I discovered this product through my friend Nate after gaming with him through out a night, intrigued by the fact that it brings both surround sound gaming and chat all at the same time, I decided to pick a pair up to see if talk was actually cheap or if these would be my new best friends. With no disappointment I think I can clearly say that these have found a dear place in my heart, besides a few minor draw backs I have with them.

Turtle Beach as a company has a line up of thirteen different head sets ranging from Xbox, PC, PS3 and Nintendo gaming systems. I was personally interested by the EF-X (Ear Force-Xbox) sets, for they were designed specifically for 360 gaming, and for all that don’t know I am an Xbox die hard. Within the EF-X line you have the X11′s, X31′s, the X41′s and for both a 360 AND PS3 compatible set, the PX21.

I’m really surprised with how much Turtle Beach kind of looks out for the more intense gamers, with the super comfy net threaded ear cups you can play for hours and really not realize they have been on your head the entire time, I could compare it to a nice fluffy cloud that is just tucked on your head perfectly, it is almost relaxing in a way if I might add. Another feature that was really pushed with this type of gaming head set is that there is some thing that they call a “voice monitoring system” in your head set that lets you hear your own voice to help you realize how loud you are carrying your voice, thus making you not be as loud as you would. This feature does and does not help, being immersed in not only the sound of the game but the chitchat of my friends as well really detaches me from what is going on around me, making me not really concentrate on what is going on, how loud I am being ext..

I’m not a cheap man but I did happen to buy the cheapest set there is being the X11′s. Not because I didn’t want the best (Belive me, I did), but because the differences in most of the EF-X models is practically the same. The X11, X31 and PX21 have exactly all of the same sound,voice, and overall gaming qualities, the X41 on the other hand comes with doby digital 7.1 surround sound as well as being wireless and with a charging dock. The difference in price however is much greater (Try $140.00 US difference). Now the only down side to saving $40.00 and going with the X11′s is having a PLETHORA of wires. Being the only wired mic on their line up this by far is its only down fall in their family. I don’t mind wires, I really don’t, but I have no idea how annoying this curse would really be. Because these head sets include the sound of your gaming as well as chat with team mates, friends, who ever, they are obviously required to plug into your AV Jacks, by doing this they have what they call a “Piggy back plug” that you connect your console AV wires onto, which then plug into your TV (this is all easy by the way, you will learn it as soon as you purchase them) so on and so forth. The problem with this is that I have SIXTEEN feet of wiring by my feet. That’s a bloody big pile if I do say so myself. They also have a completely separate jack that goes from your head set to your controller which honestly does not make a lick of sense, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The X41, 31, and PX21 all are wireless by having some sort of box set that connects to your head phones wire free. I thought that $40.00 isn’t worth having a mic wired or wireless but I can say I changed my mind after playing with these for a few weeks.

Another issue I have with this pair, Is that I tend to find myself yelling at my friends to shut up every time I’m the last one alive in a Search and Destroy match or watching a cut scene of Red Dead Redemption, mainly because the chat overshadows the actual sound of your game. I can’t tell you how many times I had to turn my chat volume all the way down just to hear the foot steps of another player, It just doesn’t flow as well as you would imagine. This is me being anal though, you can easily have the game of your life if you are by yourself. I personally am very social when online, so in that aspect it doesn’t suit me completely.

Overall I would easily recommend this head set to not only hard core gamers, but to any average Joe that simply wants to step up their game. Turtle Beach really won my heart with these head sets, Extremely more inexpensive than their competitors Tritton or Astros and work just as well. Minus the few inconveniences they bring to the table, they are a sure addition to your gaming equipment.

PROS:

• The surround sound of gaming in your ears is a must have for the hard core player.
• Sound quality is amazing, nothing less than perfect.
• They feel amazing on your head letting you play comfortably for hours.

CONS:

• The amount of wires is overwhelming, too much for a headset.
• You tend to lose track of where your voice is at because of the intensity.
• It does not mix gaming and voice chat well at all, I have to turn down my chat volume too much.

DRJFT SCORE: 8/10

With computers becoming more and more widespread and with most households having at least one personal computer, Media Centres are becoming more and more common. Generally comprising of a fairly large hard drive array, mid range CPU, and basic entry level specifications, a Media Centre can provide hours of entertainment for families as well as to provide live HD Digital Television.

