Fred Willard
Actor/comedian Fred Willard is a funny, funny guy who (in my opinion) should get a lot more recognition than he does. Witness Best in Show, Spinal Tap, Anchorman and Waiting for Guffman. His latest gig is a commercial for Personal Trainer: Cooking
You can see the video at Brain GameTrailers.com. It’s several minutes long.
I’m not much of a jet-setter, so I haven’t seen the Best Buy Express kiosks in person. They’re vending machines stocked with Nintendo DS games and even consoles. Marketed toward the stranded traveler, impulse buyer, or just someone who wants to pick up a fresh game on the way to their destination, the Best Buy Express kiosks are in several U.S. airports.
Best Buy Express
Best Buy partnered with a vending machine company called ZoomSystems to make the automated kiosks and set them up in September 2008, a press release stated. Besides DS stuff, the kiosks have mobile phones PSP consoles and games, PC accessories, digital cameras, flash drives, memory cards and more.
Several people who have posted online say that the prices are actually similar to what you’d find in Best Buy stores. Also, the items vend gently so you don’t bash your new DS before it’s even in your hands.
Airports with Best Buy Express include those in: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and San Francisco.
The Toronto-based Savvy Source Blog is giving away a copy of Personal Trainer: Cooking for Nintendo DS. The coolest part: The winner also gets a neat Personal Trainer: Cooking tote bag with a front pocket to hold a DS console. To enter, click on the link to go to the blog, read the rules and enter by Jan. 14.
If you have a Wii that’s connected to the Internet, you can use the interactive Nintendo Channel to download Nintendo DS game trials and other fun stuff. This week, there are some preview videos for Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero
Game Candy Magazine, which is published by game maker Ubisoft and distributed at Game Crazy stores and by free subscription, takes a closer look at games aimed toward young girls. (Of course, plenty of grownups enjoy the Petz games). Along with quizzes and activities, there are tips that tie into the Energ-G games as well as the Imagine “career” games. Ubisoft also licenses Petz-themed cases, animal plush and other merchandise. Right now, Game Candy Magazine is giving away free games to an unnamed number of readers who send in a reply card or sign up at www.gamecandymagazine.com/toys/.
Update: A couple of DS Diva readers have written in to ask how to subscribe to the magazine. DSDiva.com is actually not affiliated with Game Candy Magazine. It’s put out by Ubisoft. But if you go to the Game Candy Web site (just click on that link) you can sign up with them, or pick up a copy at Game Crazy and look for a subscription card. Thanks!
Second Update, March 9: DS Diva readers have written in about issues they’re having communicating with Game Candy Magazine. We’re not connected to the magazine in any way, but here’s a link to the Ubisoft Web site with support contact: http://parentscorner.us.ubi.com/
Burger King toys
My kid is pretty stoked about this Nintendo promotion at Burger King. Not only does he get cool Mario (and friends) stuff; he gets to eat kids’ meals–a rare treat in our house. Anyway, after two failed return trips in which we kept getting Yoshi, we finally scored the Paper Mario and tumbing Donkey Kong toys. We really hope we don’t miss out on the Whirl-and-Twirl Princess Peach and the Light-Up Luma star. For more on the Burger King Nintendo promotion see the my earlier DS Diva post.
Oh, and you may have to ask several Burger King workers several times which additional toys they have available. On this last visit, we were told we could only get Donkey Kong, but then our meal came wtih Paper Mario. So, I asked to buy Donkey Kong and they said I couldn’t have that one.