Product Description

MahJongg Master Deluxe Suite is the ultimate MahJongg product available. Containing MahJongg Master 5, the latest in eGames best-selling MahJongg series, PLUS all new MahJongg Patience, this is the most full-featured MahJongg game ever! ... Read more

Features

• Contains two complete full-featured products
• Mahjongg Master 5 and Mahjongg Patience
• Includes 17 unique Mahjongg mini games
• Enjoy 389 3-D rendered tile sets, 261 distinctive tile layouts, and over 1400 backgrounds
• Create an infinite number of your own tiles

Product Description

Cartoony strategy combat comes in threes in this explosive Worms Triple Pack! Now you can choose your method of destruction - the strategy classic Worms 2, the weapon-wacky Worms Armageddon, or the manic multiplay of Worms World Party.Lock 'n' Load for crazy strategy thrills times THREE! ... Read more

Features

• Over 50 Wacky Weapons: Like shotguns, lasers and nukes!
• Customizable Chaos!: With the "WormPot" Mission Editor of Worms World Party.
• Multiplayer Madness: 1-16 Players
• Free Demo: Worms Blast PC-CD Demo included

Reviews (14)

The three best Worms games ever made, packed together.
I've been a Team 17 fan for years. When Worms came out first in 1995, I was pleasantly surprised.

Worms 2, Worms World Party, and finally Worms Armageddon (the best of the lot) use the same engine, so they might look similar at first. But once you start getting used to them, you'll notice some big differences (too much to list here).

Some of the best games ever made. For this price, this is a steal. Get it now! Demos available at www.team17.com, as well as patches that offer Windows XP compatibility as well as some extra features.

WORMS, HAHA
Ok, let me lay it out for you.I just barely played this game out of sheer boredom, and i think the last time i played it was like 2 years ago.This game basically SUX!You have fun, figuring out everything and all, but after a while, it is just plain boring.Save yourself some time and buy an electric guitar, a snowboard, get Sum 41's cd Chuck, and dream the day away......

Multiplayer F-U-N
The three games are of the same basic principle:you have land (2D height and width), weapons and enemies to destroy.This game has great versatility.You can edit landscapes, weapons and game options.You can play single player games vs. the computer or do premade missions as well as play multiplayer games on one computer or via network. Weapons include your classic bazooka, shotgun, punches and air strikes but you can also take out your enemy with zany things like banana bombs, sheep, carpet bombs or by pushing them off of the edge.Just make sure you have the system requirements and you are in for some F-U-N!

Multiplayer F-U-N
The three games are of the same basic principle:you have land (2D height and width), weapons and enemies to destroy.This game has great versatility.You can edit landscapes, weapons and game options.You can play single player games vs. the computer or do premade missions as well as play multiplayer games on one computer or via network. Weapons include your classic bazooka, shotgun, punches and air strikes but you can also take out your enemy with zany things like banana bombs, sheep, carpet bombs or by pushing them off of the edge.Just make sure you have the system requirements and you are in for some F-U-N!

I am sooooo addicted!
Once you start, you just can't stop! These games are great, and hard to find elsewhere. For this price, you just can't beat it! ... Read more

Product Description

Featuring more official team and league licenses than any other soccer game (including lower leagues from the most competitive European countries), an enhanced and extended Career Mode, EA SPORTS Online play for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, PC-CD and the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and the all-new Creation Zone that lets you customize new tournaments or even put yourself into the game, FIFA Soccer 2005 is the only complete, authentic and intelligent soccer experien ... Read more

Features

• Soccer sports game
• More than 350 official team and league licenses from around the world
• Licensed stadiums with authentic crowd chants
• Career mode lets you play from both the pitch and the front office
• Single player, LAN multiplayer, and online multiplayer modes

Reviews (7)

Arcade version, not a simulation
If you want to play football without much control depth then choose this over the European "Pro Evolution Soccer 4" (title is "Winning 11" in the US) and if you have heard the buzz surrounding that game then you should know that it is in the top three sports simulations of all time.

Winning 11 however is not an out-of-box game, taking days to learn, weeks to master and then improve on with other players. FIFA works straight out of box, is easy, but its limits become all too obvious in light on Winning 11, a game has been in development since the Nintendo 64 and is easily the best soccer engine out there.

The bottom line is that if you want a soccer game that works out of box, that you can play almost right away with anybody, then FIFA has it. If you want a real soccer sim that takes longer to get into but is far better, then choose Winning 11.

Fifa 2005
Fifa 2005 is very simialar to Fifa 2004. But there are differences between the two. I really like 2005 more for the reasons that the new style is really cool. The music in the game is killer [they went for a more international music approach, rather than just the American music scene], and there is a visible differnece in the graphics upgrade. Basically, its an updated version of 2004. However, I bought this just for the hell of it, but 2005 doesnt come anywhere close to Winning Eleven 7. I bought Winning Eleven 8 recently, but it was in Japanese, but the gameplay is so much better. In F2005, no matter how many times you press sprint, the players just move so slow. The stadiums itselfs are not very lively, [i only saw one flag waving in the enitre crowd]. I bought 2005 mainly because I lost Winning Eleven 7, but Fifa 2005 is still pretty worth the buy. I do, however, prefer the winning eleven series. Gameplay is much easier and better at the same time.

Buy on PC if you can
I bought this game first on the playstation 2 but soon realized,(by playing the PC demo, and then surfing all the fan sites) that the the PC version is a smarter purchse. The game is great soccer gaming experience, and by far the best gameplay engine to date. (Still not perfect yet, though) The most frustrating aspects are the missing teams, incorrect player faces, incorrect uniforms, and missing stadiums. However, all these issues can be addressed if you have the pc version, through the many fan/user created websites designed to fix these discrepancies. And that is my recomendation to the soccer gamer.

Another [...] By EA!!
I'm a true footie fan and always will be, it's the only sport around the globe that is worth watching. Oh and by the way people who call this wonderful sport soccer are people who don't know anything about the true Football sport. I didn't actually buy this game and I never intended to but one of my friends had given me his copy which he didn't like to try. Boy was that worthless. EA sports managed over the years to bring a game for footie fans and make them enjoy it. Lately they have been trying to cheat off the Winning Eleven 7 game by Konami and it is evident in every move. No matter how hard EA will try they will never even come close to Winning Eleven 7 because they just simply don't haveFootball-true engineers working on this game and they are only after the money. Speaking to a lot of people(AMERICANS to be exact) they choose graphics over true realistic gameplay that represents true Football, and that just tells me one thing that they know nothing of the sport and should not come near it in whatever way. EA had said they had corrected errors in previous games but that's all a [...]because players in the game still wait for the ball to come to them instead of running towards it and also EA still haven't figured out a way past their formulated way of scorring goals. A good example of that if you want to score a goal all you have to do is cross and I guarantee a goal no matter what. EA sports FIFA "FOOTBALL" 2005 is simply a shadow imitation of Winning Eleven 7, and the only difference between the 2 is the graphics in EA is better and that is why I gave a 1 star. Whoever gives it more is no Footie Fan you just remember that. If you simply want good graphics then buy the game but keep in mind you are no footie fan, but if you want a realistic wonderful game you play Winning Eleven 7 which I give a 6 out of 5. Winning Eleven 8 is coming out soon it will erase every attempt by EA to succeed in Football games.

3 1/2 stars
its pretty good.

my previous fifa game was fifa 2002, and to be honest, 2002s graphics are as good or better than 2005s.

also, the menus are probably the worst ever.why cant they just use a simple layout like 2002 and 2002 world cup?it was so much easier to use.Dont get me wrong though.its a very ogod game, and if youre going to get a soccer game, this is defintely the one to get. ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Games not realistic!!
I played the tournament Texas Hold Em poker and there is no way you can get pass the second round. You can have 3 of kind, and the other player would have 4 of a kind. You can have a flush, 2 other players would have a straight flush. This is what it is like almost every hand. Anyone who plays poker knows you don't see that many good hands out there.
Blackjack is way to unrealistic. If you have a 20 and the dealer has a 5 face up, he seems to always to get a 6, then a 10 to get 21. I played 10 straight hands, the dealer had 4 blackjacks and 6 20's. That is almost impossible for a dealer to get that lucky. And if you see the dealer has a king faced up, just surrender unless you have 21 because the dealer ALWAYS has another king down.
If you want to learn how to play the game, you should get this, but if you already know how to play, don't buy this, it is a waste of money!

