Cover Image: THQ

THQ sent over a copy of the Wii version for review. Developed by Blue Fang, the same studio behind Zoo Tycoon, there was obviously more than a little knowledge available in terms of what works, what doesn’t and what’s been done before. While many kids obviously enjoyed the Zoo Tycoon experience, there was always a desire from many of them to get more interactive with the animals and that’s what World of Zoo delivers. The Wii is the perfect platform for this (it’s also available for the DS and PC), with the remotes allowing you to virtually “pet” the animals. Players can also give the animals various treats or toys or build a playground for them with a variety of tools, all the while gaining in rank and earning star tokens to unlock additional creatures. You do have some responsibilities -it’s important to make sure the animals are fed and happy (they have thought balloons that give you a pretty good idea of what they want) and the exhibits are kept clean- but that’s about as far as you’re required to go in terms of managing things.

Screenshot: THQ

The animals really react to the stimulation of toys and the play equipment and it can be entertaining to sit back and watch what they get up to; my boys would literally spend hours goofing around with the monkey exhibit. And the Poop Vac feature got a lot of laughs- they are seven, after all. There’s a nursery where the cuteness quotient can be ratcheted up and a camera to snap photos of those special moments. There’s also an option to customize animals via the Animal Creator, letting you unleash your own versions of existing animals, or create hybrids by combining bits and pieces of various different species. My daughter spends much of her time experimenting here, turning out animals that are artistically shaded. While the game sounds a tad unrealistic at times, the animals and their behaviors are reasonably representative of what they’re supposed to be and there are over 90 species available. There are also animal fact cards from National Geographic to add a few more points in favor of an educational experience.

My kids are probably squarely in the target demographic for this game (they’re 7-9 years of age and love animals) and to say that World of Zoo went over well is an understatement. Despite the substantial library of Wii games they have, guess which one they chose to take to Grandma’s after Christmas to demonstrate what her new Wii could do?

World of Zoo for Wii from THQ
Rated E for Everyone
MSRP: $39.99

Wired: Animal animations strike a nice balance between realism and cartoon, interacting with animals is fun while turning them loose on a playground is even better, Animal Creator tool lets kids use their imagination.

Tired: If you’re looking for a realistic zoo sim (one where a Tiger would maul you if you tried to pet it instead of purring), this probably isn’t the game for you.

This season, I didn’t jump into the sentimental pool alone. My annual date with a few tears of joy included a viewing with my 9-year-old son.

For me, IAWL is about more than idealism and friends coming through in the clutch. The experience also includes watching a long shot of Jimmy Stewart at a train depot as he shifts through several emotional states without saying a word. It’s recognizing the slice of cinema history where theatrical conventions are dominant but deep focus allows you to see detail in the background activity across the street. It’s early sci-fi, dealing with a multiverse and otherworldly interventions. Sharing this richness with offspring is a rite of passage I’ve awaited for a while. I saw IAWL as a gateway drug to Citizen Kane and Wages of Fear.

It didn’t go as pictured.

Carter made it through the movie, but sometime around the christening of Mr. Martini’s new home he asked why this was considered a Christmas movie. Like everyone else, my boy noticed and lamented Uncle Billy’s misplacement of the B&L’s eight large, immediately rendering that plot device implausible. Dead tired from a full evening already, my son later cried himself to sleep about a lost opportunity to read instead of watching a movie he didn’t like. I felt like the Mr. Potter of parenting.

I’ll admit, if I made my initial decision to watch IAWL based on the classic movie trailer, the Frank Capra signature storytelling wouldn’t be a part of my annual repertoire. I had to discover it for myself, in my own way: as a clip in Joe Dante’s Gremlins. By the mid-1980s, I was anticipating the New Year’s Eve televised broadcast on PBS. It grew on me.

I expect it will grow on Carter, too, but in the meantime he offered a few suggestions on how the movie could be improved:

Film it in color. I should have eased him into black-and-white movies all with a viewing of Pleasantville. My youngest son only recently ended his ban on live-action television shows by becoming a fan of Mythbusters. Similarly, my eldest prefers technicolor to the ancient aesthetic. IAWL did get the colorization treatment in 1986, but I refuse to point that out. In this family, that’s not how we roll, son.

George Bailey shouldn’t talk like a gangster. I’m a bit baffled how the guy who played Jefferson Smith and Elwood P. Dowd could be mistaken for a two-bit hood. Jimmy Stewart’s voice has become a caricature over time, and maybe that’s what my boy sensed. When asked who should play the lead, Carter—who clearly hasn’t seen Less Than Zero—suggested Robert Downey, Jr.

