Not to be confused with Halo.

And, once again, I return to that wonderful gaming platform, the iPhone/iTouch. That’s right readers, another iGame review. This time, I’m talking about Eliminate Pro, the new online 4-player FPS that just came out. Also, its free. Kinda.

First off, what is Eliminate? As previously mentioned, its a iPhone first-person shooter. The quality of the game is way up there – some of the nicest graphics on the iPhone, especially considering that it’s running online with 4 players. There are 5 maps and a total of 6 weapons, 5 of which need to be unlocked, as do a variety of armor types. Weapon and armor attributes, like rate of fire and speed are also upgradable. You play up to four players online, with a matchmaking system based on skill ratings to provide as fair a match as possible. Private games are also available, which is nice for when you want to play some people you actually know. There is also an offline mode, but it’s somewhat limited, allowing you to play against 3 computer opponents, but it doesn’t allow much customization.

Gameplay is awesome – the maps are pretty small, so the action is pretty frantic, and fun. A variety of powerups, including heath regeneration, invisibility, superspeed, damage increase, and the always fun jet pack are scattered around the maps, adding to the chaos. Controls work well, with your left thumb working movement, and right thumb aiming, with tap to fire. Those used to playing console first person shooters should easily adapt.

So, I mentioned before you need to unlock and upgrade things. And you do that through credits, which you earn through playing games online. And thats where the monetary aspect of the game comes it. The game itself, as I said, is free. But unless you have “energy” while playing, you won’t earn any credits, which are used to unlock weapons, armor, and upgrades. You’re given a free energy recharge every four hours for about 3 games or so, but after that, if you want to play AND earn credits to upgrade (you CAN still play for fun), you need to buy energy through the in-app purchasing system. Personally, I can understand why they run the system this way, since its the only way to support the game and keep it free, but I can’t say I’m a fan of the nickel and diming.

However, even without energy, the game is still fun, and that’s what counts in the end. And since it’s well, free, I suppose I can’t really argue against it. Check it out on iTunes here. (Note: iTunes Link)

The coolest box ever.

There are a few apps on my computer that get the honor of running full time – things like iTunes, Tweetie…. and Dropbox. As the name somewhat implies, Dropbox is free online storage– 2 GB, to be exact. After a brief sign up on the site, you now own your personal Dropbox which you can upload to and download from via the Web, as well as add and delete files.

But perhaps the coolest part is their desktop app. Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, it’s basically a folder as well as a mini-app which syncs all info when opened. Simple, really. And, being a folder, it acts like a folder – easy to use.

This synchronization is the highlight purpose of Dropbox. Personally, I use it to keep certain files available to me everywhere – a few of my favorite songs, a couple important school notes, some of my pictures – the stuff I want to have at my fingertips at all times. Dropbox shines in this regard – because of the whole folder system. Add an mp3 to my Dropbox on my Mac, and I can get it from my Window’s netbook on the go. Need to go over those notes on my way to school? There’s an iPhone/iTouch app, so you’re covered there too. At school, and need that important essay you wrote? Just use the website. It’s pretty awesome. Also, there’s the ability to make a file Public – so you can pass a download link to your friends if they need a file from you. And again, it’s all free.

You start with 2 GB and can upgrade that to up to 3 GB by referring people. The Desktop apps are free, iPhone app’s free – its pretty sweet, and highly recommended.

Now, those of you who DESPERATELY need more then the 2-3 GB? You can upgrade to 50 or 100 GB at $10 or $20 a month respectively – if, say, you need to have your whole computer with you everywhere.

So – interested? Check out Dropbox here. (iPhone App here [Note - iTunes Link])

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the most anticipated titles of the year and the sequel to the critically acclaimed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, which was one of the launch titles for the PS3. We will be reviewing the single player and multiplayer separately. Read on for the review of the single player and some first thoughts to see if we think this is a game worth getting.