I would give this game 3 1/2 stars
I bought this game for under $10 bucks which also included shipping.For that price, You can't lose!I was reading the reviews for Hoyle Casino 2004 which had all the worse reviews I've seen yet.The reason I bought Hoyle casino 2003 instead of the 2004 version is the fact that there really isnt much a difference.Plus with the 2003. I can play without having the cd in my drive. Which is a BIG PLUS! I was hoping to see if the Texas hold'em tournaments were gonna be like the world poker tour.SADLY ENOUGH IT'S NOT. They dont have a NO LIMIT game.It would of been exciting to go all in and see if anyone or a computer match it. But still can't knock sierra just yet.Because it is still fun.I want to try out the new drink system but only if they improve two minor issues.One: They have a no limit texas hold'em tournament and Two: CD optional if people want it in the drive. If you are in the market for a casino game.Get this version because you would save money.But still waiting to see what newer version will bring.So if Hoyle casino 2005 comes out.I'm reading reviews before I buy.Don't want to make the mistake by buying the 2004 version.

Hoyle's Casino 2003 - Best Ever
I recently purchased this from Amazon and received a manual along with it that I find very helpful as I'm new to Poker and Blackjack.The characters are so realistic and it's fun to listen to their conversations.
The first time I clicked on the AutoPlay screen to start playing I could hear sound but my screen went black. I have Windows XP Home Edition with DirectX 9.0. I was sure this was the latest version of DirectX, but when I went to Microsoft's Help & Support Center, on the list was the question did the screen go black. I then went to Microsoft.com and found there was an update called DirectX 9.0B. It took a little over 30 minutes to download this version. When I clicked Play on the AutoPlay Screen this time, the place where you hear what seems to be a frog croaking, it worked fine.
When some of the reviewers blame Hoyle for problems it could be Microsoft has an update that will make everything go smoothly. Hoyle creates extremely clever games and I'm very happy I bought this CD. The only games that can even compete with this are the Bicycle Card and Board Games which I also own. None of the other Casino games can even begin to compare to Hoyle's Casino 2003 in my opinion.

Lot's of fun and good practice
The table games are great and the play is very realistic. The players voices are a turn-off after a while so I play with the sound off. It is a great way to sharpen your skills before a trip to Vegas or AC. I had never played Pai Gow Poker but I learned from this software and look forward to trying it in a casino. The craps and roulette are fun too. I don't play slots in a casino so I don't use the slots on this either.Overall I think this is a good buy for some fun on the PC.

Fun Game
Very nice game. Graphics are well done.Facemaker is fun, and it uses the face I created in Card games without me having to tell it to go find it.The table games are well done, the speed of play is easily adjusted, graphics and audio are clear and crisp.There are so many gmes it is difficult to tire of this game.The slots could be a tad better, in that none of them are copies of real machines.Also the "feel" while playing them is not quite right.They are certainly playable though, as these faults are minor.I gave 4 stars out of 5, because the characters comments get annoyingly redundant very quickly.Of course, you can turn the character speech off if you want. ... Read more

Product Description

2 Challenging word puzzles games in one collection! It is great fun for family and friends to see how many words everyone can make out of the letters given to you...the games that get you thinking! Take the word challenge and build your vocabulary today with Super Text Twist and Super WHATword. ... Read more

Features

• Includes the word puzzle games Text Twist and Super What Word
• Solve fun word games before times runs out
• Increase your brain power and vocabulary while having fun
• Fun and addictive gameplay
• For 1 player

Reviews (2)

Like Word Games? This one is great!
This is a great package - two fun word games! You can challenge your mind by looking for words -- or you can REALLY challenge your mind and play with a timer! Either way, it is fun, and you can make excuses that it is also educational. What more do you want?

makes Wordtris look like "chump"tris
What Word looks a bit like boggle, but don't shake the monitor. :-)

You're given a board of 5 rows by 5 columns - 25 letters. Some letters have a brighter glow, making them worth more points - this is a random occurance. On the right panel is a list of words and their point values, below that are the words you must complete before you run out of turns (depending on the number of letters you've used) and below that is a super "what" word that can only be completed by making words with special orange tiles.

Challenging and addictive!

Text Twist is almost like Hangman on steroids. You're given jumbled letters and you try to get as many words as you can. You can click a button to randomly shuffle your letters over and over again to re-order them to see if it stimulates your brain into spotting new words. You can play an untimed mode in which you have to find all possible words, or a timed mode in which you have to find the longest word to survive, and all other words are bonus points.

You can use your mouse, but an easier method is to just type out the word and hit enter. Easy and fun - and a great way to speed up your typing skills!

If you played Wordtris before, but got bored - this is the next level and you won't get burned out! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Best Game I Have Ever Played
This is an awesome game. I played with it for hours on end

There is one gotcha
Be aware that RT 3 _requires_ 32 MB of graphic memory. You can't run it on early PowerBooks for example. It also strongly prefers a 2- or 3-button mouse.

A good update, but hardly a new game
After anxiously waiting for a Mac release of Railroad Tycoon 3, I find that it's a much-needed upgrade of Railroad Tycoon 2. However, that's really all it is -- I'd be tempted to call it Railroad Tycoon 2.5 rather than 3. There are probably enough changes to track building and industries to warrant a new version number, but other than that and a few interface changes, RT3 is essentially the same game as RT2.

The most obvious difference is in the graphics. The new 3-D engine is fantastic. You can actually watch the side rods of most of the steam engines go round and round. Tracks are a bit high off the ground, which is a little distracting at first, but overall the graphics are a huge improvement.

Track laying is substantially improved from the previous version of the game, as well. Most significant is the return of tunnels, one of the most maligned omissions in RT2. You can also build a bridge over another railroad or duck under an existing bridge, a feature fans of this game series have long wished for.

Gone is the grid with its limitations of tracks at only eight angles. You can now create smooth, sweeping curves at any angle you please. That said, the gradients could use some tweaking. Particularly annoying are the ramps leading to bridges. It's silly to have a 3% grade just because you're crossing a river. Likewise, I found it very difficult to create a railroad in even slightly hilly terrain that didn't resemble a roller coaster. And don't think this is a model layout design aid, either. It's impossible to force tracks to go where you want them.

Maintenance shops and service towers are now separate elements. You can't place a service tower at a depot and have a locomotive serviced while it's making its station stop. This hurts the game's realism a bit and can be annoying if, like me, you're used to the old style station expansions. The good news is that such facilities can be placed anywhere, even where there's no station, and you can demolish them to save money when they are no longer useful.

The construction and demolition tools aren't all that intuitive. To bulldoze a building, for example, you have to enter the track building interface and select the bulldozer. And industry construction is done from the station building interface. No doubt this was done to minimize the number of tool buttons in the main interface, but it feels klunky -- especially if you're used to the old RT2 interface.

While access to the controls has changed somewhat, most of the core game controls will look extremely familiar to anyone who's played RT2. Building and changing train consists works essentially the same way as in RT2, with a few excellent additions. One major change is the "auto manage" option which autmatically sets the train's consist depending on what loads are available at the station. You can select the minimum and maximum number of cars on each train, and select whether the train will carry any kind of car, just freight cargoes, or just express cargoes. You can also manually control the trains' consists. For more realism it would be nice if passenger cars were always placed together in the consist, but I'll admit that's picking a very small nit.

A couple of very handy shortcuts have also been added to train building, including the ability to copy trains. Mac users will find this process rather klunky and very un-Mac-like, but at least it's there and works. One new feature I really like is the ability to replace locomotives based on their class or age. This comes in very handy for keeping your locomotive fleet current. There's also a checkbox which will make the consist the same at all stations in the train's route. Beware, though -- the change happens as soon as you check the box and isn't undoable by unchecking the box!

The economy and stock market works essentially the same as it did in RT2. You can buy and sell shares of your railroad or your competitors, set your company's dividend, sell bonds, and sell stock. Selling stock is just as useless for raising money as it was in the previous version, even though you're now allowed two sales of stock per year instead of just one. You also still have to have a good credit rating to sell a bond.

I haven't gotten into the map editor yet, but from reading the manual, RT3 seems to have the one limitation I was afraid it would have -- you can't use maps from RT2. With the huge number of user-built maps from RT2, this is probably the biggest disappointment in the entire game. It's understandable, however, given the number of changes made to the industries and track building. Still, some sort of conversion utility would be nice for map developers so we don't have to start from scratch.

