By Eddy

A couple of times a year EA usually has a showcase for their headliner games. They give a number of media outlets the opportunity to play the games and meet with the developers.  Obviously a lot of work goes into setting up the event as it is evident that EA really cares about getting these games out to the public.  With that said, in my personal opinion it’s actually unnecessary (not to say that they shouldn’t have any events, I have way to much fun at them) but the quality of the games speak for themselves and have for a long time now.  Nowhere is this more evident that with the EA Sports line of games.  For the past decade EA Sports has consistently put out games that usually rate at the top of the list each year, and after my time with their future offerings for 2010, I am confident that things will remain the same.

So here is the recap from our visit to the Ainsworth in New York City for the EA Sports New York Kick Off.

EA Sports Active Wii Game

By Divina

Later this year, the updated EA Sports Active will be released. A fitness game much like Nintendo’s Wii Fit that gets the gamer to do some fun calorie burning exercise.  I am trying out the Wii Fit Plus now and I find it to be a lot of fun so I was interested in comparing what EA sports spin on it was.  The game offers 20 plus activities which focuses on cardio, upper-body and lower-body exercises. Activities like, mountain biking, squats, running and so on. The game also allows for the player to customize their workout routine to meet your fitness goals.  Multiple players can get in on the workout for further competition. I especially liked how the leg and arm band sensors act as a heart monitor and calorie counter. EA Sports Active is rated for everyone but the price for the bundle has not been set so stay tuned.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

By Eddy

The game comes out for all the major consoles, but at the event I really wanted to concentrate on the Wii game.  Last year, Tiger Woods 10 introduced the Wii motion plus to the game play, which added a more fine tuned control system and frankly a bit more realism to the game.  To build on last year’s offering, players are now able to play in a first person view (True View).  Allowing you to line up your shot on the tee and see the ball at your feet.  As far as I am concerned it is the closest you can get to playing real golf at the comfort of your home.  I don’t include those ridiculously expensive golf simulators.  The game mechanics have also gotten more realistic with the Tour Pro option which measures the contact point on the ball as you swing.  This new feature is so in tuned with your actual motions that it is possible to totally miss the ball if you aren’t careful.  The game boast new courses as well as allowing you to play in the Ryders Cup as Tiger Woods or your own custom made player.  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 will be out for all major consoles in June.

Madden NFL 11

By Eddy

Madden has been the gold standard for years, but after a while I kind of stopped playing (I know Madden Fan, blasphemy!).  The thing that made me stop is exactly the aspect that most people like and that is the complexity of the games.  I am pretty sure there are a number of people that have played Madden enough that they could competently coach a professional team during a game, at least in terms of strategy and play choice.  Unfortunately, I felt that game play was too nuanced and there were so many plays to have to filter through which really slowed down the game. I just got overwhelmed.  Well, just like those Windows 7 commercials, EA must have heard me. Madden has revised the play calling system, which now provide players with customized situational game plans, which cuts the play book down to those plays that truly apply to current situation and also speeds up the game so now instead of going through up to 350 plays you have only one.  While this might stifle some of the creativity of hardcore Madden gamers, it provides everyone else more time to actually playing the game on the field. Hardcore fans shouldn’t worry too much since the game also allows you to create your own defensive and offensive game plans to use in the new play calling system. Of course, the usual upgrades in terms of controls, graphics and online play round out the changes and combine to make Madden NFL 11 a must have when it comes out August 10^th .

NCAA Football 11

By Eddy

Unfortunately, I did not get to play this one.  Seeing that my team is the Uconn Huskies you can obviously tell that I don’t really play the College football games that much.  I was able to sneak behind a couple of people and learned a couple of interesting things.  First of all, a couple of Madden tricks are starting to show up in the game including: Pro-Tak gang tackling and formation substitution.  The game has also made the presentation closer to the ESPN game broadcasts. They have also added details to each player such as hand warmers, wrist bands and knee braces.  From where I was standing the game looked great and very realistic.  NCAA Football 11 is scheduled to come out 3 days before my birthday on July 13^th .

