Sonic The Hedgehog 2 [Online Game Code]

April 2nd, 2010

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 [Online Game Code] ti used to play this game all day when i was younger and am happy to be able to own this game on my xbox360 must have for your game library if you used to have a Sega genesis! or even if u just like a good old fashion side scroller get it 5 bucks is perfect price Digital Eclipse: 1480656995 Single Player, Xbox Live Multiplayer 1-2, Local Multiplayer 1-2, HD (High Definition). Dr.Eggman (AKA Dr.Robotnik) begins his zealous search for the Chaos Emeralds to fuel his new “Death Egg” contraption. One afternoon, he launches his full-scale attack on the island. Dr.Eggman imprisons all of the helpless animals of the island and turns them into mindless worker drones. Fortunately, Sonic will thwart the Doctor’s plans at all costs. This time, he isn’t alone, as Tails decides to aid him in the battle. Together they must locate the Chaos Emeralds before Dr.Eggman does, and put an end to this diabolical scheme. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 [Online Game Code]

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My Kid is Smart- So Why is He Getting Bad Grades?

March 23rd, 2010

In my years as a private tutor, I’ve heard this phrase again and again. Parents who seek my services are usually their wits’ end trying to figure out why their “smart” kids are doing poorly in school. The critical mind may first ask one of these parents, “Why do you think your child is so smart?”

First, let’s take a step back and look at that word: “smart.” This word is so overused and broad in definition, that I think it’s just useless. Am I smart because I can instantly multiply 23 and 8? Was your high school class valedictorian the smartest person you knew back then? Was Einstein smart because he discovered the theory of relativity? What about savants, who can memorize tens of thousands of years’ worth of dates but can’t tie their own shoes? Almost everyone in the world can be classified as “smart” in their own respect, so let’s just keep that in mind as we further explore the question posed in the title of the article.

I think the real definition of “smartness” has nothing to do with IQ or the ability to do mental gymnastics such as quick math or fact memorization. We are ALL born with our own limitations. We can work to expand those limitations, but, in some regard, they are always there. It is simply ignorant and incorrect not to acknowledge this. That being said, everyone can succeed despite their own limitations. However, in order to do this, one must understand his own limitations and figure out how to best use his own natural instrumentalities. For example, I’ve seen a lot of students watch me do quick math in my head, and then they try to emulate me. Some succeed, while some just end up taking longer than if they had written it down or used a calculator. I encourage everyone to try new techniques to see what works for them – that is the heart of really being smart. There are often many ways to do something – each student should do what works for THAT student. Sometimes that means working extra hard to understand a principle or memorize a fact, sometimes it means looking at something several different ways, and sometimes it means just taking one look at something and understanding it immediately.

OK, so we’ve had a brief discussion of what makes someone “smart” – now how can we help your smart kids get better grades?

First, the easy stuff: homework. Most kids I see who are doing poorly are either not doing or turning in their homework! If this is a problem, get on your kids‘ back to JUST DO IT. Some techniques I’ve seen help are: threaten grounding, check teachers’ daily homework websites, or request your childrens’ teachers to sign off on the daily homework assignment. I would NOT recommend positive reinforcement here because homework is the absolute bare minimum of what a student is expected to do. By this, I mean reinforcement like, for example, “If you turn in all your homework this semester, I will buy you a Playstation 3.” NO NO NO NO NO. “If you turn in all your homework this week, then I won’t ground you this weekend” is far more appropriate. Homework just isn’t a bonus, I can’t stress that enough.

Next on the list is attitude. This can be a substantially more difficult hurdle to overcome if your child has apathy or animosity towards school. A mild case of bad attitude could be cured by a simple, realistic explanation of why school is important. You need credibility, so don’t say something like “Trust me, I’m your mother.” If you want your child to get good grades, explain why. Be honest, and speak from the heart. If you got bad grades when you were that age, think about how your life would be different if you had gotten good grades, if it would be different at all. You can use yourself as either a positive or negative example. A child with more severe attitude problems is tougher to deal with – you may want to consider a tutor. In most cases, I would shy away from sending your kid to a psychotherapist because I’ve rarely seen them actually connect with kids (that being said, I do think they can work if there are other things wrong – just don’t send your kid to a shrink for bad grades, that’s what tutors are for).

