i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless Score: 75% Developer: DreamGEAR Device Type: Controller

Function: If you want to play your Xbox, but you don?t want a wire hanging between you and your console of choice, you are in the market for a wireless controller. For that matter, you just might want a little extra range. Either way, the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless cuts the cord for you. In addition, the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless has a cool crackle finish and internal green LEDs that light up the entire controller.

Performance: The look of this controller is pretty cool, given the crackle finish and the internal lighting effect. The layout of the buttons is identical to the i.Glow wired controller, and as such, is well done. The range on the wireless itself seems to be pretty good when the batteries are fresh, but I experienced some loss of signal after about 15-20 hours of gameplay. The lighting feature didn?t seem to be any less bright, but the signal would drop out.

Features: RF wireless controller Crackle finish Internal green LED lighting Requires four AAA batteries (not included)

Drawbacks & Problems:: It seems that either the batteries don?t last as long in the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless or that the signal is not as strong in the Xbox version as it was in the PS2 version. I found that after playing for a while, the batteries were still strong enough to light the controller up brightly, but while I was playing the receiver would lose the signal and I?d have to manually tell the controller to reconnect before I could regain control of my game. I did try changing the channel on the receiver to see if that was the issue, but to no avail. Also, the batteries are not included ? a pet peeve of mine, personally. The wireless feature in the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless comes at a cost: it has no expansion slots. In the location that would typically house two expansion ports, there is simply a panel. The reason for this is that behind this panel, where the slots would normally be, is the location for the four AAA batteries. This would remove the ability to use, for example, an Xbox Live adapter with this controller. If you already have (or plan to get) rechargeable AAA batteries to use with the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless and you want a wireless controller but don?t need to use expansion slots, the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless is not bad. With these couple of exceptions, the i.Glow 2.4Ghz Wireless is a nice controller; it?s layout is comfortable and the i.Glow effect is very cool looking.

-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins