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A gorgeous west coast sunset off the Dallas Road waterfront was the perfect backdrop for four Victoria moms (Kimberley, Katharine, Kate, and myself) to get together and do some (not so) serious gaming with the Nintendo DSi XL. With our assortment of white wines, munchies and virgin martinis (for the one pregnant mummy) on hand, we got right down to business!
First we unpackaged our new DSi XL systems and began exploring. None of us were at all familiar with the gaming system, but we were immediately impressed with the sleek shape, large screens and the pinky/red or vibrant blue shades we got to pick from.
We noticed it came with two “stylus” pens - a small one that tucks right into the body of the unit, and a larger one shaped more like a regular pen, and tested out the handling of both. We all agreed that in this case, bigger was definitely better for mummies. Wink, wink! We decided the smaller stylus would be great for youthful hands though - not that we’ll be sharing our new toys anytime soon!
We started playing around with the DSi XL and each entered our names. Kimberley added a personal message that read, “Hello Hot Stuff!” so that each time she starts her DSi XL she‘ll be greeted with that. Everyone needs an ego boost, right?
We then discovered the camera and had way too much fun with this fun feature. There are actually two built-in cameras in the DSi XL – one facing out like a regular camera, plus one facing in for self portraits. A couple of us began working hard to take the perfect glamour shot. I kept ending up with pictures of my breasts until the other gals pointed out that I could flatten the DSi XL out instead of holding it in a folded laptop style, which was causing me to aim the camera down instead of up at my face. Once I mastered that, I of course had to go back to those first photos and play with the distortion feature. So mature!
Next, we got down to the business of reviewing the three games: Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and Picross3D.
The first one we tried was Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The immersive storyline involves Professor Layton, his assistant Luke, and a whole cast of strange and interesting characters. There are riddles and puzzles to solve and it felt like watching a movie that you were a part of. The graphics were sharp and bright, with sort of a Japanese-influenced animation feel in the characters mixed with an old world setting.
The next game, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, follows the same lead characters as they unravel another, darker mystery, looking for clues and solving brainteasers. At this point, all four of us were quiet and fully immersed in our individual games. We agreed that these games were perfect for a long flight, road trip or even just a quiet evening of mummy time after the kids have gone to bed.
The pizza arrived but got a bit cold because we couldn’t put down Professor Layton, but we finally took a little break for some food and a little more wine. Then it was time to delve into the final game. Picross3D is a logic game with a solid block of cubes that can be chiseled away by solving a puzzle, with the goal of revealing a hidden picture. Of course, the puzzles get harder the further you go.
This is an easy game to pick up when you only have a few minutes (as we moms so often do) and a great choice for fans of Sudoku or crossword puzzles. We all really liked this game as the puzzles were fairly quick to solve, providing the satisfaction of instant gratification. Be careful though, a few of us reported having Picross3D dreams that night!
We had a blast playing with our new DSi XLs, solving the puzzles and cheering when we got through a riddle. We found the games smart, challenging, and a great way to get our minds off of a stressful day! Plus, we now have some new leverage with our husbands who are extremely jealous of our new toys! Maybe we’ll share, or maybe we’ll just keep them all to ourselves as mummy’s guilty pleasure!
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