You wake up and look around. Then with a shake you are thrown out from your seat and onto the back of a train hanging off the side of a snowy mountain. Unless you want to die, you are forced to climb up the back of the train to get to terra firma. And this is only the tutorial of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

To say that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves looks like a movie is an understatement. You feel like you are IN a movie. I haven’t played such seamless integration of game play and cinematics since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Speaking of cinematics, they are gorgeous. The graphics in this game could easily be the best graphics in a game this year, and arguably all-time. There were times when I saw stunning vistas of mountains and my jaw dropped. It was like actually being there in Nepal right alongside Nathan Drake.

Onto game play, which is great and fun. The mix of shooting, platforming, and puzzle-solving work together perfectly. The shooting works great– I was able to land headshots on bad guys from 3 rooftops away. The cover system also works fantastically, and one thing Naughty Dog improved on Uncharted was stealth and combat. The stealth is much better and if you love Metal Gear Solid, like me, then these stealth levels will be a treat for you, just like they were for me. The combat also works great as you can go from shooting under cover to beating up a baddie seamlessly.

Three things that made this game stand out were things that make this game so unique was the voice acting, active cinematics, and the camera direction. That’s right, I said the camera direction. It was so incredible the way the camera moved, it really made you feel that you weren’t playing a video game, but instead an action-packed blockbuster movie.

And the voice acting is another thing that makes this game feel like a movie. The characters talk to each to other during fights with things that give you the feeling that these characters have known each other a long time and it gives them a backstory. The little quips and comebacks that the characters fired at each other while taking on a helicopter were funny and seemed right out of a blockbuster movie.

Lastly, what’s active cinematics you ask? Here’s an example: You are in a tall building which just got hit by a rocket and is crumbling down towards the ground with you in it. Instead of the game cutting to a cinematic, you are in full control of Nathan Drake and having that control, you have him jump to an adjacent building for safety. Instead of what would usually be cinematics, you play instead.

By itself, the single-player of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is truly an incredible experience. Add a truly addicting multiplayer and co-op, and you have a possible game of the year in your hands.  Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a must-own if you have a PS3 and if you don’t have one, go get one, because this is an incredible game. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gets a much deserved 5/5.

A well deserved 5

A couple of weeks ago we wrote a little preview post on EA’s upcoming successor to their hit Need for Speed racing franchise: Need for Speed Shift. Over the past couple weeks,  we got a chance to review the game, and as far as adding this racing game to your holiday wish list, we gotta say– one of the best racing games we’ve ever played. It really is a great racing game. Read on for a full review.

Graphics

This is where Need for Speed really shines. The graphics– on everything from the sick cars (we’re talking BMW’s, Ashton Martin’s, Lamborghini’s etc.) to the actually driving and looks of the tracks and other cars as you drive– is absolutely amazing. It really looks that great and is one of the best features of the game.

Gameplay

This is another fantastic part of the game. Using a racing wheel –not required (regular Xbox 360 controller works too, though not as well in my opinion) but I highly recommend for better control and overall experience–really replicates the true driver feel, the new cockpit view is fantastic (as are the other views too), and the new “Dynamic Crash” system was also put to good use here. Overall, a great racing experience.

Furthermore there’s the new Driver Profile. Kinda like Madden IQ in my opinion, giving you tougher races as you progress through the game, it really was well done and a fun incentive to play: the better, more aggressive/precise  your driving (such as bumping other riders by forcing them out of your way, staying along the green line in front of you and making smooth turns), the more points you get and the faster you increase your Driver Level.

There also is a Career mode, which I found to be just OK. It definitely was fun, but it left a lot to be desired such as more control on the driver, being able to do more things like control sponsorships etc. Overall though, the Career Mode was pretty solid, allowing you to build a nice amount of tricked-out cars to race.

Now here is my biggest gripe with Need for Speed– the load times. This was just annoying. 2 (very long feeling) minutes every time for a race to load is way to much in my opinion, and really hurt the experience. The game still played well once loaded, but still, the wait times are too much.

