I love being a parent. It gives me excuses to check out cool educational software for my daughters. Itzabitza offers a combination of art, reading, creativity, and exploration as well as a reason for kids to get used to using a mouse! In addition, it’s fun for parents to play along with their kids – unlike far too many games I’ve played with them recently.
The general theme behind Itzabitza seems to be selecting a setting and drawing things with the mouse to interact with the setting on screen to collect stars. As you collect more stars, you unlock new settings and can do new things. The five settings or playsets are “Home Sweet Home,” “Let’s Go Camping,” “Play in Space,” “A Farm Life,” and “A VERY Scary Haunted House” (just in time for Halloween).
If you’re familiar with Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS, you sort of have the idea. But this is aimed squarely at younger kids, probably in the 4-6 year old range (though my 8 year old liked it too). Instead of having to write words to create things on the screen, you’re given a set of words that you click to get little tasks – like draw a house, a window, a rock, and so on. So you draw a house. And even if the house isn’t great, it figures out that’s what you drew and it animates it.
Honestly for me it was the little animations that made the game work. I’m definitely not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but my two daughters worked together to figure out each cool little thing to do at their own pace. Add to that the fact that no two sessions will ever be exactly the same and you have a definite winner.
One day after playing the game, my eldest daughter told the story of how she and her little sister (age 4) had to try and get milk from a cow. They kept clicking on it and all it did was poop, but they eventually got the milk and giggled like mad for the better part of 10 minutes. It’s little unexpected things like that which will endear this game to most kids immediately. I think the folks at Sabi Games have an amazing understanding of what makes kids tick and how to keep them entertained while simultaneously teaching them about cause and effect, reading, and how to use their creativity. It’s a great combination.
In case you think I’m gushing about this game, I’m not the only one. ItzaBitza was just named to Dr. Toy’s Best 100 Children’s Products of 2009 list. It has also received glowing reviews from parenting and technology experts and recently won a Creative Child Game of the Year Award. The game had previously won a Parents’ Choice Gold Medal Award; an Editor’s Choice and Gold Award from The Children’s Technology Review; a five-star review from USA Today; The Toy Man Seal of Approval, eco-Recognition Seal, Award of Excellence and eChoice Award; an Editor’s Choice Game Award from the Computer Times; and a “Best Tech for Kids” mention in BusinessWeek.
Honestly, the only issue I had with the game while playing with my 4 year old was after you click on a word, you get a question. And you have to mouse over the words one at a time to have the computer read them. At a certain age, I think the word-by-word option should be there, but for younger kids to not get frustrated quickly it would be nice if it read the whole question instead of a word at a time. Perhaps that can be an option on the lower, easier levels, and the more backgrounds you unlock you have to read more.
If you’re a parent looking for a creative way to engage your youngsters ages 4 and up, Itzabitza is a great way to spend some time with them and let them explore their creative side while learning. It’s only available on Windows machines (XP and up), but you can find the boxed version at Amazon.com or purchase it on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com). Be sure to get your copy today!
Unfamiliar with Thomas Greanias‘ work, I decided to dive into his latest book – The Atlantis Revelation. The combination of Atlantis and Nazi schemes was enough to tickle my fancy, exploring the fantastic world of archaeologist Conrad Yeats. The book turned out to be a bit like National Treasure with a bit of The Da Vinci Code and James Bond thrown in for good measure.
The book opens with Yeats diving in the wreckage of the legendary Nazi submarine, Nausicaa, deep in the Mediterranean ocean. Nausicaa was once captained by SS General Ludwig von Berg, also known as the Baron of the Black Order, the leader of Hitler’s Ahnenerbe – a group dedicated to proving that the Aryans were the descendants of Atlantis. The Baron had found some kind of Atlantean artifact and it had gone down when the submarine was sunk by the British Royal Navy in 1943.