NBA Jam

By Eddy

Back from the grave comes one of the most popular basketball games in video game history, NBA Jam! I remember playing this game in middle school and not being able to get enough.  It brings back everything that made the original so fun, the 2 on 2 game play, the ability to knock over your opponents, the big headed versions of your favorite players and finally the vicious dunks.  Lest I forget the most important thing…the ability to catch fire! (my inner caveman is coming out). This game was one of the most popular at the event with a consistent crowd around the tv screen.  You could hear the whoops and hollers from the players as they attempted to pick up the game play.  As the game is for the Wii, it takes a little while to adjust to how to play with the remote and knunchucks, though it look like nobody had any issues catching on.  I took a couple of turns playing the game and must admit that it had me as enthralled as the original did.  With the improved graphics and the 3D modeling of the players as well as photos of each NBA Star it was a marked improvement over the 90’s version of the game both from the console and the arcade. Due out this fall for only the Wii, I am predicting that this one might be a big hit with kids as well as adults.

-By Divina

Readers, you know I am not the family gamer but I like a good Wii game as much as the next person. So while Eddy was away Thomas and I got to try out the Endless Ocean: Blue World Wii Game .  To me the experience felt less like playing a game and morel like scuba driving in some of the most beautiful water locations in the world, all while safely sitting in my living room.

The game is a total adventure! 

(more…)

Editors Note:  James is our newest contributor and as you will see he is big into video games. He brings us a veteran gamers’ perspective to the site and we are looking forward to hearing more from him.

By James

On my way into Grand Central for  EA ’s Wing into Spring Event in the Hudson Terrace on the west side, I said to myself "I can’t believe I’m taking off work to check out the a bunch of video games!" (my wife said the same thing but with a slightly different connotation). Being an Atari raised household in the early eighties I’ve graduated from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Contra, and 007 to my most recent addiction, Bad Company 2 which was being showcased in 3D.

The Terrace was divided into 7 or 8 sections with an EA SME (subject matter expert) on each game. My first stop was the new Medal of Honor . Let me tell you that this game looks sick. (more…)

By Eddy

UPDATE!  GIVEAWAY CLOSED.  Winner selected by www.random.org was Dadarocks and Osmar.

As D mentioned dear readers, we have a new giveaway and not 1 but 2 of you lucky readers will win Wii versions 2KSports Major League Baseball 2K10 being released March 2, 2010.

There may be some of you that may say that the Wii version is probably a watered down version for kids and I am here to set you straight.  The Wii version is just as stout as the PS3 and 360 games with the added bonus of motion controls that in the end make the game even more engrossing.  So definitely don’t miss out.

The facts:

2KSports Major League Baseball 2K10 commemorates the 10^th year anniversary of the wildly successful game that lets you not only be a pitcher, a hitter but it improve all facets of your game.

Total Control hitting

Total Control pitching

Multiple seasons

Home run Derby

Bragging rights

The Wii game retails for $49.99 BUT you can get one for FREE by leaving a comment saying how much you rock and deserve to be a Dancinghotdogs.com winner!

The giveaway will end at 9pm on Sunday, 3/7 .   Again two (2) of you will win! So leave a comment.

Other ways to win:

• follow DancingHotdogs rss feed
• follow @dancinghotdogs on twitter (leave a comment)
• follow @rosadancing on twitter (leave a comment)
• Retwitter about the giveaway (leave a comment)
• Blog about the contest (post link in comment)
• Join our fanclub on facebook

PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST IF tweet or are a new or current follower.   .

Good luck!

Disclaimer:  I attended a 2KSports event and was given a review game to try out and to giveaway.  No other monetary compensation, my words are my words.

By Divina

Don’t you just love Dora?  She is so cute and now this Holiday season your kids can help her save the Crystal Kingdom and take care of her Puppy.

Dora The Explorer: Dora Save the Crystal Kingdom Wii game retails at $39.99 and PS2 game $19.99.

