May 22, 2013

Posts Comments

ChallengeYour Children’s Brains This Christmas #UbiPoptropica

December 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

poptropica

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. #UbiChamps

The holidays are officially upon us and if your child is a slave to the latest Poptropica fad, you’re in luck this year since the makers of everyone’s favorite online kids game, Poptropica, has teamed up with my favorite video game maker, Ubisoft, to bring islands of fun to your child’s DS. 

Poptropica for Nintendo DS

In this fresh take on a child favorite, players travers through the virtual world on a mission to save the Poptropica museum and restore it to its former glory.  Over the course of their adventure, players will have the opportunity to meet exciting characters, explore three new islands, solve brain bending puzzles, and play super fun min-games,  all while collecting the missing artifacts for the museum.

Celebrate Individuality

One of KG’s favorite features about Poptropica has been her ability to create individual characters to fit her styles, moods, and needs.  KG’s characters are almost always wearing wacky clothes combos , which thrills her to no end.  Ever the fantastic big sister, KG also creates characters for Kat and has spent many a patient period of time changing clothes, adding new hair styles and creating new looks for her.  I love that the feature offers them the opportunity to express themselves in this game in ways that they aren’t able to in real life…which has to give them a bit of a feeling of freedom, don’t you think?

Worried this Version Won’t Have Anything New?

If you’re worried that your little gamer will have already played all the islands, puzzles, or minigames – don’t. While Ubisoft’s Poptropica will feature the game’s well loved characters and fan favorite islands, the new DS game will also feature three never-before-seen islands and the ability to create new and fun avatars.

Best for Children

While there isn’t anything offensive or questionable about this game, I wouldn’t recommend it for the very young since some of the challenges they’ll face can be difficult.  Rated E for Everyone (with comic mischief), this game would be best for children 7 and up.  I had fun playing it too!

Tell me: Does YOUR child have a favorite video game??

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ubisoft’s Funky Barn 3D Put the Fun Into Farming {Review}

June 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Looking for a super silly game that makes farmyard fun just a mouse click away? Ubisoft’s brand new Funky Barn 3D is that game. Set on the silliest farm yard around, Funky Barn brings the barn to life in this fun game.

Your child can raise chickens & sheep and cows & pigs – though I will warn you, those silly cows will do anything to play with their friends the pigs…even if that means plowing through the fences to do so. Nothing is as it seems here on the farm and it can take a little while to get used to the way things work; for instance, when your sheep are ready to have their wool removed you just throw them into the ‘shearing machine’ and out flies a fully shaved sheep or take the ‘egg collector’ which looks like a giant egg with boots that collects and shells the harvested eggs.

Funky Barn 3D isn’t just fun & games though, the game also reinforces responsible budgeting and problem solving skills by encouraging players to maintain a farm budget, teaching them the importance of trees when it comes to pollution, and more.

Parent’s Recommendation: The game, while appropriate for even my 5 year old, is a bit too complicated for her to understand the particulars of the game. She became easily frustrated and the game didn’t hold her attention for long, however Funky Barn was perfect for my almost 9 year old who understands financial theories and cause & effect concepts a little better and how if you spend all of your money on cows, you won’t have any left over for the fences. While the game is super silly and fun, KG became bored with the game after she built her farm and hasn’t picked it up again since. I recommend this game for children 7 & up, with parental interaction.

 What games are your kids playing?

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , ,

Flashback to the 70′s with an ABBA Dance Party

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What do you get when you put a bunch of silly people, no kids, a Friday night and the new Ubisoft’s ABBA You can Dance Wii game? A slamming 70′s dance party, that’s what!  Straight decked out in bellbottoms, flannel shirts, and mutton chops my friends and I danced our way to fun and a night of laughter with Ubisoft’s latest addition to the You Can Dance family.

Since we’re all until 30, we were pretty new to the songs of ABBA…of course we knew the big hits like Mama Mia and Fernando, but the rest of the songs and the dance moves? HA! We were utterly clueless.  I didn’t play the game before hand so that I wouldn’t be at an advantage…but boy I wish I had.  I’m not nearly as smooth as the smooth operators dancing in this game!  The music was fun and the dance moves kept us laughing for hours!  We’re looking forward to playing together again, but this time I’m practicing before!

