Little Big Planet Karting lets kids create their own race tracks!

I received a review copy of this videogame

Like many boys their age, 3Po and Jammy love racing Hotwheels cars.  They love building things with LEGO or K'nex.  And they looooove videogames.  And thanks to the Little Big Planet Karting game for the PS3, they get to combing all three passions.

On the surface, Little Big Planet Karting might seem like any other racing videogame.  Players are put behind the wheel of a go-kart, they race each other on a track, and the one to cross the finish line first wins.  Along the way they can "pop" bubbles that appear on the track in order to pick up weapons or gadgets than can help them finish first:  grapplers, grenades, etc...

As with many racing games, players can customize their racing cart, choosing from a variety of frames, wheels, paint and stickers.  They can also customize Sack Boy (the main character that players race as) by giving him different kinds of hats and accessories.  The more you play and the higher levels you reach, the more customization options you can unlock!

But here's where Little Big Planet Karting differs from the rest:  you can actually build and customize your own race tracks!  Just like with Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet 2, building your own world is half the fun.  My boys spent almost 2 weeks just building race tracks before they even tried a single race!  Players can lay out pieces of track in a variety of materials (i.e. brick, road, etc...), they can make the track go straight or curve it around a bend or go 360.  They can add obstacles like walls or (Jammy's favorite) sheets of lava.  They can drop weapons and gadgets throughout the course, so racers can pick them up to help them go faster, or to slow down a rival racer.  It really appeals to kids' creative side, and being able to actually race on the track they created is icing on the cake.

Little Big Planet Karting has a few other cool features that we have yet to try:

* Once you create a race track or game, you can share it online through the PlayStation Network with other players in the LBP community.

* Up to four players can race against each other locally, and up to eight players can race against each other via the PlayStation Network.

* The game is compatible with the PlayStation Move controllers when used with a PS Move Racing Wheel. (If you have the PlayStation Move system but don't have a PS Move Racing Wheel, don't forget to disconnect your PlayStation Eye Camera off and turn off all your PS Move controllers, or the videogame will forever be looking for them!)

The bottom line?  I love the way Little Big Planet Karting lets kids get creative, develop their "spacial senses" and exercise their "building" urges  in the virtual world  It has given my kids many hours of fun and I expect it will give them many more to come.


Disclosure: As a PlayStation Family member, I received a review copy of Little Big Planet Karting.  I have not been paid to review the product or give my opinions. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
Tweet this!

Continue reading...

Relive (or redo) your favorite NFL moments with Madden NFL 13

Superbowl 47 is over, and the Baltimore Ravens snatched victory from the San Francisco 49ers in a thrilling cliffhanger of a game.  I'm in mourning for the 49ers, along with the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area.  They played a terrible first half, and at one point were losing 28-6, but they clawed their way back to 31-29,  With about 4 minutes to go, the 49ers were literally inches away from a touchdown and victory, but the Ravens them held off to win 34-31.

If only 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree had caught that final pass.... if only the pass interference on Crabtree had been called... if only quarterback Colin Kaepernick had been able to find someone open... if only the whole team had played better in the first half!  So many "what if's"....  Fortunately heartbroken 49ers fans will be able to replay Superbowl 47 the way they want it -- and gleeful Ravens fans will be able to relive their victory again and again -- with the Madden NFL 13 videogame for the PS3 and the PS Vita.


About Madden NFL 13 for PS Vita
Madden NFL 13 debuts on the PlayStation Vita, delivering the ultimate NFL experience on a handheld. Become an NFL Superstar or build the league's next Dynasty utilizing the Vita's touch screens that provide unprecedented control, unlocking new layers of gameplay and feature depth. Experience Sundays like never before with all-new commentary from Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as you battle friends online and climb the leaderboard with each victory, or use the motion sensor function to control direction when kicking field goals. Madden NFL 13 for Vita lets NFL fans dominate at home or while on the road.

As a PlayStation Family blogger, I received a copy of Madden NFL 13 for the PS Vita, and my boys spent all of last week playing with it, pitting teams against each other, getting familiar with how football is played and getting psyched about the Big Game.  Even though they're not big football fans, it turns out they really enjoy this videogame!  They definitely enjoy playing Madden NFL 13 more than they enjoy watching football on TV, because they get to decide which teams play against each other and they get to control the players' moves on the field.  They can even create their own NFL player, get him drafted and help him succeed all the way into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Learning all the movement controls can take a bit of time, but the PS Vita's front and rear touch screens make it a lot easier, and once players get used to it, they can really make those football players go.  Sometimes they like to make the players do really goofy moves, like make players run in the wrong direction or aim a field goal at a player's head, just for the fun of it!  The sound effects are a lot of fun, from the stadium music to the roar of the crowd to the commentators calling out the plays (they use the voices of the real TV commentators).  I'm so impressed at how much detail they can pack into a portable game, from the amazing graphics to the complex moves to the number of features.   It's a must-have for NFL fans, especially those who like to play on the go -- and as my kids have proven, it's a lot of fun for any kid who likes to play videogames.

