I'm the first to admit that I know little to nothing about snowboarding. The only shredding I know about has to deal with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character and the only carving I generally do concerns next week's turkey. The one time in my life I did hit the slopes, I looked more like a Looney Tunes character rolling down the mountainside as the snow collected around my body. But when Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White comes out with a sequel to his hit video game franchise and wants to sit down for a few minutes (check out the video!), I'm more than happy to brush back up on the subject.

After sitting down with man the game is named after, I grabbed myself a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (a Wii exclusive), turned my Wii Balance Board sideways, and geared up for one of the most fun gaming experiences I've had all year.

The game opens with a cut scene featuring Shaun and several of his friends as they head to their central base of operations, an airport (so they could have quick access to some of the worlds most premiere courses), as they prepare to move up the international snowboarding rankings and try to make a run at the World Championships. Of course, the higher your rank becomes, the harder it is to keep moving up as the competition and the courses increase in difficulty accordingly.

The boarders are a little cartoony looking, as is typical with many of the Wii's best games, but aside from that, the game looks beautiful. From snow covering your boarder if you fall flat on your face (which I am very accustomed to) to detailed designs of all the courses used, the game surprisingly delivers big-time on the visuals.

The audio is pretty average. It has a few sweet tracks from Kiss and Andrew W.K. as you shred, but it needs a larger selection to keep me entertained as I perform barrel rolls down the half-pipe. Shaun and the other boarders who lend their voices do a pretty good job at sounding natural and enthusiastic, which was a nice surprise. There isn't a lot to expect in terms of SFX aside from generic crowd noise so the audio mixers weren't exactly strained as this game was being put together.

The best part of this game is clearly the gameplay. Using the Wii balance board, you feel like you're actually on the slopes as you apply pressure to different quadrants on the board to perform a plethora of tricks from tail grabs to indies to gorillas. I don't recommend playing the game for extended periods of time though because if you play for four or five hours straight, like I did after getting addicted to the game, you're sure to break a sweat and maybe give yourself a stiff neck from straining your neck left or right constantly as you grind over the always fresh powder.

A real downside for the game is that it'll probably only take you 10 hours of gameplay to blow through the 100 world ranks and to challenge Shaun as the top dog, but to help bolster the replay value, the game is online capable and there is a new feature where you can design your own tricks to only add to the last version of this game's awesome customization features.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage successfully avoids a sophomore slump and comes out strong with seamless gameplay and awesome additions like new courses, boarders, and online vs. modes. Even if you are not a fan of snowboarding, this is a ridiculously fun game and you can very easily find yourself addicted to it.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage is out now exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best.

Graphics: 8.0: Although I'm not a tremendous fan of the cartoony look, I understand the limitations of the Wii and it actually works well with the atmosphere the game looks to create. Add-in some sweet effects like snow covering your boarder when you screw up a trick and I can walk away content with the looks.

Audio: 7.0: Solid voice acting bolsters the game, but not enough music tracks and generic SFX drop the score into a more average range.

Plot/Plot Development: N/A: It's a sports sim...

Gameplay: 10.0: I used the balance board when playing the game, and although there is a mode where you can only use the wiimote and nunchuck, using the balance board is the ultimate way to experience this game. Also consider that the board flawlessly responds to every shift in weight and movement you make and there isn't a glitch in the game to speak of.

Replay Value: 8.0: Online vs. modes, create-a-trick mode, and a campaign that will take you probably around 10 hours to get through and this is a good amount to bring you back to this game, especially if you are a shred-head.

Overall (not an average): 9.0: The game wasn't perfect. But it was so much fun. I really enjoyed every aspect of the game and only a couple of rough edges keep this from being perfect. I can't wait to see how Shaun tries to top this year's version in the future and I applaud the move of moving the game from other consoles to a Wii exclusive because I believe being able to focus on the Wii balance board and their control set helped them correct a few of last year's flaws. The new features and seamless gameplay make this game a sleeper must-have for the holiday season.

-Ray Carsillo

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As a Giants fan, the first person who comes to my mind when speaking of defensive greatness is Lawrence Taylor, the one and only man who should be referred to as LT. When I think of LT, the first things that come to mind are the hundreds of great plays he made over his career, the MVP, and the two Super Bowl Championships. Many other football fans, though, instantly think of him snapping Joe Theismann's leg like a twig and ending his career instantly.