About ABBA You Can Dance (from the Ubisoft site):

From the creators of the award-winning Just Dance® franchise comes ABBA You Can Dance. Featuring 26 timeless songs, including “Dancing Queen,” “Mamma Mia,” “Fernando,” “Waterloo,” and “Take A Chance On Me,” ABBA You Can Dance invites you to unleash your inner dancing queen and hit the dance floor with one of world’s biggest music sensations. Dance with up to four players or join in on vocals; ABBA You Can Dance is unforgettable fun for friends and family of every generation.

I would like to point out the this game is rated E10+, but I wouldn’t want my 10 year playing this game…some of the songs are suggestive and should be treated as such.  If you’d like to purchase this game so that you, too, can relive the Swinging 70′s with ABBA You Can Dance, you can pick it up at Amazon (affiliate link) or Toys-R-Us.

Thanks to the fantastic disco ball and the slight libations that were consumed, we all let loose and danced our hearts out.  The party was groovy, ABBA You Can Dance was rad, and a good time was had by all.  My favorite song and dance was Dancing Queen, but I have to admit Voulez Vous was the most fun to watch the awkward boys try.  Designed not only to give you a good time, ABBA YCD also gives you a good sweat, these moves really get you moving.  I’ll be adding this to my workout regiment this week.

Do you have a favorite ABBA song?

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Review and Tuesday Amazon Deal (A Wife’s View)

December 13, 2011 By 6 Comments

Need an Assassin’s Creed fix asap?  Well, the wait is over!  Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is here…and Amazon has it for GOLD BOX price right now (this price is good on Tuesday only)!!

I know what you’re thinking though…who cares if it’s for a phenomenal price…I don’t know anything about this game!

Well…let me tell you!

Set in beautiful 16th century Constantinople, Revelations is a fast paced game that keeps the player on the edge of their seat.  While sequels can leave the player feeling unfulfilled and lacking; Full on action throughout, the sequel to Assassin’s Creed does not let you down.  Revelations is the perfect opportunity to hone your assassin skills while you attempt to discover the meaning and the origin of the creed with your deadly assassin mentor.  The perfect aggression expunging game for after a hard week in social media, school, home…whatever.  Picking up where Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood left off (only a couple of days later in fact), the assassins Ezio and Desmond are searching for discs that unlock the secrets of their world.

My husband, the gamer, has been thrilled ever since my induction into the UbiChamps group through CleverGirls (which is how I got the opportunity to review this game)…however I have only just had the opportunity to review a ‘man game’ with Revelations.  Needless to say, he was thrilled. Beyond that.  I may have won “Coolest Wife Eva”.

One of our favorite things to do is for Jon to play and for me to kind of act as his back up…I watch the background – what’s going on the in sidelines of the game – and I point out any ‘badies’ that he might otherwise miss.  I am his greatest weapon (yeah…I’m not full of myself). This game was awesome for that, because so often I am bored by the game…or the lack of storyline…and I didn’t have this problem with Revelations.  I was captivated by the story, the characters, and the scenery.  The ability to make bombs!  Oh, the bombs…one for every situation you face…and made from such international materials. (Please note this M for MATURE and as such should not be played by children.)

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

8 year old Reviews Ubisoft’s Ravin Rabbids Travel in Time Review

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This is my eldest girl, KG, who since she spent the most time playing the game, I felt should be the one giving you the review of Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbids Travel in Time.  KG’s favorite part of the game is when you are able to spend time in the dressing room changing your Rabbid’s outfits and making them look different.  KG is a huge gamer…for an 8 year old who isn’t allowed to play violent games.  The one thing she would change about the entire game was the fact that the gas in the game was green and she thought purple would have made a better gas color.  In her opinion Raving Rabbids Travel in Time is suitable for ages 6 & up (I agree) and should be rated E for everyone (it is.).  Already KG has recommended this game to several of her friends and I am sure if they ask she will continue to do the same.

As for me, I’ll admit that I, too, am a bit addicted to the adorable mischievous little rabbids and enjoy every minute of their craziness.  The game is easy to play with no tricky finger and thumb combos to master and is relatively nonviolent.  The Rabbids really appeal to both girls and boys with their silly antics and nonsense language.  It’s so much fun and has been a fun bonding game for me and KG.

Disclosure: Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this UbiChamps blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Impact Video, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,