Wii Reviews

Shop For The Munchables

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:25:00 +0000

I bought this game for my 4 year old and he loves it! It is easy for him to play on his own and he never gets bored with it. It's fun for adults too! I wish the two player was set up a little differently, but that is my only complaint. Great game for kids of any age!Get more detail about The Munchables.

Universal Metal Pedal

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:24:00 +0000

The original bass pedal that came with my Rock Band 2 set lasted for over a year until the plastic base cracked. So I purchased this pedal at Best Buy thinking it looked like a sturdy replacement.

Wrong. Dead wrong. After playing 4-5 times the plastic base cracked and split apart, making the thing useless.

I'll be buying the official pedal replacement this time around. Thanks for nothing, Nyko.Get more detail about Universal Metal Pedal.

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars Review

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

I read one review that said that if you think you might like it you probably will and I did! Nice graphics, easy controller use, good tutorials that are not too long and boring. Very little dialog (compared to some games). Level goals are easy to understand and you learn new tricks (powers) as you progress through the levels You also build new weapons with items you find along your way. Great for adults, and kids. Young children would have trouble with this game but kids around 10 would be able to navigate this game just fine. If nothing else borrow it from someone and give it a shot. It's a evening well spent.Get more detail about Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars.

Ben 10 Alien Force Top Quality

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:25:00 +0000

My son, his babysitter, and my husband have been glued to it. It is a bit hard for my 6 year old, but he is getting it and doing quite well. Graphics are a bit lacking, but overall....cool game.Get more detail about Ben 10 Alien Force.

Brunswick Pro Bowling Immediately

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:24:00 +0000

me and my children love this game it is the bet game for all ages and i helps with hand eye coordination.i think that this game is so realistic i love itGet more detail about Brunswick Pro Bowling.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Best Quality

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:24:00 +0000

The gameplay elements in the game are solid, quite possibly the best I've experienced in this series (X-Men Legends 1+2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1+2). No more wonky motion controls, or accidentally spinning the camera by laying your nunchuck down. Characters can be revived mid-action should they fall, and Ultimates have been replaced with the fun (and not skill point/button hogging) fusion powers. There is a great selection of characters to choose from, both old favorites and new flavors (including some villains). Also, the Civil War Storyline gives the game an edge your typical superhero romp lacks, and that plus the unlockable characters and hard mode gives good replay value.

But if I'm to be fair, it's not all good. The Wii pretty much got the same version as the PS2, and it shows. Now I usually don't care about graphics, but some of the character models are just ugly as hell. More importantly, it's really just a bare bones presentation. Nothing really to collect or find, no alternate costumes, no in depth dialogues with NPCs, no character specific exchanges, and a couple of random glitches. Nothing to crash the game mind you, just things like sound cutting out, or Goblin's glider sticking to his foot as he walks. If you're looking to get immersed in the Marvel universe and these characters, you may end up disappointed. But if you're just looking for a fun beat-em-up with some friends, there's not many games I can recommend higher. Get a group of friends who want to kill things and have fun; I'm sure you will. It's co-op fun at it's best, in spite of its flaws.Get more detail about Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

Wii Action Replay Powersaves Get it now!

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

This thing works, the other people do not understand how to use it. But I do, which makes this one of the best things i have ever boughten. Thank you Datel!!!Get more detail about Wii Action Replay Powersaves.

Bass Pro Shops: The Strike Bundle with Fishing Rod Buy Now

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:24:00 +0000

I completely understand some of the negative reviews I've read, but despite the drawbacks this can actually be a very enjoyable game. I gave it as a gift to a relative and the whole family spent a fun afternoon playing it. The casting is apparently an acquired skill, since some of us were very adept at it and others couldn't quite figure it out. Even the two 7-yr-olds that played it loved it. While this is better than an arcade-style fishing game, if you're looking to recreate the real fishing experience you might be disappointed. Nonetheless, I think there is enough realism in the tackle and bait to add some small element of skill to the game, and the mystery of seeing what size and species of fish you're going to hook makes for fun competition.Get more detail about Bass Pro Shops: The Strike Bundle with Fishing Rod.

