Overall SKATE 3 for XBOX is a well-structured, exciting game. The layout of this game is almost exactly like SKATE 2 with better graphics. The idea of the game is to make your skateboard company the best around. You have to design the board with your logos and then promote your boards through photo shoots, videos and challenges. The best thing about this game is the ability to roam around and do many things. For one, you can take off your board and smack people with your board, which I find very fun. You also have the option to build a skate park.

The XBOX LIVE part of this game is very interesting. Connecting SKATE 3 to XBOX LIVE lets you enjoy one of my favorite games, which Hall of Meat. The object of this is to accumulate points by jumping off a building and banging yourself up. I specifically love the option to play s.k.a.t.e. in xbox live as it brings a competitive edge to the game. Honestly this is a great game to pick up if you’re a skater or skate fan. If you are not, the comic damage you can do with your character is still amusing.

I loved this movie as a kid and I am so excited to share with you that once again….

The game is afoot! The world’s greatest sleuth dons his miniature deerstalker hat and puts his extraordinary deductive ability into animated action when The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery in the Mist Edition comes to DVD on April 13, 2010 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. In the greatest little mystery in Disney history, the renowned Basil of Baker Street takes on his archenemy, the evil genius Dr. Ratigan, and this time the battle is for the entire city of London! With fresh and exciting bonus features, The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery in the Mist Edition will thrill audiences with an exciting game of “mouse and mouse” that’s not elementary by a long shot!

This comes with some very cool bonus features: Viewers can test their own powers of deduction and go behind the scenes of the movie with bonus features that include:
• So You Think You Can Sleuth? — An animated look at the history of detective
work, complete with a crime-solving puzzle for the entire family.
• The Making Of “The Great Mouse Detective”
• “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” Sing-Along Song

Go see about getting it today! This is what you are looking for!

Have you seen all the cool banners floating around the site telling you about the new virtual game Wiglington and Wenks? Well, here is what it is all about!

Three of our kid testers received free premium memberships so they could test it out and tell you all about it. Here is what one of our testers has to say!

The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks is a modern day point and click adventure game. Similar to many point and click adventure game that were published in the 1980’s like The Adventures of Sam and Max, this game relies on the click of the mouse for user interface. However, the game is also based on a multiplayer experience, very similar to World of Warcraft, and many other mmo’s. This game was originally a children’s story book series by John Bittleston, which was later adapted into the computer game that exists today. Like many other online games, this one offers a monthly subscription which allows for many more in-game options. Some of these include special in-game locations, pets, and clothing.

The educational theme of this game, however, is what makes the game fun and enjoyable for children, finding famous people from the worlds history and helping them to regain their memories by finding items that apply to them is what the story is all about. For example, finding the trident, crown, dolphin, and chariot for Neptune the Great Water God, is just one of the many people, and items that help to further the story, which eventually allows for these famous individuals from history to regain their memories. There are many other educational aspects to this game, for example; every member has a bank account where the players’ in-game money is stored. This bank account also offers an interest rate that can be figured out mathematically. Geography is also a large aspect for the game, as real world locations exist, like: The Grand Canyon, Madagascar, The Amazon Rainforest, The Great Barrier Reef, and The Big Ben.

The online game, The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks allows children and teens of all ages to explore their creativity and educational boundaries. By meeting important and interesting figures from history, players help to restore their memory by finding key items from that person’s life. Similar to many video games, it does eventually become addictively fun! The game starts out as a free game, but the more someone plays, the more of the game they want. The subscription service is very inexpensive and the player gains an incredible amount of special in-game items and activities unavailable to those without subscriptions. The Travels of Wiglington and Wenks is a fun and educational online game that kids can enjoy playing by rescuing famous people from our worlds history, and having a fun time while doing it!

Have you played it? NO! What are you waiting for? Click the banner below and get your free account set up…

And then head over to this thread and tell us all about your experience. Other kid testers will be there soon to weigh in as well.
Discloser: Betweentalk.com was compensated to honestly review this new service.

