Okay, so we are a little slow, but we finally purchased Rock Band 2for the Xbox. We played it all weekend so far and are really enjoying it. It has great songs, good game play and is the most fun to play with a group of people! It is still fun to play by yourself as well, which is more than I can say for some party style games out there on the market. My four year old also enjoys trying to play. Her version of Eye of the Tiger or as she sings it “I am the tiger” is pretty cute!
If you are not a natural drum pro, like some people out there, make sure that you check out the tutorials. I was horrible at playing the drums before the tutorials. I failed out of every song I tried. After going through the tutorial, I was able to play the songs with anywhere from 84% to 96% accuracy.
Rock Band 2 is a great game to enjoy not with friends, but by yourself as well.
Since the new launch of Xbox live, I am sold on the idea of not having to deal with the whole format war issues. My friend Pete made a comment when I wrote a post about Blu-Ray players. He actually uses his Apple TV and Netflix. He doesn’t have Cable or Satellite TV. At first, I thought I would not be able to handle that. I like my shows too much!
However, since the merge of Xbox Live and Netflix, I am starting to come around to that idea. Today, I added Ratattoullie to my Instant Watch queue on Netflix and my daughter and I sat back and enjoyed! Netflix now offers over 1500 movies for instant viewing and they will continue to get more. I am actually going to scale back how many movies I receive from Netflix (I get four), because a lot of the movies are instant viewing now.
All you have to do is to log on to your profile (Gold account is needed for this option), log onto the Netflix screen and it will give you a code. Then on your PC or MAC, login to Netflix and add the code. You are now free to roam about the queue!
So, I believe that with Apple TV and Xbox/Netlfix, the Blu-Ray format will eventually cease to extist. Let me know what you think!
The new Xbox Live unveiled today and I have to say, it's pretty cool. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but so far, I like it! I like how you can create your own avatar and check out your friend's avatars as well.
The new interface is a little bit confusing at first, it took me awhile to find the HD DVD window to play one of our DVD's, but all in all, I think it's a great update. My daughter had lots of fun helping my husband and myself create our avatars, so that was pretty cool for her.
I'm sure that there are people out there who will not like the new interface, but give it time, and they may come around.
Earlier this week, I reviewed
the Star Wars: The Clone Wars DVD. While I still agree that stylistically it
looks good, I feel that the storyline was a little weak. If you are going to
call a movie The Clone Wars, I expect that the movie would show the Clone Wars
on a broader scale than portrayed in the movie. The movie showed a battle on
one planet and then the mission became about rescuing Jabba the Hut’s son. Had
it not been for the subsequent animated television series of the same name, I
would have been sorely disappointed. At least the television series lives up to
the name The Clone Wars.
With a name like The Clone
Wars, it leads a person to believe that this will show the war on a grand
scale. Instead it was like saying World War II and only showing just the
fighting in
Russia
.
At least the director and George Lucas had the foresight to create the
television series.
So, what I would like to
know is, are there any other Star Wars fans out there who feel the same way
that I do about The Clone Wars movie? I would love to hear from you.
Now that the format war between HD DVD's and Blu-Ray is over, we are now all looking for a great Blu-Ray player deal. Sony's Blu-Ray player with 1080p output seems to be the best bang for your buck. So, the question remains, where to get the best deal for it.
Costco carries this Blu-Ray player for $279.99, Best Buy for $299.99 and Circuit City carries it on sale for $279.99, but only after a $20 mail-in rebate. According to all three websites, this Blu-Ray player received 4 & 1/2 stars out of five. Not bad! If you are like me, you will go the Costco route. I choose this option simply because mail-in rebates are a pain in the butt! I have enough going on in my life that I really don't have time for one more silly thing.
So this Christmas, if you are looking for a Blu-Ray player, check out Costco. Costco stands by products that they carry and they have an exceptional return policy if there are any problems. Not only that, you don't have to wait for any sales!