Yeats soon discovered that it was the Flammenschwert or “Sword of Fire” – some kind of torpedo or bomb based on Atlantean technology? He had little time to find out however, as he was attacked in what I can only describe as a Thunderball-like (thank you Ian Fleming) underwater scuba battle by men also after the Baron’s treasure. As his attackers left him stuck in the Nausicaa, he had to wonder what he’d gotten himself into this time.
This was only the beginning of an adventure that spans the globe as Yeats puts the pieces together pitting him against Sir Roman Midas, Russian orphan turned British mining tycoon and mastermind behind what could become a global oil crisis. Along the way, Yeats works again with Sister Serena Serghetti from the Vatican, whom he had a previous relationship with. And it ends in a chase under the Temple Mount to stop a group intent on starting a world war.
Yeats seems to have a knack for surviving impossible situations and coming out on top or knowing who to contact when he gets into a bind, which got a bit tiring after a while. The jet-setting lifestyle and multiple talents of our erstwhile archaeologist made James Bond seem like an amateur while channeling a bit of Indiana Jones. But other than that it was fun to see how all the threads wove together.
The Atlantis Revelation was a very quick read and kept me entertained all the way through to the end. I’m always intrigued when writers work Nazis into the equation, as with The Boys from Brazil from Ira Levin and the Indiana Jones franchise. And add in the Atlantis side of things and I have to say it’s a great combination.
If you like quick, fun thrillers, The Atlantis Revelation by Thomas Greanias should be on your reading list. Check it out at your favorite library or bookstore!
Being married to a veterinarian and having two young girls fascinated by animals of all types, I decided to check out Legacy Interactive’s Pet Pals: New Leash on Life a couple of months ago. Aimed squarely at the teenage crowd looking to become vets themselves, I thought the game was more than a little tedious. My daughters on the other hand were fascinated and wanted to play.
When you start out, you are a new veterinarian at the Pet Pals Animal Shelter. The goal is to work through 35 different cases based on real animals and nurse the critters back to health. Everything from rabbits and kitties to rabbits and iguanas. Strictly small animals here, which is great to get kids to play who have their own pets at home.
What is immediately apparent is the level of detail in this game. I worked a few nights as an “emergency vet tech” with my wife and have to admit I think they made this game about as real as it can get. The tutorial walks you through a checkup for a stray kitten and you have to check its ears, draw blood, and so on.
The graphics are simplified, but work in the context of a virtual veterinarian’s office for kids I think. But the gameplay would become very boring and repetitive quickly. Where the game really succeeds however is to provide practical knowledge of some of the tests and procedures that happen at your local vet or animal shelter. At the end of case, you’ve made sure that each pet is healthy and has a new home. You just have to hope you don’t get buried in the details as you work through each case…
If you’re looking for a taste of what it’s like to be a real vet, minus the blood and other bodily excretions, I think this is probably a great introduction. It removes the fantasy of being a small animal vet and adds some reality back into the mix. I would caution parents not to let their children base their career choices totally on this game, but it’s a great way to see how interested they actually are. Once they’re old enough, have them volunteer in the local animal shelter or at a local vet clinic to get some hands-on experience.
Though I didn’t really enjoy the game, my daughters did and I can appreciate the care and work that went into it. If you have a pre-teen or teen child interested in becoming a veterinarian or who wants to learn more about pet care, Pet Pals: New Leash on Life would provide a great introduction to those topics.
–Fitz
p.s. Pick this and other Pet Pals titles up at Amazon:
In March, Telltale Games released the first episode of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, titled Fright of the Bumblebees. Though I found the interface a bit clunky at times, I found the story and characters very engaging and fun. (You can read my earlier review here.)
In early May, the next episode of the Wallace & Gromit series was released – The Last Resort. This time, Wallace and Gromit’s beach holiday is washed out on account of the weather and a flooded basement. However, instead of becoming depressed about their predicament, Wallace designs an indoor beachfront to enjoy despite the clouds and rain outside.