Quick synopsis:  A greedy King has taken the crystals that make the Crystal Kingdom colorful.  Dora along with Boots have to bring the color back by having fun as they fly with butterfly wings and bounce off sparkling crystals.  The game is based on a direct to DVD movie of the same name.

So if your kids enjoyed the movie they are going to love the educational problem solving games that help them with your colors, shapes and sizes and of course their Spanish speaking.  

My favorite aspect of the game was the Storybook Helper which allows parents or a big brother or big sister to jump into the game if your little one needs some help.

This is perfect for children 4 to 6 years old. 

Dora The Explorer: Dora Puppy DS game retails for $29.99

Dora has a new puppy, Perrito and she needs help taking care of him. 

Your children can groom him, play fetch, hide and seek and even enter a puppy competition. 

There are over 10 activities to do with Perrito but my favorite was earning tokens to buy sweaters and hats for him.    Ha!  Yes, the original dancing hotdogs: Gabor and Ava have quite a collection of outfits and they are too cute.

Dora Puppy is rated for everyone.

By Divina

Until becoming a new mommy, I did not realize just how many educational leaps and bounds have been taken in Children’s television.

I really don’t like Baby Boy to watch too much TV.  He is only 1 and half but in our house Dora, Kai-lan and The Backyardigans are super stars.  So when 2K Play and Nickelodeon sent me copies of their new Wii, PS2 and DS games for our favorite shows I was very excited.

First my reviews on Ni Hao, Kai-lan with Dora and the The Backyardigans to follow in the next few days.

Do your kids love Ni Hao, Kai-lan as much as we do?

Well I have two games for you to add to holiday shopping list.   Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day (Wii and PS2 formatt) and Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration (DS).  This is the first time Ni Hao, Kai-lan fans have video games to play at home or take with them on trips.

2K Play and Nickelodean take the very best of the TV show Ni Hao, Kai-lan and make two fun and educational games for your preschooler.

I played the Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day in the Wii format and enjoyed it. 

The games were simple and fun like the badminton, water balloon toss and Soccer Challenge.

I loved how Kai-lan, Rintoo, Tolee, and Hoho encouraged each other and said "That was hard, but I did good" after a challenging game. How sweet.

In Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day Kai-lan and friends are just playing competition games. 

In Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration Kai-lan and friends are helping Grandfather get everything ready for the Chinese New Year festival.

Your children will be learning about Chinese culture, the language and helping each other as they play this game that makes washing dishes fun! 

The activities and controls are very simple so your 4 year old will not get bored and lose interest.

I thought the Celebration game was much more educational than Super Game day. In Celebration games your children learn to match colors and shapes and so much more.

Of course, in neither game there is foul language or violence so these games are perfect for your 4 to 6 year olds.

Way to go 2K Play and Nickelodeon! 

Ni Hao Kai-lan: Super Game Day Wii game retails at $39.99 and PS2 game $19.99

Ni Hao Kai-lan New Year’s Celebration DS game retails for $29.99

By Eddy

A week ago, Divina, her sisters and I took the train to NYC because we were fortunate to be invited to the Namco Bandai Bloggers party.  Below are my thoughts on a couple of the game we previewed:

We Cheer 2

The follow up to the popular initial offering for the Wii, We Cheer 2 steps things up adding new songs (many of them I was actually able to recognize, solving one of the problems that I had with the first We Cheer.  Most of the songs for the original  were for the tween set. How is a 26 year old aspiring male cheerleader supposed to rock with his pom-poms out if he doesn’t recognize the song?).  Don’t worry tweeners there are plenty of songs from Miley, Demi and Selena etc. if you don’t recognize these first names then you are way too old.

We Cheer 2 allows you to customize your cheerleader as well as adding different difficulty levels like exercise mode.  To tell you the truth, in my experience with this game all the levels are exercise mode.  You swing and move your hand all over the place in various configuration and at a fast pace, if you add in all the jump kicks that I usually do when playing you get a heck of a work out.