Wrap-Up

In the end, this is still a great racing game, and one of the best racing games we’ve ever played. From a strict racing point of view, it provides a great experience that with a racing wheel, really gives off a driving in the car experience. Whether you’re a big racing junkie or just someone look for a cool, fun game to play this holiday season, we really recommend Need for Speed Shift.

If it weren’t for the long wait times, and other minor issues like a simple career mode, we would give Need for Speed Shift a perfect 5 out of 5. But even taking those into account, we still really love EA’s next version of this hit series, are going to give it a Very Good 4 out of 5 rating.

We give Need for Speed Shift a very good 4 out of 5 rating.

So there’s our review and we wanna know your thoughts. If you have this game, you like it? Also, what kinda of games are looking to get this holiday season, be it racing or another type? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Need for Speed Shift is out now for the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and PSP and you can order it now from EA’s site here.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the most anticipated titles of the year and the sequel to the critically acclaimed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, which was one of the launch titles for the PS3. We will be reviewing the single player and multiplayer separately. Read on for the review of the multiplayer and some first thoughts to see if we think this is a game worth getting.

And I answer, WOW. That’s the word I kept repeating while playing the multiplayer of Uncharted. It’s that good. There were times where my jaw literally dropped from what I was seeing on the screen. Tanks, helicopters shooting machine gun fire at me, all while I’m taking cover from 5 opponents shooting at me. You would think with so many things happening, there must be some problems like lag or the graphics might suffer. Never while I was playing did I see any lag whatsoever, and the environments were absolutely stunning. Whether I was in the freezing mountains of the Himalayas or in a sacred temple with varying heights, the graphics were outstanding. Also, the different ways you can play this game is great. You can sneak up behind a person and take him or out, or you can climb up to a sniper point and snipe all your opponents.

There are many modes for you to play, such as team deathmatch, plunder– Uncharted’s take on Capture the Flag – but most impressively for the multiplayer version, co-op multiplayer. Since Naughty Dog, the game’s publisher, didn’t want to include a split screen co-op, they included a co-op where you can join your friends online and all play certain levels from the game together, as a single team against the computer. The coolest part of it is that all the features from the single player are available, such as scaling walls to reach a specific room in a building. And while the environment is the same as in single player, the enemies are far more numerous and can come from anywhere and everywhere. Communication is a must here, so be prepared to talk when playing unless you want an early death. This also serves a real good warm-up for novices who aren’t quite ready to join deathmatches but want to later on.

Another cool game mode is Survival mode, taken from Gears of War’s horde mode. You and a couple of friends essentially have to fight wave after wave of bad guys, who get harder with each wave. Oh, and a little thing for all you Call of Duty fans out there, you can buy perks which give you special abilities like reloading faster.

Overall, the multiplayer is so well done and polished it could have been sold by itself. If you are a lover of multiplayer games or just a plain gamer then you must own this game. If you’re not much of a multiplayer fan, or just want to play the single player, stay tuned for our full review of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves next week.

Pix from IGN.com

RUN! IT’S A MOBLIN!

Alright, so chances are, if you’ve used a computer in the past few years, you’ve heard of the basic factions of operating systems – Mac, and Windows. Chances are you’ve used both over the years. But, there is a third major OS – Linux, which I for one, and I’m guessing that many of you as well, haven’t had a chance to use. Now, unlike the Mac or Windows, Linux comes in tons of varieties. But the one I’ll be focusing on here is Moblin, which Intel is involved in, and we had the chance to see at IDF this year.

Moblin is designed specifically built for netbooks running Intel’s Atom processor. Right now, only a handful of systems are fully supported, mine not being one of them, so not everything worked perfectly. Also, hesitant to sacrifice my computer to Moblin just yet, I only ran it off a flash drive, which may have accounted for some of my issues.

First off, I’d like to talk about the main page – the myzone. As you can see in the screenshot above, it’ll show you your calendar, social network updates (right now: twitter and last.fm), and in the middle, recently viewed files, sites, and media. It’s basically your home base.

