What? This is how I beat all the video games when I was a kid.

Anyone have Game Genie cheat codes for Angry Birds? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I’m a fan of the Where’s Waldo books for some reason so when I came across Where’s Wall-E I couldn’t stop looking for him until I found him. It took a few minutes, but I found him; along with a lot of other cool robots!

This robot art comes via hopewellstudios.com.

Where’s Wall-E? Can you find him? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Looking for something to do with your toddler? Here are 101 ideas! Some of them you already do and others are a little weird. All look like fun though.

1. Color
2. Blow Bubbles
3. Play Hide-and-Seek
4. Peek-a-Boo
5. Play Chase
6. Do Finger-plays
7. Sing a song
8. Collect rocks in a basket
9. Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
10. Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
11. Go for a Walk
12. Make a Car out of a Box (it’s not just a box)
13. Read a book
14. Go to the park
15. Finger-paint
16. Play with Play-Dough
17. Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
18. Play the shell and pea game
19. Dance to music
20. Download games for toddlers from the Internet
21. Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
22. Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and your couch
23. Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
24. Scoop dirt or sand into a child’s bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
25. Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
26. Put on a puppet show
27. Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
28. Make a Horseshoe game
29. Make a Shape Puzzle
30. Play paper basketball
31. Run through a Sprinkler
32. Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
33. Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
34. Play with a kazoo
35. Wash windows together
36. Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
37. Brush each other’s teeth
38. Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child’s clothes
39. Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
40. Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
41. Make a playhouse out of a large box
42. Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn’t eat them!)
43. Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
44. Play a musical instrument together i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
45. Go on a Smelling Hunt
46. Frost Cookies
47. Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
48. Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
49. Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
50. Play hide and seek together trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
51. Have a splash party together in the bathtub
52. Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
53. Record each other on a tape recorder/iPhone/Smart Phone (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
54. Make and try on paper hats
55. Give a piggy-back ride
56. Play “Horsey”
57. Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
58. Play tug-of-war with a blanket
59. Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real…)
60. Make a camera and go on a Safari
61. Play games with frozen juice lids
62. Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
63. Leave your phone connected and really make phone calls to relatives let your child talk too
64. String large beads onto or along a shoelace
65. Squirt each other with squirt bottles
66. Glue shapes onto paper
67. Make sock puppets
68. Make paper puppets
69. Fill an old purse with toys
70. Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
71. Make binoculars and go “Bird Watching” or “Stuffed Animal Watching”
72. Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
73. Act out a story from a book
74. Walk on a balance beam - use a 2×4 placed on the ground
75. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
76. Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
77. Paint child’s palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
78. Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
79. Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
80. Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
81. Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
82. Do the Hokey Pokey
83. Make a super-hero costume out of household items
84. Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
85. Play “Red Light, Green Light” saying “Go” and “Stop”
86. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
87. Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
88. Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
89. Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
90. Learn numbers from a deck of cards
91. Play the matching game with a deck of cards
92. Make a domino chain
93. Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
94. Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy’s clothes
95. Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
96. Make a nature collage
97. Mirror each other
98. Make a “Mummy Mommy” (or Daddy) with toilet paper
99. Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
100. Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
101. TAKE A NAP!

I came across this list from Counting On Me’s site who got it from their local chapter of The Mommies Network.

101 Things To Do With Your Toddler originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Leading Causes of Car Accidents

I don’t know about you, but those red turtle shells get me every time!

Do you know the top 3 causes of car accidents? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Bird Zapper has fantastic graphics, good game play and it keeps me wanting to play more. Basically you use your finger to connect three or more like birds and zap them.  There are plenty of combos and bonuses and it just hooks ya.

If you’ve got an iPad or iPhone I think you should check it out. For $0.99 it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Spent $0.99 on Bird Zapper for iPad and it’s awesome. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

The game play second is very similar to the first which means we knew what we were doing right away. However, there are lots of new additions like you can now play as rock Mario or cloud Mario. You can enlist the help of Yoshi too. Who doesn’t love Yoshi?!

Like the original, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has support for two players, however player 2 is just there to support player one. In the new version, player 2 can do more than picking up star pieces and holding off bad guys, they can pick up coins, one-ups and even kill bad guys. It almost feels like cheating.

So far, the worlds seem to have started out harder, however we are working our way though the game. Even better, some stars come with no bad guys defending them so, in some senses, it’s easier.

If you’ve got a Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a great game and worth buying!

Video: 9 Awesome New Game Additions

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Kinda Rocks originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

3d Logic II- Stronghold of Sage – There is quite a bit of a story here, and lots of nice graphics, but the game is very simple. Just connect the colors. Click on any one colored square and then fill in the transparent squares until you connect it with the matching colored square. Sounds easy right? Well it is for the first few levels. After that, it gets tricky!

filler – Again, a simple game. Just fill up 2/3 of the screen with with balls you create and you win the level. However, if you’re creating a ball and one of the bouncy balls hit it, yours will pop. Hint: Trap the little bouncing buggers to keep them out of your way.

