Expert Guidance on Children’s Interactive Media

www.childrenstech.com October 2010 Volume 18, No. 10, Issue 127

REVIEWS IN THIS ISSUE Camp Rock: The Final Jam Chuck E. Cheese’s Party Games Club Penguin: Game Day! Daring Game for Girls Disney Guilty Party Help! I’m hooked on Elements, The Family Party: Fitness Fun Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time FIFA Soccer 11 GameStarGameStar Mechanic!Mechanic! Gamesalad (www.gamesalad.com) GameStar Mechanic Haunted House Hollywood Squares Jungle Time LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 LEGO Universe Madden NFL 11 Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet Mattel Avatar iTag Action Figure Motion Math MySims SkyHeroes Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water’s Edge Old MacDonald Piano Park Math Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs Polar Plunge Raving Rabbids Travel in Time Readeez Folderfuls Record a Story Roblox (roblox.com) 3 Search for Wondla, The School Loop Student Tracker Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions Sports Champions Story Reader 2.0 Tam & Tao in Numberland Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Piano App Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Party Wooly Wormies: Tell the Time Yumsters! 2

LittleClickers.com: Healthy Eating

E-Line Media’s GameStar Mechanic is an exciting new teaching tool. Price: $24/year for 12 PDF issues But it may raises questions about the use of “freemium” materials in http://childrenstech.com/subscribe/ government sponsored contests and in public school classrooms. The conversation is contineud on page 2. News & Commentary on Children’s Tech

Help! I’m hooked on Geek Test GameStar Mechanic! Everyone has a little geek inside October 2010 I was up early, trying to shoehorn a them. But how much is too much? Volume 18, No. 10, Issue 127 few more new titles into this issue. One Here's a way to find out. If you check of these was GameStar Mechanic, the more than four of the items below, EDITOR Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., ([email protected]) [WB] new flash-based programming toolkit. I you're probably a bit too geeky. was especially interested to see how __ You put two (or more) GPS devices in one car to compare EDITORIAL COORDINATOR & GameStar Mechanic compared to MIT’s CIRCULATION MANAGER their accuracy. Lisa Della Fave ([email protected]) Scratch, in part because the publisher, __ Your house has so many LEDs E-Line Media, is co-sponsoring a pro- you don’t need a night light. LITTLECLICKERS Bobbie Nester gramming contest in which I’m a judge __ You go to a friend’s house for a (the National STEM dinner party, and end up running OFFICE MANAGER Challenge Developer Prize). disk utilities to check for bad per- MaryBeth Griffith I was tired, and I hardly wanted to missions. ([email protected]) __ In choosing a hotel, free Wi-Fi (by play another game. But GameStar the pool) is the deal breaker. ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS cost pulled me in. Before I knew it, it was __ You wake up in the morning with $24/year, for 12 issues, $108 for print & time for lunch, and I had advanced in an ear bud in your nose. electronic issues including online database access. rank to “League Newbie,” having pub- __ You simply can’t pass up a bin full Issues are sent monthly. Send payment to Children’s lished my first game. As you can read of discounted power strips. Technology Review™, 120 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822 or call 800-993-9499. Other subscription on page 8, GameStar’s self-correcting __ The clerk at Radio Shack goes on break when you come in the options are available, including Print, Electronic, template-based game development Site Licenses and Top 100 reports. Visit door. method is worthy of your attention. www.childrenstech.com, or call to learn more. __ You know the location of every But it also was interesting to learn power outlet in Newark’s C that GameStar comes with a subscrip- PRODUCT SUBMISSIONS. Send two products, Concourse. with release information to Lisa DellaFave, tion plan that offers extra features and __ You ask the UPS guy to stay for a Editorial Coordinator, 120 Main Street, content to children who pay. demo of the gadget he just deliv- Flemington, NJ 08822 (Phone: 908-284-0404) In addition, it uses automatically ered. renewing subscriptions, unless you Did you check more than four? You’re EDITORIAL GUIDELINES. We want our readers to a geek. know that there are no ulterior motives behind our notice the warning email and opt out. reviews. CTR follows a set of editorial guidelines When kids and busy parents are found at (http://childrenstech.com/editorial- involved, I think this is a bad idea, guidelines/). Highlights include: but I’ll leave that question to you (I • We don’t sell software or profit from products that created a blog post where I go into we review. Review copies of software are donated this issue in more detail, at to Mediatech, a non-profit public technology http://childrenstech.com/?p=2589). center. • We don’t distribute/trade or sell subscriber infor- In the meantime, have a look at mation. GameStar Mechanic, but be careful — • There is no advertising content. you might get hooked. PUBLISHER INFORMATION Children’s PS. There’s a lot more in this issue Technology Review™ (ISSN 1555-242X) is published than GameStar Mechanic. Don’t miss the 12 multi-player games found in monthly (12 issues) by Active Learning As so ci ates, Club Penguin: Game Day! and the rich co-op problem solving in LEGO Inc. Send address chang es or new subscriptions to Children’s Technology Review™, 120 Main Street, Harry Potter: Years 1-4. If you have an iPad and younger kids, make sure Flemington, NJ 08822. Use of this you download Old MacDonald Piano and note the virtual manipulative publication for any commercial technique used in Motion Math. Oh, and leave some time for some Wii publishing activity without prior Party. written permission is strictly pro- hibited. PSS. If you’re in the San Francisco Area, don’t miss Kids TV: Around the Readers are subject to the TERMS OF World in a Day a free, special screening at Santa Clara University on USE found at www.childrenssoftware.com/disclaim.html. Wednesday, October 13, being put together by David Kleeman. To regis- Contents © 2010 by Active Learning ter, send an e-mail with your name, title and organization to info@center- Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. forchildrenandmedia.org.