The 49ers may have lost Superbowl 47, but they're always a winner in my book.  Thanks to Madden NFL 13, it's still possible to escape from reality and pit the Ravens against the 49ers one more time and come out with a happier ending!

Disclosure: As a PlayStation Family member, I received a review copy of Madden NFL 13. Game information (in italics) was provided by Sony PlayStation.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
Tweet this!

Continue reading...

Have a fun LEGO Star Wars party with the LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars for Sony Playstation 3

Source: partiesandholidays.blogspot.com via bonggamom on Pinterest

Every kid loves LEGO, and every kid loves a LEGO birthday party! My boys are really into Star Wars these days, so if their birthday were tomorrow, I'm sure they'd choose a Star Wars LEGO party. Unfortunately for them, their birthday was in December, so they'll have to wait 9 whole months before they get their party, but that doesn't mean I can't start gathering ideas! There's no shortage of Lego birthday party ideas on the web (check out my Pinterest party ideas board for some of my favorites), and I was able to use some ideas for the LEGO Ninjago birthday party that Jammy had this year. Only a few modifications are needed to transform it into a LEGO Star Wars party. Here are some ideas to get you going:

Decor

Spell out HAPPY BIRTHDAY in LEGO bricks! Put your creation on a table by the front door to welcome guests. Another great idea would be to ask kids to come in Star Wars costumes. Having Darth Vader, yoda, Anakin Skywalker and a host of clone troopers come to your party is all the decoration you need.

photo credit: Homemaking Fun: A Lego Themed Birthday Party
Table Setting

You can buy LEGO Star Wars-themed tableware at Birthday Express, Oriental Trading or other party goods stores, but you can also get creative on your own. Think bold, solid block colors. One of the cutest ideas I've seen for goody bags comes from Homemaking Fun: stick colored foam circles onto colored paper bags so they look like the classic LEGO brick. And speaking of goody bags....

Party Favors

Check out the LEGO online store for some great deals on stickers, magnets, keychains and other small items to fill up goody bags with. These LEGO Star Wars keychains were only $2 each! Another great idea is to buy a big bag of candy blocks (yes, they really do snap together like real LEGOS) and put them into smaller plastic bags for each child.

Food

Ewe-Hoo has a great LEGO party post with great ideas for LEGO-themed food, including square pizza with pepperoni arranged to look like a LEGO brick. Don't forget the LEGO minifigure head cake pops!

Birthday Cake

Buy block candies and stack them up to spell the birthday boy's name. Add a (clean) LEGO minifigure or two for the extra cute factor.

Games: Pull-string pinata

Make a pull-string pinata shaped like a LEGO minifigure head by covering a round plastic Red Vines tub with yellow paper, drawing a face with a marker and cutting a trapdoor at the bottom of the tub. Alternatively, make a pull-string pinata shaped like a LEGO brick (for instructions, see my How to Make a Giant LEGO Brick post on Finding Bonggamom).

Games: Lego Star Wars 3 on the PS3

If you really want to knock it out of the park, treat your guests to a big Clone Wars videogame battle! PlayStation sent us a copy of LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars for the PS3, and it's the perfect way to end any LEGO Star Wars party. With an engaging backstory, great graphics and a split screen that lets multiple players jump in and out, you can let guests play just before it's time to go home. The only problem is, no one is going to want to leave.

Seriously, this must be my sons' favorite PS3 game so far. It has never been so easy to get them to do their chores, practice piano, complete homework and make sure they get some active play time -- all I have to do is allow them an equivalent amount of time on the PS3 to play LEGO Star Wars!

In LEGO Star wars 3: The Clone Wars, players get to relive their favorite moments from the Star Wars Episode 2 (Attack of the Clones) movie and the Star Wars animated tv series The Clone Wars -- except the characters are LEGO minifigures, and the vehicles look like LEGO models. Players work their way through increasingly difficult levels of play, commanding ships or fighting in one-on-one combat in order to advance.


I won't presume to explain exactly what it is you have to do to get from one level to the next. Besides, from what 3Po and Jammy tell me, figuring it all out is half the fun. The other half of the fun is getting to play their favorite Star Wars characters (over 150 characters can be unlocked, from Anakin to Yoda to a variety of droids to an even greater variety of clones and clone commanders to all the Darths you can think of), and getting to control their movements through scenes straight out of the Star Wars world.