LT changed the game forever that day as the position of left tackle (which fittingly is also LT on the stats sheet) had a spotlight shone on it like never before. The position was now seen as needing to be filled by someone just as talented as the quarterbacks they were hired to protect. Men like Orlando Pace, Tony Boselli, David Diehl (maybe my Giants bias comes through with that one), Walter Jones, and many others in their position have been lauded as the rocks of many franchises over the years.

This unquestioned importance for the position makes the true story of Michael Oher, the current rookie left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens (1st round, 23rd pick), something of a modern day fairytale (along with the whole rags-to-riches and inner-city struggles thing wrapped in football pads) as he did not have the most traditional of paths to the NFL.

The Blind Side, presented by Warner Bros. and based on the best-selling novel The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, is the telling of Michael's incredible tale that is still unfolding as we speak.

Growing up without a real family or home, Michael (played by newcomer Quinton Aaron) survived a difficult childhood in the poverty stricken projects of Memphis only to be taken in by the well-to-do Tuohy family, spearheaded by the unstoppable force that is Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). With the help of the Tuohy family, specifically Leigh Anne, Michael is able to reach his full potential, both on and off the field, and help the Tuohy family find something they didn't realize they were missing until Michael entered their lives.

We all know that this tale has a happy ending, but this is still a spectacular movie, even if you are not a football fan or familiar with the story. Everyone involved gives fantastic performances and Sandra Bullock could be up for an Oscar nomination for this role. The movie has you laughing one instant and tugs on your heart strings the next, all the while telling this amazing story in a way the whole family can enjoy.

But this isn't just a football movie. Football is simply the catalyst for this tremendous story of how one man's journey was forever altered by the love and generosity of complete strangers and how he was able to reach his fullest potential because of it.

I almost felt that the story, which took 2 hours and 5 minutes to tell, was actually a little too perfect, even with me knowing it's true. There was clear adversity that Michael had to overcome, but I don't think it was shown as much as it could've been, possibly just to maintain a PG-13 rating. How much he struggled adapting to a new school, these strangers who took him in, these teachers who didn't want to teach him, I just needed something more. There just seemed to be a lot of help for Michael wherever he turned and that ever-present aid will keep this movie from being an all-time great sports movie like Rudy. Still, it's a very enjoyable watch and a must-see film for any sports fan.

The Blind Side will be released nationwide on Friday, November 20, 2009, and gets 4 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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It was an unusually warm day in November when I got word that there would be an advanced screening of Focus Features' newest picture, Pirate Radio. In addition to the screening, I would get the chance to talk with Tom Sturridge, a bit of an acting newcomer who would serve as the film's lynchpin, and the writer/director of the film, Richard Curtis.

Well, I grabbed The Who's Greatest Hits album, aptly titled after one of their greatest singles, My Generation, jumped in my Chevy (would have been more fitting if it was a Mini Cooper, I know, but I drive what I drive) and sped away towards midtown Manhattan.

Being a bit of a Richard Curtis fan for his work as a writer on one of Britain's most celebrated sitcoms ever, Black Adder, and for his directorial debut with Love, Actually, to say I was amped up would probably be an understatement. I had also wanted to desperately see this movie since I had heard of it because I usually enjoy time-period pieces about one of my favorite subjects, the history of TV and radio.

All I can say is that my anticipation did not turn to disappointment. Pirate Radio is a wonderfully done coming-of-age story about a young English boy named Carl (Tom Sturridge) whose mother has sent him to one of England's notoriously famous pirate radio stations where his godfather (Bill Nighy) happens to be the man in charge.

Once aboard the floating piece of history, Carl becomes fast friends with many of the DJs who operate out of the waters surrounding England including an American man simply known as "The Count" (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and another known as Dr. (he's not a real doctor) Dave (Nick Frost). While there, Carl struggles with the many problems faced by a teenaged lad of the time from drugs, to women, to making friends, and all the while finding out who he is to the greatest rock soundtrack possibly ever put together.

The music is the true driving and uniting force of this movie. When I asked Tom how he got into the character of Carl he replied: "The thing that was really useful was just listening to the music. I think the easiest way to learn about what it's like to be young in the 60s is to listen to its most eloquent, youthful poets sing about it. So, Rich, gave me an iPod before the film that had every piece of music from 1961-66 on it and I would just constantly listen to the music." To hear more from Tom on Pirate Radio, you can CLICK HERE!