Your Subscription is Your Key to 9625 Archived Reviews Your paid $24 or $108 subscription to CTR includes exclusive password access to the Children’s Software Finder (TM) database—a collection of reviews going back to 1985. If you’ve lost or forgotten your password, please call 800-993-9499 between 9-3 PM EST.

2 Directory Grouped by age

All Ages Haunted House, www.atari.com, p. 15 CTR Editor’s LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Record a Story, www.pubint.com, p. 12 Choice Selections, www.warnerbros.com, p. 9 Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity October 2010 Preschool & Kindergarten Gauntlet, www.thq.com, p. 9 Titles or products Old MacDonald Piano, Mattel Avatar iTag Action Figure, that scored well on www.kiboomu.com, p. 11 www.t-immersion.com, p. 16 our instrument are listed Park Math, www.duckduck- MySims SkyHeroes, www.ea.com, p. 10 here. These are known as the Editors’s moosedesign.com, p. 11 Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, Choice for this issue. Story Reader 2.0, www.pubint.com, p. 18 www.nintendo.com, p. 16 Tam & Tao in Numberland, Raving Rabbids Travel in Time, Ubisoft, Club Penguin: Game Day!, www.dis- http://lestroiselles.com/en, 13 p. 17 neyinteractivestudios.com Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Piano App, Roblox (roblox.com), www.roblox.com, Disney Guilty Party, www.disneyin- www.kiboomu.com, p. 19 p. 17 teractivestudios.com Wii Party, www.nintendo.com, p. 14 FIFA Soccer 11, www.eagames.com Early Elementary GameStar Mechanic, www.games- Club Penguin: Game Day!, www.dis- Middle School tarmechanic.com LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 neyinteractivestudios.com, p. 5 Hollywood Squares, www.warnerbros.com Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time, www.encoreusa.com, p. 16 Madden NFL 11, www.eagames.com www.thq.com, p. 7 LEGO Universe, www.mindstorms.com, Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Jungle Time, p. 16 Infinity Gauntlet, www.thq.com http://jungleeducation.com, p. 8 Madden NFL 11, www.eagames.com Motion Math, www.motionmath- Motion Math, Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water’s games.com www.motionmathgames.com, p. 10 Edge, www.herinteractive.com, p. 10 Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water’s Polar Plunge, www.webkinz.com, p. 11 Samurai Warriors 3, www.nintendo.com, Edge, www.herinteractive.com Readeez Folderfuls, http://readeez.com, p. 17 Old MacDonald Piano, p. 17 Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions, www.kiboomu.com Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, www.activision.com, p. 12 Park Math, www.duckduck- www.disneyinteractivestudios.com, 13 Sports Champions, www.us.playsta- moosedesign.com Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, tion.com, p. 12 Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions, www.disneyinteractivestudios.com, p. Search for Wondla, The, p. 18 www.activision.com 19 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, www.ea.com, Sports Champions, www.us.playsta- Wooly Wormies: Tell the Time, 13 tion.com www.voxelbeast.com, p. 14 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Elements, www.touchpress.com www.encoreusa.com, p. 19 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Upper Elementary Yumsters! 