Star Wars Episode VII

Along with a Nintendo fan, I am also very big on Star Wars. What I thought was hilarious was this YouTube video of a three-year-old recapping episode IV, A New Hope. Now, the video in itself is pretty ridiculous but what is even more insane that as of 7:18 2/29/08, it has 3.6 million views. Considering it was posted a week earlier, that is about 500K people every day. Something so weird but yet somehow comical is a marker in YouTube’s long history. Check it out below.

 

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 10 Days Left

Desperate Level: 2 

Why?: Still nothing new and exciting on smashbros.com, although I did review the subspace emissary storyline (highly recomended before you actually get the game).

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 11 Days Left

Today's Desperate Level: 2

Why?: Today's smashbros.com update was Lucario, not that exciting, plus, it's almost the end of the week, and I am exhausted!

Super Smash Bros Brawl- 12 Days Left

Unlike the post of the game below, you probably heard of this game, right?

If you've looked at my side column, you know this game is number one on my "want it" list, and for good reason. With a perfect 10 review from Nintendo Power (not entirely trustworthy, but still gives an estimate) and a message basically saying this is one of the best Wii games ever made there is almost no one I know who doesn't want it. With this exclusive 12 day countdown I will be doing, I will give you my desperate level (1-10), and a tid-bit on why you would want this game.

Today's desperate level: 3

Wazup?: A custimizable stage builder where you can send your stages to your friends and play on the wildest imaginable creation would leave endless years of playing.

Also, to get the game my suggestion is just to go to Target, Gamestop, BestBuy, etc. about ten minutes before they open. I've gotten Guitar Hero III and my Wii that way, and it works. I wouldn't recomend pre-ordering it because then you are tied to one store when the day finally comes.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

You probably haven’t heard of this game right?

Well, I will tell you right from the get-go that this is a puzzle game and if you’re a different kind of gamer you will not enjoy it as much as I have. If you’re anyone else, I must inform you that this game has been a breakthrough in my DS library and is right up there next to Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass (awesome game as well). Many factors have made this a must-have for me including a mysterious plot, rich graphics, and intriguing puzzles.

The game’s beautifully done cartoony-style graphics (think Studio Ghibli) wouldn’t seem to integrate with the plot containing multiple suspicious activities, but somehow it all works out in a crisp, fluid storyline with some wonderful animations and limited voice acting. The enticing plot contains many mysteries including a family fortune resting on the winner of a scavenger hunt, an isolated village whose only exit is a drawbridge that has been locked, and strange kidnappings that have lead to rumors about a large, ominous tower resting inside the village itself, along with many more you discover on your way.

Although the presentation is nice, the game play and puzzles really made the shot for me. All control is done by touch screen as you walk the alleys of the town or attempt to solve a riddle. The actions are fluid and easy to use, making all parts of the game overall enjoyable. The characters are another thing to fall in love with. Professor Layton is someone that really gives you a reminder of Sherlock Holmes, and his animal loving, quick-witted assistant Luke, all though not very bright, adds a splash of commentary into the game (plus every great detective needs a dispensable assistant). The puzzles are definitely the best part. Some are logic, some normal puzzles, some riddles, and some that don’t even belong in any category! When you solve a puzzle, you are awarded “picarats” based on how hard it was, and trust me; those 50 picarat ones are very difficult!

I won’t go into every extra in the game, but I will tell you there are some cool side-quests to undertake as well as just trying to solve the over 125 puzzles. An added bonus is every week, the publishers will release a new puzzle that can be downloaded over Wi-Fi for an even longer extension of the game. The bottom line is this game gets a 8.7 from me and is definitely my favorite DS game of all time next to, as I mentioned before, Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass.

Guitar Hero Aerosmith (3.5)

Coming this June, Activision will release an add-on to the Guitar Hero series. The game is titled Guitar Hero Aerosmith and is scheduled to come out on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii! The game features 30 Aerosmith songs along with others that have preformed with them. It will also capitilize on the more than thirty years of the bands history from high school to superstardom. This add-on is similar to that of Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80's, which was released for PS2 in between GH 2 & 3. This will be an essential for any Aerosmith or Guitar Hero fan (like me) so keep your heads up this June.

First Real Post: The Death of HD-DVD

I know it's kind of weird that I'm starting my blog with the end of something, but that's how timing is. Last week, Toshiba, the biggest supporter of HDDVD in the high-def DVD war announced that it would end production of such units and discs by March. Over the next couple of days, stores like Circuit City have stated they would stop carrying HDDVD players and discs by the end of this week! Multiple switchings from this format to the rival, blu-ray, eventually led to HDDVD's demise, originally backed by Microsoft and Toshiba.

So now that its rival format is dead, does this mean blu-ray will finally take-off? Most experts say only possibly. Although HDDVD did die, it had a couple of features blu-ray won't be able to claim until much later this year. This includes the ability to connect to the internet for extra content and picture-in-picture commentary. These features are going to be included in the second version of blu-ray players, 2.0, which most players now won't be able to upgrade to. Another downside of blu-ray is the price. Even now it is fairly difficult to find a blu-ray player under $500. This fact really is bad considering some HDDVD players were under $150. In the end, it still may take some time for blu-ray to become the main DVD format, but is there another enemy on the horizon?

With the introductions of devices such as Apple TV 2.0 and the Vudu which can temporarily download HD movies right from your TV actual DVD players may die in the near future. So does this mean another movie war, not formats, but the difference between movies being downloaded and on actual discs? Only the future can tell us before.

To Get Things Started

Okay, I just want to tell you a little bit about my loyalties in the tech world.

1. I am a solid Nintendo gamer, and own a Wii and DS, I don't hate the Xbox 360, but I do dislike the PS3

2. Although I do primarily use Dells, I am not anti-mac

3. I own an iRiver, not accioated with Apple, I am not against iPods.

4. I am not going to go Blu-ray because I believe that downloadable HD movies will become popular quicker

Welcome to the Xytra Blog

This is my first time running a blog, website, or anything else online, so please stick with me for a couple of weeks. I hope to publish a lot of information about happenin things in the tech world as well as the video game world as well as some major world news. I hope you guys enjoy the future!