Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii was finally released today in the United States. Brawl was preceded by Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. The first version, Super Smash Bros., was first released in 1999 and became the 5th most sold game for the N64. It’s follower, Super Smash Bros. Melee, which hit the market in 2001 became the most sold game for the GameCube. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the best of the series and just about every review it has received have earned it a near-perfect if not perfect score. Unfortunately didn’t yet have a chance to post our own review, however here’s a roundup from some major gaming sites:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Info:

• Platform: Wii
• Release (US): March 9th, 2008
• Players: 1- 4
• Game Type: Fighting Action
• Developer: Nintendo

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Review:

• Gamespot – 9.5 / 10
• IGN – 9.5 / 10
• 1UP – A
• Destructoid – 9.5 / 10
• Thunderbolt – ten / ten
• Game Player – 10 / 10
• Games Radar – 10 / 10

Since Brawl utilizes the Wii’s WiFi, players have the ability to enter a match with up to a total of four players connected from different consoles in different locations. With the N64 version selling ~5 million copies and the GameCube version selling ~6 million, we’ll have to see if Brawl will live up to it’s name. If you own a Wii, are you going to get this game? Would you consider buying a Wii just for this game?

Links: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Buy: Super Smash Bros. Brawl (via Amazon)

Google’s long awaited web-based PowerPoint-like application finally went live this morning. Google Presentation, as it is called, is their latest addition to the Google Docs family. Starting today, anyone in the United States will have the ability to upload, create, share, edit and view presentations online. Google Presentation also includes collaborative tools allowing multiple users to connect together to organize, modify, and present right from a web browser. Since Google Docs’s presentation feature supports Microsoft’s PowerPoint, any document created offline can easily be uploaded. Unfortunately documents created or edited online can only be exported into a HTML format, therefore won’t work with PowerPoint.

This is a pretty big step towards completing an entirely free online version of standard office applications. With Gmail and Google Docs for spreadsheets, word documents, and presentations, they may soon pose a serious threat to Microsoft Office. Although literally all their services are still in beta and are very limited in terms of features when compared to any standard office suite. For example Google Presentation only has 15 themes, basic text formating, limited image modification, no transitions, no sound/video, and lacks much more. This will most likely change as updates are rolled out.

Anyways give this a shot, but if you are still planning on purchasing MS Office keep in mind that Microsoft’s got that $60 deal! If you’d like to avoid that fee too try the new version (v2.3) of OpenOffice.

Links: Google Documents (docs.google.com)
Press: Google Blog – “Our Feature Presentation”

For United States residents only – Due to Daylight Saving Time, be sure to set all your clocks ahead an hour tonight. This year daylight saving time will begin on March 11, which is three weeks earlier than last year’s, and end five days later than last year on November 4th.

Most Windows XP / Vista and Macintosh OS X computers should not be an issue. Both Microsoft and Apple have released special daylight saving time patches. Just to be safe be sure to run either the Windows Update or the Apple Updater to retrieve the fix. Cell phones will automatically jump to the proper time at around 2:00AM, when they receive the new time from the cell phone towers as long as the service provider don’t run into any problems. Atomic clocks will automatically update themselves. Other devices such as TiVos should be patched in time, since most companies are taking this new daylight saving time issue seriously.

Links: U.S. NAVY

Last week the creators of Creative Commons announced version 3.0 of their licenses. For those that don’t know what Creative Commons is, it’s a free alternative to actual copyrights. The service allows website owners to set up and place a license on their own site which, in simple terms, state the rules and regulations regarding the content.

Most of the changes from 2.5 to 3.0 are regarding internationalization of licensed content. For example, American Creative Commons users, previously, had no option but to use a generic license. With the upgrade to 3.0, they have included a “United States” license and created a new “generic” one. If you own a blog or a website, we highly recommend incorporating a CC license to protect your content.

Skatter Tech was originally using v2.5, however we have now implemented the new 3.0 license. According to our new policy you are allowed to share, distribute, display, and perform the work as long as you attribute us and don’t use the content for commercial purposes.

Links: Creative Commons | Get Your Own License
Related: Skatter Tech’s CC License

Today on May 15, 2006, Skype announced that all “Skype Out Calls,” which are PC to Landline calls, would be free in the United States and Canada until the end of this year. Starting today, anyone that lives in the U.S. or Canada will be able to make calls anywhere within either of the two countries at no cost. To utilize this feature, if you live in the U.S. or Canada, download the latest version of Skype and create a free account.

“Millions of consumers around the world are flocking to Skype every month … SkypeOut calling will rapidly accelerate Skype adoption … We’re very excited to be bringing Skype’s convenience & voice quality to so many people for free.” – Henry Gomez, Skype Manager

The Press Release stated that PC to PC will remain free, however “Skype In” (Landline to PC) and International calls will still cost money. Skype has been growing rapidly for over two years now, and as of May 1, 2006, Skype reached over 100 million members worldwide. Skype now is available in many languages and runs on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and a few portable devices. As Skype Out will remain free until the end of this year, I suggest utilizing or at least trying out this service sometime.

Links: Skype | Download | Press Release
Related: eBay Buys Out Skype | Skype Out Info