Bedford Falls wouldn’t be that different. According to my son, no single person can make that much of a difference as to change a town from having only one neon sign to having hundreds. Plus, shouldn’t Mr. Gower be dead by the time everyone starts singing Auld Lang Syne? Carter may have a point about the dynamics of time and social networks, but it’s difficult to get Clarence’s point across to George if the only noticeable change in Pottersville is the snow.

Hurm. Maybe we’ll try again when he’s a teenager and there’s a version of the movie on the Wii. Hee Haw!

Image by Ken Denmead.

Here’s hoping you and your kids gave and received many wonderful, geeky gifts that you can share with one another for the the next year and the rest of your lives. Cheers!

Paul and Storm's "It Might Be Christmas"

As Christmas approaches, and every store is filled with seasonal music, you’ve probably asked yourself the same question as all other geeks: When are They Might Be Giants going to come out with an album of Christmas music? Well, wonder no longer, my fellow geek, for such an album is in the works… with a twist.

You may recall that, last Christmas, Paul and Storm produced “The 25 Days of Newman,” wherein they created a series of Randy Newman-esque movie theme songs. This holiday season they’ve chosen instead to produce “It Might Be Christmas,” an album of Christmas songs that TMBG might have written and sung, except of course that they haven’t. So far two songs, “Forgettable Side Dish” and “Backward Santa” are out, and they’ve promised to publish at least one new song each Monday, Wednesday and Friday until Christmas Eve. You can listen to the songs online for free, or download them (in any of several formats) for whatever price you’d like to pay.

I have to say that I find this idea more interesting than last year’s, because, while the Newman songs were funny, they became predictable after only a few entries. There are only two songs in this year’s effort so far, of course, but those two are very enjoyable pastiches of TMBG, and I have high hopes for the upcoming ones. The tone Paul and Storm affect to sound like the two Johns (Linnell and Flansburgh) is nasal enough to be funny but not so nasal as to be irritating.

So we at GeekDad suggest you add Paul and Storm’s “It Might Be Christmas” to your holiday tunes list. We do advise that you listen to the songs before playing them for your kids, as many of Paul and Storm’s songs would probably not be considered suitable for young kids by most parents.

And enjoy this video of Paul & Storm singing the Frogger Song at W00tstock 1.0!

LEGO Star Wars Christmas photo by Tim Regan; used under Creative Commons attribution license.

Have you ever heard a song so many times in a short span of time that you found yourself rewriting it in your head just to keep yourself sane? It’s a condition that (I find) often strikes this time of year, when it seems impossible to escape Christmas and related winter songs no matter where you go.

So, in case you could use some help keeping yourself from going mad the tenth time you hear “Little Drummer Boy” played in one day, here are ten ideas for geeky versions of well-known Christmas and winter songs. Since the Muppets already did a version of “Carol of the Bells” that’s far better than we could do, we’ll skip that one. We’ve also avoided, as much as possible, the songs the great Tom Lehrer used in his unforgettable “A Christmas Carol.” These are titles and snippets of song only, as song-writing is not exactly our strongest suit, so please feel free to contribute lyrics in the comments.

1. “Winter Wonderland” - “In the meadow we can build a snowman, then pretend that he is Boba Fett.”

2. “Ru’Dolf the Red-Nosed Klingon” - “All of the other Klingons / Used to laugh and call him names / He got a bat’leth and slew one / So his honor he reclaimed.”

3. “Here Comes Doctor Who” - “Here comes Doctor Who, here comes Doctor Who / Coming in his TARDIS / Rose and Sarah Jane and all his companions / Get the Daleks pissed.” (Yes, we know, he’s never called “Doctor Who” except in the show’s title, but it wouldn’t scan right using “The Doctor,” so you’ll just have to live with it.)

4. “Frosty the Cylon” - “Frosty the Cylon / Is a fairy tale they say / He was made of steel / He was not quite real / Then he came to life one day.”

5. “Good King Elessar” - “Good King Elessar looked out / On the feast of Gondor.” (We leave rhyming “Gondor” as an exercise for our readers.)

6. “Let Us Go” - “Oh, the Vogons up there mean trouble / And your house will soon be rubble / We need a safe place to go / Arthur, let’s go! Let us go, let us go.”

7. “Slay Ride” - “Just see those vampires uprising / Surprising your friends too / Come on, it’s lovely weather / For a slay ride together with you.”

8. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Captain Kirk” - “Then I saw Mommy tickle Captain Kirk / Underneath his hair so clearly fake.”

