Petz Nursery 2 for Nintendo DS

 

Petz Nursery 2 is the latest in the series of Nintendo DS games by Ubisoft that let players care for virtual baby animals. It’s one of Kaitlyn’s favorite DS games because of the cute baby animals she gets to take care of.   There are 22 baby “petz” to unlock in this game. Along with puppies and kittens, you’ll eventually unlock polar bears, wolf cubs, ducklings, piglets, baby pandas, tiger cubs, even four different breeds of penguins!

One difference between this game and the original Petz Nursery is the ability to take care of two animals at the same time. It’s so cute to watch them meet each other,  play together and they even try to eat each other’s food! Every time that happens Kaitlyn cracks up!

Petz Nursery 2 has players care for their petz, which means feeding them, playing with them, giving them a shower, teaching them to crawl, and putting them to sleep. Kaitlyn’s favorite activities are giving the petz their shower, blowing up balloons by blowing into the DS microphone,  and playing a game where you shake a rattle to get the petz attention. The longer you keep them happy, the more they grow!

I recommend Petz Nursery 2 for ages five and up.It’s rated “E” for everyone. Suggested retail price is $29.99 but it’s only $18.99 from Amazon.com. Note-the links in this post are my Amazon affiliate links so if you click them to make a purchase, I earn a small commission which helps support my fancy coffee drink habit :)

 

 

 

Upcoming Release – Nickelodeon Fit for the Wii

I just found out about a new game coming for the Nintendo Wii that combines characters kids love from Nickelodeon with fun physical activity! Kids can jump rope with The Backyardigans, go river rafting with Diego, leap over hurdles with Kai-lan, and pogo stick with Dora in a new, youth fitness product exclusively for the Wii – Nickelodeon Fit. Scheduled for release this fall, Nickelodeon Fit is a new way for kids to stay physically active as they exercise and engage with their favorite characters, all together in a video game for the first time!

Nickelodeon Fit features 30 exercise games targeting cardiovascular activity, core muscles, upper and lower body strength, balance, motor skill development and foot and hand-eye coordination. Using either the Wii Remote™ or the Wii Balance Board™ accessory, kids engage in several physically challenging activities.

Watch for Nickelodeon Fit for the Nintendo Wii to be available this Fall!

Shrek Forever After Game and Books

Did you see Shrek Forever After? I really enjoyed it! It was great to see all the characters come together again for a new adventure. Thanks to MomCentral, I got to play the new Shrek Forever After game for Xbox 360, and also got the Shrek Forever After movie Storybook and a set of Shrek Forever After Mad Libs!

ShrekGameShrekStorybookShrekMadLibs

It’s hard for me to find Xbox 360 games that I enjoy playing, because I’m not at all interested in first person shooter games. I want to solve puzzles, I don’t mind fighting bad guys, but I don’t want splattering blood and all that. Shrek Forever After is a PERFECT family video game because it’s all about solving puzzles in a fun, cooperative way.

In the game, you control four characters – Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots. One player can switch back and forth between all four, or up to four people can play at once. Each character has their own special abilities and they will often have to work together to solve a puzzle. For example, only Shrek can carry heavy things, and only Puss in Boots can climb up walls. There is fighting, but defeating bad guys means they go *poof* and leave behind health and coins for the characters to collect.

I’ll confess to having to look up a walkthrough for this game a few times; some of the puzzles require really thinking about which characters need to do what in what order, and there are also times where you can’t do something yet because you haven’t unlocked that ability. So you’ll find yourself going back and forth between the different lands completing tasks as you pick up new skills.

Overall, Shrek Forever After is a video game I recommend for families who game together. It’s available for Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Nintendo DS, and PC.

Continue the fun by also picking up the Shrek Forever After storybook or the Mad Libs, both are available at Barnes & Noble.  And if you can, see the movie in a theater, it’s really great!

disclosure: as mentioned above, I received products through MomCentral to facilitate this review. As always, these are my opinions only.