A Quick Look at Video Game Consoles and the Internet

Hello again, Parents and Gamers!

Some of you may already be well-acquainted with using your video game systems on the internet. I don't doubt that half of you or your little gamer hop on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network at least once a week to either play a game with friends or maybe watch a movie. But of course, there are plenty of parents and gamers alike at that do not use their system on the internet for a number of different reasons. Today's article will be examining some points that you may consider concerning "logging on".

-----------------------------------------------------------

1) What services are available?

• Xbox 360 / Xbox Live:
• Xbox Live is one of the largest internet-based video game service there is. Working through the Xbox 360 video game console, this service not only offers players the opportunity to play games with other players through the internet, but much, much more. Players can watch movies through Netflix, download demos to try games before they buy them, purchase older or independently developed games, buy additional content to add on to their game, chat with friends, watch ESPN, and more.
• PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Network:
• PlayStation Network is the other major hitter in the video-game internet war. Running through the PlayStation 3 console, players are able to play with their friends via the internet as well as a huge range of other options. PlayStation Network users can also watch movies and TV shows through Netflix, access the internet through the console's internet browser (which functions similarly to a browser on your home computer), purchase older or independent games, listen to and download a huge variety of music, purchase additional content for their games, chat with friends, and even access other Sony devices like PlayStation Portable directly through their console.
• Nintendo Wii:
• The Nintendo Wii offers a decent online video game service with two major focuses. First off, with those games that have a focus for online gameplay, players are able to connect to friends around the world and play against them via the internet. Secondly, players are also able to browse a wide variety of video games from Nintendo's past and current libraries and purchase/download them to their console. Additionally, players are able to access additional content for certain titles in order to add to their available gameplay. Players are also able to purchase and download the "Internet Browser" channel that allows them to use their Wii as an internet browser, like that on a computer.

2) How much does it cost?

• Xbox 360 / Xbox Live:
• While Xbox offers a free "Silver" account to try out their services, the real meat and potatoes for this program is through a "Gold" account. While there are a couple of different payment plans, the two majorly accepted ones are on the basis of 3 Months for $24.99 or 12 Months for $59.99, excluding any deals taking place at the time. This cost entitles players to all of the available online services, including online multiplayer gameplay. Games and additional content cost extra to purchase and download.
• PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Network:
• PlayStation Network, as a whole, is completely free to access and use, including multiplayer functionality. From there, a number of extra services, such as "Music Unlimited", Sony's internet-based music service, will have minor memberships fees and cost that very based on the program. Likewise, players will be additional to purchase and download games or additional content from PlayStation Network. Finally, PlayStation Network offers a "PlayStation Plus" membership, which is a paid for version of the online service that not only entitles players to reduced costs and deals on a variety games, content, and more, but it sometimes even gives games to players for free. PlayStation Plus costs $17.99 for 3 Months of $49.99 for 12 Months.
• Nintendo Wii:
• The Nintendo Wii offers free online services to connect and play with others online, however players will expect to pay if they intend to use any extra "channels", or programs on the Wii, such as the Internet Browser, or if they want to download new games or additional content.

3) How do I pay for stuff online?

• Xbox 360 / Xbox Live:
• Xbox Live uses what is referred to as "Microsoft Points"; quite literally a form of online currency that has a direct translation into cash. These points equally out to roughly 800 points to ever $10 USD and are generally used to purchase such things as games or additional content via Xbox Live. These points can be purchased either online or through participating retailers.
• PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Network:
• PlayStation Network favors a direct translation of monetary value. Rather than using an online currency, players are able to simply buy pre-paid cards or transfer funds to their PlayStation Network account and are can see exactly what they have. These pre-paid cards can be located at participating retailers. These funds can be used for a variety of services, including games and additional content.
• Nintendo Wii:
• Nintendo Wii uses a points system called "Nintendo Points" which services as a form of online currency. These points are equal to 100 points to every $1 USD, i.e. 1000 points to $10 USD, on and on, etc. etc. These points are obviously used for the purchase of games and extra content, but are also used to unlock extra "channels", or programs on the Wii, like the "Internet Browser".

4) How easy is it to set up?