The format wars were a pain in the butt! Microsoft had a HD DVD attachment for the Xbox for $125.00. So that is what we bought. We have a few HD DVD's and really enjoy them. Thething that I liked most was the dual format discs, which Blu-Ray doesn't produce. It was nice because if I wanted to watch the movie in my bedroom, I just had to flip over the disc to the regular format side.The reason I haven't bought a Blu-Ray player yet, was because there were rumors that Microsoft would create a Blu-Ray attachment much like the unit they produced for HD DVD. That has now gone the way of the dodo.
So, I will now have to shell out $279.99 for a Blu-Ray player so that my daughter can enjoy her Disney movies, which were Blu-Ray only to begin with, and we can actually use our plasma TV as it was meant, in Hi-Definition, to watch our movies. God I hate format wars!
Today marked the DVD release of the latest Star Wars installment: Star Wars: The Clone Wars. If you haven't seen it already, don't feel bad, just buy it! I am sad to say that I haven't watched it yet, as I bought it as a present for my husband and can't watch it without him. (I promised. ) However, our family has been watching the animated series that picks up where the movie left off. The animated series can be seen on Cartoon Network and it is worth Tivoing and eventually buying. In honor of the The Clone Wars release, Lucasarts also re-released boxed sets of Episodes i – iii and Episodes iv – vi.
The animation is incredible and like nothing we've ever seen before. While the latest Indiana Jones installment was a bitter pill to swallow, The Clone Wars makes me feel like Oliver Twist asking "Please sir, may I have more?" The voice actors are also exceptional and really help to bring the characters alive. Matt Lanter, who played Brody, Claire Bennett's (of the hit show Heroes) love interest, does an exceptional job voicing Anakin Skywalker for Clone Wars. Anakin is a better representation of what a fan would expect Anakin to act like, unlike Haydn Christensen's portrayal. (Side note: In Haydn's defense. It has been referenced in many interviews that Haydn was strictly mointored and limited in his ability to act by George Lucas during the filming of Episode II and III.) Tom Kane is a jack of all trades when it comes to voice acting for The Clone Wars as Yoda, Wullf Yularen, The Narrator and Battle Droids as well.
So, purchase your copy, make some popcorn and May the Force be With You!
So, I just recieved this month's copy of OXM Magazine and the demo disc contained a Guitar Hero: World Tour demo. I played all of the available songs and I have to tell you, if you are just playing the guitar part, this is not that great.
I know that Guitar Hero is trying to up the ante on Rock Band 2, but after seeing both previewed and played at PAX (Penny Arcade Expo), I have to be honest when I say, I like Rock Band better. I think the selection of songs in Rock Band 1 & 2 are better and more varied then Guitar Hero: World Tour. Guitar Hero: World Tour has the same type of songs, with little to no variance in styles. There is more variance in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith than World Tour and that is pretty sad.
The beginner mode is so weak and boring that I immediately switched to easy and when even that was too easy, I went for medium. The songs are unchallenging and repetitious to the core. I would suggest renting this first before buying it.
Okay, so I admit this post sounds weird, but there is a great message, so stick around.
I live in Washington State where it rains 9 months of the year here. Most people use umbrellas when it rains, but I don't. I love the rain, the smell, the feel, how I feel like a kid again. My four year old daughter and I had to run to the grocery store and it was pouring down rain. We put the hoods of our sweatshirts and ran to the entryway of the store, laughing the entire time. I was sad because when we got in the store, she asked me if she could have an umbrella for Christmas. I told her I would talk to Santa about it. She also asked me why I don't use an umbrella. I told here that I like the feel of the rain on my face and an umbrella wouldn't let that happen. I told her how I love the smell of the rain. There is a fresh, clean smell to the air that only the rain brings out. When it rains and I inevitably get soaked, it almost feels like a shedding of the old and the bringing in of something new.
So, I will probably never buy an umbrella, I would miss the refreshing feeling and running in the rain, laughing with my daughter.
) However, our family has been watching the animated series that picks up where the movie left off. The animated series can be seen on Cartoon Network and it is worth Tivoing and eventually buying. In honor of the The Clone Wars release, Lucasarts also re-released boxed sets of Episodes i – iii and Episodes iv – vi.