Effort is the number one key to good grades. Students need to spend the time and seek the help they need to understand EVERYTHING they are expected to know. Teachers tell the students what will be on tests and quizzes, and there is usually no excuse for being surprised by a test question. Teachers want their students to succeed. Effort on the part of the PARENTS is important too – get involved! See what your children are studying, see if they need help. If they do, try to help them yourself, it’s great bonding! Otherwise, take them into school early or pick them up late to get help from the teacher, or hire a tutor.

Which brings me to the last point – I’ve found that good teaching is the “X-factor” in academic performance. I’ve never tutored someone who thought their teacher was good at teaching. I personally think this is a little unfair, because teachers have the VERY difficult task of teaching 20-40 pupils, each of whom might have a different learning style. But I do believe that when a student tells me they have a “bad” teacher, they just have a teacher who is not reaching them for one reason or another. Like I said before, certain concepts can be explained numerous different ways, and it is simply impossible for one teacher to explain every concept every possible way. This is where outside help can come in very handy. A good tutor can quickly figure out what a student’s learning style is, and cater to that particular student in a one-on-one situation. I call this the “x-factor” because 10 minutes with a tutor can be more valuable than 2 hours in the classroom. Tutors can help save time by explaining concepts in ways that students just “get.”

So as you can see, “smart” kids can get bad grades for a reason. Hopefully you can identify what the problem is, and help your kid start getting As asap.

Sadiq Ansari holds a B.S. in Computer Science from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and expects to earn a J.D. (May 2007) from Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, CA. He has been a tutor for over 6 years, and runs Peerless Tutors. Their website -> Malibu Tutor http://www.malibututor.com

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Building Children’s Self-Esteem And Confidence

March 21st, 2010


Image : http://www.flickr.com

Building children’s self-esteem and confidence is something in which both parents and teachers have a vested interest. Sadly not every child develops with healthy self-confidence or strong self-esteem. The reasons for this may be many, but that is for another article. What will be covered here are some tips and strategies for building children’s self-esteem and confidence that should bring good results

It is never too late to start building children’s self-esteem and confidence. From the time they are infants and can make eye contact our children look to us for feedback. They smile at us and we smile back which gives them positive feedback. They role over and we are excited, so are they and on it goes. If we treat this gift we are given of having such impact on another human being’s life with respect, our child has the opportunity of growing into a confident child and than a teenager.

One of the best ways we can foster confidence and self-esteem in our children is by taking care of ourselves. Children will eventually mirror what they see. If we as parents are lacking in confidence or have poor self-esteem that will be the most influencing example a child will view. If our confidence and self-esteem is healthy that will favorably impact what our child learns.

Praising children is a wonderful way of helping them to gain confidence, but don’t make the mistake of underestimating your children. Kids know when they are being conned. If your praise is general and all encompassing it loses much of its influence and can even produce anxiety in the child on the receiving end of it. Praise should be based in reality, in that way it can actually aid in building children’s self esteem and confidence.

Try not to use phrases like “you always do such a great job” or “you’re always so neat”. Children know that they are not always able to achieve this type of perfection and it can cause stress. If instead you get specific with your praise it will carry more weight. Phrases such as “I really liked the way you lined up all you stuffed animal when you were straightening your room” or “I noticed you were putting forth a lot of effort in your math homework” deal with specific situations and allow your child to understand exactly what the praise is about.

Sometimes parents believe that by constantly praising their children they are insuring that they will have a confident child with great self-esteem. What happens however is that they end up with a child who needs constant praise or is disappointed when the rest of the world does hold them in as high a regard. If instead the child is allowed to form a solid inner opinion of them selves based in reality, they have a far greater chance of developing healthy self-esteem and confidence that can withstand the bumps in the road we all inevitably face.

Children also need constructive criticism. Using always or never when giving such criticism does far more damage to budding confidence than we might want to believe.

The same way we keep our praise grounded in reality, we should also construct our criticism. Stay focused on the facts and use statements reflecting your thoughts and feelings. “I noticed that you have not cleaned your room and our family rules are that rooms are to be neat before we go outside to play. I would like you to please take care of that now” will go further in helping your child see unacceptable behavior than “you never clean your room when you’re told to”.