The music would also serve as the catalyst for much of the action in the movie as back on the shores of merry ol' England, while Carl is busy finding himself, several members of the Parliament, spearheaded by Sir Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) are trying whole heartedly to shut down the pirate radio stations and this would lead to the movie's exciting climax that I refuse to spoil here.

When all is said and done, Pirate Radio is a fun to watch romp on the high-seas with a tremendous, star-studded cast, who all deliver fantastic performances. When I asked Richard Curtis how it was trying to direct all this talent at once he said, "I think you just have to tell people the truth at the beginning. All of them knew this was going to be a communal film. We shot it in a particular style with cameras on the cameramen's shoulders so every scene anybody could be being shot at any moment. So it wasn't one of those films where you said 'well this is Phil's half hour, and this is Nick's half hour', the camera just roamed around as we did the scene again and again and I think that meant that everybody joined up in the agreement that it was a democracy, a chaotic democracy." To hear more from Richard on Pirate Radio, you can CLICK HERE!

The best part of this movie is that as absurd as it is at times, it is based off a time when England really did have radio stations based out at sea and that alone brings a smile to my face. I thought Tom Sturridge wasn't the most likable of main characters, he seemed a bit too stiff and serious at times, but if you like British humor wrapped up in zany situations, then this should be a sure fire winner for you. Now crank up Baba O' Riley and be sure to see Pirate Radio as it comes out nationwide Friday, November 13th, 2009.

I give Pirate Radio 4.5 out of 5.

-Ray Carsillo

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Since the video game revolution really started plowing forward back in the mid 80s, one of the most underrated aspects of the aspects has been the music. The 8 and 16-bit processors that the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis systems could produce were not much more than melodic beeps and pings made to sound like a catchy tune.

Of course, times have changed. Now, many of the best and brightest games have scores composed by full orchestras or big time, main-stream bands, but those original compositions still bring back childhood memories of simpler times to go along with our simpler games. The themes from Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Castlevania, are still lovingly talked about alongside the newcomers from Metal Gear Solid, Halo, and Kingdom Hearts.

The music from these games and the feelings of nostalgia they conjure up are only now starting to get the respect they deserve on a scale worthy of the sales of these monolithic franchises. In that vein, I present to you Video Games Live.

Video Games Live was founded back in 2002 by celebrated game composers Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico and has been a tour de force ever since. With a full orchestra and choir in tow, Wall and Tallarico have put together a show that needs to be seen to be believed. Fortunately, I saw it about two weeks ago. With musical selections from over 20 video games played, and 40 more waiting in the wings ensuring that an audience will never see the same show twice, Wall and Tallarico mix in geek-based humor with a light show, scenes from the greatest games ever created, and musical acumen that rivals the best and brightest out there.

The show I went to at the Beacon Theatre was the most fun I've had in a long time. You had a costume contest for people dressed as video game characters, a Guitar Hero competition, and a random drawing for a Nintendo DSi. You had special messages from Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, as he gave a special recorded greeting before the playing of the Metal Gear music, and Koji Kondo, the composer of the Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda themes, give a special message as well.

There was a live Q & A with Ralph Baer, the man credited with inventing video games (he is also credited with inventing the light gun, the first video game system peripheral, and the popular kids' game Simon in the 70s), over Skype and it was impressive to see this legendary inventor at the ripe age of 87 still smiling at how his invention has changed and influenced the lives of so many people across the world.

You had YouTube sensations, pianist Martin Leung and Laura "Flute Link" Intravia, come on and do what made them famous on the stage. Martin is best known for playing the Mario theme on piano blindfolded and Laura plays a stunning rendition of the Ocarina of Time music on flute, in full green tunic like the Hero of Time. Both would accompany the orchestra on several songs over the course of the night, usually to standing ovations (I nearly leapt out of my seat when Martin started playing the Super Mario World theme).

There was a request portion (where I nearly lost my voice screaming for the Mega Man theme and starting a Mega Man chant in my section of the Beacon Theatre; I was pleasantly surprised to find it was incorporated later into the show) where everything many fans called for was played and many were pleasantly surprised when Martin broke into the original Tetris theme, just because.

There were classics played from Mega Man and Chrono Trigger to more recent games like Halo and Shadow of the Colossus, but no matter if you were young or old, newbie or wily old veteran, there was something to make every geek and video game fan smile and laugh.