• Xbox 360 / Xbox Live:
• Getting everything together to get the initial set-up can be a bit frustrating if you own one of the older models. This system will allow you to either plug in a "Cat-5" Ethernet cable (what is plugged into your internet router) or use a wireless connection if you have Wireless Internet in your house. If you have an older model system (easy to tell by whether or not it says Kinect Ready on it...if it doesn't, than it is an old model) than you will have to acquire a "Network Adapter" in order to use Wireless Internet. Once this is done, players will set up a Network Connection. Once this phase has completed, they will create or hook up to their Xbox Live account (depending on if the account before hand).
• PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Network:
• Relatively simple to get going, rather similar to a laptop. This system can use either a wired Cat-5" Ethernet cable (what is plugged into your internet router) or use wireless internet. Simply go to Network Settings and set it up based on whether your internet will be wired or wireless. Once you have selected the proper network that you want to connect to, the system will very likely want you to perform an update, which it will either do automatically for you or it will simply ask you to hit the "system update" button.
• Nintendo Wii
• Generally incredibly easy so long as you have wireless internet. If you have a wired connection, you will have to acquire a "LAN Adapter" that will plug into the back of the Wii and allow you to use a "Cat-5" Ethernet cable (what is plugged into your internet router). However, once you have established whether you will be going wired or wireless, simply go to "Wii Settings" and select any "Connection" box to set it up. Just follow the instructions on screen and you're all done.

 -----------------------------------------------------------

And that's it for the day! We would like to thank you for joining us again and encourage you to stop by tomorrow for a new article of The News. As always, if you have any questions, simply shoot it to us in an e-mail at the address provided or just leave it in the comment section below. We will get back to you as quick as we can. Thanks again and we hope and have a wonderful day.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Review

Kid Safe: High                     Game Quality: Moderate

Genre: Action/Adventure

-          This game is identified by its action-based tone of gameplay that focuses on one or more characters being faced with a challenge and going on an adventure to solve it through puzzle solving, avoiding obstacles, and battling enemies with multiple forms of weapons and attacks.

Internet Requirements: Low

-          This game features no internet gameplay to speak of, restricting you only to single-player modes. Some extra content will be released for download from the internet at an undetermined point in the future to increase the available gameplay.

Story Summary: In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, you take the role of Starkiller, the ex-apprentice

of Darth Vader who raised him to become a Sith Lord with the intention of killing the remaining Jedi in the galaxy. In this title, it is unclear what happened to Starkiller; however it appears that he was killed and you are now playing as his clone who has been created by Vader to replace this loss. However, much to Vader's disliking, Starkiller is haunted by the memories of his past life and quickly turns on him, escaping from the training facility where he is being held; seeking to reunite with his previous allies and strike back against the man and the Empire that created him.

Kid Safe: High

-          Foul Language: Very Low

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 does not contain any observed instances of foul language.

-          Violence and Gore: Moderate

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 features a moderate amount of Violence and minimal scenes of blood and gore. As a Sith, your character uses lightsabers, a form of laser-sword that can slice cleanly through seemingly anything, as well as "force powers", that range from the ability to throw lightning and electrocute your enemies to the ability to pick them up and throw them without ever touching them. Players will fight Stormtroopers (humanoid enemies in robotic-looking white armor) and can use their lightsabers to slice off their legs, arms, and head; as well as the ability to stab through their chest and stomachs. These attacks do not, however, cause scenes of blood and gore and enemies are injured cleanly without viscera. Players can use "force powers" to elicit screams of fright and pain as they are thrown around or sounds of pain as they are electrocuted. Screams and explosions can be heard all throughout this title.

             

-          Sexually-Related Content: Very Low

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 does not contain any scenes of sexually-related content.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Very Low

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Does not contain any scenes of drug or alcohol usage.
 

             

Game Quality: Moderate

-          Graphics / Visuals: High

o   The graphics and visuals for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is of a generally high quality, however the game suffers from more than a couple of problems. Beginning with the positives, almost everything in this title is glorious to look at. Levels are well-designed and are multi-faceted, often having places that players can go that are not obvious, non-orthodox items that players can use to fight, and extremely interesting ways of navigating obstacles; not to mention the detail that has been put into the world around the level itself. Cloth flows almost realistically, something most games do not do properly. Likewise, the shadowing in this title is equally impressive and adds realistic depth to the world around you. Last, but not least, is concerning the facial animations in the cutscenes, which are comparable to games like Red Dead Redemption in their accuracy to human emotion and lip motion.

o   For the overall impressiveness of the visuals in Force Unleashed 2, the game suffers a frustrating number of glitches. The first, and most noticeable, is that every single time you strike an enemy with a lightsaber, the graphics will slow for roughly half of a second. While this doesn't sound like much, it's aggravating when attempting to do difficult attacks as you are unable to interpret when you need to hit buttons due to the lag in the gameplay. After that, there were several times when, while fighting a stormtrooper, the camera would suddenly lock onto him versus your character and literally follow him wherever he went; leaving you unable to see or control your character. At another time, I found myself hop ontop of a space ship to run across it and literally dropped into the graphics for the space ship, leaving my character sitting inside the programmer's wireframe graphic and literally unable to escape; forcing me to restart from an earlier point.

