video games for kids Archives - Have Sippy Will Travel

Skylanders Trap Team

December 20, 2014 by Samantha 7 Comments

Disclosure- We received the below in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are our own and honest.

Skylanders are here again? Still? Either way the new Trap Team game is a blast to play. Not only for adults but also for kids. This is one of those games that will bring parents and children together in the same game with the same goals and game play. The controls are simple, jump, attack, explore, with special powers unlocked the more you play. Trap Team takes this familiar game play of the previous Skylanders games and adds a new element, the traps. Traps come in many different types all of which can be used to capture enemies in the game and change them into your own playable characters. This includes for the first time Kaos himself. This element doesn’t sound like much to the uninitiated but it is actually great fun with added sound effects and voices which come from the portla itself as your new conquests are sucked into the trap crystal.
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Filed Under: entertainment, evergreen, gaming, Holiday Gift Guide, technology Tagged With: gamily video games, gaming, skylanders, video games, video games for kids

Mario Kart 8

July 1, 2014 by Samantha 1 Comment

Mario Kart is back and in a huge way. With HD graphics, anti-gravity driving, and 30 characters, the game is packed to the brim with fun. Mario Kart has always been one of the “go to” games in the Nintendo franchise, mixing fast moving racing and action style fighting while racing, the games have consistently improved and built more onto the previous iteration. This is particularly true of Mario Kart 8. The first thing you will notice is the graphics, sharp and bright and loud its like having and arcade game in your living room- except you and your friends don’t need fist fulls of quarters in order to wipe the floor with each other. Another advantage of having Mario Kart for the Wii U is the controller, it is perfect for racing games and in my opinion more fun then using the Wii controller. But both are available for usage with the game. Also usable is the Wii U Pro controller which is another welcome addition to the party. Up to 4 players can play at the same time with easy Grand Prix, Challenge more or Balloon popping. Grand Prix being a set of 4 races and a grand champion is crowned, Challenge is player controlled opponents only to keep the race pure and no one complaining about that Red Shell Luigi keeps throwing at them at the finish line. Balloon popping is more of a battle royale with lots of action and tons of fun.
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Filed Under: entertainment, technology Tagged With: family video games, games, gaming, video games, video games for kids

Mario Party Island Tour

January 29, 2014 by Samantha 1 Comment

Disclosure- I received the below in order to facilitate my post. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.
Mario Party has constantly been one of the best ways for a group of friends to laugh and play video games together. The most recent Mario Party Island Tour brings this up a notch on the Nintendo 3DS and 2DS.

Island Tour is broken up into a few different game modes, they are:

Party Mode: Think a digital board game with no bored and a ton of mini games. There are seven boards to choose from each a blast to play through and fun no matter how many people are playing.

Mini games: Mini games are available for play one at a time. Either to practice or just for a quick pick and play game by yourself or with friends.
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Filed Under: technology Tagged With: tech, video games, video games for kids

Super Mario 3D World

December 30, 2013 by Samantha 10 Comments

Disclosure: The below was provided for me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Mario comes in many different iterations from his first 8 bit adventure through his 16 bit days and beyond. His most recent is one of the most fun and social ways to play a Mario game that I can remember. Mario’s latest foray is in a 3D interactive environment full of bad guys of all shapes and sizes. The bigger the more fun to take down.

Family Video Game

Super Mario 3D World takes the familiar run and jump mechanics of 2D Mario puts them into a 3D environment AND throws in the fun of co-op with up to 4 players. Players can pick between Mario, Luigi, Toad and for the long awaited return of Princess Peach. Each player races to the end of the level, trying to collect more coins and rack up more point than the other players, sometimes working together, but at all times competing for those little gold coins.

The bad guys include fire flowers, turtles, and of course the big villain himself- Bowser. While progressing through each level, the players are rewarded with access to the next leading up to a boss battle, with one, sometimes more big guys who have a trick or a pattern to them, that once figured out makes the battles a breeze but is always fun to figure out, especially with a room full of people. The “Ah ha!”, moments are always entertaining.
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Filed Under: kids, technology Tagged With: family video games, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario game, video games, video games for kids

Pikmin 3 Video Game

December 17, 2013 by Samantha 4 Comments

The Nintendo Wii U has been getting some attention recently with the recent release of its competitors new additions to the market the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox One. With such fierce competition Nintendo has to pull out the stops and release some stellar games for the Wii U. One such game is Pikmin 3. This game follows a space traveling group as they try to collect fruit to help their people and eh missing components of their space ship to actually get home. Along the way they meet some friends and some foes.

