The first episode of the Play Nintendo: Game Showcase series for kids is now available!
Check it out- it might give you some great ideas for the holiday season. (It can also help the “less video game inclined” among us to know what the kids in our lives are looking for right about now- so, useful!)
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We’ve talked quite a bit about big-kid gaming recently- what about the little ones? With the holidays coming up, we can’t leave anyone out. Check out these new titles fro VTech, makers of innovative, fun, and educational games for children.
Pixar Play
Pixar Play is one of the newest games for Vtech Innotab tablets for kids. The game has activites and game for kids aged 4 to 7 years old. The game features some of your favorite characters from Toy Story, to Finding Nemo, the Monsters of Monsters University and The Incredibles. All these and more in one game. Not only is this game of fun but also of learning. Kids will learn spelling while fighting Zurg, Learn new words with Nemo and read an e-book of The Incredibles. These are just a few of the many games and activities included in Pixar Play. The best part is with each game you collect coins and with each coin you can play the Spaceship Crane Game with which you collect toys to fill a shelf. If you collect all the toys a special mini game is unlocked.
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Pokemon is an ever evolving universe of characters. The most recent addition has the player take on the role of an artist going to the Pokemon Art Academy. As such the player learns how to use various methods and tools to make beautiful poke-art.
As a young artist enrolled in Pokemon Art Academy, players learn from Professor Andy to draw some of their favorite Pokemon. In lessons which get harder and harder progressing from simple shape design and coloring to shading and blending users go from basic drawing to full color shaded Pokemon in all their glory. The Pokemon come from all the known regions so your favorite is probably involved, Little Man loves drawing Pikachu and the little critter is there. There are also various tolls at your disposal as an artist from pencils to paint brushes the possibilities for the artwork is only held back by your child’s imagination. The lessons involved show step by step how to create wonderful works of art which can then be practiced in free mode which lets players draw anything they wish. The drawings themselves can be posted to the Miiverse.
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And now, for a timely Mario Kart 7 review. Sure this review is taking place after Mario Kart 8, but something to keep in mind is that this is the 3DS’s Mario Kart, not the Wii U. So instead of huge races with tons of characters red shelling each other, you have tight turns and blood thirsty Princesses on your morning train ride.
Nintendo have made a new Mario Kart for every console and one of their most recent is Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS. This game sports more tracks, easy multiplayer over the internet, and a bunch of characters to zip around tracks with. As an avid Mario Kart fan, but not a very good racer, I thoroughly enjoy Mario Kart with every iteration. The fun, light hearted racing can go from item using fun at break neck speeds to nail biting close finishes in a matter of moments. Never in any series of games have I cursed so many times at so many cute characters.
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Disclosure- I revived the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are our own and honest.
LeapTV is the newest gaming console by LeapFrog. This console differs greatly from its bigger counter parts, Playstation 4 and Xbox One, in quite a few areas but most of all the LeapTv is geared toward little ones and learning. With fun characters and fun new ways to interact with them, learning is much less of a chore and much more a fun game time.
LeapFrog have been making educational based games for years now and their most recent gaming console the LeapTV brings them a step further into the future. The console features three forms of input body motion, so that the kids can see themselves on TV moving around. This is best for sports games where the user can block the soccer ball or kick a ball for examples. The second is turn, move, and twist the controller- this is much like other motion controllers, but it also includes twist capabilities which is perfect for puzzle solving or moving a character on the screen. The last way to input with the system is a classic controller, perfect for those who enjoy old school input, great for platforming games which have been classically played with a d0pad and buttons. An interesting fact about the controller is that the motion sensing and classic controller are the same controller, just in a different configuration. Once your child is accustomed to using on controller they are used to both of them.
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I received the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and honest. Please see “Disclose” tab for more info.
For many kids (and tweens, and teens…and let’s face it- parents too) gaming is a part of life. A way to unwind, relax, and have some fun. Here in my house, it is the source of some major father-son bonding time. As you write your list for Santa this year, you might want to add a few of these as well.
Do you own a Wii U yet? If not, you might want to check out the Wii U Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Set bundle. It includes a copy of the Mario Kart game, Nintendoland game, the deluxe 32GB Wii U console, a MK8 steering wheel, and Mario themed red Wii Remote (or Wii-mote, as my husband likes to say). The bundle is a good deal if you don’t have the system yet. It come with everything you need to get started, as well as the super-fun-for-everyone and family friendly Mario Kart 8.
The Wii U is the sleek, recent console made by Nintendo. The system itself has next generation graphics, comparable to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Textures are sharp, sound is clear and the characters in the games look like they will hop right out of the screen at you. Speaking of screens, the innovative game changer with the Wii U is its touch screen controller. The controller has two analog sticks, the mandatory 4 buttons to the right and a few important buttons as well, home, start, select, etc. The middle of the controller is a touch screen which not only displays game play/video/etc but also acts as an input source itself. Some examples of this are an in-game map, flinging ninja stars, a different perspective of the environment. The possibilities are only limited by the designers’ imaginations. The Wii U Mario Kart 8 Bundle is available for $299.99 on http://happyholidays.nintendo.com
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There are many types of video games available for purchase some are ok, some are good some are stunning gems. We are going to look at one of the stunning gems for the 3DS, Super Smash Brothers. Smash Brothers is a fighting game which has a plethora of Nintendo and non-Nintendo characters who face off in multi-person fights in last man standing type battles. Each character has different special attacks; different weapons, different speeds, and different heights and weights all of which will help you decide who your favorite is and who your personal enemy is. Personally I love Link and Little Mac. Each character can be broken down into three basic fighting categories, gunner, swordsman, or hand to hand. Mega Man is a good example of a gunner, his gun arm fires bullets and charged blasts at your opponents. Link is a swordsman who caries not only his legendary sword but also a shield and other items from his game. The sword has a longer reach then hand to hand but it take longer to swing the sword leaving the player open to attacks. Hand to hand is fast and furious with fists flying at a blinding pace but a limited reach Little Mac is an excellent hand to hand fighter.
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Zelda has long been an institution for Nintendo from the first Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System to its most recent iteration Hyrule Warriors, great fun is to be had. Today we are looking at Hyrule Warriors a recent game which takes the familiar Zelda franchise characters and settings and adds Dynasty Warriors game play and game mechanics to create a great game for long time Zelda fans or new comers to the characters.
First of all it is important to know this game was made by two big game developers Team Ninja and Omega Force. The result is a masterfully put together game which is hack and slash by nature and Zelda by setting, character and even music. The game play itself is simple button mashing fun which is a welcome change for little ones playing the game. Little Man loves it compared to the more complicated RPG controls of other Zelda games, which he doesn’t have a firm grasp on yet. Emphasis on YET.
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