All in all, this is a fair upgrade over the previous version of the game. I'm not all that sure that this version was worth either the wait for the Mac port or the $45 price tag, but now that I have it I certainly won't be getting rid of it! ... Read more

Product Description

Take advantage of enhanced visuals, richer tactics and strategic gameplay as you build your fleet and engage in 3-D space combat. ... Read more

Features

• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Genre: Strategy
• Mission: Lose yourself in the sequel to the groundbreaking 3-D real-time space strategy game Homeworld
• Platform: Windows 98/Me/XP/2000

Reviews (146)

Very good game
This was one of if not the most fun strategy game i have played. It has an amazing story, unbelievable graphics, and an interface that once you learn it is relatively easy to use.
Tbe only reason i didnt give it a 5 is because it is so hard as to exclude this game from some of the less hardcore stategy gamers. The game does take a hit as well from not being able to order your ships into formations (an important part of any space strategy game) but it is more than compensated by just generally being alot of fun. Now i am a fan of space stategy games and i thought that the toughness of the game was an asset because insted of just building a huge fleet and crushing your enemys (satisfing but doesnt take much brain power) you could manipulate the battlefield leaving your enemy crippled and unable to fight back (buy controlling recource spots ect.) I do have to admit i went through a few mouses because i broke a few in sheer frustration. So in conclusion i highly recomend this game to you if u enjoy a tough but satisfing game and your not one of the "gamers" who like to boot up warcraft and put in all the instant build cheet codes. This game is well worth $20 and it was worth it to me when i pre ordered it in 03 for $60. BUY IT PEOPLE!!!

Fun?
I just have one thing to say: this game is as fun as you can throw it underwater with your wrists chained to some wall.Also, the interface and mere gameplay feels like an act of congress (looking up how to do things in the manual!)To be frank, don't by this game even if they would give you money in return!

Loss of The Real Concept!
Look, I've been a Homeworld fan ever since I bought it when it FIRST came out, it was beautiful, the graphics were just delightful, and the stradegy was complex to a portion where I can sit in a room, for 20 hours of non-stop harvesting and planning of an attack with a lil' math and algebra on the side.

When I started to play Homeworld 2, I was hyped, and ready to complete the saga in my world of stradegy gaming other than StarCraft, WarCraft, Age of Empires, and all those other fun stuff.

I began by downloading the Demo from Sierra, and I was full blown by the new graphics it had, though my video card was really acting kinda messy since it was the summer time. (Yeah seasonal changes make items work slower or faster.) Anyways, when I started to play the demo, I used the mechanism of the keyboard and controls of what Homeworld 1 had, lemmie tell you this, TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I can't believe my eyes of what I felt and seen! Everything; the whole concept has changed, the keys and etc. Then I saw that the stradegies have changed, and there were only 3 formation patterns I could only choose for my fithers, I'm like, WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING!? I really wanted to bust a few chops with my strategic mind... so then I thought to myself, eh, not bad, lemmie get the whole game and see what it's really worth...

Bought it, it's totally the same concept, doesn't relate to Homeworld 1, doesn't relate to ANYTHING LIKE HOMEWORLD AT ALL! I thought that they would stick to their story, but the whole thing changed... I was really mad about it.

The game-play suddenly became boring, just traveling with no real dog-fight, "Some destiny this is..." ok, maybe a few dog-fights, but the game just gets harder and harder *like any other game* But I'm looking at it, I swear to you, I would've beaten all these fools if I had all those formation patterns. This game has less stradegy in mind, and the shipmaking, is just build in bulk, something that a gamer would NEVER LIKE. Listen, usually, it's always great to build ONE AT A TIME... WHY!? BECAUSE HAVING THAT FEELING TO SIT ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT WAITING FOR THAT SPECIAL OBJECT TO BE BUILT REALLY SHOWS THAT IT'S A GREAT GAME. This however, was truly dissappointing... No wonder it was 20 bux. Not many people like it! For God's sake even Diablo 2 is 20 times better than this and the graphics can be as horrible as they want, but their game play is just completely mind blowing as well as the story line.

For all kids that love graphics, I suggest this game as a STARTER, but for gaming stradegy and story lines, I suggest that you should TURN BACK, THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE BUT A GAME THAT TAKES 20 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE JUST SITTING AND WAITING FOR NOTHING, BUT RUNNING AWAY FROM YOUR ENEMIES.

Even Homeworld Cataclysm is better than this. I wouldn't call this game trash though, but would've worth a lot of money if they knew how to bring back the story line as what they were before, but spiced up, with more allies and enemies, and probably if Sierra was lucky, deception.

Wonderful Game
Before I start, I would suggest anyone who gets this game be sure to download the patch that has been made available.This balances out units a little better (not too much, but a little) and also decreases the difficulty of several of the missions (they are possible to beat without the patch, but they are hard).

This game builds wonderfully over the orrignal Homeworld.It has made several improvements in how things are handled and also polishes up things in general.In addition, unlike the orrignal Homeworld the different sides have very different strengths and weaknesses that are readily apparent when playing them.

Some nice additions:

You no longer build single fighters, but rather build fighters in wings.So long as a single fighter in the wing survives you can send the fighter group back to a carrier or mothership or shipyard and have the unit returned to full strength.This makes fighter units much more useful and practical then the frail things they were in Homeworld.

Resource collection at the end of missions has been automized.You will no longer have to sit around for hours after missions sending harvisters out to collect resources for you.Once all enemy units have been defeated all resources in the map are automatically collected and added to your resource pool.

Subsystems.You can now build subsystems that give your ships interesting capabilities as well as target enemy subsystems.Large ships (such as battle crusers, carriers, motherships) come with some standard subsystems that cannot be completely destroyed but can be dammaged to the point that they no longer function.This makes hit and run type attacks much more useful then they were previously since you can use them to dammage enemy capabilities or cripple enemy ships, while allowing access to some nice abilities should you chose to build some of the more unique subsystems.

The ability to capture any ship in the game has also been added.That is right, capture ANY ship in the game.Including motherships.In addition, the units which capture enemies are much less flimsy so while they do still need an escourt they can be counted on to not die immediately.

Fleet formations have also been added.While there are really only 3 choises for fleet formations, they really do make it easy to use ships of different classes together.When used properly these formations are extreamly powerful, however you need to learn when to use a formation and when to break it up.

There are a few things I am less than satisfied with however.It is for these reasons that I am only giving it a rating of 4 out of 5.

The first major thing I was disapointed with was the reduction on the number of formations.I remember that with the orrignal Homeworld there was a large number of fomrations to chose from.I kept wishing I had access to some of those, particularly the claw and the sphere.While it may be argued that the addition of fleet formations makes up for this change, I couldn't help but wish that I had access to many of the old formations.

The interface is something I am not 100% satisfied with as well.While I will agree that it is definately a step up from what was used with Homeworld, it does feel somehow cumbersome.I guess it is a function of too many menues when it comes to building units and researching.Even in this respect it isn't too bad though.

Also, the 3D nature of space has largely been ignored.This problem still existed in Homeworld, though it was a little less noticable there since they did fairly often launch surprise attacks from above or below.Homeworld 2 largely just uses the horozontal plane when it comes to combat.Units controled by the AI simply will not try coming from strange directions, but rather take a head on approach.Thankfully I was able to find a group of people to play with online who were not burdened with this problem.

My final real problem with Homeworld comes with the addition of a new unit: the shipyard.The reason for this has to do with multiplayer where its importaince overshadows even that of the mothership once it has been built.It has more subsystem slots than the mothership.It is the only unit which can build battlecruisers.It has all the capabilities that the mothership has and more.From a stand point of game ballance I can see why this may have happened (the game designers didn't want players skipping ahead in the research tree right to battlecruisers), however I cannot help but feel that if anything the shipyard should be more of a smaller mothership with more limited capabilities.Somewhere between a carrier and the mothership.

All that said, the game is still a wonderful game.It contains almost all of the orrignal Homeworld's good points, and gets rid of many of its bad ones with the introduction of few flaws.If you like the idea of controling an intergalatic battle fleet then I would definately suggest that you pick up this game.The campaign alone would be worth it, but multiplayer is where this game really shines since that is where you will see interesting tatics that can be used once the pesky notion of 2D is forgotten.

Visually stunning but shocking game play
In light of completing Homeworld 2 twice, the review is a brutal truth of what the game is---a game so challenging, so hard, it just simply isn't worth your bother. Ordinary gamers will derive no enjoyment from this. In a manner of words: this is a game with spectacular graphics, breathtaking naval fleet warfare, all hampered by arduous game play.

Fifteen missions long, the average player will find themselves struggling by just the fourth, if you finished the third by the skin of your teeth. Rapidly changing mid-mission objectives, wave after wave of enemy forces, you'd better be up to the challenge of preventing your shipyard from hostile takeover to graduate to the real fun.

Then mission 4 hits you, hard and heavy.

