Like many of you, I grew up on the NES, SNES and Sega Genesis. Much of my childhood was spent playing these three consoles, and there are times that I think about dusting them off to relive the good old days. The only problem is that of the three, only my SNES is still in working order. I’ve considered trying to find an old NES and Genesis that are still in good working order, but when you’re talking about consoles that are upwards of 20 years old, they’re still going to give out eventually. No, what I need is one of these FC3 Plus systems from Yobo.

This awesome piece of hardware combines the three greatest consoles from my childhood into one generic-looking plastic shell. Sure, it doesn’t look like much, but remember kids, it’s whats on the inside that counts. This thing could look like complete garbage and I wouldn’t care, because it’ll let me play games from my NES, SNES and Genesis collections. You get two fairly generic controllers (no, you can’t plug in the original ones) and a light gun for use with the NES. Much like the original Nintendo Zapper, this isn’t going to work with LCD and Plasma TVs, so don’t be too surprised.

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Man, I remember some of my favorite toys as a kid being made by Nerf. No, I’m not talking about their footballs and stuff. My brother and I had all sorts of guns and weapons that we used on each other all the time. I recall one of my favorites being a belt-fed chain gun that could fire off something like 5 rounds per second. That thing was awesome. But as far as looks go, nothing can top this excellent Nerf Lancer.

If you’ve ever spent any time playing Gears of War, you’ll understand why this hunk of plastic is so cool. Unfortunately you aren’t going to find this sitting on any store shelves, as it is a custom piece. Luckily its creator was kind enough to document every step they took, complete with picture. So if you’re looking to make your own Nerf Lancer, this is how its done.

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One of the things I like about my Wii is that I can easily turn my Wiimote into a gun without the need to drop a bundle of cash on another accessory. Generally you shell out just a few bucks and get a plastic frame, which is fine with me. I personally have two different ones in my collection (the official Wii Zapper and the Nyko Perfect Shot), however, I’ve recently acquired a third. I decided to take my new ezShot Gun for a spin, and found it to be the most disappointing of any gun I’d used yet.

I have a long list of complaints about this particular product, which seems strange considering it’s mostly just a hunk of plastic. One thing I love about my other two guns is that inserting and removing the Wiimote and Nunchuk takes almost no time at all. In the case of the Wii Zapper, which actually takes advantage of the Nunchuk, Nintendo paid attention to the fact that there is a cord that runs between the two devices. This is something that ezGear seems to have missed. First, there’s no place that the cord is specifically designed to run, I just sort of tucked it between the Nunchuk and the side of the handle, which made it sit sort of funny. Then you’re left with all of this excess cord, which you just let dangle out of the bottom of the handle. I love how this isn’t actually shown in any of the pictures. Hit the jump for the rest of my review.

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In case you missed it, Microsoft released their dashboard update for the Xbox 360, dubbed the New Xbox Experience. Now those of you that also happen to subscribe to Netflix may have noticed something else. Upon trying to stream certain movies, you may have been greeted with a message stating that the film you are trying to watch is currently unavailable. Here’s the least surprising part of the whole thing. All of the movies which are currently unavailable happen to be from Sony Pictures Entertainment. Coincidence?

Lets see, what motive would Sony have to pull their catalog of films from being streamed to the Xbox 360? That’s right, they don’t want owners of a competitor’s product to enjoy it any more than possible. We know this to be true, since all films in question are still available for viewing via your PC and other streaming devices, just not the Xbox 360.

This really only makes Sony look bad. For them to pull their catalog of films right as the NXE is being launched is just plain underhanded. They’ve obviously known that their movies were going to be streamed to the 360, so why wait until now to pull them? So the question now is if they will ever allow their catalog to be streamed to Microsoft’s console. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Sometimes I run across a product that I think would have been awesome, had it come out a decade earlier. Usually these are themed products, featuring a character that hasn’t been popular for years. Sure, the likes of Pac-Man, Mario and the Space Invaders can stand the test of time, Sonic The Hedgehog really hasn’t been cool for a while now.