2, www.g5e.com www.ea.com Camp Rock: The Final Jam, www.dis- Wii Party, www.nintendo.com ney.com, p. 15 High School Chuck E. Cheese’s Party Games, Elements, The, www.touchpress.com, p. www.ufointeractivegames.com, p. 5 6 Daring Game for Girls, www.majescoen- FIFA Soccer 11, www.eagames.com Acknowledgments tertainment.com, p. 6 Gamesalad, www.gamesalad.com, p. 7 Thanks to the following individu- Disney Guilty Party, www.disneyinter- als, including the members of the activestudios.com, p. 6 Schools Mediatech Foundation, who con- Family Party: Fitness Fun, www.d3pub- tributed their valuable feedback School Loop Student Tracker, during the testing process. lisher.us, p. 15 www.schoolloop.com, p. 18 GameStar Mechanic, E-Line Media, p. 2, Lorele Bennet, 15; Jenna Buckleitner, 15; Daniel 8 Della Fave, 10; Nick Della Fave, 14; Sam Coggins, 18; Kelly H., 11; Thomas H., 14; Mohamed (Mo) Farid, 14; Caleb, H. 10; Ethan The non-profit Mediatech Foundation is where we test and archive review copies of soft- H., 12; Tyler Griffith, 17; Troy Griffith, 14; Brett ware. Visit http://www.mediatech.org for more information. Griffith, 10; Michael Harrington, 14; Laura Henry, 14; Ellie Hilgen, 6; Erin Hilgen, 14; Ben Kates, 15; Matthew Kursa, 10; Frank Mondella, 13; Matthew Mondella, 10; Alyssa Mondella, 15; Keith Paternoster, 15; Greg Shriener, 26; Matt Ivans, 23; Alese Maniragaba, 12; Jose Rincon, 13; Steven Rofrano, 13; and the Serious Game Testers (SGTC) club that meets at Mediatech on Fridays. Products are tested and stored for public access and research at the Mediatech Foundation (www.mediatech.org), 118 Main Street, Flemington NJ, a non-profit organization.

3 Go online and play these

Games for Healthy Eating is made possible by We all need to eat healthy food. But what should you eat? Here’s a col- lection of links to sites to help take the mystery out of that snack you're To find out more about kids, technol- ogy and education, become a about to eat. COMPUTER EXLORERS fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/com- puter.explorers?ref=ts. The web- One of our favorite health site, Healthy Kids based version of this page (www.healthykids.org) includes games like http://www.littleclickers.com con- tains live links, plus a place to report Mission Nutrition http://bit.ly/9ndhZE and any errors. CTR and COMPUTER Pumpkin-o-Meter, http://bit.ly/1XtKow so EXPLORERS do not have commer- cial interests in the sites listed on you can see how many calories are in your this page. Librarians and teachers Halloween Candy. are permitted to copy this page for non-profit use. To suggest a future topic or to report a bad link, please Apps for Healthy Kids http://www.apps- contact the editor, Warren Buckleitner forhealthykids.com is a contest sponsored [email protected], or call by the US Department of Agriculture. While 908-284-0404 (9 - 3 PM, EST). we don’t agree with all the selections (some don’t even work), one innovative game is Smash Your Food. What to know how much oil is in that slice of pizza? Have a look at www.foodnme.com/smash-your-food and you can play with a food smashing machine, which shows you how much oil, sugar and salt are in each serving. The best part? It uses real food.

