Leapster

Episode 58: Creepy Doll

Dale — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:36:38 -0400

Dale and Teresa are back without pumpkins.

Toy News

Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll: Subversive?

Tech News:

MyKey helps parents control teen drivers
Apple's New MacBooks (Note: No FireWire!)

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Music by Kevin McLeod

Review: Dora the Explorer Camping Adventure for the LeapFrog Leapster2

rmgreg — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:30:24 -0400

Seriously, you can’t have kids and not be familiar with Dora the Explorer and her very faithful companion Boots. For those of you not in the know, Dora is a young Hispanic girl who goes on adventures with her best friend, Boots, who is a talking monkey who wears, well, red boots. Dora and Boots have been a big part of the Nick Jr. television line-up for the past few years teaching young kids how to problem-solve and develop an appreciation for the Spanish language, which means that it is an ideal title for LeapFrog’s Leapster Learning Game System.

Outdoor Fun

Today my 4-year-old son, Caleb, and I are taking a look at Dora the Explorer Camping Adventure for the Leapster2, LeapFrog’s new Learning Game System, which we review here. In Camping Adventure, Dora and Boots take kids on a hiking-exploring-rafting-singing adventure. Game play consists of 4 different ‘games’, which helps children learn animal, color, number, shape, and fruit recognition in both English and Spanish. The different games are:

Raft to the Rescue, in which all of Dora and Boots’ supplies have fallen into the river and it is up to the child to help Dora and Boots collect their lost items. As crates float towards Dora and Boots in their raft, the game tells the child which crate she should be looking for. Once spotted, the child helps Dora and Boots steer the raft towards the crate to pick it up. The Leapster2 then congratulates the child and then gives the Spanish word for the item found, repeating it a couple of times so that the child can say it as well. This is important because later on the Leapster2 tells the child to search for the item based on the Spanish word for it alone. Once the child has collected 4 of the same items, it is added to her Camping Journal. In this game, the child is required to recognize numbers, colors and shapes.

A Yummy Hike has Dora and Boots hiking to the swimming hole. Along the way, they decided to collect some yummy fruit. Game play involves Dora moving from left to right across the screen collecting fruit as suggested by the Leapster2. The game is very much like the old Atari 2600 game Pitfall, it even has logs to jump and mud pits to swing across. Once again the game teaches the child the Spanish word for the fruit found and after 4 of the same fruit are collected, it is added to the Camping Journal.

Animal Search has Dora and Boots looking for animals with a pair of binoculars. The child moves the binoculars around searching for the animal suggested by the Leapster2. Again, the child learns the Spanish name for the animal and once 4 of the same animals are spotted, they are moved to the Camping Journal.

Campsite Sing-a-long has Dora and Boots singing camp songs with the child in both English, featuring Boots, and Spanish, featuring Dora. The words of the songs appear at the bottom of the screen, encouraging the child to read as they sing along. Finally, the Fiesta Trio concludes each song with fanfare.

The Camping Adventure, like most Leapster games, is designed to advance in difficulty as the child advances in game play, so that the child is always being challenged. The game also takes advantage of the Leapster2’s ability to connect with a PC or Mac through a USB connection to allow the child to collect Rewards for game advancements. In fact, children can print out its own version of the Camping Journal. This game also uses LeapFrog’s Learning Path Program to keep the parents abreast of the child’s development through game play. Finally, you can play this game on any of the other Leapster Learning Game Systems, however you will need a Leapster2 to take full advantage of the extended features.

Dora the Explorer is known for reinforcing ideas and lessons learned by repeating them over, and over, and over again along with interacting with the child by talking directly to them and pausing to wait for the child’s response. LeapFrog has seen fit to include these traits of Dora in this game.

Overall Impression

Caleb is a big, big fan of Dora and Boots, along with her cousin Diego, so getting him to play this game wasn’t all that difficult. Dora’s Camping Adventure is suggested for children ages 4 to 7, however I’m going to say 4 to 5 years old may be the right mind-set. Simple play and repetitive aspects of the game may cause older children to get bored rather quickly, whereas young kids live to ‘peat and repeat.’ Therefore, Caleb has decided to give this game 10 out of 10 stars. As for me, I’m giving it 6 Dancing Elephants out of 8 for the 4 to 5 year old set, any child beyond that and you’re taking matters into your own hands.

