This first generation console was released in August of 1972. Sales suffered due to the terrible marketing by Magnavox retail stores. Many consumers thought that the system would only work with Magnavox televisions, thus decreasing sales that much more. The boxes later had ‘Works on any television set, black and white or color’ written on them.

The system is as simplistic as you can get. The Odyssey used cartridges which were just little cards with numbers on them. The games that were made for the Odyssey only had slightly different programming as the games didn’t use graphics. The console only uses little lights the shape of squares/rectangles on the screen and you place overlays on your television screen to simulate graphics.

When you look at the controllers, you will wonder what everything does. Well, it’s just a block on a thick cord with 3 knobs and a button. One knob is for vertical movement and the other is for horizontal. The last mini knob is pretty much used to screw with the game. In other words you could call it the first cheating system in video games. The button on top is just a reset button; self explanatory. You will find that the cords on the controllers are short and bulky, so in order to play you will need to move the console closer. There was also a light gun that was produced. This gun looks nothing like you would see in todays market. It literally looked like a rifle. The light gun was used for a game called Shooting Gallery and detected light. If you wanted to, you could cheat by holding it up to a light bulb as it only needs to detect light to count as a hit.

The games may be simplistic and dumb looking, but you’d be surprised how much fun you could have just by screwing around with it! If you have one or plan on getting one, just have a friend over and just try different stuff out. Maybe play Simon Says or even just the basic Table Tennis (aka Pong). Sometimes the simplest things can be the most entertaining.

The Magnavox Odyssey only sold around 330,000 units. To find one now would probably be hard and expensive at that. If you can get your hands on a working one, then you should definitely buy it. This is first video game console to ever be made. It’s the first game device to use video signals.

Ralph Baer is possibly the biggest person in gaming history. He’s currently 88 years of a age and he seems to be going strong still. Ralph, you will always be a gaming god!

So who’s planning on buying this new DLC to release at the end of this month?

“Agent Joanna Dark hit the ground running in Perfect Dark, an epic tale of galactic conspiracies in 2023 America. Now this classic shooter comes to Xbox LIVE Arcade, rendered in greater definition and detail and sporting a silkier framerate than ever before. Fire up your Farsight and prepare for assignment—the Dark returns this winter.”

This game is your typical first person shooter and has a wide variety of weapons. This game is very similar to one of Rare’s earlier title, GoldenEye 007. Perfect Dark has a wonderful story and the multiplayer will have you coming back for more.

Perfect Dark features Agent Joanna Dark. She is sent on a mission to investigate suspicious reports from a dataDyne insider calling himeself Dr. Caroll, who is actually an AI. After the raid on dataDyne, Daniel Carrington (found of the Carrington Institute) is held captive at his private villa by dataDyne soldiers and forced to tell them where Dr. Caroll has been hiding. Joanna’s mission is to rescue Carrington and Dr. Caroll of what has been happening.

I hope to see you all playing it on release! I know I will.

At launch, the console was priced at $199.99 and included two joysticks and a cartridge of the game Combat. It was at one point rebadged as the Sears Video Arcade which was sold in Sears stores and it was manufactured by Dimerco Electronics.

Atari was competing with the Fairchild Channel F, which is an earlier Pong console. During the time of the Atari 2600’s release, it started killing off other Pong consoles due to the fact that people were just getting bored of them. Since that happened, Atari only sold 250,000 consoles in 1977.

Once everyone started to realize that it was possible to play games other than Pong, programmers started learning how to push out new possibilities. Space Invaders was developed then licensed by Atari. That caused sales to more than double to 2 million units in January of 1980.

There was two versions of the console that was never to see the light of day. They were known as the Atari 2700 and 2800. The 2700 was only a wireless version of the original 2600. It had been never been released due to a design flaw. The 2800 was a nice sleeker version of it that was meant to be sold in the Japanese market. Due to the release of the Nintendo Famicom, it did not sell well at all.