Wii Energizer 2x Charge Station Order Now

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:24:00 +0000

I decided to get this battery charging station for my Wii Remotes so I won't have to buy and waste alkaline batteries. With the Energy Star marking, it doesn't use that much electricity, so it is a plus. It is easy to use as well. Simply place the battery packs in each remote and place them at the charging station by the directions in the manual. Simple as that. But why only three stars, you might ask? After a while, one of the batteries stopped charging and I couldn't get it to power up again. The other battery pack still works like a charm. If this happens to you, simply replace the defective pack with one that works properly. Still easy to use so it receives three stars, no more, no less.Get more detail about Wii Energizer 2x Charge Station.

SimCity Creator Decide Now

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:24:00 +0000

This is a really good game. I've been a fan of the early versions of SimCity for a long time. I first played it for SNES. I never graduated beyond that game because I found SimCity 2000 and subsequent versions too hard. Maybe I suck at running a city. I just could never get people into town, buildings would stand up and then go to ruins, etc. I couldn't generate revenue and so I couldn't build and lost interest.

Sim City Creator has a game mode where there is no ral objective other than to build the city at your leasure. No missions, no objectives, other than your own. It's the free mode, and there is an option for you to start with $1 million...more than you'll ever need to get a good city started. If you want the easier gameplay of the original SimCity, but with much better graphics and neat things, this game is for you. I play this game in Free mode as I've never been one for doing missions. I want to build what I want at my pace. So I'm doing this write-up from that point of view. Here is my list of Pro's anc Con's.

Pro's:

Graphics - The graphics are nice. Not blow you away great, but nice. 3-d buildings and cars that look pretty real, for a Wii console. Look up a screen shot of SimCity SNES or SimCity 2000 and compare. You'll see why I like them. This is what I'm comparing it too.

Sounds - When you zoom in, you hear the city sounds. Cars, industries buzzing. It's neat.

Building variances- I like this alot. Again, coming from versions where each zone had 4 types of buildings (Low, medium, upper, high) and all of each type looked the same (I.E. all the high's looked the same) SimCity Creator lets you target those types in three categories: low, medium and high density. The buildings within each category can come out very different, so it gives a realitistc natural feel to the city, and not a cookie cutter one. You can build suburbs and single family homes by placing an area of low density residential a distance from major highways and commercial centers. If you place it closer, they'll turn into duplexes and smaller apartments. It's neat.

Menus - The menues are good. Set-up in an easy to use way. Click around them for a bit and before you know it you'll know them.

Creativity- Lot's of creativity allowed. In the past you had just roads. Then Roads or high ways. Now you have small neighborhood type streets, bigger roads, freeways, etc. You can various recreational places, rather than have them awarded to you like in SimCity SNES. You have parks, gardens, baseball fields, etc. The increase landvalueand make the area nicer, keep people happy which in turn attracts new sims. Build a certain ammount of them and you'll unlock bigger parks and sports fields.

Cons:

Controls - I'm not gonna kill the controls as much as others here have. They aren't THAT bad. But then again, I'm 26 and have been playing video games and first person shooters alot. So what that means is I can aim a cross-hair pretty steady when trying to shoot. The cursor for this game on the Wii is just like that. It's like a wireless mouse. How steady you hold the Wii controller will make the difference of how steady the screen is for you. I can control it rather well because I'm steady and I can aim. It doesn't give me much problems. YOU CAN FREEZE THE FRAME AS WELL. For those saying you can't, or hate it when you want to put the control down and the screen veers off because you're moving the sensor. If you press up on the directional pad until the blue cursor dissapears, it locks the screen. So you can put the control down and relax your wrists/arms. You can't however lock the screen and build. It would have been nice to have that option. So overall, out of 5, I give the controls a 3.

Game Time - When you are going through menus and building things, time freezes. I hate, hate, hate this. This is my one big beef with the game. When you're done building or have built a lot of things, because of the constant going into menus and and what not, you'll be lucky if 2-3 years pass. I finished building everything and had my entire map built up in under 10 years. New York didn't get to what it is in ten years. Time should keep on moving. Also, newer technologies for power plants are only available for later years. So you have to play a long time with coal or Oil power plants until time or education levels allow you to upgrade. If time had gone on while building, you can upgrade sooner. In addition to game time stopping...

