I’ve been waiting a long time for the sequel to Starcraft. I wasn’t exactly sure if Blizzard could update the game and still keep the same feel. I am happy to say that they have! The game play you know and love from the original is all there but the graphics have been brought into the 21rst century. Here is a quick run down of my experience so far:

Graphics: I’m not running the most state-of-the-art computer, but the game runs great on the “High” settings. I’m running an Intel E7400 with 4 GB of RAM and Dual NVidia 9600 GT OC’s in SLI. I had just a bit of stutter on “Ultra” settings, so I turned it down a bit.

Sound: The audio is a mix of “blast from the past” and “Wow! That is cool they added that!” Old fans will immediately feel at home on the main menu, I guarantee. There are also nice touches through out the game such as selectable music tracks in some areas. And of course it wouldn’t be Starcraft without the unit responses now would it?

Control: I hope you remember your hotkeys from SC1 because you’ll be needing them. The interface is pretty much cut and paste from SC1 but it has been updated for today’s graphics. Camera control is very nice, but I haven’t yet found a way to rotate the view and you are pretty limited to how far you can zoom out.

Single-player Game play: There are some interesting new aspects to the single-player game. You get to research upgrades and purchase new types of units (warning: some of these units are NOT available in multi-player). You also get delivered the storyline in face-to-face chats with other characters as well as through the standard cutscenes. As for during mission game play, Blizzard has stayed true to form. Basically if you likes SC1 in single-player, you should love SC2′s single-player mode.

Multi-player Game play: Pure “vanilla” SC2 is very similar to online play with SC1. But you have the option to install custom game types as well. Think tower defense and DotA in Warcraft 3. I’m really looking forward to seeing what people come up with. While I love standard RTS action (which SC2 offers plenty of) a little change never hurts and promises to give the game a lot of longevity.

Ok, now for the bad part. You knew there had to be a reason for 4 stars, right?

1.) You have to log in to play, even in single-player. This really doesn’t matter to me, but I know some people call it a “deal breaker”.
2.) No LAN play at all. Yes, you can still connect through their servers to your buddy sitting beside you. But LAN play isn’t dead, Blizzard. Some of us like having the ultra-low latency of getting together face-to-face with our friends.

All that said, I’m looking forward to a long, healthy relationship with StarCraft 2. So far, the wait has been worth it. I can’t wait to see how the community evolves and what new mods are made available over the next few months.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Using in-ear headphones in the past has always caused pain in my ears after a few minutes. I’ve never really been picky about headphones. One set is basically like any other, right? I will never make this assumption again.

The very first thing I noticed when I opened the box was 4 sizes of cushions to attach to the V-Moda Remix Earphones. I tried all the different sets before finally settling on the size just smaller that medium. What a difference! I can wear these headphones for hours and not get that achy feeling I would get after just a few minutes with other headphones.

Here are something things I really liked about the V’Moda Remix Earphones:

1.) The color. In a sea of bland, white in-ear headphones the brilliant red is very refreshing.
2.) The cushions. Not only are there 4 different sizes, but there is a replacement set for each size!
3.) Angled jack. This makes it really easy to find where your headphones are plugged in and even easier to unplug them.

Sound quality is also very nice. I listen to a wide range of music (classical to metal and everything in between) and the trebles are high without sounding tinny. The base response on these are also very nice. Instead of a base “thud” you get a nice “boom”.

The noise reduction on these earphones is also very nice. It is also the main reason why I won’t get another set for use on my computer. Sometimes you need to hear what is going on around you.

If you are looking for nice sounding and comfortable earphones to use while exercising or just chillin’ to music, give these a try. They are definitely a nice replacement for the iclone earphones you see wandering around everywhere.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When I first got my iPod Touch the very first thing I did was download some games for the kids. Most of these games were simple “point and click” affairs and the iPod Touch seems to be designed really well for this. My husband, however, added a few titles of his own. Namely some first-person shooters after hearing how great the graphics could be on the Touch.

