by Lori Cunningham

One of the top 10 gifts for Christmas for kids we recommended in December was the PlayStation’s Wonderbook Book of Spells, which is a great game to have if you have a Harry Potter in the family.  My ten-year-old daughter is a huge fan and has read all 7 of them and has watched the various movies countless times.

We first reported on the Wonderbook Book of Spells for the Move motion controllers with PlayStation when we saw it debuted during the big E3 gaming conference last year.  In fact, we were so impressed, we named it as one of the Best Upcoming Family Games from the show.

Using the PlayStation 3 Move controller and a nondescript “book” with no words that comes with the Book of Spells game, you can interact with the game on your TV making magical things happen with the spells you are learning. In front of you, the book and Move controller are boring.  But look at your TV and instead you are holding a Harry Potter type wand and see a book full of color and vitality.  You can write with fire, conjure up dragons, and making mystical things happen. It is truly a fascinating concept.  Sony worked closely with R.K. Rowling to develop the book and all of it’s spells.  Many of the these spells are the basis from which the Harry Potter movie series were based on.

To play the game, you need to ensure you have the Move camera and Move controller ready.  Place the book that comes with the game in front of you and ensure you can see yourself in the Move camera which displays on the TV.  After calibrating your Move controller, you’re ready to play.

The Wonderbook itself has no real colors on it, except for blue and light blue.  Yet, when you look at the screen, it appears to be an old rustic book with a lot of dust on it.  You are instructed to dust it off with your hands and you actually see the dust fly off of it while you’re doing from the TV.

There are five chapters in the book to learn, each of them with new spells to learn and mini-games to master your newfound skill.  Although you learn the latin-like words of each spell, the key is learning the movements of handling your wand to invoke various spells.

To make the fire spell, you draw a Z with your wand.  To invoke water from your wand you make a wave like motion.  Want to make birds appear?  Make your wand flash a bird-like “m” and birds hover around.  To levitate items, using the “Wingardium Leviosa” spell, you simply make a J with your wand.  After you master a skill, you receive a letter telling you that you’ve mastered the spell and you earn points as a result.  It’s important to memorize the spells and their movements as you will be tested on them at the end of each chapter.

This game is truly modeled after the likeness of a book, the book is read to you as you learn various spells.  There are also a few old-fashioned plays available throughout the book where you can sit back and watch how a spell was originally created.  There’s even some audience participation where you can make fire or make the audience laugh, etc.  As you listen or read along the book, various 3D objects appear to either look at or play with, according to which spell you’re learning.

At the end of each of the five chapters, you are given a test, which is a game where you combat mythical animals and objects.  You are required to remember the last 4-5 spells you just learned.  I thought they were going to show a list or remind me of the spell, but there were no visible clues of any kind.

Unfortunately, my memory isn’t the best, so I tried a number of spells before getting one right.  But the game tells you that you are invoking the wrong spell and encourages you to try again.  There is even a button you can press to get some help if you absolutely need it.

I noticed that when I started learning chapter 2 spells, I was asked to invoke 1 or 2 of the spells I learned from Chapter 1.  This is helpful to ensure you don’t forget the skills you learned before.

Pros:

• A fun, entertaining way to learn Harry Potter spells
• Engaging games to help you learn the spells
• Stories that give the background history of how some spells came into being
• It’s really amazing how the big and your Move wand become cool wizardry objects on the TV screen
• You do feel like your family room is transformed into Hogwarts Hall, the way the camera captures your room and adds Hogwarts decor to it
• The WonderBook book itself can be used for other Wonderbook titles down the road

Cons:

• Can be frustrating at times, when you’re not sure what to do
• Does not have an overlying story that pulls all the spells together
• Does not have any other resemblance to the Harry Potter movies other than the spells themselves
• It’s only a one-person game

A Mom’s Perspective

I enjoyed playing the Wonderbook Book of Spells.  While I’ll admit, the game looked a bit intimidating and at times I did struggle, I eventually figured out what is going on and how to complete the tasks.  I originally had my Harry Potter loving daughter play the game and could see her struggle.  But later on she invited her best Harry Potter loving friend and they tried the game together.  Although it’s a one-person game, you can take turns trying out the various spells, and truthfully, that is the best way to play this game…with a friend or family member.

