Mom's Minute

Cars 2:  Now Available for Nintendo 3DS

Source of News: Financial Post, Business Wire, November 1, 2011

Article:  Disney Pixar's Cars 2: The Video Game is Now Available for the Nintendo 3DS

Disney has announced that Cars 2:  The Video Game  is now available for the Nintendo 3DS. 

According to Javier Ferreira, Senior Vice President of Publishing, Disney Interactive Media Group, Cars 2 in 3D will bring a sense of height and depth to the game -- just in time for the holidays.  This game is expected to bring eye-popping game play through  3D action.  Also you will be able to use "street pass" communication to  unlock and share skins. Additionally, Cars 2  features a multiplayer option for up to 4 players.

Here is a picture of the Cars 2 video game for the Nintendo 3DS.

Cars 2 for the Nintendo 3DS

Cars 2 is also available on the Xbox 360, Nintendo WII, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS as well as the PC and Mac.

Ms. H's take:   I saw the Cars 2 movie  a while back.  I'm interested to find out how the movie premise was integrated into the video game, especially in using 3D.

I recall the movie has a spy type theme with of course, racing at the forefront.  With these two combinations, and more, I  think a lot of creativity was used for the game play!  

I  like the fact that Avalance Software collaborated with filmmakers at Pixar Animation Studios in the development of Cars 2 for the Nintendo 3DS.  These creative collaborations should result in a fun game!  

My minute is up!  Thanks for visiting my website! I appreciate that you stopped by!  Come back soon!

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Ms. H

"Ms. H Equals Win!"

NBA 2K12

Source of News: Forbes, John Gaudiosi, October 28, 2011

Article:  Nike Says Video Games Like 2K Sports' NBA 2K12 Helps Sell Basketball Shoes

By not having Electronics Arts (EA)  as a competitor this year, NBA 2K Sports sold  5.5 million copies of NBA 2K11.  

However, sales of the latest version of the game, NBA 2K12,  took a slight dive in copies sold due to the current  NBA lock out.

In fact, there was a boomerang effect from the NBA lock out -- directly to NBA 2K12 and indirectly  to another company -- Nike.

Apparently Nike uses the realism, HD quality of the shoes worn by the basketball players in the games, as a method to spur sales.

There is a feature in the game where a player can customize the shoes worn by the basketball player.  When the game basketball players  wear authentic NBA uniforms and shoes, the video game playing experience is much more real.

It is Nike's thinking that maybe you,  the video game player will be enticed to buy a pair of the Nike basket ball shoes worn by the players, either for yourself, or for someone else.

Here is the Xbox 360  video cover for NBA 2K12.

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Ms. H's take: Nike is using "product placement" mentality  when having their shoes worn prominently by NBA basketball players in NBA 2K.  This is another form of advertising and is within their right as a business for profit. As long as there is no "spamming", I have no problem with this.

I actually played NBA 2k11 basketball, which i enjoyed!

Both EA and 2K Sports are expected to have their basketball video games out for the 2012-2013 season!  Maybe I will be able to play one or both of these games for you and give you my review!

My minute is up!  Thanks for visiting my website.  I look forward to bringing you more video game news!

Please follow me on Twitter under my Twitter name, "MsHequalswin!"

Bye now,

Source of News:  The DePaulia, Tom Harrison

Article:  Anti-Pirating Software Punishes Customers - Not Pirates

Disclaimer:  I am confident that you are not a party to the actions described below.  In keeping with Halloween, I decided to use an article on pirating as a basis for my video game news today. .

As we all know, Halloween brings out lots of different costumed characters, including superheroes, villaiins, ghosts, pirates, and others.  Of these characters, my focus will be on the pirates.

The majority of time, pirates in the movies seek to find treasures, sometimes buried, sometimes not -- that belong to or is the inheritance of someone else, other than themselves.  Did you know this term can be used for the wrongful taking and use of PC video games?

According to the author of this article, pirating of PC games is unfortunately rampant.  Developers are now using Digital Rights Management (DRM) which is a  non-removeable anti-pirating software that limits the use of the content of PC games.  

The upside of this is if you play  video games mostly on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 instead of PCs, pirating is irrelevant. Also all PC games are not pirated.

For PC video game players,  companies are coming up with solutions to combat pirating. For example, there is a multiplayer PC game, "Team Fortress 2" by Valve Software that has been updated periodically for free. The free updates are unavailable to pirates, and  the legitimate version has more content than the PC game that may have been pirated previously.

Here is a scene from the Team Fortess 2 PC video game.  

Team Fortress 2

Ms. H's take.  Pirating of PC games is wrong.  Let's see pirates in movies, television, and in fun Halloween costumes!

Pirates of the Carribean  

Happy Halloween everybody!

Enjoy your Halloween festivities,  Be safe and have fun!  Remember to give treats -- No tricks!

Thanks for visiting my website!  Come back soon for more video game news!