The Atari 2600 has always been in the hearts of gamers. It launched the revolution in gaming technology and is still played to this day. They are known to have the longest life span than any other console to date. As time goes on, younger generations will soon have no idea what an Atari, ColecoVision, or even an Intellivision was. It’s our job to make sure that the Atari legacy lives on. We must teach the young gamers of this system. To this day, I will sit in the dark, and just play a game on my Atari. Enjoying the simplicity and beauty, that is known as the Atari 2600.

Desperate Escape was created for mainly one sole purpose: to provide fans with a challenge. Thus, this DLC features multiple boss Majini, from the Chainsaw Majini to the Red Executioner Majini. Take into mind: Desperate Escape has been built to be extraordinarily challenging, especially on the “Professional” difficulty settings, as it’s almost impossible for even the developers to clear it. Throughout this brutal challenge, you’ll go through three “chapters.”

Through chapters one and two, you fight through Majini-infested areas, fighting horde after horde, wave after wave of the Majini pests. Boss Majinis make their appearance throughout, and these chapters feel much like the rest of the game, but to a more challenging level.

Chapter 3 is much like a “Mercenaries” level. You must stay alive, fighting off hordes of Majini on the roof of the communications tower, and wait out the timer for your helicopter. As more time passes, and you kill more enemies, harder enemies will appear. This chapter lasts at least 10 minutes.

Though Desperate Escape had some very tasteful action sequences, it didn’t have that same vibe as Lost In Nightmares. Jill and Josh aren’t the most dynamic duo, and banter and one-liners are kept to a minimum. Resident Evil 5 had a nice, loyal fanbase, and if you liked everything about RE5, this is a relatively short, but sweet extension.

Imagine losing everything you love. Imagine watching your wife and kid killed before your very eyes. Imagine learning that one of the two men involved in the murder is going to walk free. Would you just accept the justice system’s decision, or would you want blood?

Gary Gray returns to the director’s chair after a 4 year vacation with Law Abiding Citizen, an emotional yet action packed flick that’s guaranteed to get your blood pumping. With an amazing cast of familiar faces such as Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bib, Bruce McGill, and Regina Hall, Law Abiding Citizen appears on the surface as an amazing flick. But the surface seems to lie when it comes to Hollywood’s expensive flicks. The question is raised in the mind of most movie goers, “Will this movie be worth my money?”

Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is a brilliant planner and inventor. One night two robbers invade his Philadelphia home and brutally kill his wife and daughter, and almost kill him. The killers are caught, and Assistant DA Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) is assigned the case. Nick is ordered by the DA to make a deal with one of the killers to testify against his partner for a 10 year plea bargain prison sentence. Clyde doesn’t want Nick to make the deal, but Nick says it was too late and the deal is done. The other killer got the death penalty. After 10 years, the other killer is released from prison, and he soon ends up dead. Clyde is arrested and kind of admits to Nick that he did it. Clyde is put in jail, and he warns Nick that he must fix the broken justice system that failed him and his family or else anyone connected to his case will soon die. Even from jail, Clyde’s threats become a reality, and Nick must stop Clyde before his family is next. (imdb.com)

This movie is one that could have taken a wrong turn numerous times down its production road. The biggest flaw could have easily been the acting; however, Butler and Foxx make a perfect team of good guy bad guy in this flick. Foxx’s role as the determined assistant DA is perfect, he’s smart, witty, and will do anything to protect his family. Butler’s had the practice to play a murderer, and it really shows in his execution of Shelton in this movie.  The acting is near flawless, and the only complaint that comes to mind is Butler’s constant sneer.

