From Atari to Wii - just keep it simple
My first ever video game console was the Atari 2600 back in 1981. I will never forget how the programmers had created something like 100 different playing modes for such a fundamentally simple game like Space Invaders. My favorite was the one where one person controls the left-to-right motion of the ship while the other does the shooting. My best friend, Nanci, and I rocked this mode and babbled to each other in a version of Martian that only we 9-year-olds could understand.
Over the years, the most simple games have continued to be my favorites: Breakout, tick-tack-toe, Tetris. The sole exception being Pole Position. But, even when working in the software industry and participating in networking parties, I stuck to the strict principle of ”If you have to install it, I won't put it on my computer”. So while I might have played and dreamed Tetris day and night for a week at a time, I have never set foot in the land of WoW, Doom, etc, which is probably a Good Thing.
In fact, gaming was of no interest to me until a few years back when the Wii came along. The idea of a game console that actually got you off your butt was appealing and I saw it as something we could do together as a family. For the first few months, however, our new purchase gathered dust in the corner. Then, after downgrading our cable package to save money, we actually started checking out the Sports Resort games. Over a few months, sword-fighting has become a big favorite with the kids while M and I were more into archery and sky-diving. Eventually the console started gathering dust again.
I knew there were plenty of more games out there, but they were all so expensive. How could one tell which ones had favorite-potential? A friend tipped me off about the possibility of renting games from the library. Lo and behold, our local library always has loads of Wii-compatible games. For 20 SEK (2 euros) you get to take one home and try it out for two weeks.
Our (Okay, Michelle's) first choice was The Smurfs' Dance Party. Not as annoying as it sounds, unless you sit in front of it for hours on end.
The film doesn't provide the role models I would like for my girls so they haven't seen it, but the Smurf game has been a real hit at our house. There are three different basic modes of play: a story mode, a pure dance mode and a mode where you shake the control rather than dance with it. There a are a number of different songs, each with its own choreography and level of difficulty. Of course, it took my 3-year-old longer than my 5-year-old to catch on to the different dance moves, but after the first two weeks, even June was walking around singing ”Smurfberry delicious” and rubbing her tummy. Truth be told, we could have done without the bell and whistles - the dance mode was more than enough. Simple is good.
Our next rental was Casper the Friendly Ghost's Scare School. This game turned out to be a big disappointment: the controls required a level of dexterity that my girl's have yet to reach and even the adults found it hard to make sense of how to maneuver the player. In order to play most games, you had to attain a certain number of points in the first ones, which only frustrated us all the more.
While the girls struggled with Casper, I did my Christmas shopping and tried to find the Smurf game in one of our local stores without any success. So this past Thursday, Casper was returned and we took the Smurf's home again from the library, along with a horseback-riding game that looked intriguing, but left me with doubts agout its child-friendliness. Indeed, Michelle hasn't figured it out on her own and I'm not sure it even utilizes the Wii's motion sensors, which is frankly a waste of a cool console. Maybe I'll give it a go tomorrow when the girls are in school.
No, a modern game console calls for modern games, so I would like to explore the range of dance games out there further. I wouldn't mind a Just Dance game for Christmas, or maybe even Michael Jackson - The Experience. But in the meantime, you will find me dancing with the Smurfs and having a blast.
And, believe it or not, Ubisoft did not sponsor this post.
Over the years, the most simple games have continued to be my favorites: Breakout, tick-tack-toe, Tetris. The sole exception being Pole Position. But, even when working in the software industry and participating in networking parties, I stuck to the strict principle of ”If you have to install it, I won't put it on my computer”. So while I might have played and dreamed Tetris day and night for a week at a time, I have never set foot in the land of WoW, Doom, etc, which is probably a Good Thing.
In fact, gaming was of no interest to me until a few years back when the Wii came along. The idea of a game console that actually got you off your butt was appealing and I saw it as something we could do together as a family. For the first few months, however, our new purchase gathered dust in the corner. Then, after downgrading our cable package to save money, we actually started checking out the Sports Resort games. Over a few months, sword-fighting has become a big favorite with the kids while M and I were more into archery and sky-diving. Eventually the console started gathering dust again.
I knew there were plenty of more games out there, but they were all so expensive. How could one tell which ones had favorite-potential? A friend tipped me off about the possibility of renting games from the library. Lo and behold, our local library always has loads of Wii-compatible games. For 20 SEK (2 euros) you get to take one home and try it out for two weeks.
Our (Okay, Michelle's) first choice was The Smurfs' Dance Party. Not as annoying as it sounds, unless you sit in front of it for hours on end.
The film doesn't provide the role models I would like for my girls so they haven't seen it, but the Smurf game has been a real hit at our house. There are three different basic modes of play: a story mode, a pure dance mode and a mode where you shake the control rather than dance with it. There a are a number of different songs, each with its own choreography and level of difficulty. Of course, it took my 3-year-old longer than my 5-year-old to catch on to the different dance moves, but after the first two weeks, even June was walking around singing ”Smurfberry delicious” and rubbing her tummy. Truth be told, we could have done without the bell and whistles - the dance mode was more than enough. Simple is good.
Our next rental was Casper the Friendly Ghost's Scare School. This game turned out to be a big disappointment: the controls required a level of dexterity that my girl's have yet to reach and even the adults found it hard to make sense of how to maneuver the player. In order to play most games, you had to attain a certain number of points in the first ones, which only frustrated us all the more.
While the girls struggled with Casper, I did my Christmas shopping and tried to find the Smurf game in one of our local stores without any success. So this past Thursday, Casper was returned and we took the Smurf's home again from the library, along with a horseback-riding game that looked intriguing, but left me with doubts agout its child-friendliness. Indeed, Michelle hasn't figured it out on her own and I'm not sure it even utilizes the Wii's motion sensors, which is frankly a waste of a cool console. Maybe I'll give it a go tomorrow when the girls are in school.
No, a modern game console calls for modern games, so I would like to explore the range of dance games out there further. I wouldn't mind a Just Dance game for Christmas, or maybe even Michael Jackson - The Experience. But in the meantime, you will find me dancing with the Smurfs and having a blast.
And, believe it or not, Ubisoft did not sponsor this post.