Hardware Review: Leapster 2
A long time ago, I was asked to review the Leapster handheld video game system from Leapfrog. It had recently been released to target the 4-8 year old bracket and I was supposed to check out some of the educational-oriented games that worked with the system. I was pleasantly surprised to find them both entertaining (well, for the right age group) and fairly educational. Since that time, I continue to be impressed at how Leapfrog manages to produce quality products that are both fun to play and contain educational components. Fast forward to the present, and Leapfrog now has a Leapster 2 system available. How does it stack up? Compatible with all previous Leapster games, it has a few hardware and software improvements that make getting the newer model a smart move for anyone looking to invest in one.
Since 2003, I’ve been taking a look at some of the best boardgames have to offer and serving up my recommendations to folks at this site. While video games have made great strides providing more social games, boardgames have always been an excellent way for friends or family to get together and enjoy a common experience. Boardgames also have an advantage over video games because they don’t go out of style due to changes in technology. Games from that 
I was late to the Wii Fit party. I had heard about the peripheral, but my enjoyment of casual games didn’t quite draw me in. Fast forward six months after the game released, and I had read enough raving reviews (here and elsewhere) about the fun and exercise that can be had with the Wii Fit. Proof of its popularity, even six months after its release it was still hard to find a copy of the game. After a month of shopping around I bought a copy and haven’t looked back. Nintendo knows when they have a good title on their hands, and has recently released an update to the original Wii Fit that expands gamer options.
The first of its kind, Guitar Hero has spawned an entire genre of rhythm video games played with fake instruments. (OK, technically there were games using Maracas and/or Bongos first, but Guitar Hero was the first to go mainstream – primarily due to the rock-focused music selection.) The newest Guitar Hero, #5, has been out for a few months. While each title in the series adds a little bit more to the options available, this new edition has the most family-friendly options and gameplay modes of the lot – especially on the Wii version.
Before there was Guitar Hero or Rock Band, there was a music party game by the name of SingStar. Developed in England, it was a big hit and was soon brought across the pond to the US. It is Karaoke gone video game, the series has continued through many titles on the PS2 and on into the PS3. In solo or multiplayer modes, the game challenges you to sing along with original artists as they sing their hits. Players are judged based on pitch and timing of their notes using special microphones. It is a fun party activity, helping people shed a little inhibitions. The SingStar series has many thematic titles including Pop, 80’s, Country, and Rock. The latest release is a welcome addition based around a single rock band, Queen. While the lead singer’s high voice may be challenging to some, the included songs are easily recognized hits such as We Will Rock You, and Another One Bites the Dust.
As with other Personal Trainer titles, Walking is less of a game and more of a toy or tool. I was given a copy of Personal Trainer: Walking a few months ago and have put it through its paces on a regular basis since then. This Nintendo DS title, which comes with two electronic pedometers, is an enjoyable diversion that might just help raise your awareness of your activity levels. I found it didn’t spur me on to significant lifestyle changes but it was able to demonstrate to me whenever I started to fall into a bit more of a sedentary lifestyle.
I enjoy thinking games so when I was offered a chance to check out the recent brainteaser/puzzle title, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, I jumped at the chance. The second title in the Professor Layton series, this game takes players on a mystery adventure interspersed with many, many breainteasers, puzzles, and other sorts of deductive reasoning challenges. While the story element is linear and seems to play itself, the heart of the game are the many puzzles. There are enough here (over 150) to please even diehard puzzle fans and make for a pretty good game that can be powered through or worked through a bit at a time.
In the past few years, the folks who make the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game have made a big effort to be more family friendly, trying to expose kids who have a natural love of fantasy and imagination to the rich tapestry of story that makes up the various parts of the Dungeon and Dragons mythos. Not immune to the lure of the very hot realm of preteen fiction, they have put together their own publishing line entitled Mirrorstone books. Two of the main series are the Practical Guide Series and the Dragon Codex Series. The Practical Guides are almost coffee table books for kids with rich, colorful illustrations and entertaining text on the topic of dragons, fairies, monsters and the like. The Dragon Codex series takes a more traditional route and is a series of young adult novels all tied to a particular color of dragon (in the D&D universe basic colored dragons like red or blue tend to be bad while metallic colored dragons like copper or gold tend to be good). All the codex books are fairly good reads, age-appropriate with a couple minor exceptions. They take advantage of the rich history of the D&D Dragonlance universe to provide stories about young teens having adventures in a world with a rich, diverse history. Each book is independent of the others, although if they are read in series there are occasional nods to occurrences to things that happened in previous books. Here are my thoughts on the books in the series so far.
Nearly every child has whiled away some time playing with those ubiquitous building blocks, Legos. Whether through luck or planning, Lego has managed to also make a name for itself in the video game market, with dual licensed games such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman that are fun to play by kids and parents alike. Striking off on their own, Lego has entered the real-time strategy market with the Nintendo DS title, Lego Battles. It has much of the expected Lego charm and is a solid title, but due to its appeal to the younger set, it will not appeal to the typical hardcore real-time strategy gamer.
