September 2007

Halo 3
Submitted Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 2:58:41 PM by Klaitu

You've seen the commercials. You've heard the hype. Does Halo 3 live up to the hype? No, no it doesn't.

Halo 3 is Halo. It's just like Halo 1 or Halo 2, except its on xbox 360. Did you like Halo 1 or 2? Well, then you'll probably like Halo 3, because absolutely nothing has changed in terms of gameplay.

I've heard a lot of people complaining that Halo 3 isnt revolutionary or amazing in any way, and they're exactly correct. It isn't. It's not supposed to be.. It's Halo.

That being said, Halo 3 is pretty fun. At times I wasn't sure where to go and got lost several times.. they could work on that. Otherwise, it's pretty much all game.

I'll tell ya though, without revealing any spoilers.. you know that commercial with the hand made models and theres a brute holding master chief and he sets off a grenade?

Yeah. Doesn't happen in the game. So, what was that all about? I have no idea.

The game does feature a somewhat naked holographic computer chick, though.. so thats nice.

Overall Score: 8 of 10


Heavenly Sword
Submitted Friday, September 21, 2007 - 2:11:37 PM by Klaitu

I've been itchin.

Seriously itchin.

Just waiting for a game to come out for the PS3 that would blow me away with its HD spectacles of sight and sound. Heavenly Sword promised to do just that, what with Andy Serkis getting all busy on it, and WETA Digital making all the special effects and whatnot.

The final product is a mixed bag.

Production values are high here, good voice acting, good motion capture, good sound. It's a well-polished package.

Gameplay is decent, it's a lot like God of War without the jumping. There's certainly no fault here. The aftertouch throwing system is especially nifty, and it comes in handy when you need to knock down 6 or 7 guys with shields. Just pick up a dead body and chuck away.

Heavenly Sword has problems, though. the main problem is that for the "moviegoing cinematic experience" it is supposed to be, it will only play in 720p. for those of you keeping score, that's the "medium quality" flavor.

Also, the game has problems with hiccups in the animations at times. It seems like a system slowdown you might see on other systems. If so, their coding needs extra work.

The game is terribly short, I beat it in one sitting. That one sitting was pretty fun though. There's enough gameplay variety to make all the hacking and slashing not seem repetitive.

Where Heavenly Sword really excels is at telling a story. The game is hosed down with storytelling elements. If you think of Heavenly Sword as an interactive 5 hour long movie, then you'd be closer to what the game actually is.

Overall Score: 7 of 10

A definite Rental. Steer clear of purchasing.


A Side Note
Submitted Friday, September 21, 2007 - 1:55:33 PM by Klaitu

The Master Chief Halo 3 special edition xbox 360?

It doesn't come with Halo 3.

Now, I know that it never said that it comes with Halo 3, but this is something one assumes when they buy a console that is coated in Mjonlir Mark 4 armor.

It's just as well, I would have had to pay extra for the console if it was in there.


The Final Showdown: Xbox 360 vs Playstation 3
Submitted Friday, September 21, 2007 - 1:55:22 PM by Klaitu

The battle has been raging for years! Which console is superior? Who will win the epic generation 7 console wars? Why didn't I mention the Wii? Well, let me start at the beginning.

I just recently purchased for myself a brand new xbox 360, this one is the Master Chief edition. It's all green with golden highlights.. just like the real master chief!

No seriously, check it out:



See, there's my 360!

Anyways, since I already own a Playstation 3, it seemed right in my mind to compare the two, since I now own both consoles and are able to test them at my leisure!

The first battle: price

Everyone complains that the ps3 is too expensive. It's not anymore expensive than the 360, it's just that Microsoft makes up a lot of their money through accessories, and sony doesn't do that quite so much.

My Master Chief 360 is the same price as the 360 with a 20 GB hard drive.. just about 400 bucks. The 360 does not have an inherent wireless connection, so add to that another $100 for the wireless adaptor. To connect online, you'll neex Xbox Live membership, which will run you another $100 per year. Altogether, that's $600.. about the same price as a PS3 when they first came out (which has integrated wireless, a bigger hard drive, and the online services are free). With recent price drops, the 60gb version PS3 is now cheaper than the 360.

The price myth: busted.

The winner? Nintendo Wii. Nobody can compete with the Wii's below-average price. Probably because it's made with old technology.