I don’t watch much TV, but when Digital came out it was something I had wanted to get, but couldn’t afford a huge TV or set top box. My PC is something I use every day, whether it be for media, writing or just browsing the internet, so the choice of buying a tuner card was something I didn’t have to think twice about. I browsed around a few stores and found one that caught my eye, but a bit about that later. Something that confused me was the amount of terms and products on the market, so I have attempted to break it down and make it easier for you here.

When buying a Tuner Card, and especially now, make sure it is a hybrid. This means it can receive both digital and analogue signals. It is also important to make sure your card is compatible with your operating system. Even though it has been around for quite some time now, many companies still don’t fully support Windows 7, and even then it’s even less heard of for one to support 64 Bit Operating Systems. Some good brands to look out for are; Leadtek, Compro and Twinhan. Most tuner card packages now also come with a remote, FM cords, and splitter cords for recording VCR/Camcorder footage onto your PC.

The Leadtek WinFast DTV2000H Plus comes with a; Remote, FM Cable, Splitter Cords, Driver/Software CD, Full copies of Ulead VideoStudio 11 SE and DVD MovieFactory 5 SE. It’s worth noting that the software bundled with most Tuner cards is in fact not the best product to use, the best thing to use is right under your nose… Windows Media Centre on W7 and Vista.

Installation is simple, and takes around 20 minutes. Place the card into an empty PCI slot, power up your machine and if Windows has done its job properly it will have detected the new card as it is Plug-N-Play compliant. Unfortunately mine didn’t, so I had to go about it another way. I placed the Driver/Software CD into my drive and installed the applicable drivers, however it still was saying I had nothing installed. I fixed this by opening the Device Manager in Windows 7 (Windows Key + Pause Break -> Device Manager) then finding the hardware which showed up as a “Multimedia Manager”.

Right click it, then tell Windows to find the applicable drivers, which it will then do promptly and in turn Windows will detect the card as the DTV2000H Plus. Do this for the other two instances of the card and you’re properly installed and good to go. After this to enable your remote to work with your PC, well mainly Media Centre, find the WinFast Wizard in your system tray, right click the icon then left click setting and enable “Media Remote” in the bottom left hand corner. This will allow you to use the remote with Windows Media Centre.

Then boot up WMC and find the TV tab and follow the wizard from there to set your TV tuner up. The great thing is, it’s basically all self done for you, takes minimal time and before you know it you’re recording Live TV and viewing the digital TV guide as well as being able to watch all your favourite channels and more.

For only $58 AUD, the Leadtek DTV2000H really gives you the best of everything. Programmable recordings, HD digital television, an awesome guide and the beautiful interface of WMC. The remote all works fine, and I am glad I made this purchase. From it’s easy setup, to out of the box functioning it’s something I recommend everyone to purchase.

Well Microsoft hasn’t announced they’re working on any other projects, so it’s safe to say Kinect is the official name for Project Natal, Microsofts groundbreaking technology.

And to further confirm that Natal is now Kinect, read this post from USA Today. We’ve also got a video of the advert for you to watch below;

The 4 packs are as follows;

The Classic Pack, available when you pre-order through GameStop, contains:

• Armored Vault 13 Suit – Extensively patched up and dotted with piecemeal armor, this outfit is an homage to the classic ending of the original Fallou
• Vault 13 Canteen – This handy device is useful for staving off dehydration and providing a small amount of healing in the Mojave Wasteland.
• Weathered 10mm Pistol – A well-worn 10mm pistol that packs an extra punch despite its modest size.
• 5 Stimpaks – Food and water are good for long-term healing, but when the fighting is fierce, Stimpaks help keep Wastelanders upright.

The Tribal Pack, available when you pre-order through Amazon, contains:

• Tribal Raiding Armor – Pieced together from scraps of armor, this outfit provides protection without impacting mobility.
• Broad Machete – This heavy-bladed melee weapon does high damage against limbs and can quickly deal out a flurry of attacks.
• 5 Bleak Venom doses – Useful on any Melee Weapon, Bleak Venom makes short of work of most living targets.
• 10 Throwing Spears – If you would like to silently pin an enemy’s head to a wall, Throwing Spears are the way to do it.