Players are simply not prepared so early in the game, after such breezy missions, for one of such difficulty. Continual enemy attacks never leave you alone, never giving you a breather, to collect resources, to replenish your ragtag fleet. Don't grin that smile yet, that massive frigate assault will wash it away. There's no time to get a feel for ship classes, what works best against which enemy unit, to experiment on new technologies. Took a stunning number of weeks to beat that mission alone. Just concentrate on bombers and pulsar corvettes and she'll be right mate. Homeworld 2, it seems, is one heavy mission after another, broken up by occasional missions so quiet you could sleep through them. Those restful missions would be ideal to build your fleet to full strength and maximum unit numbers.

A detrimental mistake!

An unbelievable attribute of the game---the stronger you are, the heavier the next mission's enemy forces will be. The astounding stupidity of this is simply shocking. Try full unit limits from the tenth mission onwards, when enemy forces are already considerable, you'll see. This isn't so bad, really, but it makes hill into mountain.

Homeworld 2 is a RTS game of its own, nothing like Starcraft-type games. Even the hardest Starcraft mission gave you time to rebuild a weakened army, fix your base up. You could explore the darkened map, tease the enemy from different sides. H2 won't let you do that. This game demands strict obedience to the mission objectives. You play to fulfil them, not your own agenda.

Even more absurd, whatever forces you have left you begin with next mission. Scrape a mission too finely, and what are your chances of survival, really, when come the enemy hordes, and come in numbers they will.

What H2 steals from you is enjoyment. This is for the determined player. Who doesn't want a challenge in a game? But it's not fun. Move! You can't sit idle at any time; you can't split your fleet up, to feint at an enemy base from different angles. You want to live, keep all eggs in one fleet.

The menu controls are shocking. Mouse scrolling doesn't work in H2. It takes valuable time to position and drag the tab down the page. You can't even press ENTER or ESCAPE keys, only mouse commands. Such is the Idiotic Intelligence of the developers, that you can't authorise commands with an ENTER tap. The screen panels where you click to load or save games are so slim you really have to position your mouse precisely over them.

The method of saving is a joke. Strict alphanumerical order, the starting letter or number determines its placement in the list. It's better to save games chronologically, like Starcraft and Jedi Outcast. In-game auto-saving works against you; replay a mission, and you might re-save over it.

Where in the game booklet does it say docked strike craft automatically repair? A tiny offhand mention in the Vaygr Battlecruiser. How would you think to dock your fighters when you need them active at all times?

Absurd to target warship subsystems (engines, weapons, etc) when destroying the ship takes just as long. Absurd to capture an enemy ship, not only from your strict unit numbers, but the ship will always target your marine frigate. Played game twice, still can't get cloaking technology.

Like viewing a sphere of blinking red and green dots all game long? You'll spend considerable time looking at your radar screen; it's the only way to see enemy units and positions, and easier to select targets.

Graphics are awesome, ship details commendable. Mouse-wheel scrolling permits easy panning and rotation of the camera angle. Fun to follow a bomber group on their attack runs, or zoom right in at besieged warships about to be missile volleyed. High comp system will avert the occasional slowdown when camera-close to a ship going nova; exploding capital ships are cool.

Mid- and inter-mission cutscenes are simple but satisfactory. Fleet Command voices sounds too similar; Makaan is chilling as the Vaygr warlord, smooth and polite.

Game music will become repetitive. Only two tracks stand out: the oriental Hindu-like music of the Keeper missions, and that brief heavy battle track in missions 9 and 12. Hammered by endless Vaygr fleets, your heart pounding as you brawl for survival, why the damn hell did they finish after two minutes? Superb and haunting, they rapidly faded back to that mundane battle music.

There is nothing special about mysterious Sajuuk, the one hope of your homeworld. Can't spoil you here, but the game designers are criminal fools to make the guy just that. And if that doesn't inspire your outrage, behold the short, simplistic final cutscene of the game.

This is Homeworld 2. Visually stunning, rigid game play design. You'd do well to think long and hard before sampling this farce of fun. All fine and fancy to spout rave reviews and the shine the five-star flag, but honest and informative feedback goes a long way to whisper the truth. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Take command of either Confederate or Union troops and command them to attack from the trees, rally around the general, or do any number of other realistic military actions. The AI reacts to your commands as if it was a real Civil War general, and offers infinite replayability. The random-scenario generator provides endless variations on the battles. You can also test your strategic skills against a real-life opponent through a LAN or via the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

VG game, needs a major overhaul for XP
I love Sid Meier's games.I had never played Gettysburg before but have always been fascinated by the battle.I picked up the Civil War Collection for under $20 the other day and have been both exhilarated and significantly disappointed with it.

First, the exhilarating stuff:

The gameplay is very interesting and can be extremely challenging.I've been playing RTS games for years, including AoE, AoK, AoKTC, Empire Earth, Empires: DMW, RoN, AoM and a couple of others.Gettysburg is refreshing compared these games because your sole focus is fighting (no economy to micro-manage) and the fighting is far more historically accurate than other RTS games in terms of the use of formations, flanking attacks, morale and line of sight.

Take note that another recent review has stated some things that aren't correct: Brigade commanders can move regiments at the Double-Quick simply by pressing "Q" while the Commander is selected, and while the units are already moving to a destination.Also incorrect is the assertion that cannon do not fire "canister" rounds at close range.This element of game design is transparent, but it is noted in the manual that all cannon (especially Napoleon batteries) do more damage from close range than from a distance - in order to simulate the use of canister rounds by intelligent artillery officers, so no need to micro-manage this.

Second, the not so good stuff:

The game is now 8 years from original release, and it shows in ways that are crucial to the player's ability to actually play it.Most players are using Windows 2000 or XP these days, and the Antietam and South Mountain add-on games don't actually work fully on XP.There is no sound for the add-ons, which is a shame because they are actually newer code than the original Gettysburg is.Of course, Firaxis has a "patch" that "allows" the Windows XP platform to run the game, but the patch is incomplete and there are still major issues with the game as a result.For instance, one can't see the name of saved games when trying to reload an ongoing battle!Also, there are issues with map scrolling which cripple enjoyment of the game.Specifically, after loading up the game and playing the first scenario of the day, you cannot continue to the next scenario in sequence because the map will not scroll at all.So you are forced to shut down CWC and restart it to get the scrolling screen back.This is VERY annoying.

I've tested these issues on two completely different XP machines over the last week, and it is a consistent problem with both with a default install of the game (default directories, etc.).The game is broken; perhaps because of a DirectX incompatibility (I have 9.0c (latest version) on both XP systems.

So, very good game with major bugs for XP users.If you're still running Windows 98, go ahead and get it.Sid, please have Firaxis fix/update this game!

Game play and historic accuracy poor
The game play is clumsy.For example, if your units are all bunched together, trying to select a specific brigade is difficult.You may click on a unit of that brigade, but for some reason, it doesn't select the brigade.Secondly, selecting a brigade commander is supposed to allow you to move all units in that brigade at once.That works - except your brigade commander doesn't have the option to move your units 'double quick', so you end up needing to move each brigade separately if you want them to get to their destination quickly.

The historic accuracy of the game might be there as far as the landscape and units available, but as far as how the units were deployed, it fails miserably.For example, in the pickett's charge scenario, the confederacy startsvery close to the union and the union army is not dug in (what happened to the stone wall that protected the union forces which Longstreet used as one of his main reasons not to attack? He reminded Lee that the confederates had one a battle in the past because they were protected by a similar wall).Even in the intro, it says the confederacy needs to march 1 mile to reach the union (this is false - in reality they had to march 2 miles).In the real battle, the confederacy were slaughtered long before they reached the union - part way along the march, they had to get over a fence, which bunched up their forces and made them especially vulnerable to union cannon - none of this is reflected in the game.

By distorting such crucial strategic points, they can not hope to claim that this in anyway puts you in a true historic battle.One may dismiss these descrepencies, but these strategic points are exactly why one side or the other succeeds.

Speaking of cannon, there is very little variety - cannon at the time, if they did any research for this game, would show everything from grapeshot to cannister.The game doesn't offer any options for what to fire.

I don't understand these other reviews that give so many stars to the game.Its clumsy and historically inaccurate.Maybe the other reviewers are so desperate to finally have someone pay attention to their hobby by making a civil war game that they are incapable ofreviewing it critically.

A Patch for Windows 2000 and XP
There is a download available at the firaxis.com website to allow Civil War to run on Win2K and XP.

Excellent Civil War Package!
This set is a must for the Civil War buff and the gamer who likes historically-based games!

With real-time strategy, you are attacking and defending while the computer is doing the same thing.In my humble opinion, this is more entertaining and realistic than the turn-based games.