Toy Story 3 has released one of the first trailers. I can’t wait for this to come out

Academy Award-winning Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney (Up In The Air) and Meryl Streep (It’s Complicated) lend their voices to the hilarious, heartwarming and dazzling stop-motion animated adventure from visionary director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenebaums)Fantastic Mr. Fox. In the re-imagined classic family tale, Mr. and Mrs. Fox (Clooney and Streep) live a happy home life with their eccentric son Ash (Jason Schwartzman: The Darjeeling Limited) and visiting nephew Kristopherson. That is until Mr. Fox slips into his sneaky, old ways and plots the greatest heist the animal world has ever seen. When mean old farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean join forces to surround Mr. Fox and his family, they don’t realize they are not dealing with any old fox – it’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and he has a fantastic master plan to save the day! Based on the beloved best-selling book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Fantastic Mr. Fox is family fun at its finest. Anderson employs a colorful supporting cast to bring his eccentric characters to life including Bill Murray (Lost In Translation), Owen Wilson (Marley & Me) and Willem Dafoe (Spiderman triology). The DVD and Blu-ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack are packed with behind-the-scenes bonus features, including a special inside look at how stop-motion animation really works and much more.

This movie came out on DVD on March 23rd, 2010 so it is available in a store near you. Our family loved it. George Clooney and Meryl Streep make the perfect Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox.

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Special Features:

• Making Mr. Fox Fantastic
• The Look Of Fantastic Mr. Fox
• From Script To Screen
• The Puppet Makers
• Still Life (Puppet Animation)
• The Cast
• Bill And His Badger
• A Beginner’s Guide To Whack-Bat
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World Of Roald Dahl
• Fantastic Mr. Fox widescreen feature film (16×9 1.85:1)
• From Script to Screen
• Still Life (Puppet Animation)
• A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat
• Digital Copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox (Blu-ray Disc exclusive)

Single Disc DVD Special Features:

• Fantastic Mr. Fox widescreen feature film
• From Script to Screen
• Still Life (Puppet Animation)
• A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat

Discloser: We were compensated for our honest review of this movie

Today is the big day for the Disney DVD release of Princess and the Frog! Disney sent us a copy last week of the Blu-Ray combo pack and I loved watching this weekend. Tiana is most definitely a modern day princess with the message that Prince Charming doesn’t always have to save the girl, some girls are more than capable of saving Prince Charming. Loved the movie and Tiana as role model.

This Sunday a magical ceremony took place in the Grand Ballroom at the historic New York Palace in Manhattan. As the newest Disney Princess, Tiana will forever be celebrated and recognized as a Disney Princess across all divisions of the Walt Disney Company and will be included in all Disney Princess merchandise featuring multiple Disney Princess characters.

Just like the Old Dogs Blu-Ray combo pack I told you about, I am loving the three discs that come in this combo. We can watch the Blu-Ray in our home theater, watch the DVD in the car and transfer the digital copy to our iPhones. Thank goodness Disney gets this from parents!

Have fun watching it everyone and congrats to Princess Tiana!

A timeless heroine in the tradition of Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine and the rest of the beloved royal sisterhood, Tiana comes to life with classic hand-drawn Disney animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) and a jazz-infused musical score from Academy Award® winning composer Randy Newman (Best Original Song, Monsters, Inc., 2001). A royal procession of exclusive bonus features, including games and specially created featurettes, take viewers on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the storied French Quarter of New Orleans and into the magic-steeped bayou for hours of can’t-miss family entertainment.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack edition comes with additional bonus features, including: Backstage Disney

• Magic In The Bayou: The Making of A Princess — Co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take a freewheeling, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Disney’s newest animated film as it grows from an initial concept to a lavish animated film set in the enchanting world of New Orleans and the surrounding bayous.
• The Return To Hand Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• Disney’s Newest Princess
• The Princess and the Animator
• Conjuring The Villain
• A Return To The Animated Musical
• Bringing Life to Animation with an introduction by John Musker and RonClements.
• Deleted Scenes introduced by the filmmakers
• Art Galleries — A collection of storyboard art traces the visual development of The Princess and the Frog’s rich gallery of characters and settings.

The Princess and the Frog on Blu-ray is priced at $39.99SRP (US), and $44.99 (Canada) and on Blu-ray Combo Pack is priced at $44.99 SRP (US) and $51.99SRP (Canada), and the Single Disc DVD is priced at $29.99 SRP (US) and $35.99 SRP (Canada).

I really enjoyed this game. It is much improved from the Order of the Phoenix game last released.

Some highlights:

Things unlock pretty quickly. You learn how to do certain spells right away. Missions and duals happen quicker than in previous games.

The Quidditch broom is easier to manuever. The way it is laid out on the controller makes better sense.

