As according to my previous post here's the final game in all its glory. If the reception to this game is any good the sequel will be made, otherwise, the sequel will be made anyways and it will be much better.
For now though, you may download the full game freely and enjoy it freely, even though it's made for kids around the age of 6 and above.
I made this game, I poured by heart and soul into it, so please excuse me but I'm going to really just going to be promoting the game.
Edutainment is a great under utilized concept, the idea is that media that can be entertaining can be used to teach people (particularly children) about things. Unfortunately it has been mostly lost over the years, educational games are no longer fun and instead are tiresome and troubling. Often times Edutainment software is just typical questions or puzzles you would get on a school pop quiz with pretty pictures thrown in to give the illusion it's a game on the outside.
Word Finder on the other hand is a game first and educational second. While the game is not yet complete (and it is impossible to lose in its current state) it shows great promise in finally teaching kids in a fun and entertaining way.
The purpouse of the game is simple, you are given a word and you have to find the image of the word. For instance if the word is 'Apple' you will have to find an apple in the game. The game is made mostly for kids though of course can be re-used for other purpouses. For instance it has non-English character support so it can be rigged up to teach non-English words. The following demo demonstrates the game in action with Japanese:
Contra is a very challenging game, but not one that’s unfairly so. It is the perfect example of how difficulty and challenge can be two separate things. The latest in the series, Contra 4, is virtually Contra 1 with updated graphics and sound.
In that way Contra 4 is more an arcade game than what some would say a more 'modern' game. It's very challenging, and by challenging I mean just that. It isn't necessarily difficult but it requires complete attention as the game itself stacks the odds against the player. Sticking true to its past there are no saves, the player dies from one hit and most importantly for any Contra game: there are some intense moments.
Intense is a little bit of an understatement, try to remember the most unbelievable moment in any action movie and multiply it by twenty and you have a typical Contra intense moment. Hanging off of helicopters is the least exciting thing the player will be doing, just to highlight the fact: before the game is over the player would have had to hang off a launching rocket subsequently jumping between handles to avoid falling off – and that’s just starters! Action movies can't even begin to compare to the sheer intensity of this game.
Unfortunately junior might not enjoy this game as much as he would like. As I've said before, it's challenging. The player is put against hundreds of enemies and it only takes one hit to die. On easy you get ten days before a continue, every time you die you lose your weapon which often is vital to your success. The game is challenging but absolutely fair, you won’t ever be held back from bad controls or bugs. It’s classic - return to roots gaming.
The game is a lot like life, it's tough but in a sick sort of sense fair and if you choose to persevere even when faced with what looks like an impossible task you will ultimately feel satisfied with your inevitable victory.
It was bound to happen, and it just did. Miyamoto will be proud that the game which managed to finally knock off The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time from its perch was another one of his creations: Super Mario Galaxy.
19% of deaths for people between the age of 12 to 24 is 100% preventable. Suicide is a preventable cause of death through and through and we need to recognize that 19% is too much, even 1% is too much, deaths by suicide should be 0%.
Here I am throwing around numbers, but the most important number is in the title, 1800-55-1800. Thats the phone number that can save lives and anyone who is at that age and does not have the emotional support of friends or family could be saved simply by calling that number.
Isn't this something that everyone should know about?
Killzone 2 is the sequel to the much hyped Playstation 2 game where mutant humans known as the Helghast are trying to claim earth for themselves for the sake of national (spec-ial?) pride. Heres a video demoing what you will get In case you crack and decide to buy Killzone 2 for junior.
Violence is something that is difficult for children to comprehend. Even if it is all around them festering in various forms such as games, movies or comic books we find children don't react in a way that shows they understand and are able to deal with the violent content.
CBS has cited some research claiming that violent games makes kids act more violently (video below) yet the question is, why? And in what ways do they become more violent if they indeed even are becoming more violent.
Besides the rather obvious rhetoric 'too much videogames is bad for you' (too much water is bad for you too) the more elusive and misleading allegation of 'games make kids violent' comes into the play. The answer isn't as simple as 'they become more aggressive and hit each other or damage property because they copy what they see on TV', kids do that even without violent games. Kids who play too much violent video games, or video games for that matter will end up being problems to society in general, they won't develop any real social skills and remain closed off. If they pick up a gun later in life and go on a killing spree it's more the fault of the parents for not engaging their kids in real human to human activity but letting them play games all day.
However I do find that violent games in any dosage just isn't *good* for some kids and not in the sense it makes them more violent but more that it turns them into living breathing social retards. The following video shows two kids playing 'Doom 3', suffice to say they're laughing at the violence and probably destroying their social skills in the process.
In the end like all things parents should know what their kids are playing and should not let them play more violent games. It doens't necessarily make them more violent, it doesn't necessarily desensitize them to violent but their inability to discern fact from fiction coupled with playing lots of violent games could cut into their social development.
Mario Party is one of those games you wan't to play with other people, otherwise it's as boring as listening to the dish washer on its second cycle. Of course for kids under six that won't matter, whats more fun than shaking their hands in all oddball directions for a little bit of fun?
Software development is hard, as is games developing which is that much harder. Probably the hardest of all computer science related fields. When it comes to the money making side of things, video game consoles always reign supreme.
Colin McRae Dirt is a great offroad racing game with tonnes of different tracks and vehicles and great graphics. Unfortunately it is next to worthless on a PC and is best enjoyed on a videogame console (such as the Xbox 360). Don't bother reading on if you want something for the PC.
Featuring pretty much every offroad racing dicipline except those of the two wheeled/MTV nature 'Dirt' looks to bring offroad racing to the virtual world. Luckily enough for the kids the game is considerably simple to play, this isn't a straight up simulator but gives the impression of one.
There are many track/vehicle combinations possible and tonnes of unlockables, it is well presented and has great graphics. Easy to get a hang of but difficult to master it basically is what a good game should be.
The only problems I've noticed with it is some slight (albeit very rare) stuttering and perhaps the overall graphics are a bit too brown, but it's still good.
Highly recommended for kids who like driving (honestly they all should).
For budding little wannabe robo pilot kids this is a god send from Nintendo. It's actually a god send for me too, and a lot of other people. Why? Well it's the simple concept behind the game: Buy and customize robots that you use to fight other customized robots. Simple as that really.
Custom Robo Arena is the latest iteration of the series, released for the Nintendo DS. It features a single player storyline that despite the throngs of text you'll have to read to understand kids below the age of 14 will love, though everyone over that tender age will just want to get on with the game. The story itself is tuned towards the sub 14 year old demographic, about evil bad guys trying to take over the world with custom robos and this child prodigy (which you play) who has a natural talent for custom robos and is exceptionally powerful.
The games dificulty is very forgiving and not until 3/4 of the way through will you start struggling to win those robo battles. While the pace at which the difficulty picks up is nice and smooth, starting so low that an eight year old can enjoy it, the difficulty does jump up high after you reach a certain level. Then it becomes a battle to finish the game, and perhaps for kids it may be downright aggravating and they may just give up with teh storyline all together instead focusing on the smaller (simpler) battles throughout the game.
Customizing your robo is paramount to win any game, choosing the right legs, right bomb, right gun and right pod is essential to winning once the game gets harder, despite early on it being no more than a novelty. There are many different customizations you can make and this alone should provide the joy to robo pilot wannabe kids.
Somewhat strangely robo maintanence is also a part of the game, you have to clean your robo after battles as they get dirty. If they get too dirty it may become more difficult to battle them. While it certainly won't teach kids to clean up their room it is a nice diversion, to remind the player the robo is his/her responsibility.
Ahmed
Brenton
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