Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

July 13, 2015July 7, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Teenage. Mutant. Ninja. Turtles. With the recent reboot of the movie, which came out in 2014 starring Megan Fox, and the fact that our summer reading program is superheroes, people of all ages seem to be asking for more information about these pizza-loving, crime-fighting superheroes. Seeing as I like the out-of-the-ordinary superheroes, I found myself looking more into TMNT and their many different reboots. One of the games I found was the 2013 release of Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for the Wii. (This game is also available on 3DS and Xbox 360.)

Now I must admit that I am a fan of the 1987-1996 run of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show, as I grew up watching them and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers at my neighbor’s house, so my review may be a bit skewed. (Find Season One of TMNT here.)Nonetheless, I shall prevail. Graphics aside, which is where my major grumpiness resides with this game as they differ from the original, this game is still entertaining to play. Having seen episodes of the Nickelodeon show, I can say that the characters in this game move just like the characters in the show, flying through the air battling bad guys and chowing down on pizza to get their health back. Players are allowed to choose which of the four turtles they wish to play as with, of course, the option being that you can play with as many as four players. This game was clearly marketed and more or less made for younger children to play, but there are elements that will draw in older fans of the show as well.

The graphics are good, but not amazing, similar to the Nickelodeon show. There are fifteen different action-packed levels for players to maneuver through, as well as more than twelve different environments of play to muck through, be they subways, city streets, sewers, docks, and many more. Fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, both young and old, will enjoy playing this game as they battle to stop Shredder and the Kraang from unleashing a mutagen bomb that, if detonated, will turn the hapless residents of New York City into mindless mutants.

If you’re interested in being a green superhero for a little while, join Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, as they battle to save New York. Booyakasha!

Carnival Games

June 12, 2015June 10, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Summer is my favorite time of year. School is out, the weather is getting warmer, summer reading programs begin, and the best part of summer starts: carnival time! Fairs, carnivals, and rodeos are my favorite way to spend a hot summer night with friends. Confession: I am not very good at carnival games. My hand-eye coordination is, to put it politely, lacking. This does not lessen my desire to play and actually makes me strive to become better every year. My newest way to practice, besides going to the arcade or setting up a mini-carnival with the kids in my neighborhood, is to play Carnival Games, a videogame available at the Davenport Public Library for the Wii.

You may be wondering how playing a videogame actually prepares you to play real carnival games. The use of the Wii remote, instead of a regular game controller, allows players to practice the motion as they are throwing the sledgehammer to test their strength, as they are throwing the ball in Skee Ball, or even as they are trying to dunk someone at the dunk tank. One major bonus to this game is that it allows up to four players to play at a time, which makes each carnival game more of a competition, just like a real carnival! Carnival Games offers over 25 different games of chance and skill that can be found at carnivals across the nation. In addition to allowing players to customize and accessorize their own character, this game revels in the carnival spirit: with bright lights, patterns, and people of all kinds milling around the game.

Check out this game today and play games like Balloon Darts, Ring Toss, Hole in One, Shooting Gallery, Meter-O-Love, and many more. And if you’re lucky, you will beat the rest of the people you are playing against and win one of the over 250 virtual prizes available.

Pet Pals: Animal Doctor

May 28, 2015May 23, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

All throughout college, my teachers told me that the best way to entice a child to learn was to make learning fun. You’d also get bonus points as a teacher if you could trick kids into learning without them even knowing it. One of the best ways that I have found to do this is to slip that learning to them in the form of a video game or even a classic novel that has been re-done as an illustrated graphic novel.

As I was searching for new titles to intrigue the kids I know, I stumbled upon Pet Pals: Animal Doctor, a game available for the Wii. It allows players to pretend they are a veterinarian and perform surgeries using the Wii remote. What I found most interesting about this game is that the level of learning is high. More than thirty medical cases, that are based on real events, are presented within this game with mini- and micro-games that allow players to play, feed, and clean the animals and to also perform some specialized procedures. Players will be able to operate and interact with a variety of animals that range from the familiar to the exotic. This game won the Editor’s Choice Award of Excellence from the Children’s Technology Review and also the Parents’ Choice Silver Award.

