This Nintendo 3DS exclusive Super Mario installment is the perfect fit for all age levels while offering detailed challenges and retrospective game elements.

The action-parkour-platformer game Mirror’s Edge was great fun on the PC back in 2008. At the time I remarked: I loved the style – such as the way the game switches seamlessly between an anime look at highly detailed 3D world view, for example. Everything about the presentation plays into that style – graphics are super-bright, people are all cool looking and things look very much like the ‘parkour’ things I’ve watched in the past on YouTube. As for the levels, they remind me of some puzzle and adventure games have played through the years – you get a start and end point with some hints along the way. There are always silly Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The best kids’ products like books, shows or music are the ones that folks of any age can enjoy. One example is the Beatle’s quirky Yellow Submarine movie based around the iconic song that even today kids are singing in schools! For a limited time, the Yellow Submarine ebook is FREE on the iTunes Book Store. It is greatly enhanced with film and music clips and loads of fun even when your kids are older! Here is the description: This enchanting illustrated book captures the same magical spirit found in the film. The Beatles’ journey to save Pepperland from the music-hating Blue Meanies is filled with surrealistic humor, wit Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The HP TouchPad has now been playing the game of ‘bring out your dead’ for twice as long as it was a living product – but this weekend might be the end of the road. HP is having a fire sale on the TouchPad starting at 6:00 p.m. (Central Time), Sunday, December 11th via its eBay store. Here is the text of the message sent to HP employees: To: U.S. HP Employees HP employees will have a chance to purchase a refurbished HP TouchPad via eBay before the sale is announced to the general public. Specifically, the TouchPads will be offered through one of HP’s newest marketplaces for close-out and refurbished HP Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Okay, so here’s the thing:  a number of years ago, while attending a Holiday gathering at my parents-in-law’s place, I told folks that I felt that Christmas was for the kids, not for the adults, so please don’t bother getting me any presents.  If there’s something that I really want, I’ll get it for myself, I promise!  And this has reduced the stress enormously at these gatherings; they don’t have to figure out something to get me, and I don’t have to pretend to be pleased (or be anxious about not being pleased) by their choices.  It’s for the kids!… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Have you read the ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ trilogy by Stieg Larsson? If not, you really should as they are wonderful books – a bit on the disturbing side at times and not intended for a younger audience. But these wonderful books were made into Swedish movies over the last several years, leading to the obvious question – why do we need a Hollywood version? Technically we don’t, at least of the first book: the Swedish version was quite well done. The other two were rather lacking, to be honest. But there were definite areas for improvement, and I think for most people the enduring images still comes from the book… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Did you buy a Jawbone UP? I did, and I have been largely disappointed, but I haven’t completely given up on it. Evidently a lot of people are very unhappy with them, and amazingly enough Jawbone has stepped up and offered a full refund to all UP owners who want one, even those who don’t have their original packaging or receipt, as well as those who don’t necessarily want to return them. This arrived in registered UP users’ email today: UPDATE FROM THE CEO The UP™ No Questions Asked Guarantee To the UP Community:Earlier this year, we unveiled Jawbone’s vision to help people live a healthier life Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you know anyone from New Jersey, you’ve probably seen the above image on Facebook or Twitter. However, if this is news to you, it’s a funny yet frighteningly accurate map of the “real” New Jersey, broken down by the demographics of each area. Seriously, it’s true. I live in the “Middle Class Raritan Valley Line Commuters” swath, while my parents live in the “Drunk Rutgers Students” section. My sister-in-law, who is a lawyer who drives a Prius, lives in the “Lawyers Driving Hybrids” territory. And I grew up in one of the less politically correct sections, but trust me, it’s dead-on. Hands down, my favorite part is Camden, AKA “Worse than Detroit”. When I… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

If you have been considering getting one of the nifty little Roku boxes to stream video, listen to music and play games this might be a great weekend to jump in. The company is offering $10 off their top of the line Roku plus free shipping. But hurry if this sounds good to you since the offer is only good while “supplies last”. To help with your comparison shopping here is a look at the various Roku offerings and what each brings to the table. That’s the standard price on the Roku 2 XS. Buy it today and it is on the way for just $89.99. Details and ordering… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Last week at my monthly department staff meeting, our manager took her soda from her lunch bag, opened the can and realized it was a regular Coke rather than the Diet Coke she had requested. The confusion is apparent if you look at the two cans pictured – they are nearly identical. At a all-day meeting today I ran into the same thing – it is very difficult to distinguish the Coke and Diet Coke cans apart. Apparently we are not alone, as reported in the Wall Street Journal: The end is near for a white can that has many Coke drinkers seeing red. Coca-Cola Co. is switching back to its time-honored Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I like puzzle games, me.  Particularly puzzle games where there is no time limit and reflexes aren’t a factor.  I’m old, my reflexes suck, and I have two kids that interrupt me all the time, so that makes action games tough to play, but puzzle games pretty good.  In general. Which brings us to the new release by Danish developers Sybo Games, PowerFlow.  PowerFlow is a puzzle game that, the press folks tell us, “plays as a mix between Entanglement and Pipe Mania.”  If you look at the above screen snap, and if you’re familiar with Entanglement and Pipe Mania, maybe that gives you enough to go on.  If not, you might want to surf over Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I really enjoy the G5 ‘hidden object’ games, and gave Treasure Seekers 3 a very positive review. It is engaging and fun and just the right balance of challenging content. Now you can get it for a great price! From now until December 11th, G5 is featuring Treasure Seekers 3 for 30% off, $4.99 for the full version! Here is the description: LIMITED TIME OFFER! 30 % OFF! EXPIRES ON DECEMBER 11! Have you played the prequels to this fascinating adventure? Don’t miss Treasure Seekers and Treasure Seekers 2 – on iPad and iPhone! Sign up for our mailing list! www.g5e.com/e-mail Use your Hidden Object skills to explore a mysterious world Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(not for wearing to your local Post Office) The day before Halloween I went out for a run, and about a 1/2 mile from my house, across the street from me, I saw a guy running in the opposite direction, dressed all in black. Not wearing black clothes, I mean head to toe spandex, similar to this outfit. My first thought was “OMG the Rubber Man from American Horror Story is coming to get me!” My second was, “ok, breathe. It’s the day before Halloween, that’s clearly a costume, and insane ghost murderers don’t give you friendly waves as they go by.” But even ninja-runner-dude has nothing on a runner in California who set… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

November 15th saw the release of what will quickly become the #2 selling tablet of all time: the Amazon Kindle Fire. Since then we have seen plenty of ‘race to be first’ reviews, but my goal was to spend some time integrating the Fire into my life before completing my review. This week we also saw the usability study that looked at the issues around the 7″ screen specifically with the Fire but related to mid-sized tablets in general. Dan and I each got one that arrived on the 15th: Dan’s has already gone back to Amazon, while I have decided to keep mine. So while we never got to do a… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I have written about Spiderweb Software quite a bit, reviewing the last Avernum game and all of the platform releases for Avadon last year. I have also been fortunate to provide beta testing to Spiderweb for the past several years across platforms. Now we are approaching the release of a game that is both new and old – Avernum: Escape from the Pit. I wrote about the game here, and now we are at the point where Spiderweb is ready to release the Mac version of the game, with the Windows and iPad releases to follow. I say it is old AND new because it was… Continue reading on Gear Diary …