Author: Thomas Ortsik

Founder and Kinda-Editor-In-Chief at Twinstiq.
Also known as Dr. Strangethumb

Top 15 Lightsabers Of All Time –  A Response

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Wednesday, Twinstiq contributor Trisha Baumgartner posted an article listing the Top 15 Swords in Gaming. When not a single weapon listed was what many consider the most recognizable blades of all time, Acidpack78 requested we write an article showcasing the best that the force has to offer. I decided I would be up for the task given my love for all things Star Wars, I host an Edge of the Empire campaign every weekend, and we all once again have Trisha to thank for the idea! 

Without any further ado, here's the Top 15 Lightsabers to ever see the light of day in a Galaxy far far away. 

#15 - Darth Malak's Lightsaber

#14  - Galen "Starkiller" Marek 
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Sporting the classic red blade and made of a basic Alloy Metal, Malak's feared blade is known by most from the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Many epic lightsaber battles within the game see this saber at the center stage, most notability the final battle between Malak and Revan upon the Star Forge. 

#13 - Darth Nihilus' Lightsaber
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While the infamous Starkiller wielded many lightsabers throughout the Force Unleashed Series, the original Red Bladed lightsaber is what many still recall about the character today. 
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While not much is known about the blades history itself, those who have played the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic will agree that after being built up so much throughout the story, the least they could have done was let us loot his weapon after such an easy boss fight!

#11 - Vosa and Ventress' Blades

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Not only do these bad boys have an interlocking hilt that can allow the weapon to act as a Double-Bladed Lightsaber, but they have been wielded by two of the scariest ladies in the Star Wars franchise. These two of course being Komari Vosa and Asajj Ventress, in the game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and the Clone Wars TV series, respectively.

#9 - Vader's Specialist Saber

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Wielded by the most powerful Force user to ever shout "NooOOOOOo" on the big screen, Darth Vader's Lightsaber was as machine-like as he was. This weapon of death was only one of 4 lightsabers to be powered by a Synthetic Crystal. In addition, this saber was also based off of Darth Sidious' schematics, cut down Obi-Wan Kenobi, removed Luke Skywalker's hand, and fell to its destruction in the same fashion Vader's master would shortly after. 

#7 - Qui-Gon Jinn's Lightsaber

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One of the most common designs for those Awesome plastic lightsaber toys, Qui-Gon's hilt and blade has a lot more history then you may know. Qui-Gon built this very saber at a mere ten years old while training as a Padawan, and never left his side until the day he died at the age of 60 to Darth Maul's fatal attack. His apprentice Obi-wan would use this same weapon to avenge his master and defeat Maul. Kenobi would continue to use his master's lightsaber for 4 more years until he decided to discontinue it. Ending the Lightsaber's constant 54 years of usage. 

#12 - Darth Revan's Lightsaber

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Ok I promise this is my last Old Republic related lightsaber, but can you blame me? Look at this thing! It's damn amazing! Not only does it have the looks, but Revan held the thing near and dear to him for over three hundred years while trapped in Stasis! Revan was awesome and so was his lightsaber, now go play Kotor!

#10 - Obi-Wan's 3rd Lightsaber

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While revered as one of the greatest Jedi to ever live, Old Ben Kenobi goes through lightsabers almost as much as Matt Murdock goes through girlfriends. His most famous being his third and last, as this was the very saber that everyone's favorite mentor wielded as his former apprentice took his life, making Obi-Wan one with the force.  

#8 - Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber

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Made famous in Return of the Jedi, Luke based his first lightsaber's design off of schematics found in Obi-Wan's hut and made its hilt identical to honor his fallen mentor. And like father like son, this was yet another rare blade to contain a Synthetic Lightsaber crystal. After taking over a month to construct his blade, Luke's work was interrupted to rescue Han Solo from Bobba Fett upon Tatooine. Despite its unfinished state, the Saber served its purpose and was critical to the rescue mission. 

#6 - Yoda' s Lightsaber

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What more do I need to say? This green little Gimer stick using bad-ass could be more well known than the films he came from. And while his lightsaber battles are most likely what give this weapon the amount of weight behind it, much weight added there is. 