 In terms of look, the games has a lot going on in the screen, the graphics don’t appear to have improved vastly, but like in most Wii games you aren’t  playing for the realistic nature of the images.  All in all, I found the game pretty enjoyable.  It was definitely a hit with all the kids and even the grown ups were having a good time playing.  It definitely leads to a lot of embarrassing pictures for those who played.

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao

Downloadable on both the Xbox live and Playstation Network, Invincible Tiger brings us back to the side scrolling world of oldies but goodies like Kung Fu and Double Dragon.  The game takes place in an undetermined place in China during the kung fu hey day that most kung fu movies of the 70s takes place (note that I have no idea when this takes place).  In true kung fu fashion, Han Tao our hero has to run around kicking and beating down an endless line of bad guys.  While the fighting might be simple in theory with more or less two button fight but do not be mislead there are a number of special moves that add variety in the fighting as well as a dodging system..

One of the most interesting features of the game is that it can be seen in two different ways.  One takes advantage of the current crazy in cinema and present the game in 3-D. Gamers are asked to pop on the good old red and blue lens glasses and watch as much of the background action begins to pop out of the screen.  For some reason 3-D does not really work for my eyes, for those of you like me the 2-D presentation is equally as vivid with the added touch of the grainy film lines that are ever present in those kung fu movies of the past. 

For my money, I think that this game was one of the better ones that I saw, add in the fact that it will definitely cost less than a regular game and  it is definitely worth keeping your eye on.

Dead to Rights-Retribution

I was only able to play two levels in this Playstation 3 game, but let me tell you it was impressive.  A reboot of the series, we are brought back to the origins of Jack Slate and his dog Shadow. I will have to admit that I never played the older games and I was definitely unfamiliar with the game controls and other aspects of the game, but when the controller was put in my hand I was totally immersed. 

I first played as Jack Slate, the game controls while alien to me at the time soon became a little more fluid, I think if I had spent more time with it, I would have had no problem navigating my way.   For the most part, this game is a third person hand to hand combat game with a style similar to Gears of War with a duck and cover system.  Unlike Gears, Jack Slate relies more on hand to hand combat, but do not worry there are plenty of guns to shoot and grenades to launch.  While I would have liked a better targeting system (I had trouble locating and tracking on a bad guy) I am sure experienced hardcore gamers will have no problems. 

I also played as Shadow the dog, running around protecting a hurt Jack Slate, by mauling and tackling creeping bad guys. Be prepared for a large amount of blood and violence, the mature rating is well deserved.

Active Life: Extreme Challenge

The next installment in the floor pad, hyper, tiring but fun Wii series, Active life: Extreme Challenge brings us out into the world of extreme sports.  With activities such as rock climbing and base jumping, you won’t mistake this for the real thing but the entire family should have a good time in playing the game. The game allows the inclusion of Mii’s into the game which allows for more personalization.

If you are looking for a workout and can’t afford the Wii Fit, this is the game for you. Various games have you on the floor, standing, jumping and everywhere in between. These games have always been one of my favorites and it actually develops a good amount of body coordination.

Katamari Forever

For those of you that don’t know this an addictive PS3 game, that has the player rolling some ball around expansive level or world doing various different tasks. The most interesting are the levels which have you roll over various objects collecting them like a snow ball growing ever larger.  There is no real point to the game (The game is about bringing color back to the Universe after it was some how lost), but the graphics and the various whimsical elements and level just pull you right in and need no explanation or logic to them. Being on the PS3 means that it is in full 1080 HD resolution which when playing looks spectacular.  I wished that I had more time to play the game…like I said it is pretty addictive.

Tekken 6

The next installment of the series boast a even larger cast of fighters as well as including others that have not been in the series in a long time.  In addition, a new motion engine that allows for a crisper and clearer imagine during the fast action scene in the game.  All the staples of a Tekken game are present with a tournament style mode as the center piece as well as an adventure mode that includes multiplayer.  A greater amount of customization is now allowed so you can make your favorite character your own.

