Profil de wgjones

Gets my vote for worst game ever

I always wanted this game as a kid and finally picked up a copy. WORST. MISTAKE. EVER. There's nothing remotely fun about this game. They tried to be innovative, but it just didn't work. You start off flying an airplane in a 10 lap air race where you must navigate a 3D course using a small viewing window at the bottom of the screen WHILE watching the top 2/3 of the screen as well. This level repeats itself TWICE. Then it turns into a light-gun game where you use the joypad to move the a targeting cursor around the screen instead of using an actual light-gun (using the light-gun might have made it fun, but that's not an option). If you survive that, you get to do the air race again. Then if you win the air race, you get to do the shooting part AGAIN. If you survive all that, THEN AND ONLY THEN do you actually get to play as the Rocketeer, flying through the sky and shooting targets. After that, you play the EXACT SAME LEVEL again, but as an airplane instead of the Rocketeer. Eventually, you end up on the outside of a zeppelin as the Rocketeer and you fight the main boss, but he just lobs grenades at you randomly while you fight his henchmen. For a game titled The Rocketeer, there's really not a lot of the Rocketeer in this. Bottom line, there's a lot of needless repetition and it's just not that fun — but the graphics look really good for their time.

Great value for a basic tripod. Perfect for DSLR use.

I got hired by a local firm for small-scale videography work, and my first experiences shooting on my then-new DSLR revealed a definite need for a high-quality tripod. A friend was nice enough to give me a brand new tripod that looked like it might have cost $15 at WalMart, he said he won it on a contest. Even with a $15 tripod, shakes abounded and I couldn't get a decent image when using a 250mm lens. I bought the Bogen-Monfrotto 3001N because it was the cheapest "pro" quality tripod I could find. I read reviews about it being heavy and difficult to pack, but my experience has been quite the opposite—it's light enough for me to pack in one hand when folded up, and it offers the kind of stability I needed in a package that not only looks professional, but feels professional too. The weak point on collapsible tripods is the latch system for the collapsible legs. I haven't had any problems with this unit, but the tension screws on the legs do feel like the cheapest part of the package. Still, despite feeling somewhat cheap, they are fairly solid and lock the legs in place without excessive tightening. I am expecting to have problems with them somewhere down the road—hopefully in a few years when I'll be looking to upgrade to a more fully-featured unit. I paired my tripod with a Bogen 701hdv head and have been amazed at how nice this package is for the price. I never have problems with the tripod scooting or shaking or collapsing, and I've used it as a desktop tripod and fully extended. No shakes, no stability issues at all. The only thing I haven't done is invert the center column, though that looks to be an easy operation as well. I purchased this a few months after back surgery, while on weight restrictions, and even with the 701 head (which is slightly bulky for a DSLR rig), and I expected weight to be an issue, but it wasn't. I was surprised with how light it is considering how solid it feels. I wish there was a place for a shoulder strap on the hinge unit, though there is a small keyring-type hanger to attach light bags. I wouldn't try to carry it using a strap attached to the ring, but that may be paranoia on my part. Overall, I'm well pleased. Good quality tripods are an often overlooked part of the videography equation, especially at the level I'm working at, so any leg-up is a great advantage. For the money, this tripod is everything I needed at half the price I expected to pay.