Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Xbox 360)
In a nutshell:
The surprise hit of 2005 is back and this time it’s moved on from the prequels and onto “proper” Star Wars. It may sound like one of the worst excesses of marketing hell but this is good enough to rejuvenate your love for both video games and Star Wars (and Lego)!

The lowdown:
As ridiculous as the idea sounds this is one of the few games that really can be played by all ages, from tots to grandparents - the game even adjusts its difficultly level on the fly depending how well you’re doing. The graphics are absolutely hilarious as the game pokes gentle fun at all the films and characters and uses the Lego motif so you can build new structures and objects as you go. With more playable characters than ever each now has their own special move, such as Chewbacca’s ability to pull the arms off Stormtroopers, and you can get in and out of vehicles whenever you want in some levels.

Most exciting moment:
The game features a large number of vehicles to drive, including landspeeders and AT-STs. You can also ride a Dewback which excretes an ominous looking brown Lego stud if you press a button…

Since you ask:
The all important two player co-op mode from the first game is still in the sequel, plus you can now design your own characters out of component Lego pieces. Darth Greedo, anyone?

The bottom line:
The Force is strong with this one.
Harrison Dent

Customer Review: Superb fun
As a boy growing up in the 80’s star wars was a huge part of my life and this was the decade when the toys associated with the film really took off. Sadly, star wars toys made of Lego were 20 years away and now, as a 30 year old, trying to persuade my wife that buying Lego is a good idea is just not happening. Thankfully the genius’s at Lego and Lucas arts have come up with this cracker of a game which I can just about get away with buying. The premise is simple in that it follows the last three films (or first 3 depending on your age!!) and you are taken through virtually every major set piece, in each film, playing as various Lego/star wars characters. The learning curve is perfect for both kids and adults alike. The cut scenes in between each level are hilarious. My first play of the game was with the “help” of an 8 and a 6 year old and we all spent most of the time in hysterics. The animation is superb and the controls are very cleverly done. Just push gently on the left stick and watching the characters “creeping” is very funny. This is a game which provides excellent family entertainment and really fits the category of “suitable for all ages”. If you are a fan of the first Lego star wars game then this comes highly recommended.

Customer Review: Fun to play…Incredibly Frustrating To Save!
I like this game a lot. It’s a laugh to play as you go through the various famous Star Wars scenes and stuff as a Lego character (the Lego Boombox that blasts out a heavy metal version of the Imperial March, making Gamorrean guards rock out is one of the best things I’ve seen!) However, I find trying to save your progress in this game EXTREMELY frustrating! For some reason when you clear a chapter and your autosave kicks in, it doesn’t save your progress properly and you end up right back at the Mos Eisley cantina when you reload your game. Not cool.

I plan to keep playing this game and figure out what’s going wrong, but that in itself is something no gamer should have to do. In short, great game, LOUSY saving system!

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Halo 3: Xbox 360 Review
Xbox Solution - Bungie just announced the new maps that are going to hit the XBL marketplace and the Halo: Contact Harvest Novel continues to climb the New York Best sellers list. With both news items happening so close together, I wanted to get my review of Halo 3

Truly child’s play
Baltimore Sun - Only 18 percent said they were likely to buy a game console over the holiday season, and most of those people said price was a very important consideration - good news for Nintendo’s $250 Wii. Bad news for more versatile machines like the Xbox 360

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis Highlights: Activision, Electronic Arts
MSN MoneyCentral - The strong growth was a result of the upgrade cycle caused by the xBox 360, PlayStation3 and the Wii. Hardware sales increased 149% and video game software sales rose 59%. Per share earnings totaled 33 cents in the quarter, topping expectations

Optical Cable (Xbox 360)
List Price: ?7.99
Amazon Price: ?7.99
Used Price: ?16.38
Customer Review: optical cable
This item is worth the money sure you can use any universal cable out there but this ne is made for the 360 and it fits right. Having bought 2 other universal cables which did not seed right in the optic out on the hd cable and kept falling out i bought this one and it seeds right plu its a decent length. john ireland

Joytech 9.2″ LCD Portable Monitor for Xbox 360
Amazon Price: ?119.99

Sega Rally (Xbox 360)
List Price: ?49.99
Amazon Price: ?24.97
Used Price: ?18.99
Customer Review: The one to beat Colin McRae? I don’t think so!
There are some people who fondly remember the original Sega Rally, I was one of them. That is, until Codemasters came out with the Colin McRae Rally series, and I haven’t looked back - until now. I used to play the original (on the Saturn, firstly) and thought it was so realistic, but when I got hold of the first CMR, I realised how wrong I was! To illustrate this point, I went back to play the original Sega Rally and CMR a couple of days ago. And, Sega Rally just doesn’t compare. But, this is a new Sega Rally, and therefore all-singing and all-dancing, right? Wrong. Yes, it is very pretty; this is something Sega always get right. But, you get the same feeling as before with the previous Sega Rally(s) that you’re actually driving a floating box - it just doesn’t feel like a car. Sega fanboys call this type of handling “unique” - everybody else would call it “shopping trolley”. But, fair’s fair, if you get on with it, then that’s fine - a lot of people don’t; it’s just not very realistic. If that were it then I’d say this was a slightly above-average game (after all, there’s not many off-road racers for the 360). However, there’s one frustratingly unforgiveable flaw with it concerning game modes. The main “Career” (or whatever you they call it) part of the game has you taking part in 3 successive races on 3 different surfaces (the obligatory tarmac, gravel, and sandy-type stuff, etc). But, you can only choose one tyre type with which to undertake these races. Frustration soon sets in once you realise that you can only ever race 1 of the 3 races in the series properly - somewhat bizarre, to say the least. All in all, despite it being one of the few 360 offroaders out there at present, I would still say avoid. If you’re looking for similar, a far better choice is Colin McRae DIRT. If you’ve already got that, then save your money! Without the stupid race selection it would have been 3 out of 5 (and I’m being generous), but sadly, as with so many Sega games in recent years, it looks very pretty, but just doesn’t cut it. Rather sad, really, I’d love to see Sega do better.
Customer Review: Very good fun!!
Think of Sega Rally as Ridge racer in mud and you get the idea. It’s track racing ala PGR, Forza etc, but in rally environments. There is track deformation which adds a dimension to the game. 30 odd cars to collect with a few liveries for each. 12 or so courses + reverse versions. It’s a fun blast in the mud. Don’t expect it to keep you occupied for hours every night for weeks. This is not a deep game with masses of cars and tracks like PGR, but it is good fun, and pretty challenging on the harder levels too. I would recommend it, though it probably won’t be long before you can pick it up cheap in the trade in section, as it’s fairly simplistic and certain types of gamer will play this for a week then trade it in. If you are one of those types, it’s probably better to rent it. This is all based on the retail version of the game, not the demo.

Harmony Media Centre Extension (PC)
List Price: ?29.99
Amazon Price: ?24.99

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Revised & Expanded (Xbox360, PC) (Best Buy Console): Prima Official Game Guide

Microsoft Xbox 360 Skins New Skins and Decals for the Xbox 360
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Buy Xbox 360 products at Toysrus.com. The leading toy store for toys, educational toys, baby products, and more.