Win an XBox Live living room makeover!
Mar 5, 2010 Contest/Giveaway
My XBox Life
XBox has been a big part of my life for years. We started out with an original XBox – it was actually our very first DVD player! When the XBox 360 came out, I got my husband one for Christmas, then an XBox Live membership, and as a reward got to sit next to him on the couch as he talked into a little microphone strapped to his head. I amused myself by telling him that yes, I would like fries with that.
Once Jake was old enough to hold a video game controller – a day I think my husband had been waiting for since our firstborn had emerged from my womb, pointy-headed and be-penised – the two of them would sit on the couch together, shooting two-dimensional people and blowing things up and driving fast in cars to get to other places to blow other things up. Sometimes it’s a plane. Sometimes there are soldiers, sometimes girls in bathing suits. I think I might be talking about more than one game here, but they all look basically the same to me. When Jake and Daddy play XBox together, Fiona and I exchange a look that says it all: we don’t get it, and we don’t want to.
But then Rock Band came out, and suddenly I had a use for the XBox. Fiona, who was born singing, grabbed the mic immediately (she had always been a loud child and definitely didn’t need amplification, so we learned quickly how to turn off the mic’s sound and still have it register in the game). We discovered that Jake actually had a talent for drums, complete with rock-star like tantrums when he can’t master a section of a song (seriously, he’s throwing his sticks at a fifth-grade level). The Ass showed his inner Hendrix on guitar. And then there was me, all thumbs, stuck in the back playing bass: our little band’s very own Mike Huckabee, playing the same few notes over and over again, knowing I would never be as cool as the rest of the band.
Well, eventually I got better. Actually at this point I kind-of kick ass at Rock Band, on bass and guitar (but no drums, it’s truly embarrassing how uncoordinated I am). And thanks to the good people at XBox we’ve got more family games to play together, like Sing It and Scene It, and an XBox Elite to play them on. We’ve moved beyond just gaming with our XBoxes, using them to watch Hulu and Netflix and stream music from our computers. Someday I expect them to cook me breakfast.
XBox Live Giveaway – enter by March 8th
XBox Live is running a fantastic giveaway, the XBox Live Just Press Play giveaway, but you have to hurry: entries will be accepted until a minute before midnight on March 8th. And you want to enter, because here’s the prize:
- a $2,500 gift certificate to Crate & Barrel
- an XBox 360 Elite
- a 47 inch LG HDTV
- a Bose speaker system
- an XBox 360 game pack
- a Netflix account
- 4,000 Microsoft points
- some wireless stuff to help you get everything set up and play wirelessly
It’s all worth about $5,000. That’s right, $5,000. You can register here, and good luck!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 1 & 8. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Giveaway: XBox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle
Dec 10, 2009 Contest/Giveaway, Product Review
I bought my husband an Xbox 360
Access your computer’s media
We have a bunch of computers, all with Windows Media Center. WMC was another thing that I had been ignoring. Then I found out that since all of our computers were on our home Wi-Fi network, and the XBox was also on the network (for XBox Live), they could talk to each other and suddenly our TV was able to access all of the songs, movies, TV shows, and pictures stored on all of our computers. I was so pissed with myself for not bothering to figure this out sooner. It was incredibly easy to set up, and I use the XBox this way all the time, listening to music on my TV’s fantastic speakers instead of the computer’s small ones.
Stream from Netflix
We don’t have Netflix. We had it when it first came out, but I can’t even be bothered to go to a mailbox anymore – I never mail letters! So, a video from Netflix would come, we would watch it, and then it would sit there for months. Yes, I’m that lazy.
Enter the XBox 360. I’m seriously considering getting a Netflix subscription again now that I know I can download the videos through the XBox!
I wonder how many people bought a Roku not knowing they could use their XBox 360 to do the same thing?
Family Time
Blame the economy: people are staying home more and looking for economical ways to have fun. Microsoft sent us a new Xbox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle
With winter finally settling in, we’ll be using it even more. Dance Dance Revolution
Win an XBox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle
Microsoft is giving one of my lucky readers a really great gift: an Xbox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle!
- Black Xbox 360 Elite with a huge 120 gig hard drive
- Wireless black Xbox controller
- XBox live headset
- LEGO Batman
game (my son’s favorite!)
- Pure
game
To enter to win, all you have to do is leave a comment stating how you would use your XBox 360 Elite. Would you play games with your kids? Download movies? Access the pictures from your computer to show grandma a slideshow? Turn your TV into a giant mp3 player?
For a second entry, you can tweet about this giveaway (don’t forget to leave a separate comment linking to your tweet or it won’t count!). Just make sure to mention what the prize is and link back to this post, or you can just copy and tweet this:
Enter to win an XBox 360 Elite from @SelfishMom! http://bit.ly/7ZM1bX
[Update: Instructions on how to link to your tweet can be found here.]
