Holiday 2011: NASCAR Unleashed (Nintendo Wii Game)

I am a gamer; I have been as long as I can remember. Although I have my favorite genres, I am willing to play anything and a good race car game is always welcome. Recently we received a copy of Activision’s NASCAR Unleashed for the Nintendo Wii (also available on other platforms).

I’m not going to dilly dally about this game: It is fun and we had a blast. My nearly 5 year old twins loved it as well as myself and my 8 year old son. The controls are simple and are quickly picked up. It only takes a few moments to understand what to do (although it took a while to get good at it).

The game is action packed and goes 1000 miles an hour right away. The interface and gameplay were simple enough to allow the twins to make it around the track while also detailed and accurate enough to keep me pumped trying to win the races.

What stands NASCAR Unleashed apart from its peer games is that this game allows you to smash up your competition. Heck, it is even encouraged! Not only do you need to control and navigate your car through a series of complex tracks, you need to “manage” your competitors as well. The added element of crash and mash added a great deal of fun to the game. The kids LOVE to wreck the other cars too.

The graphics are decent, the physics are accurate, and the interface is easy to pick up. Add in the ability to smash the other cars and you have a winner. NASCAR Unleashed is a great game and the entire family had fun playing it.

NASCAR Unleashed is rated E for Everyone and retails for $39.99 and is available for the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS.  You should be able to find it at most major game retailers.


Thank you to Activision for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Gifts For Men Who Have Everything!

Looking for gifts for men? How about gifts for men who have everything already? Check out the website Adrenalin.com.

If you like activity, and when I say “activity” I mean the heart pounding awesomeness that all guys want to experience, Adrenalin.com has what you need.  Adrenalin.com is a single stop place where you can plan and sign up to participate in just about any cool activity you ever wanted to do (and many you may not!). Want to skydive? Check. Drive an actual tank? Got it. Learn how to drift a car? Piece of cake. Fly a stunt plane? Yup. Jet boat? What color?

Even though Adrenalin.com offers literally everything you can imagine, their car courses and activities really seem to highlight what Adrenalin.com is all about. Rally, drifting, formula one muscle, defensive driving, Hummers, rock climbing, stunt, and most of all the V8 race experience.  Adrenalin.com can put you in the seat of a V8 super car as a driver or the passenger partnered with a professional driver for a heart pounding experience. What guy (and girl for that matter) wouldn’t want to experience such an adrenaline pumping ride?

If you are planning a trip to Australia anytime soon, ANY part of Australia, do yourself a favor and hit up Adrenalin.com before you go. You may be able to turbocharge your trip!

Holiday 2010 Giveaway: Geomag Wheels Magnetic Construction Sets [CLOSED]

Our 6-1/2 year old son has a love for anything on wheels and has a fascination for magnetic toys. He also is quite adept at building with construction sets and models. That is why when I discovered Geomag Wheels by Reeves Toys, a brand of Swiss made race car-themed magnetic toys for kids, I knew this product line would be something our son would be excited about.

We received the 52pc Wheels Fantasy Race Set to try out. Since the manufacturer's age recommendation is for ages 4 to 12, I did not really know what to expect. Although I try to stick with age-appropriate toys for my children, I have found that our son finds toys that are targeted at children a year or two older than he is to be more engaging. After trying out this toy, I think that the age recommendation is a little off. I would personally suggest this toy for children ages 8 to 12.

This set includes the following:

• Three Fleixform™ body styles
• 1 Hood louver
• 6 Easyclik™ tires
• 2 Large Easyclik™ tires
• 4 Grey spokes & 4 Orange spokes
• 8 Magnetic Rods
• 16 Non-magnetic steel spheres

(Click any image to enlarge)

This set did not include any instructions, so due to its complexity, it was highly unlikely that our 6 year old son would be able to build one of these cars unassisted without feeling very frustrated. My husband ended up building the whole thing based on the images on the back of the box.

Above is an example of a finished race car. Below is an example of a mostly finished car held by our nearly 4 year old son. Our boys were disappointed that they could not have two completely built cars to play with together.

In addition to the complexity of the building of these race cars, another reason why I think this toy is better suited for slightly older children is because these cars cannot be crashed, dropped, and played with like younger children would want. Although the magnetic rods and steel spheres have quite a strong connection, I worry that the two spheres that sit on top of each car (not the ones inside the tires) will get bumped and fall off.

Even though our oldest was not able to build these vehicles by himself, he and his little brother still appreciated the coolness factor of these race cars. They are very awesome to look at and watching them being transformed from a flat piece of Flexiform into a 3-dimensional toy was equally as awesome.

This particular Geomag Wheels set retails for $25. To see more unique toys for kids from the Geomag Baby and Geomag Kids lines, visit ReevesIntl.com .

Thank you to Reeves International for sending us a complimentary product sample to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our contest prize.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive one product from Reeves International (up to a $30 value).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Browse the selection of Reeves International toys. Then leave a comment telling me the name of the one toy that is your favorite. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2)

For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, sign up to receive email updates from Reeves International. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments telling me you did.

4)

For 1 extra entry each, if you are a Friend of mine on Facebook and/or if you have "liked" the 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires Facebook page, then leave a separate comment here telling me so with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 1 extra entry, "Like" Reeves International Toys on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

6)

Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7)

Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8)

Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9)

Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10)

Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, November 8th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!

Things That Make You Go Vrooom

This is a pretty cool item that just happens to be red, so I had to include it in my Ruby Tuesday lineup. This vehicle is more than just a race car. Can you guess what else it is?

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at Work of the Poet!