Game review: Hidden Secrets - The Nightmare

Hidden Secrets - The Nightmare is a difficult hidden object game. You play a murder victim who is currently in a coma, attempting to piece together what happened to her. This mystery is solved through finding objects in rooms that she's been in as well as solving some puzzles in the mini-games. The main problem with this game is that the levels are so dark that it is almost impossible to find any of the objects on your list. Your cursor will glow a bit when you come near an object that you can interact with but that doesn't always make your job easy. There is also a ton of plot involved. If you are the type of gamer that just wants to play the game instead of getting wrapped up in the backstory, this wouldn't be for you. This game is aimed at people who really want to be absorbed into the experience of the character. However, I don't know if anyone will be able to overlook the visual darkness of the game to be able to fully enjoy it. I, personally, found it irritating.

Favorite Friday

Katori Shingo is a member of the ultra-famous Johnny's group, SMAP. Sometime around 2000, he starred in a new show where he would cross-dress as Shingo Mama and let tired housewives have the morning off. He would show up at someone's house bright and early in the morning to perform all of the duties of a housewife - waking the family members up, making them breakfast, seeing them off to work/school - doesn't your mother do that? It was extremely popular, especially with children. So, Shingo Mama recorded a song and released it as a single. Now I present it to you.

Movie review: Stardust

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Stardust, a movie based on a Neil Gaiman novel. Starring Claire Danes and Charlie Cox, Stardust is the story of a young man, Tristan (Cox), who crosses a wall from his mundane world into a magical one to find a fallen star. Tristan expects to find a lump of rock. However, he finds that the star is, instead, a beautiful woman, Yvaine (Danes). Of course, Tristan is not the only person that noticed the falling star. A trio of wicked witch sisters, led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), are after the heart of the star so they can obtain eternal life and beauty. Meanwhile, three princely brothers search for their father's stone to determine which of them will take the now-vacant throne. While all my friends gave this movie raving reviews, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. Little did I know that there would be an absolutely amazing story mixed with beautiful visuals. I don't want to give away too many things but I loved the way Yvaine's glow and the witches' magic was handled. They both added a little more pizzaz to an already amazing world. I would recommend that everyone give Stardust a try.

Game review: Dream Day First Home

Hm, I thought I had written about the Dream Day series of hidden object games but apparently I haven't. Well, you're in luck because a brand new piece of the puzzle has arrived. First we had Dream Day Wedding where you were preparing for your wedding. Then we had Dream Day Honeymoon where the newlyweds went on a tropical vacation. Now we have Dream Day First Home. I really love how each of these games progresses not only the overall storyline but also the playability. In Wedding, you have a very basic hidden object game with a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure piece stuck in. When we moved to Honeymoon, the basics stayed the same but the difficulty got bumped up a notch. This time around, we are given more to customize - from the type of house the couple moves into down to what furniture they will put in their rooms. There is still a great hidden object game with a few little surprises but it's really the addition of the mini-games that makes it a blast.

Since the series is geared towards women, I'm not sure that men would find it interesting. Besides, there are enough games out there geared toward the boys, right ladies? So roll up your sleeves and jump into the wonderful world of home ownership!

Music review: W - Koi no Vacance

duo_uu.jpgArtist: W Members: Ai Kago, Nozomi Tsuji Album: Duo U&U Release date: 6/6/04 Video link: On Veoh (Original song sung by The Peanuts)

English translation: Your kiss, Enough to make me sigh A maiden's heart seeing a sweet dream of love

Shining in a gold color Above the hot sand Let's love in bare flesh like mermaids

Gathering your sunburned smiles The promise we whispered It's a secret between the two of us A sigh escapes my lips

Ah, love's joy in the rose-colored days The first time I saw you... A vacance of love

Gathering your sunburned smiles The promise we whispered It's a secret between the two of us A sigh escapes my lips

Ah, love's joy in the rose-colored days The first time I saw you... A vacance of love About the song: W's first album consisted entirely of cover songs from the late Showa period (1924-1989). Despite the songs not being originally written for the duo, they bring a completely new sound to them. The original version of Koi no Vacance had a very 'Japanese' sound with a bit of big band tossed in. Aibon and Nono not only gave it an updated pop sound but they were also able to hold onto the original feeling of the song. While this isn't my favorite W song, it does make the top 10.

Game review: The Office

Yes, there is a downloadable casual game based on the hit television show, The Office. I've never been a fan of the show myself but I decided to give the game a try. Sadly, it is a terrible time management game. You play a member of The Office team and your job is to hand out assignments to other team members. Over and over again. The game designers decided to dress it up as a competition against other Office characters but there is no real competition in there as your 'competitor' just stands around most of the time.

I was really hoping for a decent game along the lines of Miss Management but with some Office humor tossed in. This piece of trash isn't even close.

Back again!

Yesterday, I went to Atlantic City with my mother and my sister. We had a pretty good time. The Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds concert was at our hotel so it was a little weird to see a lot of little girls walking around the hotel/casino area. But we still had a lot of fun.

Game review: Babysitting Mania

When I first saw Babysitting Mania, I figured that it would be a time management game where you take care of babies or children. Feed them, change them...that sort of thing. It's nothing like that. You spend the entire game trying to clean up after a couple of hellion children while feeding/changing the baby. The goal is to get the entire house clean and the kids in bed before the parents come home. Sadly, that is really difficult because the children keep making more messes. You can put the kids in "time out" but that only lasts a little while. I was really disappointed that this game is more about being a maid and less about actual babysitting. In real life, I don't think anyone would be expecting their babysitter to do a lot of the things she does in the game. For example, one of your in-game chores is doing the family's laundry. I know that I wouldn't expect my babysitter to do the laundry while I was out.

In the end, it was a frustrating game that had nothing to do with the title. The only time you care for the children is when the baby needs to be fed or changed. The older kids are permitted to run around destroying things without any sort of punishment. (They go back to destroying the house after their "time out" so I don't consider that much of a punishment. It's intended to give you some time to catch up on your chores, that's it.) Definitely a game I will not be picking up.