STOP JUMPING ON ME!

The new Super Mario Bros. Wii is a big old B. Yes indeedy, it is a hard game, at least for us. The wife, daughter and I have been playing it since we got for Christmas. Well, "playing" is a bit of a soft word. A choicer way to describe our interaction is more kin to inspirational hollering.

• "Go! Go! Go!" (sometimes you have to hurry)
  
• "Don't jump on me!" (it's so irritating when you are trying to beat the level)
  
• "Wait! Don't go so fast!" (you die if you get left behind)

When the level is over we are all high five-ing and saying how we knew we could do it. But in the middle of the jumping, you'd think we didn't like one another very much. A podcast would be a great idea if it weren't so embarrassing.

We finally beat the level we were on, usurping the monster in the castle. He, of course, flew away to occupy another castle and we must now make our way across the land to fight him again. It's hard but quite satisfying.

The biggest (and nicest) change made over the old school game is that four people can play simultaneously. This is both a boon and a curse as there are times the other players hold you back. Still, it's more of a family affair that way, even if you do yell your inspirations. Santa brought us the wii the first year they came out and I can say that our family plays it together often. It's simply a lot of fun.

And don't get me started on Wii Sports Resort. That game kicks butt. My three favs are frisby golf, archery and table tennis.

Keep in mind that you are required to have a Wii motion adapter for every remote in order to play Sports Resort. That also works on Super Mario Bros. and I am assuming that all the new games will require it.

HOUSE OF JACK THROWS UP METAL HORNS IN HONOR OF GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR

When I asked for Guitar Hero World Tour for Father’s Day, I had it in my mind that my daughter and I would play it over the summer. To date, the Wii has been a daddy-daughter activity. That is, until I got Guitar Hero for an early Dad's Day gift.

Skinny Kitty has found and embraced her inner gamer and it has been so much fun watching her and my daughter play. At times, we all play thanks to the fact that we have the ability to play lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals all at the same time. The drums, by the way, are hard as heck.

We have had a hoot playing those old 80s and 90s songs Skinny Kitty and I grew up and went to college with.

ANOTHER WII GAME CRUMBLES UNDER THE CRUSHING GAME MASTERY OF JACK & CUB

The cub and I (with help from our teenage cousin) put the screws to the Lego Star Wars for the Wii. We are impatient pansies and not true gamers; we buy the strategy guides just in case we get stuck. I make no apologies. It's too frustrating otherwise and we don't have hours and hours to spend on gaming anyway.

We've had this game for awhile, but it had to go down to make room for Lego Batman that we got for Christmas. So we punished Star Wars and put it out of it's misery. We are feeling quite victorious and ready to take on Lego Batman.

NINTENDO WII TOP SELLING CONSOLE

It is official. The Nintendo Wii is the bomb, if sales numbers have anything to say about it. So far the Wii has sold almost 11 million consoles, 666,000 of which were sold in June of this year. Dang, that is a lot of game machines in one month. The report also states that "six out of the top ten games sold in the US were for Nintendo consoles.

In other cool Wii news, manga may be coming to the Wii as well. The big four Japanese manga publishers (manga being Japanese-style comics) have joined forces to bring comics to the already rockin' game machine.

As for the Jack household, we are hoping Santa will bring us Lego Batman and the strategy guide for Christmas.

Thanks to the always cool, Newsarama, for reporting important news.

MORTAL KOMBAT VS. DC UNIVERSE

DC Comics teamed up with Midway, the gang who makes the Mortal Kombat video game. Now your favorite DC characters can fight the Mortal Kombat crew. Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe hits stores November 16. Dang and dang, the game is for XBox 360 and Playstation only; it is not available for the Wii. That's probably good, as there is blood-a-plenty in this game. My daughter doesn't need to see that.

Mortal Kombat Combatants

• Sub-Zero
• Scorpion
• Shang Tsung
• Sonya
• Kitana
• Jax
• Liu Kang
• Raiden
• Kang
• Baraka

DC Universe Line-up

• Batman
• Superman
• Wonder Woman
• The Flash
• Catwoman
• Shazam!
• Green Lantern
• The Joker
• Deathstroke
• Lex Luthor

Raiders of the Lost Arc Complete

My wife tells me that I need to do a podcast of Sophie and I playing Lego Indiana Jones for the wii. She insists it is hysterical. Apparently (and I don’t buy any of it), we bicker back-and-forth and cheer each other on like an old, married couple.

We were playing Lego Star Wars. A good game, to be sure, but we only rented it and we kept it a week past the due date. Damn that Blockbuster and its late fees. The wife and daughter got this old man Lego Indiana Jones for Father’s Day this year. Tonight, Sophie and I finally finished the first installment, Raiders of the Lost Arc. Dadgum brilliant.

Gamers say this is the best Lego game yet and I tend to agree. It is a lot of fun. I really enjoy the collaborative nature of the game and the problem solving that occurs. In all her wisdom, Skinny Kitty had sense enough to buy the strategy guide at the same time, and God bless her for that. There is nothing more frustrating that to get to a level and not know what to do, even after frequent attempts to smash, click, jump, or dig your way through. Sometimes, you just need a hint.

Maybe we will have it beat by Christmas and then we can get the upcoming Lego Batman, which coincides with the new flick coming this summer. I tell you what. I have never been a gamer, but I love my wii and I love playing it with my daughter.

By the way, Willie whines way too much, just like in the movies. But Marion, oh man she kicks butt.

The Force Was With Us On Memorial Day

I woke up at 6:30 am this morning to the smell of hot breath in my face, and the feel of cold fingers on my chest.

“Want to play Star Wars, Dad?”
“You betcha.”