Parting Thoughts

I took two years of Spanish in high school and remember muy poco (very little). Meanwhile Nik and Caleb watch a kids cartoon and que hablan Español (they speak Spanish) circles around me.

Review: Leapfrog Leapster2 Learning Game System

rmgreg — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:56:15 -0400

When Nikolai was around 3 years old, I began my fatherly duty of instilling in him a love for all things electronically gadgety, as any good father would, by convincing Tonya that he needed a Leapster from LeapFrog. At first Tonya balked at my suggestion that he needed such a device to stay ahead of the curve, by citing that there is nothing wrong with reading books and playing with blocks to advance his mind. But rather than backing down, I pressed the issue pointing out that reading and playing with blocks lacked the cool-electronic-gadget factor required by him and (mostly) me. Eventually, in what I assume was an attempt to shut me up, Tonya relented and Nik got the Leapster for Christmas.

Recently LeapFrog released the Leapster2, which I have sitting right here next to me. This one belongs to Caleb, who is helping me review it. Luckily for me, not a lot of time was wasted arguing with Tonya over the merits of yet another cool-electronic-gadget. She’s finally realized that there’s no point in crossing swords with the Y chromosome-linked cool-electronic-gadget gene… There just simply isn’t.

Leapster Evolution 101

To understand how the Leapster2 got to where it is today, it might help to go back and learn where it came from. The original Leapster, which I’m referring to as the Classic, was basically a Gameboy for the toddler set. It was built for rough and tumble treatment, with an up, down, right, left jog switch, A and B buttons, a 3.75 inch touch screen, and an attached stylus. The device used game cartridges whose titles featured popular childhood characters and which mixed in a healthy dose of education along with the entertainment. This made parents happy. Finally, game play on the device advanced as the child advanced, thus keeping the child continuingly challenged. About a year later, LeapFrog followed the Leapster Classic with the Leapster L-Max, which was basically the same as the Leapster Classic, but with an A/V output jack so a child could play the game on a television, therefore creating a dual screen system. I, err I mean Nik never got a chance to try the L-Max out… Anyway, this brings us to today and the Leapster2, which once again is basically the same unit except that it’s a touch smaller than the Classic; they shrunk the screen to 3 inches (160x160 pixels) and LeapFrog got rid of the A/V output jack in favor of a USB port and opened up a whole slew of new possibilities.

Now I should point out that there is a Leapster TV system, but since we’re talking about the handheld units, it won’t be part of the discussion.

With USB You Get Internet Interaction

With the past two Leapsters, as the child advanced through game play, he would receive Rewards which he could redeem by using a computer to log onto the LeapFrog website. Now with the aid of the USB port, a child, with their parent’s help, can connect their Leapster2 to a PC or Mac and open up a whole new world of play and interaction. They can upload pictures that they’ve drawn on their Leapster, they can access their Rewards, they can try new challenges and finally, LeapFrog saw fit to include a SD Card slot (SD Card not provided) to allow for the future downloading of games from LeapFrog online to the Leapster2. Gee, with the right software, the Leapster2 could give an early Palm PDA a run for its money.

Getting Parents Involved

LeapFrog has recently introduced the Learning Path Program, which takes advantage of the USB connection found in the Leapster2 and other LeapFrog devices with USB connections such as the Tag Reading System and Didj Custom Gaming System. Briefly, the Learning Path Program allows parents to:

Create Profiles for up to 10 kids and then view their progress at a glance.

View Play Information by connecting to a PC or Mac to view how often the kids play and where they are advancing and where they may need help to advance to the next level.

Review Skills Engaged and Progress Made to allow parents to compile a personalized array of learning experiences through games and activities for each child.

Connect With the Kids offer suggestions on how to hone the skills that they’ve learned such as letter, word, color, shape, or number recognition.

Finally, Get Expert Advice provides access to a network of educational experts for shared learning tips and advice.

All of this stems from LeapFrog’s philosophy that “Learning is not one-size-fits-all.” Unfortunately, I’ve only had a few weeks to play with it, so I really can’t give an opinion on this free service.

