Postman Pat for DS - Review

First impression: The first thing that attracted me to this game was that it was for ages 3+. What 3 year old can handle playing video games on a Nintendo DS? They don't have the motor skills yet!

The game: That being said.. this is a British game for younger children. The music was actually good for once! I had some hope that the game would be good as well. And it was actually pretty good! I didn't play too far into it (I failed at the 4th or 5th task somehow.. ) but I can tell that children would really like it. It has cute cartoon characters and little animals and such.

You do little tasks for Postman Pat like finding his missing kitty in the house by touching on places that he could be hiding, and stamping letters for him at the post office.

The directions aren't the best. I got confused during the letter stamping part. Having an adult there to help the child might be a good idea. Also for American children, some of the language is a bit different than what we're used to. He uses terms like "franking" the envelopes. I can guess what that means... but a child probably won't be able to figure it out.

I went back and played the game again, having failed so early on the first time. This time I finished easily, I just had to read the instructions better.

Pros of the game: It is a good children's game overall. You can do story mode where you go through the story and play the games in a row, and it saves your progress which is nice. So you can play a couple and go back and start where you stopped before. It reads like a children's book, with Postman Pat reading the text to you. Very well produced in that way. You can also play practice mode where you go directly to the different games separately.

Cons of the game: There are only 10 games in the story. I went through the entire game in less than 45 minutes, and I had to restart a couple of the games a few times. A smart kid could get through that entire game in an hour and probably wouldn't want to go back to it again.

Conclusion: This is still a good game for children. If you child gets through things quickly and then gets bored you may not want to get this one, but try renting it or borrowing it from someone.

Good music and graphics (for a children's game) and an actual storyline that they might be interested in made this game worthwhile for kids. Still not sure about thee 3+ part, but maybe for 6 or 7 year olds. I'll give Postman Pat a 5!

DSmaster is a blog on Wordpress that gives all kinds of reviews on all kinds of Nintendo DS games. If you are looking for more reviews like Postman Pat, then visit DSmaster

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A Tale of Three Tales

Certain phrases in the English language are often used to great effect, such as when we think of marketing: "Don't leave home without it", or "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands, and even "Obey your thirst". These key phrases and words associate certain products with them when we are exposed to them over and over, so it isn't surprising that in the world of video games, certain key phrases and words have taken on associated meanings. After all, there are tens of thousands of used video games, and thinking all the way back to the Nintendo Enterainment System(NES) and moving forward to the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, there is bound to be a wealth of intentional and unintentional 'sloganizing'.

We are all aware of the success of franchises like Super Mario Brothers and the Legend of Zelda, but what about the other guys, those games that might go unnoticed were we not here to salvage their epic playability and raise them to that famed 'classic' status? It is with these less well known video games that we are here to discuss today

If you have ever thought of the phrase Tales of.. in relation to a video game, what did you think of? For me, I envision a role-playing game (RPG) fraught with turned-based combat and towns full of common folk ready to share information with you. I also think of three particular games: Tales of Symphonia (Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2), Tales of the Abyss (Playstation 2), and Tales of Phantasia (Super Famicom, Game Boy Advance, Playstation, PSP). What do these three RPGs have in common? Let's take a look:

Tales of Symphonia - Like previous games in the Tales series, Tales of Symphonia uses a version of the Linear Motion Battle System - a real-time battle system, as opposed to the turn-based systems used in traditional role-playing games. When running around in the overworld, battles can be triggered by running into the monsters that dot the landscape. The Overlimit feature, which is a result of building 'tension points', allows characters to take less damage, perform special actions, and cast spells more quickly. 'Grade' is substituted for experience, and can be used to purchase items and EX gems

As characters level up in Tales of Symphonia, they can learn 'EX-skills' which allows them learn different abilities, sometimes combining them for greater effect. Each character can earn up to 25 titles in the game either by playing through a certain point in the game, by leveling, or by meeting certain conditions. Different titles will have different effects. Items in the game are a result of loot from battle, from recipes learned from the Wonder Chef (success in cooking is determined by the character's skill level), and from NPCs upgrading items when given certain components.

Along with the cut scenes in the game, decisions you make will affect how others think of Lloyd, the main character. Depending on the choices you make, the friendship's among the characters may change.

Tales of the Abyss - Tales of the Abyss is a story about Luke, and the value of friendship and sacrifice. As Luke, you begin inside your family's manor, an amnesiac caused by the shock of being kidnapped years ago. Shattering your forgotten memories, a girl named Tear breaks into the castle, and you are taken from the safety of home to places unknown. Luke roams freely through his environment finding treasure and voracious enemies to boot.

The land is full of particles created from elements including light, dark, air, earth, fire, and water called Fonons, and the you can master the a particular area by using attacks that are based in one of six particles. Luke can charge-up normal actions to become super attacks by using moves that require the primary Fonon found within that environment. Luke's companions Mieu and Jade, will join you along the way and fill out your party.

Elemental attacks are made more powerful by using slot chambers to add special effects such as power, damage, and health increases, and as your characters level up, you have over 80 unlockable attributes that affect Luke and his friends. As you journey through your main quest of uncovering Luke's affiliation with the Order of Lorelei, side stories include cooking to increase attributes and accessorizing with swimsuits, upscale clothing, and more. You can journey by yourself, or invite up to three friends to play along as characters in Luke's party.

