The premise Epic Mickey is based in Walt’s animation history. Before Mickey, there was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was Walt’s original animated lead character, but he was owned by Universal. When they pressured him, he abandoned the intellectual property with them, created a new character (Mickey) and started his own studio. This game allows the user to experience Mickey’s realization of his past and enter Oswald’s world.

The primary play mechanic allows the player to either paint the world with the brush or use paint thinner to erase parts of it away. This provides a perfect opportunity to use the Wiimote to interact with the environment. Granting an RPG element to the experience, the world treats Mickey differently depending on which approach he uses. Furthermore, his appearance even changes depending on which tool he uses more – paint or thinner.

I have to admit that this title looks promising enough for this gamer to consider acquiring a Wii for the family. There are plenty of other titles for justification, but there’s something about this one that has really piqued my interest.

The expected release date for Epic Mickey is Fall of 2010. In the meantime, we will keep you posted as more becomes available.

This weekend I was browsing the Web as part of my ongoing quest to learn EVERYTHING and I stumbled across Etsy.com. This is a site where a number of different people/companies offer their handmade creations. I must admit, there is a reporter from Moses Lake, Washington who calls her creative endeavor Digital Soaps and makes some very interesting (wait for it…) soap. If you need some form of incentive to get your kid off the console and into the tub, or if your spouse would get a kick out of such a novelty, I have to say that these are pretty neat. Click below to see even more of these creations!

Click on the Pictures to take you to the appropriate page if you’re interested.

Keep it clean…for Mario’s sake!

Wanna bet that the cat is a big Metal Gear Solid fan?

Stackable soap, how do I love thee…let me count the lines.

No Halo in the tub!

“Bustin’ makes me feel good…” and clean!

Fun in the tub? Wii!!!

And finally, for the comprehensive evolution of gaming cleanliness…

IGN recently named the Nintendo Entertainment System (affectionately known by many as the “NES”) the greatest console of all time. (You can see their countdown HERE.) They followed this announcement with their list of the top 100 NES games of all time. You can see this list HERE. Unlike a number of top lists, these hit home with a parent who grew up with video games as a child. One of the most important things about many of these titles is that they are FUN!

In fact, many of them are so much fun that you can still purchase them and enjoy them via GBA cartridge adaptations and as downloads for the Wii. In fact, over 80 NES titles are available on the Wii’s Virtual Console.

For those of you who may not be convinced, I encourage you to take a look at PlayNES.net. This site allows you to play practically any original Nintendo Entertainment System game online via a web-hosted Flash emulator.

For those of you who know me, I can wax philosophic about the major impact that the NES had on the gaming industry having single-handedly resurrected the video game market after the North American Video Game Crash of the 80s caused by a glut of bad games for the most successful previous system, the Atari VCS (or 2600 as many know it). However, I will spare you my usual litany and, instead, encourage you to just have some fun. What’s more, almost all of these games are very kid-friendly and some even have multiplayer options!

Enjoy!

Game Apparent is based out of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. However, we have always tried to provide insights that would be useful to parents nationwide and even worldwide. Having said that, my wife showed me a publication put out by our local library and it appears that they’re sponsoring a game tournament this summer. What really struck me was that many parents (and even I am guilty of this on occasion) perceive games as a less worthwhile pastime than reading a book. Yet our local library’s page stated the following:

Gaming is huge at the Library! Gaming teaches strategic thinking, encourages cooperation, and is just plain fun.

It’s true! To see more information about the St. Louis Library sponsored Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament Championship, feel free to click HERE. For those of you who don’t live in St. Louis, check out your local library and see if you have similar events planned in your area!

This dad gets points on so many levels.

via ffffound

It’s official. As of THIS PRESS RELEASE The Beatles Rock Band has a release date of September 9th. For those of you who love numerology, that’s 09-09-09! For those of you who are old Beatles fans, you may remember Revolution 9 off of The White Album. Any way you look at it, mid September will be an opportunity for Beatles fans and their families.

Harmonix has created a teaser site HERE and we expect that it will become more realized as the release date approaches.

