Cars 2 Storybook Deluxe App – Guest Review

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I’m pleased to present a guest review of the new Cars 2 Storybook Deluxe App for iPad. Katherine and I met in Mommy & Me when her son Flash and my son Chip were newborns. Flash and Chip have gone on to be pals and even just graduated from preschool together! Flash is a HUGE Cars fan. When the offer for this app review came in, I knew to turn to the expert. Plus, sadly, I do not have an iPad (Christmas is coming tho….). I now present to you the Katherine & Flash review:

I recently had the opportunity to review the latest Cars 2 Storybook app for the iPad thanks to my son Flash's preschool connections.  Mind you, we are ridiculous Cars fans.  Bedding, furniture, books, wall stickers, you name it and we've probably looked at it if not purchased it.  So when we found out Cars 2 was coming out, we bought advanced tickets and saw it on opening day, etc.  Ever since all the crazy marketing has begun for Cars 2, Flash has been telling me about one toy or another, pointing out cereal boxes and fruit snacks with some sort of connection hoping for a prize inside...so when I heard there was an app for the iPad, I was all over it.  On top of that, this app was supposed to be an educational storybook.  How perfect is that?  Flash was thrilled when I surprised him with the new app.  He navigated through the story with ease and was very interested in the "read to me" mode.  The storyline is the same as the Cars 2 movie so if you've seen the movie it's easy to follow. I couldn't get the volume loud enough on the "record your own voice" mode, but that was probably user error. 

The graphics are amazing!! Most pages have something interactive like pressing the sparkle and the car zooms off!  Other pages have a coloring option where the scene turns to black and white and you can re-color it as you choose.  There are also a few games included.  Flash liked the games the best.  Tire toss is his favorite where you slingshot a tire into a pile and try to pinball it off of other tires as many times as possible before it falls to the ground. 
Overall, I would recommend the Cars 2 Storybook app to a) children who are totally into Cars, b) children up to age 4 who don't need things to keep changing to keep their interest, and c) older children who have not yet learned how to navigate the iPad as a gaming device and can't find on their own that there is actually a Cars 2 gaming app.  It's an enjoyable storybook and a sure hit for any Cars enthusiast. Katherine

Katherine, thanks for giving the app a test drive along with Flash! Speaking of the movie, if you happen to be in Hollywood, definitely stop by The El Capitan Theater to see Cars 2 because along with the movie, you also get access to the Cars 2 World Grand Prix Experience afterwards! My super blogger spy camera was in action and I’ve got a pic here to entice you:

Now here is the official info from Disney:

Experience the action-packed story of Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 in this supercharged children’s book app filled with vibrant art, professional narration, exciting music and sound effects, plus A-list celebrity voices from the film.

In the app, Cars star Lightning McQueen zooms back into action with his best friend Mater by his side as they head to the World Grand Prix races.  Readers of the Storybook Deluxe app will get to:

• Choose between two reading modes that allow you to follow along as the story is read aloud, or to explore each page at your own pace.       
• Play exciting games inspired from the movie—test your memory in Tokyo Lights and try your hand at Mater’s Tire Toss.       
• Record your voice reading the story and hear it played back as narration.
• Tap characters and objects for animated surprises.       
• Also includes 5 coloring pages and 5 interactive jigsaw puzzles for extra fun!

· Jump to your favorite page with a Visual Page Index.

The Cars 2 Storybook Deluxe App, originally $8.99, is available for $5.99 (for a limited time) from the App Store on the iPad or at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cars-2-storybook-deluxe/id445409124?mt=8#. 

You can also see a demo video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uSeMCzZAzk

You can learn about all of Disney Publishing’s apps here: http://disneybookapps.com/

The Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident for the Wii

It’s always a bummer when you get invited to a really cool event….But you realize you are going to be out of town that day. Oh, and let’s add that your reason for being out of town is NOT very cool. I was recently invited to a party to try out the new game The Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident for the Wii. Luckily, my buddy Heather from That’s’ IT Mommy was “game” to attend and cover it. I followed the tweets from The East Coast and it sounded like everyone was having way too much fun playing. I love my games and this one looks like it will be high on my list to try. Thanks, Heather, great review!!!

