Get Moving! (Review and Giveaway)

JumpStart has been producing top-quality, award winning computer-learning games for the past twenty years, so when they asked if I would review another one of their products, I “jumped” at the chance. (My kids still enjoy playing their 3-D virtual world games online, and I love that the game is learning in disguise!)
JumpStart teamed up with Wii to develop Get Moving Family Fitness (Sports Edition) and recently sent a copy for me (ahem, I mean my kids) to review.

The game couldn’t have arrived at a better time-we had just dropped my daughter off at practice and my son was saying how bored he was going to be that evening-then we saw the package. My son could hardly contain himself as he tried to tear the box open himself-thank goodness my daughter wasn’t around because I believe there would have been a war!

The first thing he did was create a custom profile for his jumpee, and when I say "custom profile" I mean you get to pick the hair, eyes, mouth, outfit, and skin color of your character-this is one the aspects of the game that both my kids love best, and something they do a lot on the online site. (My son has three characters for this game all with different looks and names, and the first thing he wants to do before playing is update one of his player profiles!)

Then he had to choose either quick play or routines. Quick play allows you to play one game in a 90 second period and would be good for smaller kids with limited attention spans. My seven-year-old son preferred this approach, but my eleven-year-old daughter chose to do routines that allowed her to customize levels and do different types of games without taking a break. There are three difficulty levels, but we sort of stuck with easy for now. There are demonstrations on how to hold your Wii controllers at the start of each game, and at the end of play you get a final score, tally of how many calories you burned, and a healthy lifestyle tip.

There are a total of 15 sports challenges and 11 different landscapes like outer space, Atlantis, a volcano, and a castle, for your jumpee to play. And, if you have Wii Fit, you can use the balance board to enhance some of the game play. You will find basketball, baseball, racing, and balance games that are similar to those in Wii Sport, but there are also some exciting new additions like football, dodge ball, and volleyball. Plus there are added extras to the familiar like a flying race game where you soar as a bird through and around obstacles, and the ability to catch and throw in baseball. Selecting multiplayer mode even gives you a split screen so you see how well you are faring against your opponent. My daughter narrowed her favorites down to volleyball and dodge ball. My son had a tougher time, but he plays football and baseball more than the rest.

These games certainly came in handy when we were between outside activities, and I liked the fact that my kids kept “moving” instead of just lounging in front of the TV. My whole family was able to play and I think we all benefited from a little more activity.

So are you intrigued? You can purchase JumpStart Get Moving: Family Fitness for the Wii for $29.99 or win your very own copy here!

Your first mandatory entry: tell me why you would like to win this game. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment if it’s not in your profile. (You need to complete this entry before you can qualify for additional entries.)

Earn "Extra Entries(Woo hoo!) with the following but be sure to leave a comment per entry:

-Follow me via Google friend connect (or tell me you are already a follower)- 2 entries
-Follow me on Twitter(Twitter link is on my sidebar)-1 entry

-Tweet this giveaway- 1 entry
RT Win a JumpStart Get Moving Family Fitness Wii Game #giveaway @FamilyFormula http://www.rinkya.com/usinjp/r9Le655yu (Ends 7/29)
You can tweet once a day.

-Add my blog button to your site and provide a link-2 entries

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-Like JumpStart on Facebook- 3 entries

-Make a blog post about this giveaway and link back here (leave a link in your comment)- 5 entries

The giveaway ends at midnight (EST) on July 29, 2010 and is open to U.S. residents. I will pick the winner with random.org and notify by e-mail. (The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.)  Good luck!

And please note: I was provided with a copy of JumpStart® Get Moving™ Family Fitness at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided. My family thoroughly enjoyed this game-thank you again JumpStart!