The plot is strong. On the surface it seems shoddy, but in execution, the work is brilliant. While Kurt Wimmer’s history in the movie business is nowhere near good, there’s a possibility that his role in writing the screenplay for Law Abiding Citizen may turn his career around. The characters were in depth and developed perfectly throughout the course of the movie, the action was tight and the story moved at a speed that kept the audience interested. This is one of those movies with a target audience of men who don’t like depth, and while the story lacked depth, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Law Abiding Citizen is a perfect example of the modern day action flick. Filled with plenty of blood, gore, and explosions, the movie really hits its target audience. Foxx and Butler’s work together was perfect, and the script was smooth. Regina Hall, Bruce McGill, and Leslie Bibb fill their supporting roles impressively, and aided greatly in this movie’s outcome. Unfortunately, no movie’s perfect. The cinematography is really complicated at moments, and some actions performed throughout the movie are simply unbelievable. This movie really makes for mindless entertainment.

4.5/5

Are you affected? Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
-This glitch seems to only affect “fat” PS3s. No reports of a slim-line PS3 with a glitch have been reported.
-It really is GLOBAL, affecting Japan, Europe, and North America.
-This glitch prevents you from conencting to the PlayStation Network.
-Only games prevented from starting are trophy-enabled ones. Older PS3 games without trophies should work fine.
-The error codes vary from game to game, but all appear to be trophy related.
-This glitch occurs initially when powering on your PS3. This does not matter whether you are connected to the Internet or not.
-Manually resetting your PS3s time and date will not resolve the issue.
-Some report re-seating the internal battery will resolve this problem. These claims are NOT verified, but even if they were, I wouldn’t attempt this even with a no-fault insurance policy. Aside from voiding your warranty, this would require full disassembly of you PS3 system and meddling with the core components.

As of 9:55 PST, according to Sony’s Twitter page, this glitch should be fixed by 1 PM EST March 2nd, 2010:
“@JeffRubenstein: Summary: PS3 slim is good to go, older models should be fine within 24 hrs. Leave em off until then.”

[UPDATE]
It seems that as of 00:00 GMT, all PS3s seemed to have fixed themselves. Since then, I’ve booted mine and have had no problems throughout use. It seems this “nightmare” to some has ended, and it was just a small, technical glitch by Sony. But no hatin’, we’re all human, we all make mistakes. Everything’s back up and running: PSN is good, Netflix, trophy-enabled games… all good. So relax, release your paranoia, and feel free to power up and play! Kick back, and turn on your PS3!

Players will take control of BSAA agents Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine as they enter the Spencer Estate sometime in 2005, in search of the founder of the Umbrella Corporation, Ozwell E. Spencer. This mansion highly resembles the mansion of the Arklay mountains from the first RE game. Players will work through the mansion to reach Ozwell E. Spencer just moments after he is murdered by Albert Wesker. It really captures the original essence of the Resident Evil franchise. The Moonlight Sonata will make an appearance, as well as some familiar puzzles.

This DLC will have you tensed-up about moving forward, it’s great in quality, and the experience from it is amazing as well. Pretty short in length, but great at its low cost of five dollars.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 – Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Dragon Age Origins Awakening – Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Final Fantasy XIII – Xbox 360 and PS3
God of War III – PS3
Just Cause 2 – Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Metro 2033 – Xbox 360 and PC
Red Steel 2 – Wii
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition – Xbox 360 and PS3
Resonance of Fate – Xbox 360 and PS3
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey – Nintendo DS
Yakuza 3 – PS3

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth and latest installment to this ever-growing space exploration series. Going against the trend that JRPGs have set in over time, Star Ocean uses its famous real time battle system, and after a decade of work on the title, it has been perfected. Although TLH is the newest publication it takes us back to the series’ origin, S.D. 10, where Earth stands on the brink of destruction after World War III. The protagonists, Edge Maverick and Reimi Saionji, take off on a journey across the universe for the Space Reconnaissance Force to find a new home for humanity. These two young heroes are humanity’s last hope.

