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Starforce is bad

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 24 / 24
Date: October 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It's too bad this game uses Starforce copy protection. I don't want to copy the game or do anything illeagal, but I can't use any CD burning software with this installed. Also if you remove it, starforce does not come off your PC. If you google "starforce removal tool" you can download an exe to remove starforce from your PC. You also have to take a few other steps, you will find instructions there. There is currently a boycott on games using starforce, and for good reason. I do not recommend buying this game.

Great games, poor user interface

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: December 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I received this for Christmas and wasn't able to get it to work for two days. My computer's hardware well exceeded the system requirements for the software. After digging around I discovered I needed to update the drivers for my video card. The software uses DirectX 9.0c so you'll want to make sure your video drivers are up to date. The game cd uses copy protection which means you have to insert it every time you want to play the game. It doesn't just check the disk when you start the program. It checks it every time it loads one of the individual games. So unless you're able to make a copy of the disk with the copy protection intact I suggest you keep the disk in a safe place where it won't get damaged. Also the autorun program on the cd is poorly designed. Most game cd's Ive seen will load the installation program if the game isn't already installed and then after that will load the game screen when the cd is inserted. This cd wants to load the installation program every time you insert the cd, even after the program is already installed. I have to remember to hold to the SHIFT key on my computer when I insert the cd to keep the installation program from trying to run.

Once you're actually into the program you're in an arcade room with the games in front of you on a rotating platform. There are 14 games available for play. There's also 2 additional games that are locked until you reach a certain score on some of the other games. The games themselves don't allow you to tweak them very much. About the only thing you can do is change the number of lives in each game. The controls aren't very tweakable either. You have the choice of either using a joystick or the keyboard but I would've liked to have been able to use the mouse in some of the games. Steering the car in Pole Position using the arrow keys on the keyboard is next to impossible. Using a mouse would offer greater control. Controlling the Pac-Man games is frustrating too. In the real machines and on another PC version of Pac-Man put out by another company you can move the joystick in the direction you want Pac-Man to go before you actually have to make a turn. For example if the Pac-Man figure is moving to the left and you want it to turn and go upwards at the next intersection you can move the joystick upwards before the Pac-Man figure reaches the intersection and then when it reaches the intersection it will automatically turn in the right direction. On the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary edition of Pac-Man you have to wait until you reach an intersection before making a turn. That makes it harder to try to follow a pattern. The graphics are okay but they could have been better. You have a choice of normal graphics or smooth graphics. Smooth graphics eliminates the blocky edges but it makes the picture so blurry that you'll wonder if your eyes are going bad. So I leave the smooth graphics option turned off. The scale seems to be a bit off too. I've noticed in both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man that the dots appear to be of various sizes. I'm surprised Digital Eclipse did such a poor job with them since they did such an excellent job with the old Atari games on "Atari Anniversary Edition". Perhaps Namco didn't give them enough time to do the graphics properly.

Now about that blaring music that plays when you're at the game selection screen, if you want to get rid of it here's how. The songs are basic wma files. The files are located in the pcFE folder which is located in the Namco/Namco Museum 50th Anniversary/classic folder. Deleting the files won't work because the game will reload them when it checks the cd. You can however change the content of the files so they play nothing. First open up the sound recorder program on your computer. If you can't find it then simply go to Start, Run, and type in sndrec32 and click ok. Next click the record button on sound recorder and record a blank sound. You only need a split second of it. Also make sure you don't have any microphones attached. Click on File at the top of the window and select Save as. It doesn't matter where you save the file as long as you remember where it is. The important thing is to save it as a .wma file. I simply named mine test.wma. Next COPY the file into the pcFE folder along with all the other .wma files. Right click on the file and select Rename. Type in the name of the .wma file you wish to replace. For example, one of the files in the pcFe folder is ComeOnEileen.wma. If I no longer wish to hear that song I simply delete it and then rename my test.wma file to ComeOnEileen.wma. When the program tries to play "Come on Eileen" it's able to play it but now of course the sound is nothing but silence. To delete the other songs simply repeat the process. If you wish to save the songs rather than delete them simply move them to another folder.

You'll notice I've said nothing about the games themselves so far. Since these are all old titles you're probably already familiar with them. I remember all of these games back in their heyday so I was glad to be able to play them again. The games themselves are great. It's the software that the games come bundled with that needs work.

Games are cool, but Namco stinks!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 18 / 20
Date: November 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Here is a quote from their customer support:

"We have noticed that if you are running the game on a burning drive ie CD-RW then the game won't run."

When I asked when a fix was anticipated, I didn't get a response.

Also, it requires the CD to run. (It uses Starforce 3 copy protection, and it has to scan the disc everytime you select a different game to run...)

And it plays some very obnoxious music while you are selecting a game or adjusting options.

The games are fine, but the "packaging" that Namco put it in is truly awful.

needs patience

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

the games are great, but you need the cd in to play and it verifies slowly...every time you switch games. It's irksome.

ugh

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It messed up my computer, slowed everything down, and if you don't have a joystick...forget it.

Review Page: 1 

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