           

-          Audio: High

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 has a relatively high audio quality, featuring a rather impressive musical score as well as some pretty decent voice acting. To begin, this title continues the Star Wars tradition of having absolutely amazing music. This title features a full musical score comparable to the films with a song/tune for every scene that varies its pace and tempo on the tension of the moment.

o   The voice acting generally equally impressive and demonstrates the skill of many of the actors. The voice talents of Sam Witwer returns as "Starkiller" as well as Matt Sloan with a rather impressive re-mastering of James Earl Jones' rendition as "Darth Vader" and Tom Kane as an equally well-done "Yoda". Almost all of the voice actors nail their lines perfectly, expressing the proper amount of emotion to each scene to really carry their performance without the need of live actors.

o   All voice actors, except for one. Cully Fredricksen as "General Rahm Kota" suffers from a very mixed performance that truly retracts from the gameplay in such a way that it is distracting. While his performances in cutscenes are decent, his performances in the actual game are not. I'm not sure whether it is bad editing or bad acting, but almost every line he says while in gameplay sounds incredibly hollow and strange; with pronunciation placed on the wrong words and syllables and the emotions seeming all wrong. Generally, this wouldn't cause that much of a problem, except that you listen to him, quite literally, through almost the entire game; creating a massive audible distraction.

-          Gameplay / Playability: Moderate

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 is an extremely mixed bag when it comes to gameplay, but we feel that it has a moderate level of quality. First off, there are multiple levels of difficulty that players may choose between to provide them whatever level of challenge suits them; allowing for mediocre players to enjoy the story without suffering and hardcore players to enjoy a challenge. Likewise, whether you played the original game or not, it will provide you full instructions on how to properly use all of your powers in almost every manner that might arise. Players are faced with a fair number of different challenges and puzzles that keeps most of the gameplay fun and engaging. Likewise, there is a host of different kinds of enemies that tend to be very inventive and have their own weaknesses and ways to battle them.

o   While the overall performance of the game is fun, they start to run into problems in the later half of the game. It seems like they ran out of ideas on how to properly handle the title. First, you are placed on a planet called Dagaboh in order to train and learn more about yourself, much like Luke Skywalker did in 5th and 6th film from the Star Wars movies. As a fan myself, my heart jumped at the opportunity to explore the caves and possibly fight my characters "worst fears and problems". What occurred was a one minute scene where you jump your character up onto the path next to your ship and run down it, only to go through several minutes of cutscene and just time skip to the next level without anymore than a one sentence explanation as to what happened. From there, the game attempts to build tension by simply throwing progressively more and more of previously seen enemies rather than coming up with anything new. Finally, the last boss battle with Darth Vader is probably the most boring thing sequence I have ever played; lasting 24 minutes of real time that consisted of the exact same sequence of three events repeated over and over and over as you slowly chip away at his health.
          

-          Dollar-Value: Low

o   Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 has a relatively low dollar-value due to poorly executed and incredibly short gameplay. To start, this game was only about 4 to 6 hours long for the single-player story mode; by far one of the shortest games I have played on the newer consoles. While players can also play challenge modes where they must complete a set gameplay "challenge", these will only last you so long and I found I had completed all of them in less than an hour. Not only that, but when you count the graphical glitches, audio frustrations, and absolutely atrocious gameplay problems later in the game; this title is not worth the $60USD price tag that is currently attached to it.

Recommendations

-          While the concept was good and the kid-friendliness was decent, the delivery was horrible. If you would like to enjoy a good Star Wars title, I can only heavily recommend the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. If you have already enjoyed this title, you might also try out titles like Ratchet and Clank or Jak and Daxter. If you are looking for an equally good and M-Rated title, Devil May Cry, Dante's Inferno, and God of War are also great choices.