In the year 2064, World War III had broken out on Earth, and weapons of mass destruction were used without hesitation, razing the planet. Critical situations began to occur, and both factions of WWIII signed a ceasefire, but it was too late; most of the Earth’s population had been killed, and the land was deteriorating at an extraordinaryily alarming rate. Any surviving population were forced to live in underground cities, and countries formed together to create the Greater United Nations. The Universal Science and Technology Administration was formed by the G.U.N. with one sole mission: to find humanity a new home in the outer reaches of space. Humans soon discover travel at warp-speed, starting the space date, S.D., calendar. Space date 10 comes along, and you have been selected as humanity’s first venture into the outer reaches of space. Will you be the one who saves humanity? Or will you parish in your attempts to find a planet suitable for human life, surrounded by monstrosities unimaginable, dooming humans to extinction?

Star Ocean: TLH comes with a whole new pack of features tagging along with it’s original. The first and foremost new features are those in the battle system. One of the most useful new technigues is the Blindside, which can be used to slip behind enemies, confusing the enemy as you attack it from behind with automatic criticals. There is also a new system called the “Battle Exalted Action Type System,” refered to in game as the “BEAT System.” There are three different choices for each character’s BEAT settings. BEAT.S, an offensive setting; BEAT.B, a defensive setting; and BEAT.N, a neutral setting which combines the stat enhancements of other BEAT settings. The “Fury” Gauge from the previous installment has been removed, and replaced with a “Rush” Gauge. The Rush Gauge build up as you land attacks and take damage, and can be released to attack faster, with more power, and without being interrupted by enemy attacks. On a sad note, MP death has been removed from this game. Yeah, now it’s harder for them to kill you! But it’s also harder for you to kill them. One final battle feature is the utilization of characters. Not only can you use four instead of three characters, like in Till The End Of Time, but death finally makes sense in this JRPG! After all four characters die in battle, you may select one reserve member to take their place in battle until everyone’s been knocked out. Not only that, but you can change party members during battle too, which can be extremely helpful.

The other big feature to TLH is your ship, the SRF-003 Calnus. With your ship, you can travel to previously visited planets to recollect items and complete mini-quests, meet with your other party members in the conference room for Item Creation, and has a quarters in which, with the right character pairings, can trigger special Private Actions, a feature from previous Star Ocean titles.

The graphics, like any other modern Square-Enix game, are near breath-taking. The quality really brings out the interstellar feel of the game, and makes it that much more interesting to play.

The audio quality itself is very good. Unfortunately, the voice acting did not meet the bar set by the former titles. The facial movements of the characters is downright terrible to a point to where it’ll make you feel like you’re playing a modern Sonic The Hedgehog game. Music, on the other hand, is fantastic. The soundtrack lives up to Sakuraba’s name.The composition is precise, and it fits most situations perfectly.

Cutscenes, cutscenes, cutscenes. Everybody knows how RPGs love their cutscenes, and TLH is no exception.  Not only are there many of these out-of-game videos, but they are extremely lengthy. Some reach a point that your controller will hibernate and force the video to pause. There is an upside though: during any of these monstrous progressions, you can just press “Start” on your controller and select “Skip Cutscene,” which will promptly end the video. In return you receive a summary, and (if followed by a battle) will receive a warning before you’re thrown into a fight for you life. This feature is extremely useful for those with little to no attention span, or for those that just don’t have the time to waste on a drawn out sequence of events.

Unfortanately, the five people who actually enjoyed the Battle Arena from Till the End of Time will be disappointed in hearing the multiplayer aspect has been removed from this installment.

Throughout this massive three-disc game, no errors were experienced. The cutscenes are lengthy to a point to where your controller may shut off though, and the cutscene will pause. Don’t mistake it for a frozen game as many others have done.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a pretty lengthy game, with a story of about 40-50 hours if you watch all the cutscenes and level as you should. It’s always a nice, fun challenge to run through again on a harder difficulty, with alright re-playability. It’s full of a bunch of little twists that will catch you off guard, but nothing less is expected of Tri-Ace and Square-Enix. With that, this game gets a solid