We love playing video games together as a family. The Wii is our platform of choice. We also value the DS/DSi to keep the kids occupied during travel by subway or car. (Thankfully, we don’t have the crazy 3-4 hour daily subway school commute anymore. It’s such a gift to be able to walk back and forth to school.) Meanwhile, here are the five games that my family has enjoyed reviewing the most this year. They are all Rated “E” for “Everyone”
1. EA Sports Active: I wrote the following about my experience with this game on this post:
This game really is like having a personal trainer in a box. (It just doesn’t call you when you miss a session – hence the two month completion time. Also, instead of being priced per session, it’s a one time cost of $60.) On Day 1, I did the workout at high intensity. “I’m pretty fit,” I thought to myself. “I can pretty much so do my Tae-bo workout without breaking a sweat.” Let’s just say that I was so wrong. I almost vomited after the first workout, because I was so nauseous. This exercise system works out muscles that I didn’t even know existed in my body! I did the rest of the program at medium intensity. That was a much better fit. Still, fast kickbacks and squat lifts are not my friends at any level.
Overall, I really liked the fitness system. It took me a couple of days to really get the exercises right. (You really have to pay attention to how the remote and nunchuk are supposed to be held for each exercise.) After that, I had a good rhythm. When we moved to our new apartment, I stopped my workout for a while. Now, I’m back on track and I have finished the 30 day workout. I’m going to do it again at medium intensity all the way through. Then, I’ll start doing custom workouts.
Since I didn’t do the system consistently, I take my “results” with a grain of salt. I definitely feel like my arm, shoulder and calf muscles are more defined. Then again, those areas were my strongest before I started. I still want to work on my abs and thighs. I might be unrealistic, but I want to get back in the shape that I was when I played sports in high school. We’ll see…
More than anything else, I like that this 30 day system mixes up the exercises. It’s never exactly the same set. I think that’s why this workout makes me break a sweat every day – my body never gets “used to” doing the same thing. Also, since I get bored easily, this was one of the few exercise routines that kept my interest. ($59.99 SRP, but it is currently on sale for $49.99)
(Update: I’m excited because this Friday, I’ll be starting a new 6 week challenge with the updated version of the system: EA Sports Active: More Workouts. Wish me success!)
2. Style Savvy: I was introduced to this game at a Nintendo Holiday Games Demo back in September. Budding fashionistas will love this fashion video game. Personally, I like that it’s more than just playing with clothes. There is also a business side to it, because the game makes the player the manager of their own clothing boutique. Two valuable life skills – math (purchasing inventory, monitoring store funds) and people-skills (i.e. learning to please a variety of customers) are taught. Another neat aspect is that it actually includes real-life fashions (i.e. items from Charlotte Ronson’s fall 2009 clothing line) that are available for download in addition to the 10,000+ items (clothes, shoes, accessories) already included in the game. All of that is great, but will (primarily) little girls like it? So far, the answer has been a resounding “yes”. In fact, I couldn’t pry it out of the hands of my little girl tester. Granted, it was primarily about the “cute clothes” to her…($29.99 SRP)
3. The Legendary Starfy: I wrote the following about this game on this post:
One other game that deserves special note is a Nintendo DS game called The Legendary Starfy. It’s Michael’s new favorite DS game which he gets to play during his prekindergarten commute. I still don’t understand how he picks up these games without being able to read the instructions, but he does. In this one, Starfy (the hero) fights various nature-themed obstacles (i.e. ocean currents, pits, etc.) while simultaneously fighting his enemies. (I like that the opponents are comical, not especially scary looking.) The thing that I like the most about this game though is the variety. There are several different settings with their own series of mazes, puzzles and challenges that keep players on their toes. (That’s especially great for my little one who gets bored once he has something down to “a system”.) Michael really likes Starfy’s power to change into different forms (Monstar, a dragonthat spits fire; Starpedo, an Arctic seal with acrobatic abilities; Starfright, a spooky specter; and Roostar, a super-squawking chicken that lays sonic eggs) and his various skills and abilities (especially the Star Spin forceful attack).
My two cents: “Awww. Starfy is so cute!” ($29.99 SRP)
4. Toy Story Mania!: We attended a Disney Fall Blogger Party last week and there were many video games to try out. This is the one that my son liked the most. (This and another racing game, but that game is not out until next year.) This game has received mixed reviews by various media sources, but we like it. I think that if your kids like the Toy Story movie, they will really enjoy this game. If they have visited Disney and played the “Toy Story Mania” game there (like we did), they will love it. In fact, that’s the first thing that I said, “Oh, it’s like the Disney ride.” Exactly – that is because parts of the game are just like the Disney attraction. Other parts are original. It is not a super difficult game, but it is fun and you can play together as a family (as a group or as competitors). Parts of the game are in 3-D which my son likes. Most of all, I think that Michael likes the shooting aspect of this game. That is because we don’t allow our kids to play games that shoot at people. Number targets and such – like in this game – are fine with us though. ($49.99 SRP)
On a total side note, I think that we might be fighting an up-hill battle with this “no guns” policy – these kids make pretend guns out of things like my eyeglass case?!
5. Wii Sports Resort: I wrote the following about this game on this post:
One neat thing about the Wii sports Resort game is that it comes with one Wii MotionPlus accessory. (We’re going to buy another one so that we can play the games against one another rather than just single players.) It makes the game even more interactive, because it notices more movements that you make with the Wii remote controller. I like it for the most part even though it makes me stink at playing basketball – the one Wii game that I was the best at using the regular remote. Oh, well.
The setting is a tropical island and it has 12 resort-themed sports. Some of the sports (like Swordplay) are really easy. The youngest of kids can play that one. Sean actually scared me with how good he was at Swordplay. That little boy can attack! My husband and Michael are really good at table tennis. (I’m not.) Other sports (like basketball) take a little more skill. Others (like golf and bowling) are just a step above the original Wii Sports game. All in all, I think that this is a great family game. ($49.99 SRP)