The Long and the Short of It

The Leapster2 is designed with a kid in mind. Though I, as an adult, may find the screen to be archaic when compared to my iPhone, Caleb doesn’t seem to mind. Like a good mother, Tonya put the headphone jack through its paces and found that the louder sound levels didn’t concern her as they did when we reviewed the Tag. Kudos to LeapFrog for not damaging young, sensitive ears. The Leapster2 comes in two color schemes, one for boys and one for girls. Caleb received the pink and purple one, but fortunately for us, he (and we) doesn’t allow things like that to bother him. And finally, LeapFrog is smart enough to realize that it behooves them to make all of the game cartridges designed for the different Leapster Systems compatible with all of the Leapster devices.

Overall Impression

Caleb was used to Nik’s Leapster Classic, so he adjusted well to this one and found it to be very similar. Unfortunately he’s a little too young to fully grasp the USB connection features. That said, he still thinks it deserves 10 out of 10 stars for its ease of use and fun capabilities. As for me, other than the upgrade to the USB connection and SD Card slot, it still feels like the same thing when compared to the Leapster Classic. I would have loved to see some improvements in the screen besides shrinking it by 0.75 inches. At 160x160 pixels, its lack of definition makes it look washed out. Still, the kid seems to like it, so I’m giving it 6 Dancing Elephants out of 8 with room for improvement.

Parting Thoughts

Seriously, I compared this along side my old Handspring Prism PDA and if LeapFrog were to install Calendar and Contacts software, Caleb would have a very stylish, kid friendly PDA.

Toy Fair 2008: LeapFrog Introduces New Web-Connected Gaming Handhelds

Dale — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 23:03:50 -0500

Setting the New Standard in Educational Gaming, Leapster2 and Didj(TM) Provide Parents with Exclusive Access to Kids' Educational Progress

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., a leading developer of technology-based learning products, today announced two new web-connected video game systems that are tied to the proprietary LeapFrog(R) Learning Path. The Leapster2 Learning Game System, the latest handheld in the popular Leapster(R) family, expands the gameplay online with fun activities and rewards that encourage continued play while allowing parents to see what their child is learning and share in their accomplishments. The online capabilities in the all-new Didj Custom Gaming System connect gameplay with schoolwork, allowing grade-schoolers to customize the game with spelling lists, math problems and more.

"LeapFrog is the leader in educational handheld gaming and now with Leapster2 and Didj, we are offering parents and kids even more choice and capability," said Christian Cocks, vice president of gaming at LeapFrog. "Kids want to play video games, and as parents we want them to get the most from that experience. Our new Leapster2 and Didj handhelds are products that parents can feel good about and that kids can have a terrific time playing."

The Bestselling Educational Gaming Handheld Just Got Better

Four years ago LeapFrog broke ground with the original Leapster handheld, and since then nearly 5 million Leapster family hardware units and over 14 million software titles have sold in the United States. In addition to creating age-appropriate educational games, LeapFrog was the first to recognize that four- to eight-year-olds are still developing fine motor skills. Ergonomically designed to accommodate smaller hands, a bigger D-pad and larger buttons as well as an attached stylus made the Leapster handheld kid-friendly, as did offering relevant learning games that can be played with only a stylus.

The Leapster2 system offers a sleek new form for enjoying new games such as the exclusive educational game license for Star Wars: The Clone Wars or the summer 2008 Disney/Pixar blockbuster WALL E. As with the original Leapster system, the Leapster2 handheld auto-levels, adjusting games to children's particular skills and progress, so players are appropriately challenged. The Leapster2 handheld's new online connectivity allows parents a window into their child's accomplishments, while kids earn rewards to encourage continued playing and learning.

Taking Customized Learning to a New Level

When kids are ready to graduate from the Leapster system, the Didj handheld is the smart option to extend the learning. The first totally customizable educational gaming platform, the Didj system lets kids personalize the look and feel of the games, from designing their avatars to choosing background scenery, color schemes and music.

