Mario Party 2

       So yesterday Diana, Bianca and I beat "Mario Party 2" on our Wii of course on the virtual console service..  I say beat because we actually got credits and everything.  :)  .  Bianca and I have been playing it for a while, playing boards, collecting coins, buying mini games.  and then last thursday I bought our last mini game, toad disappeared from the hub area to be replaced by a koopa kid.  and there in the middle of our board choices was a new board.  A Bowser board!!! <GASP>.

     So Bianca and I waited to play it.  Partially because Bianca was sort of afraid of the board.  She also hates Bowser.  So on Tuesday we brought Diana in to the mix and we played.  We only chose 20 turns and went to it.  I, as always, chose Mario.  Diana was Yoshi and Bianca was, of course, Peach.  Luigi was controlled by the computer and was a cheating, mean bastard.  If you play a lot of Mario games (ex. Mario Kart) you know how brutal characters like Peach can be.  I feel like Luigi was being helped by the board but we still kicked him in the teeth.  

     So after everything Diana and Yoshi came out victorious.  and so we watched the longest cutscene in the game and sat back to watch the credits roll.  Bianca thought it very cool that she had helped beat her second game.  She said it was her first because she didn't really play Ocarina.  (I still count it but for her I call this her first.)  

     I bring up Mario Party because Bianca has liked it for a while now.  I tell you though as a parent.  BE PATIENT!  more often than not what will happen is that you have to throw a mini game to keep them in it, or you'll have to loss because you have no other choice.  These games aren't ALL about the mini games so much as they are about Bonus stars, and good rolls, and star stealing, and teaching your child how to pay attention to what is going on on the board.  It is tough because she can't read, but she does learn what stores and spots do.  

     Either way I suggest a Mario Party for every family.  It really is 4 player fun for everyone.    

Happy gaming!

Joe

In case you want to snag it, here is the page on Nintendo.com
http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/1wWLs-g1b1KY6RIKDbgHZqGH1BCoxPXn

Catan and a 5 year old girl

Bianca loves "Settlers of Catan".
If you aren't familiar with the game Here is the website.  We like it quite a bit.
http://www.catan.com/

     To play you trade in materials represented by pictures of sheep, rocks,wood bricks, and straw. You earn those materials by betting on a number surrounded by land types.   Land types relate to materials.  The numbers in the middle of each area corresponds to a number on the dice 2-12.  That's why I call it betting.  You place your settlements and roads around an area, betting that the dice will be kind.  The kicker is that  you're sort of locked to an area after you put your initial settlements down.  It is all very easy once you start but I find it hard to explain without rocking some excruciating detail.  So I hope this helped but...

Anyway...

We got my son Joey the travel edition for christmas.  We played it that day and Joey wasn't really a fan.  The betting hurt him.  Bianca loved trading in pictures.  She loved building roads and houses and honestly, she just loved it.  It is hard to overstate this because while she does dig things.  She rarely digs things to this degree.
     So, we had Joey new years weekend and he brought it with him.  Bianca begged to play it.  She is such a sweet little trader. She'll give you whatever you need because you need it.  Too cute really. Joey won but Bianca finished second convincingly.  I do have to say that we took out the robber.  (The robber can steal materials.) So it was a little lopsided but really it makes it possible for Bianca to play.
     Honestly I like the game a lot.  It isn't too complicated for a five year old, provided you take necessary precautions, and the rest of the family seems to like it too.  I have a feeling we'll be purchasing a big one for the house soon.  Know that I will also write about that.

     I wanted to talk about this because I wanted to expound on what I think Im on about.  Gaming is more than video games.  But I think where I'm going to is family entertainment all together.  Hmmmmm... yesssss... :)