Aces High Main Arena- Is There Enough BANG! for your Buck

If you think $15 a month is a lot of money to spend on a game, think again - it's only 50 cents per day. I end up finding that much under the couch each day. The monthly fee gets you access to the Main Arenas at Aces High and that is where all the action is!

Aces High is the best World War 2 game out there in terms of aviation.
The 300 player battles are better than 8 player could have ever been. There are toms of players on, and unlike 8 player, there is a bad word filter. The lag is greatly decreased, and there are no cheaters or hackers in them. Skins that you make or download from Aces High can also be used and seen by other people. In the MA's you can also join a squad, or create one.

Happy flying!

PS - Sign-up for Aces High now and compete for cash prizes in the Aces High Championship Shootout! Every month through March, the top 15 pilots are awarded cash prizes and qualify to compete in the Championship Shootout for the Cash Grand Prize! Visit www.flyaceshigh.com for complete contest rules.

Google Earth Top Secret Flight Simulator

Just a short post, if you press Alt+I in Google earth you can get a flight simulator. It has no sound but you can choose an F-16 or an SR-22 (a small piston powered plane, not a fiction jet).
The throttle is the page buttons, landing gear is g, flaps down f; up shift f. You can fly with the arrows or the mouse . It's a fun way to explore and has great graphics. You can get Google Earth here if you don't have it already.




If anyone figures out how to add sound to it please post a comment.

America's Army-The Army's Next Generation Recruitment Tool

A few years ago the U.S Army came up with a great way to get new recruits-A video game! It's called America's Army and it's a great first person shooter for tweens.

Pros:The blood can be turned on or off in case you dont like to see it. There are a ton of maps and it comes with a map editor. The controls can be reconfiured to your joystick and keyboard. four types of soldiers: Infantry, Airborne Ranger, Special forces and explosive specialist. The controls are a little hard to get used to but its fun when you do. Very realistic. Free download. Rated "t" so most tweens are probably old enough to play it.

Cons: One of the only things I didnt like was the training missions have to be completed before you can play any multiplayer or campaign mission. Huge file size ( 2 GB)

Download it from http://www.americasarmy.com/downloads/

In my opinion this is the most life-like first person shooter I have played.

Pokémon Pearl

Pokemon Pearl Version is one of the games my 11 year old got this summer. Here are the things he likes and dislikes about the game - in his own words:

Thinks I like:

• The game has Wi-Fi abilities for trading, battling and chatting
• There are more than 150 new Pokémon to catch, trade, and battle
• It is possible to catch all but about 50 of the 482 Pokémon between Diamond and Pearl
• Pal park is a new feature that allows you to transfer and re-catch your Pokémon from GameBoy Advance games with master balls
• There's a whole new region to explore - Sinnoh

Things I don't like:

• To complete the national Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Pokedex: Prima Official Game Guide you have to have the other Nintendo DS and GBA games
• You can't use the touch screen to move
• Most legendaries have a 0.03 catch rate, so it's hard to catch them

Webkinz

Webkinz is the latest craze in our house! It all started when my youngest was given a Webkinz while she was in the hospital this summer. She named her cute Polar Bear, Coconut, and she couldn't wait to get home and set up an account on Webkinz. It wasn't long before her older sister was wheeling and dealing for time on Coconut's user and then decided to save up her own money for a Webkinz of her own.

So what is all the fuss about? Each Webkinz stuffed animal has its own unique code that its owners can enter at the Webkinz web site. Once an account is created, the owner can name their virtual pet and start playing. There are games and activities to play for fun and Webkinz dollars. There are things you can buy or sell for your pets using your Webkinz dollars, too.

The real hook comes when the girls real world friends log-in and they can play games with each other. Yes, you can add friends that you don't really know, but for now, my girls prefer to play with kids they really know.

But for some reason, my girls are not happy with just one animal each! They are currently saving their money for additional Webkinz. Leading the pack are:

Dogz Fashion

If you are looking for a cute game for the 5-12 girly set, we highly recommend Dogz Fashion for GBA.

My 8 year old daughter gives the game a glowing review. With Dogz Fashion you can pick a puppy, dress it in cute clothes, care for it, take it for walks and even enter it in contests. You earn points along the way as well. Some basic reading ability is needed.

According to Miss M,

"If you take good care of your dog, it's heart level will go up and when it is all the way up, your dog will be able to talk."

New Gameboy Micro Fits in the Palm of your Hand

While waiting for his sisters to finish their gymnastics practice tonight, my son discovered a cool new handheld from Nintendo - the Game Boy Micro Black. His friend was playing it and let my son give it a try while the friend was in Karate class.

The Gameboy Micro is COOL. It is the size of a cell phone but has great screen quality. It plays all the GBA games, but not the old GB classic games. Still, that leaves tons of games to choose from. It also has a collection of skins so you can change your Micro's look with your mood.

My son was most impressed with the Micro's battery life. I think he played Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land for about 2 hours and he said the battery light never came on. I did some research - the battery should last 6-8 hours. That is perfect for long car trips and waiting for the sibs at sports practices.

