Sony HDR-XR200 and Nikon D40x

I'm going to break topics again to review my video camera and my still camera. I know it's a bit unusual to own a still camera that isn't a Cybershot or a video camera that isn't a Flip video these days, but what can I say, I need the best.

The Sony HDR-XR200 is one of, if not the highest quality video cameras on the market. It records in 1080p and holds a massive HDD of 120 GB. That's just the beginning. It also has a built-in GPS that can track where you are and even tags videos with your GPS location. This camera is the world traveler's dream. With a seemingly never-ending hard drive constantly recording in HD, this camera can replace an entire studio. Cameras like this one have become legendary in television for their ability to record video AND sound in the same quality as a studio camera and sound system. If it weren't for IMAX or 3D movies, this camera and its successors would have already replaced cameramen and boom operators. The price is pretty heavy at $800+, but this is a video camera that will probably last until home 3D cameras are sold. The one downside (other than price) of the HDR-XR200 has is that as a Sony product, it uses a Memory Stick Pro Duo rather than an SD card. Most people's computers don't even have Memory Stick slots nor have uses for them since they're such an obscure media storage device. If you are planning on buying a video camera, it would wise to wait it out and invest in getting one of these or its successors in the future. Getting a Memory Stick is not necessary since it can hook up to a PC with a mini USB to USB cable and to an HDTV with provided component cables. I actually advise not bothering with getting a stick because of the 120 GB HDD.

The Nikon D40x is an older-ish digital SLR camera from 2007, since replaced by the D60. Both cameras are essentially the same, so anything said about the D40x basically applies to the D60. The D40, the D40x's predecessor, was the camera that caused Nikon to finally crush Canon. Armed with only 6 Megapixels, it was more affordable and easier to use than Canon's cameras. A few months later, Nikon delivered the final blow with the D40x, a clone of the D40, but sporting something that would forever cement Nikon as the leader of the entry-level SLR camera market again, 10 Megapixels. With 10 megapixels, an incredibly easy to use interface, and a viewfinder rather than an LCD screen (important for making sure you know exactly what your picture will look like rather than an estimate), the D40x and D60 are the best entry-level SLR cameras on the market. The one downside is the price is very high at $1000, but this camera vastly outperforms a stupid Cybershot. The camera's media storage comes in the form of either an SD or SDHC card. I personally have a 1GB SD card, something held from ages ago, and I can fit more than 400 photos at maximum resolution on the card. My dad has an 8 GB SD card because he's obsessed with keeping pictures on the camera and not actually printing them out like the silly kid he is.

My iPhone takes pretty impressive pictures with a lot of lighting, but with no flash or focus, it's impossible to say that camera phones have taken over.

Top 10 Best and Worst Moments in Comics, Gaming, Movies, and Sports in 2010

Today we cover the top 10 Best and Worst Moments of 2010 in the topics that I cover. These are not limited by subject, but rather as a whole. May 2011 provide both much better and much shittier moments!

Worst Moments:

5. Miami Heat Hype
The unbelievable hype for the new-look Miami Heat has been unbearable. Starting with Lebron James simply not trying in the 2010 playoffs, then his stupidly egotistical hour-long show just to announce he was "taking his talents to South Beach," and finally the opening day loss to the Celtics. What makes this moment even worse is that after nearly approaching .500 with consecutive losses to much better teams, the Heat, well, caught on fire. Ever since then, they have literally been the hottest team in the league torching down opponents now that they finally have chemistry. The amount of unfairness if just ludicrous with this team; three of their players alone average 20+ PPG. If the Miami Heat win the NBA championship, it will be the death of the NBA.

4. Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Revolver was acclaimed for taking the Grand Theft Auto model and turning it into a Western genre game. With better writing and better acting, Red Dead Revolver was an instant PS2 classic. It's sequel, Red Dead Redemption, is not a classic. It's more or less just a rehash of Revolver but with "better" graphics. I don't know what's wrong with Rockstar, but they seem incapable of making games with impressive visuals, resorting to making games with sub-par graphics. What makes Redemption one of the year's worst moments is how short the game is (100% Completion in under 15 hours) and yet continues to get massive praise.