Spin the Black Circle – Simply move your ball to the black whole and advanced to the next level. However, watch out for the spike’s as they’ll kill you. Gravity is also not on your side… or is it?

Moon Master: Rahkon – This is one of those that is just fun to play even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Move left right, jump, bounce, collect balls, shoot lasers and just have fun.

Chain Factor – A bit of thinking is needed here. The instructions may sound complex, but once you get it figured out, it’s quite addicting. I enjoyed it the first time even though I had no idea what I was doing.

All of these games have a few things in common; no additional software is required, no overly complex instructions and all are free.

Enjoy!

5 More Fun Free Web Games originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Mario is back in all his glory. The worlds are amazing. You are on round levels that you can literally run all the way around. Fall in a hole and you’ll pop out the other side. Bridges are not always straight across, sometimes they curve around to the underside of the level. Mario walks up, down, left, right and all over the place. Some areas you just feel as if you make one wrong step, you’ll fall into space. However, you merely walk onto the side of the object and it’s very cool!

Another cool thing is that Super Mario Galaxy is not just one player. A friend can help you pick up star pieces and shoot enemies. One Mario, but to people working together to keep him alive. It’s like a 1.5 player game.

Our 90 minutes went very fast. However, we got three stars and about 25 lives. It’s nice to see that getting more lives is easy. Even when you do run out, you just start back up at the beginning of the level.

Now I just have to convince my wife to let us play it all weekend. Or may be call in sick. *cough* *cough*

This is one of the best Wii games we’ve played and if you love the other Mario games, you’ll love Super Mario Galaxy!

90 Minutes With Super Mario Galaxy originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

I’ve listed out 5 games below. All are free, simple and addicting. There are no complex rules, no user registration, no downloads or anything like that. Just fun!

In no particular order, here are 5 cool web games that are worth checking out.

Boomshine – Probably my favorite. This little game is so simple, you just place one expanding dot on the page and as it interacts with others, they then too expand and interact with even more. Each level has a certain amount of that you need to interact with before advancing. They say less than 4% actually make it though level 12. My wife and I are in that 4% though.

Shuffle – Kind of like shuffle board, kind of like lawn bowling. You need to knock your opponents balls off the table. Last one standing wins the round.

A Very Simple Game – In this one, all you have to do is click on the dot. Some dots are easy to spot, some are much harder. I have beat the game, but it takes some good investigative skills to find those dots.

NANACA†CRASH – Interesting game that I don’t quite understand, but do enjoy. You hurl your guy into the air and if he hits the right ladies, he’ll fly even farther. Tip: When loosing momentum, click on one of the ladies in the upper right corner. If you play the game right, you guy can fly for five minutes or more.

Cat with Bow Golf – A little more skill is needed in this one, but you just pull back on your bow and arrow, aim and launch your cat towards the target. Like golf, you only get so many shots before you start loosing points for the hole/target.

Do you have other web games that may fit with those above? If so, share them by posting them in the comments. I’m always looking for fun and addicting games.

Check out this site for other random fun stuff too.

5 Fun Web Games originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

You know what a Lite Brite is right? That toy from when we were kids (or maybe just me) and you stick the little plastic pieces though the dark paper, then they get backlit and it just looks so cool. I can be just as entertained today by it as back then which, is why I’m excited to see it online.

Over at SFPG, they created a rather simple, yet great, version of the Lite Brite. It’s quite a bit of fun and great for nostalgia. Check it out and see what you can design.

Check out my creation below. Can you guess what it is?

Hint: I’m not even sure myself.

Lite Brite goes Online originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

In our Wii downtime, I checked out Thrillville for Xbox (also available in Playstation and PSP). Where it may seem similar to Rollercaoaster Tycoon, it’s much different.

Listing off the objectives and game play of both games, one would think they are quite similar. However, Thrillville is more about mini-games and goals than it is about building the biggest and best amusement park. For example, when you hire a park employee, you have to train them via a mini game. The more training, the better they’ll do. You also have to talk to people and make friends. You can ask them what they’d like to see or talk about sports or animals. You even get the ability to flirt with the ladies.

The rides in Thrillville are cool, but there doesn’t seem to be as many as Rollercoaster Tycoon. And the coasters, well they can’t compare. Or not that I’ve seen anyways. Thrillville’s are mainly smaller and shorter.

Rollercoaster Tycoon is more of the Sim City type of environment where you just try to make things bigger and better. You get lots of options and there is a ton to do. Thrillville is more like the Sims where it’s more about the people, specific goals and minor details.

