My daughter bought a cute pink GameBoy Advance in September for her birthday. Now she is regretting the decision and really wants a Nintendo DS instead. What should I do? Should I get her the DS for Christmas and hand the GBA down to her younger sister? Or should I just make her wait to upgrade later?
Are the games for DS that much better? Anyone care to shed some light on this for me?
Today we are having a carnival of sorts - not the old fashioned, pre-technology, cotton candy kind - but a new fangled, blog carnival. My pals at MomGadget are sounding off here today, but anyone is welcome! Just leave us a comment and a link to your post on kids and technology and you are in!
Technology is everywhere and there is nothing we can do to avoid it. Our kids were born with a mouse in one hand and a remote in the other. They are growing up in an environment, that as kids, we could not have even seen coming!
I must confess, our household is probably a bit on the technology extreme. After all, for a family of five, we have 6 desktop computers and two working laptops. The kids have the coolest playroom - one wall was transformed into their own workstation. We bought three kitchen cabinet bases, trimmed the bottoms, added a long countertop across them all and poof, we have a kids' office. We got three kid-sized swivel office chairs and now each child has their own computer, cabinet, and chair.
Now before anyone gets worried, I can see the playroom and all three computers from my office. All the appropriate filters are in place and rules have been set. Our kids are pretty busy with afterschool sports and homework that really the office is used most on weekends. Some pretty priceless moments have been overheard though. There is nothing like watching my 10 year old son coach his 4 year old sister through a Disney Princess game! My son and my 8 year old daughter play Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom (alot) and I have been very impressed with the site moderation. Yes, they each have email accounts, too. But, they are set up so that the only email allowed in is from people we put in their contact list.
I am very pro-technology. Our kids have to be tech-saavy - they need it for survival in the real world. It's not all games in our house. The kids use Word for homework. Both of the older ones have used Excel and Powerpoint in school and I have been teaching my son to use some of the graphics and HTML tools I used everyday in my business.
What's your take? Sounding off today, we have:
Today's tweens - they were born with a mouse in one hand and a video game controller in the other. These kids have been playing computer games, video games, controlling the remote and playing with gadgets since birth. What do you think of it? Sound off this week on your blog and let me know (a comment would be perfect). We will be having a blog carnival here on Friday thanks to my pals at MomGadget.
I am looking for just about any posts that talk about tweens (or kids of any age) and technology. Like:
FlyAcesHigh.com takes the art and science of vintage WWII air combat and sets it in an online high intensity environment where hundreds of players can battle it out with and against each other. High fidelity air combat is the heart of Aces High, but it doesn't end there. In addition to flying a multitude of aircraft types, players can also man vehicles, boats, amphibs, gun batteries, and ships. It's the most diverse virtual arsenal available to players in this genre and it's constantly growing through frequent updates. In the air, on land, and at sea, the battle rages 24 hours a day with participants from around the world. And you can try it for 2 weeks for free! Click here to go to FlyAcesHigh.com
The day is finally here! My son has been eagerly awaiting the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X
You can download a trial version or get a screen saver for your PC at Microsoft's official Flight Simulator X page.
More Flight Simulator X reviews, info, and tips can be found at:
Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of this new game!
We cleaned out the playroom over the weekend and got everything reorganized. In the process I noticed something - there are a lot of PS2 games down there that have not been played in ages. A lot of them I question as to whether we got our money's worth from.
I just found out about a service where you can rent unlimited games with GottaPlay.com.It is kind of like Netflix for video games. Think of the money I could have saved!
Basically, you set up an account, decide how many games you want to rent at a time, pick your favorite games, and go. They send you video games. You play them as long as you want and when you are done, you send them back and they send you your next title. If you decide you really like the game you can just purchase it. How easy is that?
Now that more and more tweens are getting their own cell phones, we're seeing more products that let them customize their phones. Last week we found Trinkies. Let's just say they are bling for your "ring." We got two of them. A cute green shamrock for me and the sparkly pink fairy for my daughter.
Trinkies are like jewelry for your phone's antennae. Slip them on and off easily and change them out to match your mood, your outfit, or the seasons. You can even make your own custom Trinkies! They can make your own designs into cell phone antenna charm rings. Perfect for school or athletic teams or company promotional items.
We even found another use for them - my daughter and I have identical digital cameras. We figured that we could use the Trinkies to help us keep track of whose phone was whose by slipping the Trinkie through the camera strap.
What's hot right now? Based on the activity in the kids office these days, this is what I can figure:
What games/sites are making the charts in your house? We'd love to know!
In the eyes of my tween, October 17 can not get here fast enough. He has been saving his birthday money and doing extra chores so that he can be one of the first to get Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe.
He loves flying planes and has gotten more than his money's worth out of Flight Simulator 2004. One thing he is looking forward to in the X version is the ability to fly actual missions. Other features according to Amazon.com include:
Why get the Deluxe version? Rumor has it that it will contain more airplanes, more airports, a multicrew mode and software to make new planes.