3. Unveiling of PlayStation Move and Kinect
When the Wii was revealed, the (few) naysayers said the console would fail because of its "waggle controls." Five years later and the Wii is one the best selling video game consoles ever. Over time as the PS3 got better games and better online features, the PS3 sales started to gain up on the 360 until eventually it got dangerously close to outselling a system that was release a year and a half earlier. Then, Move and Kinect were announced. PlayStation Move is basically a knock-off of Wii Motion Plus (it even has an "optional" left hand controller with an analog stick on it) while Kinect is a controllerless system very similar to the Playstation Eye except more sophisticated. What got these announcements on the Worst list is the Move was another horrendous idea from Sony and Microsoft wasted Kinect's potential on the 360 rather than on PCs.

2. M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender
Holy shit what the fuck was that shit? Avatar: The Last Airbender was an extremely popular show on Nickelodeon about a young boy named Aang who is the titular last airbender, a race of people able to control air. He is discovered by two siblings of the waterbending tribe, who discovers that not only is Aang the last airbender, but he is also the Avatar, a being who can (potentially) bend all four elements. The show chronicles their journeys to teach Aang to bend the four elements while staying on the run from the Fire Nation who have declared war on the other tribes. Avatar was excellently written, animated, and acted. Being a successful Nickelodeon property of course led to a full-length feature film being made. While many speculated it would be an animated film taking place after the end of the series, it ended up being a live action film that would chronicle the first season, or Book, of Avatar. Because James Cameron's Avatar had been trademarked first, the film would have to be called The Last Airbender. To many peoples' disgust, M. Night Shyamalan was chosen as director and many people started to see parallels to what happened with Dragonball: Evolution. Shyamalan made the controversial decision to cast backwards races, casting the Eskimo looking waterbenders as Caucasians and the Caucasian Fire Nation as Hindi. The final straw came at extreme liberties with name pronunciation, casting newcomers in several roles, and re-arranging plot elements. The biggest reason above all that-that this giant piece of shit deserved to be #2 is that the film was not filmed in 3D, but rather converted to 3D (an extremely controversial process) without compensating for the darkness in film. Most people complained not about the horrible acting or butchering of the story, but because they couldn't see shit and what little they saw were horrible 3D effects.

1. Joe Quesada Keeps Fucking Up Spider-Man
A few years ago, Joe Quesada, the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, decided that Spider-Man was no longer a superhero that comic book fans could identify with, despite Amazing Spider-Man not only being the top selling Marvel Comic property, but the best selling comic book character, period. Quesada decided to retcon Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane Watson by having Peter make a deal with the devil in order to save Aunt May's life and erase peoples' memories that Parker unmasked himself during Civil War. The reason for the couple never getting married was never explained and everything went on as if nobody ever knew what happened. In 2010, Quesada finally decided to write (and draw!) the retconned background story. In it, it was revealed that before their wedding, Spider-Man ran into a crook that was freed by the devil and while chasing him, shot a web at a loose brick and fell to the ground, giving himself a concussion. Parker missed the wedding and May Jane soon after broke up with him. The sound effect when the web pulled the loose brick is the now infamous THWOOPS. THIS STORY IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT. Peter and MJ had been dating for years and she was very understanding of his life as Spider-Man. For her to break up with him over a concussion is ludicrous! What makes this the worst story though, is Quesada wrote, pencilled, and inked the entire comic himself. Quesada is normally a brilliant artist, but this time he decided to draw Peter Parker to look suspiciously like himself. Want proof? Here it is!

Best Moments:

5. Inception
 Inception is my pick for film of the year. Brilliantly executed with a fantastic cast and script, Inception is worth seeing at least twice (at least to make better sense of the ending) and purchasing on blu-ray. I highly recommend viewing this instant classic.

4. Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3, and Mass Effect 3 All Release Q4 2011
I don't need to go into much detail here, just look at my earlier post detailing why 2011 is sure to be the biggest year in video games.

3. Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is the clear winner for Game of the Year. No other game featured as much as ME2 did in ANY department. Mass Effect 2 had the best voice acting, the best story, the best gameplay, and the best replayability. What can I say about this masterpiece that hasn't been said before? I was pumped for Mass Effect 3 the instant I completed ME2.