When giving criticism to our children it should be about the behavior we are trying to correct and not about the child. A child who feels constantly attacked is not going to develop healthy self-esteem or self confidence. Also, when an occasion comes up that we need to issue constructive criticism, if at all possible take the child aside. This accomplishes two goals. One, the child is better able to accept the criticism if they are not dealing with being embarrassed and two, the child is receiving respect. This teaches the child a valuable lesson in showing respect to others.

Building children’s self-esteem and confidence is indeed a worthwhile endeavor as they are truly our future. If we invest wisely in our future it is sure to pay us great dividends.

Maureen Staiano is a Life Coach specializing in working with women and the unique challenges, opportunities and transitions we face in our lives. You can visit Maureen at: http://www.achieveyourdreamcoaching.com

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New XBOX 360 Console Protective Skin – BoneCollector – Blue

March 19th, 2010

New XBOX 360 Console Protective Skin – BoneCollector – Blue : Skins generally ship within 2 business days of payment. Skins are made from high quality, impact resistant material.
New XBOX 360 Console Protective Skin – BoneCollector – Blue

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Favorite Christmas Songs for Kids

March 17th, 2010

What do kids love most about Christmas? The gifts, of course! When Santa and the elves dream big, children explode with delight. But the holiday season is about more than gift giving, and kids celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways. Chief among them are Christmas carols. There’s no better way for kids to spread a little Yuletide cheer than singing “Joy to the World” at the top of their lungs. Thankfully for those of us who see the magic of the Yuletide season most clearly through the eyes of children, there are plenty of great kids carols to go around. Here, we’d like to present you with the 10 kids Christmas songs we think are the best of the best, in no particular order:

Joy to the World – Okay, we have to start with this one because we’ve already made a fuss over it. This song reminds us what Christmas is all about.

Frosty the Snowman – What kid doesn’t love to sing this song? There’s no beating a white Christmas, and building a snowman with mom and dad is as fun as it gets.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Without question the most popular and endearing children’s Christmas carol of all-time.

Jingle Bells – “Dashing through the snow …” Can you finish the next line? Of course you can, all the way to the chorus! And your kids can, too. This song is as catchy as they come.

Here Comes Santa Claus – This song is filled with anticipation and promise. Kids go to bed on Christmas Eve with its words in their heads … “’cause Santa Claus comes tonight!”

Here We Come A-Caroling – Festive and upbeat, this is indeed the quintessential caroling song. It even wishes a happy new year. What more could you want?

Up on the Housetop – Another song about Santa. Could the picture get any clearer? Santa’s impending arrival is definitely worth singing about!

The 12 Days of Christmas – Thought we might forget this one, didn’t you? Not a chance.

Winter Wonderland – Christmas is magical no matter the weather. But let’s face it, waking up to a Winter Wonderland on the big day certainly helps set the mood!

O Christmas Tree – Across America, elementary schools often celebrate the season before the holiday break with caroling or choirs. This song is on the set list almost without fail. It pays homage to the very tree we meticulously decorate each December, the tree under which Santa leaves gifts for the kids who have been good. The Christmas Tree is an integral part of our tradition. How can we not sing about it?

So there you have it, the 10 best kids Christmas songs ever written. How’d we do? We’re sure we left off a few, but there are just too many great songs not to.

Brought to you by Imaginary Greetings, a regular contributor of valuable family oriented content. For safe, family-friendly games and activities visit the official Santa Claus Home Page.

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Teaching Kids About the Fruit of the Spirit – Devotional For Children

March 15th, 2010

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control;” Galatians 5: 22

Because we live close to the Rocky Mountain foothills and the altitude is so high in Calgary, we have to adapt our gardening habits. Backyard green houses are very common or garden frames. I can get a head start on my gardening if I start my plants in the house in early spring or buy young plants at the end of May.

This last March I was very impatient. I wanted spring to come and decided to help it along by starting my plants, in the house, way too early. By the end of April the dahlias were already two feet tall and my oriental lilies were already blooming on my kitchen table. When I finally set my dahlias out they blossomed beautifully all summer and even now are displaying huge saucer size colorful blooms. But my oriental lilies died off within a week leaving the green stems to remind me of my impatience.

One spring I was fascinated by the scarlet flowered beans that grow to the top of the fence. I started some on my window sill. They sprouted so quickly and their tendrils curled all over my chairs and TV trays in the dining room window. By May the snow was gone and the sun was shining brightly. When I got up in the morning it was at least 10 degrees centigrade. The bean tendrils were already three feet long and I knew I was trying my husband’s patience with my inside garden.

