Karen is a copy editor and a game reviewer. She enjoys reading, photography and music. She has a great love of nature and animals. She also loves a good game of any sort (be it one of the video game variety or from a board and a box).
When Pathfinder touched down on Mars and began exploring the red planet, it was a milestone in human history. But assembling a Pathfinder robot in your living room will be a milestone in family history. The Lego Exploration Mars builder kit is basically an expansion pack for the Robotics Invention System, version 1.5. That means you have the huge box of parts and motors that come with the main robotics kit and a smaller box that enables you to construct interesting vehicles whose big brothers have explored Mars, such as Pathfinder and Carl Sagan station. Looking at all the pieces … Continue reading Explore Mars with Lego→
The Sims is a game for anyone who thinks that real life is boring. And that must be a pretty good number because The Sims is the best seller in the nation this week. Created by the same folks who made the popular SimCity series, The Sims drills down to the neighborhood level of a city and in fact puts players in charge of a single household. The first part of the fun in the game comes when you create your family. Will you make a slobbery bachelor, a fresh-out-of-school party girl, a full family complete with kids or a … Continue reading The Sims is Sim-ply amazing→
If I could envision a box of family fun, this would be pretty close to what I would imagine it to be. The Lego Mindstorms Droid Developer Kit is a seamless marriage of tactile exploration and computer enhancement. The computer component of the product does not get in they way of the building phase, but instead is used to enhance the overall experience. When you first open the box, there is going to be a moment looking at the hundreds of small pieces where you wonder what the heck you have gotten into. I mean teams of scientists at laboratories … Continue reading Lego Mindstorms Droid Developer Kit is pure family fun→
Nothing can bring a family together like a board game. Especially the really well made ones like Yahtzee, Parchesi and checkers. But although the computer has a world of multimedia to tap into, games originally built for group fun never really successfully made the transition. The computer until very recently was a stationary object, and only so many people could crowd around the screen at a time. Plus, people who are fantastic board game players are not necessarily computer gamers. So they have been slow to catch on. On final reason for the lull in popularity could be much more … Continue reading Hoyle Board Games will leave users anything but bored→
Lucas Learning Ltd. has developed an Episode One inspired title for young Jedis-in-training ages 6 to 8. Yoda’s Challenge Activity Center has the player join Yoda in the Jedi Council Chamber. Yoda invites the player to choose from six different missions to work on mastering. Interestingly enough, each mission teach valuable skills. Once the player is in the Council Chamber he or she can choose to start on any one of the six missions represented by holographic images on the screen. If help is needed during a mission, the player only needs to click on the Yoda picture on the … Continue reading Yoda’s Challenge will sharpen young minds→
Game Review- Mia's Reading Adventure: The Search for Grandma's Remedy
Canadian company Kutoka Interactive’s foray into the children’s computer entertainment and educational market is a good one. Mia: The Search for Grandma’s Remedy has all the elements that can capture a child’s attention: a lovable heroine, an interesting plot and lots of visual effects. Players take on the role of over-stuffed mouse Mia as she attempts to collect enough valuable "sparkles" to buy medicine for her ailing grandmother. Sparkles are apparently the currency of the land Mia lives in, which is a house that is large enough for a tiny mouse and all her friends to remain unnoticed from the … Continue reading Mia is a heroine kids can love→
Air guitarists and musician wanna-be’s everywhere now have an outlet for their musical aspirations and frustrations. Harmonix has developed The Axe – Titans of Classic Rock just for this purpose. Music enthusiasts can jam out to some of their favorite classic rock tunes by using a joystick, mouse or computer keyboard as their makeshift axe. This program contains twelve songs from bands that include The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Frampton, Pink Floyd, The Kinks and The Who. For the player to accompany these tunes, a variety of instruments … Continue reading The Axe strikes a blow for armchair musicians→
Hasbro Interactive has driven car racing games to a new level of fun and complexity for the younger crowd. And this game offers a variety of options entertaining enough to keep the attention of youngsters’ speeding minds. Not only does the player get to race, he or she gets to modify vehicles, change the race tracks included in the game, and even design their own race tracks. This game offers the player three different racing scenarios: racing alone in Time Trial, 2-Player Racing against a friend, and the opportunity to race against the game’s own personal racers. The player is … Continue reading Tonka Raceway takes the checkered flag→
Once again the Oregon Trail is open for business, or at least for a virtual trip into pioneer times. The Learning Company is allowing gamers to blaze the trail once again through the game The Oregon Trail Pioneer Adventures 3rd Edition. This game in its various editions has been a popular program in schools for years, and for good reason. It remarkably involves the player in using their knowledge and also learning and applying new information in the areas of history, social studies, geography, geology and various other sciences, all wrapped up in a fun interface. The game opens with … Continue reading Oregon Trail 3rd Edition blazes new educational ground→
Humongous Entertainment has developed a game that will surely give young soccer enthusiasts a kick. Backyard Soccer takes players into realistic neighborhood soccer competitions with a variety of great features that any sports fanatic (young or old) will enjoy. This game is marketed for kids from ages five to ten years old. This game has a number of clever player-controlled, customized features. The game allows players to choose from a group of thirty neighborhood children to build their teams. The designers of this game made sure to give the neighborhood children a touch of realism by making the children each … Continue reading Backyard Soccer scores with young gamers→
Your Free Daily News Source Of The Video Game Industry