Both Gettysburg and Antietam offer several scenarios of two categories:historical (your chance to replay and perhaps change the outcome of what actually happened in the battles) and speculative (a chance to play and win "what if" scenarios that did not happen in the battles, i.e.- one Gettysburg scenario has Stonewall Jackson present - an interesting scenario indeed!).

The graphics for both battles are excellent.Since I have visited both battles several times, I was readily able to identify terrain features for both battles.

The player is also allowed to choose either North and South and the level of difficulty - in my opinion, these are excellent features.

Buy and enjoy the set!Highly recommended!

Reply to Trenton NJ
My husband loves these games...but couldn't get them to work when we upgraded our computer.Go to www.firaxis.com, then choose DOWNLOADS at top of the page.There is a download for the civil war games to make them compatible to Windows XP.The Gettysburg game we still get an error message, but if you choose to run it from the Programs menu, it's fine.Good luck! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

If you can't find anyone to play with you because you're just too good--or you just don't like cleaning up little wooden tiles--the Scrabble CD-ROM is for you. Up to four players (human or computer) can play on a variety of boards and backgrounds (try chrome in the desert for that Road Warrior look). You can choose your computer opponent from five levels of difficulty, from Novice to Champion, or you can create your own custom opponent, based on a chesslike rating.

Play is speedy and satisfying; the sounds of the tiles clicking on the board are alarmingly realistic. You can challenge words, be challenged yourself, or find definitions of words you don't know in the online Official Scrabble Dictionary. (You can even receive hints and suggestions from the "Maven.")

Online multiplayer is in full force, too. Play with bored students in Oxford using the network features; though this slows the game down depending on your Internet connection rate, you'll find you need more time to crush your human challengers anyway. Sharpen your skills with the minigames: find two- or three-letter words, do anagrams, or find the best play with a given setup. Even if you're a regular Scrabble player, you should find yourself returning to your computer time and again, either to brush up or to try again against the champion. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Smart Scrabble
This product is great for improving your Scrabble game, and it's also a lot of fun.You can play against 1-3 computer opponents with varying skill levels, or against real people.Unless you're in tournament mode, you can take advantage of features such as a word lister that generates suggestions for how to score the highest points with the tiles you have.There are also features such as instant summaries of letters remaining to be played.

My one annoyance is with the dictionary: it challenges some words you'd think it would accept, while accepting some words you'd think it would reject.If in doubt, doublecheck a word with it prior to finalizing your move, or add words to your own custom dictionary.

Overall, though, MacSoft's Scrabble exemplifies the benefits of converting a board game to software.No more tedious adding up points for tiles--the computer does it all for you!

Scrabble for Macs
This is a great way to play Scrabble if your partner doesn't play. It has a dictionary, word lists, and other guides. It would be nice if you could click once for a new game and not have go back to the menu and re-do your preferences. Another problem (with Macs) is, it crashes when interrupted by indexing and other automatic computer functions (updates, etc.) All in all it's an easy and fun way to squeeze a little Scrabble into your life, and to improve your game.

A winner
I play this game on the new iBook (128 RAM; 10G). It may be necessary to restart your system before playing if you left the iBook on for many days without shutting it down. Otherwise Scrabble plays without a glitch.

The game is a joy to play. There are numerous modes (e.g., 2 or 3 letter words, anagrams, 'bingo' or 7 letter words, etc.);numerous set ups (one or many players, networking, human or computer players); and different levels of difficulty. Sometimes I play for the sole purpose of learning new words, in these sessions I use extensively the hint menu and the word suggestion menu. For a word lover it is pure joy.

The interface is beautiful--it is an excellent mix of the quaint traditional feel and possibilities of technology. Although different 'look and feel' are available from high tech, to desert, landscape, etc.

The game set up menu is a bit clunky (player selection, score summaries, etc.). Regardless this is a great design.

Highly recommended for all ages

Scrabble - a guilt-free use of time!
We finally succumbed to purchasing Scrabble for the computer before Christmas and promptly lost our seven year old son and houseguests to various parts of the house.Friends and acquaintances have become hooked too.

The game is positively additive.Both adjectives can be equally applied - which parent can complain when a child will sit for an hour playing a game that expands his vocabulary, spelling and strategy?Our vocabulary has been broadened too.

Although we give the game 5 stars overall, there are a couple of glitches that could be ironed out for better play.Maven (the computer player) is both judge and jury in game play and assumes that he, and he alone, knows all words.If he doesn't recognise a word opponents are instantly chalenged and loose their turn.There is no opportunity for "appeal" or the facility to educate the computer as you play.The custom dictionary feature is not entirely intuitive and can only be revised outside game play which gives the computer opponent a distinct advantage.One can avoid such conflicts by checking the on-screen dictionary before playing the word, but that's not really how the game is played.

The computer's suggestions for word play are slightly limited - it manages to see individual words, but lacks the breadth of perception to "see" stacked word play and the higher points that can be played in this manner.It also isn't particularly good on strategy.

These niggles aside, we are happy to give the game an unequivocal "two thumbs up".As a way to hone skills and play a game when either no-one else wants to or is available, it's great.

Countless Hours of Fun for Scrabble-philes Eveywhere!
This new, update version of Scrabble on CD-ROM is as entertaining as its' boardgameequivalent. Providing challenges that even the most professional players will find challenging,Scrabble is a great to kill free time or develop your vocabulary skills.

The addition of a dictionary, in addition to the games screen views only adds to the excitement thatthe boardgames lacks when it comes to design and usefulness. The people at Hasbro have done itagain, and I am totally elated that they decided to release this updated version on CD-ROM.

So if you are a single player in look for some major competition, or want to compete with a friendonline, Scrabble is your guarantee for an entertaining time. Add this to your shopping baskettoday, and see what I am raving about. ... Read more

Features

• Add any of 25 different Six Flags roller coasters from 5 different locations
• Match wits against world leaders in a quest to build the ultimate empire
• Build, explore, conquer, and rule; new pathways, strategies, and tools
• New graphics engine provides stunning maps, animations, and graphics
• Create and run the ultimate amusement park with new rides and gameplay

Reviews (1)

kyle (andro)
listen to me! civilization iii is like, the best computer game out there (not game cube) and rctycoon is second. i don't have this set but I have civilization iii and the first rctycoon. If you like civilization iii, get the conquests expantion pack. something interesting is that these are two of the most addicting computer gaves ever. if i could, i'd play this game for ever if i could. these games are the best ever made by atari! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Electronic Arts' Alien Crossfire--created by legendary designer Sid Meier, maker of such landmark games as Civilization and Pirates!--is the official add-on pack for a brilliant turn-based strategy game,Alpha Centauri. The pack expands on the original game by adding seven factions, new facilities, additional secret projects, and new branches to the elaborate technology tree. Fans also receive many new enhancements to Alpha Centauri, including play-by-email mutiplayer mode, hotseat multiplayer mode, and numerous tweaks to the interface and unit properties. Alien Crossfire's new factions include cyborgs, drones, pirates, and two sets of alien societies. Factions are balanced by a set of predetermined statistics and characteristics, such as bonuses for particular government and production styles.

Game play means creating and maintaining a flourishing society on a hostile alien world. Players must juggle dozens of civilization settings--such as government style, unit production, and pollution prevention--and discover the best means of conquering enemies through a powerful economy, research and development, or military conquest. Alternatively, players and computer-controlled factions can become allies instead of enemies and trade technologies and unit designs to further bolster scientific advancements and economy.

With an exciting new story line, dozens of enhancements, and tried-and-true game play that adds hours of life to the original game, Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire is a must-have expansion pack for Alpha Centauri fans. Remember that you'll need Alpha Centauri in order to play and enjoy Alien Crossfire. --Doug Radcliffe ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Still fun after all these years!
I was one of the beta testers on SMAC and SMACX and sank far more hours into it than I'd ever want to admit to. Burned out, immediately after the retail release I set it aside for a couple months but came back to it and never left. I've probably spent more time with SMAC/SMACX than any other game and I'm still playing. Why? Because it's truly a classic piece of work--a story within a game and a game within a story. I know of no other game in the genre that is quite like it. And guessing at the amount time, effort and money that went it making SMAC, I don't expect to see another one like it either. If you're a fan of the TBS genre, then for that reason alone you should have a copy of this--its a reminder of just what can be done by a talented, dedicated crew of artists working in pixels and code.