The Lego Movie: Videogame

May 14, 2015May 8, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

The Lego Movie Videogame lets players act out as Emmet, the main character in the Lego Movie. Emmet’s ordinary, perfectly normal, and rule-following life is completely disrupted when he is mistaken as the Special, the key, the one person who can save the world. People who have seen The Lego Movie will recognize the plot of the movie as being the plot line in the video game as well. After he is seen as the Special, he is thrust in with a group of strangers to help them stop evil Lord Business as he tries to put his evil plans into action.

The Lego Movie Videogame allows two players to play at once as they travel through 15 levels of play. You are also allowed to play as a variety of different characters, but only after that character is introduced into play. Playing as a different character lets you use that character’s specific skill set to help Emmet on his quest. In order to save the world, players build AWESOME creations to defend themselves. Everything is made of Lego bricks and players are transported into the Lego World as Emmet and his friends battle to stop evil Lord Business.

This game is also available for Nintendo 3DS, XBox 360, and WiiU.

Pac-Man Party

May 6, 2015May 4, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

I love old/classic/retro video games. This can be attributed to my father. When I was little, he used to come home from the store with joystick retro video game consoles that had to be plugged into the front of the VCR for us to play. We also used to visit a restaurant in town once a week that had old pinball machines and other arcade games in the basement that we would play for hours on end. My favorite to play was Pac-Man. (Things got a little dicey when you added Ms. Pac-Man into the mix, as no one really wanted to be stuck playing as her…)

In 2010, as a celebration of 30 years of Pac-Man, Namco released Pac-Man Party and I was one of the many who purchased the game for the Wii. So did the Davenport Public Library! If you have grown nostalgic for the “Wakka Wakka Wakka” sound, check out Pac-Man Party. The whole game is set up as Pac-Man’s birthday party. In addition to offering the classic 1980s arcade games for Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, and Galaga, Pac-Man Party also strives to appeal to those not familiar with the classic Pac-Man game by including mini-games and challenges for up to four players. You won’t get bored playing Pac-Man Party as there are 45 mini-games available and three different modes accessible to play. So gather up your closest friends and family members and challenge them to see who can survive the longest as Pac-Man. Let the games begin!

Michael Jackson: The Experience

April 21, 2015April 13, 2015 - Stephanie Leave a comment

Now that it’s finally spring, it is time for “the wiggles” to come out. This happens every year when the weather gets nice outside and kids are fit to bursting to do anything outside. But what about those rainy spring days when they’re stuck inside? I turn to video games, but ones that people of all ages can enjoy playing (and ones that *hopefully* won’t lead to fighting matches between the players).

My favorite go-to games like this are any of the singing and dancing ones. I just discovered Michael Jackson: The Experience and was pleasantly surprised with the game as a whole. This Wii game allows four players to play with the only requirement being that each has a Wii remote.

If you want to practice your moves before you compete against your friends, the game offers a practice space in Video Training mode. This game also allows you to battle your friends in a Challenge Mode, have the other players be your back-up dancers, or even make your own dance crew. Dance along with Michael to 26 of his iconic hits that range from “Beat It” to “Billie Jean” to “Smooth Criminal”.

So next time it’s rainy outside or you need a new distraction, head to the library and check out our collection of musical video games.

Video Games for Fitness and Fun!