Next is the status tab, which lets you update your statuses on twitter, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, etc. The people tab is your IM window/Contact list. From here, you can IM friends, email, video chat (which actually worked, surprisingly).

Moblin has a built in browser, but has support for other applications as well, including Firefox. Moblin has an application database of free, combatible Apps in an Application called Moblin Garage, which was just added in the 2.1 update, still in beta

I wasn’t able to try out media so well, since it refused to work on my netbook – whether due to imcombatibility or flash drive issues, I have yet to discover.

Pasteboard is the next tool in the userbar (for lack of a better term). It’s copy and paste on steroids basically. Remembers history for copy/paste. Finally there’s the application tab, which has the rest of the, well, applications, which include a Word Processor (which is fine for taking notes), some built in games, (yes, there is Solitaire and Minesweeper), IMing, File Browser (like Finder/Explorer on Mac/Windows), among others. Basically everything you need for a quick, light, computing experience.

Last, there’s Zone, kinda like Spaces on a Mac, which allows you to have multiple applications open while keeping them organized.

So, overall – Moblin. It’s fun, light, and interesting. Nice to use. But I’m still gonna recomend, at least for casual users, NOT to install it just yet. There are still some issues to be worked out, and while nice, consider whether you’d REALLY like to wipe out Windows just for it. And as of right now, I haven’t managed to find a way to dual boot Windows with Linux yet, but if it’s possible, then its a whole different story.

BUT – Moblin is cool and fun to use. And if you’d REALLY like to try it out, tune in later this week – I’ll be posting a how-to on using Moblin on your computer without wiping it out. Not for the meek, but for those who simply MUST try it, it’ll be there soon.

Anyone out there use Moblin already? What’re you thoughts? Sound off in the comments.

The Zune HD

For the last week or so we were able to spend some good ‘ol time with Microsoft’s sweet new Zune HD. It really is a slick device– OLED multi-touch 3.3 inch touchscreen with amazing display (thanks to NVIDIA Tegra graphics), sleek design, thin aluminum casing, built in WiFi, and of course, the HD features of HD radio and the ability to play your videos in HD with the optional HD playback kit.

So if your looking for a new device and have to choose between say, this and the iPod touch 3rd gen, which should you go with? The answer, my friends, is after the break.

Design

As we all know, Apple didn’t really change the iPod touch’s design– really at all–in their new fall iPod refresh. No new camera like the Nano, no built in mic– same old machine just with a slightly bigger battery and bigger storage options.

The Zune HD on the other hand, well that is a WHOLE different story. Ever since it first was announced, the Zune HD seemed to be a beautifully designed device. And after playing with it the past week– I cannot agree more. It’s thin, feels great when you hold it, extremely light and easy to take around, and well, just awesome looking. It all around just looks fantastic, in my opinion as nice or even possibly better than the iPod touch (which let’s be honest– as nice as it is–hasn’t really changed that much since it first got announced back in 2007).

However, some dedicated volume keys on the side of the device like the iPod would be helpful: I constantly needed to push the same side button–shaped like a volume rocker– to access all my playback and quickplay controls (i.e. play/pause, fast forward, rewind and volume, and so on). Also, because you need to use the touchscreen to manipulate these controls, you can’t simply skip a song or raise the volume, for example, while its in your pocket.

Overall, the Zune HD is a big step up from the previous 2 generations of Zune, and something we definitely look forward to see more of in upcoming Zune devices.

The 3 generations of Zune– wow, have they gotten A LOT better with age

UI and Device Software

Ok, now let’s move on to the UI and software found on the Zune HD itself. Microsoft again took an interesting approach to the Zune HD here as well. You see, unlike the iPod touch which is like a pocket computer, the Zune HD is designed to be more of a great media device as Microsoft puts it. Yes you get apps– such as for right now some games like Hexic and Texas Hold’em as well as a calculator and weather app, with some more apps like Project Gotham Racing 3, Facebook and Twitter on the way by the end of the year; but Microsoft has not announced any real plans for an app store, and instead is working either in house or with select groups to make apps for the Zune HD and rolling them out as they see fit. Apps are also ad supported, meaning when you open up say, Texas Hold’em, you’ll be greeted with a brief 15-30 second ad. When I spoke with a Zune rep they said this is just to keep games free and will not be used in the calculator and other utility apps. It’s annoying but if it means I don’t have to pay money for games, I’m willing to deal with it.

