Video Games

Football Manager 2006 (Xbox 360)
List Price: ?49.99
Amazon Price: ?8.98
Used Price: ?2.24
Customer Review: FOOTBALL MANAGER ON THE 360
This is the first football management on the XBOX 360 and takes the successful Football Manager franchise off the PC straight onto your XBOX 360 console. It takes a while getting used to the controls on this game with all the buttons having a function. This is unlike the PC version where the controls are easy to use. Apart from that you have all the leagues in here [...] and you can choose who to manage to success. The huge database gives you the opportunity to learn about so many football players from all over the world and most of the players have a photograph with them. There is also an online mode to this game which gives you a chance to play cups and leagues online with any team in the game. However after each cup or league is finished the lobby is split up and you are returned to the main menu making it difficult to build a rapport with your fellow players. The XBOX 360 achievements are well-thought out with a few easier ones (like win a match) to more difficult ones for the most dedicated of gamers (complete 20 seasons with 1 club). This is a challenge which you want from a game. However the game does drag on unlike the PC version. So in summary if you want this game you may want to consider getting it for the PC.
Customer Review: Not like the PC version
The ‘Football Manager’ series was born out of the old ‘Championship Manager’ series from before Eidos took it over. These were widely regarded as the most realistic football management simulators on the market. I bought the 2005 version for the PC and played it for almost a year before getting a little tired of it. During that time I didn’t play any other games because I was so hooked by it. Eventually I bought an Xbox 360 and thought I’d get ‘Football Manager 2006′ to play on it, expecting a quicker, larger and updated game. It has been updated to include all of the most recent transfers (up to September 05), but that is the only part in which my expectations were met. The game database seems a lot smaller. This could be due to only being able to have 10 leagues running at once. Thet’s 10 DIVISIONS, not 10 countries’ full league system. If you want to have all of the English leagues running you have taken up seven divisions, leaving you only three more. The idea behind this was to keep the game processing speed up so that the people who only play it on a console don’t get bored. However, it still seems slow at times. The controlls are very fiddly. In the PC versions all of the options available to you are shown at the same time on screen, in the Xbox 360 version you are constantly pressing the shoulder buttons to get to the information you require. Even when doing this it is easy to miss the thing you were looking for, e.g. I couldn’t work out how to make substitutions at half-time for ages. If you could just use a mouse it would be so much easier, but you can’t. A cursor on screen would be easier and less time consuming than having to scroll through every line of text to reach the item you want. Graphics and sound are minimal, but the simplicity is what made the games so appealing in the first place, so I won’t knock them. For the part, they do their job well, unless you don’t own a high definition screen. If you are playing on standard definition then text becomes difficult to make out, colours run into one another and it just becomes a horrible mess. Online play is painstakingly slow paced and when I played online I met the most hostile group of people I ever have in an online game. They don’t like it if you play your strongest team, but they don’t like it when you do something a little experimental with your formation. You won’t make any friends with this game. Achievements reward loyalty and experience, with some only earning you a meagre 1 Gamerscore (Buy a Player). There are 50 Achievements in all. If you have a decent PC then get this game for that. Manegement games rarely work as well on consoles and this one is no exception.

Retractable Stylus for Nintendo DS Lite, Metal w/ Smooth Navigation White Cap
Length: Extended: 5in. (12.5cm) Retracted: 3.5in. (8.5cm) [standard DS Lite stylus length] Barrel Color: Aluminum Tip Material: Polymer Blend Tip Color: White
Price: $5.99
Customer Review: Must Buy!!
This product is a must buy if you use your DS often! Very sturdy but if you are a pencil biter beware you could mess it up.
Customer Review: Better than plastic, but shorter
This retractable metal stylus is a definite upgrade from the retractable plastic ones. It’s sturdier and less flexible, although only extends to about half-again its original length. The plastic ones extend almost double, but they do tend to bend more. I suppose that’s the trade-off. The fit in the holder slot is nice and secure, however. If this stylus was just a bit longer and came in colors other than white, it’d probably be a 5-star item.

Official XVIDIA (TM) Xbox 360 Wireless Control Rechargeable Battery 1800M for X Box / XBOX360 Plus Original Apple iPOD Pink Sock (see photo)!
Why Buy (1): This will extend your playing time as it extends your battery life Why Buy (2): Cleverly uses your XBOX 360 or computer to charge by USB Why Buy (3): Indication light for charging Why Buy (4): Rechargeable Cable: USB to DC 2.35* 0.7 DC cable with direct plug Why Buy (5): Capacity: 1800mAh

Konig Xbox360 Play and Charge Kit
Instantly charge your XBOX360 gamepad without stop playing. The battery will be charged during playing a game, plug the cable into the console and the controller and the battery will be charged.

Opening the Xbox: Inside Microsoft’s Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution Inside Microsoft’s Plan to Unleash an Entertainment Revolution
The video game industry is expected to double in sales over the next five years. It has already eclipsed motion pictures to become one of the largest and fastest growing markets in history and a lamplight illuminating where the future of entertainment is headed. In an effort to grab a chunk of that market, Microsoft—an absolute newcomer to the gaming industry—has put billions of dollars on the line in a gamble to build the fastest, most mature, most advanced video game console ever: the Xbox. Is this new Microsoft venture just another experiment that, like WebTV, was launched to much fanfare but will be quickly forgotten? Or will it become the next Windows, finding its way into the homes and lives of millions of people around the world?