June 11, 2012May 31, 2012 - Ann Leave a comment

Looking for something for your kids to do now that school is out? The library has lots of new video games available for checkout. You might even find one you would like to play yourself! Here are just a few of our newest titles:

Mario Party 8

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

GoldenEye 007 Reloaded

Disney Universe

Madden NFL 11

Just Dance Summer Party

Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7

NBA 2K12

And thanks to a grant from Genesis to support health and wellness, the Eastern Avenue Branch also has several new video games that will help you get in shape! Here are some of our newest games for the Wii, Xbox 360 Kinect, and PlayStation Move that will keep the whole family active:

Zumba Fitness and Zumba Fitness 2

Wii Sports

Wii Fit Plus

Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout

ExerBeat

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum

Nickelodeon Fit

My Fitness Coach

Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports 2

The Biggest Loser Challenge

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved

The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout

Jillian Michaels Fitness Adventure

Get Fit with Mel B

….and more!

New Video Games at Your Library!

January 25, 2012January 16, 2012 - Ann Leave a comment

Did you or your kids get a Wii, XBox 360, or PlayStation 3 for Christmas? Instead of spending tons of money to buy new games for your system, check them out from the library for free! Here are some of the latest additions to our video game collection:

Batman: Arkham City

Super Paper Mario

Just Dance 3

Lego Star Wars III

Portal 2

Hasbro Family Game Night 3

Plants Vs. Zombies

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions

Uncharted 3

Bakugan: Defenders of the Core

Mario Strikers Charged

NBA 2K11

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Goldeneye

Tomb Raider Trilogy

Epic Mickey

Super Mario Galaxy

We have lots of older games for all three systems as well, so feel free to search our catalog or stop by any of our three locations to see what we’ve got!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

November 4, 2011November 3, 2011 - Ann Leave a comment

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is set in the year 2044 when technology has reached a peak and people don’t interact much in the real world anymore. Instead, they interact in the OASIS, a virtual reality utopia where you can be whoever and whatever you want. Created by wealthy programmer James Halliday, the OASIS has become the real world to many people, since the actual real world is in shambles following the great energy crisis. After Halliday’s death, a video will is released with a challenge: whoever can find the hidden “Easter egg” that Halliday left in the OASIS will inherit his company and his entire fortune. The hunt quickly becomes an obsession for the whole world, including teenager Wade Watts. Wade has lived in a trailer with his drugged-out aunt ever since the death of his parents and has studied Halliday’s life relentlessly in hopes of figuring out the clues Halliday left behind in order to find the Easter egg and create a better life for himself.

If you like advenuture and quest stories, Ready Player One is a really fun and unique one, since it basically all takes place inside a video game. It’s especially fun if you have fond memories of the pop culture of the 1980s. Halliday was obsessed with ’80s pop culture and included a lot of it in his clues, so all the best movies and video games of the decade are very well represented. It’s also really fun as a fan of “geeky stuff” to hear pretty much all of your favorite things referenced (I couldn’t help but get excited that Wade’s OASIS character was riding around in a Firefly-class spaceship).

The book also has a lot of suspenseful moments as Wade tries to become the one to find the Easter egg. One of the biggest corporations in the world, called IOI, has entered the quest for the egg in an effort to gain ownership of the OASIS and start charging for use of it. Wade and his friends (including love interest Art3mis and his mysterious best friend Aech, neither of whom Wade has ever met in person) are racing to beat IOI to the Easter egg in order to preserve the OASIS that they have known and loved for so long. Overall, Ready Player One is an inspiring story about the little guy trying to overtake Goliath and make a better life for himself and the people around him. It’s very affirming for fans of “geek culture”, and it teaches that being yourself and having a little perseverence can get you pretty far. And of course, it’s a really fun story that I would highly recommend.

Video Games at your Library!

April 27, 2011April 19, 2011 - Ann Leave a comment

It’s getting pretty expensive to buy video games, and it’s always a disappointment when you buy one only to find out that it’s not that great. So why not try them out for free? The library recently added a lot of new video games to our collections at all three locations! We’ve got games for the Wii, XBox 360, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3. And they’re not all just for kids; we have games that teens and adults can enjoy as well!

Our video games can’t be placed on hold, but you can stop into any of our locations to see if they are available. Just check with a staff member who can point you in the right direction.

Here are just a few of our newest games: