The most talked-about new
video game this holiday season, Rock Band, counters every argument that
game haters have been coming up with since the dawn of Pong.
Rock Band is social, encouraging families to create their own little
Partridge Families and jam together in the living room. It's easy to
pick up, with a control scheme that isn't very far removed from that
ubiquitous Simon memory game everyone played back in 1979. And the game
even requires you to be kind of ambulatory - it's almost impossible to
play without at least one Pete Townshend windmill or a Johnny
Ramone-style pogo off your coffee table.
If this were strictly a review, Rock Band from Electronic Arts - and
its first cousin Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock from Activision -
would probably both have the Little Man jumping out of his chair. In
terms of entertainment value, it doesn't get much better than these two
titles.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/27/DDGNTHTE7.DTL
Know the games' ratings! Go to ESRB.org to see if a child's pick is age- and maturity-level appropriate.
A videogame Gift Guide for kids, tweens, teens, adults, and older/casual players.
30- and 40-somethings are blending of social networking and online games. Some analysts call MySpace and Facebook "massively multiplayer games in disguise,".