I’ll admit that I had a bit of Sonic merchandise back in the day, and even watched the cartoon show (featuring the guy that played Steve Urkel), however, I just can’t get excited about this Reactor Mini Chair featuring The Fastest Thing Alive. Not to mention the promise of “a full-body sensory experience” from Sonic just creeps me out. If that’s your thing, then you’ll be able to experience such pleasures on November 21st for $69.99.

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One thing that I’ve disliked about my Wii is the lack of a controller modeled after either the GameCube or N64 controller. Sure, the Classic Controller does its job well enough, but I still just can’t get used to it when playing certain games. Luckily there are third-party manufacturers such as Hori to pick up the slack.

Later this month (November 27th to be precise) will bring us teh Hori Classic Controller, which very much reminds me of my old GameCube controller. My only complaint is that it will take some time to get used to the neatly-arranged A, B, X and Y buttons, since they chose to model them after the Classic Controller. If you’re wondering about those funny buttons in the middle, they are autofire switches for each of the other buttons.You can pre-order the controller now for $29.90.

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You know that old saying about how if something sounds too good to be true, that it probably is? Well this also applies to Black Friday. I tend to keep my eyes out for the best deals in advance, then pick a store to camp out in front of for the night. This year I had decided upon Sam’s Club, due to their ridiculously priced Wii package. Unfortunately reality kicked in, and I’ll be spending a cold morning somewhere else.

Apparently whoever leaked the Black Friday circular for Sam’s Club decided to have a bit of fun at all of our expense. They seem to have photoshopped the price to be around $200 cheaper than it actually was. The price we’re seeing now (though it hasn’t been confirmed) is $425, which while it’s still a decent deal, doesn’t seem quite as grabbing. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when we have an actual circular in our hands (or an official announcement) for the exact price.

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I’ve been impressed by Steam for a long time, and am always more than happy to purchase a new title via the service. I think Valve really found that balance between giving the customers the freedom to actually play their purchased games when and where they want, and still combating piracy. Honestly, in order for a service like this to work, it not only has to be something people don’t mind using, but something they actually enjoy using. Of course, having excellent package deals on your games doesn’t hurt things either. Every now and then you’ll find a huge bundle of games for a good price, and right now is one of those times.

The Valve Complete Pack was recently made available, which combines 22 different Valve titles. The $99.99 price tag does seem a bit steep, until you look at everything you’re getting. Sure, you’ll see all of the titles from The Orange Box, but even its value pales in comparison to what you’re getting here. Hit the jump for a complete listing of games.
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If you didn’t already know, Blizzard is going to be updating their Battle.net service for the upcoming Starcraft and Diablo sequels. Eventually they’re even going to be moving World of Warcraft players over to Battle.net accounts. In obvious anticipation of the new service, Blizzard has brought down the mighty ban hammer on roughly 350,000 accounts for cheating.

Granted, this is only a temporary 30-day ban for using third-party hacks and mods, with a permanent ban coming if you continue to use such cheats. It’s been a long time since I jumped on Battle.net and played some Diablo II, but I do recall a few run-ins with people who were obviously employing some sorts of hacks, which almost always ruined the experience. So a word of warning to all of you still playing Diablo II and Starcraft, play fair, or  you won’t be playing at all.

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It’s almost always a welcome sight when a company bundles several peripherals together for sale. There are generally two exceptions to this. First, if the included peripherals don’t seem to fit together (perhaps they work on different consoles, or just don’t all appeal to the same type of gamer). The other case is when the bundle doesn’t actually save you any money. The latter would be true for this “Multi-Player Controller Set” from Nintendo.

This bundle will give you a Wiimote, Nunchuck and a Wii Wheel for $74.99 at your local retailer. However, if you were to purchase each item separately, you would only pay $74.97. Now I’m not going to argue over a couple of pennies, but usually a bundle saves you money.

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