Tales of Phantasia - Tales of Phantasia, was a role-playing game originally released for the Super Famicom, and due to its success as a series, it has finally been releasted in North America. Today, Tales of Phantasia distinguishes itself with its action-oriented, side-scrolling battle sequences (reminding one of Zelda II - The Adventures of Link (NES).

Tales of Phantasia is the story of Cress, a teenager out hunting one day who encounters a strange phenomenon, and as a result realizes he must save the past in order to insure the present. Along the way, he'll be joined by several other characters, learning magic, commanding elementals, taking sides in political struggles, and more.

The combat system defies the tradition of most RPGS, and is most similar to Tales of Symphonia. Rather than take turn based attacks, battles in Tales of Phantasia put you in direct control of Cress. You can perform a variety of strikes using the attack button and control pad,learning other techniques as the game progresses. It's also possible to perform chain combinations, much like Symphonia. The combat system is pleasant diversion from turn-based RPGs, and the animations and backgrounds are beautiful, and have held up well over time on the Gameboy Advance.

Certainly, as video game technology progressed, so did the marketing skills of the companies making the games. Reading the back of the boxes of some Sega Master System games one morning over a box of cereal, I realized how bad the writing was for some of the games. In the 90s, and 00s, companies started employing professional writers, and marketers caught on to sloganizing in video games, giving us a wealth of 'Tales of..' games. The ones I came with are listed here: Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Eternia, Tales of Fandom, Tales of Rebirth, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of Legendia,, Tales of the Abyss, and Tales of the Tempest. Hmmm. It is starting to not sound like an accident after all. In any case, I will leave it to the reader to judge which elements are similar in the three reviewed titles, and which are not. You could also go out and play these three classics, given enough time.

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Getting Information on World of Warcraft Accounts? - Easy

If you want to play World of Warcraft, then as you know, people are going to need World of Warcraft accounts. These are set up when you join the game and pay the monthly fee. It is also what keeps track of your character, items, gold amount, and whatever else needs to be recorded. Accounts are also bought and sold all the time.

Tons of players, for whatever reason, would rather skip the boring play that comes with being a beginner. They prefer not to play all of the lower levels necessary to build up a character. Many players might choose to pay for power leveling. Others can decide to purchase pre owned World of Warcraft accounts from players who already have achieved a high level character. This allows them to jump right into the more challenging fun and aspects of the game.

These types of accounts come from 2 different groups of people. One group are the players who do not want to play World of Warcraft anymore so they sell their high level account to players who want it-for a price. The other players are actual gaming professionals who create these accounts just to sell them. Either of these options will let you have an experienced player to avoid the boredom of the earlier levels.

The practice of buying and selling World of Warcraft accounts is not as uncommon as you might think it is. In fact it has become quite a popular way of putting you right in the middle of high level action. Many new players purchase character accounts so they can join already established realms with other friends. This can most likely be accomplished by power leveling. However it will cost you a bit more money and take longer to complete this process.

There are many benefits of choosing this route over power leveling. Often characters that are advanced through power leveling can get banned from the game. Power leveling is also much more costly than simply purchasing World of Warcraft accounts already in existence. In addition these accounts are offered with a 100 percent security guarantee-which is a nice perk.

Purchasing an already established account allows characters to be transferred to different realms. There are a few restrictions but a clear and great benefit is being able to change your name once you have been moved to the new server. It is possible to move the character to another account which can keep the previous owner from ever being able to use it again and keeps them from stealing your money.

Another excellent selling point with getting pre-owned World of Warcraft accounts is that the gear is higher quality than simply power leveling your character. Your character can advance but you will still have the same low quality gear you had as an entry level player. Many websites selling these accounts come with guarantees and even insurance. It can seem to be the clear way to go if you are serious about moving your character up in the World of Warcraft.

Get inside World of Warcraft information at the leading WoW site on the web!

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MOD Your PS3 and Start Downloading Games Now!

Ever want to download games, and not have to go out to the crowded mall, and try to find a game you want, and overpay for your favorite games. Or wanted to download games instead of ordering a game online, but then wait a week to play it and then pay an unreasonable shipping cost. If you have ever wanted to download your games, just do it. Just make sure you have enough room on your hard drive to handle all the games you want to get. You can download your games on your computer and then transfer them over without a problem, you won't need a chip to MOD your system, you can safely load your games.

Along with downloading your games, the PS3 also lets you keep movies and music on file to make it a multimedia machine, not just a gaming machine anymore. For the one time fee, which is less than a PS3 game, you can download all the games you want, along with all of the movies and music so you can make your PS3 machine with your home theatre system, all without leaving the house. If you tried to rent your games, it costs almost $10 to rent one game, or $25 a month to rent all that you want, but why do that when you won't have to leave your house, and you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.

To download your games, it's just an easy point and click process, and it won't hurt your PS3, just make sure you have the hard drive space for the games.

Enjoy!

Click Here For All of Your PS3 Needs!

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