Gaming For GIrls

Let's Yoga is one of the coolest games on the Nintendo DS. It was produced by a company called Konami and is rated E for everyone. You can pick it up in almost any video game shop or even online and you really may want to, since more and more video games are being used to encourage us to get physically fit, not simply entertained. Yoga is supposed to help us relax and strengthen both our bodies and minds and if you have parents or siblings that already do it, you probably have a good idea of what it is all about. The video game itself is a great introduction to the basic principles of yoga, which is why Let's Yoga for the Nintendo DS is so cool. Taking yoga lessons from your Nintendo DS isn’t as silly as it sounds. Since the game console is small enough to carry about anywhere, you can do just that. You can take it on a sleepover to a friend’s house, to school or even on vacation with your family and never miss a yoga class again. Consider Let's Yoga to be your very own, pocket-sized, personal yoga trainer. The game really is a great way for newcomers to yoga to get started. It is also a good way for people who practice yoga on a regular basis to stay active when they travel and may not be able to make it to the yoga studio. The game allows you to choose your gender and enter your name. You then make up a personal avatar in the settings menu, so that your preferences will remain in the game’s memory. Its fun to choose these details, as you can pick your background colour, your breath meter indicator, your clothing options and even the type of mat you want to use. The game offers a guide menu that will help you understand the exercises you will be doing. You will also find a few basic tips in the guide that comes with the game, as well as onscreen indicators and a glossary of common yoga terms. You have a choice of five different options, which include the short set, random yoga, chair yoga, my yoga and pose list. Let's Yoga allows you to have a diverse workout or even to select your favourite poses and do only those. The choice is yours. The pose list is by far the best feature of Let's Yoga. It is a list of all the different poses offered in the game and shows you what the pose looks like and what it does for your body. The image can be rotated so that you can see what the pose looks like from all angles, which is really helpful when trying to figure it all out. Because yoga cannot be done correctly when holding a Nintendo DS gaming console, Let’s Yoga allows you to place it on the table or floor, watch the video and listen to the instructions. You can also rewind, pause and fast-forward the poses. Let’s Yoga is a great alternative to the everyday video game, as it will help both your mind and body. By all means don’t forget to play your favourite game every now and then, but a good session of Let’s Yoga will be great for you.

Even for fans of the movie, High School Musical and all the other High School Musical video games, High School Musical 2: Work This Out! designed for the Nintendo DS, is not one of the best games out there. This Disney Interactive is meant to appeal to girls who love the High School Musical franchise, but just doesn’t seem to cut the mustard. The basic idea behind the game is that characters from the High School Musical movie get summer jobs to pay their way so they can participate in the Star Dazzle talent show. As a gamer, you can take on the personality of Troy, Sharpay, Taylor, Gabrielle, Ryan or even Chad. You can even change characters to complete special tasks throughout the game. The main theme of High School Musical 2: Work This Out! is adventure and exploration, with a couple of rhythm mini-games thrown in. There are many different activities and tasks that you must complete in High School Musical 2: Work This Out! which you will see on the top screen, while on the bottom screen is your map. However, you are never really told how to find something or given any clues. The only way to figure out how to get around the game is to explore, which can get a little annoying after a while. The mini-games are not very difficult or challenging. You are usually given a particular item to retrieve and must roam around trying to find what you need. If your time runs out, you can always start again and at least when that happens you know where not to go. The mini-games are not all retrieval quests, but they are all based on rhythm and clicking something at the right time. The loading time, between areas, actually takes a really long time, so if you are impatient or even slightly bored with this game already, the loading times will probably make you want to chuck your Nintendo DS out the window. When you move through rooms or new areas the game always take several seconds to fade out and then come back into the new area. A lot of other Nintendo DS games are not this slow, so it is hard to understand why High School Musical 2: Work This Out! is. The overall pace of this game is slow. Despite it being a slow moving game, it does have some good graphics, though nothing better than some other games out there. The perspective is a bird’s eye view of everything, which makes it hard to find certain items during your timed tasks. The movement is also jerky much of the time. The best thing about High School Musical 2: Work This Out! is the music, which is pleasant to hear throughout the game. However, don’t expect to hear it right away, you will have to unlock it during game play. Until you do, you get to hear the same two versions of ‘You are the Music in Me’ over and over.