Razer is known for its high-quality and high-end gaming peripherals and gear. Most notably are its PC gaming mice and keyboards. But Razer stepped out into the home console peripheral market with the Razer Onza controller for the Xbox 360. At first glance it looks like most other 3rd party 360 controllers. But the Onza has a few features that most 3rd party, and even 1st party controllers lack, keeping the Onza ahead of the pack.

The Razer Onza features adjustable thumbstick tension, a segmented D-pad, lower backlit face buttons, 2 programmable shoulder buttons, shorter triggers, a 15ft braided breakaway cable, and rubber coated grip.

After reading many reviews online, it seemed like the Onza was a must-have controller for a shooter fan such as myself. The Pros use it…its affordable at $49.99. So why not.

Opening the package, I got some nicely printed paperwork with the controller. A certificate of authenticity, stickers and a little instruction guide in several languages. All of them kept in a nice black envelope. I work for a print shop…so I appreciate nice quality paper and printing techniques. Moving on.

The Good stuff:

How does it feel?

Smooth. The controller itself is coated to keep the hand-sweating to a minimum, and helps keep a firm grip. The 2 thumbsticks feel great and responsive. But if you want them to feel tighter, there is a dial under each stick that will allow you to adjust the tension in the sticks. So there’s as much give or little give as you want. Overall the controller is comfortable. Not quite as ergonomic as a regular 360 controller, but not in any way uncomfortable.

All of the face buttons are shorter and take little effort to push, making for faster contact and somewhat faster response times. There’s a slight click sound when the buttons are pressed, letting you know there’s contact. The triggers are also shorter, making you seemingly faster on the draw during a firefight. The face buttons are also backlit. Not a necessary feature, but a nice touch nonetheless.

The 2 programmable buttons are located just above the left and right bumpers. Basically a 2nd set of bumpers. These can be programmed to be any button on the controller. So say in Gears of War, you can map a button to be A, or B, so when you roadie run or melee you don’t have to take your right thumb off of the thumbstick. Its quite nice actually. Takes a little getting used to, but it ultimately can help you respond faster in certain situations.

The braided cable is solid, 15 ft long, and good quality. Not sure what else to say about it.

It has the standard headset jack, so most headsets will work. Though I did notice with my Trittons, there was a slight tingy buzz whenever there was some bass. I haven’t tested a regular 360 headset with the Onza, but I will eventually.

There is also the standard rumble feature. Works well as expected.

The Not so Good Stuff:

None of these things are really deal breakers for me, but they may be for you. So I’ll take the time and mention them.

Its a wired controller. Since Microsoft is so uppity with their controller tech, all 3rd party controllers are wired (at least the ones I’ve seen). This isn’t a bad thing necessarily. Since it’s wired, there is no chance for interference, no need for batteries, and the inputs would be lag-free. Though if you use a stereo headset like I do, you’ve got enough cables going everywhere. So adding another 15 ft cable into the mix may not be wanted.

No chatpad. If you use the chatpad peripheral alot, keep a regular 360 controller handy. The chatpad doesn’t fit the Onza. Sad, but honestly if I’m gonna do a lot of typing…I’m obviously not gaming. So I can use a regular 360 controller in those cases. Again not a dealbreaker for me.

The DPad. I’ve been waiting to mention this. Because its not total shit, but its not gold either. The d-pad is segmented into the four directions (up, down, left & right). So you know definitely when you press up or down…etc. This is great for shooters that use the d-pad to issue commands or swap weapons, also really great for general menu navigation. It’s bad however, if you were hoping to play fighters on the Onza using the d-pad. It hurts. Don’t do it. Just trust me…don’t.

Overall:

For $49.99 I got a high-quality controller that I know will be my main gaming controller on the 360 for a long while. I don’t wanna say the controller improved my game any, but I felt like I wasn’t fighting with it at all to get anything done. Playing a few rounds of Firefight in Halo Reach, I was popping headshots like no tomorrow. Not having to take my right thumb off the stick to slap a locust with my shotty in Gears of War 2 was also nice. The controller just feels right to me. The programmable buttons are also a neat feature definitely worth utilizing, especially in shooters.

I recommend the Razer Onza for those shooter or action game fans looking to squeeze a little more out of a controller than you can with a standard 360 controller for less than a regular 360 wireless controller.

I give it a 4 out of 5.

