Sports Videos

Review by Gabujabu:

I recently purchased Wii Sports Resort along with the included Wii Motion Plus, and it has been an excellent game so far. Included are 12 games, 10 of which are new and two of which are updates to the classic Wii Sports games- golf and bowling.

Starting with the updates, I feel that Wii Motion Plus adds a lot to the gameplay for the golf game. More sensitive controls make it far more challenging endeavor, adding somewhat to the realism of the game. Also, I find that it is a lot more enjoyable to swing the club in this game than it was in the original. In bowling, it is much easier to add a spin to the ball. Of the additions, I would say that archery and swordplay are standouts, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it into other Nintendo releases (i.e. Zelda). The game captures the illusion of actually playing with swords or a bow-and-arrow really well. I also really enjoyed most of the water sports, especially power cruising, which reminded me of Wave Race. Some of the sports, on the other hand, are less satisfying, such as cycling, since pedaling with your arms does not feel natural.

The Wii has seen a lot of “waggle-fests” released, and the nice thing about including Wii Motion Plus is that it really improves the motion-sensing fidelity of the Wiimote. I hope more games use this accessory in the future. For some of the multiplayer events, you may need to purchase additional copies of Wii Motion Plus (or get it bundled with another game), while others simply allow you to pass one Wii remote around. The graphics of the game are simple and colorful, and the game features nice water effects.

However, here are a few aspects of the game that I wish were better. Although this game has more depth than the original Wii Sports, with more games, multiple game play modes, and achievements, I still wish that there was some additional depth to some of the games (i.e. more courses, objectives, etc.), especially considering how enjoyable some of the activities are. Some people found that the original Wii Sports did not have sufficient depth, and those individuals may be disappointed. Also, it would have been nice to have online play for this game, since the game really seems to shine in multiplayer, and it is not always easy to find others to play.

Overall, I think that most people who enjoyed Wii Sports will similarly enjoy Wii Sports Resort.

Review by K.T. May:

Wii Sports Resort, which was released in stores this past Sunday, 7/26, is a delightful spin on the Wii Sports favorite. There are 12 fun activities in this game and it comes with the special attachment, Wii Motion Plus, which you snap into the bottom of the Wii-mote for a better playing experience.

The Wii Motion Plus sensor is better at picking up your subtlest movements than the Wii-mote by itself. This makes for less frustration and easier game-play. With longer use though, the Wii Motion Plus sensor may lose calibration and won’t be as sensitive to your movements. There is an easy fix, though. All you have to do is pause the game and set your Wii-mote down on a flat surface for it to re-calibrate. This shouldn’t take much longer than five seconds to right itself. The more sensitive sensor works great in games like Bowling, (which is back in this game in an updated version), because you can get a better spin on your throw. However, it can also work against you in games like Golf, (which is also back and updated), since you actually have to swing straight and even, like a real golf club, or you will have a serious angle to your strike. No more flicks of the wrist in this golf game!

The game opens with an adorable, interactive sky-diving movie where you meet up with all of your past Miis. Once you get to the main menu, you will see the plethora of games that lie before you, however not everything is unlocked yet. You have to earn certain scores to unlock different modes of certain games. This is akin to Wii Sports’ Training section, where each sport had three different modes you could try out. Below is a brief synopsis of the mini-games included in Wii Sports Resort.

Cycling–this can get a bit frustrating in two person mode. Both of you have to try to pedal in unison to keep your energy up and depending on which way you tilt the Wii-mote depends on which way your wheels will turn. So you really have to make an effort to work together! But it can be hysterical when you don’t!

Sky-Diving–this is really cute. You have to try to link up with as many people as possible. The minute you link up with someone, the shutter on a camera will start timing you for a picture. Every person you hook up with re-sets the camera’s shutter. Once you hook up with four people, it’s considered “perfect”, and the camera will take your picture. You have to make sure that everyone’s faces are looking at the camera for maximum points. After a few rounds of this, it will conclude with you trying to hook up with everyone in the air for a huge finish.