Then and there I decided I too had had enough of these plants invading on my dinner plate so next morning out they went. I knew better. I know you’re supposed to harden your plants off before you plant them outdoors but it’s such a tedious procedure. First you set the plant out on the patio in the sun for a very short time and then take it in. The next day you put it out longer and every day a little longer until it gets used to the outdoor coolness and atmosphere. Then you can finally plant it. Even then you may have to cover it on cool nights and cooler days. I had lots of writing to do and decided to just plant them against the fence. For a couple of days I had beautiful green bean plants running up my poles but slowly most of them just shriveled up and slowly died.

This hard, time consuming work of tending vegetables and flowers makes me think of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We try different tactics to sprout and grow them ourselves our lives. We even have some success.

Just like my plants that did so well in my warm sunny kitchen we can display symptoms of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as long as we practice them in a controlled environment. It’s easy to show love to others and be patient with people as long as everything is peaceful and we are in control. But then things start going wrong. We get super busy and run out of time. We get frustrated and go back to our old habits of blaming others for my problems.

Sometimes we try so hard and it seems no matter how many different tactics we try, no fruit appears. That reminds me of the Lily of the Valley roots I purchased and not one of them grew. Even my young Peony plant was stunted in its growth. This time I knew I wasn’t too blame for failure. I had to look further and realized I had bought these roots on sale at a hardware store. They just weren’t healthy roots. I promised my self to buy all of my roots and bulbs at the renowned garden centre next year.

At times we too forget the source of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We even attempt to grow these fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control relying on our own strength. Or just like my young tender plants that I set out too early and a touch of frost kills them; outside influences overcome our good inclinations.

Only the Holy Spirit can grow the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to be close to God, spending time with Him in prayer and reading His Word and obeying Him as He leads us. It’s only yielding to Him that brings godly fruit into our lives.

Bible Truths to Share with Your Kids:

In the Bible we read about fruits of the Holy Spirit that God wants to grow in our lives. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Probably most kids, even you, would like to have these characteristics. We all try to live these values. But it’s hard to always love, or be good or self-controlled when things aren’t going our way or we are tired or some one is giving us a hard time.

Well, I have news for you. God doesn’t even want you to try to be these things all by yourself in your own strength. He wants to grow these characteristics in you. He does that when you spend time with Him.

Just like you are influenced by other kids when you spend time with them and become kind of like them, you are influenced by God when you spend time with Him and become like Him.

You can spend time with God by reading the Bible and listening to what He wants to say to you. You also spend time with Him when you pray to Him or when you go to a Bible Study or Prayer time at church with your friends. The more time you spend with God the more fruit the Holy Spirit produces in your life if you let Him.

Jesus says He is like a vine to us and we are like the branches of that vine. The branches get life from the vine so we bear fruit that the vine bears. We are blessed to be chosen by the God of the universe to be in such a close relationship with Him.

Ruth Willms writes Christian fiction and devotionals for kids aged 8 to 12. Want to know more about how God can help you every day? Visit Ruth at www.RuthWillms.com and read a sample chapter of her new book, The Lion Tree.

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Absent Parents and Left Behind Kids

March 12th, 2010

“Why did my daddy leave?

Was it because I was a bad girl or he didn’t love us anymore?”

Explaining the absent parent is never easy, but it is necessary. For children, their primary fear is of abandonment and loss of parental love. There may be a number of reasons that the family is no longer intact, if it ever was, but the child is looking for reassurance that it is not their fault and that they will be cared for.

Children’s lives revolve around their family:

The family unit is all they have ever known and to hear that a parent or caregiver is no longer going to be there is very traumatic and almost unbelievable. They will jump to a number of conclusions, most of them wrong and blaming themselves, in an effort to find answers and just cope. In an effort to make sense of the situation, they may become clingy to the caregiver and think “If he left, maybe you will too.”

Feelings of Abandonment and isolation:

No matter what other reactions children may demonstrate to the adults in their lives, almost all have a deep and pervasive sorrow and sadness about them. One of the best things you can do for your children is to allow them to express their grief. Prolonged crying and preoccupation with the lost relationship are normal responses. Parents and family frequently try to hide their own despair and disappointment from the children, but by talking with them about feelings and emotions, you can give them permission to open up and share.