The graphics did look great! There was only one problem, the games were basically unplayable due to the slimness of the iPod. After just a few minutes my husbands $10 was basically flushed down the toilet. His hands cramped rapidly while trying to use the onscreen controls.

Luckily we found the DLO GameCase Boost. Installation was a breeze and in just a minute or two my husband was giving those games another try. The GameCase Boost makes the iPod Touch feel more like a standard game controller. He was able to firmly grasp the iPod and get good control of his games at the same time.

That said, all is not rosy in the world with the GameCase. Here are a couple of problems we had:

1.) Once installed, the case covers up the charging port on the iPod Touch. You must remove the case in order to plug it in.
2.) The headphone port is very deep. If you are using anything but a straight jacked set of headphones, prepare to have problems.
3.) The unit is not rechargeable. Also, the batteries are located underneath the iPod.
4.) You sacrifice portability. This case is BIG.

Overall, I’d say this is definitely worth buying if you have trouble holding the iPod Touch while playing games. However, be ready to pop your iPod Touch back into another case when you are using it for other activities (such as listening to music).

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My husband loves Guitar Hero. He has 4 of the GH games both for Xbox and Wii. He loves the feel of the guitar and the way you really get into the music. It’s almost like being up on stage.

He just doesn’t get that feel from DJ Hero. He says it is a fun enough game, but either a.) gets boring repeating the same tracks (He likes to play the ones from artists he knows ) or b.) gets very tough at higher difficulty levels, even more so than the Guitar Hero games.

Overall, if you’ve wanted to be a DJ, then give this a shot. However if you want more of a “in the band” feel, go for Guitar Hero or one of the other band games.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My seven-year-old daughter loves fairy tales and telling me stories. This seemed to be a good choice for her. Her favorite part is to paint with her voice, but she also enjoys singing along and reading with it. She, however, is unhappy that you cannot record yourself until you’ve read the story 3 times. The stories are long and she wanted to record one for her dad, but gave up on it once she realized it wasn’t going to work how she wanted.

My nine-year-old son enjoys playing with it a little as well, although I think we’re on the upper age limit for him.

For me, it’s okay. I find it a little annoying and I don’t know that it is worth the price they are charging for it. There’s only 16 stories and 4 songs. Seems like a lot more could fit on the disc, there’s not a whole of fancy graphics or anything.

Overall, I’d say this is probably suited for kids that have just learned to read, but the vocabulary in some of the stories is a little tough, so it’s a hard call, really. Hmmmm…

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I finally stopped playing this thing long enough to write a review on it. It’s addictive. I keep halfway hoping that one of the kids will borrow it and then lose it. I seem to have a problem.

I remember when bejeweled came out and I played it non-stop for like 2 days. Then I got annoyed because you’d run out of moves and the game would be over and you’d have to start all over again. There may have even been a few choice four-letter words flying about.

This is quite a little “twist” on the original. Instead of sliding two jewels around, you rotate four of them. There are bombs and locks and countdowns and other things to get in your way, so you may be setting up a move and have to go deal with the ticking time bomb before coming back to your set up.

There are several things I like better than the original Bejeweled. The most important is that you can make moves that don’t result in a clear. This is great for setting up moves, as I said, but also great because you aren’t kicked off the game just because you ran out of moves. I also like the challenge of having some bombs and things that need “immediate” attention, it makes the game play more dynamic and fun.

I LOVE the Zen mode. One of the things that annoys me about this game is the classic mode doesn’t save your level. So, if you do die, you have to start all the way over at level 1. This is fine if you are only a level 5, but if you are at level 15… very annoying. When that happens, I just go into Zen mode for a while because I’m too busy pouting. An unlock key or something would be useful – or a true save point. Something.

The challenges are great. This is where you have to clear X number of jewels in one move or something like that. Also fun is the blitz mode, where you basically just go as fast as you can to get as many points as you can.

I also realized after the first day that you don’t have to use the stylus (yay!). I was getting annoyed with it, and figured out you could use the regular keypad. Much more to my liking and I don’t hit the wrong jewel on accident.

