• 15Sep 11

  Star Wars The Complete Saga - The FORCE is now on BLU-RAY

  Christmas came early this year.

  Sitting in my mail box when I got home from work today was the order I placed on August 31st - sent out only 3 days ago from DeepDiscount.com. Free Shipping has never been this good
  
  If you hadn't guessed from the title, I got my Star Wars Blu-Ray set - a day early.

  The Complete Star Wars 9-disk Blu-Ray set comes in a hardback-book type case and includes the following:
  Each Episode on a disk and 3 disks packed with (over 40 hours of) bonus features.
  
  Disk 1 - The Phantom Menace
  Disk 2 - Attack of the Clones
  Disk 3 - Revenge of the Sith
  Disk 4 - A New Hope
  Disk 5 - The Empire Strikes Back
  Disk 6 - Return of the Jedi.

  The following is taken from the back cardboard sleeve:
  ====================
  Audio Commentary on each movie by George Lucas and Crew. (also never-before-released commentary from archival interviews with cast and crew.

  Disk 7 - Bonus Disk 1 - Episodes 1-III and Disk 8 - Bonus Disk 2 - Episodes IV-VI
  New Star Wars Archives Content includes:
  -45 deleted/extended scenes
  -Cast & Crew Interviews
  -Props, Maquette and Creature Turnarounds
  -Matte Paintings and Concept Art
  
  Disk 9 - Bonus Disk 3
  In-Depth Documentaries and featurettes:
  -The Making of Star Wars (1977)
  -The Empire Strikes Back SPFX 1980
  -C.lassic Creatures: Return of the Jedi 1983
  -Anatomy of a Dewback 1997
  -Star Warriors 2007
  -Star Wars Tech 2007
  -A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later 2010
  -PLUS over 90 minutes of Star Wars Spoofs!
  ====================
  Overall a very nice set to add to the collection, not only for Star Wars fans, but for fans of movies in-general. Yes, there were changes made to the movies, but taken as a whole, this is the way Star Wars was meant to be seen and heard.
  
  Happy Watching everyone.

  • Posted Sep 15, 2011 4:38 pm GMT
  • Category: Movies
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• 5Feb 11

  My Sony Gaming History - Part 5 - PlayStation 3

  PS3 - PlayStation 3 - "Triple" - whatever you want to call it this was Sony's new "Next-Generation" gaming system.

  There were a few drawbacks I had leading up to the time I finally got my PS3.
  
  1 - System cost. PlayStation 3 was quite a bit more expensive than the then year-old Xbox 360, which I already owned, though at least availability was far less of an issue at launch and also in comparison to Nintendo's "Revolution".
  
  2 - Launch and early Multiplatform games. PlayStation 3 - in quite a few instances - actually had inferior versions of the same titles seen on Xbox 360 and/or the PC at the time. If that's not entirely true, then I apologize - it was my perception at the time.
  
  3 - Blu-Ray inclusion. Blu-Ray had a strong rival format that "for all intents and purposes" was equal. At the time of release the only television screen I had any access to was SD. Whether true or not, my perception was and still is that HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are not worth owning unless you have a 720P, 1080i or 1080P-capable screen to view them on.

  4 - Backward compatibility. From launch, similar to when the PS2 was released, a lot of talk was about backward-compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games. At least the first few models of PS3 were said to be completely compatible. This would be seen as a plus for most people but honestly I've never used it often enough that I needed a new system exclusively to play old games.

  5 - User interface. With the PSP it was understandable that it be an almost completely unique from any other handheld system. The same thing on their TV's and home system not so much. At least it did not impress me as much at the time of launch. I have since grown accustomed to navigating all 3 as I still have my PSP, and my TV also has it.

  6 - Other OS. Personally I've not really used Linux for more than a few minutes in the office environment and my thoughts at the time it launched was that the inclusion of this option didn't make a differene either way.

  So there were 6 things that at least slowed down any hype I had pre and post system launch.

  This brings me to the main reason I ended up with a PS3 - EXCLUSIVES. Games not found on either the PC platform or the Xbox 360 tend to make up most the the titles I currently have for the system - along with any Blu-Ray movies as I don't have any other way to play those. Some of the most notable games that got me hyped to get the PS3 are still some of my favorites for the system.

  By the time July 2008 comes around Sony's "most important exclusive" is just about to release - Metal Gear Solid 4. The hype over this game was probably the main reason I ended up getting the system at all. Oh, but I can't forget the fact that when the Twisted Metal Head-On port was brought to PS2 it included a message stating that "Twisted is coming to PSThree" or something to that effect. Again, Twisted Metal games are either the reasons I got the systems or the main reasons I kept them.

  If there are any negatives I have to say since getting a PS3 it would have to be - 1: Too many system models - consumers can get confused by too many choices (it's a very similar situation with the Xbox 360). 2: Hardware "BC" - this costs Sony money - at launch they are taking a loss on each system sold - even with its 499 and 599 price point - they switch it up and start using system software to do the same thing. This leads into the aforementioned 'too many models' - and eventually Sony removed PS2 compatibility completely - I feel it's a mistake to take away a feature to "save costs" when it's perceived that some extra software shouldn't physically have any cost. 3: Removal of the "Other OS" feature. Along with the removal of the "software BC" - removal of OtherOS was something else I still see that hurt the perception of Sony as a company with gamers. While I have not personally used it, I actually never updated my system after March of last year so the option could still be open to me.

  And so closes the 'final chapter' in my Sony Gaming History - at least for now.

  Thanks for your time.

  • Posted Feb 5, 2011 4:54 am GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 4Feb 11

  My Sony Gaming History - Part 4 - PlayStation Portable

  The Sony PSP - the power of a PlayStation 2 sitting in a space barely bigger than a controller.
  
  This system had a lot of potential - it was a whole entertainment center in your pocket - it could play your music, show your pictures, play movies, and play games that weren't simply portable, they were a home-system experience.

  The foam 'slip cover', cleaning cloth, wrist-strap, headphones, memory card and demo disk that came bundled in the 'value pack' were all great extras. A copy of Spider-Man 2 on UMD didn't hurt either.

  While all that was enough to get gaming fans excited, what got me interested in it - what hyped it up for me - was Twisted Metal: Head-On.
  
  As I said in Part 1 - my history with Sony and gaming is also my history with the Twisted Metal series. This game brought back everything I loved about Twisted Metal 2 - going away from the "Dark & Twisted" universe seen in Twisted Metal Black. Basically if you're a fan of the series, this was a must-own game - if you weren't a fan, this game probably wouldn't change your mind.

  Anyway, back to my story - I remember stopping at Wal-Mart quite a few hours before midnight to see what games were avaialble. I left there with Ridge Racer, Wipeout Pure, and of course TM: HO. A few hours go by, it was now around 10:00PM and I arrive there to find that there really aren't that many people standing around the electronics department. That morning I ended up staying up till 2:00AM watching the music videos, movie trailers, game videos, a little Spider-Man 2, and played a little of each game.
  
  None of thos games disappointed - all 3 were, and still are great examples of just how much the little machine was capable of.

  Long-story-short - I got my PSP on launch day and still enjoy the system.

  • Posted Feb 4, 2011 9:36 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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