Whip that sabre out and unleash it!

Title: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Publisher/Developer: Lots, read in the review for the skinny.
Platforms: PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360, DS, and Mobile Phones
Release Date: 9/16/2008
Number of players/Multiplayer: Single-player (though the Wii version will have duel-mode)

When Star Wars: The Force Unleashed arrived at my home office I had company from out of town. That kept me from putting as much time as I was drooling into the game right away. Fortunately, I was surprised at the length of the game. I really, with all the hype, was expecting it to run a few hours shorter than it did. Well, on to the review, eh?

...the dead shall walk the Earth.

Okay, if you haven't figured out by reading a lot of what I write about games yet, let me spell it out: I love survival-horror games. They are by and far my favourite genre of games out there to be played. Now, I know there have been some stink-bombs out there in the genre but to be fair, unlike other genres, even a bad survival-horror can still be looked at as something enjoyable. Personally, if it's a horrible game, I pretend it's like a bad exploitation, grindhouse movie. Hell, how many "horror" movies were B status that are now cult classics (see: Night of the Living Dead if you are unfamiliar with this idea).

Well, today I thought I would share with you some thoughts running through my mind about the genre because I can. I mean, at this point you've already read this and you can't un-read it. May as well stick it out now. I have some ideas for some new titles you might like (or at least chuckle at). You'll have to read below if you want to see these AMAZING new possibilities.

That's it man, game over man. Game over!

Title: Space Siege
Publisher/Developer: Sega/Gas Powered Games
Platforms: Windows PC
Release Date: 08/12/2008
Number of players/Multiplayer: Single-player campaign, Up to four-player Co-op

From the creator of Total Annihiliation, Dungeon Siege, and Supreme Commander, Chris Taylor, comes Dungeon Siege in Space! Well, okay, t's not exactly Dungeon Siege in space, but it's pretty close. The latest title from Mr. Taylor and his posse takes the old dungeon crawler genre and tosses it into space, where no one can hear you complain...

Peter must be, what, 64 at this point?

Title: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Publisher: Activision
Developer(s): Next Level Games (Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2), Artificial Mind and Movement (Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable), or Beenox (PC)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable
Release Date: October 2, 2007 for North America
Number of players/Multiplayer: 1 or 2 player

Spider-Man… does this really need any introduction? While he’s been around since 1962, the web-slinger made a huge comeback in 2002 with the debut of the self titled movie. While the enormous success of this film started a chain reaction ending with every movie company in America scrambling for copyrights to the Marvel franchise, Spider-Man was the only one to truly end well. With a fourth movie on its way, five video games and three more currently in development for the new generation of systems, no one is able to see the end in sight. Personally, I’ve been a huge fan since the first movie (I was nine or ten at the time), and I’ve played every game for every system that has come out… yeah, that’s a lot.

Ever been in a mosh pit with Bach playing?

Many people claim to be metal heads and/or overall rock fans, but they often look past the fact that some of the darkest, goriest, and downright scary music derives from classical music. It takes a musical ear to hear this, but with a few things pointed out to the common listener, a connection can be made. As said by Steve Asheim, the drummer and primary songwriter for the Satanic death metal band Deicide, “I listen to classical piano. Some of that stuff rips it up and is actually reminiscent of metal, for me anyway. I think it gives a broader range of what’s possible in constructing songs and music.”

This looks like a job for...

If you are a comic book fan you definitely want to take a look at this book. It is a collection of 6 special print books from the DC Universe. I really can't stomach calling this book a "comic" book due to it's quality. The default term would be "Graphic Novel" but even that falls short. It is a pure and simple work of art.

The World's Greatest Super-Heroes is part comic, part encyclopedia giving you a good story as well as the background on some of the oldest super-heroes in the industry.

Sure, you can buy headphones, but can they play dead?

In-Ear Headphones:

These are my personal favorite. Tone quality is always at its max due to outside noises being blocked out, they’re smaller than any other type, and above all, you can generally buy different sized rubber pieces that will fit your ears perfectly. While these are the most damaging to your hearing, they are just as safe (or as dangerous) as any other audio listening device if you keep the volume and time spent listening to a minimum. I have tried countless brands, and personally, I enjoy any in-ear headphone from Sony. The reason for this is because all of their headphones come with noise-canceling standard, unlike Pioneer or Skully. The average price for a decent pair is around $50, but you can always find a pair for around $20 if quality doesn’t really matter to you. The best pair that I’ve come across are the Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones. These are normally around $40 in stores, and about $20 on Amazon.

Qaurters! Fortune for a Quarter!

Arcades – Generation X may see this as the occasional spot next to movie theaters and bowling allies that people only browse in for no more than half an hour, but anyone past the age of twenty-five certainly remembers a time in America where the arcade scene was the place to be, video game nerd or not. While I personally have never been one to head to the arcade, I have definitely seen the changes in the past years. Living in Miami – one of the biggest cites in America – I would see entire shops dedicated to arcade games, and they were filled to the rim with teens and adults alike. This, of course, was when I wasn’t even ten, so I never truly had the opportunity to get into that, but the decline of such stores is obvious.