If you've not experiened this game, then there is really only onequestion you need to answer to know if you should get it: do you like turn-based strategy games? If so, then you need to try this one. A few people are put off by the Science Fiction setting but unless that's a fatal flaw for you then find a copy of this and enjoy. Some things you need to know:

* This game isn't new so don't expect state-of-the art graphics and eye-candy. However, the graphics hold up pretty well tho' and they serve the purpose extremely well.

* Yes, it will play on the latest machines running WinXP. At least it does on machines I've tried running P4 processors and Win2000, WinXp Home and WinXP Pro. There are a couple of tweaks you may or may not need available to make it fully compatible and with a P4 processor the game will warn you that 'your CPU isn't supported' but it plays just fine.

* Don't rush through this one. Play the game like you're reading a really good novel--read everything, look at stuff, watch the cut scene videos, etc. There's an incredible amount of 'back story' for the game and its easy to miss just how rich it is.

There aren't many things, much less games, that can be called unique but I think SMAC/SMACX is one of them.

Even with it's flaws it's a great expansion!
Alpha Centauri is such an absorbing game that completely outpaces anything similar that has come out over the last 12 years.The Alien Crossfire expansion adds enough to the game that it surely is worth owning and using.Be sure to get the patch though as the game has a lot of bugs!

The new human factions (Pirates, Drones, Consciousness, Planet Cult, and Datatechs) are fantastic fun!The alien factions are overpowered, irritating, and suck the life out of the game in my opinion.Fortunately you can play without them. Too bad you can only have seven factions max in a game as playing with the 12 human factions would be incredible fun!

The new planetary features are worth having for sure. The Manifold Nexus is mysterious and worth fighting over.The crash site of the Unity spaceship has lots of goodies to dig up, and the borehole fields are nice to build near.

The new technologies add a lot of excitement to the game along with new base installations like the Aquafarm which gives you more food from kelp farms or the Flechette missile defense which gives you better defense from missile attacks.Brood pits make even bigger and more dangerous mind worms, spore launchers, sealurks, and isles of the deep.New Technologies like marine detatchments can be added to ships so you can board and capture enemy ships!Four new secret projects are also made available:Planetary Energy Grid (energy bank in every base - nice!), Cloudbase Academy (air complex in every base - definitely the most valuable secret project!), the Nethack Terminus (probe team bonus - yawn!), and the Manifold Harmonics (nice for extra food and energy but the game is almost over!).

Once you play with the new factions and buildings, it's doubtful you'd go back to playing just the original as much if at all.

It took me forever to find this
This is one of those, 'don't ask us about' it addons.Seems the owner and a head developer when seperate ways.If you really only want to play the game and are not stuck on collecting it, or the box artwork, do a search for 'The Laptop Collection', and just buy the thing for 19.99 along with Alpha Centauri and like 2 other games.If you need to show the box to your friends, or want to resell it on e-bay, you'd better buy it used for like $75 to $125 here.Whatever you need.Cool game.Next time I won't wait so long to get what I wanted.Collectors glut just about ruined getting a hold of this one.Barely made it.Notice, I don't need the pretty box. :)

Great!
If you manage to get your hands on a copy of this, hold onto it as strong as you can!It was discontinued maybe five years back, but it still holds strong with nowadays games.Alien Crossfire gives you a larger diversity in factions, along with the ability to make your own.The only downside is it sells for $$ or more.The new units and technologies, not to mention factions, are great!

A great expansion to a great game
So you thought Alpha Centauri is all there was?Well, get ready for an even bigger game experience.

Most companies just add a few frills to a computer game with an expansion.But the Alien Crossfire expansion not only adds the frills, it adds totally new thrills.In addition to the new human factions and their units, it adds two Alien races to the mix - making this one of the most original colonization / civilization games available.

There are new secret projects to build.There are new units to add to your already full arsenal.There are some new features on Planet that make exploration more interesting.Add to that the alien races - one which is bent on recovering "their" world at all costs, and one that is more interested in working with the humans that have colonized this new world.

My favorite new faction is the Nautilus Pirates.They start with a unique advantage - they build their first city in the sea, and they can very quickly achieve dominance of Planet's oceans.

If you liked Alpha Centauri, it might be worth your effort to try to find a copy of Alien Crossfire.My only dream is that both discs will be released as a single package someday. Still one of my most played discs.One of my very highest recommendations. ... Read more

Features

• New multiplayer game for up to 7 players
• In-depth strategy game covering almost every aspect of real-world business
• Develop your own technology or acquire it from another company
• Choose from over 60 product types to manufacture and market
• Vivid 3D graphics show off a bustling city environment

Reviews (3)

Capitalism 2... It's unlike anything on the market!
I'd rather not bore you with a lengthy, sugar-coated review.If you are into business/tycoon games at all, and enjoy dealing with finances, the stock market, analyzing charts, etc. then this is the game for you!Like I said, when it comes to depth and addictiveness, It's unlike anything on the market, especially for $10!!

Awesome game!
I love this game!Great business simulation with many different ways to play.

Review abstracted by Capalive.com
Professor Thomas Kosnik,
Consulting Professor, Stanford School of Engineering, and Lecturer, Harvard Business School , Technology Today, CNBC-TV Cable
"Capitalism is a world class, hands-on learning experience which I've used at Stanford School of Engineering and Harvard Business School. Gamers not only learn the subtleties of growing an entrepreneurial business but also learn about leadership and team building necessary in any business situation." "Capitalism is very realistic and will allow the dynamics to change depending on whether you're selling a cola product, which is sort of a low tech-branded consumer good, or whether your selling consumer electronics or a PC."

Professor Drew Fudenberg
Harvard University
"This game does an excellent job of modeling many of the key aspects of modern business. Not all aspects of it are realistic, but enough of them are that many sensible strategies are encouraged. In particular it's gratifying to me to see that the game rewards thinking about sources of long-term competitive advantage, be it from brand recognition, low production costs gained from learning-by-doing (a nice touch!), a monopoly on high quality inputs, or a big technological lead."

Businessweek, October 21, 1996
Capitalism isn't just for those who aspire to be the next Michael Dell or Sam Walton. It can be a fun and useful exercise for anyone who wants to test their entrepreneurial mettle without, for once, taking any risk. Players can choose to compete against computer-controlled rivals in four different industries: farming, manufacturing, raw material mining, and retailing. For a truly adventurous and time-consuming game, players can mix and match industries as captains of giant conglomerates. As in the real world, players compete locally, in one city, or fight it out on the global stage.
With so many possibilities, Capitalism is an intense strategy game, much like chess, where players must constantly think ahead. As such, it could easily overwhelm novices. But by adjusting several factors--competency and managerial style of the computer-controlled rivals, for example, can be varied from very aggressive to conservative--gameplay can be suited to various styles and speed. The game even allows a player to hire presidents to manage the day-to-day operations of different divisions so the player can concentrate on the big picture.

Far Eastern Economic Review, September 26, 2002
The mass market isn't the only audience for Chan's games. Like Virtual U, Capitalism has made the leap from game room to classroom. Because of its high degree of realism, the game has been used by professors at institutions like Harvard and Stanford Universities to help students learn basic business principles. Chan is hoping that Restaurant Empire and Hotel Giant will also be adopted for training and education. "Simulation games are a fun way to learn about anything," he says. "They prove that computer games aren't just about shooting things but can also be educational."

CNN - 22nd May 2002
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN Correspondent
Some guys have all the luck. They have the billion dollar market cap, the brand, and the empire, while the rest of us spend our lives toiling away in cubicles with no chance to ever run the show. That is until now. Even the desk jockey can claw his way to the top in "Capitalism," the game.Hong Kong game developer Trevor Chan just released the follow-up to the award-winning original, but the objective is the same. Move your assets to turn an upstart into the most profitable company in the world. First-time players can choose a challenge like, the world in your hands, where you manage a research and development lab out to post annual revenues of $400 million, and as you take on the competition, that's when the real drama begins.But "Capitalism" is no Business 101. Critics call it a deep involving game that could test even the sharpest business document. In fact, it's been used as a simulation exercise for business students at Stanford University. ... Read more

Features

• All the new features included in the official Steam Service Pack 1 plus Passenger Service Pack 2 so you can now transport people to and from stations and set up train "portals" to generate new trains onto your route
• The powerful but easy to use Trainz Paintshed which lets you create new paint schemes for your locos and rolling stock in minutes
• The official TRS 2004 fan pack including logos and extra content so you can add Auran approved content and graphics to your personal Trainz fan site
• A huge bonus CD containing additional Australian content including locos, rolling stock and more

Amazon.com Product Description

Star Trek: Armada 2 is the sequel to the Star Trek real-time strategy title Star Trek: Armada. An innovative RTS, Star Trek: Armada 2 adds a new level of strategy and realism to the original by allowing players to command from a 3-D tactical view. Set in The Next Generation universe, the game's story unfolds through three single-player campaigns from the Federation, Klingon, and Borg perspective. Additionally, the Cardassians, Romulans, and Species 8472 will join the fray throughout.

