Posted by dkidwell on July 20th, 2005 — Posted in ages 12 +, ages 4-8, ages 9-11, console games, reviews
Animal Crossing the THE reason we got a Nintendo Gamecube.
Animal Crossing is the single best gift that Dubious Quality blogger Bill Harris gave us (and we are looking forward to the release of Eli 4.0!)
Animal Crossing is the game that has attracted and held the interest of my daughter – stay tuned for a series of articles regarding that!
Animal Crossing is:
$20 at Amazon nowdays
Only available on the Gamecube
Rated E by the ESRB
An intelligent, and terribly cute in a Hello Kitty kind of way, persistant world game. You meet the folks in town, plant trees that bear fruit, find fossils you can send off to the museum, fish, make lovely parasols and dresses, and assemble fantastic collections for your home. It’s full of hidden surprises and clever details. It’s got a sense of time, so if you log in at nite, it’s dark, if you log in the fall, the leaves have changed color. Just brilliantly thought out and well worth it.
Stay tuned for future blogs regarding lessons learned in Animal Crossing, but for the moment, if you can find it on sale at Fry’s or Best Buy, get it!
Posted by dkidwell on July 19th, 2005 — Posted in ages 9-11, parenting, pc games, World of Warcraft
Raids in World of Warcraft can easily take 3-4 hours and with any luck, the group won’t fall apart, the servers will stay up, and your companions will be moderately competent. You’ll progressively move thru the various mobs and you’ll find that rare piece of equipment that you needed to flush out your armor set.
But if your a kid, or mom, for that matter, and the group just can’t seem to get organized until 8:30, you’re in trouble.
Folks will travel for the next 20 minutes to gather, someone will have to stop for game administrivia (I ‘have’ to check my auctions!) and by the time you are ready to launch, it’s 9:00pm.
Clouds gather on the horizon, and those first warning signs appear:
– Loud, exagerated yawns from the eager young stealther who dares not admit exhaustion
– Peevish commentary regarding that one player who’s addiction to the in game auction holds up the show an extra 20 minutes
– Requests for ‘stamina potions’ (I need a COKE) will start pouring in, or worse yet…the dreaded ‘coke, coke coke coke’ mantra that evades the potential parental NO but aims to force the issue
By 10:30 your mount will turn into a pumpkin, and all that coordination and mad dash of tells is for naught…
It’s summer – but don’t be fooled. It’s still not wise to start a raid at 9:00pm.