The Micro is also less expensive than the other Gameboy models. You can get it for around $50.

Has anyone else given the Micro a test drive? What are your thoughts? Is it worth it or is a DS a better deal all together?

Nerf Wireless Controller for PS2

Want to know the most requested PS2 accessory for the tween-set right now? It's the Nerf Wireless Controller. My son asked me to pick one up for his friend's birthday and then he couldn't put it down. I can tell my son really wants one too, because he asked how much it was, how many chores he needed to do, and where I got it.

The answer to those questions: I found the controller on the shelf at Target and it cost $29.99. I have yet to see it show up on Amazon yet, so it must be pretty new.

Even my husband said that he wanted one. It is pretty cool - the outside of the controller is Nerf material, making it easy to grip and it is soft (just in case one goes flying into another object). This one is still in the package, but I sure it will get "road tested" this evening at the party.

These Robots Rock

Robots were all the rage at the CES 2007 in Las Vegas this past week. We have had so much fun watching all the videos of the different robots in their collection, including Elvis, the new Robosapien, Roboboa, and the pandas. We are sharing some of our favorite videos with you!

• Playlibrary had a great PCWorld clip of the Robotis Bioloid Robot Kit.
• PCWorld's blog featured a great highlight clip of many of the Robots in action.
• Wowwee's Panda does not even have a remote - you interact with it through touch.
• Engadget has a good clip of three new robots from Wowwee - the Roboquad, Robosapien media, and a singing Elvis
• And there is also a video of Asimo running. Cool stuff!

What TechToys Did Santa Bring You?

Did you get everything you wanted? TechToys received in this house included:

• Lego Mindstorms
• Palm Treo phone (for mom)
• Multiple PS2 and GBA games
• An iFlop dog for plugging the iPod into.
  

The Big Decision - GBA or DS?

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?

Kids and Technology - Sound off

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:

• Gayla at Supernanny Rules - she seems to be of a slightly different attitude than me, but it is a great perspective!
• HomeMom takes a few lessons from her kids when it comes to technology.
• Jennifer is like me in that we just don't get all the PS3 madness (We aren't getting one! Not this year.)
• Another must-read is the article Gayla sent me called "Parenting on Thin Ice" - a unique perspective on kids and their games!
• Delphine chimes in with shopping for kids and technology.
• And even my alter-ego Casual Keystrokes (yes, that's just another one of my blogs) has something to say in a rant about PS3.
  

Don't worry you are not too late to join in! Leave me a comment and I'll get you on the list.

You are invited! Technology and Tweens Blog Carnival

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:

• Do you/your kids play computer/video games too much? Too little?
• What are the favorite tech devices in your home? Computer, PSP, GBA, X-box?
• Favorite games or a review of a favorite game.
• Strategies for monitoring and managing technology time?
• Things kids say or other funny technology stories. Like the fact that my daughter could type www.pbskids.org before she could type her name.

Don't be shy! Jump in. Sound off. Share. It is sure to be a great time.

Fly Aces High - WWII Flight Simulation

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

Microsoft Releases Flight Simulator X

The day is finally here! My son has been eagerly awaiting the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator X. I have heard the countdown for weeks. When he announced it again last night (while watching Top Gun in surround sound with my husband), we suggested that it would make a great Christmas present. His response - "No way!" as he announced to us that he had this much birthday money left and this much allowance, and a gift card, so he was going to get it as soon as I would get him to the store.

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:

• FSPlanet
• FSInsider
• Simviation
• Wiki
• Avsim

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of this new game!

Gaming Try Before You Buy!

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?

Product Review: Trinkies - Bling for your Cell Phone

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.

Hit Parade from the Kid's Office

What's hot right now? Based on the activity in the kids office these days, this is what I can figure:

• DoSomethingAmazing - A must visit for anyone interested in the Air Force, airplanes, or the military in general. It is actually the Air Force's recruiting site, but it is COOL. You can watch videos of air refueling, the Thunderbirds, space command and more. There are also games on it like the very addicting Air Refueling game.
• Cat Bowling - In the spirit of Halloween, bowl with a pumpkin and knock over the cat-pins. Lots of fun, great sound effects, and truly done with humor in mind.
• Webkinz - My daughter got two of these animals for her birthday and they come with codes for registering them on the web. Once their codes are entered, you can play all sorts of games on the site.
• Lego - My son is taking a Lego Mindstorms class and really likes this site. He has taken pictures of his creations to submit to their site.
• Shockwave - They have so many games that our whole family loves. My favorite is Chuzzle.

What games/sites are making the charts in your house? We'd love to know!

Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe

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:

• Fly 24 different airplanes, including Ultralites for when you don't want to deal with all the knobs and dials
• Visit 24,000 of the world's airports, on all 7 continents
• Authentic road layouts - fly over your home town and navigate by the streets below
• Simulates advanced GPS technology
• Deeply immersive world to providing more structured gameplay elements

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.

Video Games - Keeping it in Perspective

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.