Two of my friends finally convinced me to try out the Scrabble knock-off Words With Friends (Free). I’m hooked, and I’ve only played a few games. Last weekend the game was provided me plenty of entertainment while we were visiting my in-laws.

What I really like about this game is that it gives me one more way to compete against my friends. Living several states away from my friends and dealing with small kids (both me and my friends) makes it hard for us to compete.

Words With Friends (Free) makes it easy to compete. Very little time is required to play. The game even notifies me when it’s my turn. That means I can play a word and then do something else until it’s my turn again (could be a few minutes, could be a few days).

Plus, the game was free (and the ads aren’t too annoying or intrusive). This game will be on my iPhone for a long time.

Image source: Newtoy Inc. (maker of the Words With Friends)

After seeing Toy Story 3, my wife knew what she wanted to get me for Father’s Day: Toy Story 3 the video game. My son and I popped the game in as soon as we got home from the movie. Then, I played the game late Friday night after the kids were in bed. Here’s my official review:

Story Mode – the game actually has two different modes. The first is the actual story mode where you beat different levels. Each level is basically a scene from one of the Toy Story movies with some extra stuff thrown in to make it a video game level. The levels are easy, but a little too complex for my four year old because he’s not used to playing video games. The game is rated E10 (everyone 10+), but in reality it is for anyone 6+.

Toy Box Mode – this is where the game shines. In this mode you are the sheriff of an old west town and you are assigned little missions to complete. As you complete the missions, you earn money. With your money you can customize the town and buy more cool things. It’s like Grand Theft Auto…only clean and suitable for little kids. This is where my four year old will learn how to play video games.  My son loved playing this mode even though all he did was walk around and throw balls at buildings.

Graphics – amazing. I’m a big fan of Pixar and the Toy Story movies. This game captured the Pixar look perfectly.

Replayability – it is an easy game and I imagine it won’t take much to finish the story mode. However, my son will hopefully get hours (spread out over several years) of excitement out of this game. The Toy Box mode alone should keep him occupied for a long time.

Cons – the game is available on all platforms, but you can only play as Zurg on the PS3 version. Lame. Also, there is no online play, but honestly the game probably wouldn’t work with online play.

Overall Rating – A+

Please keep in mind this game is designed to be a family game for all ages. It doesn’t have the intensity of Call of Duty (or other hardcore games), but it’s not supposed to.

Ever since the 80′s the only sports related video games I’ve been interested in are baseball games. I’ve played most of the baseball games on all the major gaming consoles since the Coleco (pre-NES days). There were four exceptions to that rule: NBA Jams (SNES), NHL Hockey 96 (Sega), PGA Tour III (Sega), and Tecmo Bowl/Super Tecmo Bowl (NES/SNES). (I’ve played Madden a few times back in the late 90′s…it was OK, but I preferred the arcade style Tecmo games.)

Last night I stepped through a time warp to 1993, thanks to the latest release on xbox Live Arcade: Tecmo Bowl Throwback. My brother and I spent hours playing the original Tecmo Bowl in 1989. My team? LA Raiders…defenses couldn’t stop Bo Jackson up the middle. We played the sequel Tecmo Super Bowl when it came out in 1993 on SNES.

Anyway, Tecmo Bowl Throwback is the xbox 360 version 1993 Tecmo Super Bowl. I downloaded the demo last night and played two quick games. At $10, it’s a must have for any gamer from the 80′s/early 90′s.

So my last post was about a less-than-manly moment: seeing the New Moon movie.  My week-long vacation is over and now it’s time to get back into the blogging groove…

Even though I suffered through several unmanly things during my week off (the movie, clothes shopping, etc.), I did manage to fit in my annual Thanksgiving vacation manly activities.

1. Golfing with my buddy.  I love golf.  The problem is that I only play once a year.  As a result, my friend often says that I get the best value per swing.  Totally true.  I suck.  Anyway, we played 18 holes. I hit some long drives (275 was my longest) and made a couple decent puts, but my iron game was horrendous.  Frankly, I’ve never been good at that part of the game.  But, the day was fun and we grabbed a good lunch afterwards.   This is the second year in a row we’ve played golf during my week off.  If this pattern holds for 2010, I think it will officially qualify as a manly tradition.
2. Wings with the guys.  My friend and brother have had this tradition for years now.  Back in high school we used to get wings on a very regular basis, but then I moved away for college and career.  Ever since then, we make it a point to get wings whenever I’m in town.  We’ve been doing this now for probably close to 10 years. I enjoy it and my wife is glad she doesn’t have to get wings with me.
3. Board game with the crew.  My friends and I love to play xbox every Friday night.  One of the games we play is Ticket to Ride.  I missed the last two Fridays because of my trip.  However, last Friday we held an “offline” gaming session.  My brother and his wife, my friend, my wife, and I got together to play the Ticket to Ride board game.  My friend won, but it was still fun.  I think my wife enjoyed it.  Hopefully, we can try a board game again next year to see if we want to promote this to an annual tradition.  I would love to try playing the Settler’s of Catan board game…I’ve only played the xbox version.

Major thanks to my wife for being supportive of my manly activities when I’m on vacation.

Tonight was the release of the most anticipated game of the year: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.  I stopped by Gamestop on my way home from work to pick up my reserved copy.  Did I immediately open and play the game when I got home?  No.  Instead I earned a “man card.”

Tonight I had to babysit the kids while my wife was out visiting neighbors.   I manned up and did the right thing.  I played with the boys for a while, gave them a bath, read to them, and put them to bed.  That was about 40 minutes ago.  I still haven’t opened the game.  I want to be sure they stay in bed before I pump that game through my surround sound and play Team Death Match with my buddies.

Most guys would think that I lost a “man card” because I babysat instead of getting online to play.  Not me.  A real man is a dad and husband first.  I earned a man card.  No amount of head shots on a video game will make up for the time I spent with my boys so my wife could enjoy a few hours with friends.  Don’t worry though.  I will use that man card to my benefit when the time comes, and I’ll keep you posted when it happens.

Image source: modernwarfare2.com