Nintendo Rules!

Birthday came, free time went. After a quick head fake, thinking I might get Wii Sports Resort for my BD, I dove in and upgraded to the Motion Plus experience with the WSR. Though skeptical at first, I am now a convert. The package has about a dozen games, though at least half of them are pretty lame--c'mon, folks....bicycling? Kayaking? YGBSM. I do love--no, make that LOVE--several games and have gotten to Pro level in a few. From there it gets tough. It's hard to choose a favorite between Swordplay (stupid name: it should really be called Samurai) and Table Tennis. Another one coming on strong recently is the 3 on 3 pickup basketball. When Maitlyn's and Braiden's little Mii's (still bald) leap into the air for an outrageous slam dunk, it is truly a sight to behold. I should try to make a video of that.

The Air Sports aren't bad, though the sky diving is dumb. Bowling really sucks, as compared to regular Wii Sports. I don't know why, but the same motions in the original game now result in uncontrollable spin. Hard to like that one. Archery? Suppose there needs to something for the ladies. Frisbee...only the Frisbee golf is enjoyable, the other is too frustrating. Speaking of golf, there are new courses, and a whole new way to hit the ball...much more like real golf (perhaps too much). All in all, I'd give the 4 sports I like a 10+ but the package as a whole gets a 7 for having too high a percentage of lameness. Between this and the IJLego Adventures I got for my BD, my arm, wrist, and shoulder are experiencing serious pain. At least I'm exercising! Table Tennis, anyone?

As if that weren't enough, several weeks ago I broke down and got a new DS game called N+. It was known as N when I found it on albinoblacksheep.com, a well known game freeware site. Those initials stand for Ninja, which is what your stick figure character is supposed to be in the game. He (though no reason it couldn't be a she--impossible to tell from the graphics) jumps, runs, climbs and frequently gets blown to bits by booby traps or long falls from the top of the screen (also known as deceleration trauma). There are hundreds of levels to run through, many of which are maddeningly difficult. I am currently stuck on one that I fear is impossible, at least for someone of my advanced age and impaired dexterity. But the game can fairly be rated "A" for addictive.

Here is a sample of some levels to be clambered around in:

I can't understand why Nintendo stock has been so flat this year and Sony's has almost doubled. Seems backward. I guess the hard core gamers buy more than us geezers. And Nintendo doesn't have a movie studio to bail it out.

Drum roll please .... for the Bumper Sticker of the Week:

If you can't read this, thank the teachers' union.