Year you start - SimCity SNES started you off in 1900 with all kinds of power plants. Not realistic, but the nuke power plants give no pollution and power more zones. Made the game easier. SimCity 2000 assigned the various technological advances in power plants to their respective decade, but they let you pick the decade you started in. If you wanted nuclear or solar power plants at your disposal, you can start you city in the year 2000 or 2050. This game starts you in 1900 with no options. Piggy Back on what I wrote above, you have to deal with high pollution and old oil/coal power plants for a while. It's more real, yeah. But I'd like the option to start in later years if I want to build the better plants.

Overall: Most of the things about this game I like. My complaints listed in general are minor, with one major beef with the whole time keeping thing. The Controls aren't so difficult to handle that they took away from the fun of the game. Call me boring but I get a big kick out of watching 3d renderings of a city build up that I desgined and I was able to do it easy enough so the controls weren't all that bad. I highly reccommend the turorial that is in the game. Take 10 minutes practicing the controls and you'll pick them right up.

This is fun game, if you're not looking for hugely complicated city management issues and just would like to see a city you build spring up. If you do want a little more challange, you can do the mission mode of the game where you build a city with benchmarks, I.E. you have to do certain things to advance in the missions and city growth (Like make business deals with neighboring cities, etc.)

I wouldn't reccommend this for younger kids. Unless they are nerds, they aren't going to have the patience or know how to build a city and won't appreciate what they've done when they do. It's very much a game that is fun in the feat, not by graphics or role playing, etc. Most kids that would like this kind of game I'd say are over 10, 11 years old.

I started the game last night, in free mode, and in the Cheat money category that starts you off with $1 million. When I was done building everything, I ran my account down to about $50k. I pressed play on the game clock and let the game run. People came, My city grew, revenue started coming in. One day later, I have 470,000 Sims, my residentail taxes down to 1%, Commercial and Industrial at 2%, and my account is over $2 million. This is a guy that never played beyond SimCity SNES because SimCity 2000 and beyond were too hard for me. What's my point? This game is a cinch to play, and thus enjoy. Now that it's built, I manage disasters, re-arrange zones when new things become available like museums, etc. Good times.Get more detail about SimCity Creator.

Trauma Center: Second Opinion Right now

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:24:00 +0000

Bought this product for my adult daughter. She has played it a lot and really has enjoyed it. Good Product.Get more detail about Trauma Center: Second Opinion.

Lowest Price AC Power Adaptor for Nintendo Wii Console

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

I bought this power adaptor as a replacement after a storm fried the one that came with the Wii. I researched several different brands online and decided to take a chance on this one. I figured at less than $12.00 it was worth the gamble. It paid off. The power adaptor works great, I can tell no difference between it and the original.Get more detail about AC Power Adaptor for Nintendo Wii Console.

Low Price Project Runway

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:25:00 +0000

My niece and I love Project Runway (the show) but after my niece tried out the game, she told me it was extremly BORING! It is a rip-off of the much better Wii game Imagine Fashion Party which allows you to be much more creative unlike the Project Runway game. This game could be 100 times better than it really is. We were both very disappointed with this game. DO NOT waste your money on this game, there are so many other things (i.e., graphics, outfits, challenges) that could have been done to make this game better.Get more detail about Project Runway.

Save Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:25:00 +0000

This was definitely worth the money. Even though it was a used copy it work perfectly. We had played this previously at a friends house, but now that we have our own copy we just can't get enough.Get more detail about Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Discount Crash: Mind Over Mutant

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:24:00 +0000

This is a pretty fun game. It has all the oldies but goodies, but better graphics.Get more detail about Crash: Mind Over Mutant.

Cheapest Shimano Xtreme Fishing

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:24:00 +0000

I bought this game based on the reviews of the Bowhunting and Spearfishing and am glad to have it..I had a lot of trouble hitting anything at first but then I started using my Wii Zapper for the Bow and Spear..Lots easier to hit the target..Now my only complaint it that some stages take too long to complete..You drive the boat or swim around for a long time trying to find the last few assigned fish..During the spearfishing the Sharks and Gators are easy enough to deal with but the Pirhana are impossible to escape..You can never shoot them all and finally ending up going backwards in points..I have not even tried the fishing..This is a fun game and well worth the low price..Get more detail about Shimano Xtreme Fishing.

