Video-Games Reviews

Don't buy this price increased version. I doesn't work any better than the $19.95 model. Plus it uses twice the amount of batteries. The concept is great, the graphics are great and that's the end of it. This just like the first plug and play Ms Pacman (which I also bought) and has a joy stick issue. If the manufacturer would take off the games that need the twisting action of the joy stick maybe this would actually be fun to play instead of frustrating. While playing Ms Pacman which is the ONLY reason I bought these plug and plays Ms Pacman has a mind of her own, turns corners on her own and runs into the ghosts on her own. It's impossible to use the joy stick without twisting it during play and then you're out of control. It's extremely frustrating. For as popular as Pacman and Ms Pacman were in their day and still are these plug and plays would sell on that merit alone so take off the games needing the turning action of the joystick.

Ms. Pac Man was always my game back in the day. She just seemed less clunky than her male predecessor.

I just received this game in the mail today and after a mad scramble for eight (count 'em EIGHT) AA batteries I got down to business. I admit that I bought this game for Ms. Pac Man, exclusively. Here's what I found, in a nutshell:

Pros:

1) Graphics & sound are faithful to the old arcade game with the minor exception of the placement of the score, lives and fruit. No problem.

2) Old skool joystick. Nice touch.

3) Plug 'n play set-up. No brainer.

Cons:

1) I honestly don't mind cords one bit. The eight batteries can be a bit of a logistical problem as I don't usually have a dozen-or-so batteries lying around at any given time.

2) My main gripe is that the joystick is frustratingly unresponsive and has the habit of moving Ms. Pac in directions I don't want her to go. I understand, however, that the previous version of this game was worse in this regard and has been slightly improved in this version. Fair 'nuff.

All-in-all a neat little contraption that is every bit as addictive as it was in my youth.

Excellent For The Kids And Adults AS Well.We HadA Great Time Playing Same.And See Who Could Get The Best And Highest Score.What Is Great Is You Just Plug In Same To Your Vcr or TV Inputs.I am goingto order several more.It's that much fun.Iam 63years of age and enjoyed same.

I think this toy is handy to carry around and at the same time stimulating. It would be best suitable if it is for one player with the other player automatically built in, however i cannot tell that from the available details.

I'm not an excessively strong chess player (at my best I'm in the 1500s). If you're around 1200 or 1300 and patient this will be a fine game to carry when you travel; but it's too slow and even on the highest level surprisingly beatable even by me.

However, if you're even worse than that, if you just need practice avoiding blunders, the levels are fine. You can move up as you improve; at the highest level you'll need a little positional understanding as well as tactical discipline to beat it consistently. So it's a decent trainer for beginners.

Past that, it needs to be faster and smarter; I suspect there are cell phones that can beat it. (Edit: a few years later, I'm confident that cell phones can beat it!)

One final note: the pieces are very small, they are not magnetic and they do not settle very securely into their places on the board. That is, they fall out and get lost too easily.

Shop around before you buy this one, at any rate.

The Saitek Travel Chess Computer has many of the virtues of its more powerful cousins at a fraction of the cost. It has a multi-move "take back" feature, 64 playing levels, teaching modes, and a rudimentary stock of openings. It can be slow and, like just about all computers, will make the same tactical blunders repeatedly. Its playing strength is strictly for beginners but at the highest level it can be challenging to the beginner who will soon move into the intermediate ranks. The Saitek is a useful, entertaining teaching tool for the child who knows the moves to the game. It can be a boon companion on a long car trip or flight (it can beat the woeful on-board chess programs) without all the beep-beep and toot-toot of those mindless hand-held computer video games. The manufacturer's suggested age range of eight years and up is too cautious; this game can be both entertaining and beneficial to the child of four who knows how the pieces move. It is not overly daunting. It will build confidence.

I first bought a DreamGear's DreamShockMicro controller for my son because its compact size, but the analog buttons don't work at all. I replaced it with this equally priced cheap alternative. I am happily surprised with it. All the buttons work extremely well; in fact, they are more sensitive than the original PS2 controller. I also like the stepped down L2/R2 buttons. I think I will keep this one for myself and let my son has the original controller instead.