Single parenting:

One out of every four American children lives in a single-parent home. While most single-parent homes are the result of divorce, many parents and grandparents are raising children alone for other reasons as well. Some may be alone due to the death of a spouse, military assignments, single parent adoption, incarceration, drug or alcohol abuse and a myriad of other reasons for a parent to be absent in the life of a child.

Put the children’s needs first:

As an adult it is your responsibility to care for the children, both physically and emotionally. Recognize that a long period of grief and mourning are natural. A preschooler may regress in such things as toilet training or begin to have nightmares or new fears. School age children may be showing signs of anger, guilt and sadness. You may see a drop in school grades and activities. Teenagers may assume they will be forced into an adult role or not have money enough for his needs. No matter what the age, some children feel responsible for the absent parent and harbor dreams about making it all right again. If you can not work out problems by open communication and cooperation, do not hesitate to get professional help. Their self-esteem and future happiness may depend on it.

Family: Absent Parents

And Left Behind Kids

©2006 Judy H. Wright, Parent Educator

html://www.ArtichokePress.com

This article is written for your use by Judy H. Wright, parent educator and author. For additional articles, parenting tips, E-zines, books, workshops and tele-classes, please go to http://ArtichokePress.com . Judy is a member of the Montana Speakers Network, A parenting expert faculty at http://www.Clubmom.com and the regional representative for the National Association of Women Writers.

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Supreme Commander

March 9th, 2010

Supreme Commander Not THAT bad! – mojonation –
Well, I picked this game up a couple weeks ago even though I read the, in my opinion, little harsh reviews. I never played this game on the PC and I think the problem is people are trying to compare this game directly to the PC version and you just can’t do that with an RTS. Sure, the game technically isn’t superb, but it hasn’t made me not have fun playing it. I guess I didn’t really have that many expectations buying it and I just took it for what it was…a rts game on the console..and I have had fun playing it. If you have THAT high of expectations for type of game on a console, then I think your better off sticking to the PC.
As I’ve been asking this question forever and no one could give me an answer, allow me to fill you in: NO, this game has not had any updates. It is what it is.

I have an Xbox 360 Elite. The Elite and Arcade units have an upgraded chipset, and see much fewer crashes than the other bundled units. If you have an Elite or Arcade, you should be okay playing this game.

SupCom for Xbox uses quite possibly the most innovative and thought-out control structure I’ve seen yet on a console. The controls not only make sense, but they’re easy to LEARN, and they WORK. You select your unit, press a direction on the D-pad to bring up a wheel menu, then use your left and right sticks – sometimes together as needed – to highlight an option which you select with the A-button. It also has a relatively simple method to assign and select groups. There’s a short learning curve to remember which direction on the D-pad accesses which menu, but if you get it wrong, just press a new direction and the menu will adjust.

Unfortunately, the instructions that come with the game – as well as the in-game tutorial – do a lousy job of telling us how to actually play the game. For example, we are never told how to make a level-3 construction unit build level 1 or 2 structures. Secondly, while the game tells us we can outfit our commanding unit with upgrades, we are not told how! In both cases, you access the unit’s build menu, and use the right control stick to select an inner-wheel of the menu, which will change the icons at the outer wheel. Once you learn this interface, it also becomes easy to use, but I literally found it out by accident.

Controlling your units is relatively easy, though the one thing that SupCom does different is that it stacks commands. Each command to a unit is put into queue – it will perform that command after it finishes any other commands you’ve already given it. If you want it to do something right away, you first have to hit the X button, then issue the new command. This takes a longer adjustment than usual, as no other console-RTS games work this way.

I prefer skirmishing to a storyline, so I can’t provide much insight there, but skirmishes work well, with the ability to play against the computer or friends, or against the computer WITH friends, providing a much-needed, coop-skirmish feature.