The Caravan Pack, available when you pre-order through Steam and Walmart, contains:

• Lightweight Leather Armor – This hand-modified suit of leather armor reduces its overall weight without impacting its ability to protect.
• Sturdy Caravan Shotgun – Despite its rough appearance, this Caravan Shotgun will reliably fire 20 gauge shells until the Brahmin come home.
• 4 Repair Kits – Useful for repairing any outfit or weapon, Repair Kits are a valuable tool for any caravaner.
• Binoculars – The Mojave Wasteland is a dangerous place, but with these trusty Binoculars you’ll be able to spot trouble coming.

The Mercenary Pack, available when you pre-order through Best Buy, contains:

• Lightweight Metal Armor – Modified for long-range travel, this Metal Armor sacrifices some protection for mobility and overall weight.
• Mercenary’s Grenade Rifle – Though similar to other 40mm Grenade Rifles in the Mojave Wasteland, this model has a faster reload cycle.
• 3 Super Stimpaks – When you absolutely, positively, need to keep your blood inside your body, Super Stimpaks fix you up in no time.
• 3 Doctors Bags – Mercenaries and broken limbs go together like Iguana-on-a-Stick and Nuka Cola. Thankfully, these Doctors Bags take a bit of sting out of the inevitable crushed skull.Source = Planetxbo360.com

The time has come, time to choose your destiny, choose your path wisely…

The Siege of the Necromancer is the second in a series of Gamebook adventure titles from Tin Man games.

“The Siege of the Necromancer! Set in the coastal town of Myr, you have returned home after a long summer in the mines of Durath Tor to find your hometown besieged by strange creatures. A dark presence has taken over the town and you are the only one who can rid the stronghold of Erid Buul, the mysterious new Lord and his ghastly cohorts”

This game or should I say interactive book, is a choose your own adventure game, mixed with some dice rolling turn based action.

Upon entering the game, you are shown the main menu screen. The layout is simple and the background is animated upon selecting which are you would like to explore. Playing the first game in the series isn’t required however there is some back-story if you desire to know.

You can choose to do this by selecting the Orlandes Uncovered icon. This takes you into the history of Orlandes, the towns & cities, races and creatures. As this game is all about reading and decision-making, it is probably wise to go through this section and gaining some knowledge of the elements you may face.

Straight away I was impressed with the level of detail & care put into the illustrations as well as the page turning animation. Since you are reading a book, it helps to believe that you are turning the pages of a book, rather than the screen changing to the next page.

As I am new to the Gamebook adventures titles & I’d never been a Dungeons and dragons player, I felt I needed to read the rulebook in depth. The issue for me is that I am your typical male; I don’t like reading instructions, I just want to get on with the game. I am a fan of giving the player hints and tips as you play the game, pausing it whilst an instructional video or graphic is displayed. So I skimmed through the rules and then started a game.

You must name your character and roll the dice to increase your characters statistics score. The larger the dice role in vitality and fitness is desirable here as this increases your chances of survival.

The introduction pages do well to set up the scene, the story telling is descriptive and immediately pulls you in to the world the developers have created for you. After setting the scene you are thrust into action, having to make your first decision quite quickly. In classic choose you own adventure book style, you are posed multiple choices, each with their own set of outcomes. A bookmark can be placed on the page incase you make a poor decision, however you only have three bookmarks to last you the whole book. A bookmark can only be used once, so caution is needed when using that resource.

When you are faced with a fight, the fight screen will appear showing your statistics. Fights are turn based requiring you to roll the dice for your attacks and defense. The simple objective with the dice roll is to out number the opponent, the higher roll on attack to the opponents defend roll, determines if you strike or miss. This can be frustrating as it comes down to the luck of the roll. You have to pay attention to the dice when you roll, if you suspect you will roll a low number, shake the iPhone to toss the dice around. It is a chance roll and you can roll low numbers resulting in damage to you or possible death. There are some instances when your not in battle but required to perform a fitness check. This is more risky because you must roll a number lower than you set fitness level. Rolling higher could be catastrophic. While I appreciate this element to the game, I found I died several times fairly close to the start of the game.

What makes me forgive the dice roll is up is the wonderful story telling & beautiful artwork. The writing is a joy to read and made the game tense, reading and flipping the page for more. Once you see one of the illustrations in the game, you can access it again in the achievements screen. I like this, as there has been an incredible amount of work put into the artwork and deserves to be looked at more than once.

At any time you can access your character detail screen showing you your statistics, items and current placed bookmarks.

