Star Wars Gave Me Tennis Elbow: A Geeks Obsession!

How’s that for a title? Well it seems the XaviX platform is becoming popular with many toy and game manufacturers! I just purchased the new stand-alone Star Wars Lightsaber Battle Game which is a XaviX based processor housed in a camera that looks like the little lightsaber training droid from episode 4 (A New Hope). It connects directly to your TV and has a small reflective lightsaber that you hold and use just like you'd imagine a real lightsaber would be used. I bought it with my (almost 4 year old) son in mind because he lives and breaths Star Wars 24/7. He has a small collection of lightsabers and toys that imitate lightsabers (including a small plastic golf club) that he plays with at least 400+ times a day. The package says that it is recommended for 8 year olds and up, but my son has already embraced and mastered its many nuances. My daughter also enjoys it so I'm glad I didn’t give it to my son outright. Instead I treat it as a family game. Just like other XaviX games, you use body movements to simulate real action and the camera/light sensor array reads them and translates them into on-screen action. The graphics are a generation or two behind the GameCube/PS2/Xbox but they do just fine. It was well worth the price and I expect it to be a popular item.

This game goes into my larger collection of ultimate geek games. To read more about my geek game obsession check out my article titled 'The Life of a Computer Game Geek' in this months Retrogaming Times Monthly. If you are a fan of retro-gaming, this e-zine is one of the oldest and best ones around.