Family
Latest
WoW Mom! An interview with the newest newbie on the block
I got a call from my mom on Friday night that she was having an emergency and needed me to call. It turns out the emergency was that she bought World of Warcraft and needed some instruction on how to play. Since I was at work, I told her to get started by reading up a bit on the WoW Rookie until I could spend a little more time with her. I was excited and somewhat terrified. I really hope she likes it and doesn't get too frustrated the first week. My mom isn't what you would call a gamer. I'm not going to tell you how old she is, but she could tell you where she was when Kennedy was assassinated. She's a master Euchre player and a wiz at Scrabble. Her video gaming experience is limited to Bejeweled and online versions of card games. She used to love me watch play Tetris, but would respond like the controller was made of lava when I tried to hand it to her. I invited her to join Dungeons and Dragons sessions, but she always declined. I moved 2,000 miles from my native Michigan for graduate school about five years ago. Since then my interactions with my mom have been limited to phone conversations and the occasional short visit. I'm really glad to get to share this time with her.
Insert cute pet story here
About 3 months ago I got my first pet. His name is Max, and is a grey domestic short hair cat. He was a stray that was scratching at my apartment door on a very cold November evening. At the time it was decided that he was just going to stick around for the night, but he grew on us so quickly that we weren't able to let him go. He now is a happy member of my family, and just like the rest of them, he has to put up with me playing World of Warcraft.Except, it's not really "putting up with" WoW, it's more like "intensely interested in what's going on." Max will often times spend the whole four hours of the night's raid spread across the desk staring at my computer screen. He'll react to the sounds, the bright flashes of light, and occasionally even other in game cats. When someone says "lol" and their character laughs, he'll jump and stare down the speaker the laugh came from.
NTT DoCoMo raises i-mode rates, offsets with free family calling
Think of it like myFaves, but where your faves have to be relatives (a nightmare for some, yes, we know). NTT DoCoMo is now offering free calls to family members when both are subscribed to the Japanese carrier's "Fami-wari MAX50" plan, in addition to a nice 60 percent off video calls. There's also this bizarre clause that allows for free family calling for folks that are subscribed to either "Family Discount" or "Office Discount" in addition to the new "Ichinen Discount" service and have contracts of at least one year in length -- and, oh yeah, have been DoCoMo subscribers for at least 10 flippin' years. The simple flow chart above should help explain it all.Separately, DoCoMo is raising pricing on its i-mode mobile internet service from 210 ($1.95) to 315 yen ($2.93) per month, which we figure is still dirt cheap compared to pretty much anywhere else in the world. That's on top of packet data charges, though those remain unchanged.Read - DoCoMo to Offer Free 24/7 Domestic Calling to Family MembersRead - NTT DoCoMo to Revise i-mode Monthly Charge
Lego Indiana Jones to feature two-player co-op, not four
An earlier report that LEGO Indiana Jones will feature four-player cooperative play has proven to be false. The game will instead feature the same two-player drop-in, drop-out gameplay as seen in the LEGO Star Wars titles, as well as the upcoming LEGO Batman. The confusion stems from MTV's recent sit-down with developer Traveller's Tales, who discussed the game's features, including the ability to have up to four characters on-screen at any time. Understandibly, MTV misconstrued this to mean that four players could play simultaneously, when in fact Traveller's Tales was merely highlighting that players could switch between multiple on-screen characters -- a feature that should be familiar to fans of TT's other LEGO games. Apologies to our readers for the erroneous information. We cool?
Apple taking it easy on flash memory order this year
CNET is reporting that iSuppli announced Apple is "cutting" their flash memory order this year, and in this case "cutting" doesn't mean "cutting" the way you or I would use it (as in, "The doctor said I had to cut my sugar intake, so I'll only have one doughnut instead of six."). No, it means "cutting" as in they're only raising their orders for flash memory by 16% instead of the expected 32% (which is like saying "I'll only eat three more doughnuts instead of six").Still, it's enough to send a few folks into a tizzy -- as CNET's Tom Krazit says so perfectly: "If Apple coughs, the flash memory market gets sick." I don't know that there's too much to read into this, except maybe that we probably won't see a brand new iPod this year. With the iPod touch and all the iPod iterations out right now, Apple pretty much has the market covered on mp3 players. That doesn't mean they won't drop lots of new products (I hear that they used to make computers of some kind), but it probably does mean that in terms of the current iPod brand, growth has peaked. Until they bring out that gaming device, flash memory isn't their biggest need.
Six-year-olds and their (slightly twisted) view of Mario
When Japan-based 4cr staffer and elementary school teacher Vinnk tried using the Mario universe to teach his young students the English words for family members, he can't have been expecting a lesson of his own on the Mario family tree from a classroom of six-year-olds.That's exactly what he did get however, with his pupils patiently pointing out that Wario, Mario, Luigi, and Peach were all siblings, that Bowser is either their father or uncle, and that Luigi must be older than Mario because he's taller. We're still no clearer on what Yoshi's role is in this incestuous mess, and it's not something we wish to dwell on for longer than is necessary.Anyway, for the full hilarious/adorable transcript of this exchange, hit the "Read" link below. It made our morning.
Lego Indiana Jones whips up 4-player co-op
MTV's Multiplayer spent some time with Traveller's Tales' upcoming Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures and survived a giant boulder to reveal various details about the game chronicling Indy's first three adventures. If you've played any of the Lego Star Wars games then you're already familiar with the set-up of this title. Barnett College serves as the hub (like Mos Eisley cantina in Star Wars) allowing players to access the 18 levels of the game. There are other Star Wars standards like the "Free Play" mode, but the producers say that Lego Indy will be more "adventure style" than Star Wars' fighting emphasis. As for game mechanics, the whip on Wii will function similar to the lightsaber waggle and not have "1:1 remote-to-whip synchronized control." Though the Nazis have been removed from the game, the producers say the movie plots will stay intact. They also say despite puzzles being designed for two players, the console versions will support up to four players simultaneous. Lego Indiana Jones should be ready for discovery June 3.
Joystiq impressions: Lego Indiana Jones
Update: LucasArts contacted us with the game's final title. "The Original Adventures" makes sure leaves sequel potential. There is that fourth movie coming out. Plus Young Indy. Da-da-da-dum... da-da-duuuuum... I'm coming off a screening of the Raiders shot-for-shot remake, so I'm ready to sing the Indy theme at the drop of a fedora. If you haven't heard of it, a few kids were so inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark that they decided to stage an elaborate remake. It's a scrappy do-it-yourself homage with a persevering group of nerds at its heart; the movie took between 1982 and 1989 to complete. I also recently saw a demo of Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures on a 360, and it captures a little bit of this uberfan spirit. The cut-scenes and ways that developer Traveler's Tales re-imagines the Indy stories through non-speaking plastic toys amused me and shared some similarities with the kids standing in for adult actors. (The moment where Indy does the old sandbag-for-idol trick in the movie? Just as pensive in the game, he swaps the idol for a Lego cup.) Of course the corporate powers behind these two franchises weigh on the game, too. You'll be able to get it for seven different platforms. That's PS3, Wii, 360, PS2, DS, PSP, and PC. (Collect them all!) But the spirited combination of Indy remade in Legos looks fun. %Gallery-16045%
Wii Warm Up: A question of family
In discussing yesterday's topic, we noticed a lot of readers talking about family obligations when weighing gaming time. For those of you with spouses, live-in significant others, children, or other family members around (the folks, extended families, the aunt who drops in all the time), how does this figure into your time with the Wii? If you have children, do you let them play? If so, what's acceptable? If significant other/spouse ... do they play? What about other family members?
Meet the new MacBook family
Here they are! Your oh-so-recently refreshed family of MacBooks. From left to right, we've got the tried and true MacBook, the all new showstopper (you can call it MacBook Air) and the MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, the two wingmen aren't seeing any updates today, but that fellow in the middle sure is getting a lot of attention. %Gallery-13885%
Congrats to Blizzard's Slouken on a new baby!
Big grats to WoW Forum blue (and Blizzard UI guy) Slouken on a more-than-epic drop-- he apparently won the roll on a brand new baby last night. Congrats to him and his wife on welcoming the newest member of their guild family into the world. She's super cute!And good to see that, by sitting her right in front of the logo on the t-shirt above, she's being indoctrinated at a very, very early age. No doubt she'll be coding macros, debugging addons, and introducing new arguments and actions into the API in no time.
Disney making online game based on the movie "Cars"
According to the San Fernando Business Journal, Disney Online plans to release a virtual world game based on the hugely successful 3D-animated film Cars.Disney sees this as a way to keep kids invested in the franchise "for years to come" even without a sequel on the horizon. The article also says that Disney plans substantial future investments in these sorts of projects because they've had success with other titles like Toontown Online and Club Penguin.While games like this don't usually get as much attention from the gaming media, they're arguably no less successful or lucrative than games like EverQuest II. [Via Worlds in Motion]
DS Daily: Family friendly
The Wii is constantly hyped as a gaming system for every member of the family, but let's not forget that the DS appeals to the casual market, too. With that said, does anyone else in your family play the DS? Perhaps your mother, or little cousin, or even your grandfather? Who knows, they may even be more hardcore about it than you are. Or, maybe you're the sad, lone DS player of the family? (Cue the song "One is the Loneliest Number.")
DS Daily: Family first
Since the holidays are about being with family and not our video game collections, it's often hard to get in as much DS time as we'd like on such occasions. Even though we might enjoy spending our time with Phoenix Wright more than we like talking to our crazy aunt, sometimes we just don't get a choice in the matter.Does your DS see any action on the holidays, or are you so busy that you tend to neglect it? Perhaps you usually have a long drive to a relative's house that is perfect for some portable gaming? Or maybe you try to keep the holidays strictly about family? If you're anything like us, you might even enjoy showing off your little gadget to family members, no matter how many times they ask you what the "DS" stands for.
