Reviews and More

My family and I have had our Xbox 360 for just a short time, so we don’t have very many games for it yet. One title that we recently purchased was Table Tennis from Rockstar Games. If you’re a gaming enthusiast, then I’m sure you recognize Rockstar as the creators of the highly successful — and always controversial — Grand Theft Auto series. So I wasn’t really sure what to expect of Table Tennis; maybe the players would get into fistfights if they lost!

Actually, the game is pretty fun. My husband was against buying Table Tennis at first because he thought it would be boring. But the gameplay is so realistic, the graphics are so clear, and the characters are so cool that even he was won over rather quickly.

The part I like best about the game is that it’s very easy to start playing. There aren’t any complicated maneuvers to try to pull off and you don’t have to do anything fancy with the controller. You just push a button to hit the ball and you move the joystick to move the player. Of course it could be a lot more complex than that if you wanted it to be, but for the most part average gamers will be able to pick this game up easily.

Another plus for me was the fact that there isn’t an annoying soundtrack to the game. Music plays in the background, but it’s really just a beat, and it intensifies along with the action. So there aren’t any of the usual heavy metal songs that seem to populate all video games these days. Thank goodness, because that type of noise just gives me headaches!

Overall, I think Table Tennis from Rockstar Games is a cool title that is suitable for the entire family. I give it 7 stars out of 10 and recommend that you give it a try.

My cousin is a gun enthusiast and likes to go to the shooting range nearly every weekend. His birthday is coming up, so I’m thinking about buying him a nice headset to use as hearing protection when he’s engaging in his favorite activity. I’ve been searching the Internet all morning and found some very cool Peltor Headsets that should do the trick. These headsets are top-of-the-line and come with features that cheaper models just don’t have, such as an active-volume function to eliminate abrupt cut-offs, interchangeable shells, and the ability to connect to radio frequencies.

I don’t know which particular set my cousin will like, so maybe I’ll just get him a gift card and let him choose for himself!

I’m currently listening to the Librivox recording of Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage. While this is a straightforward book that’s pretty easy to follow (I think I first read this for Junior High English), I wanted to read the ClassicNotes summaries and analyses to make sure that I pick up on all the symbolism.

So far, I’m very impressed by the ClassicNotes for The Red Badge of Courage. The summaries are very detailed and the analysis is interesting. I have used these free ClassicNotes on many other occasions, and have found that the quality of the notes varies greatly. This particular ClassicNote was written by Colin Wambsgans and is top-notch. I recommend checking it out as a companion to the Stephen Crane novel.