PlayStation Vita Love
Posted by: Raesmom on: March 6, 2012
- In: PSP
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When I first heard about the new PlayStation Vita, I wasn’t that interested. I am pretty happy with my PSP. I like the size, the graphics are nice. The UMD games load a little slow, but that is my only real complaint. So before the Vita ever hit the store shelves, I knew I didn’t want one. Then something happened – I touched the Vita demo at Best Buy. Now I am rethinking my dismissal of the Vita.
The Vita has a WIFI and a 3G model. I believe everything I buy in the future will have 3G capability. It never fails that I am stuck somewhere without WIFI and think of all the things I could be doing if I only had network access. I tell myself that I could get more work done but in reality I will probably use most of that time checking casual games. The Vita is also a touchscreen – this is my other complaint (earlier I know I only had one real complaint.) with the PSP. I will play the DS and the switch to the PSP where I find myself automatically touching the PSP screen. So a touchscreen is a very nice upgrade.
Also the screen is larger and the controls are nicer. Just a real nice design – more like working a handheld controller than a handheld game. It was dangerous to touch the Vita but I knew the risks. I knew I would probably want one if I held it in my hands. I could make the argument that my daughter has really claimed the PSP as hers – so I need one. I’m not sure if anybody will believe me though. It will be a hard sell since I love playing games on the iPad. It’s hard to imagine putting it down long enough to play on the Vita. Maybe when the newness of it all wears off I can revisit the idea of buying a Vita.
Cheap Games
Posted by: Raesmom on: March 1, 2012
There are several simulation games that we play. We as in my husband, me, and our daughter. My husband plays a lot of Facebook games and also mobile games on his tablet. My daughter and I play games on the iPad. One game we really enjoy is Tiny Village. This type of game is very fun for us as you can play it for a few minutes, do what you need to do, and come back to it in a few hours to collect your rewards. Simple enough. A lot of these types of games are free and some cost a few dollars.
My real issue with Tiny Village is that is a cheap game as in stingy. It takes forever to start rolling in some real coin and then it is quickly spent. Of course you can finish tasks if you have special rocks that costs money although you can earn a few here and there in the game. Here is my other complaint about these types of games – this dual currency. One currency you can earn plenty in the game while the other is more scarce. To really get the cool items you need to spend real cash to get this limited currency. It blows. Whatever happened to games where you can earn everything you need in the game?
Another cheap game is Sea Stars. We bought this for the iPad. You start off with one character – Dante the dolphin. You can unlock more characters for serious coin. Since you earn about 200-300 coins a swim and a character costs anywhere from 18000 coins to 500,000 coins, you will be swimming many meters with Dante. We bought the character pack to unlock a bunch of characters and then bought two other characters. In total, we have spent less than $10 on the game and have had at least $10 worth of fun. Still it would be nice if characters unlocked for a cheaper price.
I guess this is the new way games are made. Still it is frustrating that games seem to have all of their cool content unreachable with regular game play. Maybe it is a fad that will pass although I doubt it as making money never goes out of style.
Kickstarter Double Fine Adventure
Posted by: Raesmom on: February 24, 2012
Today I did something that I have never done before – I helped fund a Kickstarter campaign. Well, I helped fund one that has already met its goal. In fact, it’s raised way more than its goal. Double Fine Adventure put up a Kickstarter campaign this week. It received some attention from some well known gaming websites. In three days, the campaign has raised over $2 million. There are 18 days left in the campaign – who knows how high that amount will go!
Double Fine Adventures wants to make a video game. They’ve already made several really popular video games like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend. This game they want to do differently – they want to do the whole game on their terms. To do that, they need money so they do not have to depend upon other resources(publishers, loans,etc).
Making video games isn’t cheap. Their original goal was $400,000. They met that goal in 8 hours. It seems that their idea was to release the game on Stream. But now with more money, they plan to release the game on more platforms.
For backers, Double Fine plans to offer an inside look into the making of a video game with special videos throughout the process. Also backers will be among those who get to beta test the game.
