Selk'bag 4G Lite Review

The Selk'bag 4G is essentially a sleeping bag, that you don't necessarily have sleep in, but instead you can wear while doing other things, like say gaming! The way it's constructed is that it keeps the heat inside, even in more than unnatural cold situations.

The outer covering is made up of soft polyester that's also water resistant, just incase you might spill your favorite energy drink while gaming into the late hours of the night. For extremely cold situations, you can even cover your head with a hood for extra added warmth. The body of the Selk'bag includes zippers that grant convenient access to various areas. The side zippers allow easy access for pockets, but where is the quick access on the front? If I need to go to the bathroom, there is no way for me to go the bathroom without fully taking it off. Sure the same can be said about an actual sleeping bag, but it's safe to say it's much easier to slip out of that, than it is out of one of these. As you can see from the picture above, the sleeves have convenient openings for when you want to pick up a controller, eat a hotdog, or do pretty much anything that requires the use of your hands.

For what it does, the Selk'bag works. It does provide an exceptional amount of heat, while leaving you pretty mobile to pretty much do anything around the house. To be fair, it's not exactly advertised to be used as a tool for freezing gamers, but rather people who like to spend time outdoors, where it usually is much colder than a gamers bedroom.

Is it something that gamers should flock to buy immediately? Probably not, unless you're living in Alaska, and any source of heat is currently unavailable to you. Though I do highly encourage for people who enjoy spending their free time outdoors, particularly in cold areas to give the Selk'bag 4G Lite a look. It works and it keeps you warm and fairly mobile.

Via: Selk'bag 4G Lite Review

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review (Wii)

When Twilight Princess came out, many thought that the controls weren’t really up to snuff, preferring the “classic” style of the GameCube version over the gimmicky Wii motion controls.  But there’s nothing gimmicky about how Skyward Sword plays.  Everything feels quite natural here, whether you’re aiming a weapon to take out an enemy from a distance (always trust a slingshot – or rolling bombs) or engaging in terrific combat that has you side-stepping and striking like a pro.  Combat is just part of the picture; you’ll also do a fair amount of exploring and puzzle solving – clearly a tradition of Zelda games.

Link’s additional physical abilities mean a lot to the game as well.  No longer does he have to shoot at switches from afar, as he can climb his way up walls to snag them.  We love the way he can work his way up steep inclines.  If there’s one thing that frustrated us in any given platformer, it’s sliding up a surface, only to come back down without successfully reaching the top.  Thing of the past here.

Outside of the main quest (which I won’t spoil, because it’s dedicated Zelda territory), there’s plenty to do.  The city of Skyloft, made up of a group of floating islands, lets you travel around in style, whether you’re taking an aerial plunge from the island, zooming around on a mine cart (Indiana Jones style!), or taking flight on a giant red bird (one of the game’s more exhilarating moments).  The treasure system plays a huge part with this island, as you’ll occasionally have to complete side puzzles in order to unlock them.  Hey, the best kind of treasure is the earned kind.  (Just ask Jones – fortune and glory, kid.)

Things do get slightly tiring, to be fair.  You’ll have to make your way through certain worlds again, often backtracking and sometimes visiting familiar dungeons to locate items.  But as a whole, the game maintains a high amount of energy; it motivates you to continue onward, even during the parts that tend to drag a little bit.  The later levels are a true testament to this, including the final dungeon, which…well, I’ll let you discover it for yourself.

On a side note, I love the game save system.  It’s fairly paced, so you won’t have to worry about reaching a point where you can’t continue on any further, or get whisked back to an area, needing to clear it again.  Save often if you can, because some of these bosses will simply put you to the test. 

While Skyward Sword may be stuck in the standard definition age (perhaps we were too spoiled by that HD Zelda Wii U demo a few months back), it looks glorious.  Environments are treated with the utmost care, from the darkest of dungeons to some breathtaking wide-open fields.  The animation is superb, especially on the bigger enemies and some of the side characters.  We haven’t seen a Zelda game look this detailed since the old days of Wind Waker.  We were pleasantly surprised by this.

Equally surprising?  The soundtrack.  Wow.  Great stuff by Nintendo.  We can now easily see why they chose to do a few orchestrated concerts to hype the release of Skyward Sword.  It really does sound like a majestic piece of work.  (And if you can’t get enough of that, take a listen to the audio CD included with your game.  Great gathering of classic Zelda tunes.)  The sound effects are about what you’d expect, but they're fulfilling on their part, with lots of ambient noises and very little bothersome voicework to get in the way.

One thing to note – the controller/game package is awesome.  This WiiRemote plus, a gold-plastered controller with the Zelda logo imprinted on the front, is a thing of beauty and an absolute must for fans.  If you can track one down, we highly suggest it.

Even if you’re just stuck with the “regular” version of the game, you’ve got something wonderful in your grasp.  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword isn’t ENTIRELY perfect, mainly due to its backtracking and occasional Skyloft hub issues (nothing serious), but the gameplay and presentation click so well that no Wii owner should be without it.  Consider this a worthwhile holiday gift to yourself.  Go on, you deserve it.

 

 

Via: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review (Wii)

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