In short, your not gonna buy this for the ability to download 75,000+ apps like you would an iPod touch.

Texas Hold’em on the Zune HD

Same goes for the web browser. While the web browser is great, and something we hope is brought to Windows Mobile ASAP to replace the standard version of mobile Internet Explorer (which is currently pretty pathetic in comparison), don’t expect the Zune HD to give you the same web browsing experience as the iPod touch. You get favorites, multi-touch pinch to zoom and the like, but no tabs or history– and while it loads pages extremely well and is easy to navigate, it’s still no mobile Safari. The focus here is the media.

The Zune HD browser vs the iPhone’s. I’ll take the iPhone’s please.

And the media really is a place where the Zune HD shines. The experience is great. Music sounds great, video and pix look fantastic on the widescreen 16:9 format the Zune is designed in, and navigation also is pretty great. The menus take a little getting used to, but the learning curve is really quick (what should help– to back out of menus, you just tap the big letters are the top of the screen). Your music, movies and pix are all stored in simple, easy ways to navigate and there are also some really cool features in the music playback as well. For example, when connected to the internet, it automatically finds and displays things like bio information about the artist, related artists, and pix when in the artists page. Pretty cool.

Controlling Playback on Zune HD

Another great feature, called Pins, appears on the left side of your homescreen and displays your recently opened and favorite sites, recently opened apps, and recently added music and pix. Oh, and all your recently added music are automatically put into a “new” playlist, a little detail I happen to love; I sometimes forget some of the new songs I add to my iPod and it really annoys me because, well, I wanted to listen to it and can’t find it– this should definitely help with that problem.

There is also a built in HD and FM radio (HD radio being higher quality, better sounding radio), a great battery (listed at around 33 hours of music playback with WiFi off, or 8.5 hours of video), as well as the ability to sync your Zune wirelessly with your PC over WiFi, though when I tested the Zune HD out, I didn’t get a good chance to fully test these out. Two downsides with the Zune HD’s media playback– unlike the iPod touch: there’s no built in speaker for playing without headphones, and no Bluetooth for using with wireless headphones.

Ok, now that the device is covered, let’s move to the Zune desktop software.

Zune Software

This is Microsoft’s answer to iTunes, and like the Zune HD itself, it answers iTunes in a big way. Just like you get smart playlists in iTunes called Genius and Genius Mixes, you get them in the Zune as well in the form of Smart DJ’s. Microsoft takes it one step further though: if you purchase their $15-per-month Zune Pass music subscription service (where you get  unlimited access to all music on the Zune Marketplace with the ability to keep 10 songs each month whether or not you keep the Zune Pass) it’ll search the Marketplace while your listening and play the songs it thinks you might like.

Again, pretty sweet, and the Zune Pass is a definite selling point of the Zune experience. You can even use Zune Pass right from the Marketplace app on the Zune HD to download songs, charts, and albums straight to your Zune (again assuming you got WiFi). And I love the ability to not just download all the music I want for $15 a month, but that I can even keep 10 of the songs FOREVER each month as well. As of now, Apple doesn’t offer a subscription model like this (sad but true), so if you download a ton of music each month or like the ability to download all the music you want without racking up a huge bill, you should definitely look Zune in this department.

The Zune Software also offers things like Mixview, which is a cooler version of Cover Flow, and its Zune Marketplace functions similar to the iTunes store, oh, and then of course we got this HD part of the device.