Please follow me on Twitter under my Twitter name, "MsHequalswin!"

Bye now,

Ms. H

"Ms. H Equals Win!"

Resistance 3 for the PS 3

Source of News:  AFP, Glenn Chapman, October 27, 2011

Article:  Video Game Makers Prepare Barrage of Blockbusters

Have you noticed all the video game commercials and ads lately!  The past few days,  I've seen many creative commercials for video games such as Dance Central 2 for the Kinect, Battlefield 3, and, Batman: Arkham City -- just to name a few.  I was not surprised that a barrage of video games, especially near the Holidays, is the topic of a video game news article!

Just as there are sometimes lots of runnings for the best picture for the Oscars or the Academy Awards, the jury is still out, in my opinion as to the game that will take the honors as the best game of the year.  It would be great if more than one game could be selected!

The video game makers are bringing out lots of "big gun" video games for your gaming pleasure in competition for your gaming dollars! The good thing about this competition, is that with such a wide variety of exciting games to choose from, you, as a potential customer,  will certainly emerge victoriously as the winner!

Would you like to know which  games will be vying for your video game playing dollars?  There are quite a lot of them!  Here is a partial list (in no particular order).  There are many, many more!

     1.  Battlefield 3:  Released  October 24, 2011 -- Broke first shooter sales records when released!

     2.  Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3:  -- Eagerly anticipated! COD hits the shelves early November, 2011!

     3.  Batman: Arkham City:  Released October 18, 2011.  PC release date is November 18, 2011! Met rave reviews!

     4.  Resistance 3 (pictured):  Made exclusively for the PS 3! Released September 6, 2011!

     5.  Sims:  Electronic Arts has added a pet-themed version to this game!

     6.  Rage:  Blends brilliant graphics with action! Released October 4, 2011! 

     7.  Uncharted 3:  Drakes Deception. Due out November 1, 2011! Contender for video game of the year! 

     8.  Assassin's Creed:  Due out mid November 2011!

     9.  Saint's Row The Third:  Due out mid November 2011!

     10. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom!  Due out mid November 2011!

     11.  Need for Speed: Due out mid November 2011!

     12. The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim: Due out November 2011!

Here are pictures of some of the video  game covers.

Battlefield 3

Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3

Batman:  Arkham City

Uncharted 3:  Drake's Deception

Ms. H 's take: Enjoy!  Entertaining video games are all Oscar winners in my book!

My minute is up!  Thanks for visiting my website.  I appreciate that you visited my website!  Come back very soon!

Please follow me on Twitter under my Twitter name "MsHequalswin!"

Bye now,

Ms. H

"Ms. H Equals Win!"

Doom 3

Source of News:  Mashable Entertainment:  Chelsea Stark, October 29, 2011

Article:  Top 7 Scary Video Games To Play This Halloween

The author of this article lists the top 7 scary Halloween games you may want to play this Halloween as follow:

1.  Resident Evil:  The first Resident Evil game, which she says was different from the shooter zombies games the current Resident Evil game has morphed to. She described the first game as a "survival horror" game.

2.  Dead Space:  Dead Space, available on the Xbox 360, where reanimated aliens chase down the crew of a mining ship.

3.  System Shock 2:  A game similar to Bioshock. There are lots of monstrous enemies, which may include the character you are trying to protect.  On top of that, you have limited ammo.

4   Silent Hill 2:  The author is highlighting the second series, since she says is the scariest, with lots of dark spaces, and a few flashlights and limited weapons.

5.  Amnesia:  The Dark Descent:  In this PC game, the character has lost all memory, and is trying to regain it while exploring a twisted, nightmare castle.

6.  Doom 3 (pictured above):  This game is an action packed shooter for the PC and Mac.  In addition to having lots of scary sounds, sometimes you have to choose between a weapon and a flashlight as your only source of light.

7.  Fatal Frame III. The main character has dreams that eventually become more real  where ghosts abound.

Here are pictures for the video games.

Resident Evil

Dead Space

System Shock

Silent Hill 2

Amnesia:  The Dark Descent

Fatal Frame III

Of course, you may have your own list of the top 7 scary video games.  With so many video games available, I'm sure there are quite a number that would fall into the scary category!

Ms. H's take:  Of the games listed above, the one I played not too long ago was Dead Space.  I believe I played the demo, so the part I played did not seem scary to me.

I am a little surprised to see a WII game listed in the scary category.  The author states this game (Fatal Frame III) is more of a psychological thriller instead of an outright frightful video game! 

Maybe you have a favorite game you plan to play on Halloween.  If you do not yet have one, there are still a few days to get a game before the bewitching hours begin on October 31!

Happy pre-Halloween everyone!

My minute is up!  Thanks for visiting my website.  Come back soon for all the exciting video game news I will share with you!

Please follow me on Twitter under my Twitter name "MsHequals win!"

Bye now,

Ms. H

"Ms. H Equals Win!"