I enjoyed levitating a jar filled with eyeballs in mid air, them dropping it to the floor, breaking it and watching the eye balls scatter.  I placed a rather large toad on my head, sprayed the Wonderbook with water from my wand, set ugly beetles on fire, and even tackled warding off snake-like vines away from me with a light at the end of my wand.  Now that’s something you don’t do everyday!

The Wonderbook Book of Spells game has been a fun immersive way to share in my daughter’s love for Harry Potter and in a sense, brought the fun alive as we learned new skills, my daughter explained certain aspects to me that stemmed from the movie, and we laughed a lot as we clumsily misfired some of our spells.

The adventures are magical and a fun diversion away from the typical video games.  I look forward to future Wonderbook games, as I can see their potential in many other topics and making learning fun for kids.

*  I was given a Wonder book of Spells Move Bundle as a member of the PlayStation Family.  All opinions are my own.

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by Lori Cunningham

Have you ever lied in bed, knowing you have to get up and get going, but dreading the cold walk to the shower and waiting for the hot water to come on?  Believe it or not, this no longer has to be a problem for you.  Moen has come out with their Moen’s ioDIGITAL Shower System which works on remote control, yes, you heard it right, remote control!  Now, from the comfort of your own bed, you can click on the remote of your preset remote to ensure it is just the temperature and water pressure you’d like before you even step foot into the shower.  How cool is that?

Does it work?  Yes!  How do I know?  Because I have one!  I found the Moen ioDIGITAL Shower system during one of the home builder shows I attended.  I’m always on the prowl for helpful home technologies and I have to say, a remote control shower has got to be on of the best uses of technologies I have found for the home!  :)  The Moen ioDIGITAL Shower can do a lot more than just remote control operation, you can actually pre-program presets for each shower user as well.

We cover the Moen ioDIGITAL Shower system in more detail over at TheWellConnectedHome.com, check out our article, Remote Control Shower? to learn more about it’s features and pricing.

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 by Lori Cunningham

As many of you know, the WellConnectedMom is an ambassador for the PlayStation Family.  We have enjoyed this relationship now for nearly 1 1/2 years.  Before the ambassadorship,  I hadn’t had much exposure to the PlayStation system.  I knew that it was the ultimate gaming console for teens and hardcore gamers, but that was about it.

During our first PlayStation Family trip to the PlayStation Headquarters in Foster City, CA, we learned more about how the PlayStation 3 was way ahead of their time in not only incorporating a built-in Blue-ray player in their console, but in providing realistic graphics, online gameplay, and eventually access to online media entertainment such as music and movies.  I learned Why A PlayStation 3 is a good investment and how Sony is committed to creating more family-based games.

On this trip, I also learned about the new handheld gaming console, the PS Vita.  The graphics are amazing and the amount of control you have in maneuvering your player is so precise.  Though the PS Vita tends to lean towards an older audience, my kids and I have played a number of games geared towards kids that are quite captivating.  Our favorite one being Sound Shapes, a game where you create beautiful music as your ball rolls through various obstacles.

Well, now in 2013, the Sony PlayStation is trailblazing a new path again for gaming consoles.  The rumors on the Internet are true, PlayStation is coming out with the PlayStation 4 or PS4 this Christmas season!  Although there is not a lot known yet about the PS4, I do know that it will incorporate:

• powerful graphics
• incredible speed
• intelligent personalization
• fun exciting ways to share your gameplay with friends through social integration
• unique second screen opportunities

The PS4 is promised to be an exciting new highly integrated way of playing video games with  rich immersive interaction.  You’ll be able to instantly share images and video of your favorite gaming moments on Facebook, even real-time streaming through Ustream, encouraging feedback or even the option for friends to play along with you.  For today’s social media interactive society, this is the console that brings it all together.

I am happy to report that they PS Vita is a strategic partner with the PS4 allowing you to continue your PS4 game on your PS Vita on the go using Wi-Fi.  It is Sony’s plan to ensure that all PS4 games are playable on the PS Vita over time.  Interestingly enough, Sony will extend the capabilities of a game via the “PlayStation App,” for the iPhone, iPad, and Android, that offers a “second screen,” to give a player viewing maps or even playing friends in a battle, right from their smartphone or tablet!

Unfortunately, that’s about all I can tell you at this point.  There were a number of  new video games Sony demo’d during their PS4 initial media announcement and in addition to giving some of the details of the PS4.  Be sure to check out the 2 hour PS4 Announcement if you or one of your kids are dying to know more about the future of gaming.

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