The fun of playing this videogame goes well beyond the PS3. I think playing this game actually enhances 3Po's and Jammy's offline LEGO play, because the game helps them imagine how their LEGO characters would act and move. They like to recreate the action scenes they see on the PS3 with their own LEGO Star Wars sets, so the PS3 game has been great in inspiring their real-life play. I've digressed somewhat from LEGO birthday parties, but the point is that this videogame is a surefire hit, whether you use it for birthday parties or every day fun.

Disclosure: As a Playstation Family blogger, I received a review copy of Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars for the PS3. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

Tweet this!

Continue reading...

Try out Playstation's new PS Vita at the Vita Hill Social Club

Gaming fans don't have long to wait before the latest and greatest in portable videogame devices -- Sony's PlayStation Vita -- is available for sale on February 22nd. Already, retailers like GameStop and BestBuy are setting up demo kiosks at select locations so people can try before they buy. This weekend, we got a chance to see the new PS Vita for ourselves when PlayStation invited me, the kids, their friends, and other bloggers and guests for an afternoon at the Vita Hill Social Club.


The Vita Hill Social Club is located in San Francisco's Union Street area. From the outside, it looks like an unassuming little storefront, but when you step inside, you find yourself in a lavishly decorated lounge.


The place is set up to look like the classic gentlemen's club of days gone by, with leather and velvet sofas, chandeliers, gilt-framed wall portraits and gaming tables -- except the games played here are anything but fuddy-duddy. Beside a vintage magazine rack were several flat-screen monitors and PlayStation units designed to showcase the PS Vita's ability to interact with the PS3. Another wall had 3D monitors so people could immerse themselves totally in their videogame world.



PlayStation and the Vita Hill staff got all the bloggers and their guests set up with individual PS Vita consoles that we could hang on to for the duration of the event. I set aside the kids' normal "screen time" limits and let them play Little Deviants, WipEout, ModNation Racers for as long as they wanted. They were in heaven!



We own a PSP (PlayStation Portable), which is great, but it doesn't compare to the Vita. The Vita has a touchscreen, which I love because those X and O and triangle symbols on the controls have always confused me, so I can actually figure out how to play a game without help from my kids. The Vita has a touchscreen on the back and a videocamera, which sounds pretty ordinary, until you realize that some games like Little Deviant actually utilize the videocamera to make it seem like you are playing the game and blasting aliens in your own living room, i.e. (augmented reality). I won't even get to the social gaming capabilities of the PS Vita at this point, but suffice it to say that the PS Vita takes gaming to the next level.


To put it another way: my kids actually ignored these adorable, scrumptious Sibby's cupcakes in favor of playing another round of ModRacers. I had to lie and say they were running out of cupcakes in order to get them to look up.

There was even a fun instant photo booth, where you could pose for a photo and have it printed out onto a postcard-sized Post-It Note. One wall of the lounge was covered in Post-It Notes like these, forming a cute gamers gallery. You could also send your photo to yourself via email, or share it on Facebook and Twitter. It's hard to resist the opportunity to pose at an instant photo booth, particularly one that you don't have to put $5 in first.


Thanks to PlayStation, we had a great afternoon at the Vita Hill Social Club. The best part? Everybody gets to join the party! That's right, I'm not blogging about the event simply to gloat to all my readers about the cool party I was invited to. The Vita Hill Social Club is actually open to the public, so anyone can walk in off the street, sign up for a club membership on the spot, and start playing -- all for free.

Seriously. They'll lend you a PS Vita pre-loaded with game titles, and you can try it out without any sales pitches or membership fees. They have lots of units available, so you won't have to be nice and share or take turns. You can join tournaments and match your skills against other gamers. I can't promise you Sibby's cupcakes, but they do have free snacks, sponsored by Guayaki Yerba Mate, KIND Healthy Snacks, and Vita Coco Coconut Water. You get to play with the photo booth thingy and send out your photo via email, Twitter or Facebook. You can even organize your own private event at the Club! How swanky is that?! You don't even have to be in San Francisco to do it, because PlayStation has set up Vita Hill Social Clubs in LA, Miami, Atlanta, NYC, Boston, Chicago and Austin! Check out the PS Vita Social Club page on Playstation.com for specific addresses and a list of local events -- but don't forget to stop by and get your game on before February is over, because the Vita Hill Social Club will be closing its doors at the end of the month.

Disclosure: I received an invitation to a PS Vita Hill Social Club event as a member of the PlayStation Family. I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

Tweet this!

Continue reading...