Pikmin are small plant based creatures who are incredibly loyal and incredibly useful on an alien world inhabited by a diverse and dangerous amount of bigger creatures, all of which seem to be hungry for Pikmin and space captains. In order to overcome these adversaries team work is needed. Their are various types of Pikmin which are each specialized in what they do best. An example is grey rock Pikmin are tough and fight well but are not easy to throw to reach far away spots, while yellow electric Pikmin are great and conducting electricity and being thrown about but are not the best of fighters. These are just two of the seven types of Pikmin. Each a cute little creature sporting either a leaf, bud or flower on their heads.
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Filed Under: technology Tagged With: family video games, holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Pikmin 3, Pikmin 3 Video Game, video games, video games for kids

Nintendo 2DS

November 26, 2013 by Samantha 4 Comments

Disclosure: The below was provided to me to help facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

With every new console innovation, a bright shiny new technology is expected, but what if instead of adding something new, some components are improved. This improvement has long been the norm for Nintendo. First release a new innovative system, then tweak it, make it better, different and more accessible. This is the idea behind the new Nintendo 2DS handheld system. The handheld is based on the 3DS handheld but has tweaked a bit to have a lower price point, and more accessibility to children of all ages. This in addition to a big design change gives players a new way to play their 3DS and DS games.

The 2DS in comparison to the 3DS is now one solid unit, no hinge in the middle. Also it has a more tablet-feel, with a slight tilt when put down, to rest easier on a hard surface and play in this manner. The most remarkable characteristic of the unit is the removal of the 3D feature. The 3DS has a slider which can increase the 3D experience or remove it completely to a 2D gaming experience. This 2D experience is the way in which gameplay is featured on the 2DS. You may be thinking so then why not just get a DS? The reason is this unit could be called a DS2. The 2DS can play most DS games as well as all 3DS games,with crisp sharp graphics and some incredibly fun games like Pokemon X and Y and Legend of Zelda A Link Between Worlds, the entertainment value is quite high. With the reduction of 3D the price of the 2DS was also reduced, leading to a more wallet friendly way to get the newest system and games in the hands of you and your kids.
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Filed Under: holidays, technology Tagged With: gaming, holiday gift guide, holiday gift guide 2013, Nintendo, nintendo 2ds, video games, video games for kids

Game On!

November 13, 2013 by Samantha Leave a Comment

Disclosure- I received the below in order to facilitate my review. All my opinions are my own and honest.

Looking to connect with the kids in a virtual way, but still hang out together in the “real world”? Check out these fun systems and games, perfect for rainy days, nights, and family fun for most ages.

Ouya started life as a Kick starter campaign, and quickly became fully funded and then some. Ouya is an android, 4.1 jelly bean, based micro console. The hardware does its job well and because of Ouya’s open source thought process has great potential for upgrades and do it yourself add-ons.
Currently there are over 400 games available for Ouya ranging from racing games to role playing to action games, all of which feature a free to play element in the form of free levels, free trials or being completely free. With the free to play element, you can actually try every game before buying it- meaning you will never pay good money for a not-so-good game with the Ouya.

The console comes packed with one Blue Tooth controller. Additional controllers can be purchased and other Blue Tooth controllers can be paired with the console in a pinch. Ouya retails for $99 and is available at fine stores everywhere as well as from Ouya.tv.

With every new console innovation a bright shiny new technology is expected, but with the Nintendo 2DS handheld system, some components are improved or altered. The handheld is based on the 3DS, but has tweaked it a bit to have a lower price point, and more accessibility to kids. This, in addition to a big design change, gives players a new way to play their 3DS and DS games.

The 2DS in comparison to the 3DS is now one solid unit, no hinge in the middle, which also makes it harder to break. Also it has a more tablet-like feel, with a slight tilt when put down, to rest easier on a hard surface. The 2DS can play most DS games as well as all 3DS games,with crisp sharp graphics and some incredibly fun games like Pokemon X and Y and Legend of Zelda, A Link Between Worlds, which makes the entertainment and value for your dollar quite high. With the reduction of 3D the price of the 2DS was also reduced, leading to a more wallet friendly way to get the newest system and games in the hands of you and your kids.
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Filed Under: gaming Tagged With: family video games, game on, games for kids, gaming, pokemon, skylanders, video games, video games for kids

Hot Wheels World’s Best Driver Video Game

October 1, 2013 by Samantha 4 Comments

Disclosure- The products below were provided to me in order to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance to FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” tab for more information.

Hot Wheels are known for their small cars and big fun. With creativity, any location can become a road and or track for your little ones. So now instead of having tiny tire tracks on the TV, Hot Wheels has made World’s Best Driver, a video game.

Family Video Game

The game starts out with selecting a team, each team specializes in a certain driving style, red is for tricks, green is for speed, blue is for drifting and yellow is for off roading. The interesting aspect of this game is when hopping from team to team, there is a clear difference in vehicles which can be felt in their handling and speed as well as vehicle types. Multiplayer takes a ‘hand off the controller’ type competition where each player takes turns, which can be frustrating to little ones, but to older players can teach them by example on ho to master the more difficult challenges. Little Man’s favorite team to play was yellow, yet when watching Daddy play his favorite to watch was blue. The bright colors and futuristic feel of the cars were quite appealing, but the drifting was a bit beyond his driving skill at this point in time.
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