My children are clearly of a gaming inclination. I blame their father.
Between them, they have Playstations, an XBox 360, several Nintendo hand held thingies and a Wii. I am mainly rubbish and would like to complain about the systems being a waste of time, energy and brain power but over the years a few games have sneaked into my ‘most favourite things’.
I fear I became addicted to MarioKart Wii last Christmas. We bought some extra steering wheels and mainly my children spent hours laughing at my rubbishness as I struggled with Baby Peach in her turbo booster pram thingie. But, I didn’t give up, oh no, I became utterly fabulous (on one course!). Then, of course there is SingStar. I’m a HUGE lover of SingStar and we’ve Abba, 80s and Legends. I have perfected Abba and have the Take That edition right at the top of my birthday list (please, make note G). Nothing like a good family sing-a-long, especially as Littlest does the best ever ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ rendition.
Then, of course, there is Buzz! The Music Quiz, another family favourite, although I do believe that the kiddies have memorised the answers. Oh and dance mat games helped me to lose some baby weight after having Littlest. Also, recently I tried to love SingIt High School Musical but struggled slightly, I think because I couldn’t figure out which line I was supposed to be singing, so sang both and annoyed Littlest until she refused to play with me. And of course Guitar Hero was a firm favourite, until Oscar the puppy chewed through the guitar cable and left us all bereft.
Our latest addition is Toy Story Mania! (3D glasses included!). The kids absolutely love it, mainly as they seem to be able to beat me on every single game. Toy Story Mania! is a collection of interactive quick and quirky mini-games, mostly taking the form of sideshow carnival games (such as testing your strength and hooping aliens). You can play against or with each other, degrees of difficulty altering with each mini-game. The shooting gallery ones are my favourite. As you play, tokens are gained and those tokens unlock other mini-games, allowing the player to create their very own Toy Story Carnival. It’s such a laugh, with lots of aliens (which is a selling point for me). Apparently there is a Wii Thrustmaster Official Disney Toy Story Ray Gun, that will be very much on my Christmas list. It will make me be exactly like Buzz Lightyear.
So, there you go, I am a wannabe gamer, sort of, nearly, almost (don’t you dare say I am not!).
Now, what I’d very much like you to do is recommend any other games that you think I’ll enjoy. I don’t have a Wii Fit and think I’ll like one, but am worried that it’ll just stay in the box and that Guitar Hero World Tour looks fabulous but is it a bit rubbish? Please advise…
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Guitar Hero World Tour on Wii is the best thing ever. Ever. Ever.
The drum kit is FAB. I can vouch for that for sure.
Twitter: @stray_and_ruby
Try Shrek Carnival Craze for Nintendo Wii – Rachel bought it and it’s great fun. It has loads of mini games some are challenging.
Amazon.co.uk have the Wii Thrustmaster Official Disney Toy Story Ray Gun –
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaster-Official-Disney-Toy-Story/dp/B002PHLXY8
Twitter: @madpoetuk
The Wii fit board thingy is fabulous but embarrassing if you’re bad at it (which you won’t be). Get one now and practice on it while your family is out. It will be time well spent.
My first career was spent in sales and marketing for computer games companies. I know the addictive power of them. I was paid to play them for hours each week. No wonder I have RSI and hate them now.
Twitter: @hprw
I only have a Nintendo DS but boyf has an x-box, playstation2, psp and a wii. Not keen on the wii fit myself but Raving Rabbids for the wii is excellent. Theres a few editions but they’re all great. Really funny!
Twitter: @lilysheehan
Awww – thanking you!
Stray – that’s what I hoped! Think that might be one for this Christmas… OMG, I am so going to be a rock star!
Elliott Rodgers – oh, haven’t heard of that one. I must admit that Shrek scares me a little, but I’ll be sure to check it out. How good does the Wii Thrustmaster Official Disney Toy Story Ray Gun look? I so need one!