As far as cons go, there are a few. The camera is weird, especially once the unit count starts to climb. When zoomed all the way out, the cursor moves without the screen moving – much like a mouse on a PC game. When you zoom in, the cursor becomes static and the entire screen scrolls. Sometimes, however, when zooming in, the cursor becomes “stuck” beyond the edges of the screen. You’ll zoom in, and can scroll the screen, but there is no cursor, and thus no way to select units. You have to zoom out, “free” the cursor, then zoom back in. In addition, the zooming is very touchy – it’s very easy to zoom far beyond where you intended to be. And since there is no mini map, you can’t just set the zoom where you’re most comfortable and leave it – you’ll be forced to zoom out from time to time. Sometimes the camera will just jump around on you as you’re trying to control it, causing you to end up viewing parts of the map you had no interest in viewing.

Once you get a feel for the controls and log some time with the game, this will become less of an issue – you get used to it. But it still remains confusing and at times, frustrating. You don’t always have time to be playing with the camera.

The games visuals are… …difficult to review. Units look pretty nice up close, but seem to blend together at a distance. Everything starts to look the same. Level details are very sparse, with most of the maps simply being open space. Compared to the popular Universe at War game – which has detailed landscapes and tons of scenery and foliage – this game feels rather barren.

SupCom’s selling point – besides the fact that it actually works on my console – is it’s control scheme. No other RTS is as easy to play. It can be had on Amazon for pretty cheap (my copy was less than , shipped) but again, if you’re using any other console than the Elite or Arcade, you might want to stay away.

Happy Hunting. Aspyr: 11753 For a millennium, war has raged between the United Earth Federation, the Cybran Nation and the Aeon Illuminate. Unwavering, dramatically opposing systems of belief have locked the three forces of humanity into a bitter, merciless conflict that has come to be known as the Infinite War. Now, after centuries of struggle, a war that has torn the galaxy asunder has finally reached a turning point. A leader has risen above all others, and only this Supreme Commander holds the key to ending the Infinite War once and for all. Supreme Commander for the Xbox 360 is a spectacular adaptation of the original, award-winning PC experience, updated and enhanced for Microsoft’s powerful console. The groundbreaking real-time strategy (RTS) game puts players in command of one of three factions – the United Earth Federation, the Cybran Nation or the Aeon Illuminate – that they must lead to victory and end the thousand-year Infinite War. Supreme Commander offers gameplay on an unprecedented scale, with hundreds of units waging war across gigantic maps and a revolutionary Strategic Zoom that allows for immediate viewing and control of entire armies. An easy, intuitive new console control scheme lets gamers dominate the battlefield as they play through one of the three vast campaigns or against players around the world on Xbox Live.
Supreme Commander

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Ticket to Ride [Online Game Code]

March 7th, 2010

Ticket to Ride [Online Game Code] I’ll write first about the board game that is the basis for this Xbox 360 game. See my last paragraph for info about how well it made the transition to a video game format.

Ticket to Ride itself is a very good board game. It’s one of the new flock of board games coming from Europe. It’s also one of the lightest and easiest to learn railroad-themed board games ever made. Consequently, it’s very fun for a wide variety of players, and very approachable by casual game players. However, veteran board game players or fans of the old grease-pencil rail games may find it a bit too light and lacking strategic complexity, which is why I’ve bumped it down to 4 stars.

Gameplay is very straightforward and can be learned in minutes. Each player starts with a set of hidden goals to connect various pairs of remote cities. Connecting the secret cities gives you a bonus depending on the difficulty; failing reduces your score by the amount of the bonus. (You also get points for connecting any cities at all, but you won’t win without focusing on your bonuses.) Your main actions consist of accumulating train cards then spending them to lay down track connecting adjacent cities. Unlike grease-pencil rail games, connection opportunities between cities are a fixed feature of the map and thus a limited commodity. Connections have a specific length and color; players must obtain the right number of train cards of the right color in order to claim the connection, and once claimed, no other player can use that connection.

That’s about it, but it’s enough to make an exciting board game for 2-5 players. Your plans to connect your secret cities may be thwarted by another player seeking to use some of the same routes to connect his/her secret cities. Skilled players will learn to recognize critical connections and claim them early while working around blockages in less critical areas.

