The New York Zoos and Aquarium group has posted a fun little website for the youngsters to play with while learning about different animal parts while piquing curious minds. Build Your Wild Self lets your child, hopefully supervised, enjoy making a unique identity complete with lion feet, octopus arms or even peacock feathers. And when they’re all done, they can print their masterpiece or set it as a desktop wallpaper.

Rawr!

Half-life 2 is the original game released for PC a couple of years ago. Episode 1 is the first episodic sequel to Half-Life 2. Episode 2 is brand new, however, and continues the journey of Gordan Freemon, the game’s main protagonist.Team Fortress 2 is an online multiplayer first-person shooter with many different classes to play.

Even though all four of those games look awesome on the 360 and PC, the real jewel in the compilation is Portal.

Portal is one of those sleeper hits and will be remembered as a classic for years to come. Although short, it offers so much in the way of fun, you’ll want to play it over and over.

You begin the game in a small room, just awoken from what seems like a long slumber. A digitized female voice greets you and explains you are to complete a series of tests using only your wits. Be assured all dangers present in the tests are only to motivate you. Any failure to avoid these hazards will result in a negative mark on your profile, and probably death.

Portal is a very funny game. Even the enemies, though sparse and not very threatening, will often apologize for shooting at you or even forgive you for deactivating them. Your “guide” through the tests will often be the subject of all the humor, but rooms hidden off the predefined path will reveal more chuckle-inducing moments.

Gameplay in Portal is the most unique aspect of the game and thankfully is the focus from start to finish. Your tool for solving each area is a portal gun. With it you can create portals on smooth surfaces, but there can only be two portals open at one time. When you step through one portal, you emerge instantaneously through the other.

This is where physics comes to play. Your momentum and trajectory when you enter a portal will continue through the other. Here’s an example. To cross a gap, fire one portal high on a wall above your head, then fire the second one into the bottom of the gap. Jump into the gap and fall through the portal there. You will then be thrown through the other portal on the wall and will safely careen over the gap. Fun with physics!

The mechanics of portal hopping never gets old. Even in puzzles where you’re stumped, simply playing around with portals may lead to the answer. I recommend Portal to anyone who is tired of the same mundane first person shooter.

I just want my companion cube back.

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On November 2, Sony will be discontinuing the 60GB model of the PlayStation 3 in favor of a cheaper, stripped down 40GB model. If the $599 price tag of the original PS3 launch scared the love of all things PlayStation out of you like it did me, then the new prices will be a little easier to swallow.

The 40GB model will sell for $399 and the 80GB model will go for $499 (a $100 price cut).

The PS3 is still one of the best BlueRay players out there for it’s price and it’s a game machine to boot! Many of the features cut, however, were simply bells and whistles… Well except for backwards compatibility… PS2 I will miss thee.

Apple has updated the front page of apple.com site with a release date and countdown clock for the new OSX Leopard (10.5). This is the much anticipated new release of Apple’s Mac specific operating system. Tons of new features can be seen from their site, but the biggest question on everyone’s mind is will it blow away Windows Vista? On Oct. 26 we’ll know.

Buying my album was an easy experience. The hardest part was deciding how much I would pay for an album I’ve not heard. But I’m converted to the idea of deciding what I want to pay for music. Somehow I feel it will evolve and spread from here since the actual artists or bands that employ this method of payment will see a bigger return directly to their own pocketbook.

Go go independent music!

Finally the age old question will be answered: Who would win in a duel, Mario or Sonic?

Nintendo was announced that Sonic the Hedgehog will be an official brawler in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii. This marks the first time the blue speedster and the Italian plumber will appear in the same title commercially.

The Super Smash Bros. series has always been about over-the-top (read: cartoon-like) fighting action with classic video game characters. Originally, all the characters were Nintendo owned, but Brawl will also be featuring Konami’s Solid Snake and, of course, Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog.

Forgive my violent tendencies, but there’s nothing more satisfying than taking a baseball bat to some Pokémon heads.

Browsing through some blogs, I stumbled upon this website that offers completely custom computer cases for all sorts of clients. The latest of which is a 24 karat gold Mac Book Pro complete with diamond encrusted Apple logo.

Computer Choppers has a savvy gallery of custom cases they’ve made over the years including a Batman Begins themed multimedia center designed to hang over the living room television. Check it out.

Microsoft announced they will be rolling out three new models of the Zune this holiday season: Zune 80GB, Zune 8GB, and Zune 4GB.

The larger 80GB model includes an internal hard-drive, wireless support for syncing with your PC and other’s Zunes, and will only be available in black. (But they were so committed to the brown!)

The more petite 8GM and 4GB models feature everything the 80GB model sports, but are available in baby powder pink, deep red, pea soup green, and, of course, black.

More in-depth information of the actual announcement can be found here.

If I may be so bold: I understand why Microsoft is releasing 3 versions of the Zune. If it worked for Apple, it should work for Microsoft. But is it too little too late? Why is Microsoft playing copycat trying to catch up instead of trying something new?

Game Zone, which is Movie Gallery’s gaming retail alter ego, held a Halo 3 launch event at midnight on Monday to give all of us who would sacrifice an hour (or more) of sleep on a weekday a chance to own the game the moment it was available. About 50 others were there waiting in line when I showed up. I had been assured that the store had received more than enough copies by a friend who works there, so I wasn’t worried.

Around 12:20 a.m. Tuesday morning, I held my Limited Edition Halo 3 tin case in my hand and jolted home. Well, maybe not jolted. More like casually drove… fast.

So far, the game is fun. And there’s lots of it to be had in multiplayer and single player modes. It’s also beautiful on HD screens.

SIDE NOTE: If you’ve already picked up your copy of Halo 3 Limited Edition (the one that comes in a metal case that is easily crushed) and one or both of the included disks are scratched, follow this link and Microsoft will replace them for free.