Watching Lost Season 5 on Blu Ray

A good friend has an annual holiday tradition that for the last four years has involved watching the entire season of whichever Lost DVD most recently came out. The time off from work between Christmas and New Year’s combined with the limited amount of entertainment options when visiting family creates the optimal conditions for burning through one Lost episode after another.

This annual ritual is particularly rewarding because it’s always his first time seeing any of the episodes and for the most part learning anything about the seasons plot whatsoever. Despite having numerous friends that follow the show religiously throughout the season this guy has the discipline to completely avoid partaking in any of that and even impressively manages to avoid as much of the in season advertising as humanly possible. The motivation for bending over backwards to delay the gratification of watching his favorite show is the fact that bundling up in the basement at his parent’s house over the holidays to engulf himself in a marathon session of brand new Lost story lines is one of the things he most looks forward to every year.

This year’s fifth installment of the much anticipated Lost DVD session had a slight twist – there were no DVDs. The Lost season 5 viewing (scheduled to occur within the week) will have a timely upgrade in the form of Lost Blu Ray discs accompanied by a new Blu Ray player. While it’s probably safe to assume that anyone that finds this blog about Lost online is familiar with Blu Rays, just in case there is someone reading this that isn’t familiar with the concept (or just wants more information before making a purchase) you’re encouraged to check out Blu Ray information.

On a recent stroll through the aisles at Best Buy it was a pleasant surprise to see Blu Ray players for $150. While never really actively in the market for one before part of the reason was probably because it seems like the prices were as much as two or three times as expensive just a year or two ago. The rapid advancements in affordable technology is perhaps the most amazing thing about being alive in the time we live in. I’m digressing.

Mixed feelings are what come to mind when contemplating the friend with his annual Lost marathon tradition. On one hand there is a bit of jealousy that he gets to watch all of those great season 5 episodes for the first time without commercials and more importantly week long breaks in between suspenseful cliff hangers. On the other hand though, one of the things that many people enjoy most about the show Lost is the social aspect of show.

Lost is social in terms of very much lending itself to discussions that are often played out in living rooms after viewing parties, on internet message boards, and around office water coolers the following morning. This author has actually done both options in terms of being disciplined enough to wait for a complete season to come out on DVD (season 2) and following a season very intently by reading every preview and summary available (season 5). Having experienced both strategies I can’t imagine entering the final season of Lost without a plan to analyze every moment of every episode as it happens.

Lost the Video Game

Lost the video game is something that we’ve never come across despite being loyal Lost fans. We never had any doubt that such a game must surely exist but the idea that we had never seen an advertisement for it or even heard of a friend playing or discussing it seemed particularly curious. We’ll be the first to admit that the show Lost doesn’t lend itself to a particularly natural video game transition. Having said that there seems to be a game spin off for almost any even mildly popular form of entertainment that is lousy science fiction related (science fiction fans = video game players).

Here are the details behind Lost the video game. Originally unveiled at Lost Comic Con in 2007 the official debut for the PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360 was on February 27, 2008. The game (pictured above) is titled Lost: Via Domus. Via Domus is Latin (a language Juliet revealed that all the Others know) for “The Way Home.” Before the wide release of Via Domus more primitive Lost games were released for mobile phones back in January and May of 2007. The initial mobile phone games are not related to the Via Domus Lost game and are not made by the same video game developers.

If you’re curious how Lost the video game works here’s the basic synopsis. The game is broken up into seven parts that are dubbed episodes. Executive producers of the show supposedly had a hand in developing the “episodes” but it is really unclear how their influence compares to the zero influence John Madden has on the annual top selling game: John Madden Football.

The basic premise of the game is that as the player you control a character named Elliott Maslow (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs reference?). Elliott, a photojournalist and crash survivor, coexists with the normal Losties including all the classics like Jack, Kate, Hurley, Charlie, Sayid, etc. The first of the seven part episodes begins shortly after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 as Elliott helps Kate and Jack manage the initial wreckage. Future adventures include interactions with the jungle, the beach, the Swan Station, the Black Rock, and numerous other signature landmarks of the mysterious island.

Check out the trailer and the actual game itself at this Lost video game link. Through the link in the previous sentence fans can actually get the game and play it on their computers right away. It is certainly worth mentioning that in order to properly appreciate the game with any semblance of the PlayStaton 3 or Xbox 360 versions using the best computer gaming keyboard possible is of the utmost importance. If you don't already have a top gaming keyboard and you are playing Lost the video game on your PC keep in mind that you're not experiencing the optimal game play.

The game received mix reviews with the general consensus being that if you like Lost you’ll like the game. Game reviewer IGN appropriately described the game as “a game for fans, which only fans can appreciate. But at the same time – in a strange bit of paradox – this is a game that will disappoint almost every Lost fan.” It is only fitting that the reception the game received would include a paradox.

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Our Thoughts:

While many parents have historically complained about the twentieth century invention of video game addiction there is a perhaps not so surprising increase in young parents that completely embrace video games as part of quality family time.

As the first generation of computer wielding elementary school kids become parents of their own elementary school kids families are gathering together on weekends to play Rock Band and Wii games that are fun for all ages. As technology and innovative thinking on the part of game developers continue to produce profitable results the future for the gaming industry is bright. Of particular note is the fact that game design companies have set a new standard across all other industries as the prolific model for incorporating a rapidly expanding customer base that stretches well beyond traditional gamers. Without alienating loyalists the industry leaders have found ways to more than double their target market by producing products that appeal to the female demographic as well as to video game players from the nursery to the retirement center.

Lost Season 5 Relased on DVD | Blue Ray December 8, 2009

The title of this post says it all.

Lost season 5 was released on DVD and Blue Ray on December 8, 2009.

The Lost DVDs are the perfect viewing experience for cold dark nights over Christmas break. After spending Christmas morning exchanging gifts we can't think of a better way to wrap up the festive day than watching Lost season 5 on Blu Ray after enjoying a Christmas dinner.