Beyond making visual customizations, parents and kids can customize the learning content on the Didj handheld, connecting gameplay with schoolwork. For example, a custom spelling list can be created from the 10,000-word database, giving kids the ability to practice for next week's test while playing the classic Sonic the Hedgehog. The Didj system supports what kids are learning in school and lets them practice skills in a fun way-through gaming.

Built for discerning six- to ten-year-olds, the Didj system offers high resolution graphics presented on a 3.2 inch LCD screen featuring 16.7 million color TFT on a 320x240 display. Perceptive players also will appreciate the processing speed (ARM 9 @ 393 MHz), which is comparable to that of other handhelds on the market today. In addition to processing game logic, the combined 32 bit ARM and 256MB Flash memories ensure high-quality, real-time audio decompression and playback.

Learning is Not One-Size-Fits-All

Also launching this summer is LeapFrog's proprietary Learning Path, a free online tool at leapfrog.com that interfaces with LeapFrog products to show parents what their child is learning and how their activities or games map back to the Scope and Sequence of educational skills that LeapFrog has always built into every product.

Based on an award-winning LeapFrog School product used by teachers across the United States to individualize assessment and instruction, each time parents connect their Leapster2 or Didj system, they can see how education comes to life for their child -- the games their child has been playing, the skills they have been practicing and the progress they have been making.

This information populates each child's personalized LeapFrog Learning Path profile, empowering parents with insights into what excites their children, and letting them know where their kids may be struggling and in need of extra attention.

AVAILABILITY

The Didj system will be available in the summer of 2008 with an MSRP of $89.99. The Didj system software library offers nine learning games during launch year, with an MSRP of $29.99 each. The Leapster2 handheld will be available in the summer of 2008 with an MSRP of $69.99. Five new Leapster system games will be available at the launch of the Leapster2 platform, with refreshed versions of 10 of the most popular legacy titles available; all are optimized for the Leapster2 handheld's LeapFrog Learning Path connectivity. The entire 33-title Leapster library is compatible with the full Leapster family of Learning Game Systems. All Leapster titles MSRP at $24.99.

Review: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for Leapster

Dale — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:34:00 -0500

Dale, Dani & Hannah take a look at this Cartoon Network game.

Review: Pet Pals for Leapster

Dale — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:55:49 -0500

Hannah joins Dale for a review of LeapFrog's Nintendogs for younger kids. (From Episode 27)

Contest: The Great Podcast Treasure Hunt (Win a free LeapFrog Leapster and more!)

Dale — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:53:16 -0500

Tech Talk for Families is proud to announce our first contest in what we expect to be an ongoing series of contests and prizes! We'd like to thank our listeners and visitors for your continued support by offering you a prize package valued at $130!

The Prizes

A LeapFrog Leapster (Pink--sorry, no substitutions)
Sonic X game for Leapster
Clifford the Big Red Dog game for Leapster
Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd Imagination Nation Membership Package

The Hunt

In order to win the contest, you'll need to send the secret sentence to us using our contact form. To find out the secret sentence, you must listen to the latest episode of some family-friendly podcasts (You can listen from your computer, no iPod required.), find the secret word from each show, and then, once you have all of the code words, unscramble them into the secret sentence, and send it to us! All entries must include your mailing address so we can send you the prize package.

The Shows

Dancing with Elephants (Episode 79)
Short Cummings Audio (Episode 84)
Technorama (Episode 201)
Pizza Go Here (Episode 23)
Tech Talk for Families (Episode 26)

The Deadline

All entries must be received by February 5, 2008 at 2:17 AM, CST, exactly one year after our pilot episode was launched. Yes, we're celebrating our birthday!

The Sponsors

Tech Talk for Families would like to thank The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd for donating an Imagination Nation prize package.

This contest is not sponsored by LeapFrog. Tech Talk for Families does not accept sponsorships from companies whose products we review in order to maintain journalistic integrity and prevent biased reviews.

The Fine Print

Only one entry per household. Entries with no mailing address will be discarded.
The winner will be chosen randomly from the submissions with the correct answer.
Contest available only to U.S., Canadian, and U.S. Military addresses
Winner will be announced on the Tech Talk for Families first podcast episode following the contest deadline. Following the announcement, the winner will be notified via email.
Rules subject to change as needed. (Only in case of abuse.)