Cheap Wii Sniper Rifle Gun

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

First of all this will NOT work with Resident Evil 4 as the trigger in the RE 4 is the A button and not the B button. The button layout can not be changed in Resident Evil 4.

Far worse is the size of the handle of the gun. It way too thick. I do not have huge hands, but not small ones either and I can not see being able to reasonably have my thumb on the nunchuck's analog stick and a finger on the trigger. It is a very poor design. Also, in games like Call of Duty, where you have to access the A,-,+, and the D pads to have the Wii remote so far forward in the gun makes it impossible to access the buttons with any resonable speed and still have your fingers on the C, and Z buttons from the nunchuck.

I would definately go with the zapper. There is a nice one that has a front and back handle. It is similar in design to this gun but is smaller and easier to handle. It does not have all the attachments that this does but why do you need a fake scope that you do not use or a bi-pod that is also just for show.

Overall this things is horrible.
Get more detail about Wii Sniper Rifle Gun.

Buying My Fitness Coach 2: Exercise and Nutrition

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:24:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of WII fitness games. I have several -- Wii Fit Plus, Active (I and II), Gold's Gym, to name the best. I was hesitant about buying this one because of the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised to find My Fitness Coach 2: Exercise and Nutrition a great program.

For one, it's completely different than My Fitness Coach (which I still love) and should be looked on as a complement, not a replacement, for it. MFC 2 has a completely different way of doing things. You still create a profile (though so far, after 2 weeks of doing it, not the physical challenge of MFC 1.). It creates an exercise program for you based on your goals, which you can change at any time. You can pick your workout location (which seem to be more limited than MFC 1, based on my early experience with it) and trainers (four, instead of just Myra of MFC 1).

Each day's workout (which you find under the Fitness tab), eases you in at the beginning. If that's not enough, there are several shorter workouts you can do (Quick Workout, Before Breakfast, Before Lunch, After Dinner) in addition. Plus the Next Day's Workout is available in another tab if you still want to work out. There are also a series of challenges you can do which are at, for me, a higher level, but something to work into.

Even though the workout is short (15 to 20 minutes early on), one thing I did notice that I like over MFC 1 -- the exercises seem to be more challenging. There were actually a couple I'll need to work a while to get through. I didn't have that problem with MFC 1.

There is also nutritional information and recipes, based on your input of foods you like. The recipes look great, though I wish there was a way to print the recipes and shopping lists from the WII.

All in all, I'm very very pleased with this game. As I said, it's not MFC 1. Don't buy it expecting that. One factor in WII fitness games is the response of the game to the remote. In my experience, the sensitivity is not perfect. That said, I still really love this game and recommend it. It's a well rounded system that will work you out. You may find you need to do more than one exercise routine a day, but that's no big deal really. It's a well rounded program with exercises and nutrition info to help you improve your life. It's helping me in the short time I've had it.

Get more detail about My Fitness Coach 2: Exercise and Nutrition.

Purchase Elebits

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:24:00 +0000

After reading the premise of the game and seeing the excited reviews, we decided to pick up what we thought would be a sleeper hit. The price was fantastic, but should have tipped me off. I have since discovered that the value of used Wii games is often an indicator of their quality (simple economics).

Based on what I'd read, my hopes were set on a quirky, story-driven, shooting-gallery-style exploration game. Strangely enough, that's exactly what it is, but to my dismay, we discovered this was a very bad thing.

Elebits suffers from two major flaws. First, the game is intentionally tedious. Using your laser beam, you manipulate items around the more-or-less normal household to find tiny monsters called Elebits, which power the electricity in the house. The more Elebits you discover, the more power you have, which allows you to...discover more elebits. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseum. The real killer for me is that every level has HUNDRED of elebits to discover, and each level is governed by a countdown timer that limits the number you can actually find. (This doesn't really prevent you from progressing to the next level, since the number of elebits needed to do that is relatively small, but why not let gamers take their time? What's the rush??). But the tedium of racing the clock, searching under every nook and cranny of a mundane room wore on me swiftly. Add to that the absolute chaos created by the laser tossing items every whichaway, and I had to force myself to want to play a second time.