Being able to search in Netflix now is a real treat, though I do not like how it displays episodes when you select a series now. I liked choosing a series and having all the episodes in a list, whether they’ve been watched or not.

My buddy Chainer has mentioned some loading time issues with Fable 3, and I’ve seen a few avatar clothing glitches.

Hopefully this update will be the last major dashboard overhaul for a good-long while.

Also….I really don’t give a shit about the Kinect features. But a lot of others will. So hooray for them.

I’m only sad because I enjoyed Attack of the Show and Ninja Warrior. The rest of the channels programming during the day was complete garbage. Ever since Code Monkies was dropped….my interest in the channel also dropped substantially.

http://kotaku.com/5678948/directv-unplugs-video-game-channel-g4

Goodbye Morgan “Man-Jaw” Webb.

This week we’re having an extra special edition of Retro Wednesday.  This week, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
That’s right.  The NES is 25 years old this year.  How old does that make you feel?  Personally, it makes me feel about 25.

I cut my gaming teeth on the NES with Super Mario Bros.  I was three years old when I first steered the portly plumber on his quest to save the Princess.  Gaming has been an integral part of my life, and to a degree, it defines who I am.  Exploring, adventure and mystery waited every time that I turned on that little gray box.  To this day, the NES can wow me.  Other systems don’t always stand up to the test of time, but like memories of an old girlfriend, that old girl can always bring a nostalgic smile to my face.
In celebration, both Gatsu and I will be touching on our most memorable top 5 NES games.  Without further ado…Blueroseknight’s top five:

5.Ghostbusters 2:  Yes this is a licensed NES version of the movie of the same name.  The game loosely follows the plot of the film.  You see all of the major locales from the movie, the river of slime, the courthouse, the subway, and the museum.  The game’s a little unusual because in the side-scrolling stages, you move from right to left, and the attack and jump buttons are inverted from the norm.
This game was extremely difficult for me as a child.  You started out with something like five lives, and if you took a hit, you lost one.  Fortunately, you didn’t end up at the beginning of the stage if you were ‘stunned’ or ‘slimed’, you were able to get back up from where you were with only a little delay.  This meant that you were almost instantly vulnerable to another enemy attack, though.
Although I’ve never beaten the game, I’ve come pretty close.  I especially remember the first time that I got to take the Statue of Liberty to get to the museum.  It wasn’t anything technically special, but it was a major part of the movie, so it made it memorable to me.  Remember what the Ghostbusters used to control the statue?

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:  Yes that’s the first TMNT game on the NES.  Everyone remembers and hates that damned dam mission.  This was essentially the first time that I was aware that I could play something that I enjoyed on TV.  You were able to switch between all four turtles, you met Splinter and April, and you fought the likes of mousers, Foot Ninjas, and Bebop and Rockstady.
There’s one thing about this game…  It’s fucking hard.  It’s so hard that I’ve never to this day beaten it, and I don’t know anyone who has.  It sticks in my mind because it was one of those games that, while I devoted countless hours to it, never got very far as a kid.  I only remember getting to the third stage(the one after the dam) a few times.  I didn’t care though, I was playing as the Ninja Turtles!

3. Tetris: Tetris was an unusual game for me.  I remember when it came out, my parents were into putting jigsaw puzzles together.  I remember the ads from the time period, saying that it was a puzzle game, and if you liked puzzles, then you’d love Tetris.  I don’t remember how we ended up with the game, my parents probably bought it, because back then, in a move that Nintendo is trying to replicate on the Wii and DS, everyone played Nintendo.
I remember that Tetris was the first non conventional game that I had ever played.  It took some getting used to.  I had never played anything that I wasn’t controlling some sort of humanoid avatar.  While in childhood, I was never better than my mom at the game, Tetris taught me how to look at video games  in a different light.

2. Kirby’s Adventure:  I actually discovered Kirby’s Adventure later in my NES experience; several years after I’d gotten the Super NES.  Kirby’s Adventure rolled an unconventional character, together with vivid, innovative levels, and Kirby’s unique copy ability.  The game was unlike anything that I’d played before.
I remember that I was at a neighbor’s house(whom I didn’t particularly like) and had discovered that they had some NES games that I’d never heard of.  The image of the pink puffball Kirby, coupled with the neighbor’s lament of the game made me want to play it.  I played the hell out of that game that day.  I played for something like four hours nonstop.  In those days, I never played for that long in one sitting.
I was captivated by the level design, Kirby’s copy ability, and the fact that Kirby could fly on demand, by just pressing up on the control pad.  I am still to this day amazed at how many different things could be packed into one NES game pak.  Back then, though, the sheer variety of what was available not only kept me guessing, but kept me smiling.

