Recent reviews by AmaHC

With G-Sync enabled the test ran at 100 FPS (the refresh rate of my PG348Q) the whole time, but the program ended up saying my SLI GTX 1080's were not capable of running low quality VR. It actually suggested I upgrade my graphics. Turning off G-Sync and the outcome reversed 100% saying my system performs well above the recommended spec for HQ VR.

You should know already or not if your system is capable of running VR. If you have nVIDIA graphics, it doesn't matter how many cards you have in SLI, if they are not GTX 970 or better your system IS NOT CAPABLE OF RUNNING VR. It's plain and simple. Older cards don't have the required hardware features built in that VR requires.

I doubt this program even looks at feature sets. It seems to look entirely at just min and average frame rates. The program needs to give you a more clear evaluation of your system after the test. It should also give you warnings for disabling any hardware features that could possibly skew results *cough*G-sync*cough*

The program may be somewhat useful for somebody that has a system that is stradling the minimum spec, but otherwise it's completely unneeded.

Used the Freeware version of this program for just about as long as it was first available. I've tried every major freeware video player on the market, all of which are useable, none of which are as customizable or feature rich as Zoom Player. I have a lot of old and new video I play using this program, so I have a lot of hours on record on Steam but probably 10x the amount of hours on the freeware, so I figured it was about time I help support the developers and buy the full version here on steam.

It's worth every penny at the current full price they charge here, getting it on special just makes it that much of a better deal. Don't bother with the reviews with 0.1hrs. If those people could actually read the feature list properly, they would understand that this player does not play back copy protected Blu-ray discs because that requires expensive licensing that would probably at least double the cost of this program. Also do not listen to thor32123's review, because this program plays every major format available as long as you have the proper filters and codecs installed on your computer. I have played back: mpg, mp4, avi, ogm, mkv, rm, rmv, rmvb, asf, wmv, qt, etc. Plays them all fine. I don't use this for audio, but every audio file I have accidently played on this program has played fine: mp3, wav, ogg, flac, etc.

Pros:

• Feature Rich & customizable well beyond the available freeware players out there
  
• Excellent Playlist feature, light years better than every other player I have tried
  
• Plays almost everything, copy protected Blu-ray being the only format I am aware of it doesn't

Cons:

• Doesn't play copy protected Blu-ray, but it doesn't claim it does either.
  
• Doesn't offer enough at the price point over freeware players for the casual media playback users.
  
• Steam Updates are sometimes buggy with Anti-virus software, requiring disabling your AV prior to updating

Overall: 9/10

While no copy protected Blu-ray playback support is a con, the program does not claim it does so you cannot fault the program for that. The problematic updates through Steam are a hastle, but more of a nitpick than a real con. Most programs tell you to disable your AV prior to installation as a precaution anyway, but this was the first time I have had a problem with installing an update or any program for many years now that were caused by an Anti-virus program.

If you're a casual media playback user, you'll be fine with any of the freeware players out there, VLC being the best 'Video player for Dummies' out there. If you absolutely have to have copy protected Blu-ray playback, look elsewhere. I have a set top player for my Blu-rays as well as a software player that came with my BD-R Writer so I did not need nor care about Blu-ray playback. I've used the software player that came with my burner once, and that was just to test if it was actually a fully useable version or just a trial (it's a full version). Any time I play a Blu-ray, I do it with my set top player.

If you're a power user, or not afraid of learning how to work with this program (not that difficult), there's no better video player out there available at this price point or cheaper.

The original Total War: Shogun 2 is probably still my current favorite Turn Based Strategy game, and one of my all time favorites. I've got a lot more hours on this game than indicated in my profile, as I have played it with Steam offline way more often than online. I'm not as much a fan of the Rise of the Samurai Campaign or the Fall of the Samurai stand alone expansion.

Pros:

• Excellent graphics for the time, still decent by todays standards.
  
• Individual games are not too long drawn out
  
• Lots of great info on the Sengoku Jidai (waring states period) of Japan
  
• Units on the campaign map as well as in battles respond/talk in Japanese. This is a plus for me as I can understand it all, but it may be a con for people that don't know a lick of Japanese.
  
• Relatively well balanced at this point in time of the game.

Cons:

• Some historical accuracies in order to keep things less complicated. Ie: Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't change his name to that until 1567 (game campaign starts in 1545). His father was Matsudaira Hirotada, Daimyou of the Matsudaira Clan based out of Okazaki. The Hattori weren't a clan but a secretive ninja family based in Iga, which wasn't a province but an actual independant republic until Oda Nobunaga conquered it in 1581.
  
• Naval units take way too long to circumnavigate the coast of Japan.
  
• Need a really powerful system to run the game at high resolutions and max details even today.
  
• Certain key figures of the time are missing. Ie: Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Overall, even with the shortcomings, this is a really good game that many fans of Turn-based Strategy games will really enjoy, as well as people that are interested in the fuedal era of Japanese history.

Solid 8.5/10