Thrillville pros:

• Works on a game console. (PS2 or Xbox)
• Mini Games
• You get to run around with first person point of view.
• You can really talk to people.
• Great music from today’s top artists.

Rollercoaster Tycoon pros:

• Lots of rides & stalls.
• Waterparks and Expansion Packs
• More detailed customization. (sidewalks, land, trees, benches)
• More land to develop on.
• Bigger, better and many more coaster designs.

Both are great games, but quite different. It is really hard to explain, but once you play them you’ll find out. Both have their positives and negatives, but in the end, I think Rollercoaster Tycoon is better. Although I’m addicted to Thrillville at the moment.

Thrillville vs Rollercoaster Tycoon originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

We have a Wii, almost. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

1. Be Patient – The chances that you can run out to BestBuy and get one are slim. So be patient. I’ve been looking since November 19th with no luck yet.
2. Be Early – The lack of supply has raised the demand and stores may only get 20 at a time. Even that number is a bit high. If the store opens at 10, get there at 8:30 or 9. I still see lines today.
3. Wait in Line – Since stores are only getting a few, you may need to spend an hour or more in line waiting to get one. It’s worth it though if they get enough and you get one. Stores may also come out an hour before the store opens to hand out tickets for Wiis.
4. Ask For It - Store clerks don’t always fill the shelf, so you should ask for a Wii if you don’t see one as they might have one in back. I’ve also heard of people finding them at the return counter.
5. Ask About Other Stores – Quite a few stores are linked these days. I know that here in the Twin Cities, one Target can link up to all the Targets in 50+ miles and check inventory. Other stores should be able to do that too. Or at least tell you if all the stores get the same shipment of Wiis.
6. Check out Forums – There are thousands of people still looking for a Wii and there are forms with people who are posting their findings. You never now, if Walmart in Miami got 30, maybe the Walmart in Madison, WI got them too.
7. Check Tracker Sites – I’ve had no real luck with these yet, but some sites claim to track shipments and can email, text message or IM you locations of stores that have them in stock as they become available.

I’m not sure if finding a Nintendo Wii will get any easier as January rolls on, but I thought by now they’d be a lot easier to find and they aren’t. I’m searching, watching and waiting. Someday my Wii will come.

What are your tips? I’d love to hear them.

7 Tips for Finding A Nintendo Wii originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

My quest to find one continues. I’m not going to support those that buy them just to sell them for profit on eBay. I’m going to continue to look at Target, Walmart, GameStop and everywhere in between. If it takes till mid January, so be it.

Interestingly enough, Target also got about 8 Playstation 3s and no one cared.

Still No Nintendo Wii For Us originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Check out this quick and ‘easy’ puzzle: Quick Letter Count Test

Can you count? No really. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

One thing I did notice is that more and more spam is getting though so I added a quick security question. It’s really simple and will hopefully weed out a few unwanted comments.

If anyone has issues with it, head over to my contact form and let me know.

New Security Challenge Installed originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

For me and my wife, we are big Nintendo fans and are going to try and get a Wii on Sunday. We are not camping out or anything like that, but if we pick the right store, it may not be busy.

What I really wonder is how many people are buying PS3′s and Wii’s just for eBay? I think a lot of people. I know if I see a PS3 or more than one Wii, I’ll be picking it up. It should turn a quick profit online.

So are you getting a console or planning to get one? Or are you asking for it for Christmas and making someone else do all the work at finding one?

Try to buy a Playstation3 or Wii on eBay or Amazon.

PS3 today Wii Sunday originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Shhh it’s a secret.  I think.

MacHeist – I’m In originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

After that we went to Severs Corn maze and walked though corn. It’s not quite as exciting as we were hoping but it was fun non the less. For those that don’t know, it’s a corn field that they turn into a giant maze and you work your way though. Unlike most corn fields, this field is planted in two different directions to help confuse people. They do give you a map though.

Here is what you see when you are in the corn maze:

It was a lot of fun and it’s nice to get away from the computer every now and then.

Pickin’ Apple and A-maze-ing Corn originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Movies are $12.99 for new releases, preorders and first week. After that up to $14.99, however older movies go for only $9.99. It’ll take about 30 minutes at a 5mb/s broadband connection. Movies come with Dolby surround sound and are near DVD quality. Heck, you gotta risk something for getting them on demand and cheap.

They also introduced new iPods. Nano is now aluminum and in green, silver, black, blue, and pink. Regular sized iPods are now bigger in size too. $249 and $349 will get you 60GB and 80GB capacity.

iTV (working title) is kind of like the MacMini only 1/2 the size and targeted more at the media (movies, music and TV) than a complete computer system. It’ll be wireless and arrives in 2007. I for one, can’t wait!

Checkout Apple for all the latest details!

Apple Introduces iPods, Movies, Games & TV Box originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com