Review: Eightarc’s Ebony Fusion Joystick

When it comes to fighting games, most players choose to use a joystick instead of a controller. There are many types of joysticks available from different companies. MadCats are dominating the market with their Tournament Edition fightsticks. However, MadCatz do not make a joystick that can be played on the PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360 (dual mod). Of course you could modify your joystick for it to do so, but that would cost over a hundred dollars and you’ll need to know what you’re doing if you aren’t having someone do it for you. So, what complete high quality dual mod joystick could you get for a reasonable price? Eightarc and Quanba have teamed up to make premium joysticks and I got my hands on the Ebony Fusion joystick. Is this the stick to get for all your fighting game needs?

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Ebony Fusion Joystick
Works On: PlayStation, PC, Xbox 360
Company: Eightarc/Qanba
Price: $184.99 (Plus Shipping & Tax)
Comes With: Joystick, Headset, Cleaning Cloth, 2 Button Covers

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The Body
The body of the is constructed with ABS plastic and has a matte finish. With this type of construction, the joystick has toughness and is impact resistant. So if you drop your joystick on accident, then it should be just fine. The body also has smooth curvature wrist rest that make your wrists feel comfortable while playing. The underside of the stick has rubber feet and a felt bottom. The rubber feet are standard for most joysticks as it helps the stick from not moving while on a surface. I feel that the felt bottom is better than the usual metal bottoms as it prevents the stick from sliding while using it on your lap. The USB cord is on the side of the stick and it’s eight feet, two inches long which is a good length. It has its own compartment to store the cord in, so no need to fuss. One gripe I have with the stick is the headphone jack for the Xbox 360. Standard Xbox 360 headsets have a 2.5mm plug that fits in the controller perfectly. The Fusion Ebony has a 3.5mm jack which means if you want to plug in your Xbox 360 headset, you’ll have to buy an adapter or use the headset that came with the stick. However, the headset that is included feels very uncomfortable. You can find the adapters at a Radio Shack and they run for about five dollars.


The Parts
Now, to the meat of the arcade stick. The actual joystick is a Sanwa JLF and the buttons are the Sanwa OBSF-30. Sanwa is the standard arcade stick parts used in arcade machines and sticks. The Sanwa joystick and buttons are very responsive and are some of the best parts you could find on the market. Of course, there are other companies like produce joysticks and buttons that people to tend to like. But if you want the golden standard of arcade parts, Sanwa are the way to go.



The Look
The Ebony Fusion has a black and white scheme that looks pretty damn sexy. It reminds me of a classic piano. The Eightarc logo is placed where the joystick is, but it looks good. It has a very simplistic look to it and I appreciate that. Most of the time, arcade sticks have art on the stick that does not look good or just has the logo to a specific game. With the Eightarc stick, you could keep it nice and simple. However, you could also add in your own art.


Modding
With every arcade stick, you’ll be able to customize it. With Eightarc, it’s no different. Just unscrew the eight screws on the bottom and open up to see the insides of your stick. By doing this however, it will void the warranty so make sure you want to open it up. You can swap the buttons and joystick, change the art, and add any cosmetic touches such as LED buttons if you dare desire. Eightarc also sells clear panels and gives the art template on their website so making your desired stick art is very easy. Even though modding the stick voids the warranty, it’s great that Eightarc gives you the assets needed to mod.



Functionality
So, how well does the Ebony Fusion work? It works like a charm. The joystick and buttons are very responsive, but maybe too responsive for some people. However with sometime to get use to the stick, they will feel just right. Pulling off moves in Street Fighter were easy to pull off. You can’t say that it was the joystick’s fault anymore! You’ll also be able to assign turbo to buttons as well. However, fighting game fans don’t use turbo right? The main feature about the joystick is that it can be played on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. This is a great thing to have if you are going to a tournament running multiple consoles or if you have both a Xbox 360 or PlayStation. It is as easy as toggling a switch on the stick to the system you want to play then plugging it in. Simple as that!