I'll admit it, our family spends an amazing amount of time on computers, video games, cell phones, iPods, playing with the GPS and other technology. We are tech-junkies. All five of us - ages 39, 38, 10, 8 and almost 5.
Maybe we spend too much time toying with these things, but are we being damaged in the process? I don't think so. I'd like to think we are able to balance our technology time with other activities such as sports, school and friends effectively. We have all the computers in common areas of the house - two in my office and three in the kids playroom which is visible from my office. And, we know what our kids are playing. We take the time to find out what their favorite sites and games are, and we check them out with them.
I just read an article at Games Industry Wire called What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games. The author does a great job of putting video games and their ratings in perspective. It is a recommended read.
I say let the kids play - you'd be surprised what they can learn from their games if guided properly and given some room to make mistakes.
Okay, do you agree with me? Sound off by leaving a comment.
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Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom has definitely been a hit with the 8-12, afterall they have created 1.4 million avatars and there are somewhere between 3 and 4 million "rooms". The VMK staff has done a great job of keeping this area of cyberspace reasonably safe by limiting the hours that the game is open, setting specific guidelines of use, blocking the use of many words that kids could use to give out personal information, and moderating the site.
Now, most saavy kids will get around most of the word blocking - according to my kids, there is a whole VMK language. Am I surprised? No. But the moderators do their job! We know this first hand.
About three weeks ago my daughter was on VMK and her best friend that we see weekly was on too. Let's just say she had a blonde moment! She asked her friend to call her and her friend attempted to ask for my daughter's phone number. Why, we don't know. It's on her speed dial for crying out loud. Anyhow, let's just say that the Disney moderators banned my daughter, her friend and both of their brothers (because they siblings are tied to each other based on my email) for one month.
The tears began to roll, we explained why what they did was wrong, and my friend and I applauded the VMK staff for doing their job. We didn't try to explain what went wrong or that it was an innocent mistake. The kids have all learned a valuable life lesson - whether they wanted to or not.
So, just a few more days and VMK will let them back in and I hope they will not make the same mistake again.
Thank you Disney moderators!
Well, tomorrow is the first day of school in our county. It is here earlier than before, so technically we got ripped off this summer. Oh well. We had a great summer, but our video game time is about to be severely limited thanks to homework and mom.
Our favorite games this summer were:
So long summer and long hours playing our favorite games! What were your top games this summer? Leave a comment and let us know.
Okay, this post isn't really about the latest games or accessories, but how you find what you are looking for on the web. Let's say you want to find a site with tips on your favorite games. You go to Google and type in a few words and poof, you get pages of results. The page you really want to see may be hundreds of pages down.
Now, if you are the owner of the web site that is hundreds of pages down, how can you get it closer to the top of that haystack so people can find your shiny needle? You may need to hire a search engine marketing firm to help you reevaluate the set up of the site. You may also benefit from a new search engine Google is getting ready to debut which relies on how accessible your site is to users who are visually impaired. It combines their page rank formula with new technology that evaluates how easy your site is to navigate, resulting in higher rankings for some site. A strong search engine marketing firm can optimize your Website to ensure that your Website achieves and maintains high rankings for your keywords and in the Internet's leading search engines and directories (Google, Inktomi, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc.).
While we were on vacation we stopped at the gigantic Toys R Us in Times Square. That place was great! The kids were looking for a new game that they thought they might all like and they found it. We picked out Over The Hedge for PS2 and it was immediately opened when we got home.
The game is obviously based on the movie, which we've seen twice and loved. The characters are just as life like in the game. All three kids - 1 boy, 2 girls, ranging in age from 4 to 10, are loving the game, so it has great appeal and play value.
There is the basic story mode, which you have to go through in order to unlock some of the more fun features of the game - the mini-games. In order to unlock the mini games, you have to perform missions - like getting food into R.J.'s wagon for Vincent or rescuing Heather the 'Possum from "The Verminator". You can play as R.J., Verne, Hammy, or Stella. Some of the mini-games are:
I guess you could call Need for Speed Underground 2 an oldie but a goodie that made its way into our game collection over the weekend. It was released in 2003 and is much like Grand Turismo - just a light version, but it has great play value and the price was right.
Things we like about the game:
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight is one of the most realistic flight simulator games you can purchase. Test your skills flying the Wright Flyer or a Boeing 747 and everything in between. It features realistic weather, 3d terrain, interactive air traffic control and the latest graphics.
You may have to take flying lessons to master the default planes, but if you’re bored with those you can get add-on planes from various websites, like www.simviation.com, www.avsim.com, and www.flightsim.com, and www.justflight.com.
The basic way to install these is to unzip them, and put the last folder before you get to panel sound .air file ECT. in the C:/programs/Microsoft games/flight simulator 9/aircraft folder.
For scenery download the file, unzip, and then go into flight sim, go to scenery library, hit add scenery and select the folder. Then restart flight simulator and you’re ready to go.
Know of any more good add-on sites for Flight Simulator? Let us know by posting a comment.
Since its Friday and we'd rather be playing games today than writing about them, we thought we'd share some of our favorites with you!
What are your favorites for each category? Post them in our comments section.
What started out as a popular arcade game has become a great activity for kids of all ages - moms and dads, too. By following arrow cues on the screen and moving your feet in the correct sequence on the dance mat controller, you earn points. Make your moves correct more that four steps in a row and you earn combo points. Your accuracy is rated from BOO to PERFECT with a few levels in between.
DDR Extreme 2 is the best DDR to date and is the best one for beginners. It has a beginners mode in the Free Play area that is not too daunting for the average person. Once you have gained confidence at the beginner level, you can move up to Light, Standard and Heavy. This version has some great songs - ones you will recognize - like Genie in a Bottle, Play that Funky Music, and Pump up the Volume.
The Dance Master Mode is a lot of fun too. You pick from two songs and then try to perform the challenge - could be get a certain number of points, certain number combo, or similar. As you pass through the matrix it becomes progressively more difficult. As you complete sections of the course you earn the ability to unlock new songs. This is a great way to work out, moms!!
There is also a Workout Mode, but I prefer the Dance Master Mode if I am working out alone. For a fun afternoon of family fitness, take turns in Free Play mode. The person who's turn it is, dances on the mat for a score, and those who are waiting practice using an imaginary mat. One afternoon my daughters and I did this for about 3 hours - let's just say I was sore the next day.
Dance Dance Revolution is really a great family activity! It brings together fitness and fun that all ages can enjoy.
Rated E for Everyone, Pixar's Cars video game serves up lots of fun for all ages! Basically you relive the movie through the game. You can race in the Piston Cup, explore Radiator Springs, go Tractor Tipping with Mater, change Lightning's paint scheme and more. The graphics are just as good in the game as they were in the movie.
The game has multiple modes, including story mode, arcade mode, mulitple player mode and bonus games. Younger players may find the games confusing at first, but keep trying. Older, more experienced gamers may not find the games as challenging as some other race games, but overall, the game is a good value due to the quality of the graphics, variety of activities, and of course, the characters.
Tips:
Do you have anymore Cars tips or cheats? Post them here in our comments!
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Speaking of Cars, can you imagine what it might cost to insure those cars and drivers? Even if it was just temporary, I think I would want insurance for anyone driving my cars and would want to compare car insurance prices first. By choosing my state, various services and add ons, I would want to arrive at the lowest price possible.
Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom is a great game for girls and boys from ages 7-16. It's interactive, but very well moderated. Here are some tips we have learned along the way:
Do you have anymore VMK tips? Post them here in our comments!
Burnout 3 Takedown is a high energy game full of things boys like best - racing cars and crashes. Pick from 70 cars and 40 different tracks. Race your car to the front of the pack and take out your opponents along the way. The graphics are really good and it is full of action, but it is rated Teen.
For those who have the game already, here are a few tips:
During a race, Take Downs will slow down the other racers, and give you more boost to get you even farther away from the pack.
In crash mode, try to get the 2x, 4x, or crash breaker pick-ups.
To unlock the fire truck collect all 20 all crash headlines.
To unlock the oval racer special, collect all signature takedowns.
You can use impact time to steer your car whenever you crash to score aftertouch takedowns or get to places other crashers can’t reach (or get pick-ups) by using the R1 button.
Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom is an online place for tweens to hang out. Membership is free, no email address required. The game is moderated by VMK's staff and is only open certain hours each day.
Each user creates a screen name and selects a character. Once you have created a character, you select your own virtual room which you can decorate with items you pick up throughout the game. Earn virtual credits by playing games, doing quests, and participating in special events. Purchase virtual items in the shops using your credits. Users can chat with others, make trades and create a friends list.
The Disney team has done a great job with the security in VMK - many words are auto censored including numbers and other potentially personal info.
Look in Disney movies and other products for secret codes for rare and unusual items. You can also visit Disney theme parks for other specials.
If you go to Disneyworld in Orlando, check out an Orlando Vacation Rental and make it your home base while you visit the different theme parks. Orlando is the number one vacation destination in the US and one of the fastest growing communites, too. The Orlando area offers a wide range of life styles for all ages, including upscale gated neighborhoods; golf course communities; charming, old-fashioned towns, rural communities and areas with excellent schools. You'll be close enough to the 7 theme parks to catch all the action, collect your VMK codes, and see all your favorite characters.
This is the debut of our Video Game Tips site. We will be providing tips, tricks, cheats, and reviews of online games, PS2, GBA, XBox, and other handheld games.