So you got a Zune HD, the Zune Software for your PC (sorry any Mac owners into this device– Zune only works PC. Why Microsoft doesn’t release a Mac version of the software I don’t know), and an Xbox 360. Say you buy a movie on your PC, and then transfer to your Zune, but also want to be able to watch it off your 360 on the HDTV. No worries, seeing as how the Zune Marketplace is now also on the 360, you just go to the movie on the 360, log in with your account and download (or stream) in AMAZING 1080P. Don’t worry about being charged double– its all part of Microsoft’s “3 screen system” and in my opinion is a pretty solid idea. If you’d rather just play your video off the Zune rather than redownloading to a 360– you can do that too, either by connecting your Zune to the 360 or buying the $90 HD dock (which works pretty nicely as well– presenting everything from menus to video in great, clear 720P HD).

The Zune HD playing on an HDTV using the HD dock

Wrap Up

Overall, I really like the Zune HD. It’s a great media device and if you’re not into the whole app thing and want a solid simple device that plays back your music, movies and pix in a great, cool way on the go, then look no further than the Zune HD as it’s got it all here. And if your big on music and like having “all you can eat” for only $15 a month, then well the Zune HD and Zune Pass are for you. I’m really excited for this “new” evolution in the Zune platform, and really can’t wait for the next gen of Zune devices to see what they got next. If you are though looking for a lot of apps and a more full featured web browser on your media player, then for now I’d still say that the iPod touch is the way to go.

While the lack of an app store, no speaker or Bluetooth, and the not as great web browser keep the Zune HD from overthrowing the reigning king of media players– the iPod touch– it does put up a fair fight as a great media player (which is what Microsoft is aiming for), and I’m happy to give the Zune HD a very good 4 out of 5 rating.

We give the Zune HD a very good 4 out of 5

So what you think– Zune HD or iPod touch this year? Sound off in the comments.

The Zune HD is available now in 16 GB and 32 GB black and white version for $219 and $289 respectively, and both are out now.You can also customize the Zune HD in a bunch of colors and designs by checking out the Zune Originals  site here.

The Intel Classmate Tablet PC and regular laptop style Classmate PC

So taking a regular laptop or netbook to school is great (I love using my HP Mini netbook everyday — so much easier to take around school), but sometimes you want something a little more durable, or maybe something that gives you the ability to use a touchscreen and “write notes” (or doodle). Intel, not usually known for designing whole computers themselves, actually has designed a small tablet like PC that lets you do just that– full keyboard to take notes, or twist the screen and just write on the touchscreen, and even a bigger more traditional netbook style Classmate if you want all the ruggedness without the touchscreen.

Here at IDF we got to spend a couple of minutes with the Classmate, and overall, were very impressed and found the Classmate to be a very cool idea. Pix and full details after the break.

The more “normal” netbook looking Classmate PC

Ok, so actually right now there are 2 Classmate PC’s — one tablet (8.9 inch screen), and one “normal” style laptop (10 inch screen). Both are designed for students (mainly those in the K-8th grade area– but hey, I wouldn’t mind a cheap, solid touchscreen PC), and since they’re designed for younger ages, they are rugged (meaning don’t worry about this dropping from your desk or hand to the floor and cracking in half), have waterproof keyboards (remember how many times you or a friend spilled something in 2nd grade), and even has a handle for carrying it around — something you don’t see everyday.

Spec’s wise this is pretty much like your normal netbook — 1 GB RAM (upgradeable to 2GB), Windows XP, 1.6 GHZ Intel Atom processor, and either a 30 GB hard drive (for the traditional laptop design) or a 60 GB hard drive (tablet design). You also get some specially designed software– such as theft deterrent software (more on this coming soon from IDF, but basically it allows you to disable your PC so the thief can’t get to your data) and depending on where you buy, a lot of dedicated education apps like a textbook reader (seen below– no more carrying around 50lb books!), a webcam, and, on the tablet — you even get an accelerometer (like in the iPhone, iPod Nano and iPod touch which means that when you flip the iPod on its side, the screen rotates) and a resistive touchscreen (meaning you need to use the included pen like stylus to really make good use of the touchscreen. You can still use your fingers to draw or write — it just doesn’t work as well as the stylus as it isn’t designed like the more finger friendly capacitive touchscreens found on the iPhone and iPod touch).