Throughout the game there are achievements that can be unlocked. Most can be achieved through normal progress in the game, while some are for lucky dice rolling. I am a big believer of achievements as they are goals set by the developer for you to aim for.

With a gripping and fast paced story, amazing detailed artwork this very well polished game is well worth taking a look at. I was a huge choose your own adventure reader when growing up and playing this game has made me relive those exciting times. You never know what awaits you when you turn that page.

Keiths Score: 8/10

Leslie Mejia

The main menu gives you a variety of options. Learn the history of Orlandes, essential reading to get your imagination going. There is no visual imagery to the game; it’s like reading a storybook.

When starting the game, name your character and roll the dice. Rolling the dice is simply shaking the iPhone, doesn’t need to be a rough shake. Now the roll of the dice is important, this determines your vitality (health) and your fitness. A higher number increases your chances of survival. Fitness is asked of you throughout your adventure and basically it’s a number. When you use ‘fitness’ you must roll a number under the value of your fitness to succeed certain obstacles.

Starting in the town of Myr, 744 dawn years, your adventure begins with you noticing that the town is no longer the same. As you read on, the game takes you into a world full of creatures and monsters. Along the way you will encounter ogryns, shrieks, goblins, dangerous water creatures and much more. These are not friendly creatures and a fight is usually followed close by. Just like at the beginning of the game, the roll of the dice is played. If you are stronger than your opponent, then you have more dice to play and vice-versa. Roll your dice, the higher the number the more of your chances of winning. If your opponent gets a lower number than you, it will be a hit to the opponent, but if not then it will be a miss. The same applies when it’s your opponent’s turn. During a battle, you can use your fitness but take notice that your fitness value will go down, making it harder on yourself rolling a lower number.

If you succeed, fitness will at one more point to your roll, making it even higher. If not, then fitness will take away one point from your roll. According to the result to your battle, this will choose your path. If you win, then you go onto the next chapter and continue your adventure. If not, then death would be your result, most of the time, ending your adventure. Throughout the game, you will be asked what path you want to take, giving every player a different outcome. I can honestly say that I died quite a few times and even if I wanted to take the same path, it turned out to be a different outcome. Parts of the game will ask for your fitness, if it’s not a battle. This part of the game would annoy me only because if my roll was higher than my fitness value, the end result would be that I died. I would have to start all over again but the beauty of this game is the story. That’s what would make me play it again. Though you can place a bookmark (checkpoint) to continue on from if you make a mistake during a game, this is all lost once your character dies. The story captures your attention and the urge to finding out more, send you right back into the game. Something I looked forward in every chapter was the illustration at the beginning. My imagination could only take me so far; so seeing each image gave me an insight to the world I envisioned. A great feature in the main menu is the achievement section where you can view all the illustrations you have gained but also any achievements you have unlocked throughout the game.

In total, I have died about six times. Either by making risky decisions or just ran out of luck with the dice, my adventures had been fun. Though it was frustrating at times and taking a new path wasn’t easy, I did enjoy this game in the end.

Leslies Score: 7/10

Drjft Gaming Score: 7.5/10

Unless you have been deserted on an lone island, you have most defiantly heard of Activision’s true break through in modern rhythm gaming sense DDR hit the streets in arcades, but to break it all down, Guitar Hero is a rhythm based game that involves you “Strumming” (tapping) along to a certain song of your choice. The complete diversity of this new look on gaming made nerds and geeks like myself nearly wet themselves in excitement.

There is defiantly no let down here as the newest member of the GH family has hit the App market, titled truly Guitar hero. Like all the rest of the games, you are required to tap along to the song of your choice, and like the others (before world tour came out) there is your usual Guitar and Bass instruments to play with. There are only four keys on your strum pad unlike the original five, (Green, Red, Yellow and Blue) but not to be alarmed for the challenge is just a great. Being a rhythm based gamer, I can proudly say I can smash anyone at these games (not to be bragging) so upon getting the application I immediately chose the expert difficulty. To my surprise the game play was quite difficult to get a handle on, as with the regular tapping of notes they have of course “hammer ons” but now they have a swipe technique that requires you to kinda slide your finger to the certain direction of where the note is going, at first it was fun and easy but as I started playing the song “Savior” by Rise Against, I realized how seriously annoying these could get. I mean really it required no bit of skill but pure luck and the fingering techniques of Ron Jeremy.