MyPyramid Blast Off Game, published by the

USDA offers several games about the Food Above, Smash Your Food. Below, Fitness Pyramid. One of the better (and newer) ones is challenge. http://bit.ly/cYfW4.

Now that you know what to eat, how about burning up some calories? Fitness Challenge by Kid http://www.kidnetic.com/kore/Fitness.aspx is a quick excercise game you can do right at your computer. While you’re there, find a friend and do the scavenger hunt race, to get your heart moving.

Fun Food Playlist http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D287922F8158E0E3 This month’s YouTube playlist contains a selection of videos based on topics in this month’s column.

See this page online, at http://www.LittleClickers.com/lcfood1010.html Feature Reviews OCTOBER 1, 2010 Here's an alphabetical listing of new products, along with a full review, ratings and tester feedback. The "Entry Date" refers to the date we first learned of the product.

Chuck E. Cheese's Party Games Ease of Use 2 26% A case study in bad design, this party game (for up to four players) for the Wii Educational 4 contains 18 activities inspired from Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurants. Entertaining 3 To start, each player chooses from one of six avatars. The games are mediocre and rather non-original, including Whack-A-Munch, shooting hoops, and making pizzas. Design Features 2 Good scores earn tickets that can be traded for up to 50 prizes. Good Value 2 An online leaderboard lets you compare scores with others. There is no worrisome content. The DS version also shares design flaws, with challenges that are either too ESRB Rating: Everyone easy or way too hard, and instructions that are difficult to understand. This is a game that is more work than fun. See the game trailer at http://ufointeractivegames. com/trailers.asp?t=ccpgw Details: UFO Interactive Games, www.ufointeractivegames.com. Price: $20. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Wii, iPhone, Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: spacial relations, timing. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 1.3 stars. Entry date: 7/26/2010. [WB]

Club Penguin: Game Day! Ease of Use 9 90% Fun but pricey (at $50), Club Penguin: Game Day is a well designed collection of Educational 8 multiplayer minigames designed for the Wii that can optionally be integrated with the Entertaining 10 Club Penguin virtual world. So it is possible to earn coins in the game, that you upload to your online account. In addition, you can download your online penguin's identity Design Features 10 to your Wii Remote and take it to a friends house. Good Value 8 You start by creating a penguin (or you can download your penguin from the Club Penguin website), then find some friends. For children with no friends, the computer ESRB Rating: Everyone, Comic Mischief can fill in. The 12 games use the regular controller (no Nunchuk required) and offer a variety of things to do, for all age ranges. We were pleased to see that that every game has an "easy" setting that actually is easy to play. Games include Java Sack (a sack race where you "jump" by pumping the Wii remote), Sled & Slide (navigate down a hill), and Feed the Puffle (shoot as much food to your puffles as you can before time runs out). Good scores unlock more games, so things are always interesting. There are modes for both team-based competitions and single, multiplayer and tournaments. All in all, this is an excellent social experience that offers something for a wide age range. Created by AQ Interactive for Disney Interactive. Details: Disney Interactive Studios, www.disneyinteractivestudios.com. Price: $50. Ages: 5-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: socialization, timing, fine motor, gross motor, counting. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.5 stars. Entry date: 9/21/2010. [WB]

5 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Daring Game for Girls Ease of Use 9 80% This one player trivia game for the Wii and DS lets you explore in a virtual town Educational 8 and schoolyard, where you encounter random motivational quotes from famous Entertaining 8 women mixed with mini-games. These include sliding puzzles, soccer goal making, tetherball, basketball, and multiple-choice-style trivia games. Most are very easy to Design Features 7 play, but once you start a game, you can't easily exit. The better you do, the more Good Value 8 money you can earn for tools needed to take an adventure trip. Testers found the games to be rather pointless. The DS and Wii versions are nearly ESRB Rating: Everyone identical in design. Note that a Nunchuk is required for the Wii game. Created by WXP for Majesco. Visit www.daringgameforgirls.com. Details: Majesco Entertainment, www.majescoentertainment.com. Price: $20. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Wii, Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: logic, feminism, history, motivation, reading. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4 stars. Entry date: 3/9/2010. [WB]