Donkey Kong Country: Returns

Donkey Kong Country: Returns Review

Kid Safe: Very High                     Game Quality: Very High

Genre: Two-Dimensional Platformer

-          This game is identified by its play-style. The character operates on a mostly two-dimensional environment, i.e. restrained to up, down, left, and right; in which they most often will run to the right-side of the screen and avoid obstacles and solve puzzles in order to get to the completion of the level/game.

Internet Requirements: Very Low

-          This game features no internet gameplay and is solely restricted to the single-player or multi-player cooperative play style.

Story Summary: In Donkey Kong Country: Returns, you play the role of Donkey Kong and his friend

Diddy Kong who live on the lush, tropical paradise of Banana Island. One day, Banana Island's volcano erupts to release the wild, mind-controlling Tikis that lived within; who use their powers to control all of the animals on Banana Island and force them to steal Donkey Kong's bananas. You must adventure through lush jungles, sunny beaches, and collapsing, ancient ruins to get all of your bananas back and teach those Tikis a lesson they will never forget.

 

Kid Safe: Very High

-          Foul Language: Very Low

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns does not contain any foul language.

-          Violence and Gore: Low

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns contains a low amount of violence and no amount of blood and gore. The violence is depicted through scenes of Donkey Kong jumping on the heads of enemies, causing them disappear, fall off the screen, or crumble into bits of Tiki mask. Other scenes of violence are through Donkey Kong punching Tikis repeatedly in the face and sending them flying off into the distance.

              

-          Sexually-Related Content: Very Low

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns does not contain any sexually related content.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Very Low

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns does not contain any usage of drugs or alcohol.

             

Game Quality: Very High

-          Graphics / Visuals: High

o   The graphics and visuals for Donkey Kong Country: Returns of a generally high quality. To begin, Donkey Kong Country's appearance is extremely pleasing; providing a very bright, colorful, and cartoonish feel that lends to a very fun and upbeat atmosphere. In the opening scene, a Tiki that fails to mesmerize Donkey Kong is beaten up for his attempt in a fashion akin to old Looney Toons cartoons; zooming out to see Donkey Kong's house bouncing and shaking back and forth, up and down as the two characters tustle. Aside from that, some levels are more of a visual treat than others; like one that takes place during sunset where the background is bright with the failing sun and everything in the foreground is black and shadowed on the exception of a the bright red highlighting of Donkey Kong's tie and Diddy Kong's Hat.

o   On top of this, while the gameplay is two-dimensional and players are always running on a single path, there is always something going on in the background. Sometimes the events going on in the background will even effect the player in the foreground as they find explosive barrels that will send them flying around the world, heading "backwards" into the background environments or sending them flying forwards back onto the original path.

o   The only downside to Donkey Kong Country's graphics is that it is sometimes suffers from low resolution textures and a somewhat blurry presentation.

           

-          Audio: Very High

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns features a extremely high quality of audio and sound. These points are best demonstrated through its whimsical use of sound effects as well as its pleasing array of music. To begin, characters do not have any spoken dialogue and, therefore, a great deal of emotion and is displayed through the usage of sound effects. These sound effects are greatly varied, ranging from Donkey Kong's victory hooting and howling to the Tiki's now iconic tune that is played to mesmerize the animals; from the screeching and banging of Donkey Kong riding a broken mine cart to the crashing of a massive tidal wave rolling in to wash him away.

o   Admittedly, however, listening to the sound effects can be a little difficult if you happen to get caught up in the music of this title; the music is just as, if not more, impressive. This game features a score for the entire game and generally has different music for a great number of the individual levels that players will experience. Not only will players hear an impressive remake and re-mastering of the original Donkey Kong Country theme song, they will also hear custom tailored tunes meant to add a spooky atmosphere to levels like "Tidal Terror" or epic chase music as Donkey Kong races away from bomb-throwing moles in "Bomb's Away".

-          Gameplay / Playability: Very High

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns features an impressively high level of quality of gameplay. First off, this title can be one or two players. Those players are also not restricted to a single control-style, and are able to use the Wii Remote with the Nunchuck or just the Wii Remote alone; whatever makes them more comfortable. Likewise, any extraneous controls, on the exception of moving around and jumping, are explained in multiple locations; including when you first start off and anytime you are about to use a special vehicle or item that you have not used in a while.

o   Once you get a hang of the controls, you will find that everything is implemented very well and offers a massive range of gameplay to enjoy. Transitioning from running to rolling to jumping to climbing and to whatever else players might want to do is performed incredibly smoothly. Likewise, players are not limited to simply running and jumping; they will be experiencing everything that Banana Island has to offer including runaway mine carts, trains, rhinos, exploding catapult-like barrels, and even barrel rocket-ships, just to name a few. The levels themselves are often varied as well with players fighting a giant Kraken as it takes over a level, hiding from massive tidal waves, dodging crystals on a runaway mine cart, and fighting a wide variety of "bosses", massive enemies all with one special weakness.

o   The only problem with this title that we really had is that this game has a strange difficulty curve. Where it is generally a very easy and enjoyable play, there are some levels that are just down-right, ridiculously difficult. These are not common, but they were a little frustrating none-the-less. Luckily, if a level is too difficult, the game will actually show you how to play through the level so that you can pass it more easily.
          

-          Dollar-Value: Very High

o   Donkey Kong Country: Returns has an extremely high Dollar-Value and we can only highly recommend it. This title will provide you somewhere between 6 to 10 hours of playtime for the regular "story" playthrough. It will take significantly longer if players would like to find all of the hidden items and unlock all of the special extras in this title. Likewise, players are able to play alone or with a friend/parent, which will only increase the fun as they try and help or hinder each other on their quest through Banana Island. Last, but not least, this title is extremely fun and your dollar will almost certainly go a long ways with Donkey Kong Country: Returns.

Recommendations

-          As Donkey Kong Country: Returns is very Kid Friendly, there is little need for alternate recommendations. However, if you would like to experience a game in similar design, you may wish to look Super Mario Bros. New; it is another remake of an older franchise and equally as fun.

Disney's Epic Mickey

Disney's Epic Mickey Review

Kid Safe: Very High                     Game Quality: Moderate

Genre: Action/Adventure Platformer

-          This game is identified by its action-based tone of gameplay that focuses on one or more characters being faced with a challenge and going on an adventure to solve it. As a "platformer", this title is characterized by the character having to traverse a complex obstacle course consisting of deadly pits and high cliffs that they must reach.

Internet Requirements: Very Low

-          This game features no internet gameplay and is solely restricted to the single-player story.

Story Summary: In Disney's Epic Mickey, player's take the roll of Disney's iconic mouse as he goes on

    one of his biggest adventures yet. After a small accident with paint thinner, Mickey

    creates a monstrous creature of ink called "The Phantom Blot" that drags him into the

    "Wasteland". The Wasteland is a twisted, alternate reality version of Disney's classic

    theme park "Disneyland" that has been created and populated by the forgotten

    remnants of ancient cartoons and is led by Walt Disney's first iconic creation: Oswald

    the Lucky Rabbit. As you play as Mickey, you adventure through the Wasteland,

    meeting and playing through cartoons dating all the way back to the 1920's as you

    attempt to find escape from this twisted world. Your actions will also dictate what

    happens; will you become a hero and free those from the torment of the Wasteland or

    will you fight and brawl your way to the top?

Kid Safe: Very High

-          Foul Language: Very Low

o   Disney's Epic Mickey does not contain any foul or coarse language.

-          Violence and Gore: Low

o   Disney's Epic Mickey contains a low amount of violence. Players are able to jump on enemy's heads and use a "spin move" where they spin quickly and knock enemies back. Players are also able to use Paint and Thinner to either befriend enemies or destroy enemies. The only questionable depiction of violence in this game is when using Thinner against enemies, which results in Thinner acting like acid and causing enemies to slowly dissolve and melt into a bubbling puddle of green goo.

             

-          Sexually-Related Content: Very Low

o   Disney's Epic Mickey does not contain any sexually related content.

-          Use of Drugs and Alcohol: Very Low

o   Disney's Epic Mickey does not contain any usage of drugs or alcohol.