According to the press release, this is the expected availability and pricing for September 9th:

• The Beatles: Rock Band Software:
- Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $59.99 MSRP
• The Beatles: Rock Band Standalone Guitars:
- Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $99.99 MSRP
• The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle:
- Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, Wii: $249.99 MSRP

Limited edition instruments will be available that represent the Liverpool lads’ choices over the years, so I’d expect (minimally) Paul’s Höfner bass, John’s Rickenbacker, and George’s Gretsch among others. Also, the game is supposed to be compatible with existing Rock Band hardware.

For more information, you can also read THIS ANNOUNCEMENT on MTV’s site too. Come September, you may get to enjoy reliving classic Beatles moments with a little help from your friends!

First – DISCLAIMER – The two titles that I’ll be talking about here are both rated M by the ESRB and are not intended for individuals under the age of 17 years. (You should be able to see the “M” pretty clearly on the covers above!) Having said this, these two Capcom titles are really quite impressive for the older members of your family. They are not recent releases, but they’re currently available new at GameStop for $9.99 each!

Resident Evil 4 (available HERE for $9.99) was originally developed for the Gamecube and was released subsequently for the PS2 and the Wii. Many believe that upon it’s release, RE4 was the most impressive entry to this survival horror franchise and all versions are something to behold. The PS2 version even offers 16:9 480p support for those of you with component cables on your PS2s or backward compatible PS3s. If you’re (not so) patiently waiting for the next installment for the Xbox 360 and PS3, this could keep you creeped out until RE5 hits the store shelves on March 13th.

If you prefer your gaming to be steeped in action rather than horror, you’ll find Devil May Cry 3 (available HERE for $9.99) a treat. This release offers a form of redemption to the franchise. Though the original Devil May Cry was an instant classic on the PS2, the sequel fell a bit flat and lost the sense of style and over-the-top action that had made the first release so compelling. However, DMC 3 brought the thrill back and abandoned the less creative level design and redundancy that plagued the second incarnation. Furthermore, the “Greatest Hits” version of this PS2 title provides even more content. It is a “Special Edition” complete with the ability to play the game as Dante’s brother Vergil, a more forgiving “continue” system, and a less strenuous difficulty overall. The one complaint that many had about the original release of DMC 3 was that it was just too hard. For better or worse, this is no longer the case.

As I said before, these titles are not for the younger ones in the household. But if you have an older teen, or if you yourself are looking for a reason to dust off the PS2 and you missed these when they first released, both titles are an undeniable bargain at this price.

The frugal dad strikes again! Enjoy!

Chris and I have a friend. (Yes, it’s true.) Our friend Kurt has a passion for games that approaches (and in some genres exceeds) our own. In addition to loving games, the three of us share a passion for music. And when these two worlds collide, we have sometimes found gaming nirvana.

These days many enjoy the evolution of music-based games via Guitar Hero and Rock Band. But these are just the latest of many titles in this genre. Frequency and Amplitude were the precursors developed by Harmonix for the PS2. Before these, though, there were a number of wonderful titles including Parappa The Rapper, Dance Dance Revolution, and Bust-a-Groove.

Chris and I are big fans of a Dreamcast classic called Rez. It was later released on the PS2 and most recently resides on Xbox Live. However, Kurt and I were all about an old Dreamcast game called Samba De Amigo. This included purchasing special maraca controllers and having loads of fun.

For those of you that wish to relive the goofy joy (as seen in the video above), Sega has re-released this for the Wii. Though this isn’t breaking news (it’s been out for a while), Amazon’s current pricing is! If you want to pick up the game for $9.98, check out Amazon’s page HERE. Of course, if you are interested in authenticity of the experience, then you’ll have to pickup the Wii Maracas which Amazon lists HERE for $9.99. All-in-all, a lot of musical joy for $20 and unlike the original Dreamcast version, Samba De Amigo for the Wii allows you to download additional songs to add to your gaming experience. (Thanks for passing on the link, Kurty!)

For those of you who are interested in other music gaming experiences in addition to those listed above, I also recommend Donkey Konga (and its sequel) for the Gamecube (which you can enjoy on the Wii), Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (also for the Gamecube), and Taiko Drum Master for the PS2 and Wii.

Perhaps the greatest thing about all of these games is that most of them are intended for 2-4 players. This is great for the kids to get some energy out too. Nothing like the family enjoying a 4-player Donkey Konga marathon. However, if you play a while, expect your hands to ache a bit later.