So, that’s a maximum of two entries per household, please. The comments will close at noon-ish on Tuesday, December 15th and random.org will draw the winner. Shipping available in the continental U.S. only. For complete rules, please see my Giveaway Rules page. Good luck!
Thanks so much to Microsoft for providing this great prize, and for all of the fun we’ve had with our Xbox.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 8 and 10. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Microsoft, Rock Band, Tony Hawk RIDE, XBox 360 Elite Holiday Bundle
Queen finally comes to Rock Band
Oct 20, 2009 Around NYC
I took another visit to the MTV offices in Times Square Monday to play some more Rock Band. I’ve been a huge fan of Rock Band since my mom bought it for us two Christmases ago (honestly I don’t think I had touched our XBox 360 before that). It’s something our whole family can do together. And we played the crap out of that first Rock Band set, so over the summer MTV gave us a Rock Band 2 bundle, which is a great improvement over the first one. The guitar and drums are now wireless, and both instruments are sturdier and more fun to play. And the best part? Just about all of the music from Rock Band 1 can be stored on your hard drive and played with Rock Band 2 – no switching discs!
So Monday’s fun? I got to try out two different sets of downloadable content, both being released Tuesday: 10 songs from Queen, and the Abbey Road album for The Beatles Rock Band.
The Abbey Road songs were great, but I’m not as familiar with those Beatles songs as I am with some of their other songs. Of course the great thing about Rock Band is that it’s gotten me listening to a lot of music I never would have otherwise. So I can’t wait to get more familiar with those songs. [UPDATE: I just realized I forgot to mention that the Beatles songs cannot be played on the original Rock Band games. They can only be played on The Beatles Rock Band.]
I had a lot more fun with the Queen songs. I love Queen, and I’ll be downloading them Tuesday when I get back from Sesame Street. As if I need another thing to keep me up late. But I’m sure I can convince The Ass to have a little Queen marathon with me. :-)
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Win an Organize.com GC, courtesy of Kijiji!
Aug 4, 2009 Contest/Giveaway
So a few days ago, I wrote about the ongoing war inside my brain between wanting to have an organized house and not wanting to get rid of any of my stuff. Kijiji.com sent an organizer to my house to get me started, and I’m going to be listing a lot of my stuff for sale or to give away on Kijiji.com in the coming weeks (the listings that I put up for a couple of Rock Band items were only up for a few hours – that’s all it took for the items to be claimed!).
To help one of you get organized, Kijiji.com is giving one of my lucky readers a $100 gift certificate to Organize.com. a site packed with great stuff to help you put your stuff away (whatever you don’t get rid of on Kijiji.com, that is!). All you have to do to enter is leave a comment saying what you would list on Kijiji that’s cluttering up your house right now (and no, kids and husbands can’t be listed!).
You can also get an extra entry by tweeting the following (or your own tweet, as long as it mentions kijiji.com, organize.com and links to this post):
Kijiji.com is giving a lucky Selfish Mom reader a $100 gc to organize.com! http://bit.ly/wCnIQ #kijiji
So, that’s two entries max per household, please. The giveaway will end around 5pm (give or take) on Friday, August 7th. One winner will be chosen at random. Contest is open to anyone over 18 years of age, but you are responsible for making sure that you are within Organize.com’s delivery area. Sorry, I was informed after posting this that the gift certificate can only be sent to U.S. addresses. Please click here for full giveaway rules.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Kijiji, organize.com, Rock Band
The Beatles, Windows 7, and people way cooler than me
Jun 24, 2009 Product Review
Microsoft Holiday Preview
So I’m in the West Village at a media preview of Microsoft products for the holiday season. Yes, it’s a sticky 75 degrees out (although I’m wearing a too-big sweater, to hide my baggy pants). Yes, summer just started a couple of days ago. So what holiday are they referring to? I have to assume it’s Christmas, as in December. As in six months away. But I guess this is how things work. I guess if you don’t have a blog, you need some lead time.
It’s more like a club scene in here than a media preview – I’m feeling under-dressed and the music is loud. But at least it’s music that I really like, The Beatles. Perhaps an odd choice for a room full of (mostly) hipster geeks, but I’m sitting next to the Rock Band Beatles Edition, so that explains that.
A lot of the room is filled with games and gamers – PC games, X-Box 360 games, a huge three-screen driving game, etc. – but I’ll leave those to the people who understand and love them. I’m all about Rock Band. I was also very interested in the Windows 7 preview, and found myself drawn to a huge touch-screen computer that would look great in my new kitchen, but I’m guessing they’d notice it missing.
