skylanders spyro's adventure * * * * *

I wasnt sure if I was going to try this one or not. It was clearly designed for kids. On the other hand, growing up in the nineties, I gained a certain affinity for contrived plastic gimmicks designed to be collected by compulsive children. The likes of Monster in My Pocket, Mighty Max, Zoids, Mini Boglins and for the younger 90s crowd, pokemon to name a few. I finally let my inner child win out and am delighted that I did. The game is fun and witty. In this game you are a "portal master". This means that you can place the trapped skylanders (your figures) from our world into the game world to save said game world. This can be done at any time in the game. And swapping out figures is a seamless breeze.

Thats a good thing for many reasons, the first is that specific areas of a given level have "elemental bonuses" if you use a figure of the element. There are also doors that can only be opened by specific "elements" so you change figures often. Each figure stores its own stats as you level up and collect items. This is good because the figures can be used across platforms. So if you want to battle or play co op with a friend on the PC, PS#, Wii, 3DS or 360 you just need to take your figure and it has everything you have done to it and anything you do on your friends console comes home with you. Each character levels up to level 10 with 2 skill trees to pick from. There are 30 figs to collect. The game comes with 3 and you dont need to purchase any more to complete the story. I decided to find my favs and get one from each "element".

The figures themselves are very detailed. In fact I noticed last night that my assassin figures eyes and blades glow in the dark (just like in the game). The story is kid friendly with lots of adult humor moments. This is a game you will enjoy by your self, and your kids will enjoy playing with you.

RAGE * * **

There is something to be said about a hard game. It is fun and gives a good challenge. If a game is too simple there is no sense of accomplishment. Rage is not a hard game. It is IMPOSIBLE... I have uttered the worst words I know as I play that D** sniper level (at the start of the game) time after time after time... So finally I decide to lower the difficulty and give it a go. IT MADE NO CHANGE! ok, so perhaps this is the one game Im not good at sniping, lets give something else a try, lets earn some cash running an errand in a dune buggy on a time limit. After several bad attempts, and a few flawless (no crashing using my boost as often as I can between refills) attempts and a lot more bad words with no success, I decide to try A card Mini game in the local pub. Lets just say it gives the advantage to the player who takes the 2nd turn and you always go first. Just blasting through the story seems to be the only way to go here without wanting to throw your controller through the screen. That being said, I snuck up on a baddy used a pistol scope I purchased at a local weapons outlet store and put the cross hairs square on his head. Did I get a head shot? NO!!! Time and time again with perfect aim and unawares baddys It seems to randomly decide if I deserve a head shot! so far it graced me with ONE. . . . Sure the game looks pretty, but it can be upsetting. Yet for some reason I find myself drawn back...for now. I say, get Borderlands instead. If you already have it, play it again unless you have an anger fetish.
Ok, so how does it play. Well... It is a mesh of fallout and Doom. It has towns to visit with people to talk to and shops, mini games, side quests etc... like any self respecting RPG will have. But it is a fast paced shooter with not as many areas to explore. Getting from mission to mission is in a vast wilderness in a dune buggy that you can upgrade to your liking via shops (only with racing credits, not regular cash). But once you are in the mission area it is more like going down passageways and shooting baddies with secret areas to discover peppered in (what do you expect from the people who bring you Doom and Wolfenstine). There is no skill tree for you or your items. Your weapons upgrade via purchases at shops and you can also purchase alternate ammo for fun effects. You can also build trinkets and bots to assist you once you find the proper parts and buy the instructions.

PS3 vs 360

Ok, a lot of people have strong opinions on this and Ill say off the bat for all those PC guys we all know PC can do better if you have the right system. But that requires a bit more money and maintenance than throwing down cash once (or so you hope) on a counsel and running with it. I own both systems and enjoy each for their own special abilities.

Reliability (TIE)
People say that the 360 (prior to the slim) break more frequently. Well I am on my 2nd unit on both systems. So in my experience they are equal. As far as the slims go (for both systems). The 360 has a 1% fail rate and the ps3 has a 5% fail rate. Both are low numbers that I dont think you need to worry about.

Gimmicks (PS3)
This is the Kinect vs PlayStation Move. Here I find the Move to be more accurate and enjoyable with a better variety of games. now I am talking GAMES here. For workout games the kinects full body tracking tracks your pushups and so on better, but they have really catered to kids and teen girls (I feel). Where as the move has "hard core" games and the fore mentioned kid stuff.

On line capability (360)
The 360 is where you want to go here if you are an avid online gamer. You need to pay for the subscription, but it shows that your money is not going to waste with a more user friendly system (easier to set up matches and find friends) that doesn’t crash on you or take forever to load updates.

Extras (PS3)
Here ps3 is the clear winner with the best 3d Blu-ray player with the best dvd up converter on the market so far.

Visuals and sound (???)
The ps3 has the capability of the best visuals and performance as it is on Blu-ray, but only if the programmers take advantage of it. Most will simply create one port for a game on both systems. So the ps3 exclusive titles are the only place this will really shine. That being said, the PS3 is more difficult to program for (so I hear). For example, Dead Island was more glitchy on the ps3 than the 360 because the programmers were more comfortable with the 360. So a game may come on one Blu-ray disk on ps3 rather than say, 3 dvds on the 360. But dont assume that makes it better.

Controller (360)
seriously Sony.... two analog sticks at the bottom of the controller next to each other. did you think wed never need to use any of the other buttons. Perhaps its just because I owned my 360 for 2 years longer than my ps3, but I just cant seem to make the adjustment well at all.

Exclusive titles (???)
What do you like to play. It seems that out the gate PS3 had more RPGs and Racers and 360 had more shooters. both have sort of expanded a bit, but I think 360 still makes a better shooter and ps3 makes a better racer.

Kid friendly (here comes a curve ball)
I say get a Wii if you want kid games. Kinect is to complicated for my younger kiddos to navigate menus. Mostly because when the kids are playing there is way too much motion going on and confusing the poor thing. Like my 2 year old is running around the room, or my 4 yr old up and down with excitement while her 5 yr old sister trys ever so hard to control the menus. It also has problems finding small people in some games. ps move controllers are too expensive for kiddos to get all sticky and you cringe to see them throw them down. Wii has a great stock of good games for kids, and the less expensive (and sometimes free with the purchase of select games) controllers come with a super padded gel case!

Well there you have it. I guess you can see why I have both. I also own a Wii. but thats just for my Zelda and classic gaming fix. The only people who need a Wii need it for nostalgia playing, or for younger kids.