Search Results for: blog playing computer and video games together

Five Ways to Afford Video Games

Are your kids asking for the $70 Skylanders game or a new video gaming device that costs more than your first car did? Video games can get expensive, and because new and hot games are constantly emerging, and the old technology can become obsolete in a year or two, many parents feel like they are spending quite a bit of their budgets keeping their kids up to speed with video games. To reduce the cost of video games, try the following options. Consider an Older System The newer the gaming system or computer, the more it will cost. Consider purchasing … Continue reading →

Epic Mickey

One of the things I like best in a video game is a good story. Developers make use of advanced computer technology to program sometimes 20-minute-long animated movies to appear throughout certain video games, especially at the beginning and end, to make the experience as much about hearing a story as about playing a game. And those are my favorite games. Foremost of them all, in my opinion, are Kingdom Hearts I & II, which fuse the world of respected Japanese gaming franchise Final Fantasy with Disney. The player’s character travels to various Disney locales like Atlantica from “The Little … Continue reading →

Disney Purchases Facebook Gaming Company

Walt Disney Corporate’s certainly busy buying up companies lately. First they officially took charge of Pixar, then Marvel, and now, according to the Washington Times, they’re preparing to buy Playdom for $563.2 million. So what’s Playdom? If you’ve ever played a game on Facebook like Sorority Life or Social City, then you’ve used a Playdom product; Playdom makes many of the little games available for play on Facebook, MySpace, or fancier cell phones. Playdom isn’t the only electronic/online property Disney’s snatched recently. Just a month ago it also purchased Tapulous, the maker of a popular iPhone music game, and in … Continue reading →

We Can Get Fit with Wii: Part 2

JumpStart is a wonderful company that offers a variety of educational items for children. In fact, JumpStart is one of my favorite companies when it comes to educational games and products. Trusted by parents and educators for years, Jumpstart always provides quality and education in a fun and effective manner. Wii Nintendo, is another family company that has long since provided quality entertainment. Wii turned sitting and staring at a screen with a remote in your hand to getting up, laughing and playing with the whole family. Many who are not fans of video games, have changed their minds when … Continue reading →

Disney Sing It: Family Hits

My husband and I are video game addicts. Console or computer, it doesn’t matter; we own a bunch of games and have played even more that we’ve borrowed from friends or swapped for others at GameSpot. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone here that my favorite game of all time is Kingdom Hearts. The super-popular Japanese franchise blends the action-RPG style of the Legend of Zelda games with an original and epic story line, one that includes character cameos from Final Fantasy (one of the most popular series of video games). But most importantly, the story revolves around … Continue reading →

Turn Off to Turn On

Today as we were coming home from the markets I asked Mick if he had any ideas he thought would be good for this blog. ‘Turn off the TV,’ he said. Now don’t misunderstand, neither of us is against TV. We have our favorite shows. At the moment, when it’s non rating period in Australia, we’re watching Eli Stone which is not compelling but quirky enough to be interesting. Plus we both like lawyer shows. But most nights our TV is off and we spend time together, talking, playing games and listening to music. Settlers of Catan is our favorite … Continue reading →

Fitness Can Be Fun

Not only can it be fun, it should be fun, especially for children. These days when most kids would rather be sitting in front of the TV, the computer or spending time playing handheld video games it is harder to get them motivated to exercise. When parents hear the word exercise, most think of working out in the gym on a treadmill or lifting weights. But for kids, exercise should be any activity where they are physically active. That means playing soccer, basketball, and football, attending dance class, riding bikes or simply participating in a game of tag. Fitness is … Continue reading →

Family Home Evening

Do you have a regular Family Home Evening? This could be anything from a time of religious study to getting together to watch Shark Week. A family home evening is a way to reconnect with the members of your family. With work, school obligations, sports, academic clubs, friends and more, it can sometimes feel as though you never see each other except when driving around from one activity to the next. A family home evening can mean different things and take on different forms. The important thing is to schedule a regular time to spend together. It should be a … Continue reading →

Webkinz Toys and Extravaganza

This weekend is the Webkinz Extravaganza celebrating the third anniversary of the Webkinz toys. If you aren’t familiar with these stuffed animal toys that come with a code for online playing, you can read my earlier review here. For the celebration, many retailers are offering a free Webkinz with any $10 purchase. A lot of the stores are offering free parties with Webkinz themed games and prizes. Our stores here are hosting games like the Wheel of Wow, the Wishing Well, a live Gem Hunt, a Coupon Machine, coloring contests, a Jellybean Challenge, and a fashion “Stylekinz” contest. I do … Continue reading →

Sewing Lessons

I am a passable sewer—not one of those talented crafty people I’m afraid, but I have always thought of sewing as a very good skill to develop—both by hand and machine and I can stitch up some curtains, re-upholster a foot-stool and embroider a pillow case if the circumstance presents itself. I have hoped that before my three kids leave home they will pick up some basic life skills as well but they are at an age now where I really cannot force and push them to do the things I think they should. So, I was surprised this weekend … Continue reading →