The Beatles: Rock Band
This new edition of Rock Band is being released on 9/9/09, the same day that the Beatles library is going digital being released in digitally remastered versions. I played a couple of songs, and it was a ton of fun, but very humbling. Usually when I go to these kinds of events I’m surrounded by mom bloggers who pick up the instruments like they’re afraid of getting bitten. But this crowd can play. And I’ve discovered that I like playing a lot better when I’m, well, better. Hmm. Not gonna happen here, these people are hard core. But still, the game is great, the music is fantastic (it’s The Beatles!), and I can’t wait for this edition to come out. There are even special instruments, reproductions of instruments The Beatles played. Very cool.
Windows 7
I think I’m in the minority here on planet earth: I like Vista. I was in the market for a laptop when Vista was pretty new, and also have it on my smaller Sony Lifestyle PC (which I’m writing from right now). Whatever problems the rest of the world has with Vista, I seem to be immune. But the huge selling point for Windows 7 is that it’s faster. Much faster. When you open up a laptop, there’s hardly any waiting. That’s my one big complaint about Vista, especially on my small laptop, which I’m usually opening out in public somewhere, on the go, and I can’t stand waiting for it to load. Windows 7 has a lot more features than just great speed – they’ve made it easier to get to the things you do the most, for example – but speed’s the big one for me. Windows 7 comes out in October.
HP Touchsmart Computer
This beautiful piece of HP hardware has a TV tuner, and the whole computer is contained in the monitor. I can see this sitting in my kitchen, split screen with TV on one half and a recipe or email on the other. Kids can finger paint on it. You can use it as a message board. Manipulating photos is a lot of fun. This has great potential, especially with photo and video editing. Touch capability is built in to Windows 7.
That’s it for now, they’re closing up and kicking me to the curb. But I can’t wait until this stuff comes out. And I need to practice more on Rock Band before the next event.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Amy did not receive any payment or products from Microsoft in exchange for this post, although she has received products from Microsoft in the past. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
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Tags: HP Touchsmart, Microsoft, Rock Band, The Beatles, The Beatles: Rock Band, Windows 7
My son said what?
May 25, 2009 Uncategorized
Jake: What are you and Daddy going to do while Fiona and I are at the party?
Me: We’re going to play Rock Band a little, order some dinner, rent a movie, and kiss…A LOT!
Jake: Well, just make sure all of the kissing doesn’t make you forget to pick us up from the party.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information.
Tags: Rock Band
Product Giveaway: Guitar Hero On Tour Decades
Jan 8, 2009 Contest/Giveaway, Product Review
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that I simply can’t take a video game guitar with me everywhere. But now I don’t have to. About a month ago, my friends over at Nintendo and Activision sent me Guitar Hero on Tour Decades for my Nintendo DS. Playing Guitar Hero this way took a little getting used to, after the hours I’ve logged with the “real” Guitar Hero and Rock Band. There’s a controller that straps around your DS with four colored buttons for playing the “notes” of the song, and then you strum on the DS screen with a little plastic pick.
After a couple of songs though, I was getting the hang of it. The game starts with modern songs, and then as you successfully play through songs you unlock other decades. Obviously it’s not going to be the same experience as playing Guitar Hero (and my hand gets tired a lot quicker), but it’s a really fun substitute. You have to be really careful not to let the controller slip off of the DS if you’re adjusting the grip, but that’s my only big complaint.
Unfortunately I only have one DS so I wasn’t able to try out the multiplayer function, but I think it’s great that it’s there. Plus, if one DS has the original On Tour game and one has the Decades game, the two players can choose from all of the songs from both of the games.
I played this recently during a long car trip and I have to say, it made the time fly by. Of course I had to fight my son to play it, but that’s OK because he’s unlocking the songs faster than I can!
So now for the giveaway: the great people from Nintendo and Activision who sent me my copy of Decades sent me four more bundles to give away! The bundles include both the On Tour controller and the Decades software. If you want to win one, just take a look here and tell me what your favorite song from the list is. Mine is the Alien Ant Farm version of Smooth Criminal (which also has an awesome video, BTW – it walks a fine line between paying homage to Michael Jackson and making fun of him). I haven’t unlocked it yet, so I’m dying to get to play it.
Entries must be received by noon eastern on Tuesday, January 13th. Four winners will each win a Guitar Hero On Tour Decades bundle. Any comments received after noon eastern on January 13th will not count! The winners will be chosen at random by random.org. Only mailing addresses in the U.S. are eligible. Only one entry per person per day please. I’ll say that again: you can answer once per day! To see the full rules, please go here.
Good luck!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom
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