Christmas calories are simply fuel for New Year’s Resolutions.

Posted by dkidwell on December 25th, 2006 — Posted in parenting, Christmas

Red Velvet cake, miniature chocolate pies, and egg nog with tuaca - yum!

Have a Very Merry Wii Christmas!

Mike Musgrove - In the Wii-PS3 Playoff, Nintendo Upsets Sony on the Fun Factor - washingtonpost.com

Posted by dkidwell on November 23rd, 2006 — Posted in parenting, reviews, Christmas, Wii

Mike Musgrove - In the Wii-PS3 Playoff, Nintendo Upsets Sony on the Fun Factor - washingtonpost.com

This article in the Washington Post is a concise look at some folks experiencing the Wii and PS3 side by side. If you are trying to decide, it’s a good read.

“While the people in my group preferred looking at the PS3’s games, they preferred playing the Wii.”

If you ever complained about your kids being vegetables in front of the TV…

Posted by dkidwell on November 21st, 2006 — Posted in parenting, daughters, sons, console games, Wii, Wii Sports

The Wii may be your solution. We have not had a single minute of Cartoon Network or the Disney Channel since we got the Wii up and running on Sunday. Not one minute. No Hanna Montana, no Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. We had to negotiate for Monday Night Football.

The Wii is a guarantee that couch potatoes never take root in your living room!

Wii Sports - Tennis

Posted by dkidwell on November 20th, 2006 — Posted in parenting, console games, Wii

The Wii Sports tennis game is really well done, a few tips…

• Each of the kids takes a different section of the living room with plenty of room, and volley the ball back and forth. You won’t want to stand too close - even though you aren’t hitting the ball at the same time, the opportunities for collisions are pretty high. Space out and let your kids really move around.
• It seems to be harder to cross the court, and we haven’t mastered that.
• The Wii remote makes a very nice sound as the rack swings and hits the ball. Watching a game is much like watching Wimbledon games in the late 1970s and early 1980s. So far, I don’t seem to have a John McEnroe in the family. Thank goodness.

Wii remote review

Posted by dkidwell on November 19th, 2006 — Posted in parenting, interface design, reviews, Christmas, Wii

The whole family (even Grandma) gives initial thoughts from the family about the Wii remote:

Harry (age 13)-

• “It’s really light and like a small DVD remote - it’s great!”
• “It’s small, and fits in your hand.”
• “It’s really simple to use the buttons.”

Epiphany (age 10) -

• “At first it’s a little hard to control, but in less than 5 minutes you can really get good with it.”
• “This is probably the coolest Nintendo thing ever.”
• “Straps are required. If you don’t wear the wrist strap, it could fly off and hit the TV or the wall”
• “It’s cool how it makes noises when you do stuff.”
• “I really like having the B button on the botton, instead of on the top.”

George (age 7) -

• “It’s really cool. It’s really easy. You barely notice that it’s wrapped around your wrist. You can move it really fast”

Mom (age 36) -

• The sleeves will be a good idea - no fighting over who’s remote is who and if one is lost we’ll know who lost it.
• Definitely - wear your wrist strap.
• Make sure you have room to move around in the living room. It’s hard not to really move and get into the sports games.

Dad (age 36) -

• It’s really good in the right or left hand.
• It’s good for any size of hand.
• I was expecting more weight out of it, but it’s really light. The batteries add weight on the bottom and I myself would like a little more balance in the weight.
• In the Bowling game, you can get alot of precision with the spin and speed of the ball of the remote.

Grandma (age 66) -

• With one hand, it was fairly easy to use. (Grandma had a stroke a while back and can only use her left hand.)
• “I really liked how easy it was to use and type, especially when you personalize your Mii.”

These impressions do not include the nunchuck, since we have been Bowling and playing Tennis all day. [And for those that are keeping track, the kitten is sleeping in the other room and is quite content.]