Besides the point though this is quite a good game, as I played through the song list i realized how much pure fun I was having. The quality of music is amazing, and the notes are very well at responding to my touch, I don’t have those “WTF?!?!?!” moments when playing through the set list. I will say this though, when playing on any rhythm game you can tend to get your fingers lost on the strum pad. Owning other Apps such as Rock Band, Dj Mix Tour, and Tap Tap Revolution, this can tend to happen especially on Rock Band, but I find my self messing up a lot more on guitar hero for the buttons are just too small and them being virtual on your touch screen you have to try to pay attention to not only the notes that are incoming, but your finger placement as well.

Going through the other features of the game, I found a tad bit more than just actual game play. You have the “backstage mode” where you basically can look at challenges made to better your skills on the songs provided, and the customization mode where you can sort of create a character and choose clothing for them as well as hair styles and stupid accessories, nothing that really kept me interested. This part of the App was bland and didn’t do anything extra to make the buyer think that it was a better deal.

Overall, its strictly just what you pay for, another Guitar Hero game but this time on a hand held device. The game play itself is worth the money if it wasn’t for one HUGE problem, I only count SIX SONGS, SIX. Thats all I get for a $2.99 application without purchasing three songs for another $1.99?? That’s just straight ridiculous, and the fact that the song packs are sorted by “your favorite chart topping artists!”   and the song packs aren’t even all by the same artist is really just Activision’s way of making it seem like there is more variety when there really isn’t.

I rate this game a seven out of ten and that is because I am in a good mood. If your looking for a game to kill time during a lunch break or a meeting that you just don’t give a rip about and you want a rhythm based app. Well, I suggest you compare Guitar Hero to the Rock band application before making you final decision but what the hell, that is being extremely OCD considering that it is only the same price as a bag of Dorittos. It’s a good app, and I’m not gonna delete it, although I don’t know how much I will be playing it, but I do have a hunch it is going to collect virtual dust on one the pages of my iTouch.

PROS:

• Addictive game play for the most die hard of Guitar hero fans.
• Challenging, it takes time to acquire good skill in the harder difficulties.
• Actual responsive notes, no screen lag here.

CONS:

• Not enough songs by default, you actually pay an over priced amount on songs that you may not even want.
• Your fingers tend to get lost on your strum pad, they are too small and mushed together.
• No variety. I feel Activision pulled too many loose ends together making it some thing it’s not.

Drjft Gaming Score: 7/10

First of all, there are different storage sizes. Depending on what you will do with your iPhone determines your storage size. The iPhone has several features. It already brings the camera, navigator, music player and other basic features when you start off. This gives you an idea of what the iPhone is capable of. The touch screen is fantastic as it smoothly moves along to your fingertips. This allows you to move apps around easily. Exiting an app is a simple press of the home button. Double tapping the same button also take you back to the home screen. The iPhone has only just begun.

Now, the iPhone communication feature is remarkable. With a touch screen keyboard, it’s easy to type. SMS to one friend or multiple, the iPhone makes it easy to select a contact and add. Keep in touch through text, email, talk (phone call) or even chat. It’s easily accessible.

What gives the iPhone an upper hand is the endless applications available. From Business, entertainment, music, social networking to lifestyle the iPhone bring it all. Its great seeing such a variety, this allows people to pick and choose what they would like on their iPhone or how would they want to use the iPhone. Not all apps are paid, if you simply look around iTunes, you can find some great free apps to enjoy. The apps are easy to use and sometimes bring simple instructions, within the app, on how to use it. Apple has really made it easy for the people to understand their product.

If you weren’t an apple lover before hand, having the experience with an iPhone will make you one. I can honestly say my iPhone is like my mini-computer. Whatever the purpose is, from personal to business, the iPhone is the most essential device to have.

Our topics of discussion were;

E3 2010
FragBox Going Live
Australians at MLG
Red Faction: Armageddon
Driver1999
Bad Company 2 VIP Pack #3
Ubisoft Comic Project
A-Z of FPS
And how to Win one Month of XBOX Live Gold!

Listen to the “Welcome to Armageddon” on the Audio Player below.

>> Click to Download <<

Click the below image to check it out, as the writing piece is for my latest writing breakthrough over at Ripten Gaming Blog!