Video Games Live is now on their fourth world tour, and much like the game music they play, are just beginning to receive the respect and recognition they deserve. Playing to sold-out shows all over the world and constantly adding new and beloved video game music all the time (including the one I went to at the Beacon Theatre), Video Games Live is an ever-evolving entity much like the games off of which they are based. It is with the utmost praise that I recommend that every video game fan should see this show when they come to your town.

-Ray Carsillo

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Fairytales. We all know them and all grew up with various incarnations of them. Capitalizing on this ingrained popularity, the folks at Playlogic have created a twisted, sadistic, bloody vision incorporating some of our favorite characters for their new game, Fairytale Fights.

Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Naked Emperor (from the Emperor's New Clothes), and Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) have teamed up after a mysterious stranger has come to steal their fame away from them. And in their fairytale world, fame is everything. Without fame, their stories will be lost forever, and their purpose will then cease to exist.

It is an interesting concept for a story. And the universal recognition of these characters will probably sell push a few units, especially when you consider the sadistic amount of violence in this game. To see these cute, cuddly, little creatures chopping each other up in one of the most blatantly bloody games (even if it's very cartoony blood) to have come out in a long while was a very unexpected surprise.

Little Red Riding Hood chopping up lumberjacks with axes, Jack impaling gingerbread men with swords, and Snow White bashing toy soldiers with frying pans are just some of the examples of the carnage that can be inflicted during your adventures through fairytale land as you try to reclaim your fame in the most violent ways possible.

Unfortunately, this great concept falls flat in its execution. The cartoony graphics and effects give it a feel as if the game is torn between being an E-rated game and a M-rated game instead of just going full-tilt in one direction of the other. The senseless violence is great, but the goofy faces of the cartoon characters and the loose execution of the plot really take away from the overall theme of the game.

Add in that the controls are absolutely abysmal in that you attack with the second control stick instead of just assigning the attack mechanism to a button, there's no way to lock onto enemies, and an impossible to kill number of enemies that are thrown at you over ridiculously long levels really makes this game a bore that no amount of blood and guts splashed on the screen could save.

I loved these characters while growing up. The Abbot and Costello version of Jack and the Beanstalk is still the defining version of the story in my mind. I think part of my dislike for this game might be its perversion of these classic characters. However, even when I put my personal biases aside, the execution of the game is still abysmal. The game is a glitchy button masher with little to no variety over the course of its 13 levels. Even the four playable fairytale characters have no variety besides their looks. Snow White has no different abilities from the Naked Emperor. Jack is no different from Little Red Riding Hood. Why have four different characters if they all play exactly the same?

This game is a perfect example of wasted potential, a solid premise that falls flat on its face due to cut corners and poor execution. The blood and guts might appeal to a few players out there, but I would recommend that if you are tempted to even look at this game, rent it before looking to buy it, especially for the listed $59.99.

Ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest.

Graphics: 7.0: The graphics are cartoony and goofy as to be expected with a game based on fairy tales. Still, the look of this game is a perfect example of corners that were cut as the characters look a little too blocky for a modern console game.

Audio: 6.0: No voice acting in the game automatically docks the game points. The SFX are repetitive and bland. The only saving grace is that the background music actually sounds like something that would be fitting for a fairytale.

Plot/Plot Development: 7.5: A solid plot concept that falls flat on its face due to poor execution. This is a great example of where this game did not know if it wanted to be a mature game or a kids game because the plot was too simple and too simply explained to be geared towards a more mature audience.

Gameplay: 3.0: Lots of glitches over the course of the game made an already horribly handling game come off as even worse. The attack mechanism should have been assigned to a button and not the second control stick, each character should have had their own individual powers or abilities, and the levels were easily twice as long as they needed to be and got repetitive much too quickly.

Replay Value: 7.0: The game does have a co-op feature, which could make it better since misery loves company, and playing this game might make you miserable. Add in a simple arena vs. mode and the game has decent replay value.

Overall (not an average): 4.0: If you are thinking about getting this game, rent it first. The game disappointed me because it was such a wonderful concept but had absolutely no polish to it whatsoever. The glitches were too numerous to count and the game lost itself about halfway through.

I would not recommend this game, but if you're curious it is out now for Xbox 360 and PS3.

-Ray Carsillo

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