Designer of Donkey Kong: Shigeru Miyamoto

03 May

“I was born and raised an atheist, because I don’t need a God to help me finish the next Mario game. I don’t need to give others credit for my hard work.”  — Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto (Nov 16, 1952 – ) is a famous figure in the gaming industry.  He designed many popular and successful video games for Nintendo, including Mario, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda.  Miyamoto helped Nintendo to create its first coin-operated arcade video game, Sheriff.  He also helped Nintendo to penetrate North American video game market by converting the failed Radar Scope into Donkey Kong.  Based on the success of Donkey Kong, Shigeru created Mario Bros.

The Japanese video game designer and producer was born and raised in Kyoto.  He prefers playing guitar, mandolin and banjo to video games.  Shigeru also does not have technical skills to write video games, but what makes him a successful video game designer?  There are several saying.  The first one says he made his own toys out of wood and string when he was a child.  People also suspect his childhood environment which is close to nature inspired his creativity.  Another saying is he drew comic as a kid, which shaped his creative thinking process.

Currently Shigeru Miyamoto has retired.  However people in the industry are wondering if the legendary Shigeru will venture into mobile games.  Mobile game is not something new to Shigeru, as he admitted his affection towards Angry Birds.  He used to tell Edge that he Angry Birds “has a traditional video game [feel] to it, but also a very creative side.  And you can really feel that they’re having fun developing the game.”  Side note, Shigeru also mentors Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri.

“A game that keeps a smile on the player’s face is a wonderful thing.” — Shigeru Miyamoto

Jenga Donkey Kong

11 Apr

Donkey Kong is a classic video games series, which appeal to the American game players, created by Shigeru Miyamoto and published by Nintendo in 1981. Donkey Kong arcade game was one of the best-selling arcade machines in the early 1980s.  Donkey Kong, a large ape with many adventures, has now adventured into the Jenga game.

Today, Jenga has transformed the game into a 54 black Jenga blocks featuring the original Donkey Kong girders. The Jenga blocks have holes drilled in each end, and you may be wondering what is purpose of the holes. There are four collectible Mario playing pieces included that allow you to play the Jenga Donkey Kong in an alternative way. The pieces are Mario, Donkey Kong, Pauline and a spinner. Spin the spinner, and help Mario climbing up the tower to save Pauline from Donkey Kong. The game becomes more exciting as you need to ensure the tower is built and balanced as your Mario is climbing his way to the top by inserting into the holes of Jenga blocks, which may be a little too tight. Some people may not like the Jenga Donkey Kong game due to the tightness of the holes.

Players: 1+
Ages: 6 and up
Amazon.com rating: 3.7/5 (19 customer reviews)

Awkward Family Photos with Free Rainbow Dice Pack

11 Mar

Inspired by Mike Bender’s and Doug Chernack’s AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, a board game which shares the same name as the site is created.  There are two set of photo cards in the Awkward Family Photos board game, marker chips, answer pad, pencils and a 20-sided die.  Each player will takes turn flip picking a card for others to write their awkward answers.  Then the player will decide who has the best answer to reward a marker chip.  Whoever gets three marker chips in a row or all give markers on the board will win the game.  Now there is a free rainbow dice pack included with the purchase of the Awkward Family Photos game at Amazon.com.  Errr…. Awkward!

Jenga Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

04 Mar

Other than the original Jenga, there are many different version of Jenga games.  Jenga: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is a collection edition of Jenga.  It is based on the 1993 Disney film “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”.  On this edition’s Jenga block, you can also find Jack Skellington the “Pumpkin King” of Halloween.  The collectible Jenga Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas has 54 blocks in different different colours, namely orange, purple and black.  Like any typical Jenga game, players are required to remove the blocks and stack on top of the Jenga tower until it falls.  The Jenga tower is packaged in a coffin-shapred box, which is kind of creepy.

Players: 1 or more
Ages: 6 and up
Amazon.com rating: 4.8/5 (10 customer reviews)

Jenga

25 Feb

If you are looking for an exciting and simple game to play, perhaps you can consider the blockbuster stacking game Jenga. Jenga is an original wood block game that is suitable for all age and no one will ever get bored.  The Jenga game rules are very easy: just pull the wood blocks from the bottom of the tower and stack the tower high without letting it fall.  The wooden Jenga is easy to clean up and store in the package as well.  There are 54 Jenga blocks and an instruction in a package.  Other than playing with children, adults can also use Jenga as a drinking game.