The sequel also features more armada than before. Sweeping 3-D gameplay immerses gamers in a universe of space, supremacy, and survival with more ships, longer campaigns, and all-out battles. You can arrange fleets in many different 3-D formations with up to 16 ships, which dramatically affect strategic and tactical decisions. The outcome of every encounter depends on the player's ability to manage resources, crew, and fleets of ships across the galaxy.

Players command the fleets of three different races through three separate single-player campaigns for a total of 30 missions. Additionally, gamers can take control of six separate races in multiplayer mode. Each has divergent combat styles and tactical approaches. Other noncombatant aliens such as the Ferengi make for willing trade partners. Gamers become fully immersed in the explosive battles with the addition of the tactical view mode, a ship-to-ship combat viewer that allows you to control fleets from on top of the action. ... Read more

Reviews (261)

DO NOT BUY FROM VINDOR
this was a waste of money getting this game so far i have had to get this game replaced twice because the cd keys does not work do not buy this game you are throwing away your money

the best game ive ever known!!!!!!!!!
this game is almost the best game ever it all start's when your the federation and you have to beat the borg and find out how they got so deep into the alfa qoudrent without being detecded but when your klingon's you find out that the federation have been atact by the cardasien's and when your klingon it's time that you give them payback but i havent fineshed the game yet i bought it last year it was 50$

STAR TREK: STARFLEET COMMAND 3
Star Trek Starfleet Command 3.Could there ever be a better game?After you play this game, you will answer that question the smae way I did.No.In SFC3, you can play as Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Borg.From the sleek Soverign class vessel (U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-E) to the massive Borg Cube.Fire a variety of weapons, including Quantum Torpedoes, Phasers, Disruptors, and Gavemetiric Torpedoes.Beam you troops over on hit-and-run raids to disable enemy systems, or to attempt the impossible: take over the entire vessel.
Create fleets of up to five vessels, and gang up on small vessels.Invade enemy territory in missions ranging from Planetary Scan, Assulting defensless stardocks, or taking a suicidal run on an enemy starbase.
Launch Probes, cloak, use an anti-cloaking scan, launch specialized shuttles, an perform eratic manuvers.Manage your sheilds to prevent enemy boarding parties from completeing their mission.Name your ship, and create ships from the shows like the U.S.S. Defiant, and visit noted locations such as Sector 00,01 (Earth), Romulus, Remus, The Borg Homeworld, and the legendary home of th klingons, Q'ronos.
Engage in 4 epic campagins, icluding for all major star empires, The United Federation of Planets, The Kligon DefenseFleet,The Romulan Star Empire, and the Borg Collective.Or, you can just ignore polotics, and go on to conquer the galaxy.
Anyway, you can count on SFC3 being the best STAR TREK game ever.It is not worth the $90.00 it's being sold for, though, so buy it at a computer game store.Good Luck Conquering the galaxy.You can e-mail me if you have any questions about the game at comderbashir@yahoo.comJolan Tru

Star Trek Bridge Commander.
I've been playing Star Trek Bridge Commander for a while now after I purchased the game just a few years ago. The computer graphics are great if you like to take the Captain's Chair. This game requires some stragety and it's often difficult to play. I have to play this game a number of times before I can get through the next level. But if you are a extremely better gamer and love Star Trek this game is for you. If not don't buy this game if you are not satisified.

J'aimerais bien avoir ce jeu
Jai lu que le jeux était discontinué.

Je voudrais quand savoir ou je pourrais avoir ce jeux ... Read more

Reviews (12)

nice
You get to melee in Star Wars ships. That's essentially the point of this game. X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter includes melees such as free for all, ones with wingmen, in asteroid clusters, etc. There are also things like minecleaning and turkey shoot where you shoot at larger ships.
Balance of Power adds the B-wing to the list of ships, and campaign missions. Also, my favorite part of the game, it adds a 25 minute long turkey shoot that starts with cargo freighters and ends with a super star destroyer. The first time you see the size of it, you'll be happy you got the game.

Fun. Once I start playing, it's usually hours before I quit. Controls are good, too, though it takes a bit to memorize what keys do what.

GREAT GAME
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!???????????
ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FEEL LIKE YOUR MOVING IN YOUR LITTLE SHIP?

Probably, but it doesn't work to well. When you're first playing the game, it can be confusing and you can get "Lost in Space".
Why?
Because, first of all, all of the controls are new to you and you don't know what is what in the cockpit. So if you turn, your facing a [blank] picture of space - and you can't find your way back to the battle. But you get used to it. But it's still annoying!

So why did I give this game five stars?
Because EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, (and a little more at the bottom) IT'S GREAT! YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE YOU'RE THERE! ONCE YOU KNOW THE CONTROLS AND WHAT EVERYTHING MEANS, YOU'RE HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME, YOU DON'T GET OFF TILL MIDNIGHT!

G-R-E-A-TG-A-M-E-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GET IT!

WARNING: If you don't currently have a joystick, don't get the game! It requires a joystick to play! (I had to go through that, and it wasn't fun.)

OMG!!!!!! if you dont own this u r CRAZY!!!!!!!
THIS GAME RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IT IS NOT JUST 4 STAR WARS FANS!!!!IF U LIKE PILOT GAMES IT IS 4 U!!!!!IF U LIKE STAR WARS IT IS 4 U!!!!!THIS GAME INTRODUCES THE SUPER STAR DESTROYER, MAKING UP 4 THE TINY ISD'S.and u can download ship path's and fly awesome fighters like TIE defenders and missile boats, 2 name a few.GET THIS GAME!!!!!!

This game ROCKS!
ill keep it short and brief, the critics who blast this game dont know what their talking about, this game is one of the bes tive ever, played. IF youre thinking about buying it DO SO!!!!!

Awesome! I hail this game!
This game is totally awesome! It really puts you into the Star Wars universe like Battle for Naboo and Rogue Squadron did. The controls are good for a game like this. I give this game 5 stars! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

As a member of the Rebel Alliance, climb into the cockpit of an X-wing and battle the Empire for freedom as you fly against deadly TIE fighters and menacing Star destroyers. Fight in three combat tours of duty, including two add-on tours of duty: Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing. You'll pilot three spacecraft with full instrumentation and 17 cockpit views per craft and dodge the weapons of the evil Empire in both deep space and on surface missions. Includes X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter: Flight School with 14 playable levels. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The best game ever made. period.
TIE Fighter, even now, is, simply put, the best computer game ever made. Other people might say it's Civ II, and some would say that it wasoutclassed by Freespace or Wing Commander, but they are mistaken. TIEFighter had a story. Not just a "we've been attacked, go and shootthem back" story but a very deep story, which involved the pilot.Furthermore, it had original missions. It wasn't just "go shootthem" or "help defend us", you do things like flying escort,scouting, recon, spying, etc. Well, basically, go look at PCGamer's reviewof it and rating, and see what other games have gotten better ratings thanit. one has, and they're wrong. That having been said, this is basicallyTIE Fighter (and X-Wing, another respectable game) with updated graphics.They didn't put on Xwing versus TIE Fighter's truly awful control orinterface, all they did was update the graphics. The result is that now thebest game ever made has graphics to suit. No real computer gamer can affordto be without this.

All Time Classics
Even in their original forms, both of these games have been on my hard drive since they first game out.With the exception of Elite, the StarWars games were the first space sims to feel like you were actually flyingin a 3D environment, not playing a 2D arcade game (sorry Wing Commanderfans).Add 2 fantastic Star Wars story lines (both well fleshed out in therespective strategy guides), a chance to sample the overall lacklustersequel, updated graphics, and win 95 funtionality for under $20, and youcan't go wrong.Freespace fans, check out the originals, and pick upAlliance.Its nice to see the series back on track.

All that's missing is Ben Kenobi whispering in your ear...
This collection of all the X-wing titles (before Tie Fighter) is a great value, and an excellent introduction into the wonderful world of Rebel dogfighting.The sound effects, the graphics, the atmosphere--all of itevokes images of your favorite space battles in the Star Wars movies.Youget to start slow, and work your way up to the really tough missions--andyou'll need the time to learn, trust me!Quite simply one of the mostall-around enjoyable games I've ever played. ... Read more

Product Description

As well as the Career challenge, you'll be able to jump staight into a 4WD championship, take on a single rally or individual stage, and then take on the world in online rallies with up to 8 players.The all-new stages feature interactive scenery, so if you push too hard and hit a tree (or when, to be more accurate), you'll see it shudder from the impact and drop leaves from the branches. Collisions will also result in a dazed effect, where your vision will be blurred for a very short period ... Read more

Features

• Over 30 featured cars, from the Volkswagen Golf MK5, Toyota Celica GT-FOUR, and Alfa Romeo 147 GTA to the Lancia Stratos, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, Peugeot 206, 205 T16 Evo2 and the distinctive VW Beetle RSi
• 4-wheel drive, 2-wheel drive 4-wheel Classics, Super 2-wheel, Rear Wheel, Distinctive and 4x4 classics
• Non-linear Career Challenge, with over 20 individual rally events and over 300 stages
• Race in 9 international locations, with 8 stages each in the UK, Sweden, the US, Finland, Australia, Spain, Greece, and Japan
• Incredible detail, as individual damage models recreate everything down to paintwork scrapes and post-crash dazed visual effect

Reviews (5)

Great Game, But The Path Getting To Play It Is Not Great
The good news is this is a great game. There are a great number of races and cars available. The physics relative to the tracks and cars are excellent. Although I have spent only about 10 hours playing this game, I can see many hours of enjoyment from the challenges and graphics it provides.

The bad news is it may take you a while to figure out how to get it to work with the computer hardware you have. It took me several hours. This is the reason I gave it a 4 rather than a 5 star rating. Before purchasing this game you can go to www.codemasters.com and download a demo. As I have not done this I am not certain how it compares to the retail game.

If you purchase this game and run into technical problems, the web site Codemasters provides does not have a menu item for technical support. You can get to a web forum with people going crazy over trying to figure out the problems they are having though. If you have problems typing the word "support" in the search box they have will get you to a form for technical support. I have no experience with what kind of response that would provide.

A summary of some of the problems I encountered are given in the text below. If you are going to be using a keyboard to play this game I would suggest skipping the rest of this message. If you are going to be using a wheel, the length of the following comments might seem to be discouraging.

On this I would say if you were to put in to words the steps it took to get into a car, start it, back it out of your driveway and point it in the direction you wanted to go, you would be surprised at the length of the description. Although there are a lot of details about getting the game to work they are not any more complicated than that.

The computer hardware I am using: 2.4ghz Intel; 1.5 gig Ram; ATI 9600XT (128 Meg), and the old (Red) Logitech Momo Racing Wheel.

For some reason the default brake/accelerator setting was set to digital rather than analog.

The default dead zone for steering is set with some play. This must be set to zero. The default zero line was slightly off center on my setup, but could be moved by turning the wheel one way or the other. Doing this would not get it centered exactly, but getting it close and hitting the down arrow worked.

A steering sensitivity set about 60 percent off the center line provided the best response for my hardware/preference.

Changes made to the wheel setting do not go into effect until you exit the game and come back. If you would like to race with the old settings before exiting to get the new ones, the program will let you do that.

Before starting a race you have to go through several menus using the left and right arrows followed by the "Enter" on the keyboard to make menu selections. During this process you might find the keyboard stops working. For me it was after selecting something other than the default car. Moving the highlight on menu selections after that point must be done by rotating the wheel left or right and back to center for each move. The handbrake rather than the enter key is used to make the selected menu item.

After going though all that you might find difficulty in steering the car. I suspect this is a problem many people have attempting to steer the car with experience from the physics used by other games or what is expected from the experience of the real thing.

The natural thing to do with a game like this is to attempt to drive very fast sliding sideways around the curves the first time you are out the gate. The first time you attempt to do this you will find the software does not adjust to the crazy stuff you are attempting to do, and it should not. While it might be very hard to do, driving very very slow for two or maybe three stages and keeping the car on the road will give you the knowledge about the software physics aiding in developing faster sideway skills you will be proud of.

Rich

Bait and Switch
The game gave me about $5.00 worth of irritation which I will vent here. After buying the game which advertises 30 something cars and 100 or more race courses, you will find that you will either have to "earn" access to the majority of these or pay another $5.00 or so to Codemasters to unlock them. My only other complaint to this otherwise terrific game is that the wheel setup is hard to figure out, but eventually by trial and error it works properly. Good software should be common sense to implement instead of guesswork. I bought a Thrustmaster FF Enzo Wheel and had to get a new driver from Thrustmaster (FFB_DRV_1_0_3) so Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 would work with the wheel. Bottom line, I wasn't too happy having to spend a few hours to get things working and have to pay extra for what is advertised in the game description. One more thing, Codemasters warns you that if you uninstall the game you will lose the extras. That would mean going online again, getting the 8 codes, paying another $5.00, and then reentering them again to unlock the game features. The work-around is to save the entire game folder AND the registry settings, and swap them back in after reinstall. You shouldn't have to go through all this to make software function properly.

Good game...
This game is challenging and fast paced. The co-driver calling out continuous verbal directions adds a whole new element compared to other visual type racing games. This game has rallies in 9 different countries with a total of 76 stages and over 30 different cars, so you can play for hours and never see the same stage. The reasons I didn't give Colin Mcrae Rally 2005 a five-star rating are: The game will not allow me to navigate the menu with anything other than the steering wheel/pedals, which didn't occur until after I configured my "wheel" for this game. This is very frustrating, since the instruction booklet only gives reference to the menu functions being controlled by the keyboard that ceases to function after configuring the "wheel", creating a trial and error button pushing malfunction-fest. This is probably a leftover of the console (game pad) to PC (no game pad) conversion. The other problem I encountered is the fact that this game has many obstacles that are deliberately placed specifically to crash you. For example, immoveable posts alongside of many roadways and also bushes that although wispy and transparent, stops the car dead while others have no effect and can be driven through. Although some may argue that this adds to the challenge, I feel that it just adds frustration. Overall, this game is very entertaining.

Best rally sim on planet
Colin McRae 2005 is without as doubt the very best rally sim ever crafted by humans.

The system specs for the PC version are printed on the box. Read them.

The XBox and PC versions are virtually identical save for the flexibility and extra resolutions on PC.

The physics model is less exacting than Richard Burns Rally but far more so than Rallisport Challenge 2, very meaty and real for the sim purist yet fast, fun and accessible for the gamer.

I simply can't reccomend this masterwork highly enough.

Not for laptops!
I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 with a 64m GeFx4200 Go card and this game is unplayable, even at the lowest settings.The keyboard and mouse controls become unresponsive, as do some of the wheel buttons.This is the response I got from the manufacturer:
>Thank you for submitting your recent request to Codemasters Customer
>Services concerning Colin McRae Rally 2005. Your query was dealt with by
>Paul.
>
>Colin McRae Rally 2005 has not been developed for, nor tested on, laptop
>computers. The reason for this is that most video and sound card companies
>sacrifice DirectX compliance for compactness and portability. Due to this,
>these manufacturers do not offer drivers that are optimized for Direct3D
>games, which means that you may have limited success in running Colin McRae
>Rally 2005 properly.
>
>The only thing we can suggest that you try is to make sure that you have the
>latest drivers for all of the laptop's hardware from the manufacturers
>website. We are, unfortunately, unable to offer any more support than this.
>
>If you need further assistance, please reply to this email and INCLUDE THIS
>LINE IN YOUR REPLY:-
>
>{|CALLID|}=00767473
>
>Or include the entire text of this email.
>
>Regards
>Codemasters Customer Services

Gamestop is not responding to my request for a return, so now I am out $20.Beware ... Read more

Product Description

Crusader Kings ... Read more

Features

• Play as any of the legendary religious orders -the Knights Templars, Knights of St John, The Order of Calatrava and the Order of Santiago
• Fight in the Crusades to earn rewards from the Pope, defend against the Mongols and make deals with the feudal lords and bishops that rule the various provinces
• Even plays games that were saved & converted to Europa Universalis II -- for gameplay that lasts through the centuries

Reviews (1)

Poor User's Manual hurts a good game
So far this is a very good game, but very frustrating, because the user manual is pathetic.I'm still not sure what some of the information icons mean.This really detracts from the play, since the first three days I had the game, I was still trying to figure it out.
If you don't mind trying to figure out how the game actually works, and you enjoy strategy games, then this is a pretty good buy.

There are several new nuances that are new to the strategy game genre - how to keep your blood lines going during the plague.What happens if your only son is Schizo, or your wife is infertile.

Do not expect to dive into the game and take over the world - It is not a military strategy game.Just like in real life, you aren't going to conquer everyone.It is a game of nuances. ... Read more