It's something that is often said
by women, and by a few men themselves: men never grow up. And if I look at my
dad, and then look at his dad, I would say it's true. In fact, I'd also
say that Seeg's dad was the same, and, of course, Seeg himself.
While it may not count for
crafties like ourselves, it does seem that, based on the men I know, a man
would love to be given something creative to dive into, more than a woman
would. Be it working on a car, or putting together an airfix model or painting
Warhammer, most of the women I know would prefer clothing, jewellery and books.
Nothing messy. That's not true for me, of course, and as I said, probably not
for you all, but it seems that toys (men wouldn't call them that) are still on
their lists.
For example, Halo Mega blox. Halo
has an age rating (here in the UK, at least) of 16. While I'm sure a 10 year
old would enjoy the guns and aliens of the Halo Mega blox sets just fine, the
branding actually points it towards older people. And yes, I have seen Seeg
looking at it. He almost bought it once. Hell, even I wanted it. But
having said that, I still have the Pound Puppy Play Van from when I was little.
I love that thing.
But due to the age and nature of
the game, Halo Mega blox would probably be appreciated much more by
adults, in much the same way that the Star Wars Lego sets would. I love Star
Wars, personally, and, barring the accompanying issue of standing on pieces of
Lego, I love Lego too. So I just love that sets like the above and below are available.
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LEGO Star Wars Super Star Destroyer |
I don't remember who said it, but
I was told by someone that by the age of two, even a toilet roll became a gun
as far as their little boy was concerned. Slightly alarming that at such a
young age they would instantly jump to guns, but nevermind. Toilet rolls rarely
kill people. But, considering that in just about every single video game, the
aim is to kill people (I'm struggling to think of anything other than Wii Fit
that doesn't try to get you to kill people...yup, even Majin and the Forsaken
Kingdom has you kill things), it's not surprising that guns are on kids' minds.
I'm not personally a fan of guns -
not real ones, anyway. I've been shot at once by my mother, but it was with a
spud gun. Hurt, though. But, despite it, I thoroughly enjoyed Laser Quest, and
even since I was little (and did so just the other day), whenever I carry
around the small wooden foot stool my mother made, I can't help turning it so
that the legs are facing outwards, and shaking it and making
"rattattattattatt" noises as if it was a machine gun. I really don't
know why, and I only noticed myself do it when Seeg saw it happen a few
weeks ago.
And so, that is probably why I'm
quite drawn to these nerf guns, and I know that if I were to hand one to Seeg
we could probably have a pretty stupid time.
In fact I'm quite inclined to get
one now...
Swords are the same. But at the
same time a nerf gun is more likely to be dodgeable. You can't duck behind a
sofa in a sword fight. I want a nerf gun.
Seeg and I are both big video game
fans (you know, just in case you hadn't noticed anywhere along the line), and
so it's obvious that I have a few games to recommend you.
Dishonored recently came out. The
graphics are cartoonish, but in a gritty way. Features are accentuated -
cheekbones, noses, eyes, wrinkles and so on - and each individual has a lot of
physical character to them. Game play isn't half bad either. It's not perfect,
but it was an entertaining game to watch. Yes, I watch them, sometimes. I'm
happy to sneak around as a Dark Elf assassin on Skyrim, but stick me into a
game that has been designed, specifically, for sneaking, then things will
go wrong and I will get angry. As such, I mostly observe the story and
watch it unfold. Dishonored lacked enough depth for me personally, but what
surprised me was the difference between the endings of two different
run-through, and the reactions you got from NPCs (Non-Player Controlled units)
after behaving differently and making different decisions.
All in all, a good game. Not one
I'd scream about often, but a good game.
Assassin's Creed 3 came out only days ago. We've not finished it yet, but the game play is so smooth, the story is amazing, and after having played and witnessed the four other games that came before this one (AC1, AC2, AC: Brotherhood, AC: Revelations), I was nothing but shocked after the first four hours of game play. And it's such a long and engrossing game that it took us seven hours just to truly begin the story. Multiplayer is wonderful as well, as good as the two before it - of course, it's let down by the lack of understanding other players have for it, despite the very clear tutorials. Most multiplayers have you run in and kill your opponants. AC is exactly the opposite. If you walk and behave like an NPC, you get the biggest bonuses and scores. You're an assassin, you're not supposed to stand out. Climbing on rooftops and running is unusual. Who does that out in the street, anyway?
It's a fantastic game which, after
20 hours, is only getting better. Not to mention the voice acting. They have
actual Native Americans speaking their language, and despite the fact that the
game takes place in North America during the beginning of the revolution, few
people have American accents - why would they? They're mostly English, Irish
and French. Even the Pound(£) is still being used. The game is also as
historically accurate as they could make it (aside from the Assassins and
Templars, of course), the same as all of the others. I'm learning a lot. I
never knew what the Boston Tea Party was. Now I do.
And also, in case anyone was
interested in the awesomeness of the story but is not a game-player,
there are novels available of the story of each game: Renaissance, Brotherhood,
Revelations, Forsaken. All the story, with none of the consoles.
Skyrim. I know that this is sort
of an "old" game now, but it's no less as awesome as it was when it
was released. Set in Tamriel, in the province of Skyrim, the Nords are fighting
against the Empire for freedom from their laws, to remain a free country - but
then the Dragons returned. They were never truly dead, but they were gone for
so very, very long, that they faded as far as myth. It's not until you're about
to have your head cut off that you spot, of all the dragons, Alduin, the World
Eater. As with all of the Elder Scrolls games, you begin as a prisoner, and
turn out to be the individual prophesised in an Elder Scroll who will save
civilisation. For the time being, anyway.
You are Dragonborn - someone with
the blood of a dragon, who can master their language with no difficulty, while
it takes others decades to just learn it. You're able to use these words
as Thu'um, The Voice, and as you speak the words, they carry power. To put it
in a simple way, it's like magic, but it's not classified as such in the game.
There are numerous races to play (I've always been a dark elf, I don't know
why), and numerous groups to join, and, as in Oblivion and Morrowind, you can
also become a vampire - but, you could become a werewolf instead in this
game. Or neither. It's your choice. I find the vampires too high-maintenance,
personally.
It's a wonderful game for fans of
fantasy, even if you've not played the predecessing games. The Elder Scrolls
games are set on the same continent, but in different provinces, and are
something like a couple of hundred years apart. I loved Oblivion, despite how
much it scared the crap out of me, but Skyrim stole my gaming heart. And not just that but they're releasing their second DLC (not counting Hearthfire) soon!
I've been a huge fan of all of these for, well, forever so they are definitely gifts for girls as well. :D I love weapon related anything, which is why Jen and I own airsoft guns, have a baton, and we each have a few real swords (my favorite is my katana) but I do agree: NERF stuff is AWESOME. Same with video games, and computer games, of course!
ReplyDeleteJen is a Mega Bloks fangirl and I often fall more for Legos. She collects Halo Mega Bloks and we both collect the new World of Warcraft sets, Star Wars is also one we'd like to start collecting! I hope LEGOs and Mega Bloks stay around foreva!
There's no worries about that, lego will be around for eternity! And I agree with you, I want everything on this list too! I love weapons, but I don't have any. I used to have a set of Samurai swords but I lost them in a long overdue break up. I'm not that bothered xD
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