Reading a textbook on the Classmate Tablet PC

We really liked using the Classmate in the brief moments that we had them, and even though we found them to be a little bit heavy, the keyboard on the tablet a little small (though it is designed for hands much smaller than mine), and not as stylish as say a MacBook, they definitely seemed to be something we wouldn’t mind using in school everyday.

Here’s the bad part though — Intel doesn’t actually sell them to individual customers. Instead they’re designed more for schools to buy and distribute. You can buy them online though if you can find them (try checking out the link here for the tablet. ), and when you do want to buy, say, only 1 for you instead of, say 20 for a whole class — it is pretty expensive at $499.99 to start. There is said to be a new 10 inch tablet Classmate coming sometime early next year, so maybe things will change a little bit by then.

Oh, and if you really are into this design like I am, and are looking for a new netbook, try looking for the ASUS Eee T91 which we wrote about back in January — it’s also $499, but offers a bigger hard drive than the Classmate PC tablet (the standard netbook hard drive: 160 GB), has the ability to add in Bluetooth and TV (pretty sweet), and is designed for an individual to purchase.

You can learn more about the Intel Classmate PC at Intel’s site here.

Recently we had the chance to review G.I Joe the Rise of Cobra video game for Xbox 360. Our thoughts? In short, it’s a solid game if you’re a fan of the series in general, but its definitely not the Call of Duty or Halo experience, if that’s what you’re looking for. Read on for the full review.

First let’s give a little background on the game. The game starts where the movie left off– Baroness escaping from the Joes and with the evil group Cobra capturing Heavy Duty on in the process. You, playing as main G.I. Joe Duke, then go on missions rescuing other Joe members like aforementioned Heavy Duty, Ripcord etc. (all of whom you can eventually choose as a playable character after you save them), as well as fight the evil Cobra all over– in locations ranging from snowy mountains to Egypt to other movie hotspots.

Now to the game.

As mentioned above, G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra (made by EA Games with Paramount Pictures) is no intense shooting game by any stretch. For casual gamers though, it might fair a little better. My main disappointment with this game has to be the controls: even when on “Advanced” difficulty, you wanna shoot at someone? Just hold down the right trigger– that’s it. You don’t even need to aim; it does that for you (though technically you can use the right stick to automatically switch targets). As a lover of Halo and Call of Duty– this just seemed boring and pointless to me.

While the graphics were solid, the camera really complicated and agitated our gameplay, particularly because there was no choice of first-person shooter perspective. Showing a third-person view of the game, where you don’t play the game through the character’s eyes (COD and Halo, in contrast are first person), it constantly gave poor, zoomed out angles without any way to correct the problem. Multi-player this way then became a disaster: trying going 2 different ways instead of following one another– better yet, don’t, cause, well, you can’t.

G.I. Joe fight (pic from IGN.com)

On the upside, the storyline was interesting (particularly for those who haven’t yet seen the movie– such as myself), and the narration and cut scenes were both nicely done. On a more technical note, the constant story popups (such as with the narration– something which you thankfully can choose to skip over) could be really bothersome at times, as well as slow down gameplay.

Now here was my second biggest problem– the horrible saving feature. When you first insert and enter the game, it mentions an autosaving feature for checkpoints. Sensible and simple enough right? My experience seemed to indicate otherwise: check points only appear at the END of levels– if you get two thirds into a level and die at the end, tough luck buddy, you got to go back and restart from the beginning. Definitely not cool.

All in all, as said in the intro– if your a fan of the historic G.I. Joe series, well then if you haven’t already picked this game up you probably will soon. For the rest though– if your looking for a real, intense shooting game, check out something like Call of Duty or Halo instead.

Unfortunately, the downfalls outweigh the positives to this game and we’re gonna have to give G.I. Joe Rise of the Cobra an “Eh, Whatever” rating of 2 out of 5.

