I recently picked up Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It is a pretty good game. It is very remnant of Batman: Arkham Asylum. There are lots of thugs you can work on getting combos on and has achievements just like the Batman game. It also has Spider sense view which is just like Detective Mode in Batman: Arkham Asylum in both good and bad ways. The Spider Sense view lets you focus on the enemies, objects to pick up and places to go. But just like in the Batman game going into this view it hides all the great colors in the game which is really disappointing. I think the developers put a lot of time into making the game look great and you spend more than 80% of the game not being able to enjoy it. Spider Sense also lets you detect oncoming trouble or where you should break down a wall. A lot of the game is standard stuff. Move through a level collect items that you can use to power up your character.

In the game you play as 4 different Spider-Men. The Amazing Spider-Man is voiced by Neil Patrick Harris.

In the game you play 13 different bosses. I won’t mention them all so as to not spoil it, but I will mention one. Carnage. I love Carnage. I have since he was first introduced in the comics, but he rarely shows up and you usually get Venom instead. Don’t get me wrong I love Venom too, but I guess since Carnage doesn’t show up as often it nice to see him and I enjoy his appearances more. One final cameo I will mention is Spider-Ham. Great to see the developers of this game really throwing in a lot of characters.

One thing I didn’t like about this game, that really a lot of games suffer from, is Spider-Man’s little quips to the enemies can get repetitive really quick, especially if you lose to a boss and have to play him again (not that I did that )

Overall it is a game worth picking it up and I would give it an 8.5.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village Forum is a very good game. It is full of logic puzzles of all sorts there are word puzzles and picture puzzles. It provides hours of entertainment. If the puzzles are to hard you can buy hints with picarats you earn throught the game. I would recommend if for 4th or 5th grade and up. Of course it is very fun for adults. I myself have put lots of hours into it. I would give this game a 9 of 10. The replay value is very low because the puzzles aren’t very much fun if you know the answer, but still very worth the investment.

Here’s what I’ve seen so far, for ranks on Halo Reach Beta








Private Private Grade 1 Corporal Corporal Grade 1 Sergeant Sergeant Grade 1 Sergeant Grade 2 Warrant Officer Warrant Officer Grade 1 Warrant Officer Grade 2 Warrant Officer Grade 3

I have been playing through New Super Mario Brothers Wii with my boys. This can be both a fun and frustrating experience depending on how you play the game. I will share with you a few tips to make New Super Mario Brothers Wii fun that also apply to life as well.

• Don’t Steal – In Mario share mushrooms, flowers, stars, etc. You might be able to get them all this time, but the next time they appear, you can be sure, no one is gonna share them with you. In life pretty much everyone is guilty of this in one way or another.
• Don’t Kill – In Mario don’t pick your friend up and throw them in a hole, if you do you better believe you will be thrown in a hole soon enough as well. In life this kinda goes without saying, although some people do need to be reminded.
• Work as a Team – In Mario don’t run ahead, trying to blaze through the level as your teammates many times die from this. Many star coins are much easier to acquire if you jump on each others heads. It also helps to attack enemies as a team. Or in a ghost house to have one player face each way so the ghosts don’t come at you, until you need them to move out of the way. In life almost everything we do can be accomplished quicker and with better outcome if you work together with others.
• It’s the Journey not the Destination – In Mario you can use warp tunnels to get to the end, but then you miss all the interesting worlds along the way. In life, death is the destination, that’s no fun life is the journey. Always remember Rule #32: Enjoy the little things. When you are going on a road trip somewhere, don’t forget to make fun stops along the way, this makes the whole experience much more enjoyable for everyone.
• There is More than one Way – In Mario there many levels have more than one exit. In the worlds there are many paths you can choose. In life this is abundantly clear. Think about making something as simple as a hot dog. Easily 4 ways to cook it: microwave, pan fry, boil, grill. And the toppings, there is just a never ending list of what to serve a hot dog with. Someone else might do something differently than you, but that doesn’t mean they are wrong about it.
• Perseverance is Rewarding – In Mario getting all the star coins takes time, but it also opens up a new world to explore. In life many things take time, cooking a nice meal, teaching your son to play catch, learning how to ride a bike, but the payoff is worth it and then some.

I’ve been playing through The Beatles Rock Band this week. I am enjoying getting to play a bunch of new songs. I played Rock Band 2 last week, and it didn’t hold my interest nearly as much, I think mainly just because I have played Rock Band way too much. I have downloaded lots of songs for Rock Band & Rock Band 2, but I think there comes a point where you can’t just keep playing the same songs. I am somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 songs between Rock Band 1&2 and the DLC. Playing through the first four venues of story mode in The Beatles Rock Band is definitely a treat. But then you get into Abbey Road which is definitely a shift in the music. Mostly trippy weirdness “I Am the Walrus” & “Octopus’s Garden” come to mind. There are some high points “With a Little Help from My Friends” & “Revolution” are very good. By the time “Here Comes the Sun” comes around in it such a welcome breath of fresh air and thankfully the end of Abbey Road Studios. Next along comes Rooftop Concert, ending with “Get Back”, which I think actually means get back to the first four venues because they are much better than the last four venues. The Beatles Rock Band is also a bright (literally) change from Rock Band 1 & 2, with lots of colors that you would expect from the 60′s, since The Beatles arrived just before color television started exploding. I give this game a 7 out of 10. If you are a Beatles fan to begin with, you can probably add a point. If the game allowed you to import all your DLC into it, I would add 1.5 points. Really nothing would be better than playing Nirvana’s “In Bloom” as The Beatles in the Ed Sullivan Theater. I know “In Bloom” is not available as DLC, but if The Beatles Rock Band allowed other DLC, I am sure it would be the first song Harmonix released.