2. The San Francisco Giants Dominate the 2010 MLB Postseason
Going into the 2010 season, if anyone would have claimed the Phillies and Yankees would both lose in the NL and AL Championship Series, they would have been looked at as out of their fucking mind. How could the two previous World Series champions lose to the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers? The answer was simply vastly superior pitching. In the off-season, the Phillies traded away Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Roy Halladay, hailed a genius trade for a younger pitcher of the same caliber for less money. Eventually the Mariners traded Lee to the Rangers and he nearly single-handedly led them to the playoffs. In the AL, the Rangers beat the shit out of their opponents, utterly embarrassing the Yankees organization. In the NL, the Giants were never the favorite to win in any of their series, beating the Atlanta Braves quite easily and defeating the unbeatable Roy Halladay. When the World Series rolled around, many still thought the Giants would lose because until that point, Cliff Lee was unbeaten in the postseason. The Giants responded by pitching two shutout games, beating Cliff Lee twice, and tying the record for most strikeouts by a single pitcher in a World Series clinching game. No other team in all of 2010 sports deserved their championship more than the Giants.

1. Nintendo's E3 Press Conference
This was just the work of sheer genius. After two years of rather lackluster conferences, 2010 saw the welcomed departure of Cammie Dunaway as the E3 presenter and a return to the badass of badasses, Reggie Fils-Aime. While previous conferences showcased the more casual side of the Wii, Nintendo decided to spice things up in an E3 mostly about appealing to casual gamers. The amount of games Nintendo announced was absolutely ridiculous. When Nintendo's new Zelda game is NOT the biggest announcement, you know something is going to be epic. At the very end of their conference, Nintendo formally unveiled the Nintendo 3DS, a handheld 3D system that would not require 3D glasses. Just to make fans orgasm even more, a list of games in development were shown, mostly by the biggest names in the video games industry. But of course, this is Nintendo we're talking about. Everyone knew for a few months that the 3DS was real, just none knew it would not require 3D glasses. The biggest announcement was the trailer for Kid Icarus: Uprising, a 3DS launch title with graphics comparable to that of the Wii. The Nintendo E3 Press Conference was by far the biggest, best, and most unexpected moment of 2010 (in the topics this blog covers anyway).

In Memorium: Mike Singletary's Tenure as Head Coach of the 49ers

A great American lost his job today: "Samurai" Mike Singletary, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Singletary is most well known as playing for the Chicago Bears for his entire career, being a member of their legendary defense as a linebacker in the 80s, and winning Super Bowl XX in 1986. Singletary originally joined the 49ers as the Assistant Head Coach and Linebackers Coach under Mike Nolan in 2005, then later replaced Nolan after his firing in the middle of the 2008 season.

Under Singletary, the 49ers defense became well-regarded to the point that for a time, Patrick Willis was in the conversation as the next Ray Lewis. In his first full season as head coach, the 49ers managed a record of 8-8, the first time since 2002 that the 49ers have not had a losing season. After their performance that season - as well as an impressive Monday Night Football win over Kurt Warner and the Cardinals and a near victory over Brett Favre and the Vikings - hopes were high that in 2010 the 49ers could win NFC West with Kurt Warner retiring, the Seahawks continuing to age, and the Rams continuing to be the Rams. After the NFL Draft, the 49ers drafted where many felt they were most weak - on the offensive line. With new, younger, and stronger offensive linebackers, many predicted an easy ride for the 49ers to have their first winning season since 2002.

...Unfortunately, the 49ers began their season 0-5 after going 4-0 in the preseason. The 2010 49ers also share a dubious honor of being one of the few teams to lose to the Carolina Panthers. To make matters worse, Alex Smith was injured and David Carr came in 2nd string, acquired from the Miami Dolphins. Carr was a disaster and was immediately put on the practice squad following the game. 3rd string QB Troy Smith managed to win a few games and showed initial promise, but as the season went along it became clear that his play style did not gel with Singletary's plays. Compounding problems, offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye was finally fired for being a moron and needing to speak with intermediaries to communicate which plays he wanted done.

Today, the 49ers had the first half of their last chance to salvage what seemed like an impossibility at first: a shot at making the playoffs. Because of the Cardinals' predicted collapse, the Seahawks ever increasing age, and the Rams being the Rams, the 49ers actually still had a shot at making the playoffs. If they could beat the Rams and Cardinals in the last two games of the season, they would qualify for the playoffs as long as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also beat the Seahawks.

The 49ers squandered this opportunity with terrible play calling, horrible clock management, and immature players on the offensive line. Singletary benched Troy Smith after getting into very public arguments with him on field and Alex Smith completed more passes in the only quarter he played than Troy did in the previous 3 quarters. It became clear that Troy has potential, but has a long way to go from being a starting QB. David Carr will more than likely be cut or traded by the team, and Nate Davis will move to either 2nd or 3rd string QB where he belongs. The 49ers decided to fire Singletary since the next game is meaningless. I expect Nate Davis to play and prove to everyone in the 49ers organization that he deserves the starting job.

And so ends Samurai Mike's run as head coach with a record of 18-22, a respectable record, but simply not good enough for the legendary 49ers. This summer the 49ers are expected to find a new General Manager, a new Head Coach, draft more offensive linebackers, a quarterback or two, and possibly make a trade for a QB to fill the starting role where Alex Smith has been legendary for his uselessness.

Good night, sweet Samurai prince.

Best Buy Has Lost a Customer... At Least for Their Media Section.

I once worked for Best Buy from November to January 2007-08 in their media section. As of yet, that was my favorite place of employment. Being a movies and video game expert, I greatly enjoyed giving people advice on what movies and games to buy and not buy as well as recommending hidden gems that many people would frequently overlook. However, I also learned of the many ways Best Buy, and pretty much every electronics retailer, rips people off. As an employee, I received an employee discount where I would be able to purchase items at the same price Best Buy purchased them for - essentially Best Buy makes no profit off of employee purchases, hence why they encourage moderate employee discount usage. As an example of highway robbery, and why you should always do the research beforehand, in December 2007, Best Buy sold 6 foot long Rocketfish HDMI cables for somewhere around $60. I purchased 3 of those for $4 each. If that isn't highway robbery, I don't know what is. Nevertheless, I remained a loyal Best Buy customer when it came to purchasing movies, computer hardware, and PC games because they have the best selection on all of the above outside of Fry's - the nearest of which is in Canoga Park.

Earlier this week, I had an experience that has forever changed my opinion on shopping there. Dragonball Z Kai Part Three was released last week, but I neglected to purchase it then because I actually forgot what the actual release date was. I went in on DVDuesday (a term coined by Sarah Lane, formerly of Tech TV then briefly G4), a day Best Buy generally has fresh supply of recent releases. I was disappointed that they only had the DVD version of DBZK Part 3 rather than the Blu-Ray because there is really little point in buying the DVD version of a show specifically remastered for HD viewing. I fetched for a Media employee and was disgusted at the handling of the situation.

"All Action, No Filler!" is a bit of false advertising, but DBZ Kai is unbelievably fantastic compared to the original, especially the new, far more accurate English dub.

The employee, who I purposely picked because he looked like an otaku, responded he wasn't sure if DBZ Kai Part 3 had come out yet, but I whipped out the DVD copy I had found. He was definitely surprised to see that it existed and just as curious as me as to why the Blu-Ray was not on the shelves. He looked in the system and Best Buy apparently had zero copies, but we were both even more shocked to learn that Best Buy's official website did not even list the Blu-Ray version on its website! This really pissed me off because Funimation has an exclusivity deal with Best Buy to make it the only physical store one can buy DBZ Kai from, other than online retailers Amazon.com, Rightstuff.com, and the Funimation store.

I went home and immediately jumped to Amazon where I discovered that of course they had the Blu-Ray in stock. I not only managed to get it with free 2-day shipping with some free trial Amazon was offering, but I bought it for the same price Best Buy was selling the DVD for! I ordered the Blu-Ray on Tuesday afternoon and I woke up Thursday morning to find the package at my doorstep.

Needless to say, I am never buying movies from Best Buy ever again and neither should you.

Updating My Graphics Card - Nvidia GeForce GTS 450

This behemoth is my new graphics card. The GTS 450 was released sometime around September, designed to be a mid-range performance graphics card (compared to current high-performance) that is also affordable. I got mine for about $170, incredibly cheap considering I was upgrading from a previous mid-range performance graphics, the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT. The 8600GT was basically the beta version of Nvidia's future graphics cards. Most games for PC recommend an Nvidia card 8800GT or better; Mass Effect 2 and Starcraft 2 both recommend the 8800GT or better. I purchased an HP Pavillion desktop as a Christmas present in 2008 which came preloaded with an 8600GT, then a very high caliber graphics card. The main reason for purchasing it was to improve the quality of FFXI and for future PC games. For 2 years, this graphics card has served me well, but it was time to update. Rather than simply buying a new PC, I got an Nvidia GTS 450 as the only update to my gaming PC. Although my power supply is 350 watts and the GTS 450 "requires" a 400 watt power supply, my computer hasn't blown up running Mass Effect 2, my most demanding game, on max settings.