From the comments, most people seem most excited about a 2D game made by developers they trust to deliver a good game experience. I backed them for a couple of reasons. 1) I like the idea of supporting video game/board game campaigns that I find interesting and 2) I would love a sneak peek into the world of video game development. Oh and backers get a copy of the game, so it’s like I’m pre-ordering it way in advance.
So I’m looking forward seeing this video game develop over the next several months.
Skylanders Whrilwind
Posted by: Raesmom on: January 3, 2012
- In: PS3
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One of our gaming Christmas gifts was Skylanders. It’s a video game that features Spyro and other characters. Instead of unlocking characters, you buy figures that you place on a portal to transport them into the game. The main game is for one player but two players can go head-to-head.
There are 32 characters. Characters are sold individually for around $7 or you can get a three pack for under $20. One character that is on our daughter’s list of must-haves is Whirlind. She’s half dragon/unicorn and is a Target exclusive. She was released back in October and is currently out of stock at our local Target. I haven’t called to check on if/when she will possibly be in stock, but others have. Apparently she may not be restocked and has been marked discontinued. Whirlwind is going for an insane amount on Amazon and eBay. I firmly believe that Whirlwind will be once again for sale very soon.
A few years back, I did a review for a toy that was exclusive to Target. Well, it was exclusive for about three months – then it was available at Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, etc. So exclusive does not mean from now on it will be exclusive. Walmart.com does have Whirlwind listed on their website but it’s not yet available. So I would not be surprised if Whrilwind will soon be available everywhere and no longer a Target exclusive. Rumors are that Whirlwind will be in a three pack.
We will not be rushing to pay some outrageous price for a figure that will soon be back on store shelves. I will be posting more about Skylanders because it is a fun game that we are all enjoying.
A Kinect Christmas
Posted by: Raesmom on: November 10, 2011
- In: Xbox
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The Black Friday fliers are now starting to populate the Internet. Now is the time to get busy about the plan for Christmas. I really want a family gift the whole family will enjoy – hence the reason that the Kinect is on the short list of items that may make it under the Christmas tree.
There is no doubt that the girl would love the games. There just seems to be a lot of fun titles out for the Kinect. Plus it would be nice to once play a game without having to spend five minutes looking for the controllers. I do have some concerns with the Kinect.
We have an older Xbox 360 – bought 3 Black Fridays ago – that is hopefully compatible with the Kinect. I do not personally have this concern – this is one my husband brought up. Apparently the Kinect is compatible with all Xbox 360s. I read it on Wikipedia as a quote from Microsoft’s CEO. My husband may believe it.
Secondly, we have a small living room. In fact our living room is also part of the dining room, office, and play room. There just may not be room to physically play. Since I am in full de-clutter mode, I can’t see buying one in hopes we move to a bigger place. We will then buy one when we have room. This is our biggest concern with playing games on the Kinect. It is recommended that you have at least five feet of space between you and the Kinect. This might be problematic but oh boy, would we have so much fun playing the Kinect!
Wal-Mart has a Black Friday deal for a Kinect with three games for $99 dollars. We might have to rearrange our living space.
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
Posted by: Raesmom on: August 3, 2011
- In: Wii
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Ever since I heard about Kirby’s Epic Yarn, I have wanted it. First it is Kirby. He is just too adorable and secondly, it has to do with yarn. I love yarn. It just makes me happy to look and touch it. So a few weeks ago, we had a little extra money and wanted to buy a video game.
I really wanted a family game that we all could play at the same time. Kirby is for one or two players. There’s three of us, so it wasn’t in the running in my mind. But the young gamer was determined that we should get Kirby’s Epic Yarn. She finally won out – as she usually does.
Now I did want the game but just not at that moment. The game was released last year and still has a $50 price tag. Kirby is a lot of fun and we had probably already gotten our money out of it. The girl and hubby have finished the game. I lag behind – as always and still have a way to go.