This is where the second major flaw came in. I finally picked up the game and pushed through level one. One of the enjoyable pressures I experience in completing a game is the desire to see what the next level will look like. I've come to expect a certain level of creativity and beauty in exploring the alternative worlds video games have to offer. But the alternative world THIS game has to offer is merely the boring house of a bratty kid. The house has regular house stuff in it: toasters, vacuum cleaners, books, closets...all of them movable and all of them teaming with elebits, which honestly did precious little to make these mundane items more interesting. I mean really. I see my toaster every day. So after beating the first level (which is the boy's bedroom), I progressed to level two...the hallway! Which has, as an added bonus, a bathroom! At some point during this level (I think it was while I was knocking elebits out of the bathroom toilet), I woke up and thought, You know what? Who cares? And put the game up for sale the next day. Fortunately, someone bought it. (Sorry, dude, wherever you are!)

Pros:
Inexpensive...cheapest Wii game I've bought so far (but there's a reason for that!).
Kid friendly. My children understood the controls and the premise easily enough. (But they were bored with it too.)

Cons:
Repetitive and tedious from the outset.
Levels lack requisite variety required to provide satisfying progress.
Despite a clever premise, game fails imaginatively. You explore...a house.
Overwhelming number of objectives ruled by a stress-inducing countdown timer.
Storyline is flat and arbitrary.Get more detail about Elebits.

Order The Sims 2: Castaway

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:24:00 +0000

The Sims are always fun and this was a cute twist to their lives, but I was disapointed that you can't have more than one game saved and that they can't have babies.Get more detail about The Sims 2: Castaway.

Where To Buy The Princess and the Frog

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

I know very little about Wii games . I was asked to purchase this Princess and the Frog Game for our granddaughter. I had no idea what is was but after seeing her open it and the enjoyment she had playing it I would tell every one to buy it. This game is worth a million smiles.Get more detail about The Princess and the Frog.

Shop For James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:24:00 +0000

This is a fun game. Watch out though there is a bug inherent in some of the games where it freezes. I oprdered another one with no issues, and it works great. A lot of fun to play.Get more detail about James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace.

Deca Sports 2

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:24:00 +0000

I got this game about the same time I got the more terrible Wii Game Factory 3 game and I have to say that this one is pretty good almost as well done as the Wii Resort game. Some people have complained about the control and sensitivity of the actions during game play but I haven't had that problem at all, most of the mini games focus on the timing of the motion of your remote action than just randomly swinging the remote or pushing buttons like with the kendo game or synchronized swimming game which rely on timing your moves specifically or with the flow of the other members of your team. The game is definitely a lot more fun than the previous mentioned game factory 3 game(That game is very atrocious with the wii remote action controls). The game allows you to make your own team of about five members and compete in the sports games from tennis to hockey an so on, you can also compete with other players online with the Wii's wi-fi connection if you want to, almost all the games are fun but you do have to practice with some of the moves and timing with certain games but the game does give you a practice tutorial to show you how to use your remote and sometimes the nunchucks for the sports game you've picked to play. The graphics are pretty good about the same as Wii resort and that's good enough for me, there are about ten games in all so you won't be bored by playing just one or two sports game and you can always play against someone else if you want to from a two person game to four persons which is of course a lot of fun. This is one game that I feel has been unduly blasted considering other games out there far more worse than this one is. So if you've playe the Wii sports or resort and are looking for something just as fun here's another great game to add to your Wii library...Get more detail about Deca Sports 2.

Official Nintendo Wii Carry All Case Review

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:25:00 +0000

had been looking for a case for awhile and i absolutely love this one!! it makes it super easy to bring my wii with me anywhere i go. i also like that the case can fit in my backpack so if i dont want the whole world to know i'm carrying my wii (ex. train). this bag is a great way to keep everything organized, as it has a compartment for everything.Get more detail about Official Nintendo Wii Carry All Case.

Wii DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable This instant

noreply@blogger.com (Charles Russle) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

I had wanted this for a while and finally got it for Christmas. I love it. It is fun and my husband even plays it with me. Great music!Get more detail about Wii DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable.