You Know, For Kids

Ever since we got to try out the Wii Fit at a recent outdoor music festival, we've been dying to get it. It took a couple of months, but Amazon finally came through. After just 1/2 hour with it, I have decided that I totally love it. There are 3 reasons:

1. My Wii Fit age is 7 years less than my actual age.

2. The Wii Fit as a scale is NOT the same as the scale in my doctor's office. Let's just say I'm going with Wii Fit as my scale from now on. (And if adding the extenders to the bottom to take into account the thicker carpet would correct this, I'm pretty sure I lost them.)

3. In Wii Fit, I can hula hoop like a madwoman. I cannot hula hoop in real life. Never could, not for more than about 6 seconds. In the world of Wii, I can have multiple hoops going, while still leaning and catching more. Kinda like this picture, only with a much higher score.



I've set my goal, and I gave myself 2 months to achieve it. Hopefully I will still love my Wii by then.

I Need a Red Shell

If you heard someone say "I need a red shell" what do you think they'd be referring to?

Although there aren't any red ones here, you'd probably think of sea shells.


(Photo courtesy of the gorgeous beaches of Sanibel Island, Florida.)

Well, the red shell that I'm talking about looks more like this:


If you've ever played Nintendo, and any Mario game, then you recognize the red shell. I've already talked about how great I think the Wii is. Well, now that the newest version of MarioKart is out, Wii is even better.

When you play you are a Nintendo character (i.e. Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, etc.) driving a cart or a motorcycle (with names like the Super Blooper or Sugarscoot). The game comes with a small steering wheel that you put the Wii remote into. The race courses are places like castles, the jungle, a gold mine, and lots of other places from other Mario games. So obviously it doesn't seem "realistic" when you play.

Yet for some reason, after playing the game for a couple of weeks, it sort of changes the way you feel when you are driving your own car. I first realized this when I was a passenger and my husband was driving and muttered under his breath "I need a red shell" in response to the heavy traffic we were in on the highway. (A red shell is an item you pick up while racing that you can hurl at people in front of you. It hits them and knocks them into the air, allowing you to gain on them.) A few days later I found myself in similar traffic, and I honestly had the same thought cross my mind--if I just had a red shell, I could knock this annoying minivan in front of me out of the way.

I've seen recent news stories about concerns over video games being too realistic. The premise is that playing violent video games leads to aggressive and violent behavior in children. I wonder if playing MarioKart could be linked to incidents of road rage in adults?

We Love Wii

There's a reason Wii is the hot gift for the second Christmas in a row. It is awesome.

We're Nintendo fans from way back. I have no interest in any of those blood & gore, super-realistic games about war or stealing cars. Give me Mario busting blocks with his head, going down pipes, and hurling things at Bowser any day. Or MarioKart--one of the most fun games ever.

We moved up from our Game Cube to the Wii last year as soon as it came out. After a couple of weeks of obsessing with the sports game that comes with the system, we moved on to other titles. I said I don't like war/shooting games, but I have to admit I really enjoyed Rayman and shooting plungers at deranged rabbits. Probably the first game I ever totally completed, I'm proud to say.

My current obsession is the long-awaited Mario game: Super Mario Galaxy. I have read that real "gamers" find it a bit too easy, and that unlike past Mario games it doesn't necessarily get harder and harder as you go on. There are difficult levels to be sure, but mixed in are some really easy galaxies. Which is exactly why I am enjoying it so much: I can actually do it! And I'm progressing at a pretty good clip. I did actually sit down to play a couple of weeks ago on a Friday night and the next time I looked at the clock it was 3 hours later. And my left thumb was numb.

It's snowing here, the roads are icing up, and all I can think is that it would be a perfect day to be in front of the TV going after more stars. Hopefully by the time I get home tonight the Wii won't be taken over by someone trying (as he has been for the past YEAR) to finish Zelda...