1. Super Mario Bros.:  What else would top my top NES games?  Mario is not only synonymous with gaming, but with my experience with the medium.  I was three years old when I first took control of Super Mario.  It was the first game that I’d ever played.  Mario helped me develop my hand-eye coordination, and imagination.  I knew that I was trying to save the Princess, but no matter how many times I tried, I wasn’t able to succeed.  For years, I continued trying to save the Princess, to no avail.
Super Mario Bros. Was such a well put together title that not only did I delight in playing it, I spent almost ten years trying to beat it before I eventually succeeded.  I was never put off by the difficulty, but it did keep me thoroughly beaten for years.  I never got angry with the game because of all the times that I died.  I loved every second of it and kept coming back for more.  I didn’t actually even beat the game until I had it on Game Boy Color, as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe.  I’ll never forget the first time that I found my way though Bowser’s castle and rescued Princess Peach.  I’d finally taken my friendship with the plumber to the next level
Looking back I remember that Mario used to remind me of my father.  Perhaps that’s the reason that I found him so compelling.  I grinned the other day while I was playing through the game for the thousandth time.  It suddenly came to me again how much Mario looked like my father.

Gatsugodhand’s top five:

Yes…I also have a top 5 favorites list for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Though I must admit the NES was not my first gaming love. I started on an Atari 2600 with the likes of Yar’s Revenge and Asteroids. Even when I finally had a NES, I don’t remember having it for too long. I think a year or so at most. The majority of the titles that made the NES had already been released, and I spent weekends wondering down the many ailes of rental games at Blockbuster.

Here are my top 5 favorite NES titles:
——————————————————

5.) Duck Hunt
What’s not to love. The original light gun game for most older gamers. You shoot ducks…and if you get bored, you shoot clay pigeons. Then more ducks! It wasn’t until far after the SNES had been released that I found out there was an arcade version of Duck Hunt, which let you actually shoot the annoying ass dog. Sure he’s your buddy….till you miss. Then he cackles at you like he just found you ass-up getting your prostate knuckled. Not cool dog….not cool. Let’s see you work a shotgun with no opposable thumbs. Yeah what? Fuck you dog. BLAM!

4.) Double Dragon
Bros till the end. When your lady gets chinslammed by some douche bag and his gang of douchenozzles…its bro force time bro. I loved this game for the co-op functionality. I could play the game with a friend…non-competitively. That is…until you reach the end. Then the bitch you spent the whole game trying to rescue you is all like “Oh baby…who wants me most? Duke it out bro.” And I’m like “Bro’s before Hoe’s bitch….” then my bro totally jacks me in the baby maker and I’m all like “BRO NO!” And did I mention the game is damn hard? I’m talkin’….like unagi powah hard…….bro.

3.) Contra
More Bro-force action going on strong. This time its shirtless bros action. When I first saw the game, I was immediately taken in by the cover artwork. Being as young as I was…it totally looked like Arnold and Stallone finally were in a game together, killing aliens! SWEET. Turns out it wasn’t quite like that. But that didn’t stop be from totally loving the hell out of the game. I sucked at it, it kicked my ass and left me unconscious in a dark alley gutter on the wrong side of Rapesville. I kept coming back for more abuse. As did many others. Konami code? Why yes. At the time no other game gave you so many different ways to kill things. Seeing those winged powerups meant only one thing….DEATH TO MY ENEMIES!!!!

2.) Mega Man 3
SNAKE MAN = WIN! I actually first played this game while in 3rd or 4th grade…not sure. I had swapped games with a friend of mine for the weekend. Figured I was getting tired of dying during the dam mission in TMNT and would try something else. I played through most of the game, but sadly never got to finish the adventure. But my time with the Blue Bomber was well spent. I made sure to acquire a copy of the game for myself and spent several weeks playing through the campaign over and over to try different weapon effects on different bosses, my notebook full of passwords at my side. I remember enjoying the music especially. Was one of those rare and great gaming soundtracks.