Jane Smith – oh I will be bad. I’ve no balance and am clumsy
Lily Sheehan – yes, kiddies had mentioned the Raving Rabbids. Def one to look out for.
xxx
You need to buy Wario Ware Smooth Moves for your Wii. It’s absolutely bonkers for starters, but big fun and really clever too. Just loads of mini games, including one where you’ve got to pick a nose and another where you fight a samurai. Honestly, you’d love it.
Guitar Hero is brill, but you know I’m a nerd for that. And if you want more mini game stuff, try Rayman Rabid Rabbits for your Xbox 360 x
Twitter: @matthewhill
Hi Caroline
The band games are fantastic we spent the whole of yesterday playing them Beatles Rock Band is fab because everyone know the songs even our 5 yr old could join in.
Also once you have a set of ‘instruments’ you can use them with most other band games too.
OH we are big lovers of the Singstar games too and again its some thing whole family can join in too.
Chris & Cal
Twitter: @chrisandcal
I wouldnt have a clue!! But all sounds like great fun!
Does Spider Solitaire count?
Matt – the kids love the mini-game stuff. I’d never played that game format before and it def appeals to me. I get bored with standard games, even platform ones (is that right? the ones with dif levels?). Eldest tells me that the mini-game feature is what makes the TSMania so good and somethign that cuts across age groups… that and the cool 3D glasses! Wario Ware Smooth Moves sounds like one to try.
Chris & Cal – we were talking about the Beatles one yesterday and think it is increasingly becoming a ‘must have’ for Christmas. SingStar is such good fun. I had a SingStar birthday party last year, that just happened to be on X Factor final night. It was fun! Littlest has been talking about a Disney SingStar game and I think there is one. I fear she’d beat me on it though
Casdok – it is
Queenie – can you play multiplayer?
xxx
Chris is a HUGE game fan and I have to say that I too have Buzz (The music one and the general knowledge one) and Singstar (Rocks and 80′s)….I’ve mentioned the Abba one to Chris…you may have heard his screams from there
I love horror films and games….so I’m not convinced that you would like the games I would suggest but just in case….Halo 3 is pretty damn good as is Dead Space
C x
Twitter: @Mrs_B33
Rock Band World Tour is really ace. And any of the Lego games for the Wii are top too. Not that I play them any more – but I enjoyed them while I did.
Twitter: @nikperring
If you want to get fit and tone up, rather than buy a game to entertain the kids, I REALLY recommend EA Sports for the Wii. You don’t need a balance board to use it and it comes with a resistance band and a leg strap to put the nunchuck in. You can select a workout or choose the 30 day workout challenge (you only actually do 20 because there are rest days after every 2 sessions) and select easy, medium or hard. I started off doing medium – about 20min workouts – and it’s BRILLIANT! Every day you get a different combination of exercises and new exercise are introduced. You might feel a bit silly running on the stop, might shout at the instructor when she tells you you’re not squatting low enough (because you ARE, you ARE!) and you might worry that the resistance bands are going to snap (or pull off your arm hair) when you have to move from a bicep curl to a shoulder press but it’s soooooooooo good – you build up a sweat and everything AND tone up.
*end of over-enthusiastic exercise recommendation*
Twitter: @explodingauthor
p.s. A non-exercise recommendation for the Wii – Apparently Mario Galaxy is amazing!
Twitter: @explodingauthor
p.p.s. Wii fit (with the balance board) is fun for about 2 weeks then the novelty wears off. Mind you, if you buy a balance board there are lots of ‘sports’ games you could buy that you and the kids might enjoy.
(I’ll shut up now!) x
Twitter: @explodingauthor
Carol – Chris clearly has poor taste
Nik Perring – the boys have some Lego games, I think. Def Indiana Jones. I really fancy Rock Band World Tour, especially The Beatles one.
Calistro – EA Sports for the Wii looks really good and less gimmicky is better.
Calistro – will try it. I am currently (since this post) addicted to Wario Ware Smooth Moves.
Calistro – ooooh, now you’ve got me thinking…
xxx