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Sony PlayStation Move Starter Pack
by thejarofdirt882
The Playstation consoles have never really been the consoles for casual gamers, and in my opinion there never really WAS a console for the casual gamer. Until the Wii came along, and blew both Microsoft and Sony out of the pool of casual gamers. I don't think either company expected it and they struggled to produce games that the casual ... snapped up like they did games for Nintendo's latest console outing. The Playstation Move is Sony's answer to the Wii, not another console but an new kind of controller (akin to the Wiimote) that interacts with the Playstation Eye (which is just a webcam for the PS3).
This Starter Pack contains both the Move controller and the Eye camera. But not included is another controller to interact with the Move - the Navigation controller (akin to the Nunchuk of the Wii), however this can be substituted for an ordinary PS3 controller & it is not used in that many games really so wasn't essential to be included in this pack to get you started. There is also a disc with some demos to try out the move with. The pack is perfect if, like me, you don't have the Eye camera to begin with, it gets you great savings on buying the camera & the controller separately. If you do own the Eye picking up the Move on its own is a better move - the demo disc is nothing special since most if not all of the demos will be on the PS Store by now - although it is not so great value.
Setting this up is very easy, the Eye is just connected by USB and the Move is synched to the console in the same way you synch your normal controller (connecting it using the mini USB to USB charging cable).
I find that Move is very accurate, following my actions immediately and perfectly, it works by picking up the light emitted from the end of the controller (different controllers are assigned different colours if there is more than one player). Although sometimes I find that if the room is too dark or too bright it won't always pick up correctly, but this is easily rectified by turning a lamp or two on or off. The controller is comfy and easy to hold to press the button (it can be confusing for a while remembering which buttons are where). The Eye can be placed above or below the screen, but it doesn't always stay on top of a TV screen on its own, tape or blu-tack may be required.
The Move has a wide range of compatible games now, from fitness to ones to keep your kids engrossed (Eyepet Move), to ones that end up being great fun at drunken student parties (yes I have personal experience of the latter - Kung Fu Rider being played by a bunch of drunks people is one of the funniest things I've ever seen) to augmenting an already great FPS experience (Killzone 3). There does seem to be a lack of good quality Move games, with most being mediocre, but there's something for everyone and there is more, great looking games, coming out in the near future.
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Xbox 360 Slim 320GB Hard Drive
by Seven17
My xbox slim uses one of these as the main drive and has been doing so for many months. The hard drive is entirely blocked in by a plastic casing and there is no easy access to the hard drive if you want to open it up to clean or repair etc. Note that when you do you void your warranty but since these have been out a while your warranty ... may be void and you wont be able to get it repaired anyway. Mine has been good up until about 2 months a go when it started corrupting Halo 3 saved forge map data. Of course Microsoft cant just repair or replace for that because they don't know if you did it or not, but equally i've got some warranty left so i cant perform basic repairs like checking for obstructive dirt and dust.
The hard drive scores marks for speed i'll give it some credit there. On the old (fat) xbox you had a massive and heavy hard drive on the top but which took what seemed like an age to save large files such as maps and vinyl's on a car in Forza. There is a noticeable difference with this by shaving precious seconds off save times particularly on Forza and Halo.
The hard drive is very easy to clean because its smooth piano black plastic casing can just be wiped down. This is also a negative because piano black is prone to fingerprints and grease of which, mine is covered in top to bottom. It is easy to setup and run though, your slim will instantly recognise it and begin using it as the main hard drive at the top of the select save device menu and you can even begin saving straight away since MS very kindly put organisation files on there for you such as games, gamer pics, music, videos and more.
The hard drive is lightweight and portable, its no bigger than the palm of my hand all be it a bit thick (pardon the pun) and doesn't make much noise. Its durable to small knocks and drops as i found out by accident. The casing is quite durable and simple with a fabric tab that has the capacity woven into the stitching. This tab can be pulled out to release the hard drive from its bay. The tab is very sturdy, hasn't broken for me yet and takes just seconds to remove.
Overall i think Microsoft have finally built something worth paying for, which for me is a first.
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