In Opening the Xbox, award-winning journalist and gaming-industry expert Dean Takahashi guides you deep into the amazing story of this much-anticipated game console. Through exclusive interviews with top executives at Microsoft, exhaustive research, and a penetrating investigation, he unveils the tumultuous story behind the development of the project and how it could change the entertainment industry forever. Inside, you’ll discover that what started as Project Midway, spearheaded by Jonathan “Seamus” Blackley and three of his renegade cohorts, turned into Xbox—a multibillion-dollar enterprise that became Microsoft’s largest internal startup ever and a personal pet project of Bill Gates. The colorful infighting, the cutthroat tactics used to lure partners, and the race to vanquish bitter rivals Sony and Nintendo are all laid bare in this unvarnished, high-tech drama. It’s a story like no other, full of heroes and villains, plot twists and intrigue—all before the backdrop of Microsoft’s grand ambition to move from the office into the living room.

If you’re like the millions of gamers, investors, and business spectators who anxiously anticipated the Xbox, then you don’t want to miss the explosive, exclusive, behind-the-scenes story in Opening the Xbox.
“I had not thought it possible to write an entire book on a single game console. Takahashi has done it and done it well. Opening the Xbox is consistently interesting and very personable. It’s also a book that should ruffle a few egos, including my own.”
—Steven L. Kent, author, The Ultimate History of Video Games

“Opening the Xbox provides fascinating insights about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering at Microsoft. Takahashi’s fly-on-the-wall style of writing is complemented by insightful analysis of the gaming industry and interesting vignettes about the personal lives of the Xbox creators. This book perfectly intertwines a compelling business story with human drama.”
—Geoff Keighley, editor in chief, GameSlice

“Thoroughly researched, this book exposes the guts of the video game industry through the prism of Microsoft. Takahashi gives us an engrossing glimpse of an industry that’s at once juvenile and ruthlessly systematic in its manufacturing of digital fun.”
—Alex Pham, staff writer, Los Angeles Times

“Takahashi has meticulously researched this book. It’s required reading for anyone interested in the next-generation console race.”
—Tom Russo, director of program development, G4 Media

“Reads like The Soul of a New Machine for the new millennium. Dean provides insights into the people and the motivation behind Microsoft’s high-stakes bid to break into the home-entertainment market. And, he doesn’t miss a detail.”
—Dawn C. Chmielewski, staff writer, San Jose Mercury News
Customer Review: Worthwhile Read
“The revolution will come in fits and starts. It probably won’t come from giving hardcore gamers more of what they already like. Doing a fighting game with better graphics isn’t really a new invention. Yet much of the industry is currently afflicted with the illusion that it is. About 60 percent of the successful games now are either sequels or extensions of brands that exist in another medium. There is a real risk of what the IDSA’a Doug Lowenstein calls “creative ennui.”…The gaming industry has produced cultural icons before, from Pac Man to Pong, and it will do so again. As every gamer believes, the ideal game isn’t here yet. It’s just around the corner.” (p. 346 – 347).

I just got done reading “Opening The Xbox”. I found it to be a very readable book, with a very comfortable writing style. The descriptions of the what the project team went through, however, seemed very reminiscent of many other professional projects I have been involved with in my career, and not necessarily unique to Microsoft or the tech. industry. What was enjoyable and enlightening, however, was the detail which Mr. Takahashi provided. Liberally spiced with information that was outside of the inner mechanics at Microsoft (like the challenges with Nvidia, Flextronics’ manufacturing capacity, the marketing and sales performance of competing platforms, etc.), provided the perfect backdrop to the whole story.

In the end, I found it to be an easy and enjoyable read. It provides great insight into Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox, and an interesting perspective on the video games industry as a whole. I also appreciated the “personal face” Mr. Takhashi gave the story by providing interesting tidbits of the personalities and their lives, throughout the story. That technique not only made it very readable, but it also helped me relate to the story in a much more fulfilling way.

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This is your one stop site for PlayStation news, reviews, and more. We’ve got the PS2, PSP, PSOne, PSX and PlayStation 3 (PS3) rumors, details, and insider info you’re looking for. Continue

Xbox 360 Live 3 Month Gold Card
With the Xbox 360 Live 3-Month Gold Card, you’ll have access to the online service where the best in gaming entertainment and competition converge. With features like ntelligent matchmaking, leagues, ladders and tournaments, you’ll have an incredible online gaming experience. Best of all, you can renew at your pace, without getting charges to your credit card.

Customer Review: Horrible
First 5 digits of code scratched off when I removed the coating with a coin. DON’T BUY THIS PRODUCT. The seller nor Microsoft would replace it, and I had to eat the $42. Microsoft live charges $45 to sign up for XBOX live through the console, so go that route.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 6th, 2009 at 5:01 am and is filed under Nintendo DS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.