Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is tactical role-playing game. The complexity, plot and time required to successfully play the game, make it an ideal travel and vacation companion for pre-teens and teens ages.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is set in a fictional kingdom called Ivalice, which has just ended its war with neighboring kingdom of Ordalia. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a young cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of a conflict, where two noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.[3] While the war was caused by a conflict of succession, Ramza was exposed to a plot that involved the kingdom’s dominant religious organization. (more…)

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What is the best handheld gaming device for kids and families? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Leapster, Nintendo DS, Sony and PSP? What accessories do I need? What is the target age group for each system?

There are many questions and options when it comes down to selecting the right handheld entertainment and gaming device for your kids.

We put all systems to the test, and here is what we think.

Watch our exclusive KidConfidence Handheld Buyers Guide to learn more about the Pros and Cons of each system. (more…)

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Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable) is actually a really cool little handheld entertainment device. Yup – that’s right, I said it out loud. I know that a lot of people must think the same. But in times where it is almost “fashionable” to be “pro” Nintendo and “anti” Sony, nobody seems to seriously consider the PSP –especially for the upcoming Holiday Season.

Japanese gamers, on the other hand, have already realized the potential of the new PSP. Famitsu Marketing provided GameDaily Biz with sales data covering the period from August 27 through September 30, 2007. The PSP managed to sell three times as much as the Wii and roughly 50,000 more units then the DS. Granted that in Japan you can get a One-Seg terrestrial digital TV tuner for the PSP, but I doubt that this was a key factor. (more…)

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Sony managed to get some respect from the enthusiast media after many months of criticism.

A new PlayStationPortable (PSP), the $100 PS3 price-cut and a good line-up of upcoming “T” for Teen and “M” for Mature rated Action and First Person Shooter games proved enough to satisfy the majority of the media attending Sony’s E3 Press Event.

But what about family entertainment? (more…)

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Recently I discovered a very fun game for the Nintendo DS - Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. This clever game takes concepts from the popular “match-3″ style casual games like Bejeweled - where you have a board of items and you need to match at least three of a kind in different combinations in order to clear the board and move to the next level.

It then wraps these in an engaging role playing game where you get to create your own character - a Wizard, Warrior, Druid, etc. and then go on a series of quests.

The match three puzzles become the battles in the game, and as you get the different colored gems, you do damage to your opponent, and collect “mana” that you need to cast your spells to assist you in the battle.

As you progress through the battles you gain experience, level up your character, gain new spells and magical items. All this turns into a very addictive game play experience.

I started playing it last week while waiting at the airport, and couldn’t put it down. Usually I get bored with the “match-3″ style games pretty quickly, but this one is much more than that. I’ve been playing it with my 8-year old daughter and she loves this game.

It’s not exactly an educational game, but it does require some learning and thinking skills to determine how to build your character, how to win the battles, which quests to take, etc. And in my opinion it is safe for children 7 years old and up to play because there is no graphic violence - the battles are really just puzzle games.

We’ve been having so much fun with this game that I had to write about it. It is also available on the PSP, and coming soon to XBox Live Arcade.

If you haven’t tried this one yet - check it out, and have fun!

(screen shots for the upcoming XBox 360 version and are courtesy of Gamespot - I could not get the screen captures off my Nintendo DS!)

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