Toyzine FlexiMag

On Nickelodeon game shows, why do people think it's fun to get covered in slime?

Feb 04, 2010 by Lois Griffin | Posted in Other - Society & Culture

Because kids are told it's fun to get covered in slime and they are incapable of deciding for themselves.

Remembering Nickelodeon Game Shows.

Do you remember Great 90's shows liked Double Dare, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Figure it Out, Nick Arcade, and Guts? Well we do! Watch as ...

'Trials' sequel improved

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Something about a wildly convoluted obstacle course taps directly into my brain's pleasure center.

Growing up, watching Nickelodeon game shows like "Legends of the Hidden Temple" made me painfully jealous. I was certain I could do better than those kids on TV. I knew how to put the Shrine of the Silver Monkey together . The dozens of enormous obstacle courses in 2009's "Trials HD" were no substitute for a temple run, but they kept me chasing platinum medals for months after the game's release. Although it was just a fairly simple $15 downloadable game, I played "Trials HD" on Xbox 360 more than almost any other game that year. Nearly three years have passed since its release, but its sequel, "Trials Evolution," has finally arrived.

The "Trials" games are 2D, physics-based platformers where players attempt to guide a dirt bike through increasingly extravagant obstacle courses, earning medals for speed and staying upright. While the premise may be unusual, the game is easy for anyone to pick up and play. The controls are simple: the triggers handle the throttle and brake while the analog stick leans the rider forward or backward. Challenge is kept to a minimum in the early levels so players can get a feel for the game's extremely floaty physics system. The difficulty level dramatically escalates in the later tracks, eventually becoming so brutal that the retry limit of 500 will become a regular stopping point.

With over two million copies sold, "Trials HD" is one of the best-selling Xbox Live Arcade games of all time. Because of this, developer RedLynx took an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach with the sequel. The structure and gameplay are nearly identical, but "Evolution" improves upon its predecessor in nearly every other aspect. A lack of variety in track environments was one of the most obvious flaws of "Trials HD." Almost every level took place in a bland warehouse, and few had any distinguishing features. Each track in "Evolution" has a unique setting, including some truly bizarre scenery such as a D-Day beach invasion. Unfortunately the level designers let their artistic vision get in the way of playability in one dimly lit level. A few areas were so dark I couldn't tell the difference between the ground and a bottomless pit.

Source: UT Daily Beacon

The Sad State of Affairs in the Comic Book Industry.

Disney and Nickelodeon understand tweens and teens ages 8-18 are where the most money are and that’s why most of their sitcoms are targeted towards youngsters in this age range. The comic book industry needs to understand that the younger readers they need to be targeting are tweens and teens in the 7-18 age range. Money that’s currently being spent on songs on itunes, apps, games, game tokens, Tv shows, and ebooks. Kids aged 7-18 represent a group of younger buyers ten to twenty million strong who could possibly reverse two decades of slumping comic book sales and create a new customer base over the next fifteen to twenty years. They’ve made billions from licensing products from their shows like Hannah Montana and That’s So Raven while the comic book industry continues to lose thousands of readers a month.

Source: Shawn James, Black Freelance Writer

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