#5 - The Darksaber

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Yeah, that's right. Its cool, it's scary, it's the first of our top 5, the Darksaber.
One of the only named Lightsabers in the Galaxy, The Darksaber was one of the oldest artifacts kept within the Jedi Temple until the place was raided by Mandalorians, who stole the fearsome weapon and claimed it as their own. The Darksaber became a Symbol of Authority for the Mandarloian splinter group "Death Watch". You can check out the Darksaber in action yourself in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. 

#4  - Count Dooku or Darth Tyranus' Curved Hilt Lightsaber

Dooku's curved hilt Lightsaber was considered one of the hardest sabers to use, requiring significantly more finesse to wield confidently. And here we see the third of the four Synthetic Crystal using lightsabers, increasing both it's cool and rare factor. Many fellow Star Wars fans consider this to be their favorite Sith Saber, and it's hard to blame them. Christopher Lee made this instant classic famous in it's first appearance: Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

#3 -  Mace Windu's Lightsaber

Mace Windu's lightsaber was the one of the only Purple Bladed Lightsabers not wielded by someone who had fallen to the Dark Side. But it is not the Jedi's rare weapon color that puts it so far down the list, but rather the story behind the weapon's creation itself. Mace Windu was 14 years old and still could not construct his own lightsaber, this worried the Jedi Council greatly and questioned his ability to become a Jedi Knight. Windu demanded they present a true challenge to him and they sent him off to wild space, outside of the galaxy. Windu found a planet of fragile beings and accidentally caused one to shatter. Windu used the force to piece him back together and as a sign of gratitude the creature gifted Windu with a crystal that had shattered off his hand. With this crystal Windu was able to craft his lightsaber and was granted his title of Jedi Knight. 

#2  - Darth Maul's Double-bladed Lightsaber 

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Oh the unintentional irony that our number two slot is filled by the gruesome twosome itself. Maul's Double-bladed Lightsaber is another one of the most well known Sith sabers of the Saga. When this appeared in the prequel movies, half of the world loved it and half hated it. Sound Familiar? But now when anyone sees a Double-Bladed Lightsaber like this, everyone thinks Darth Maul, the Zabrak that you just do not mess with. And if you where like 7 year old me who saw this in theaters, your smile could no longer fit on your face when he revealed that second blade!

Before we get to Number One, let's take a look at some

Honorable Mentions

 Gaurd Shoto or Lightsaber  Tonfas (Left)

These tonfas can be seen in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Not many force users use these lightsabers, so they just couldn't make the list.

Lightwhips (Below)

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While Lightwhips are certainly one of the the more creative lightsabers ever conceived and I do find the concept so ridiculous that it's awesome, I can't find it in me to list a whip in an article about swords with plasma blades. But if Lucas ever tries to make another Indiana Jones flick....

Crossguard Light Saber

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While the new Episode VII trailer claims to show off the brand new Crossguard lightsaber, this is what an actual Crossguard Saber looks like. Even if I'm still not sure how it functions. But again with no name or history attached to it other than one comic panel, it couldn't make the list. 

Darth Sidious' Lightsaber

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While the character and the weapon itself have a lot of history and some cool stories attached to it, something about the way the hilt looks throws me off. That said I had to at least mention it here as it is the 4th and last Lightsaber to contain one of those rare Synthetic Crystals.

#1 - Anakin Skywalker's 2nd Lightsaber 

The first Lightsaber to ever be seen by audiences is easily the top lightsaber for that very reason. If that wasn't enough, Anakin's second lightsaber was taken from him by his former master Obi-Wan after he left him to die. In addition, it was gifted to Anakin's son Luke by Obi-Wan over 20 years after it was made. Luke would later loose this lightsaber along with his own hand by well, his father's hand. And if you thought that was the last the weapon would ever be seen, well let me ruin your day with a little story. Vader actually finds the lightsaber along with Luke's severed hand and takes them to the Emperor who eventually clones Luke thanks to said hand and gives the evil Luke clone the light saber to go take down the real Luke. Yeah... some things being cut from cannon I'm not too sad about. Even with such a silly story attached to it, there's no denying that the most important lightsaber is the one that made the idea so popular. Without it we wouldn't have our 14 other great blades, and this Lightsaber's first appearance in Star Wars (later renamed Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope) is still the first lightsaber kids are introduced to, keeping the imagination and desire to have your own alive. 