Basketball–the initial game is a basic dunking game, trying to see how many balls you can dunk before the timer runs out. Once you have reached a certain score, you will unlock a 3 on 3 pick-up game, which is a lot of fun. You can jump up in the air and block people’s shots as well as steal the ball away from the other team.

Canoeing–this one seemed to be the hardest of the mini-games, especially in two-player mode. Like cycling, this relies heavily on both of you moving in sync to get as far as you can in the canoe course.

Waverunning–in this game, you are on a jet ski and your points are calculated by the stylish jumps you can do.

Frisbee–there are two exciting versions of Frisbee. The first one you get to play with a very cute dog. You throw the Frisbee as close as you can to the center of the bulls-eye and where the dog catches it determines where it lands. This gets increasingly challenging, as you later on have to pop a balloon and try to hit the bulls-eye for maximum points. After you reach a certain score in this game, you will unlock Frisbee Golf, which is a ton of fun. You have a choice of three Frisbees designed like golf clubs and you play Frisbee within the rules of Golf.

Swordplay–this is great fun. The game plays like the tv show “American Gladiators” in that you have to knock your opponent off of the board to win. Later on, you can unlock other games like a one-player mode where you try to hit as many people as you can, forming as high of a combination as you can, without getting hit three times. This is a great game for getting out aggression and would be surreal with a light saber attachment.

Archery–the fun of this mini-game lies in its challenge. Not only do the targets get further and further away, but you have to work with the wind mileage also, (like in Golf).

There is so much to do in this game, yours truly hasn’t even unlocked everything yet and I’ve owned the game for two days! This is definitely an improvement on Wii Sports, if even for the Wii Motion Plus alone. There is much more of a challenge in this game, since you aren’t handed everything from the beginning and you have to unlock most of the modes. There are so many things to do in this game, it is guaranteed to please. Even the old favorites of Golf and Bowling have been made more interesting. The 100-pin mode that you had to build up to in Wii Sports is a 10-frame game in this version. And Golf includes the classic boards from Wii Sports, or you can play on the newly designed Wii Sports Resort green! Bottom line, if you enjoyed Wii Sports, you should definitely consider picking this up.

Review by Mason Winterhalter:

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CVENCPX9P9WG I shot this using the Kodak PlaySport while snorkeling off of Ixtapa, Mexico. The water wasn’t the clearest, but I did get pretty good results. It looked really great in the pool. It also looks great above water! I use it at my son’s baseball games and I have been amazed at the quality. Hands down the best thing about this camera is the size. It’s so easy to slip in a pocket and just carry around. Great little vacation camera. My only complaint is that the control wheel is a little small. I would often accidentally stop recording while trying to zoom in or out. You get used to it though and it is a minor annoyance. I highly recommend this camera.

Review by D. Wylie:

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3E0TCWWZSVVKE OK lets start off with this camera is 9 keep that in mind.

The 5.3MP still photos are fairly good, not to bad, but remember this is a video camera first

a dedicated 5MP still photo camera will take much better photos, but again hey these aren’t to shabby it just depends on what your trying to do. Quick shots here and there…excellent and better than any cell phone I’ve had. At a wedding where you want crystal clear and sharp photos….well not so much.

The HD video camera is pretty nice, easy to use and I was just stunned at the digital zoom.

It actually works and works well, not to blocky or grainy…more so at the extreme 4x level but at 2x to about 3x the camera compensated nicely and actually cleared up the image…not sure how they do it, but they do.

As others have noted, with rapid movement of the camera you will notice your image jumps or shakes.

Now remember what I told you to keep in mind 9. Yes it does have that little “feature”, but it’s not

a 9 video camera with a higher quality lens and CCD. Slow down, don’t go from left to right or up and

down at 100MPH and it’s not bad. Moving images within the video are fine, it’s just if you move the camera

itself very rapidly you will notice it.

I tried the 3 HD video modes, and it also has a standard resolution mode as well that I did not try.

I compared all 3 with and with out the image stabilization on which did not seem to improve or degrade the

image at all.

At 720p 30 fps – Not to bad, noticed the jumpyness or shakyness of the image as I moved left to right in my test,

but slow down and it’s not to bad.