Overall/Verdict
Eightarc’s Ebony Fusion is a high quality joystick that every fighting game fan should have. The parts are top of the line, it looks great, and the stick is reasonably priced. Also, the ability to play on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC is just awesome and very useful. However, I wish they made the headphone jack a smaller size, but getting an adapter will fix that easily. So if you are looking to get a premium arcade stick, Eightarc’s Ebony Fusion is definitely something you want.


Check out Eightarc to buy arcade sticks, parts, shirts, and more!

The LV. Cap: LIMBO

“How low can you go?” is usually a question that comes to mind when the word “limbo” is brought to someone’s attention. Sweet Caribbean rhythms are played as ungraceful cocktail sipping vacationers attempt to contort their way under bamboo poles. Fun is had by all… this is not that limbo. This Limbo is dark and gloomy. It is neither heaven nor hell; it just is, as limbo is supposed to be.

Playdead Studio’s Limbo is made of the mind numbing challenges and puzzles of the games from the systems of the good ol’ days: The 90’s. The days when people threw their controllers at the TV in frustration of their own limits while taking on a challenge. Not because of the developers desire to implement challenges that can only be won over by repetition and sheer luck.

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Limbo
Xbox Live Arcade
1 Player
Developer: Playdead Games
Publisher: Xbox Live Arcade
ESRB Rating: T For Teen
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points

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Simple graphics accompanied by simple controls is the way this one plays. The story, or a lack there of, follows a boy who wakes up in the grasses of what seems to be purgatory. He has somewhere or someone he is trying to get to, and while getting there he is subjected to a series of odd hazard ridden encounters and trials. The depth of any chance of a story stops there. Though you may wish there were more to it, you may find it doesn’t really matter, nor do you remember to care. The many different silhouetted environments are exceptionally entrancing, though they are completely naked of texture. Each habitat stands out as a deep layered modest work of art.

Missing is an endearing composed soundtrack to match the ambiance of the universe. That factor alone will keep most players from being completely enamored by the game. With the world of Limbo being so noir in nature it wouldn’t have needed too much in the form of musical accompaniment.  Imagine Danny Elfman given nothing to work with but a xylophone and some soft pencil erasers; that would have been enough.


The first play though of Limbo is difficult enough to induce a conniption. You will die a thousand deaths, it is inevitable.  It is advised you keep all individuals you dislike, blunt and heavy objects, or sharp objects out of immediate reach.  Some of the simplest of puzzles will arouse immeasurable rage in those less patient individuals, but completion of challenges gives you a rewarding feeling. You will often find yourself releasing “Oooh’s!” and “I get it’s!”, as if you had just solved a perplexing problem in math class, when overcoming some of the more difficult problems.

Ultimately Limbo leaves you just there; in limbo. The entire time playing you may not be sure if you love it or hate it, it just dangles somewhere in the middle (Giggity). Limbo manages to hold a sense of intriguing adventure on a shallow ground of personality and simplistic beauty. You may find it hard to put down the controller as you will come to many points where you just have to best a puzzle whose only existence is to mock you, or so it will seem at times. Its smooth animation and art school gray scale style is never too much. If the Playstation classics Oddworld, Abe’s Odyssey, and Ico were to have a mute Xbox Live Arcade child, Limbo would be it. Surely this is a first of many from Playdead Games. In the end it is reasonable to say they are off to a good start, on the positive side of Purgatory.

Heroes Review for “Villians”

Hiro’s journey reveals a critical moment when Sylar, horrified and guilt-ridden, might have stopped his murderous pursuit of abilities - that is, if H.R.G. and Elle had been swayed from their monstrous assignment. Finally, under the wing of Company Man Thompson, agent-in-training Meredith watches her new life go up in smoke, following the arrival of her hot-headed brother.

A brief recap, as well as a notification that this entry will have spoilers. You are so warned: Last week we found out that Hiro refuses to go back in time, so our African precognitive friend gave him some funky stuff to give him whiter eyes then clear eyes could ever produce and propel us 18 months ago. And away we go…

So we get a party happening at Arthur’s house where he ponders with Linderman the effects of Nathan investigating into his criminal connections. Arthur says to read Shakespeare to find out the ending to that investigation if he exposes Arthur.