I was not able to play the game (the line was too long), but from what I saw the fighting was very fluid and the new moves and characters brutal.  The environments in the tournament fighting were extremely detailed and appeared to be interactive, with a number of fighters being thrown through windows.  All in all, Tekken 6 looks like it is going to be a welcomed addition to the series.

By Divina

Well Readers, once again, Dancing hotdogs got invited to another bloggers night by the lovely Maral.  (We love Maral and are happy she is enjoying her new job!)  She always throws the best bloggers night!

Eddy was working late that night so he could not make the event.  Playing video games just does not appeal to me.  We have a Wii and a Playstation2 and I NEVER go on them. So I brought along my 12 year old sister to get the tween perspective on the games.  Boy, am I glad I did because to her total delight we got to try out Disney Sing It, Ultimate Band and a whole bunch of other fun games. So please don’t judge me since I never claimed to be an expert in video games!

Wii Ultimate Band:

This game, I have to say was a lot of fun.  We have Guitar Hero at home and while I don’t play that but this seemed a lot easier.  Good news parents, you don’t need to buy a fake instrument along with the $50 game but instead use the actual Wii Controllers. With the Wii remotes the whole family has the opportunity to get involved.  One can play drums, the other sing or play the guitar or bass.  It you have a family bigger than four, those family members, can just sing and dance along.  With each level the “band” keeps unlocking different songs.  Don’t worry the PG song selection also makes it perfect for a fun family night.

Wii Super Dog Bolt:

This adventure game based on the movie that premiered recently revolves around Super Bolt and Super Annie and the show action adventures instead of real-life Bolt’s quest to get back to real-life Annie.  The game gives you the option of playing the levels through two different perspectives Annie and Bolt. 

The Annie perspective is more analytical and makes you think about how to get into the bad guy fortress and foil the bad guys.  She uses a wheel bar and scooter to outwit the bad guys.

The Bolt perspective is a lot more action oriented with Bolt biting and fighting the bad guys into submission.  Bolt has super powers like super bark and can leap impossible jumps.  Unlike Annie who use brain power instead of muscles to win the game.

I am sure the Annie version is more focused to girls but both perspectives were a lot of fun to watch.  Ha.

DS Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force:

This was probably the hardest game for me to play because I had no idea what the goal was.  Once I got that you were a secret agent out to find clues, hidden lairs and solve mysteries etc. It got better.

I put in this picture because who does not want to look at Zac Ephron.

Wii Disney Sing It:

This by far was my favorite game of the night.  We got the game in the goody bag but unfortunately, I got the Wii version and my little sister got the Playstation 3 version so being a good big sister I gave her my copy.  (We both only have the Wii systems)  Trust me I will be putting this on next time I go visit my parents.

The songs were all new from the Disney super stars Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, High School Musicals, Cheetah girls etc.  I did not know all the songs but the songs were easy to follow and let you sing your hearts content.  There were 35 songs in total and I am positive your Disney fanatic daughter/sister/cousin/little girl down the street will know every song.  If you have multiple Jonas Brother fanatics in your house don’t worry the game allows for duets and team singing.

XBOX 360: Pure

This was a total boy video game and I had to wait my turn as the little boys invited to the Blogger night played.  The graphics in this was great.  Pure takes the player on an off road experience.  There is mud, waterfalls, deserts and any other obstacles virtual off-roaders will enjoy jumping.  I won’t lie I was terrible at this game.  I could not pass my first water hazard.  I kept trying and trying until the little boys got impatient with me and just showed me how it was done.  I am positive that will be my future when my baby grows up.

Another game that was to be previewed was Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals but I did not get a chance to play.   My little sister and I were only there for a little over an hour but we both had a lot of fun talking to the other bloggers and Disney Interactive PR managers Maral and Ross. 

All the games range from $30 to $60 and are available in more systems then I mention.  I just happen to play in whatever it’s listed as. 

For more info go to: http://disney.go.com/disneyinteractivestudios/