Does your own list have any differences? 
What's your personal favorite Lightsaber? Mine is not even in the top 5!

Let us know in the comments below, and may the Force be with you!

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- Cody Hall

All This for a Single Frame of Deus Ex: Human Revolution?

We can all appreciate excellent graphics in modern games, but what kind of work goes into achieving the end result?  It's amazing how much work and detail goes into a single frame, and to think that all of that must be calculated 30 to 60 times per second and beyond is astounding.  Adrian Courrèges, a French software developer working out of Tokyo, breaks it down for us on his blog in a case study on Deus Ex: Human Revolution with animated images showing the various steps being applied.

Horror Icon Jason Voorhees confirmed for Mortal Kombat X

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NetherRealm Studios has revealed the killer from crystal lake as the newest addition in its long storied franchise. Best known as the machete wielding manic in the Friday the 13th series, Jason will be made available as part of the game's Kombat Pack, which is included in the Mortal Kombat X Kollector's Edition by Coarse, the Limited Edition and the Premium Edition. It will also be available separately for $29.99.

Check out the reveal trailer after the break.
While details are slim at the moment, the pack will include two "Klassic Mortal Kombat Kombatatnts" that are still in development and a further guest character yet to be announced.

In addition, it'll come with the Samurai Pack, which contains three new character skins: Ronin Kenshi, Samurai Shinnok and Jingu Kitana, as well as an accompanying skin pack with each playable character. This will be available to purchase separately at a later date.

Check out the trailer below

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William Sierra
[Source: Youtube]

Malicious Flash File Can Put a Lock on Save Files

Another day, another Flash exploit... but this one targets gamers specifically.  Scammers have been trying for years to extort money from PC users by locking personal documents behind encryption, only to turn around and sell them the key to unlock them and get their files back.  Now a version of this type of malware called TeslaCrypt is doing the same thing with PC game save files, using an exploit in Adobe Flash Player.  Disabling Flash until a fix is released might be a good idea if you're attached to your progress, and using a cloud save service can help mitigate damage as well.  A full list of targeted games can be found in the source article.

New Nintendo eShop Releases: Out Run Edition!

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This week's set of new eShop releases is particularly special to me. That's because this week marks the release of one of my all-time favorite games, newly updated for the 3DS. 3D Out Run! If you own a 3DS and you've never played an Out Run game before, I insist that you go download it. Like, right now. If you own a 3DS and you have played an Out Run game before, I'm just going to assume that you are downloading it as you read this. If you don't own a 3DS...well, what exactly are you waiting for?

Also out this week, probably some other stuff. It doesn't really matter.

Okay, fine. You can see the complete list of new eShop releases after the break.

Wii U

3DS

[Image: SEGA]

Andrew J Amideo
[Source: Business Wire]

SteamOS Crosses the 1000 Game Threshold

A little over a year after its introduction, SteamOS now has over 1000 native titles available.  When Steam Machines finally launch later this year, you might be tempted to check out the operating system that Valve has been tinkering away at, and now maybe you'll actually have something to play on there.  This is good news for Linux gamers; Since SteamOS is Linux-based, they have access to the same library.
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Source: Phoronix

Netflix on NES a Hoax

Have you seen this video that depicts an NES purportedly playing videos from Netflix?  Having a high cool factor, unfortunately this has all been a hoax.  Word from the developers of this interesting demo is that they actually used pre-converted video that was stored in animated tiles on a ROM that was then played back on an original NES.  The original NES would no doubt have had a hard time decompressing the video format that Netflix streams to its clients in real-time!  Still interesting that they were able to play back full motion video on an NES at all though.