In Kirby’s Epic Yarn, you don’t necessarily die. You just lose all of your gems if you fall into a hole. You can also ‘bubble’ and be carried to the other player by a coat hanger with wings. This is handy for those areas that might be a little hard to traverse. So Kirby’s Epic Yarn is a great family game – cute setting and characters as well as a game play model that won’t make young gamers frustrated.
So I’m glad that the girl won that battle. Kirby’s Epic Yarn has been epic fun for all of us.
Rewardville
Posted by: Raesmom on: August 1, 2011
Today I discovered Rewardville – a Zynga rewards program for all of their games. You use z-coins to buy items for their various games. There are also free items. I didn’t know I could get so excited over virtual goods.
I love reward points, so it has been fun spending those free coins. I play CityVille and FarmVille and have enjoyed getting rewarded for playing. I just wish the freebies updated. Each game has one freebie and those have been the same for weeks.
It still is fun to get something with coins you didn’t realize you were earning. Thanks Zynga!
I Miss The Sims
Posted by: Raesmom on: June 29, 2011
One of the websites I follow has a The Sims board. Reading through the posts makes me want to play again. Our computer can run The Sims 3. It is just finding time to play. It seems there is always something to do.
One of the posters talked about what happened to their Sims in game – how they caught on fire, called the fire department who then watched her burn to death. She has bad luck. Once she turned into a ghost, Grimmie refused to take her. It sounded highly entertaining and was enough of a description to make me want to play.
Maybe tonight I will round up my disc and install The Sims. My daughter is now old enough to enjoy it, too. It is sad that the last time I attempted to play was when she was very young. I felt guilty for having a Sims life while ignoring my own. Well, not ignoring for very long – like 30 minutes tops. But for a new mother it seemed like an eternity.
Also I’ve been wanting to play The Sims Medieval. That might be something to pick up in a few weeks if the computer can handle it. A new computer is also on the massively long wish list.
Cityville
Posted by: Raesmom on: May 22, 2011
- In: Simulation
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Once upon a time, I played the daylights out of Farmville and Farm Town. I also played Restaurant City a lot. One day I just stopped updating and never played again. Well, I didn’t. My husband took up the cause – so he could continue to get free stuff in these games.
This past weekend we visited with friends we haven’t seen in ages. We reconnected on Facebook and decided to get together sometime. One friend was mentioning CityVille. Now I “play” CityVille – read my husband plays for me. I’ve been meaning to give it a try since it reminds me of The Sims or more accurately Sim City/Rollercoaster Tycoon.
On a whim – true to my casual gaming nature – I loaded CityVille and have been playing ever since. It has been a lot of fun playing this week. CityVille is different than the other casual games on Facebook or maybe it’s just part of a new model that forces you to rely on friends or pay money. Not only do buildings cost money, you have to build and staff them before opening. A staff of ten can be hard when you only have eight dedicated CityVille friends.
There are plenty of pages on Facebook to find other CityVille friends. My Facebook page is mainly for friends, so I’m not sure how open I am to just adding anyone. I may try it and see how it goes. It would be nice to finish goals faster. When it takes a few days to complete tasks, I grow quickly tired of playing.
Right now I am still having fun playing CityVille. Frustrating at times but still very enjoyable.
Red Dead and Unicorns
Posted by: Raesmom on: March 15, 2011
Red Dead Revolver is very popular in our house. Both my husband and I love the game. I do have to admit that I enjoy watching more than playing – so does our 5-year-old daughter. When the Red Dead Undead Nightmare expansion was released, it made our short list of games that we must own sooner than later. Besides the zombies and the horses of the Apocalypse, there is a unicorn that can be unlocked in the game. Learning of this, my daughter became very interested in the game, and my husband vowed to get the unicorn last weekend.
After a little Internet searching for tips, he succeeded.
My husband is so proud. Gaming has taken on more meaning since our daughter is really into some games. It brings us happiness to see her joy over something game-related. She will play Red Dead but only when riding the horse. If bad guys show up, she quickly hands the controls over to Daddy. Now she will have a unicorn to ride – which hopefully will satisfy her desire to play a unicorn game. Not sure one exists – so this may be the closest she gets to a unicorn game.