Since playing the first episode, I acquired a gamepad and was able to try it out with The Last Resort. Though I’m not much of an arcade game player and have had little experience with a gamepad with other gaming systems, I found it very easy to figure out how to use it in the world of Wallace & Gromit. The gamepad simplified the interface by providing a single method for interacting with the virtual world, allowing me to focus on the story and not how to get to various screens.
Once again, I found myself comparing the Wallace & Gromit game to the Sierra Adventures’ games from the 1980s & 90s. As you are presented with a problem, such as assembling the pieces for an indoor resort vacation, you wander around talking to all of the people in the world to find the solution. For example, you talk to the Colonel to get sandbags for the beach and find ways to get “sun” and an umbrella.
Unlike in Fright of the Bumblebees, you get to interact with the many secondary characters quite a bit more. Wallace & Gromit open up their indoor resort to the public and have to sort out problems between the guests to ensure that they don’t ask for refunds. (Doesn’t it seem that Wallace is always tight on money?) Along the way you learn more about Wallace’s neighbors and the friendly shopkeepers – each of which has their own particular view of the world. Of course, a mystery unfolds as someone gets clocked on the head and Wallace and his trusty dog Gromit are on the case!
My one complaint about this episode is that the world you’re interacting with seems a bit small at times. At first, you’re bouncing from Wallace’s house to town where you’re only able to interact with a few people and places. And later the house gets a bit claustrophobic as you have to chase your guests down around from floor to floor to make sure they’re satisfied with their accomodations.
That said, I enjoyed The Last Resort and am very happy that the gamepad simplified interacting with the virtual world. It’s nice to use one controller vs. using the keyboard and mouse to find your way.
If you like Wallace & Gromit, played Telltale Games’ Sam & Max series, or are simply looking for an adventure game to pass some time, be sure to check out Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees and Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures: The Last Resort from Telltale Games. Wallace & Gromit can use all of your help to get them into and out of trouble again!
This past March, Telltale Games released the first episode of four for a new game along the lines of their Sam & Max series. Based on the Wallace & Gromit series of short and feature-length stop-motionanimated films from Aardman Animations, Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures is a shared venture between Telltale Games and Aardman. They’ve created an interactive computer adventure game where you get to control either Wallace or Gromit as they work their way through a number of challenges as they try to sell honey, create contraptions, and deal with a variety of odd characters as you would only find in Wallace & Gromit’s world.
I would liken this game to something along the lines of the various “Quest” series from Sierra Adventures back in the ’80s and ’90s (King’s Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, and so on) mixed with the complexity of the Infocomadventure games rom the ’80s (,em>Zork, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Enchanter, and so on). Somewhere among these games are the virtual parents of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures.
Each episode is being sold not only for PC/Microsoft Windows machines, but also for XBOX on XBOX LIVE Arcade sometime in the future. The content should be identical between the versions, but the XBOX version won’t be available for a while yet.
The animation, though computer-generated, is amazingly like that of the Wallace & Gromit animated features. You’d almost swear that you were in fact controlling the characters in one of their cartoons. So as far as the look and feel, they’re spot on. But the voice of Wallace in the game sounds different to me than the voice used in the Aardman features. Peter Sallis has done the voice of Wallace in most of the Aardman features, but unfortunately he wasn’t available for the game. The voice actor in this case is Ben Whitehead and he can do a pretty spot on impression of Wallace, but it’s not quite the same.
The interface to me is a bit dodgy at times. I have to admit that I have not played any other game from Telltale Games, so I’m not sure if it’s the same interface they used for Sam & Max, but it involves a great deal of fiddling around to get in the right place so you can click on the right things. You use the arrow or WASD keys to move the character around, the shift key to interact with your inventory, and then use the mouse to interact with objects and characters. My earlier comparison to Infocom games was based on the fact that you almost have to be a kleptomaniac to figure things out, stealing things from devices, or on tables or bookcases, and then using them to work around various puzzles.