The Xbox 360 version of this board game is very well done. As you might expect, it removes all the tedium of the game. There wasn’t much tedium to begin with, but you no longer need to setup the board or clean up afterwards, or hunt for cities you don’t recognize, etc.. Also, the Xbox 360 adds some great graphics and sound effects. Every now and again, you’ll see a balloon float by or a ship sail by on the map — nice touches. You can also zoom in to get a closer view of a tangled set of connections or zoom out to see the board as a whole. And, of course, the game provides solid AI opponents of varying skill, so you can play with any combination of human and computer players, both locally and remotely. Your train cards are supposed to be a secret from other players, but the game plays just fine even if all local players see each other’s cards, as players tend to focus on their own connections and train color needs rather than on blocking opponents. You get all of this, plus Xbox Live achievements, plus a tutorial to help you learn the game easily, and all for less than the cost of the actual board game. Board games are a great social activity, and they don’t always translate well into video games, but the Xbox 360 version of Ticket to Ride is superior to the original board game in my opinion. The only drawback of the Xbox 360 version is that there isn’t sufficient contrast between red and orange, which can sometimes lead you astray. (It makes you wonder how difficult it would be for a color blind person to play this game, either the board game or the video game.)

Now if they’d only port Iron Dragon to the Xbox 360…
Next Level Games: 1480657132 Single Player, Xbox LIVE Multiplayer 2-5, Local Multiplayer 2-4, HD (High Definition). Game is in English only. Buy Ticket to Ride today for even more fun! Earn points as you claim your tracks and complete your Tickets from coast to coast. Play with up to 5 people on Xbox LIVE or 4 people on the same Xbox 360. Multiple levels of AI players will keep the challenges coming. Compare your best scores with your friends on the Leaderboards and earn Achievements to prove you are the best around! This game requires the Xbox 360 hard drive or the 512MB Memory Unit for storage. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.
Ticket to Ride [Online Game Code]

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Full Auto

March 5th, 2010

Full Auto Full Auto is a destructive racing game. Your muscle car is well equipped with machine guns – the question is if you can survive the race, not win it! I enjoy the destructability of the world, as well as the rewind button.

I have to say first that every time I go to play this game I laugh my fool head off for the first ten minutes or so. I play a lot of video games (as you might imagine) and many of them have a driving aspect. A key skill I’ve honed over time is how to drive quickly, instinctively, while avoiding crashes. It is REALLY hard for me to switch to this game where you’re often trying to ram head-on into your opponent. I will be racing down the road and literally keep missing the cars I’m trying to hit, because my hands automatically dodge left and right!

Once you get the hang of the smashing, the game is a lot of fun. It’s really easy, too. I never have to look at the manual – it’s just a matter of grabbing a car, choosing a weapons configuration, hopping into a map and smashing away. It’s a great stress relief. You have arcade mode which are one-off maps as well as career mode to build up your skills and vehicles over time. They have a lot of vehicle choices, color choices, and interesting maps. There’s a lot to enjoy here if you like smashing things with cars.

They did a good job with the environment. You can smash into other cars of course, but you can also run down cafe tables, take down light poles and telephone poles, even smash your way through buildings. The whole world disintegrates around you. Blast into a full gasoline tanker truck and watch it go up in a huge fireball.

The rewind feature builds up over time and lets you “backtrack” after a wrong turn or a head-on collision. It’s great fun and helps you extend your time, undoing a mistake.

There are multiplayer modes too, where you can play with people either locally on your system or online with XBox Live.

Yes, other racing games might have more “perfect” car models and racing response, but that’s not really what Full Auto is about. Full Auto is a casual, smash-em-up game that lets you play for a few minutes then go on with something else. It does perfectly with that, and is highly recommended! Sega Of America, Inc.: 10086680003 Full Auto X360 combines raw horsepower with awesome firepower in a race that demands both precision aimand breakneck speed. Destroy your enemies and tear the world apart as you master a wide arsenal of weaponry and a stunning selection of armor-laden cars. Full Auto is fully loaded and redefines the meaning of “next generation,” with advanced technology, high-speed white-knuckle arcade racing, explosive vehicular combat, and fully destructible environments and custom cars. In the near future, the city of Staunton is held hostage by a mysterious group known only as The Shepherds. As a retired driver, you are coerced by the Shepherds into a series of lethal street races, where the cost is of competing is far greater than anyone ever expected. Choose one of 20 fully loaded racecars stocked with combat weapons and blaze full-throttle through five explosive zones in 10 unique modes. No pre-calculated or canned animations. Players will never see the same wreck twice! Extensive multi-player support via split screen modes and Xbox Live ensures that Xbox 360 gamers get their friends into the intense action.
Full Auto

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