Disney Guilty Party Ease of Use 8 96% Well designed and fun to play, this who-done-it mystery party game for one to Educational 10 four players (either competitive or cooperative) lets you and your friends play as Entertaining 10 detectives. You become part of the Dickens Detective Agency as you investigate a series of crimes and identify the guilty party. Design Features 10 It is possible to play alone or with up to four people in head-to-head competition, Good Value 10 or team up in cooperative modes. You will search the crime scenes for clues, question suspects, and use the Wii ESRB Rating: Everyone, Comic Mischief Remote as a lock pick, flashlight, magnifying glass, and other sleuthing tools as you try Mild Cartoon Violence to solve the mystery and unmask the bad guy. For example, to get a character to talk, you need to stack $100 bills in her hand, one at a time, until her eyes become dollar signs. There's a memory game where you need to match a sequence of numbers to open a box. Another suspect will only talk if you match a pair of eyes on the screen to his, to make him uncomfortable. If a game is too hard, the program intelligently notices, and offers you an easier level. The game is a good reading comprehension activity for older children. Besides some stereotyping in the characters, there is no worrisome content. Additional content includes mini-games; each level can be replayed with a different ending. Developed for the Wii by Wideload Studios. Details: Disney Interactive Studios, . Price: $40. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: deductive reasoning, reading, logic, comprehension. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.8 stars. Entry date: 8/26/2010. [WB]

Elements, The Ease of Use 9 94% Giving new meaning to reference software, this iPad edition of the Periodic Table Educational 9 of elements is loaded with visual surprises, with links to the WolframAlfa Entertaining 10 encyclopedia. Touch any element to pull up a rotating, animated sample of the element, and dig Design Features 10 in for more detail. There's no shortage of visual frosting. The app features 500 Good Value 9 examples of the chemical elements in virtual form, and every object can be spun around a complete circle with the touch of your finger. You can even view the objects in stereo 3D using prism type 3D glasses available for purchase for $4.95 at http: //www.touchpress.com/store/ Note that this is more of a "show app" than one that you'd bring with you to a lab. However, it offers an informal way to explore the elements. Language options include US English, British English, French, German and Japanese. Details: Touch Press, www.touchpress.com. Price: $13.99. Ages: 13-up. Platform: iPad. Teaches/Purpose: periodic table. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.7 stars. Entry date: 5/21/2010. [WB]

6 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time Ease of Use 8 76% This one player scavenger hunt/platformer lets you assume the role of Fancy Educational 8 Nancy -- a ballerina- like avatar who dances her way through different levels to help Entertaining 7 her neighbor get ready for a tea party. The idea is playful and the art is excellent, but some of the game play is clumsy, which brings the ratings down. Design Features 7 As you stroll through the neighborhood, you will collect tea sets, stickers and other Good Value 8 items that you can bring to the party. You will also encounter obstacles and must choose one of six different outfits to help Nancy collect all the beads. For example, ESRB Rating: Everyone when Nancy encounters a rainstorm, you must switch to her rain gear outfit to pass. Besides the beads, Nancy also collects letters, scattered throughout the game that spell out favorite fancy words. When using the DSi, you can also take pictures of yourself or friends using the camera function and create fancy stickers to post in the Sticker Album or insert into the game and become a guest at Mrs. DeVine's tea party. Content includes five mini-games. The game is potentially useful for introducing some fun "fancy" french worlds. Created by Webfoot Technologies for THQ. Details: THQ, Inc., www.thq.com. Price: $30. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi. Teaches/Purpose: reading, French words. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 3.8 stars. Entry date: 9/17/2010. [WB]