At 720p 60 fps – Now were getting better, really not bad at all, again not 0 video camera good, but

pretty darn nice, and clearer and the shakyness of the video smoothed out a bunch, again slow down in your

movements for best quality.

At 1080p 30fps – Nice quality…really nice, but the jumpyness of the video is back, you have to take it a bit

slower but nice quality all in all.

I did not try the underwater mode, but assume it works as advertised everything else has so far.

Now I throughly loved the fact that there are no CD’s with this camera, nothing in the box to load.

You simply plug in the provided USB cable and the software…every bit of it and all the drivers you need for

the camera are built right in and install on your PC from the camera…this is an excellent feature, I always

misplace the CD’s and have to download from the website anyhow.

Speaking of downloading from the website … this camera is flash upgradeable with new firmware I went to the

Kodak website and found that there was an upgrade I could download to correct a few minor anomalies that they

found…cool so hopefully this camera gets even more corrections in the near future and maybe a feature update

someday?

I also loved the fact that ALL the cables came with the camera. HDMI, USB, and Component video cables…

All of them… they can charge you at least for each individual cable, but they give them to you with

the camera for 9, now how great is that ?!?!

As at least one other reviewer has said, yes – there is no case or protective sleeve that comes with the camera,

but I would take the cables over a case anyday, you know what ever they included it wouldn’t be what you wanted.

Either they gave you a sleeve and you wanted a case for your accessories or they gave you a case and you didn’t

want to carry all the accessories so you go out and buy yourself a protective sleeve or pouch. So just go get what you want …

I myself purchased the Kodak Case that Amazon recommended to me …. also a nice purchase, perfect size not to big,

not to small and has a little accessory area that you can carry one of the cables and a spare battery if you need.

This camera feels rugged and well built. It’s easy to use, lots of features like image stabilization and face

tracking, it comes with all the cables, free software that’s always with you in the camera, and costs only 9.

So not to bad at all, and my conclusion is this if your looking for a sharp and crisp still photo camera drop the

0 just for that and buy one, if your looking for a excellent video quality camera drop the 0 just for that

and buy one. But….If your looking for a pretty nice, simple and decent quality camera that does it all and

is rugged enough to go out in the rain or underwater drop 9 and buy this one.

I’ve included a video I compiled and edited down to show the different resolutions and the photos. Keep in mind

that while your viewing that this is an flv file and the actual quality that the camera will give you will be

much higher than what I was able to upload to Amazon, meaning you’ll get better quality than what you see on here.

Review by Designer:

Bought this book because I’m starting a new job in merchandising. This is really only an introduction read. 14 topics are discussed on less than 140 pages, that’s about 2 pg per topic.

If you are a student or casual reader looking for an overview of the E industry – great book. If you are a professional I have to repeat that this book is really only a brief overview without depth.

Still, if you’re interested in the E industry, Mark Vinet gives you a good comprehensive read. * * * *

Review by Meg:

I kept falling asleep when I read this book. Although the author stresses that it’s just a preliminary glimpse at the entertainment industry, I think he could at least make it more fun to read. I felt like I was reading a dictionary.

Review by Jessica McVicker:

I bought this product because I wanted the Wii but did not want to spend the money at the time. So I thought I would give it a try and it works great! The graphics are not quite as good as the Wii but for the price you can’t beat it!

Review by Schyler Jones:

My kids received the Senario “My Sports Challenge” gaming system for Christmas. It is, or was, for the most part as cheezy as I expected. I say “or was” because we used the game for about an hour and the next day it didn’t work at all – the console won’t turn on even with new batteries. I say “cheezy” because the graphics and overall game design are a far cry from today’s high-tech systems like the Play Station, Nintendo DS, Wii, etc. It’s sort of a throw-back though to the days of Intellivision (ok, maybe a couple of years later), but that’s one of the things I liked about it because I could actually enjoy the darn thing without having to study 2.5 million controller functions in order to play.

But what I am most disappointed by is the 9 price tag I see on this thing at amazon.com – I mean a PS2 console could be had for less than this. I would not have paid this much and I’m sad that my kids grandparents did.

I’ve submitted an online inquiry to the manufacturer about the game console not working so it will be interesting to see what their response is, if I get one.