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The regular scoring categories are not entirely appropriate for this special review (at least not for the main product, the photo and video content could arguably be scored as usual, though I've chosen not to do that). The numeric overall score above - rather than just a more general "good" - is solely there because it fits better into the scoring system used on this site, and I can avoid messing with category pages and other things.
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Site info help
Site info valid on date of review
| Basic info: |
Desktop stripper (above the taskbar/SysTray) for Windows (free demo version available)
Membership to the Strip Saver 2 website unlocks all features and gives access to several hundred new animation packs as well as bonus photosets and videos.
54 girls (4-5 animation packs each) are included in the basic price, an additional 274 are available for unlocking at $5 each (and will additionally be rotated in and out with more recent content over time) |
| Pictures: |
Photosets with approx. 150-300 photos per girl
1840 or 1150 px resolution |
| Video: |
Approx. 3 clips per girl (approx. 3-4 minutes each)
Windows Media (wmv) available
Highest quality: wmv 384x288, 300-350 kbit
No DRM protection |
| Bonus: |
Regular wallpapers
Access to site with 3rd party hardcore feeds
Option of adding Strip Saver 2 (full access) to your account for a one time $20 charge (regular price is $24.95 a month) |
| Pricing: |
1 month recurring: $24.95
$5 one time payments (using a shopping cart system) to unlock 274 of the 328 models if you can't wait for the rotation system to reactivate them |
Pros
+ Rather than the screensaver/video wallpaper combo you get with Strip Saver 2 from the same company, Virtua Girl 2 uses a similar animation pack system to make stripping babes (around one to three inches tall, depending on the zoom level of your choice) put on a show on top of all your open applications in either one of the bottom corners of your screen.
In my review of Strip Saver 2 I critized it quite a bit for being somewhat useless (for me at least), as I never really see my desktop once I have applications running, so a wallpaper, static or animated, is wasted, and the only time a screensaver would be running on my computer is pretty much when I'm not in the room at all.
Things might be different for you of course, but those reservations definately mean that I find Virtua Girl 2 a more interesting product, as I can use the program options to schedule (every 15/30 seconds, every minute, five minutes etc.) a little unintrusive strip show in the corner of my screen
+ 54 gorgeous girls (well, 52 or so, a couple of the most popular babes have been back for a second round) is currently available on the Virtua Girl 2 website, each of them with four or five animation packs you can download and install. Each of the animation packs typically contains 4-6 animations for a total of around 7-10 minutes video, so altogether you've got many hours of strip shows waiting for you here.
As with Strip Saver 2, there are actually quite a few additional girls on the site too, no less than 328 total. But if you want any of those animation packs you will either have to wait for them to possibly be reactivated (most of them are older sets) over time, or pay $5 (using a shopping cart system) to have a girl's 4-5 animation packs activated
+ Large high quality photosets for every girl on the website, and they can be downloaded in zip files. Very high resolution on all fairly recent sets, and they are usually shot on a white neutral background which give them a distinct look. Each set is actually really four or five smaller sets in most cases, with the girl in different outfits
+ Two or three short video clips for each girl as well, although I don't really find them particularly interesting (and the quality isn't anywhere near up to the standards of the photo content either). You already got a lot more video with the animation packs
+ I haven't actually had Virtua Girl 2 running all that often since I installed it a few weeks ago, but it's been active while I've been writing this review, and as much as I think it's a bit of a gimmick, I still find myself oddly captured every time a girl steps out from the side of the screen and starts dancing and stripping.
Alright, so maybe having this thing on when you're trying to work is a bit counterproductive, but as I'm sitting right now I'll have to admit this thing is growing on me, quickly, despite my reservations
Cons
- The Strip Saver 2 girls had some issues with pixilated and shimmering outlines, and hints of the bluescreen they were filmed on poking through at the edges as well. The same thing is the case with Virtua Girl 2, although depending on the zoom level you use it's not quite as big an issue here as you're only looking at a one to three inches tall representation of the girls rather than near full screen height.
I still think it could be a whole lot better though, although I imagine that if improving it was actually easy to do on a technical level they would probably have done so.
A Virtua Girl HD is in the works, and it's supposed to be coming early 2007 (I'll take a look at it by then), but whether or not that will get rid of the quality issues or just allow for a larger scale remains to be seen
- I'm not a big fan of having to pay $5 a piece to unlock the majority of the girls (or take my sweet time waiting for my favourites to possibly be reactivated), but who would be.
With 50+ girls, around 30 hours or more of animation, 10,000+ high resolution photos and assorted other extras like the video clips included in the basic price, it's not exactly like you're getting shafted though
(Member area screenshots from the website, a screenshot from the control panel of the Virtua Girl 2 application, and one of Nella trying to distract me while I finish up this review. She did a pretty good job)
Click here to visit Virtua Girl 2
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95+ Excellent
85-94 Very Good
75-84 Good
65-74 Acceptable
-64 Don't Bother
Full rating info here
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