Review: Battle of the Bands

What is it?

Battle of the Bands is a Wii-exclusive Planet Moon-developed THQ rhythm game. The game follows a template laid out by Guitar Hero in a lot of ways, but takes things in a bit of an interesting alternate direction. The game is played entirely as a duel, rather than a competition to just finish the song without screwing up too bad. The goal is to score more points than the opposing band by doing a better job matching the on-screen prompts and foil their gameplay with a variety of distracting attacks. Read more of this awesome post here

Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour “Review!!”

513az-fzkkl__aa280_.jpgHey guys, here’s something that my niece was telling me about the other day. “I would never try it” I dont think I can bust the moves I use to be able to bust!! LOL. But if you have a daughter who know Hannah Montana ” Yeah right, what little girl doesn’t!” Anyway, getting to the point… She just loves this! And says It is so fantastic that I should let you guys know ablout it…”If you don’t know about it already….

I guess, from what I understand about it you get to share the stage with Hannah Montana! by using the Wii remote & Nunchuck you and Hannah get to dance together. The “premise” to gain more fans… And once you get off stage, you are able to create your own concert wardrobes by shopping all over the world. She also told me  that you are never alone… Lilly, Oliver, Jackson, and Robbie are always willng to help you when they can.

You can also tour the POP world yourself and live the dream of a rock star!  Being able to sing and perform Hannahs #1 hits! ” With a little practice…”  Earn new fans by interacting with all your dancers and your crowd. Plan out your own tour schedule and go to places like Paris, London, and even Tokyo “do some more shopping!” You are also able to control your own lighting and stage effects for the best concert you can put together…”Something to realy remember!” Not to mention the ability to share photos of fashion designs and share with all your friends your dances that you have recorded.
And also  before I forget… Compared to Dance Revolution… This game is much more easier to learn and seems to even have a bit more to it “Go figure!” At least that’s what she tells me… I guess she would know she plays it non-stop. So really I’m going after what she said “where did I hear that before!” Oh well, I hope you guys have as much fun as she’s been having with this. Also being Disney Rated you can bet it’s safe… Talk to you soon!

A Quick Review: Wario Wares Smooth Moves

wariosmoothgroot.gifWhat is wario wares exactly? Minigames shot at us at laser-speed, using the best of whatever input device the game is put on. It all started with a game Boy Advanced game, then they added a wiimote, and then moved to the DS with Wario Ware Touched. The GameCube Wario Ware was a cool party game, but unfortunately didn’t have any fun controllers to play with. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves is exactly what fans of the franchise have been waiting for: microgames that use the Wiimote. as a mattter of fact, this particular game uses the Wiimote in more novel ways that you can count, but that is actually one of the bigger issues with the title.
 The game has you hold the Wiimote in many different ways to play the game: from the Handlebars to the Janitor, the positions all sound like vaguely boring “well we won’t go there”  positions and are introduced by hilarious voice-over narrations with a graphic explaining how to hold the Wiimote. Horizontal, vertical, with your hand over or below it; there is a learning curve involved with keeping all these positions straight (But you will get it in no time). The downsides are pretty obvious: if you just came into the game, you will have to learn these positions or you will be at a disadvantage, and that takes away from the pick-up-and-play joy of past Wario Ware titles. Also, having to constantly be told how to hold the controller breaks up the action some. The Wiimote is sometimes held on your nose, head, and hip (just make sure your curtains are closed).The game is still fast-paced, but with that extra screen game play is slowed down. It’s a little disappointing, and takes a while to get used to.
With that being said, this game really proves how strong of a controller the Wiimote is. Just like in most games there is a boss battle where you have to try and catch falling blocks and be careful to balance them on your platter, and the fine control you have on both left-to-right movement as well as tilt was very impressive. The games themselves are also just as crazy as we were used to: from putting those nasty dentures into granny’s mouth to playing Starfox to firing bananas straight from your forehead into a giant nose, you really do not know what you will see next. The first game-play is really the best—and where you will laugh the most. Of course, some games will take you one or two tries before you figure out what you have to do, but those are pretty uncommon.

So all and all this is a great game, and really great for parties. Smooth Moves has bright and easy-to-understand graphics while the game play is top notch. Unlockable minigames help to round out the experience. There is a game where you have to put the Wiimote DOWN and then pick it up like a phone when you hear a ringing sound. That’s just awesome. You will have to see what I mean by trying it out yourself.

Wii System Review-Say Good-Bye to the Couch Potato

nintendo-wii5.jpgOne things for sure, you will not be known as the couch potato any longer. The wii system went the extra mile to make sure interactive means exactly that. Now when you purchase the wii system it already comes with the wii sports pack “first off”. And the sports package can be played individually or “which is way more fun” with a group of players. Each player controls their own characters by his or hers own movements.

Your worn out fingers and thumbs are truly a thing of the past from now on. The Wii-remote and Nunchuks wirelessly control game play. Each remote senses the person’s movement by using the sensor bar and Bluetooth technology.

Another great benefit to this system is… If you are a parent you will no longer have to worry about your children spending un-healthy amounts of time sitting in front of a video game”theres no sitting here!.” This game system will take afterschool activities to a whole new level “a healthy one at that”. It is completely impossible to just sit down and play these games “if you want to get anywhere with them”; No more broken objects laying around the house from occasional balls being thrown around indoors. I like most of the games, and they do provide a heck of a work-out!. From what I have read studies have actually been shown that just by playing some of these games on a regular basis has helped with overall health and not to mention increases your blood circulation dramatically.

The people down at Nintendo must be very family oriented..All I know is that our family time has increased ten fold since we got the darn thing “it’s been great!” My own wife detested video games for most of her life, until we got this now even I am having trouble getting in on a little game time “since she started messing with it”. And for Gradndparent that can’t quite get around like they use to, now even they can have fun with their grandchildren on a little one on one bowling action. 

The Wii system also has wifi that can be used to leave special messages for family members (instead of sticking it to your refrigerator) as well as being able to send emails to all your friends including cell phones and other Wii systems. You can also surf the web on the internet and find anything you care to search for. If you like you can download games for the Wii system using Wii points as well.

And if you are worried about being able to play the games you loved to play back in the 80’s,early 90’s and so on all you have to do is pick-up the wii’s classic controller and your on your way. Wii has the ability to be used to play more than 150 of the games from older systems including NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64 games, TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis games. More games are being added as time goes on. Some of these  Virtual console games can be purchased for $5 to $10.

Another wii pack do to be out in 2008 is called wii fit.I believe it’s going to hit japan some time sooner than that. This pressure sensitive balance board makes exercising that much more fun. Playing soccer, dancing and playing games with the Wii more interactive than ever before. By standing on the pressure sensitive board while playing and exercising the board you control your character on screen. Whether it is dancing lessons or playing hula-hoop this accessory promises hours of family fun.

The Wii fit transforms the game System into your own personal trainer. Nintendo’s Wii Fit will be used in exercises such as push-ups, yoga, ski jumping and other exercises. Muscle conditioning, Aerobic exercise, yoga poses, balance games, and other power motions were included in the demonstration of Nintendo Fit when it was announced back in July 2007.”You know our School systems are going to take a whole new look at this wii system.”

Wii Play vs Wii Sports

000430-wiiplaybox.jpgOK, so as you can see I’m a gamer. That is OK. If you like games that are extremely fun for short bursts, like the original wii sports, you will love this game. It is great. Most of the games are shallow, and quite suprisingly the tank-like game is one of the best of the lot. But what is not to love about a decent representation of playing pool, target shooting, and ping pong. Lets get real, how deep do these need to be? Listen, my family has gamed more in the last few weeks with the wii than they have in the last 7 months without it. Not including my wife…Who I have never saw even remotely interested in playing video games…Ever!! Now I have a hard time getting her off the sytem!That definately says something. Halo 3 this is not. A fun game that is approachable by all of your non-gamer friends for an hour of absolute joy, this ranks high in that arena. Oh also happens to come with an extra” Wii-Remote”.

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Review of the Wii Systems and Games

Wii system Reviews:

Experts use Nintendo Wii game systems to help rehab patients

If there’s a Nintendo Wii video game system on your holiday wish list, you’re not alone. Believe it or not, the interactive games are becoming popular with health care professionals, too. These video games require balance, strength and coordination. In some cases, that’s just what the doctor ordered!

After Michael Haines suffered a stroke, he’d prepared himself for the rigors of rehabilitation. While it’s not all fun and games, playing virtual golf is better than virtually anything he imagined.
“Yeah, it’s exciting. It made you really thing about your coordination and get your hands working with your brain, your mind and your eyes,” says Haines.

That’s the idea behind rehabilitation, although typically the stretches and exercises feel more like work. That’s why experts at Ohio State University Medical Center wanted to try something new, so they turned to Wii – a video game system that requires more than just fast fingers.
“You hold a controller and then just like playing baseball, you would swing the controller like a bat and it senses that motion and gets that feedback on the screen,” says Robbie Winget, a rehabilitation therapist at Ohio State University Medical Center.

It also gets patients to work on things like balance and coordination – sometimes without realizing it. Winget says while the game will never completely replace traditional therapy, it will give patients a break and a reason to want to come back.

“By and large, patients are much more motivated by something that’s more functional rather than just prescribed exercises,” says Winget.
In addition to golf, the rehab patients at Ohio State’s Medical Center are also playing baseball, tennis and basketball. Some may even box or go bowling.

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