The second battle: technology

Everyone knows the PS3 is technically superior to the 360. It's got more oomph! Of course, the saturn had more oomph back in the generation 5 wars, and the PS1 blew it away. Perhaps the most crushing advsntage the PS3 has over the 360 is its inherant support for blu-ray discs. A blu-ray disc holds a great deal more data than a DVD, so game developers are not limited to the 9 GB of data that a DVD can hold.

Also, it plays pretty movies.

The 360 has a HD-DVD addon, another position where you pay more for a perhpieral. It also can't be used for games, only movies.

The third battle: games

The 360 wins on this battle, it's been out longer, and so it has a lot more games available at present. A lot more good games. The PS3 promises to have good games in the future, but at the moment the only real showstopper it has is Heavenly Sword (which is not that much of a showstopper).

The fourth battle: Online

Again the 360 wins. The Playstation Network is great, but Xbox live stomps it into the ground. PSN is set up like webpages, where you click on things and wait for pages to load. Live uses some kind of proprietary connection where the 360 builds the menus itself, no html needed.

The PSN does have some advantages over live though, it has unlimited download queue, and on the 360 you are limited to 6 at a time. It also sports a web browser, which isn't on the 360.

The final winner: Gamers

It's not secret that I'm a playstation fan. I reall ylike the PS3 and I think it's got a lot of good things going for it, but I can't deny that the 360 has a solid product and great games. So, here's my advice..

If you're looking for a video game machine for your kids, buy a 360.
If you're just looking to play video games, buy either.
If you're interested in HD movies, or HD software, get a PS3.
If you want games with Mario in them, and only games with Mario in them, buy a Wii.

As for sales figures, I still hold to my prediction that PS3 will eventually outsell the Wii and the 360. Worldwide, the Wii will also outsell the 360. At least, that's my prediction. We'll see how those turn out in a few years when we're debating the war between the Playstation 4 and the xbox 640!


Voyagers!
Submitted Tuesday, September 18, 2007 - 12:40:42 PM by Klaitu

I had almost forgotten about the Voyagers. Years ago, the show got me interested in history AND science fiction. It was one of the first shows I watched as a kid... that and Knight Rider.

It's sort of like Quantum Leap, these two guys jump around in time putting history right. Sure, Sam Beckett did a good turn, but did he ever get Moses unstuck from a rock as he was floating down the nile? Did he ever keep Cleopatara from kidnapping Babe Ruth? I think not!

I highly recommend Voyagers! Especially if you have kids. The show is entertaining AND educational!


World of Warcraft Entertaiment
Submitted Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 1:06:33 PM by Klaitu

I'm not a big warcraft fan, but those wacky WOW players have come up with something interesting..

The Guild name Generator, which takes words from real guild names and combines them into new guild names! Here are some of my favorites:

Protectors of No Apparent Few
Moomoo Midgets
Soldiers of Helter L Mankind
Princess Legion
Order of Scotty Fox Ninjas
Goldshire Pajamas
Portrayal of Talions Chess Advisory
The Nebraska
Ivory Bees
Emos of Dead Mans Fury
Undead Chicks
Cognitive Evil
The Evil Death Police

http://www.nickyee.com/python/guildname/generator.py


Bridge to Terabithia
Submitted Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 12:26:53 PM by Klaitu

So, what gives? Why is Klaitu reviewing a kids movie?

Well, I have fond memories of Bridge to Terabithia. I read it when I was in 6th grade. Unlike most of the books that schools make you read, this story had some meat to it. There weren't any talking rats driving cars. There weren't any magic cupboards from which plastic indians would spring forth. There was just some poor kid, and his shoes.

Anyway, the book was most excellent, so I hoped the film would be as well. It also has Zooey Deschanel in it, who has crazy lookin eyes! The film doesn't disappoint, it is very much like the book, except set in modern times instead of the 70's.

I don't want to ruin it for ya, so I'll be basic with the plot.. It's about this poor kid in a house full of other kids. He just sort of drifts through his life, going to school and coming back day in and day out. Then he meets a friend, and they become best friende. They explore an imaginary world together, and the relationship that they have changes everyone around them in amazing ways.. and it all stems from a shift in perception.

If you've seen the ads for the film, they tout it as a story about "the power of imagination", but that's not what it's about it all. Bridge to Terabithia is all about perspective on relationships, and for a kid's book, it's amazingly deep.

It also may be the only Disney movie ever which talks about God, and features a kid actually punching another kid.. on screen!

Check it out!

Overall Score: 9 of 10