The GTS 450 is a behemoth of a graphics card, I just needed to reiterate that. It's so big that it requires two slots on the rear of the computer for a dedicated vent! This is the first graphics card I've ever owned that is that gigantic. I've owned one in the past that an enormous fan the size of the entire PCB, but it wasn't large enough to require its own vent. The GTS 450 like every Nvidia graphics card since the 8600 is SLI compatible, meaning you can connect two graphics cards together (they must be the same model) on an SLI compatible motherboard (which I don't have). The purpose of getting two graphics cards is you need that many input slots for 3 monitors to get 3D Vision. ATI currently does not support 3D gaming, so Nvidia is making serious headway by supporting 3D gaming for the past 2 years.

I have a dual monitor setup for the first time right now, but I don't have two widescreen monitors yet. I can probably get a cheap 22" widescreen monitor to accompany my main monitor, but I really don't have a reason to have a dual monitor display other than being a total geek.

The difference between the 8600GT and GTS 450 is enormous. Just to put things into perspective, Nvidia ended their numbering at the 9800GTX and reset the numbering with the GTS/GTX series, starting with the GTS 100, so I basically jumped 14 graphics card upgrades. Mass Effect 2 was the only game I own that I was experiencing lag with, but the GTS 450 cured almost all lag issues. The only area in the entire game I've experience lag is the first area when you run through some smoke. When I was playing the PS3 demo, I also experienced lag there as well as other areas. Seeing that lag in the PS3 version, which is running Mass Effect 3's engine, made me that much more confident in my ability to run Mass Effect 3 when it comes out. Bioware previously said that if your computer could run Mass Effect, you could also run Mass Effect 2, but what many forgot to take into account is that the PC version of Mass Effect does not go up to 1920x1080. If you play Mass Effect 2 with the max settings from the original, then of course it will run, derp. Mass Effect 3 is a year away, but hopefully I will not need to update my rig anytime soon.

Also of note, I re-ran the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark. On the 8600GT on default settings, my computer was not good enough to run FFXIV. With the GTS 450 my score jumped from sub-500 to 3200, more than well enough to run the game in higher settings than the default. I am strongly considering getting Final Fantasy XIV for the sole reason that I can run the game and it is currently free to play.

I've debated upgrading my RAM from 4GB to 8GB, but I have yet to find a game that has recommended settings above 2GB.

Mass Effect 2 - PS3 Demo

Earlier today, Sony provided a Christmas present to PS3 owners, demos of Mass Effect 2 and Little Big Planet 2. The PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 has been hotly anticipated since its announcement only a few months ago, it being the first time PS3 owners will be able to experience the world of Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2 for PS3 will also have a downloadable interactive comic that will affect your ME2 save files, affecting 6 key decisions from Mass Effect, including which teammate dies on Virmire, if Shepard romanced a team member, and whether or not Wrex survived. The remaining 3 decisions are most likely whether Shepard saved the council or let them die, whether Shepard killed the last Rachni, and whether Shepard followed the Paragon or Renegade paths. The main reason for the interactive comic, besides the lack of a PS3 release for the original game, is the original was published by Microsoft Game Studios and will more than likely never see a release on the PS3. Because of the extreme delay in bringing Mass Effect 2 to the PS3, the PS3 version will also include the following DLC packs pre-included: Kasumi - Stolen Memory, Overlord, and Lair of the Shadow Broker. The Blood Dragon armor previously only accessible for pre-ordering Dragon Age: Origins will be be pre-included since Dragon Age did not see a PS3 release. A Cerberus Network activation code will also, of course, be included, which will also include the DLC for Zaeed's mission line, the M-44 Hammerhead, and "extra weapons," probably referring to the now infamous Eviscerator shotgun that makes Vanguard a force to be reckoned with even before acquiring the Scimitar or Katana shotguns.