Players: Any number of players
Ages: 6 and up
Amazon.com rating: 4.3/5 (61 customer reviews)

Creators of Awkward Family Photos: Mike Bender and Doug Chernack

19 Feb

The Awkward Family Photos Board Game is inspired by AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com.  The awkward and funny website is created by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack?  Just who the heck are these two awkward geniuses?

Both Mike Bender and Doug Chernack are childhood friends.  Mike was the one who started the blog by posting an awkward photo of family ski trip hung in his parent’s house. Doug joined in to share their own photos.  Later they created a place to share awkward photos of other families.  Coincidently, both Mike and Doug are screenwriters for MTV Movie Awards and local reality TV shows respectively.  Both authors also created AwkwardFamilyPetPhotos.com after receiving many strange family pet photos.  They published two books, which are Awkward Family Photos and Awkward Family Pet Photos.

Awkward Family Photos Board Game

11 Feb

 

The board game Awkward Family Photos is based on the popular website AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com (ranked Top 10 Comedy Website by CNN) and the New York Times best-selling books. The game includes a double-sided and over-sized game board, 62 blue photo cards, 62 red photo cards, 30 marker chips, an answer pad, 6 custom pencils, and a 20-sided die.  The game is designed by All Things Equal, the designer of Loaded Questions, The Joke Game, The New Yorker Caption Game, and Words of Wiz Dumb.

How do you play the Awkward Family Photos board game? Each players takes a turn to flip one of the never-before-seen awkward family photo cards, then roll the die to determine which question on the board to ask.  Then all the other players write their answers and the roller will choose the best answer.  If an answer is chosen, the player gets to place a marker on the board.  To win the game, one must get three markers in a row, or be the first to place all five markers on the board.  It is definitely a fun game by using other family photos to squeeze the creative juice of your own family members.

Players: 4 to 6
Ages: 13 and up
Amazon.com rating: 4.5/5 (32 customer reviews)

Perplexus Rookie

28 Jan

If you think the original Perplexus Maze Game is too tough for your children, PlaSmart has introduced the new Perplexus Rookie.  The Perplexus Rookie is much easier than the Perplexus original (do not even mention about Perplexus Epic) with 75 barriers only.  The obstacles are thicker and wider with bolder numbers.  There are also more rails with only one start point.  The new refined version is also smaller size compared to the original Perplexus Maze Game, which is more suitable for younger children.

Although PlaSmart creates interesting Perplexus toys, the quality issues have been raised up from many fans and players, especially the maze dislodged issues.  However people do reflect that their Perplexus maze games are replaced fairlyquick if defective spot is detected.

Ages: 6 – 10 years
Amazon.com rating: 4/5 (61 customer reviews)

Perplexus Epic

27 Jan

Perplexus Epic is an extension of the original Perplexus Maze Game.  The rules to play the game is still as simple as the original one.  You need to navigate the steel ball through 125 barriers by flipping, twisting and turning the transparent sphere.  The Perplexus Epic is 8.5″ in diameter, and the 3D puzzle will definitely brings your motor and dexterity skills to the next level.

Ages: 6 – 12 years
Amazon.com rating: 4.2/5 (130 customer reviews)

Perplexus Maze Game by PlaSmart

25 Jan

Perplexus Maze Game is not a free online maze game, and it is not an electronic game on popular devices like iPad, Sony Playstation, or Samsung Galaxy Tab.  Perplexus maze game is a three-dimensional maze game which has three different multicoloured puzzles and 100 challenging barriers.  It requires players to guide a small marble around challenging barriers inside a transparent sphere by shifting, flipping, and twisting the sphere.  The marble needs to follow the number to the end of the maze.  The maze game is absolutely mind teasing.  It also trains your hand and eyes coordination.  The game can be played with friends to race against the clock.  Sounds as easy as Tetris?  Wait until you play the maze game and you will know what a scary maze game it is.

The size of the Perplexus Maze Game is 7.6“ x 7.8” x 7.1”.  The maze game requires no set-up, clean-up or batteries with no carbon emissions (except manufacturing the game).  May seems easy to play, but definitely not an easy game to master.

Ages: 6 – 14 years
Amazon.com rating: 4.4/5 (246 customer reviews)

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