA could have included. The worst thing is that when you click the button for online play, it prompts you to install Westwood online components that are not only absent from this disc, but may also very well be obsolete by this point. The original games from 1995 and 1997 are preserved in their entirety, although for some this might be a turn off. Not only are these vastly underdeveloped compared to more recent strategy games, but some of the full motion video cut scenes just look terrible ten years later.
This brings us to the practicality of [i]TFD[/i]. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy just about everything to be had here (particularly the preservation of everything), but for others, there are some very different game styles at work here. [i]Renegade[/i] is a first person shooter, and is probably the most out of place game on the disc, using a simple FPS engine oozing with [i]C&C[/i] references that someone outside the series just won’t understand. Meanwhile, fans may not appreciate [i]Generals[/i], which goes under a completely different play style than the other games, and those willing to give this compilation a try will probably skip the first few games due to their underdeveloped nature to more recent games. The fact is it may be very hard for someone to like everything available on this disc.
Then there’s the bonus DVD. Just when you thought the idea was only for movies, they went and inserted one with this compilation. As you probably would expect, it wasn’t the first thing I went to, and as you might also expect, it isn’t incredibly interesting. The bonus disc mostly consists of video of EA employees talking about their history and experiences with the game series, and since most Westwood employees left after EA absorbed the company, the only developer insight you’ll get are from the people behind the [i]Generals[/i] games. There’s an interview with the creator of the series, but that may be the only thing worth watching on this. I suppose they felt that they needed to make some attempt to make this collection worth purchasing rather than just throwing every game on the first DVD. If they thought this would impress [i]C&C[/i] fans, though, then EA is really out of touch.
Unless you are a fan of [i]C&C[/i], you will want to pass on this deal. Fans of the series may very well see a worthy purchase here, and by all means, go wild if that is the case. Those fans should be aware that, while there is the added benefit of having every [i]C&C[/i] game ever made on one disc, there are a lot of problems and bugs to be found within the separate games, and really all you are getting is each game installing as if you had put the original games in the drive one by one. EA had a good idea coming out of the gate with this collection, but clearly stumbled somewhere along the way. Fans of [i]Command & Conquer[/i] deserve better than this, and Westwood Studio’s legacy certainly deserves more than bug-ridden versions of their finest work.
Games with Sonic in them are cool. The ‘blue streak’, as he is sometimes called was one of the coolest console mascots back in the days of the Genesis. The games focused on him, and only him (with the exception of Sonic & Knuckles). [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i], however, is not cool, as we will find out as this review goes on.
The first thing you might notice about this game is that it’s a Sonic title… on the Nintendo Gamecube console. Yes, now that the Dreamcast has gone under, the blue hedgehog has made his way onto a Nintendo console, but with mixed results. [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i] is merely a simple port of the Dreamcast’s [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i] released a year before in 2001. While there are some changes to the game in [i]Battle[/i], it really won’t matter which system you play this on. As the title suggests, [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i] is the sequel to the Dreamcast hit Sonic Adventure. However, this time around, the developers have changed around the game a little. In the first installment, you could choose which character you want to play as after you unlock them by playing as Sonic. In [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i], instead of choosing which character you play as, you choose from two different stories, the Hero story, or the Dark story. Each story takes three different characters going through two different stories, each story meeting with the other from time to time and eventually, clashing at the end to see which side wins. The Hero story stars Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna, while the Dark story stars Dr. Eggman, and two new additions to the Sonic universe; Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic’s alter-ego.
The three characters in each story go through their own different types of levels. Sonic and Shadow play through corridor-like speed levels, while Tails and Dr. Eggman pilot mechs through simplistic shooting levels. Knuckles and Rouge go through huge levels, looking for different items ranging from Chaos Emeralds to keys. This is where [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i] and [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i]’s first problems emerge.
The shooting levels that you take Tails and Dr. Eggman through are incredibly simplistic. In [i]Battle[/i]’s case, all you really do is go through the level, hold down the ‘B’ button, lock on to enemies and other objects, and release to fire missiles at everything that your laser-sight picks up. Older gamers will easily complete these levels, and they seem more suited to the younger audience. The levels that you take Knuckles and Rouge through are just plain annoying. Those consist of you taking either character and running around the level until your locator at the bottom of the screen begins to flash, playing the ‘hot or cold’ game basically. These levels become incredibly tedious, and as luck would have it, the game chooses to play these kinds of levels the most.
However, as boring as the other two gameplay types are, Sonic and Shadow’s levels are very fun to play through. In fact, these levels are probably the only fun part about [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i], as they are much more compelling than Tails’ or Rouge’s levels. The problem is, Sonic and Shadow’s levels are scarce compared to the other character’s levels, and since their levels are really the only fun levels in the game, it’s a real blow to the overall quality of it. Most platformers are praised for making games with a variety of gameplay genres, but [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i]’s gametypes get very tedious and are just plain unchallenging.
As mentioned earlier, [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i] is a port of the Dreamcast’s [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i], so you might be wondering if there is any sort of difference between the two. In short, yes, there is a difference, but if you played [i]Sonic Adventure 2[/i] on the Dreamcast, the Gamecube’s version is really no different. The Gamecube version contains a multiplayer section, but compared to other great multiplayer games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i]’s multiplayer is lacking, and isn’t really that interesting in the end. The graphics are slightly better than the Dreamcast’s version, but they are by no means incredible. The framerate is higher than the Dreamcast’s version, so there is a plus, but again, it is really no reason to play it again on the Gamecube. The game has horrible voice acting. All the characters seem pretty lifeless when they talk, especially Shadow, who has that ominously dark, evil dialogue, but fails to back it up with an ominously dark, evil voice. I’m going to use Knuckles as an example though, as when he talks, it sounds like he really isn’t aware of what’s going on around him, and sounds completely random. The voice actor who played Knuckles’ voice obviously is not very good at bringing his characters to life. To top things off, the models still move their lips like they are talking in Japanese, so the dialogue looks strange and off because of it.
Now, while Knuckles and Dr. Eggman’s levels are bad enough on their own, they are worsened by the horrible camera angles. Knuckles and Rouge’s levels are especially hurt by the camera. In fact, the camera in [i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i] is one of the worst cameras I have ever seen in a video game. Strangely enough, the camera really isn’t a problem in Sonic and Shadow’s levels, which is probably one more reason why they are so much better than the other character’s levels.
The music in the game has a mixed reaction from me. Each character’s level has a different form of music. Sonic’s music has a lighthearted pop-rock feel to it, while Shadow’s is the same, only darker sounding. Knuckles has hip-hop and rap music, while Rouge has annoying pop sound to it, and Tails’ is mostly rock while Dr. Eggman’s seems like a sort of mechanical grunge. While most of the songs (save for Rouge’s songs) are slightly catchy, some are marred by lyrics like ‘I’m gonna follow my rainbow’ and ‘live and learn’. One problem with the music is that, at times, the character’s dialogue is drowned out by the music, although with the horrible voice-overs, that may be a blessing in disguise.
[i]Sonic Adventure 2: Battle[/i] is very disappointing. Its storyline is compelling enough to keep most people interested, but the voice-overs will make it hard to enjoy cutscenes. Combine this with simplistic gameplay and a bad camera and you’ve got a perfect candidate for a weekend rental. While some may be drawn in by the challenge of making all ‘S’ grades in every level or the Chao Garden (which is surprisingly interesting), it really doesn’t take very long to complete the game, and unfortunately, has very little replay value, unless you are intent on a perfect score on every level. It’s quite obvious that any future Sonic title should focus itself on the blue hedgehog and his trademark speed alone, rather than the other minor players in the Sonic universe.
