A Green Mushroom

I'm a runner.  I run for exercise multiple times per week.  At least, I do when it's not winter. This is the first full winter that my family has been in our house.  We live in Minnesota which means that running in the winter isn't a viable option.  There's either too much snow or it's too cold out (-15 F last week) to run outside.  In the past I've had a treadmill while living with my parents, going to college, and living in apartments with my wife.  We don't have room for a treadmill in our townhouse but I decided I needed to do something  to stay active all winter. So I found a stationary bike that doesn't take up much room and can be folded up and put away if needed.  It was ok at first.  Not as good as running but still ok.  It gave me the something  physical I needed even if it wasn't as enjoyable as running. But very quickly I realized I could move the bike over in front of our main TV.  This is the TV with our PS4...

I don't usually write about DLC.  It's not typically something worthy of writing about.  I think the Mario Kart DLC is a fantastic value for the money so it deserves some talk. There are two scheduled DLC packs for Mario Kart 8.  The first just released a few days ago.  It includes two new cups, which means eight new tracks.  Eight tracks in a cart racer is a huge amount of content.  Along with these come three new characters; Link, Tanooki Mario, and Cat Peach.  Not to mention four new vehicles. My daughter and I have been having a blast with it.  The new tracks are fantastic and they're getting me re-engaged with the game.  I don't know if I've ever had DLC pull me back into a game like this, but new tracks in Mario Kart is seriously awesome.  My daughter has been enjoying playing with the new characters and vehicles. She loves customizing her racer and changing it every race. This DLC has already convinced me to drop $7.99 ...

Once again I find myself between Final Fantasy games.  That means it's time for some evergreen games before I dive into the next entry in the series.  For me evergreen games are those that have self-contained play sessions and no real "end" to the game. First up is Mario Kart 8.   Even though it's not much of a change from Mario Kart 7 it's a lot of fun and I'm enjoying my time with it.  The biggest improvements are HD graphics and better online play.  It's Mario Kart.  If you like Mario Kart you will love Mario Kart 8.  If you don't like Mario Kart you should skip it.  You basically know what you're getting. Hearthstone has gotten a ton of my time.  Now that it's on iPad it's perfect to play while watching TV on the couch or laying in bed before falling asleep.  I love that the games usually run somewhere in the 5-15 minute range.  I know I can sit down and play without having to commit to long play sessions.  It's easily ...

I've mostly been gaming during my lunch hour or once my kids are in bed at night.  When I finally get a few free minutes to play a game I almost always turn to my 3DS.  It travels everywhere with me just in case I get an opportunity to bust it out for 5 minutes and play. It's really an awesome system.  The 3D effect is cool, but not required.  It has a great lineup of games that's constantly growing.  It has support for digital purchases.  It's finally a Nintendo console with decent online play.  It's easy to carry around.  But most importantly, it's fun! I've had a blast with Mario Kart 7, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Paper Mario Sticker Star, Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros 2, and Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Not to mention all the fantastic eShop and Virtual Console games I've been playing.  Nintendo has a lot to offer. They're even catering to our nostalgic impulses.  I had a few weeks wher...

Wow.  This was my favorite announcement to come out of E3 .  With a 3D screen that doesn't need glasses and a hardware upgrade making this as powerful - if not more powerful - than the N64, I can't wait to get my hands on this thing. Want to know what really sold me on the 3DS?  This screenshot from Joystiq . 3D Starfox 64.  That's all I needed to buy a 3DS.  In some ways I'm an easy sell.  On top of it are Kingdom Hearts, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Pilotwings Resort, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  By far the best Zelda game ever made is coming to the 3DS.  Where do I pay and when can I hold one?  I bet my wife will want one too when she finds out that we can kick each others' asses in 3D while playing Super Street Fighter IV.  And those are only a few of the games that have been announced for the system. I still can't get over the fact that they're doing 3D without glasses.  I wonder how muc...

I don't know the last time I touched my Nintendo Wii.  Good games aren't released for it that often.  Almost every game I want to play ends up being for the Xbox 360 or the PC.  I wonder why? I think one of the main problems is the lack of solid third party games on Nintendo systems.  Nintendo itself always releases good games, but third party developers take a look at their systems and decide to develop for one of the other consoles or PC.  On top of this there is so much shovelware on the Wii that it is often hard to find a game that is even remotely decent. The first party games that Nintendo creates and releases are great in comparison!  This results in the dominance of Mario on the system.  I only own one non-Nintendo created game - Boom Blox - for the Wii.  Of all the Wii games I have 75% of them have Mario as a character. The benefit that comes out of this for Nintendo is that they have little competition on their own system, so the...

An equation to help sell you on Blur!  It's so fun!  A day after complaining about not having anything interesting to play, I found something interesting to play.  Funny how that works. Blur is like a grown up Mario Kart on Xbox Live.  They also stole the experience and advancement system from Modern Warfare 2.  I love that advancement system, so I think it's a great thing.  I especially like all the challenges that give bonus experience upon completion.  I don't normally like driving games, but I'm making an exception for Blur. Every level has power-ups to pick up on the track.  These are weapons, shields, and turbo boosts.  There is a weapon called the barge that makes me feel like a badass every time I activate it.  It's a huge concussive blast that radiates out from your car.  Perfect for shoving people off cliffs and into walls. As I leveled up I unlocked different cars, modes, and mods.  Cars and modes are exactly ...

I have already suggested that Rock Band is the best game to start with when you want to get a girl to play video games.  After she adjusts to the idea of playing on a console you will want to play more games with her.  The question becomes, what games will girls play? The trick to getting a girlfriend to play video games with you is to pick your games carefully.  Girls are much more discerning with games and will reject them fast if they aren't having fun.  The key is to choose games that are easy to pick up and play.  Pick something that is easy to understand and control.  The worst possible thing to do is to put a console FPS in front of a new gamer. You want them to become familiarized with the controller before adding games with complex control schemes.  Mario Kart is a great place to start.  It has some layers of complexity but at the same time it isn't hard to understand.  The controls come pretty naturally. Another good game is ...