This game is definitely not meant for the kiddies, and not from a content perspective. My daughters (ages 4 and love Wallace & Gromit and always enjoy their features. But the puzzles are definitely a bit more difficult than some of the other puzzle games out for kids on PC or XBOX. I’m an experienced gamer (have been playing ever since I had an Apple II in 1982) and I even had difficulty with some of the puzzles. The good thing is that there are hints and if you get stuck, you just have to listen to Wallace to see if he can get you going in the right direction. Telltale anticipates that each episode will take between three and five hours of gameplay to finish, which isn’t bad at all.
Overall, I think this will be a great property for Telltale Games. There are Wallace & Gromit fans all over the world who will snatch up this series, and with as popular as the Sam & Max series is for them I anticipate Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures will be another another blockbuster.
A month ago, I had an opportunity to review a new computer game for preschoolers from Knowledge Adventure (you can see the review here). Having purchased other Knowledge Adventure games in the JumpStart series in the past, I was familiar with their work and knew it would probably be pretty good and my girls would enjoy it.
Now I’ve had a chance to check out a new game from Canadian publisher Kutoka called Didi & Ditto: Mother Nature’s Visit (Preschool). Until now, I had never seen any of their games before, so I was curious how their approach to educational software differed from that of Knowledge Adventure.
Well, when I first installed the game, I ran into a few issues running it on one of our machines. However, Kutoka’s support staff (thanks Mathieu!) was very helpful in getting us running on a different machine. Though we’re still not quite sure what was going on, we’re confident we will get to the bottom of the issue before too long.
That said, the game installed very quickly on our other machine from the DVD in the package. And from there my daughter and I were able to start the game and work through the opening menus.
Though we liked the disappearing clouds as we worked through the menus, I have to wonder at the number of options for your usual 2-4 year old. I suspect that their thought was that a parent would be present to help them get set up, but it might still be nice to have a quickstart option to perhaps use the same settings used the last time the game was run.
The story for Didi & Ditto: Mother Nature’s Visit (Preschool) is that the animals get a message from Mother Nature announcing that she’s coming to visit Smart Valley. They want to have a celebration and decide to hold an election to choose a mayor who will plan it. Zolt the Wolf loses the election and he’s mad. To get his revenge, he breaks all the musical instruments and hide the food in an attempt to ruin the party. Zolt thinks he’ll be able to step in as the hero to save the day when Mother Nature arrives.
Didi and Ditto see Zolt’s strange behavior and one watches Zolt while the other helps Hootdini the Owl to gather everything together again. The player gets to choose whether to play the girl (Didi) or the boy (Ditto) and run around Smart Valley so that Mother Nature has a great visit.
The opening movies are interactive and allow the child to jump right in to be involved in the story. I think this is a great approach, rather than watching a long movie where they aren’t involved at all.
The game includes many different min-games, including:
Matching Games
Alphabet Skills
Counting
Shapes
Colors
and Sorting
The biggest difference for me between Didi & Ditto and the JumpStart game is how mousing is handled. I thought it was difficult for my 3 year old to learn to navigate with the mouse in JumpStart. Not so with Didi & Ditto. It starts building the mouse skills right from the opening sequence and it was interesting to see my daughter pick up on the subtle feedback on screen. The mouse feedback is such that it provides a nice wide target area for clicks and the color of the pointer changes when you’re on a place you can click.
Also, keyboard play was great as well. Building hand-eye coordination in the form of a very simple arcade game, she had to hit the key to make the character jump at the right time. By the end, she had it down and was enjoying herself. But it was easy to get the hang of it.
The 3D graphics for the game also have a nice clean look with lots of creative, colorful characters to interact with. And, your child can pick whether they want to play a boy or a girl. Plus, lots of positive feedback makes them feel like they’re making progress and learning all the way along.
There were a few things I didn’t really like, though my 3 year old didn’t seem to care. One was the repetitive nature of the screens. Each screen had a few things to do, and then we’d go back to the signpost, pick another destination, and repeat it for the next screen. Again, she didn’t seem to mind the reinforcement.
The other thing I noticed was that the main character seemed to talk down to the kids, which may have just been a perception issue with the slow, deliberate quality to how they were talking. But my daughter didn’t seem to mind it at all, so it’s probably just me.
The only thing that really frustrated my 3 year old was trying to “catch” letters in the net. She’s developing a two-handed mouse technique for now, moving it and holding it still with one hand and using the other to click a button, which makes it difficult to move and click quickly. But I’m sure she’ll get the hang of it before long.
Really, Kutoka seems to have a great feel for how to get children starting to use the computer. The beautiful, three-dimensional world is just an extension of our own world for them and they can feel safe as they learn to use the mouse and keyboard and explore all the skills they’ll need as they go into kindergarten.
Except for the glitch we’re still working to resolve, this was a great find and a game that I know my daughter will enjoy for the next year or so as she gets ready to go to school. It’s available for both PCs and Macs, so if you have a computer and a preschooler at home I’d encourage you to take a look.
Didi & Ditto: Mother Nature’s Visit (Preschool) has its own web site, where you can get additional information and see some other Kutoka products. For now you can purchase the game from the Kutoka website directly, though it looks like the game may be available on Amazon sometime in 2009, as many of Kutoka’s other games are available there as well.
Wow. It’s been a while since I had to admit an addiction to a game. Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Civilization 2, 3, and 4 are the most recent forms of addiction for me, but I have to add a new one…
Do you know what this game does to a roleplayer like me? It taps into some subconscious need to not only play UPS or FedEx driver, but it drives me to reload each time I die just so I can kill the monstrosities or bandits that happen to have sealed my doom…
Saphrym talked about it on his blog a while back. I waited. But evidently not long enough. This thing has created an itch I have to scratch!
It sucks you in so innocently… You start as a baby, grow up in the Vault, and then start chasing your Father down across the Wasteland. One thing leads to another and you get irradiated, blown up, shot at, eaten, stung, and who knows what else.
The images are clean and crisp (until of course you have radiation poisoning and you start getting blurred vision) and you do your best to not stare at the scenery too long or a sniper might get a lucky shot at you from a hidden position… It’s Oblivion all over again. [sigh]
Lucky for me I’ll get a break when I’m gone to Germany next week. But I’m guessing you’ll be seeing more updates from the Waste before I’m done.
If you get addicted to video games like Oblivion, stay away from Fallout 3. It’s insanely addictive. Insane. I can stop any time! Any time I say! Ha hahahaha hahahahahahaha!
[Sounds of sirens can be heard as the men in the white suits come to fit me for a snug fitting jacket...]
–Fitz
p.s. Whatever you do, don’t click these links to pick up this game from Amazon!
This falls into the “me too” realm of gaming, but as a long-time Civilization and other strategy game fan (including Populous and Alpha Centauri and the upcoming Sid Meier Colonization update), I have to share this comic with my “peeps”…
(A hearty thanks to xkcd for making me laugh out loud this morning. I haven’t thought of Populous in YEARS!)
–Fitz
p.s. You can read about my long-standing Civilization addiction here. I’m eagerly awaiting the update to Sid’s Colonization game (originally out in 1994), which should be out sometime this fall! Yay!
I have noticed that digital download of games over the “net” are becoming more available. This is true for PC gaming with the highly successful service Steam where you can buy a game, download it, and play it on any pc. No CDs, DVDs to keep track of, and a big advantage is that you do not have to have the disc in the drive to play. I use this type of service a lot on my Playstation 3 on the PSN (Playstation Network). You put some money into your “wallet” and when you see a game you like you just use the funds from your wallet to purchase it. You can download it at anytime and it is already activated.
I think on the other side of the coin, you get your shiny new disk and box which you may or may not keep. I do like the feeling that you always have the media on hand, but there have been times where the disk is scratched or you just can’t find that nostalgic old game you really want to replay. The boxes that the games come in are getting more compact and less of a waste and can store in a DVD tower, but personally I am getting tired of keeping discs.