Pac-Man’s 30th Birthday Party

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If you had tapped my little kid self on the shoulder, let’s say in the summer of 1982, and said, “Elizabeth, in 2010 YOU will be attending the 30th birthday party for THIS video game!”  I would have probably freaked out or more likely, totally ignored you, because I was focused on my “Pac-Man Pattern”.  There was a Pac-Man arcade game at my swim club and I swear I spent a good chunk of my parents money in that machine as well as more time playing it than actually swimming.  I got really good at Pac-Man.  To this day I can’t pass a Pac-Man arcade game without tossing a quarter in.  When the invitation to Pac-Man’s 30th Birthday Party hit my e-mail inbox I was totally stoked.  I spent a few hours on Tuesday at E3 (the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo) and then headed over with my buddy Eunice to Nokia Live for the Pac-Man birthday party.  This perfectly coincided with the beginning of the Celtics/Lakers Game 6 of the NBA Finals and required us to walk past the The Staples Center (where the game was) to get between The LA Convention Center (where E3 was) and Nokia Live.  Cops were everywhere and I made a point of asking them WHEN they thought the game would let out.  They said about 8:30-9pm.  I knew that Eunice and I DID NOT want to be on the streets especially if the Lakers lost.  In fact, one might question the wisdom of being in that area at all that night considering the shenanigans of fans in previous years.  But this was for PAC-MAN!  Oh, the further irony?  I grew up playing Pac-Man in the suburbs of Boston, so I’m a die-hard Celtics fan…Who lives in LA.

We sailed right into the party and I made a bee-line for Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.  There were a lot of people from Namco Bandai, the Japanese company that makes Pac-Man.  I ran into a guy wearing a nifty looking Pac-Man sweatshirt and asked him about it.  He told me he “approved the design for Australia and New Zealand” and went on to say he works for Namco in Japan.  I asked him if he could send me one.  I kind of just asked him to get his response.  He said, “Impossible! Only in Australia and New Zealand!”  It was like I had made an outrageous request.  I also think the poor chap was a bit of a victim of the language/culture barrier.  Next the heads of the company got up on stage and made some announcements about the company.  I learned that Toru Iwatani invented the game and was inspired by looking at a pizza.  Which is funny because I’ve often looked at a pizza with a slice out of it and thought: Pac-Man!  They told us that over 450 items have been licensed with Pac-Man on it.  That Pac-Man Fever was a hit single in 1982—I remember.  Then Hollywood Producer, Avi Arad took the stage and announced a forthcoming Pac-Man movie.  3-D glasses were passed out and we were all directed to watch 3-D HD tv’s set up around the room.  Basically, it was a 3 minute trailer for a Pac-Man movie yet to be even announced from what I can find and Hollywood is one thing I do know.  They had a bunch of different devices set up all over the room: Ipads, Iphones, every home video game console, every handheld video game, we could demo every version of Pac-man available.  They even have newer versions of arcade size Pac-Man machines coming out like Pac-Man Battle Royale.  I tried playing it and just couldn’t really get the hang of it.  Thank god they had two old school, ORIGINAL Pac-Man games.  That’s where I belonged, with my childhood pattern still embedded in my brain.  A glass of cabernet in one hand, the joystick in the other.  I muttered under my breath, “1983, don’t fail me now…”  Tee, hee!  So, what can I say?  Pac-Man for me is that arcade game.  A piece of my childhood.

So, it was coming up on 8:30 and Eunice and I headed out of the party.  As we hustled past a bar, we could see there were a few minutes left in the 4th quarter of the game.  The Lakers had a big lead.  Here was the issue: We had to make it PAST The Staples Center and to the far side of The LA Convention Center to the parking structure where we had parked.  Ugh.  All the cops had riot helmets with face shields in their hands.  Nice.  There were a ton of cops.  As we hit the first corner to cross towards The Staples Center I asked the first group of cops how much time we had.  “Four minutes” was the response.  Honestly, I wasn’t overly worried, but there sure wasn’t any UPSIDE to being out there when the game let out.  As we made it past The Staples Center and were about to cross to walk past The Convention Center, I asked the next group of cops, “Are you expecting trouble?”  One cop said, “If the Lakers lose.”  I yelled back over my shoulder, “But, they aren’t gonna lose, right?”  He said, “Right.”  We made it about the length of two football fields to the parking garage, hopped in Eunice’s car and caught the freeway out.  All for Pac-Man.  All for a piece of my childhood.