This stick used to work in prime condition. But after having it for 1.5 years its starting to show its true colors. If you read other reviews about the "Logitech WingMan Extreme: Digital 3D" Model Number J-ZA10, you will find one thing in common. It works like a charm for the first 3 months to a year and then shows a common and re-occurring symptom/problem/error. The sticks Y axis and Z axis will get more and more heavier on the left side until the stick is unplayable. I see this all over other review, It has happened to me, my brother, and my brothers friend who all have the exact make and model (the only variation being a minute color difference). An additional problem that I have encountered is the speed control will un-calibrate easily. I suggest that you get this joystick only if you accept that after prolonged use you will need a new one. If you think Microsoft's game controller recalibration software will do you any good it will only make things worse. I give it a 7/10 for features 9/10 for ease of use but a 2/10 for its reliability. However this joystick still beats Microsoft's Sidewinder into the dust.

The CALIBRATION PROBLEM can bee seen in ALL of LOGITECH'S JOYSTICK Products (as of 02/16/2005). My suggestion is look at Saitek or other joystick manufactures (besides Microsoft).

The fix posted by Lars actually worked. If you have an extra two hours to take the stick apart (he may have done it quicker), you can soak the pods in alcohol and get a fairly decent result. Mine works quite fine after following his advice. Hardest part, as usual, was getting it back together- very frustrating. But for the price, if you really like this controller, buy another one.

We all love the feel of the Logitech Sticks.
However it is 99% guaranteed that they will start to drift or jump at the slightest twist or touch.
For some reason the potentiometers gets dirty real fast.
Make sure that your USE 91% rubbing alcohol, all other things will ruin your stick.
Be careful with the potentiometers they are very fragile.



To fix the twist.
Take the handle apart and drop the twist pot into 91% rubbing alcohol and turn it a few times and dip it again and turn it.
Put it all back together.
Four screws and a clip.

The Base.
Take the handle apart.
Remove the twist spring.
Pop the lid with the imitation Allen-screws with a flathead screwdriver.
Unscrew the screws on the bottom of the base.
Remove the throttle.
Remove the pots for the x and y axis and give them the rubbing alcohol treatment.

IF YOU HAVE A PS2 MORE THAN 2-3 YEARS OLD, THIS MULTITAP WON'T WORK!!
DON'T BUY IT UNLESS YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO TRY IT FIRST.
THIS MULTITAP WON'T FIT ON YOUR �OLD� PS2 AND YOU WILL BE PISSED JUST LIKE ME.

Alrighty then first an explanation of my rating. I give it a three because yeah it is great if you have more than two people who frequently play the ps2 and have at least a couple of ps2 games that can handle multiplayer ability. You should make your own judgement based on this above but beware of a few problems that I am about to clear up that bump it down to a 3. Don't worry these problems DONT include the whining like other reviewers saying its tooooo expensive and they dont have many games to play multiplayer. That is opinionated. I am here to tell you the facts based on my encounter with websites and my own multitap received on Christmas.

Alright number one. Based on sites, the multitap for PLAYSTATION ONE does NOT I repeat does not play ps2 games. You may use it in your playstation 2 but it can only play the playstation 1 games and vice versa with the playstation 2 multitap.

Number 2. There are a couple DIFFERENT TYPES of the Playstation 2 Multitap that you may need to look at. If you have been good adults, boys, girls, and teens you should have kept your playstation 2 manual that came in the box. It will tell you the number/ serial number of the multitaps you may use. It may give you a second party's multitap too but stick with the good old sony quality. [...] There is a multitap out there that I received for christmas for example that says its for the series 7,000 PS2 (meaning the slimmer version that just came out about end of NOV 2004) it says it does not work with some other series (forgot I returned it but the series it was talking about was the older fat PS2). So make sure you buy the right one pertaining to the type and serial of your PS2. The number for the serial of mine I found ON the ps2 in case you need to find it.

To find the right kind you may need to keep checking amazon and your local video game or toy retailers but based on my experiences (I own the old PS2) I have been finding it hard to find the old multitap it is always gone and Best Buy (where my mom got mine which we returned bewause it was for the 7000 series) only carries the 7000 series Multitap in which a store clerk informed us of and is the only one online at Bestbuy.com. So I hope this review has helped and if it hasn't just make sure to kindly ask a store clerk about it before buying. Best Buy and Toys R Us clerks in the gaming department know what they're talking about for the most part if you need assistance.

The multitap is an easy way to play with more than 2 players on the playstaion 2. The multitap has up to 4 controler and memory card slots, but it turns out that I dont use this adapter as much as I thought I would, because I dont constantly have people over at my house when I could use it. And if I do have people over I only have one person over at a time so i dont even need to use the multitap. I have had no porblems with the multitap and overall it is very usefull and I enjoy using it.