I think the digital download age is coming about for games. It is very convenient, and, if the service or company is popular enough, you do not need to worry about it going under, etc. There are only a few downsides that I can think of off the top of my head:
Bandwidth issues (downloading large games)
Do you have to be connected to the service to play the game?
Ongoing charges, if any
The only real problem I have right now for some of the games is when they are cheap (e.g. $4.95) it is too easy to just buy it without thinking about it. Then if you do that many times it could get expensive. The small inexpensive downloadable games I have recently bought for the ps3 (Super Stardust HD, PixelJunk Monsters, etc) have provided a ton of fun play. Moreover, some of these have provided more fun and play time than the $60 Blu-ray disk games.
Sometimes I get the opportunity to review games slightly before they are released. Not often, but I’m very happy when it happens. The Princess Bride Game is based, of course, on the classic book and movie The Princess Bride. The book was written by William Goldman in 1973 and Rob Reiner turned it into a classic film in 1986, starring All your favorite characters are included – Wesley, Buttercup, Inigo, Vizzini, Fezzik, The Grandfather, Miracle Max, and all the rest…
The game combines simple but classic animation with a number of puzzle, arcade, and logic games featuring your favorite Princess Bride characters. Help Wesley and Buttercup around the farm, outwit Vizzini (he’s a Sicilian you know) in a Battle of Wits, and use Wesley & Buttercup together to escape the fire swamp, among others.
Amazingly enough, Worldwide Biggies got the original cast voices for the game. Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright Penn, and Wallace Shawn. I know what you’re thinking… Inconceivable!
It has five different stages, each with its own interface and feel, including As You Wish, Battle Of The Wits, The Fire Swamp, Miracle Max and Storming The Castle.
The game is among the first to be designed by women for women, but I got a kick out of it too. It didn’t take me long to play through it, but I can see that it has a lot of replay potential. I expect my eldest daughter will love it!
Now… I have to say that I did run into some issues with the game early on. I ran out of time with the demo copy I was given and was unable to uninstall it. I enjoyed the little bit I did play, so I decided I’d go ahead and pick it up (it’s only $19.99 to download, so it’s not a big investment). But even after I bought the game, I had a ton of issues getting it registered.
That said, the nice folks at tech support for Worldwide Biggies were great. We must have exchanged about 50 e-mails before we finally got it working, but we were successful eventually. To this day I’m still not sure if it was Microsoft Vista’s fault, but I still have two copies showing up on my system… Oh well.
But even with that, I have to say that the game is a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed working with Miracle Max and the Battle of Wits!
If you have young children and you want them to engage their brains on the computer, be sure to check this out. As they say, I think it’s geared for girls to get them more involved in playing computer games.
I give this a solid 3/4 and vote it a great game for pre-teens and young teenagers.
(Plus, any time I get a chance to show my daughters classic 80s movies like The Princess Bride, I have to jump at the opportunity!)
The general theme behind Itzabitza seems to be selecting a setting and drawing things with the mouse to interact with the setting on screen to collect stars. As you collect more stars, you unlock new settings and can do new things. The five settings or playsets are “Home Sweet Home,” “Let’s Go Camping,” “Play in Space,” “A Farm Life,” and “A VERY Scary Haunted House” (just in time for Halloween).
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love Wallace & Gromit and always enjoy their features. But the puzzles are definitely a bit more difficult than some of the other puzzle games out for kids on PC or XBOX. I’m an experienced gamer (have been playing ever since I had an ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=9b6ba9b3-cd93-41f1-a809-2bdf229d4514)
Well, when I first installed the game, I ran into a few issues running it on one of our machines. However, Kutoka’s support staff (thanks Mathieu!) was very helpful in getting us running on a different machine. Though we’re still not quite sure what was going on, we’re confident we will get to the bottom of the issue before too long.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b3fb0b09-b00a-42db-a022-0bbdd575fa01)
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