You can run really fast to places. This is a big improvement.

I recommend this game for all Harry Potter fans. If you have the other games in the series, you will really enjoy this one.

*disclosure: I was provided this game free of charge to play and give my honest opinions on.

Do you really need to pay $300 for an xbox headset? Well, it depends on the games you play and the level of gamer you are. When I first started playing Halo 3, I just used the wired and wireless headset made by Microsoft. They are both a good fit if you are a casual gamer playing for fun. But, they do break rather really easily. For instance i was playing Halo 3 one time and tried to take my wired headset off and when i was about to take it off i basically chopped it in half. Plus I’ve had also had a bad experience with the wireless headset. I was just playing on the Xbox 360 and it randomly died out and completely broke. Definitely get the wired headset if you are a casual gamer as these last a lot longer but can break easy if you are not careful with it.

But if you are a really competitive gamer the xbox headsets are definitely not a good fit.

Ive heard a lot of good reviews on the Turtle beach headsets because of their sound quality. I have gotten really good at Halo 3 and am looking to start participating in tournaments,  But sadly I don’t have anything but the xbox headsets. However there is one headset that is really cool looking, [especially in white] , has great sound quality and provides everything a competitive gamer needs in a headset, The ASTRO A40’s . All the top pros in gaming have these headsets so they can hear when people are coming up behind them. They are rather expensive but if you have the money to buy it you should get it. Unfortunately I cant afford to buy them right now, but i seriously am in love with these things. Well that pretty much sums up my Xbox headset experience.  ASTRO A40’s are the way to go if you are a serious gamer.

The Self-esteem Makeover!

From the Editors of Girl World Daily

Karate chop! It’s time to whip your self-confidence into shape. Hasn’t anyone told you that you can learn to be fabulous? It’s not about your looks — it’s your thinking. Your happiness, appearance and relationships all hinge on how you perceive — and present — yourself.

Tell Your Inner Nag to Shut It!
Stop hating on yourself, would ya? Everyone from the Dalai Lama to Oprah talks about how our thoughts transfer to our experiences. Thinking you’re fat or dumb or not good enough for some guy is the reality as long as you’re believing it.

Try this: When you catch yourself listening to negative self-talk, stop. Picture something you adore about your life, your looks or your little quirks. Like the cool bond you have with your sis or how that blue dress looks so much better on you than it does on the hanger. Smile. Hold that grin.

Believe in Your Own Greatness
Maybe you feel other girls are so much smarter, prettier, cooler.…Well, we can’t argue with the fact that there are a lot of great gals out there. But guess what: You’re one of ‘em!

Try this: Being your total self is about rolling all the best parts of you into one impressive presentation. Instead of wishing you were a clone of someone else, take a look at everyone around you. Realize that you have just as many good qualities as the girl sitting next to you. It’s just that each of you has a unique blueprint. Rock yours!

Give Ugly the Day off
Everyone has that friend who obsesses over her looks. She can’t pass a store window without stopping to adjust her shirt, inspect her lips, tuck a hair. She picks, picks, picks until she scoffs: “I look horrible!” Meanwhile, she’s cute as can be. Um, pardon, is that friend…you?

Try this: Do a single glance in the a.m., then totally avoid mirrors and windows (shiny spoons? dang, vain!). Break free of the focus on your physical appearance so you can look within. Are you getting good grades, feeling fit and hanging with the right people? No mirrors! To pump up your self-esteem, it’s time for inner reflection.

Copyright © 2009 Studio One Networks. All rights reserved.

Me and my family have been playing Scene It Box Office Smash lately. It’s a fun family game but is rated teen for several reasons. 1. There is an announcer that sometimes says things that I don’t think younger kids should hear. 2. Some of the movie clips have content that kids shouldn’t hear. 3. There is very mild violence- but I think it would be ok for kids to hear. However the layout of it is extremely easy to use and there are features that make this game funny, and exciting.

The Xbox live portion of it is great. There’s practically no delay and its fun to see who knows the most trivia out of the group you’re playing with. There is also a great use of the avatar you can make on the Xbox dashboard. When your playing a game your own avatar pops up in between rounds of the game and does funny things like jump up and down on a couch or sometimes even dances. Something I find cool about Scene It is that there are extra controllers you can get that make you feel like you’re in a game show.

Overall I’d rate this game a 7/10.