9. “Jingle Bells” - “Dashing through the ‘verse / In the ship Serenity / To Jaynestown we go / To collect our fee.”

10. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” - “On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me / Eight bloggers blogging / Seven dice a-rolling / Six iPhones ringing / Five MacBook Pros / Four LEGO Sets / Three Hexbugs / Two gaming mice / And a cartridge for Atari” (OK, so that last one is a little outdated.)

Cover Image From Disney Interactive

Let’s start with the more positive note. A Christmas Carol really isn’t that bad a game, but it suffers from the limitations of its source material. While playing a Christmas-themed game right about now feels almost festive, I can’t imagine it having all that much appeal in July. Aside from that, it’s an adventure game that follows the plot of the movie (which Jason reviewed in November), and like he said of the movie, the game is much better than I expected.  Moving objects around with the stylus was sometimes frustrating for the kids- the controls aren’t always laser sharp, and a sliding tile mini game was the source of some exasperation, but overall it was well received. The inclusion of an Advent Calendar was a neat idea, there is plenty of Christmas music and the original Dickens novel is available for reading on completion. The graphics, particularly the Victorian elements, were quite well done, although given the limitations of the DS it isn’t surprising that the developers had to go for a more cartoony look than the movie.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol from Disney Interactive
Rated: E for Everyone
MSRP: $29.99

Wired: Something to get young gamers in the holiday spirit.

Tired: Christmas theme limits post-holiday appeal, sometime balky controls, very little replay value.

Cover Image From Disney Interactive

On to JONAS. My daughter is in that key tween demographic, seems physically attached to her DS and follows all the Disney musical licenses (right down to her Hannah Montana iPod dock) and even she couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for this one. From what I could tell before everyone lost interest, the game involves either dressing up the Jonas Brothers, avoiding hazards that might harm the Jonas Brothers’ clothes, changing the Jonas Brothers’ outfits and, at the end of each mission, playing a concert performance, music rhythm game that’s something like a very watered down Rock Band. Of course, the rhythm game also means you have to listen to a Jonas Brothers tune, complete with DS compression to make it even better. Die-hard Jonas Brothers fans might like it, but it’s definitely not a game you would ever inflict on someone for casual play.

JONAS from Disney Interactive
Rated: E for Everyone
MSRP: $29.99

Wired: Jonas Brother fans can dress the cartoonish avatars of all three in various goofy outfits, music rhythm game has some replay value

Tired: Too. Much. Jonas.

Tis the Season!

Yes, it’s that time again, friends. It’s the holiday season, and here at GeekDad that means one thing: our annual 12 Days of Geekmas giveaway. Last year we favored you with fabulously geeky prizes for a dozen days, and this year we are all set to do it again. Only bigger.

Up for grabs today is a prize pack from GeekDad’s new bestest best friend John Kovalic. John is perhaps best known for his award-winning web comic Dork Tower, but is also known for illustrating Steve Jackson Games’ tabletop favorite Munchkin. As such, Mr. Kovalic has provided signed copies of both the Munchkin card game and a Dork Tower collection. Sweet, no?

For more information on these fabulous prizes, peep today’s GeekDad HipTrax Stocking Stuffer. Therein you’ll also find out how to enter today’s contest drawing - here’s a hint: send an email before 11:59 PM EST - and hear the sweet sounds of Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew’s “A Pirate Christmas.” Can there be any better way to kick off the holiday season? /rhetorical question

Feel free to subscribe to the GeekDad podcast in iTunes (see the button on the sidebar), or directly through the RSS feed. You can also download GeekDad HipTrax Stocking Stuffer #1 via this link, or simply listen in the embedded player below.

The official HipTrax theme song was created by Snake Eyes. He’s from Canada. That’s a lot like the North Pole.

Image copyright © Toy Vault

We’ve all seen the ornaments Hallmark comes out with every year, and to be fair, some of them are excellent. There are a few Star Trek ones each year, and Star Wars ones, and other somewhat geeky ones, but they’re mainstream — and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with mainstream Christmas decorations, we are geeks and geeks tend to prefer things that are at least a little outside of mainstream.

So, as a public service, and because it’s fun, here is our list of the top 10 geeky Christmas decorations we could find. Please let us know if we’ve left out your favorite by leaving a comment.

Image copyright © CBS Studios & Kurt Adler

10. Captain Kirk With Ripped Shirt Statue
The only reason this isn’t higher on the list, because it’s completely awesome, is that it may not actually be available for sale. It’s listed on designer Kurt Adler’s website, but we couldn’t find anywhere to actually buy it. Nevertheless, the idea of Kirk getting a new shirt for Christmas while wearing a ripped one is, really, sheer genius (and if you can find it for sale somewhere, please let us know!).