For puzzle games fans, this is a definite must-buy. If you are a major Bejeweled fan, give it a few tries before getting annoyed with it. It’s quite the adjustment from the original.

I’m giving this 4 stars. It loses one simply because you cannot truly save a game in classic mode. And that, well, that annoys me.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I love Guitar Hero. Candy, however, does not love the click-clack that comes from me pushing the buttons and hitting the strum bar. While the price for the guitar is high, if your loved one enjoys playing and you enjoy the music but not the clicky-clack noise, this might be the answer.

This guitar feels very similar to my real electric guitar. The weight is right and putting the star power button where the pickup would be was just genius. The buttons are smooth and quiet. I think the guitar has even improved my game a bit!

The only downside is that because the frets are marked just a like a real guitar, they take some getting used to. People used to the Guitar Hero standard controllers might feel that the neck is a little rough.

Overall, I love it!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I bought this because I always wanted an arcade in my house. I really wanted to build a whole cabinet, but that just wasn’t an option. So while browsing at Fry’s, the X-Game X-Arcade became my controller of choice. I also purchased the connector for the GameCube.

Features: So many buttons, so little time. There are enough buttons for just about any game you can think of. There are also dedicated 1-player and 2-player buttons. Are you a fan of pinball? Yip the buttons for that are on there as well.

Constructions: This if very durable. While I haven’t dropped it (yet), I am pretty sure it could take a drop off a small coffee table and be none the worse for wear. But please, don’t try that on my account. The downside is that the unit is heavy and can be difficult to store.

Joysticks: The joysticks feel and respond just like in the arcade. For games like Smash TV the dual joysticks are a must!

Hardware: The ad says “No additional hardware required”. Well, that depends on what you want to use it with. Make sure you do your research and that the appropriate adapter is available.

Very glad I got this! The feel of the arcade without sacrificing and entire room (or my marriage) for the cabinets.

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Product Features

* It’s more than a joystick or controller — it’s a complete arcade replica with all the features you like about the top controllers on the market
* Features 20 custom-designed buttons you can program
* Also has built-in 1 or 2 player buttons and Left & Right pinball buttons
* Specially-molded twin controller sticks exclusively designed for X-Arcade
* No special drivers or hardware is needed!

Back in the 80’s I got my first Gameboy. I was young and broke and for a while the only game I had was Tetris. That one title did more to get me hooked on gaming than just about any other. I have really missed the feel of the classic and was hoping to see a remake on the DS. I finally found it and I could not have asked for more. With new modes of play and the return of the “Head-to-Head” mode that made multiplayer so much fun, this game really brings back the memories. I only wish that the classic Tetris screens and music weren’t replaced by standard Nintendo themes.

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Product Features

* The traditional Tetriminos (falling blocks) and line-clearing strategy remain the same, but the touch screen adds new interactivity
* 10 DS players can battle with only one Tetris DS card
* Battle on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
* Push Mode, Catch Mode, Puzzle Mode, Mission Mode and more

It is really hard to call any of the Animal Crossing titles a “game”. More like a “Life Simulation in a crazy, mixed up cartoon world.” That is not to say the titles aren’t fun, they are! If you like the other AC titles, City Folk adds to the formula that has been working since I first played Animal Crossing on the GameCube. The addition of voice-chat sounds like it could be nice, but I haven’t had the occasion to try that as of yet. You do not have to look very far to see touching, real-world stories involving the past Animal Crossing games bringing families closer to each other. There seems to be something truly magic about this family of titles.

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Amazon.com Product Description

If you were given the keys to your own community, what would you do? Go fishing, collect shells or watch fireworks with friends? Build a snowman, exchange presents with family or decorate your house for the holidays? Take a trip to the city, go on a shopping spree or visit friends from all over the globe? In Animal Crossing: City Folk, life moves at a relaxed pace, but the world brims with endless possibilities. Not to mention, this special bundle includes Wii Speak. With the new Wii Speak Accessory, it’s like you’re all in the same room. The microphone sits atop the sensor bar and picks up the conversation of everyone in the room to encourage a more inclusive experience. The Wii Speak accessory requires an on-line connection.