Video Games arrive at JPL!

Thanks to a generous gift from the Friends of the Library, the public libraries are entering the gaming age! You can check out 2 games at a time for 2 weeks each – but watch out – just like movies, there’s a $1 a day overdue charge on them. Our core collection contains games for the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 that span the gamut from first-person shooter to role playing and real time strategy games. Here’s what my guest reviewers have to say about their favorites.

“Okami” (Wii) 100 years ago a great evil was sealed away to protect Kamiki Village. Now, the evil has been released and once again the village is in danger. Players control the sun goddess Amaterasu and use her celestial brush to rid evil from the land. Originally available on the Playstation 2, Okami takes full advantage of the Wii remote. Don’t worry about lacking artistic ability; the game is forgiving of shaky hands while using the paintbrush. Often I would draw lopsided circles or wavy lines that would still meet the requirements of the sun or staff needed to advance the story. (by adult reviewer Kate)

Check out “Battalion Wars 2” (Wii) and take command of the battlefield. Control a wide variety of combat units, from foot soldiers to battleships and fighter jets. The single player campaigns are entertaining, but the 20 missions may feel short when you’re finished. The game also features an online multiplayer mode with three different styles of game play: skirmish, assault, and cooperative. Personally, I enjoyed teaming up in the cooperative mode to battle larger computer opponents. If you enjoy real-time strategy games you should check out Battalion Wars 2 for the Nintendo Wii. (by adult reviewer Brad)

“Soul Calibur IV” (PS3, Xbox) Even by looking at the intro of this game, I could tell it was going to be a good one. Once you go to the menu you have a couple of options: you can play the story mode for the characters which unlocks bonus characters, or you can ascend a tower filled with evil people, challenges, and treasure. This game also has a neat character customization option where you can take the pre-made characters and modify them, or create an all-new person with your choice of fighting style, hair and eye color, armor, everything down to what their voice sounds like. I happily spent hours just creating new characters.

“Battlefield: Bad Company” (PS3, Xbox) After playing the campaign I can say that this is one of the best first person shooters that’s going to come out for a long time. It may take a bit of time to get used to the controls and looking around might be annoying at first, but once you get those down everything else in the game is great, the story line’s well put together, the graphics are great, and the AI give you a challenge.

“Assassins Creed” (Xbox, PS3) One thing I like about this game is how it ties being an assassin way back when and being a prisoner in modern times. Another great thing about this game is how when you get a little bit of practice in you, you can run across rooftops perfectly and assassinate your target with one clean strike. This game has achieved what most other games could not, it can be played for days on end and still be fun.

“Burnout Paradise” (Xbox, PS3) Like Super Mario or Pong, this is one of those games that is going to be around for a long time and is probably going to have a lot of people lining up around the corner for the next of its kind. EA and Criterion did an amazing job on this game, you never have to load individual parts of the city, you can unlock new cars, and even crashing is cool, because everything slows down, and your car instantly becomes a compact.

“Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” (PS3) This game starts when you find a coffin on the ocean floor, and are then attacked by pirates. This game has plenty of fight scenes and puzzles which will keep you entertained for days. The only bad thing about this game is where the enemies you face change from normal humans, to vampire zombies which take forever to kill. (all of the above by teen reviewer Seamus)

How did you get here?

Storytubes and Varjak Paw

Congratulations to JPL patron, Izzy who won an honorable mention for his review of Varjak Paw by S.F Said in the 2009 StoryTubes Contest. StoryTubes encourages readers of all ages to share reviews of their favorite books in a short video format to be shared online. Here’s Izzy’s video,

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, is a powerful book about a friendship between boys who almost seem to live in opposite worlds. Bruno, who comes from a wealthy family, lives in Nazi, Germany, and has a good life, and then Shmuel, who is a Jewish boy and lives in a Nazi death camp. Bruno’s father is in charge of Aushwitz (or Out-With as Bruno calls it. He also calls the Fuhrer the Fury), and Bruno is very lonely because they are forced to live next to Aushwitz. Bruno meets Shmuel, who is also very lonely. They become friends, despite the world around them and the fence in between them.

I liked how the author tells the story from the point of view of a 9-year old, and really captures that age. Here are some examples; for Bruno’s belongings he says “belonged to him and were nobody else’s business.” And his father’s office is “out of bounds at all times and no exceptions.” He calls his sister Gretel the “Hopeless Case”. I also like it that the setting is during World War II. I can relate to Bruno’s loneliness, before he met Shmuel. When I first moved to Sitka, I was lonely and wanted a friend, and then I found one, named Miles. Though he did not live behind a fence, he later became one of my best friends. This book is full of emotions; sometimes I felt dislike, other times even humor, but at the end I was just sad.

I rate this historical fiction book a 5 because it was very well written, and as I said before, the author captured the point of view of a 9-year old completely. I would recommend this book to people who like powerful stories, people who like researching WWII, and people who are looking for a good read. This is a sad and powerful book that you should read.

Reviewed by Elias Antaya (5th Grade, Harborview)