I got right up and put that bad boy in the Wii. Sunday night I had the bright idea of rushing to Blockbuster and renting a Wii game and a movie for Memorial Day. I like PJ days, those rare times when we pretty much stay in our skivvies and hang out at home. Except for the lunch date with grandma and my dad, we did just that. Sophie and I rented:

• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
• The Water Horse (DVD)
  

We gamed in the morning before Mom got up, took a break for lunch, cleaned the house up good (hands and knees scrubbing good) and then gamed until 7 pm. When it was just the two of us, we played the Lego Star Wars game. It was good, great in fact. We had a blast fighting the evil Empire. Had I been thinking, I would have looked up the cheat codes early on so she could fight as Padme. We have them now. The Force was strong, our skills honed, and we had fun.



Mom joined us in the evening and we shifted gears to the Mario & Sonic game, where we competed in swimming, skeet, ping pong, track & field and other Olympic games. This game was for up to 4 players and those types of games are great for families. We finally quit when we noticed the daughter getting pretty crabby. She stamped that foot one too many times when she did not do as well as she expected. Our motto: Always quit while you’re having fun. It makes life run more smoothly. Never got to The Water Horse. I wasn't that thrilled with it anyway.

For Those About to Game, Wii Salute You!

We had my wife’s family Christmas this weekend and it was the best Christmas we’ve had in years. The kids were so excited they could not sleep and were up for good at 4:30 a.m. When the kids get up, everyone gets up and Christmas begins. So we were unwrapping presents at the crack of God on Saturday morning.

Ms. Claus brought a special together gift for my daughter and I – the gift to give this season and wii happened to be lucky enough to get a Nintendo Wii with three games. Forget about the extra controllers, those are very hard to come by. I suppose everyone keeps throwing theirs through the TV.

Rumor has it that Ms. Claus was home sick one weekend. As soon as the daughter and I left the house to go out and about, Ms. Claus to Best Buy, where one of Jack’s elvish operatives gave Ms. Claus a tip that a shipment was coming in. The line was already long by the time she got there. More than 100 tickets were given out and Ms. Claus just got one with only five left. So she endured the line for an hour and a half to get us the gift of the season and she spent money we didn’t really have. Merry Christmas to us.

Ms. Claus, realizing that this was my only week off by myself, saw fit to give this gift to us at the early Christmas party – kind thing that she is.

So we’ve been playing Wii Sports, Billy and Mandy, The Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess and Red Steel. Well, I’ve been playing Zelda and Red Steel. Wii Sports is amazingly fun and the innovative wiimote and chuck are amazingly response and intuitive. It is an experience that must be felt and not just demonstrated.

I see why this is such a hot gaming system. It is better than I thought it would be and I am really enjoying it, thanks to that wonderful Ms. Claus.

Woo-Wii, This is Some Kind of Fun

I am not much of a gamer. My first game system was an Atari back in the day, but I haven’t had once since. When I saw the Wii commercials on TV, I really thought that is what I wanted, and as you know Ms. Claus gave one to the family for Christmas. I am having a great time playing with my family. We have had more fun jumping and swing and running around with the included game, Wii Sports.

Even my anti-technology spouse has enjoyed Wii Sports. She is especially good at tennis. My daughter rocks at bowling. I was hoping my bowling skills would improve over my live performances, but no such luck. I manage to throw gutter balls in both real life and in game world. I do pretty well at the boxing game, however.

Some of these games are hard. That is, they are hard for the novice gamer. For the 12-year-old kid, or the 30-year-old technogeek, they may not prove very challenging. I find myself getting stumped as to what to do next. It’s usually a hidden door or something like that, but I’m not savvy enough to get that. So it’s off to the cheat sites to find out what to do. My enjoyment comes not from the exploration or the discovery, but rather I just like to run around and blow crap up and shoot at things. That is a pleasant enough distraction from real life for me and a nice stress-relief. I get a bit frustrated when I can’t figure things out. So much for that, I’ll give you some screen shots of a couple of the games I have:

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the game to buy this season. It is highly acclaimed and makes complete use of the intuitive wii controller. I had to buy a guide to go with it and I am also looking at cheats online. I am stuck on this one too. I have worked my way through things, but I am not sure what to do next. I need to get the slingshot and destroy the monkey, but I'm not sure how to do that. Expert gamers are laughing at my stupidity. So far, I have really enjoyed this game.

Red Steel is a first person shooter with a Japanese setting. Being a martial artist and one who studies Iaido (the art of the samurai sword) this is my thing. Some critics have not liked this as much as they thought. They felt it was just another average first person shooter. Seeing how I am not a big gamer, I don't have much to compare it to. I am really enjoying it. I love how I can point the wiimote and the crosshairs follow it. When I move the wiimote toward the TV, I can zoom in on what I'm shooting. Very cool. I haven't yet earned the samurai sword. I am still stuck on the first mission. I can't figure out what to do next. I have to go to the bosses secret office, but I can't figure out where that is.

One of the drawbacks to Nintendo's Wii is the ability to throw the wiimote right through the television. It's been done and Nintendo has issued a recall of the iimote straps. The units distributed in December already have the new cord. As you can see below, the strap on the right is the older strap and it has been known to snap. The cord on the right is the improved strap. Mine was purchased before Thanksgiving so it has the older strap. So far, we have not gotten so over-excited as to let go of the thing to begin with. So our safety cord has not been tested. I'll request a replacement just to be sure.

(NOTE TO MY FRIENDS: I would love to have a game day over at the house sometime if any of you are interested. I'm hoping to be able to find a couple more controllers between now and next week. Let me know if you are interested.)