Gamer Mommy & Geek Boy

'WiiWare' is one year old

WiiWare™, the downloadable video game service for Nintendo's Wii™ home console, launched one year ago today. 

WiiWare removes barriers that make console game development expensive, and helps developers connect directly with consumers. 

WiiWare games have been created by more than 40 different development studios, from large companies to small startups - more than half were self-published by small independent studios. 

Nintendo's roster of quality WiiWare games stands as an example of what creative minds can accomplish. 

• World of Goo from 2D BOY won numerous industry awards after showing that a small development team with a big idea could make an incredible physics-based goo construction game. 

• Tetris Party from Tetris Online, Inc., introduces a new version of the classic game, complete with multiplayer options, new game modes and support for the Wii Balance Board™ (sold separately with Wii Fit™). 

• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People from Telltale Games, the first episodic series on a console, is a hilarious five-part adventure game series featuring the popular Homestarrunner.com characters. 

• The critically acclaimed retro-styled BIT.TRIP BEAT from Aksys Games and Gaijin Games reminds longtime video game fans of their gaming roots. 

• LIT from WayForward Technologies is a stylish horror action puzzle that has players fending off creepy – and creeping – darkness. 

• The beautifully enchanting LostWinds from FRONTIER lets players use the Wii Remote™ controller to control the power of the wind. 

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King from SQUARE ENIX brings a unique adventure from the hugely popular franchise to WiiWare. 

• Mega Man 9 from CAPCOM returns a classic franchise to its old-school, retro looks and lets players relive the glory days of gaming. 

• Dr. Mario™ Online Rx from Nintendo brings online multiplayer game play to everyone's favorite virus-busting puzzle game. 

• Bonsai Barber™ from Nintendo is the first-ever first-person grooming game that requires players to give haircuts to a colorful cast of oddball and demanding plant-based characters. 

Looking ahead, consumers can anticipate yet another year of interesting WiiWare games, including: 

• Cave Story from Nicalis, arguably the best-known indie game of all time. Cave Story takes players into a world where a race of rabbit-like creatures runs free on a serene island. 

• Icarian Kindred Spirits from Over the Top Games, where players control Nyx, an enigmatic winged girl, who must descend from heaven in search of her missing friend Icarus. 

• Super Meat Boy from Team Meat, an indie game in which players take the role of a cube of raw meat who must save his princess from the clutches of evil. 

• BIT.TRIP CORE from Aksys Games, the follow-up to the well-reviewed BIT.TRIP BEAT with a similar graphic style and rhythm component, but featuring a completely different retro game mechanic. 

• Final Fantasy IV: The After Years from SQUARE ENIX, the long-awaited sequel to Final Fantasy IV that takes place over a series of nine episodes. Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. 

For more information about this and other Wii features, visit www.Nintendo.com. 

For more information about WiiWare, visit www.WiiWare.com

GamerMommy & GeekBoy survive cabin fever with Wii

The sun is beaming today. After enjoying low-double-digit temps with windchills in the single digits a mere two days ago, no one knows cabin fever better than GamerMommy.

And these recessionary times call for creative thinking when it comes to family entertainment.

While GamerMommy and the GeekBoy generally dig cold weather – think sledding and snowball fights – we do not dig high prices and freezing our tushies off. Nope.

That said we like entertainment that goes the distance and spans the seasons. And we like our entertainment diverse. One reason we love the Wii is that Nintendo gets it and the software developers get it too.

Recession-friendly, all-seasons fun is what we're all about.

Here's a list of the latest we tried:

• Nintendo re-invents the old GameCube standard mass action strategy fav – new Play Control! Pimkin. Rated E for everyone, help Capt. Olimar rally his newfound alien Pimkin friends to pick up the pieces of his crashed spaceship before he succumbs to deadly poison. We love PimKin!

• Get some powder with 7,000 vertical meters and two massive mountains to explore without the high cost of lift tickets. Bandai Namco updates its sports hit, Wii Ski, with snowboarding (Wii balance board optional). Wii Ski & Snowboard is in stores now.  Rated E.

• Re-creating the insane multi-player action of the GameCube hit, Mario Power Tennis, join the stars of the Mushroom Kingdom – Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach and more - for Grand Slam action using new Play Control! Rated E for Everyone. Launches March 9.

• Outdoor Challenge with activity mat and jump rope gets the couch potatoes reaching for something other than the remote and a bag of chips. We like this outdoor sports game pack developed by Namco Bandai as an alternative to the madly popular Dance Dance Revolution (some of us do indeed have two left feet), although you should prepare yourself to be embarrassed by your kids.

Neopets puzzle adventure a nifty holiday gift idea for all ages

Just released the last week of November, Neopets Puzzle Adventure puts the Neopets universe on your PC, DS or Wii for even more holiday fun with this popular global community, described as " the stickiest website on the web."

The Capcom and Infinite Interactive developed game is a multi-platform puzzle adventure game based on the beloved virtual community of pets for kids (and adults too) to care and raise.  The game is similar to traditional board games like Reversi or Go, adding new twists that challenge players and offer unexpected surprises and bonuses.  The object of the adventure gato flip all the chips unbtil they are your Neopet's color.

• Ten codes are generated per platform to be redeemedonline for unique items
• Customize one of 12 Neopets to be your main character
• Experience epic adventures as you journey through Neopia
• Over 150 quests per single-player game & head-to-head multi-player matches
• Collect 100 PetPets on Wii or PC (25 on DS) & earn 30 special awards

Rated E for Everyone, the game retails for $39.99 Wii, $29.99 DS and $19.99 PC.  Intuitive pick-up-and-play features appeal to casual gamers and Neopets fans alike.

A puzzling adventure game!

San Francisco Wii music street musicians entertain

Crowds gather at Pier 39 to experience Nintendo's newly released Wii Music, a great game for casual gamers of all ages, a must-have for holiday party fun.

Addictively sweet holiday fun with We Cheer

Don't know what to get your inner cheerleader for the holidays?

Try We Cheer from Namco Bandai for the Wii.  It's the perfect game for girly-girl tweens (or for yourself if you were more the pen pocket protector sort than the sporty type back in the day). 

Customize your pep squad girl with the perfect competition outfit and then get ready for some pom-pom play. Dance and cheer to 70s disco kings, KC and the Sunshine Band,  or contemporary rock bands like Paramore or Boys Like Girls.  Hilary Duff fans, relax.  She's got a track too.

With several modes to choose from -- exercise, competition or party -- there's an opportunity for everyone to play and compete as well as burn off some of the holiday goodies.

Wii remotes function as pom-poms, although we got a nifty red & blue set to show off our rah-rah-sis-boom-bah.

Cheer, dance and unlock new teammates, outfits, songs and more.We Cheer with it's doe-eyed anime cheerleaders is addictively sweet fun.

I Don't Wanna Work. I Just Wanna Bang on the Drum All Day

Back in the Suzuki days, I scratched out Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star with all the other pushy Moms who wanted their adorable offspring to be Baby Mozarts. 

My boy, who has perfect pitch, refused to play his  violin made of a ruler and a box of macaroni and cheese -- for a year.  He's no fool.  I was.  He knew the darn thing didn't make music and he wasn't about to scratch on it.  Meanwhile, all the tone deaf kids sawed away.

The boy still has perfect pitch, sings in the school chorus and plays keyboards and snare drum.  Mom's student violin is gathering dust, awaiting the day she starts lessons again. 

In the meantime, Wii Music is there for me and my Mii if we ever have the urge to reminisce.  The boy is going to be bored. 

This game is designed for the young 'uns and parents of the pre-school and early elementary set are going to love it for their kids -- unless they happen to be hipsters who load their iPods with music they like instead of music their kids like.  Yeah, all little kids have dreadful taste in music until they don't any more.  That's called exposure.

Wii Music is corny and not for everyone, but it's a cute casual game. Bang a drum, big people.

MLB Power Pros 2008: Rated E for Everyone

It's not often you see a high double digits score in a baseball game,  Unless you happen to be a button-mashing, casual gaming Mommy such as myself.

Yeah, I freely admit it. I suck. 

But that didn't stop me from enjoying an hour of MLB Power Pros 2008, the 2K Sports-developed game that is the highest-rated and best- selling baseball title in Japan, available last year in North America.  The little guys, based on the actual major league teams and their big name players, look like bobble heads.  And the way I play, they were pin balling all over the playing field.  I laughed so hard I cried.

With three key game modes, fans can play alone or with another person, choosing from Success Mode, MLB Life or Season Mode.  Success Mode creates the career path of  a rising star in the Double-A minor leagues with players trying to improve their skills and impress scouts while trying to balance their personal lives.  MLB Life simulates the experiences of being a major league player over the course of a  20-year career.   Season Mode recreates the challenges of leading a winning team to the top in the World Series.

MLB Power Pros 2008 is fun, fun, fun.  I love watching the little guys take a big swing, strike out, and spin like the Tasmanian Devil  with their eyes bugging.  Catching a pop fly is a huge skill thrill for an all thumbs master such as myself. 

Kids big and small will love pitting their favorite teams against each other in their favorite stadiums.  I can envision many a Subway Series.  Plus you get to play as your fav players too.

Catch MLB Power Pros Action

I Love Me a Skater Boy!

He was a skater boy

She said, "See you later boy"

And anyone who had to listen endlessly to this puff pop tune from Avril Lavigne knows how this story ends.

Skater Boy rules!  And, well, the geek girl gets the cool guy.

On that happy note, I'd like to introduce Skate It! due out Fall 2008.

The two nine-year-old test geeks I took with me to Everyone Plays sponsored by Electronic Arts in June gave the game enthuiastic High Fives! in both Wii and DS platforms.  Developers Black Box, which is all things skateboard all the time, worked with pro skaters to create the highly intuitive game.  Skate It! features the revolutionary Flickit controls for more ways to shred -- either using the Wii remote or balance board or DS to mimick sick board moves. 

It's not just random riding, however.  The plot goes like this:

A series of freak natural disasters has left the city of San Vanelona deserted and in ruins. Skate It brings gamers back to the former skateboarding mecca where fallen structures, debris and rubble, combined with zero pedestrian traffic becomes the perfect formula for wicked skate lines.

Nintendo players ride with the pros, getting worked in (the) Hall of Meat and raking in sponsorships on their path to becoming Thrasher Magazine’s Skater of the Year. But the story line doesn't end there. Gamers get gnarly in skating hot spots, owning their turf globally.

My skater boys had to be physically dragged from the game to test other Electronic Arts offerings.

I'd say a good time was had by all.