             

Game Quality: Moderate

-          Graphics / Visuals: Moderate

o   The quality of visuals and graphics in Disney's Epic Mickey are of a generally moderate quality. To begin with the good, this title has very imaginative level design and rather impressive visuals. One of the highlights of gameplay is the ability to teleport to other areas in the world by traveling entering a projector playing a certain cartoon, playing through said cartoon, and exiting a projector in another location. This is very interesting for the fact that these levels actually take you through the timeline of the cartoon from beginning to end; a perfect example being Mickey's classic cartoon "Through the Looking Glass" where he steps through his mirror only to adventure across his room that has grown enormous and enchanted with playing cards shuffling themselves and flying about the room. Likewise, the Wasteland is a pleasure for anyone who has ever been to Disneyland as they will recognize the highly animated and twisted versions of some of their favorite attractions including It's a Small World or Main St. (known as Mean St.). Lastly, the cutscenes are truly enchanting due to their hand-drawn nature and beautiful coloring that helps to push the story along.

o   On the other side of the coin, Epic Mickey suffers from some pretty severe graphical problems as well. To begin, while adventuring through cartoons can be extremely fun the first time around; it quickly becomes tedious after the second or third time that you have to play through them because a lot of the cartoon levels are simply rehashes and you will be forced to play the same level over and over and over again. Aside from that, while the visuals are imaginative, they are also very poorly defined. Disney's Epic Mickey suffers from low resolution textures in the game that detract from the enchantment due to a painful presentation that is simply embarrassing compared to the visually stunning titles being released today.

           

-          Audio: High

o   Disney's Epic Mickey features a rather high quality of audio and sound in game. To start, this game truly captures the classic sounds of Walt Disney's Magical Melodies but setting the mood by placing a very heavy emphasis music and ambient sounds. Characters let out happy "Aha's", thoughtful "Hmm's", shocked gasps, or scared squeaks portray characters thoughts and emotions without dialogue. Masterfully orchestrated tunes will gently coax along the story or add shock and splendor to a sudden event, much like the older cartoons.

o   While the audio quality is clear and enjoyable and the lack of dialogue is charming in a nostalgic sense, it is also a problem. Spoken dialogue developed into gameplay (and cartoons for that matter) as it helped carry the story along better. While Epic Mickey has written dialogue to do this, any younger players that do not have a strong reading ability will be left completely in the dust.

-          Gameplay / Playability: Low

o   Sadly, Disney's Epic suffers from a low level of gameplay and playability. This is due to monstrous camera and controller flaws along with very poor instructions on what players need to do. To begin, the camera angle and camera control is absolutely atrocious; what this means is that players are unable to easily redirect the camera so that they can see what they need in order to properly complete challenges and levels.

o   If the camera angles don't utterly frustrate the player, the controls will. Players are ONLY able to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers while a large majority of Wii games today are providing multiple controller options due to the extreme difficulty of controlling adventure games with these two controllers. Aside from that, the actual game controls are generally sluggish and can be a bit unresponsive, making it all the more difficult to complete some of the more difficult sections. One notable problem is how the paint and thinner will often not go where you tell it to and instead you must mess with the controls for a while before you get to go where you need it.

o   Lastly, the complete lack of proper instruction is absolutely infuriating. Most of the controls are explained quickly and then left alone without any further tutorial, with some of the controls not being explained at all; a perfect example being "how to pause the game". After getting playing the title for some time, players will also begin to find that a fair number of levels are provided minimal, if any, explanation on how to beat them. One example that comes to mind is when you must help a phone restore the telephone network by painting in all of the telephone boxes; and that is literally all the explanation you get. There are no hints as to where these boxes are or how to find them and some of them are ridiculously hidden; like one that is literally hidden underground, a place that previously you were unaware you could even go to.
          

-          Dollar-Value: Moderate

o   Disney's Epic Mickey has a moderate dollar value. So long as you can get around the atrocious gameplay problems, you will get a decent amount of playtime for your gaming dollar with roughly 10 to 15 hours of time taken to complete a full playthrough of the story.

o   While you will get a decent amount of play time from Epic Mickey's single player story, that is all you will have available as the game offers no online or multiplayer options. On top of that, while the gameplay is certainly kid friendly, it seems like it's more focused towards an older audience. The game's appeal seems to be bit largely upon nostalgic value and being able to play through what is essentially a massive Disney history lesson rather than anything current that a young audience might be able to identify with. Current characters that children know and love are almost completely devoid from this title and many of the older cartoons lack their original charm due to being seen outside of their humorous context and instead as a more realistic soul wanting pity for being long forgotten.

Recommendations

-          As Disney's Epic Mickey is very Kid Friendly, there is little need for alternate recommendations. However, if you feel uncomfortable due to the technical issues that this title has, Super Mario Galaxy or Legend of Zelda might be better made and more enjoyable alternatives.