Meredith and her BROTHER!?!, rob a store and are stopped by Thompson, who in the midst of stopping her decides to recruit her. Wow. Then we shift to Gabriel’s place as he ponders killing himself only to be saved by Elle!

Boom! New intro…Villains. Nifty.

Elle and Sylar end up bonding, but this is all a ruse as H.R.G. and Elle’s assignment by the Company is to witness Sylar kill someone. Elle, somehow brandishing a soul, doesn’t want to turn him into a monster. But Noah, being the dutiful Company Man, keeps egging her on. Eventually Elle invites Trevor, apparently the goth who makes a gun sight with his hands to blow stuff up, over for dinner. Sylar ends up freaking out and thinking Elle is only for him but allows her to escape while he gets Trevor’s powers. Meanwhile after the mission, HRG meets with Mohinder in the taxi cab - the same scene from Season 1, Episode 1.

Meanwhile Meredith and Thompson bond after Meredith helps kick some serious butt against the coolest one shot guy ever. He turned his arm into metal! Total geek out moment. Meredith escorts him to jail but finds her brother Flint is there also training to be an agent. Best part of this scene is that the guy who can turn into metal, just stands there dutifully while she talks to her brother. Either he was pumped up with stuff that blocked his powers, or he was really jonesing for some family drama. I leave it to you to decide. Anyway, Meredith eventually busts her bro out and gets on a train, followed by Thompson. 2 pyros, one human and a train of combustible goods does not make a good area to fight. But it does offer continuity to Season 1 as that explosion is the one that propelled Claire to dive in and rescue a man from the train wreck.  Yards away on a bridge above, Thompson is leading Meridith back to captivity and finally finds out why she hates the company so much: Her daughter Claire was killed in a mishap with the Company.  Distraught that she doesn’t know that Claire is in fact alive, Thompson also shows some heart and frees her, telling her to find her daughter. Seconds later, after Meredith and Thompson have left, we see Claire running into the fire of the explosion.

The final storyline involves Arthur and his wife, Angela. Apparently he knows her like he knows his heart. Heh. Arthur continually plots to kill Nathan to prevent him from knowing THE TRUTH. Linderman, also showing a shred of morality and actually stating it’s only a shred, feels bad and decides to help Angela. Apparently Arthur was doing to Angela what H.R.G. did to his wife. I don’t know if he uses the Haitian or himself, but well, he did. Linderman heals the scars and Angela finds out…yup…THE TRUTH. She then proceeds to invite the Haitian so Arthur cant read her mind, poisons his food then tries to dump him. Unfortunately, Nathan comes home and finds his dad dead. Actually paralyzed and then declared dead at the hospital.

Arthur uses his powers to convince the world that he is dead while we flash back to Hiro who wakes from his vision. They hear a scream and they rush to find their prophetic friend, only to find his decapitated corpse? Holy crap! Then they find his head. What happens next was awesome as Arthur appears behind Hiro and says, “I hear you’ve been dreaming of me.” Then grabs his head with both hands and one can only assume to suck his powers. End and Fini!

Now the only problem is what the hell is Arthur’s power? See, in this episode he only uses his mind trick and we have NO idea where he got that from. We never see him absorb other powers. I understand why he didn’t just ring up Linderman to heal him, he doesn’t trust him, but man just ONCE this episode he should have drained powers.

That and how the blue hell did Arthur sneak up on precog guy? You’re so blown away by that revelation you don’t remember that we spent a Hiro episode explaining you cannot sneak up on the guy. GAH! Then again, exactly what could the guy do? Arthur is almost god-like in power now.

All that aside though, a good effort in explaining various characters motivations. Why Linderman cared about Nathan at all, why Arthur is a dick, etc. The only issue is that HRG being THAT dutiful kinda flies into the face of his character. I just don’t see him wanting Sylar to kill people, even those with abilities. Though maybe he doesn’t realize that till later. That and Elle with a conscience was a little weird. Altogether though, a solid episode of Heroes…er Villains.

7 outta 10