A special treat is also in store for people who purchase the PS3 version. ME2 on PS3 will run on a beta version of the Mass Effect 3 engine. I've played the demo already and the game is very close to the graphics and performance of the PC version, but nowhere near dethroning it. A completely affordable gaming PC can run Mass Effect 2 just fine. I have Windows 7 64-bit, an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU running at 2.66 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 graphics card. Other than the graphics card, the computer will be more or less standard fare in 2011 for a PC. Of course if you don't want a gaming PC and already own a PS3, Mass Effect 2 is a MUST. I won't be purchasing it for PS3 since I already have 1 and 2 on my PC, but if I hadn't ever owned an Xbox 360 and experienced Mass Effect for myself, I would definitely be lining up in January to get it on PS3.

The PS3 demo includes the opening sequence consisting of the destruction of the Normandy SR1 and playing through the Lazarus Facility, then skips ahead to Omega where you do the mission to recruit Mordin. Gameplay is similar to the Xbox 360 with its obvious lack of buttons compared to a keyboard. Assigning powers to shortcuts was a giant step that needed to be made since constantly pausing the game just to use Pull on an enemy got tedious after a while when I played the 360 version of Mass Effect. Teammate powers are much easier to assign compared to the PC version, but having only 3 buttons to assign Shepard's powers is severely lacking compared to the PC version's 8 slots.

Here's to hoping PS3 gamers heed the call and get Mass Effect 2!

Tomb Raider: Anniversary

This review is about the Wii version. The Xbox 360 and Wii versions has their own exclusive features and the PS2 & PC versions are the most bare-bones versions. The main reasons I'm reviewing the Wii version is the improved visuals over the PS2, lack of an Xbox 360, and the fact I could not find the PS2 or PC versions.

 In 2007, Tomb Raider celebrated its 10th anniversary. Before the impending release of Tomb Raider: Underworld (which Eidos rushed Crystal Dynamics as quickly as possible), Crystal Dynamics decided to make not just a remake of the original Tomb Raider, but a re-imaging taking the best of the old while combining the new engine of Tomb Raider: Legend. Other changes besides gameplay included removing boss fights against humans and turning them into cut-scenes, changing various puzzles to make Tomb Raider: Anniversary for challenging even for those who had completed the original game multiple times, and retconning the story to fit in line with Tomb Raider: Legend and its retcon of Lara's background.

The Wii version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary features (for the first time) a free aim system utilizing the Wii remote's pointer and replacing the target lock-on with a camera lock-on, allowing the ability to lock-on to one enemy while shooting the other, similar to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Another feature is new secrets involving making rubbings of Incan hieroglyphs as well as puzzle solutions involving rubbings. The game suffers a bit from gimmicky controls here and there, requiring you to raise and lower your hands to pull switches, shaking the nunchuk back and forth to move across cliffs faster, and throwing the nunchuk down to fire your grappling hook (which can be aimed for the first time). There are some double inputs as well, such as being able to press Down or B to drop down cliffs and either shaking the nunchuk or pressing Down to roll. What made me upset is that Tomb Raider: Anniversary does not feature more than one control scheme (at least for the Wii version), something that Tomb Raider: Legend featured.

Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Presentation: 9/10
Replay Value: 9/10

Average Score: 8.8/10


Tomb Raider: Anniversary succeeds in taking the best of the early Tomb Raider games and combining with Crystal Dynamics' new direction for Lara Croft. The story has better pacing and makes far more sense with the retcons and sets up the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld incredibly well. Audiovisually, the game is fantastic. Although I would have preferred to play this game on a console that supports 5.1 surround sound, it doesn't really matter since the original game was designed for plain old stereo sound. There is some incentive to play again after beating the game as there are various pieces of artwork and audio commentaries that go deep into the process of re-imagining Tomb Raider, as well as collecting costumes from each Tomb Raider game up to Legend and even the ability to play as PS1 Lara. The controls have a bit of a steep learning curve. The camera is controlled by holding the C button and moving the pointer to the edge of the screen. It's possible to move the camera, camera lock-on to a target, and fire away, but it can be incredibly difficult. The amount of gimmicky controls for the Wii version is disappointing, especially with how frequently they come up.

Nevertheless, Tomb Raider Anniversary carries forward and Crystal Dynamics again did a fantastic job with their trilogy of games. It's going to be very hard waiting for their next Tomb Raider game, the reboot, in November 2011.