We give G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra game an “Eh, whatever” rating of 2 out of 5

If your interested in more info in G.I. Joe or want to order it– it is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2 and DS– and you can check it out at EA’s site here.

The Sprint MiFi 2200

A little while back Sprint (and Verizon) each released a personal, portable WiFi hotspot called the MiFi 2200. The MiFi 2200, made by Novatel Wireless, takes a carrier’s 3G network and lets you use it as a WiFi hotspot where up to 5 WiFi devices can connect simultaneously. Recently we got our hands on one for a little bit, so we knew after testing it out we need to report about it back here. Check out our full first take after the break.

Since we only had a few minutes with the device we’re not gonna go full out review here. However, we will share some of our thoughts on it, which are definitely very positive.

Beginning with the device’s design, it seriously looks like a little thick credit card, something that you just put in your pocket (maybe even your wallet) and take with you. It’s battery powered and insanely light. I walked around with it, and didn’t really even notice I had it– that’s how light it is.

Setting up the device was a breeze, and I set up a secure WiFi network within 10 minutes of first unboxing and turning on the device, a far better setup time than some of the regular wireless networks I’ve done in the past. The included Quick Guide is very simple and straight forward, and you should be up and running on a secure, encrypted WiFi network within moments of setting up. You didn’t even need any software to install on your computer– all you need is a computer (Mac, Windows, maybe even the iPhone and iPod Touch) with a web browser (I tested set up on a Mac using Safari). You connect your computer to the default network that comes on after you first turn it on, enter the web site they direct you towards, and the guide walks you through the rest. It really is so simple and easy.

Now let’s go to the good stuff– how this performs when devices are connected to it.

In my test, I found this to work phenomenally. Loading sites like ESPN and TeenTechBlog on my computer in well under a minute, and even playing an ESPN video took under a minute of clicking on it. It all depends on how much coverage you have, but in the spot where we tested this (where I usually get horrible Sprint service– 2 or 3 bars at best), I got 4-5 bars, which means your definitely getting a great antenna in here. So even in some of the tougher places where you don’t get great coverage, I wouldn’t be shocked if you find that this gets much better.

A SpeedTest.net Test of my speed on the MiFi. As you can see, for a place where Sprint coverage isn’t the best, I got some pretty solid speeds (and no, I wasn’t even near Philly when I did this– I was in NYC actually– I guess that where Sprint’s main towers are. That was the only “issue” with this test)

I also connected my iPhone and my brother’s iPod touch to the MiFi to see how well it handled portable devices. Not surprisingly, it handled them as if they were regular computers and the iPhone and iPod connected in a second, just as they would to a regular WiFi network. I opened up some web pages there as well, and they too loaded very quickly. Now here is the most fascinating thing of my brief hands on trial: using the MiFi and iPhone together to make calls. Yes, I pushed things a little bit seeing if Skype (which only works on WiFi) would work with the MiFi and Sprint’s 3G network, and guess what– it worked perfectly. I called a couple people (like our editor Charlie), and calls on both ends came in crystal clear. So yes, if you wanted an iPhone without AT&T, just get yourself Skype, a MiFi and an unlocked iPhone or iPod Touch (you’ll need a headset with a mic for the latter–a built-in one is rumored to arrive to the Touch next week), and you should be good to go. This all should also work with Verizon’s MiFi, so yeah, you could then use the iPhone on a non-AT&T network.

Skype on iPhone using the Sprint MiFi’s WiFi– and it worked perfectly

All in all, the MiFi is a pretty cool device, and if your looking for a data card to take with you (for example, taking around school), I would definitely look into getting one of these.

The MiFi 2200 costs a very good price of $99 on a 2 year contract $50 mail in rebate and $59.99 5 GB a month data plan from Sprint (meaning you have a maximum cap of 5 GB– so I wouldn’t recommend this to go download a bunch of movies or play a bunch of Halo online– or you’ll find yourself with a pretty high bill). You can check it out here.