9. Star Wars Holiday Waterball Ornaments
How else could you create a miniature snowfall around the disembodied head of Chewbacca, Darth Vader or C3PO?

8. Cardboard Skull Wreath
Sure, it’s nontraditional. And yes, it’s a bit on the macabre side. But if you’ve ever wanted a way to show your Christmas spirit by decorating while at the same time proving that you’re a rebel against mainstream tradition, you could hardly find a better way. Plus, it’s really cool.

7. R2-D2 and Yoda String Lights
Yes, even your lights can be geeky. Are they any weirder than the popular chili pepper lights? Well, OK, yes, they are … but that’s just part of their charm!

6. Flying Spaghetti Monster Ornament
If the religious aspect of Christmas isn’t that important to you, or if you’d just like to be inclusive of other belief systems, why not include an image of His Noodliness on your tree?

5. Serenity as Reaver Ship Ornament
Because nothing says “Christmas” like a mercenary ship disguised to blend in with ships full of violently insane cannibals.

Image copyright © Lucasfilm Ltd. & Kurt Adler

4. USB Computer Decoration Kit
Computers are such significant parts of every geek’s house, it seems natural to decorate them, too, doesn’t it?

3. Cthulhu Plush Wreath
Ignore the fact that Cthulhu is essentially the exact opposite of Jesus — in this depiction he’s green and red and looks like a wreath. How better to say “I’ve got the Christmas spirit, but that hasn’t caused my sense of humor to untwist?”

2. Darth Vader Nutcracker
And you thought he was tough when he remotely force-choked Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back. Now he can crack your nuts, too! (Actually, we figure he probably cracked a lot of nuts, but George Lucas just didn’t put that in the movies because it would have made them less family-friendly. Seriously, though: Choking is all well and good, but then someone has to clean up the corpse, right?)

1. Yoda Tree Topper With LED Lightsaber
Be sure no Sith lords will attack your tree, you can. And you know, in Empire, Luke probably thought Yoda had a stick up his … but we digress. How awesome would this look on your tree?

Image copyright © Disney Channel; used with permission.

If the folks at Disney have their way, it’s time for the Grinch and Rudolph to make room for a new classic Christmas special. There’s nothing wrong with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty and Snoopy, of course, but there’s certainly plenty of room for Phineas, Ferb, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Candace and Perry the Platypus, right?

Yes, this coming Sunday evening at 8:00PM ET/PT, Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation will have its premiere on Disney XD. For once (the “S’Winter” episode notwithstanding) the boys will be making their plans in a season other than Summer, and that’s the least of the differences. Their plan this time is to make Danville into a giant Thank You card to Santa Claus, their reasoning being that Santa hardly ever gets any gratitude for his hard work and dedication. I don’t know the whole plot (and wouldn’t spoil it for you if I did) but I believe that something happens involving two British elves named Blay’n and Clewn’t, and in the end the boys have to — try to act surprised — save Christmas. Dr. Doofenshmirtz has evidently created a “Naughty-inator,” presumably to make everyone else’s Christmas as rotten as his, which I’m sure will give Perry Agent P some trouble.

There’s definitely a sentimental side to this 45-minute special, which will have songs throughout. I’m sure some of the songs, like Doofenshmirtz’s “I Don’t Really Hate Christmas,” will have plenty of funny moments, but with tunes like “Thank You Santa” from Mitchel Musso and “Christmas Is Starting Now” from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (yes, really), there should be plenty of Christmas spirit. While the focus is clearly on Christmas, there will also be at least a few Hanukkah references (from Isabella, of course).

The special features the show’s usual excellent voice talent (I’ve always loved that the dad’s voice is done by Richard O’Brien, best known as Riff Raff from Rocky Horror, for instance). Ferb’s British grandparents are in town for the holiday, and are voiced as usual by Malcolm McDowell and Jane Carr. And the inimitable Clancy Brown  provides the voice for Santa Claus.

In the meantime between now and Sunday night (when the special will be preceded by a huge marathon of the show’s episodes), you can enjoy the special’s opening in the video below, and listen to the first-ever Phineas and Ferb podcast, about the special, with Dan Povenmire and Swampy Marsh (and their characters, Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram). If you should miss the special Sunday night, it will be repeated on Disney Channel next Friday (and will be available on demand as well). The special’s songs are scheduled to be available on iTunes starting on Monday, December 7.

It’s really unusual for me to be looking forward to a Christmas special, believe me, but I’m about as anxious to see this one as my kids are (and they can hardly wait).