Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Soaked Review

If you are looking for decent Mac games, then Aspyr should be top of your list, they have supported the Mac platform for many years and if you buy an Aspyr game, you are generally not going to be disappointed.

Amongst their portfolio of games is Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Soaked - expansion pack. This add on for the main game allows you to build new water filled rides, where you can really soak the visitors that come to your fun filled park. This is the first expansion pack for Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and it certainly delivers some summery fun to an already great game. You can build splash flume rides, water slides, and even put on an aquatic show.

Rather than me babbling on about the specs of the game, I am going to hand you over to our junior reviewer, Pamela, for an insight into just how good (or bad) this expansion pack really is…

Pamela: Well, I think it is a brilliant game, that flows through the whole way. The Soaked expansion pack is great from extravagant roller coasters through to amazing water parks. It is hours of fun and trust me, you will not be able to get enough of it. The graphics are fantastic and you can see every detail, even the visitors expressions, that are waiting to have the most exciting rides of there lives.

The whole thing is easy to follow when you hit the tutorial mode. The basics are simple to get the hang of. When you get into the game a little way, the real fun starts to happen. You will always have a gasp when achievements pop up in front of you. The Soaked expansion pack has all the things that you will find in the real water parks we all have today. You will also discover staff to hire, pools that you can build onto platforms, food stands for if your visitors are hungry and even water flumes passing by. On top of all this there are many more rides and attractions to choose from.

When you are at the main menu, you are given a lot of inspiration on what to build, with video previews giving you an idea of what your ride could look like! Alongside that you have a number of exciting modes to choose from, such as the Sandbox Mode, where money actually doesn't matter for once!!! (What a surprise). You can also select the Career Mode where you have to complete various tasks, and this then unlocks more items and parks to choose from.

So, do I think that the Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Soaked expansion pack is worth the money? If you already own the main game, then £19.99 is well worth it. You get a lot more than you would expect for your money. Even if you have to buy both the original game and this expansion pack, I still think it is good value because it will give you a lot of hours of game play.

Editor: OK, so it seems like Pamela had a great time reviewing RCT3 Soaked. It certainly seems like this expansion pack enhances the original game a lot. I took a look at the graphics and options myself and compared to a lot of games that are five minute wonders, RCT3 Soaked is really something that you will keep coming back to. There are just so many different parks that you can design, it really is great fun, especially when you achieve a whole bunch of happy visitors. Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and the Soaked Expansion Pack are available now, and should definitely be on your short list of great Mac games.

Product: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 : Soaked expansion pack
Price: £19.99
Supplied by: Aspyr Media Europe Ltd
Contact: +44 (0) 1923 200 940
Email: info_europe@aspyr.com

Razer Pro Pad - Mouse Pad Review

When optical mice hit the scene they were touted to be capable of tracking on almost any surface, in much the same way that a CD smeared with jam would still play. Users soon came to realise that whilst optical mice were a massive step forward, if you wanted accurate movement the mouse surface was still very important.

The Razer Pro Pad aims to gives you a far superior surface to those 99p squishy jobs that you can buy in your local supermarket. Standard mouse mats are OK, but the rubberised offerings are not great for smooth optical tracking.
What you get with the Pro Pad is an anodized aluminium base, topped off with a very smooth white surface on both sides. The coating is non-slip, which basically means that if it ultra-smooth, whilst still offering the correct amount of resistance. Each side of the pad is slightly different, one being a little rougher and giving more feedback. On each corner of the Pro Pad are small foam rubber feet, that raise the surface about 1.5mm off the desk and stop the pad sliding around everywhere. Like the mouse surface, these are on both sides, so you can flip your pad over.

The size of the Pro Pad is huge, measuring 330mm by 265mm (and just 2.5mm thick), so you get plenty of room to move your mouse around. It does take up quite a bit of desk space, so I think it really is aimed at the serious user. That said, if you can accommodate it, then please do take a look as this is a very high quality product and will enhance the way you use your mouse.

Having tested a lot of mice and mouse pads, I can say that the Pro Pad really impressed me. The surface offers just the right amount of resistance and really is ultra-smooth. If I was searching for a negative, then making the Pro Pad 10mm or 15mm smaller would make it perfect (for me). If you own an optical or laser mouse and need it to track correctly, then I highly recommend that you check out the Razer Pro Pad today.

Product: Razer Pro Pad
Price: £19.95 (average UK)
Supplied by: Razer USA Ltd
Contact: saleseu@razerzone.com

Pinnacle SoundBridge Review - wireless music

The Pinnacle SoundBridge is a device that connects to an external set of powered speakers, or a hi-fi system, and allows you to stream content from you computer wirelessly. With so many products moving this one step further by adding the inclusion of video streaming, audio only products are left with two choices. Either compete on quality, or price has to be what I would almost term as an impulse buy... more on that later.

This package consists of the unit itself, which sports a nice 16x2 line LED display. Around the back is the power adapter input, line-out for connecting to speakers or hi-fi, earphone jack to save you annoying the neighbours, and a SD/MMC memory card slot, a nice addition if you have an MP3 player that uses these and you want the SoundBridge to play back from a card.
There is also a rubber stand, to sit the cylindrical shape unit on, this seems a little cheap, but it does the job OK. To finish off the package you get the power adapter and stereo audio cable. The CD containing the SoundBridge software makes no attempt at hiding the origin of this product, which has been licensed from Roku.

Of note is the supplied remote control. More often than not this is a last minute thought, but the Pinnacle supplied remote has some useful buttons, a nice feel to it, and a nice layout, so well done Pinnacle !

Connecting up is really easy, and once you have installed the software, registered the unit with your wireless network (802.11b support) you are more or less ready to go. The SoundBridge will work with Windows Media Connect, Windows Media Player 10, Rhapsody and the fave of mine iTunes, which is of course supported on both Mac and PC platforms.

Supported formats include WMA, AAC, MP3, AIFF and WAV music files. My system is solely MP3 files, which when streamed to the SoundBridge and output to my AV receiver, the quality was pretty darn good. I was impressed with the crispness of the audio, with no dropouts, and the easy of navigation was also impressive.

Now, I started this review by saying that this sort of product has to either compete on quality or price. Well, on the quality front, the SoundBridge has more than acceptable audio performance, a nice remote and seems well built. The only negative is the cheap stand. The price however is amazing, you can pick this unit up at Curry's or Amazon for just £99.99. This is almost an impulse buy for many users, if it were £20 cheaper it would be a no-brainer, but for the sub-£100 asking price I think it represents great value for money.

Product: Pinnacle SoundBridge
Price: £99.99
Supplied by: Pinnacle Systems UK
Contact: +44 207 294 0140