Snake Mans theme

1.) Super Mario Bros. 3
This game I probably spent way too many hours of my childhood playing. Even today I start up my NES and give Mario 3 a run through. Sure the princess was in another castle, but I could at least take out my frustration on Bowser’s kids. Which was definitely a fun experience. With its many secrets, whistles and other goodies, this was and still is my favorite Mario Bros. game. And will probably always be. Favorite power up? The Tanooki suit of course. Sadly only available in a few stages, but still awesome as hell.

Well, that is the end of my Top 5 favorite NES games. There are others that I love, like Metroid and Excite Bike…..but these five have a very special place in my heart.

With titles like Fable 3, Rock Band 3 and The Force Unleashed 2 just to name a few, the pickings are really high.

Sadly…I can’t afford even one of the awesome titles launching today. Ah well…thems the breaks I guess. With Christmas and my birthday right around the corner though, I won’t be without new games for too much longer.

I still have Reach, Gears 2 and Mass Effect 2 to keep my hands busy.

So here’s a recap of stuff that’s happened this week that I thought was interesting.

- Rammstein is coming to Madison Square Gardens on December 11th, 2010 (but only there for some reason…)
- Daft Punk drops a freebie sample track from the anticipated Tron: Legacy soundtrack
- Halo Reach getting its first map pack on November 30th

Well…that’s really all that interested me.

I received a raise at work. A small raise…but a raise nonetheless. So that brightened my day a little.

Until next time.

The first Reach map pack titled “The Noble Pack”, will contain 3 new maps and add another 250 gamerscore to unlock and is set to drop on November 30th.

The cost?

800 Microsoft Points.

I was a little deterred at first because of the cost. But I think its WAY more reasonable than say…Modern Warfare 2 maps.

The three maps are:

Tempest
Anchor 9
Breakpoint

Info and screenshots can be seen over at Team Xbox.

This week we here at Gaijinzilla have decided to try out a new feature we like to call…..Love Letters. Love Letters will give us normally unbiased writers a chance to gush about our favorite developer, console, etc. You know….be fanboys for a little while.

So without further ado. Love Letters.

My Love Letter to Bungie,

Bungie…..I <3 you. I <3 you hard. If you were a beautiful woman I would lie you down on the sandy beaches and make sweet sweet love to you as the waves crashed around us. If you were a big strong man….I’d be gay for you. Hard gay. And if you were a Spartan Super Soldier….I’d gladly be your Grunt.

But things hadn’t always been so great between us. After the “ending” in Halo 2, and the not-so-stellar Halo 3….I had begun to lose faith in us. I wasn’t sure if you could satisfy me anymore. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I was getting bored. Maybe it wasn’t you….maybe it was me.

I started having affairs with Epic. Sure they satisfied the temporary blood lust with their new fancy chainsaws and curb stomps. But after a while I started to realize that they didn’t care about me like you did. Glitchers and modders went on for so long without punishment. Matchmaking was pretty much unbearable.  And there just weren’t any options….it was the same 4-5 game types and Horde. Eventually they managed to get everything settled and fixed, but by then the fire had all but faded away.

Then you gave me Reach, which was more than I could have asked for. Great graphics, a campaign that’s fun to play alone or with 3 friends. Multiplayer experiences like daily & weekly challenges, and so many options that keep me coming back for more. Within the first few weeks since the games release, cheaters have already begun to be punished and fixes implemented. You’re focusing on me…the player. You make me feel special. Thank you.

Now how about that beach trip?

I <3 you Bungie.

with love,
Gatsu Godhand

The highly anticipated original motion picture score for TRON: Legacy, composed and produced by Daft Punk, will be released by Walt Disney Records / EMI Music on Monday, November 22, 2010.

I cannot wait for this. It’ll be really the first new/original content from Daft Punk  since…I dunno….forever.

So finally some new Daft Punk.

Sweet.

Not too long after Reach released this past September on the 14th, some methods to score easy in-game credits came about. No glitching was required for these methods, but some had to go and take it too far.

Bungie has already said the original unglitchy method is fine, if you’ve got the patience, go for it. But when you throw in network manipulation and other work arounds that fall outside of the intended style of gameplay….thats when the hammer gets brought out.

The hammer in this case, come in the form of a total credit/level reset, and some downtime from the game.

What makes this even cooler to me is that this was just a preliminary scan. Bungie has stated that, “as our automated Banhammer mechanisms grow accurate enough to satisfy our high bar for burden of proof”, we can see that more casualties are incoming. This makes me smile.

[Bungie]