♪ And we’ll have fun, fun, fun ’til our daddy takes the controller away! ♫

Micro transactions…downloadable content…updates…expansions…whatever you call it, the gaming industry is leveraging online marketplaces to sell additional gaming goodness for less than the cost of a whole new game via your local brick-and-mortar location.

Expansion packs are nothing new with this generation of gaming, however there are a number of factors that are making this a more feasible option for many console players. Right now all of the current generation systems have the ability to store content locally. The Wii uses flash ram. The Xbox 360 has an optional harddrive. Even if you choose to buy the Xbox 360 Arcade without a harddrive, you can add one on later. And all PS3s come with a harddrive. This means that each system has a place to store downloaded content.

Add to this our current economy and finding cost-effective ways to re-vitalize gameplay of your favorite title seems far more frugal than buying a whole new game at full-price which you may or may not enjoy as much. This is an important concept for parents. How many times have you heard a child (yours or another) beg for a game only to realize later that it was a total dissappointment. (Anyone my age remember E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial for the Atari VCS?) The fact is that if you know your child likes a game and you can add new levels to it or add another character which changes the gameplay experience, you get more fun for less than buying another game.

The industry is leveraging this more than ever even to the point that some games are created with the expectation that people will invest more in downloadable enhancements to the game than the original investment in the game itself. Look at the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises. Every week Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony push the latest song packs for these titles through their online marketplaces. Granted, there is logic to extending the value of something you enjoy as long as the original game is worth its initial investment freestanding. My biggest concern is that at some point the industry may choose to release Rock Band 7 with only one demo song per each of 5 genres because they expect you to fully customize the experience. Yet, they will charge the full amount for the title.

Perhaps it’s the cynic in me.

Anyway, for now there are some real interesting options available for all three current generation platforms. Those who have the Xbox 360 who enjoy GTA IV (M-rated – not for the kiddies) are probably excited that Microsoft has secured an exclusive expansion which has an entire new story and characters using the original engine. Burnout Paradise (E10+rated) has offered a number of enhancements on the PS3 and 360 and many were free! And Little Big Planet (E-rated) for the PS3 has a number of costumes and levels available online.

However, LIttle Big Planet offers something which I hope to see more frequently. It presents the ability for the community to create their own content and share it free of charge. This is nothing new to the mod scene for PC games, but it has been much less common on the consoles. I hope that we see more games with this ability because it not only creates additional content with which to enjoy the game, but it opens provides a whole different form of entertainment through the creative process and, thus, offers a whole different type of “play.”

Enjoy!

There’s nothing like hearing your son sing, “I’m Going Faaaast!” only to hear his friend echo the same thing about a major third higher. I got to appreciate this aria this afternoon as my son and his friend enjoyed the Pod Race sequence from Episode I in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

My parents took me to see the original Star Wars (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope) in the summer of 1977. I’ve been a die hard fan of the franchise ever since. As far as the new trilogy (Episodes I-III), one scene has been the source of more videogame content than any other. The Pod Race sequence from Episode I. I own the original Star Wars Episode I Racer for the Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and Star Wars Racer Revenge for the PlayStation 2. I even own Star Wars Super Bombad Racing thanks to a friend who was working at LucasArts during the development of the title. Though each of these is a fairly kid-friendly title based on this part of the film, Lego Star Wars offers a simplified, yet fun re-interpretation.

There’s no question that if you’re looking for more advanced gameplay and a more strategic experience, the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 incarnations of Racer offer much more depth. However, for a kid-friendly dose of speed-based-fun, the simplified version offered in Lego Star Wars is sublime. And keep in mind that it is one level of a larger adventure. Often children can get a little bored with repetitive gameplay (as offered in the racer games themselves). The variation in these comes from unlocking different tracks and characters, but the primary experience is the same: go as fast as you can and avoid all obstacles. The Lego Star Wars games offer platforming, shooting, simplified puzzle-solving, and flying sequences in addition to the Pod Racing. So there’s less of a chance for your child to get bored with one aspect of the game. And even if he/she does, plenty of genres are represented for other gameplay options.

Enjoy!