Welcome to our new reality of work from home and at home schooling, one piece thats been missing for kids is socialization. Thankfully the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons [Amazon] couldnt come at a better time. This version of Animal Crossing really pushes the user to build a digital community of friends (dont worry the friend codes are like 20 digits, so really the only way to connect with friends is by having their codes – this game is still fun if you play it alone without connecting with friends too).
You start by building your own island, build it into your own island paradise. Then you can share it with your friends, up to 8 friends can virtually hang out on the same island. Add a facetime call between friends and you’ve created a great virtual playdate.
There are virtual crafting activities, spend digital nook miles that offer up unique experiences (that is an additional cash into system), grow virtual fruit which adds into the virtual economy experience. There is tons of experiences to enjoy in the game but at the core its about teamwork and spending virtual time with your friends and assisting them to build up their houses too.
Thankfully Nintendo sent me a review code to try out the game and personally my kids have been obsessed with the game, My son whos turning 12 seriously has over a dozen friends playing and they do daily virtual parties and visit each other island (so many kids are joining them they need to have multiple islands to party on).
Disclosure: Nintendo provided a download code to review Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
We love GameStop… We shop there pretty regularly, well till the point where the staff knows our name. When GameStop asked to sponsor a post about holiday gifts from GameStop – I was like absolutely.
Lets start with the items that Marc found while shopping at GameStop.
My Daughter Harper – Loves the princess gear at GameStop so while she doesnt play the video games she does love their toys. She picked up a Princess Peach amiibo figure and it’ll just be good for her imagination play. She found a Funko Pop from Disney’s Beauty & the Beast Belle and quickly added that to her cart. She also picked up a new cup with Belle the Princess on it as well.
My youngest Daughter Harlow – is only 1 and a half, so she heads to the stuffed animals and finds the largest pikachu stuffed animal she can hold. She nuzzles with that for a minute walks it over to Harper’s cart and drops it in before making seeing the Princess Zelda plush and doesnt let that go… not even to head to the check out.
Here are some of the amazing video games – I picked up for Marc for his Nintendo 3DS…
Marc is a superfan of Skylanders Imaginators, but didnt have the Dark starter pack so we got that for him. Now go brings his skylanders where ever he goes…
Marc is also getting into Yo-Kai Watch so picking up the new Yo-Kai Watch 2 game was pretty easy.
Then of course being a big Nintendo fan we got the newest Super Mario game… Super Mario Maker.
I also highly recommend Just Dance 2017 – its a game the whole family can play!
Finally our friends at GameStop are offering a lucky reader a $50 GameStop gift card.
How to win it… Contest ends 11:59pm EST. December 21st, 2016.
You must comment telling us what would you buy from GameStop? please include some method for us to contact you in the comment (twitter or email)
You get 1 extra entry for tweeting about this contest (you can do this daily). Must contain the following information:#holidayGC @GameStop @dadarocks http://dad.am/2gP23IH — and you must also leave comment on this blog with the link to your tweet.
Example: I want to win the @gamestop $50 gift card from @dadarocks http://dad.am/2gP23IH #holidayGC
You get 1 extra entry for following @DadaRocks on twitter –twitter.com/dadarocks you must comment back here that you’re now following
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a Fan on facebook –facebook.com/dadarocks you must comment back here that you’re a fan (and leave a little note on the wall saying hi)
You get 1 extra entry for following @gamestop on twitter –twitter.com/gamestop you must comment back here that you’re now following
You get 1 extra entry for becoming a Fan on facebook –facebook.com/gamestop you must comment back here that you’re a fan (and leave a little note on the wall that dadarocks.com sent you 🙂 )
You will have 12 hours to reply before we pick another winner!
Disclosure: Contest limited to USA. Must be 18+ years old to enter to win.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Netflix is celebrating something we all should be thankful for– friends! To help you celebrate your Friendsgiving this year, check out the following “Dynamic Duos” from TV & movies:
Last week, we got a special advance look at MarioKart 8 for the Nintendo WiiU, and the game looks amazing! It’s a perfect mix of classic MarioKart elements you know and love and new features that make great use of the WiiU’s advanced capabilities. Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect in the racing game, out May 30th.
What’s Back
As I said, this MarioKart continues the trend of remastering old favorites and retaining classic elements from the previous installments. You can expect the following to stick around in MarioKart 8:
Motorbikes (MarioKart Wii)
Hang Gliders (MarioKart 7)
Car Customization (MarioKart 7)
Underwater Racing (MarioKart 7)
Online Multiplayer (MarioKart Wii)
Standard Items (MarioKart franchise)
16 remastered courses (MarioKart 64-MarioKart 7)
What’s New
However, it’s not all a blast from the past in MarioKart 8— there’s quite a bit of fresh material here too! These new features are sure to make MarioKart 8 a hit:
Anti-Gravity Racing, which allows players to drive on walls and ceilings in certain parts of the track
New Playable Characters: the Koopalings
New Playable Character: Baby Rosalina
New Playable Character: Pink Gold Princess Peach
New Item: Boomerang, with the ability to be thrown three times and hit other drivers on its return to the player
New Item: Piranha Plant, which attacks other racers and clears obstacles
New Item: Super Horn, the first item with the ability to deflect the Blue Spiny Shell
16 new courses
MarioKart 8 looks to be another classic installment in the MarioKart series– be sure to check it out when it hits shelves May 30!
I was recently treated to a preview of three brand new games at Nintendo World New York– Kirby Triple Deluxe, Mario Golf: World Tour, and Tomodachi Life— and they looked like excellent additions to the 3DS catalog!
Kirby Triple Deluxe, the character’s first appearance on the 3DS, transports Kirby to the land of Floralia, where he faces tons of unique new enemies and challenges. To deal with these adversarial forces, Kirby uses new copy abilities like Beetle, Bell, Archer, and Circus, and his brand new Hypernova ability. “Going Hypernova” allows Kirby to inhale much more than usual, even enabling him to suck up parts of the environment like trees, terrain, and more!
Mario Golf: World Tour, the sixth game in the Mario Golf franchise, also marks a first by being the first 3DS entry in the series. As always, Mario and his friends (and enemies!) make the sport even more fun with the addition of themed courses, items (a la MarioKart), and coins to enhance the gameplay. World Tour incorporates control elements from the previous games, while also adding a new way to aim your perfect shot. By using the gyroscopic motion sensors in the 3DS or 2DS, players can turn themselves like their in-game character to line up a hole-in-one like never before!
Tomodachi Life breaks new ground for Nintendo, as it will be the first Tomodachi game released outside of Japan. The game revolves around the kooky interactions that occur between the Miis that the player uploads to Tomodachi Life. These Miis then live on the game’s Chin Island, and go about their everyday lives with hilarious results. The Miis can become friends, rivals, and enemies, fall in love, get married, and even have little baby Miis!
We’re sure looking forward to playing these three great games for the Nintendo 3DS!
Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Mario Golf: World Tour are available now. Tomodachi Life hits stores on June 6.
Welcome to our new reality of work from home and at home schooling, one piece thats been missing for kids is socialization. Thankfully the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons [Amazon] couldnt come at a better time. This version of Animal Crossing really pushes the user to build a digital community of friends (dont worry the friend codes are like 20 digits, so really the only way to connect with friends is by having their codes – this game is still fun if you play it alone without connecting with friends too).