Confirmed: Xbox 360 Family Timer is go
Microsoft, the Parent Teacher Association and Jerry Rice (yes, that Jerry Rice) have teamed up in an effort to confirm the rumored Xbox 360 Family Timer! Okay, that's not exactly why they've banded together, but the feature is still confirmed.Continuing their pro-family interests, Microsoft, the PTA and Mr. Rice all reinforced their commitment to family entertainment and revealed a new 360 Family Timer will be released this December (Fall update anyone?) allowing parents to take control of their kids' game time. The timer is a new tool for parents to use both as part of Microsoft's "Is Your Family Set?" and the PTA's PACT campaigns. You can read all the details in one lengthy press release that is viewable after the break. So ... Jerry Rice huh?
Nintendo of Canada lames up gaming with Get Up and Play site
Aside from the occasional oddity, it's not commonplace for video games to actually involve, well, getting up off the couch. With Wii Fit and Wii Sports in Nintendo's entourage, however, the company seems determined to develop games that involve physical activity.Nintendo of Canada decided to go a step farther with this approach by creating a website called "Get Up and Play." Not only is the site designed to inspire movement, but also a thing you may have heard of called family togetherness.The site boasts weekly challenges on the weekends, with printable "Victory Certificates" (um, yay?). Things at stake include taking out the garbage, or setting the table for the week. Oh, and don't forget to "eat healthy snacks like dried fruit and granola bars" while you play.We're completely in support of healthy lifestyles, but we don't need "Family Challenge Badges" and other crappy things for inspiration. That kind of stuff is just scary. In fact, we're very, very afraid. Please hold us.
Microsoft touts family focus with cartoon downloads
Think Nintendo has a stranglehold on the family-friendly console maker moniker? Microsoft would like you to think again. A new press release from the Xbox 360 maker touts the availability today of 100 downloadable cartoons from Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon properties on the Video Marketplace, as well as the impending launch of Shrek and Spongebob-licensed games for Xbox Live Arcade. Add in the recent branding of the new Xbox 360 Arcade as "the console for families" and a Microsoft-sponsored "family fun day" event in Times Square's Toys "R" Us today and you have a major push into the Big N's family-oriented turf.This isn't the first time Microsoft has tried to extend its reach past the hardcore Halo fans, but in the past innovative family titles like Viva Pinata have had trouble making inroads against big-name hardcore games like Gears of War. Will this latest push broaden Microsoft's image or is the 360 destined to be known primarily (and inaccurately) as a first-person shooter system. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
The family that plays together...
Dshpls tells the story of his friend's girlfriend's family over on the forums-- mother, father, sons and daughter all play World of Warcraft together. As a lot of players say on the forums, it's not really all that weird anymore-- WoW is showing up on commercials and even grandmothers play the game-- but it does still seem like a rare occurrence. My parents just aren't the videogame type, and my brother and sister were never that interested, either, so I always think of WoW as a more social activity than a family one.But then again, whenever I abandon this bachelor life of "gaming blogger" and settle down in a house with a few more bedrooms than I need, I'll probably be inclined to do a little family gaming myself. As our own Robin Torres can tell you, gaming with family is just as fun as gaming to get away from family, and probably more fulfilling, too.When you sit down to grind EOTS marks for the Season 1 Arena awards this weekend, will your family be sitting next to you yelling to get to the Blood Elf tower? Or are you glad they're on their own, playing Sudoku and golf, rather than the videogames you love so much?
Lightsabers in Wii's Lego Star Wars exactly what you hoped for
...that is, if you hoped for shaking the Wiimote to swing your lightsaber and shaking the nunchuk to use the Force. If you were hoping for something a little more ... fun intuitive from Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga on the Wii, you're out of luck. If it sounds like we're disappointed, we're not, we know that the real 1-to-1 Star Wiirs experience isn't due until The Force Unleashed. Still, it was nice to dream. We wish there was some sort of geekiness conversion chart to help us figure out if the presence of Indiana Jones is enough to make up for mediocre lightsabering. We suspect it is not.
Apple Store redesigns
As the good Doc Mac points out very adeptly with the picture above, the reason for the Apple Store's outage Wednesday morning must have been a redesign-- it's come back with a splash of blue.I like the new look. I think the slight gradient in the background makes it, but the rounded corners, blue bars, and especially the arrows give the whole store a definite iTunes feel. There's been a reorganization as well-- Mac, iPod, and iPhone are all top level product lines now (the Apple TV is filed under the iPod, which is close enough, I guess), and those three fit the buttons on the top of Apple's site as well. Apple's gone Amazon as well-- there are "New to the Store" and "Top Sellers" boxes that will, we'd assume, change as the facts do. No idea, however, why the Mac Top Sellers goes to 8, the iPod to 9, and the iPhone only to 5.Looks good, though. A welcome refresh to a store that was starting to look a little last-gen.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