FIFA Soccer 11 Ease of Use 9 94% Testers found this year's FIFA Soccer 11 to be more realistic and hard to stop Educational 9 playing. For example, when a harder pass is smacked to a player it doesn't just die at Entertaining 10 their feet. It may bounce off a little, making you adjust. It is also much harder to score. You can't just dribble the ball up the field and beat Design Features 10 every player as you could in older games. The keeper mode is very fun, although it can Good Value 9 get boring because the keeper doesn't get many shots on him depending on the team you have and the skill of that team's defense. ESRB Rating: Everyone We liked the new Player/Manager mode that lets you run the team financesas manager as well as create and control a player. Other new features include the ability to compete 11 versus 11 in online play, with control of all 22 players in your hands. Players will be distinguished from one another through a database that evaluates and grades each player's skill-set over 35 attributes and 57 traits. The game also introduces new Pro Passing where pass accuracy is determined by your ability on the control pad, and player skill, situation, and urgency on the pitch. Prices are $60 for and PS3 versions, $50 for the Wii, $40 for PS2 and PSP, and $30 for Nintendo DS. We tested the PS3 verison. Details: EA Sports - Electronic Arts Canada, www.eagames.com. Price: $60. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360. Teaches/Purpose: soccer. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.7 stars. Entry date: 9/3/2010. [WB]

7 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

GameStar Mechanic (www.gamestarmechanic.com) Ease of Use 9 94% By now, everyone has played a Super Mario style platformer, or a maze game like Educational 10 Pac Man. But how many people have made one? Entertaining 10 GameStar Mechanic makes this doable, as long as you have a Flash enabled Mac or PC with web access to www.gamestarmechanic.com. The template-based toolkit does Design Features 10 an excellent job of introducing the basics of the most common types of casual games. Good Value 8 These include game specific concepts like sprites and sprite behaviors, avatars, gravity, enemies, health, timers and damage counters. These work together to create an ideal application of higher order thinking skills. After the one-time registration, confirmed by email and a standard log in, you are given a "quest" -- a series of cartoons that set the stage for the design challenges. These challenges are delivered by way of bite-sized, one or two screen games with a clear goal. At times, a level is purposely broken, for example, in one the time runs out too quickly. The only way to fix it is to use a wrench icon to adjust the timer, to give yourself more time. After you complete all the tutorials, you can start publishing your own games. Does GameStar compare to Scratch (http://mit.scratch.edu)? Not really. Scratch is open ended, akin to giving you free reign of the kitchen, whereas GameStar packages the design elements into prepared doses that are wrapped in a comic book theme. Where GameStar Mechanic excels is in making simple games using a 12-by-16 grid, upon which you can place a limited set of elements. These include 11 moving avatars, 7 types of blocks, items to collect, a timer, scorer, health meter and frag (hit) counter. There's also a limited library of backgrounds and music. With Scratch, you can make any sprite, and can import any background music or image. The first levels are free; additional sprites, games and background art are available to premium subscribers for $6 per month and up, a fee that is automatically renewed until you cancel. For schools, licenses cost $9/month or $85 per year, for up to 40 student accounts. By contrast, MIT's Scratch is free with no strings or auto-renewal gimmicks. According to e-Line Media's president, Alan Gershenfeld, the choice of charging for access was not without debate. On one hand, the service couldn't continue without a revenue stream. But the use of a non-refundable fee, with an automatically renewable credit card, seems to suggest more of an interest in profit rather than pedagogy. We would prefer a purchase option for schools that consists of a stand alone version where you get a "full" version (children are not asked to become subscribers) for a one time price. In addition, it would be nice if children could publish their work to sites other than the GameStar Mechanic hub. Mr. Gershenfeld made the following points on this topic in a phone interview: 1. Contests, such as NSF endorsed contests, are provided with equal access to the program using a special "suitcase" of features, at no cost. 2. The base-level (free) service is fully functional. Paid subscribers get extra content and challenges, but no additional programming functionality. I tested the free version of GameStar Mechanic, and was able to create and publish fully functional games. There's no doubt that GameStar delivers on it's promise of giving children a new way to learn debugging and problem solving. GameStar is a collaborative effort between e-Line Media (the publisher), the University of Wisconsin- Madison, the Institute of Play and Gamelab, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation. Details: E-Line Media, www.gamestarmechanic.com. Price: $free, $6/month. Ages: 7-14. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site. Teaches/Purpose: programming, creativity, game design, logic. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.7 stars. Entry date: 10/1/2010. [WB]

8 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Jungle Time Ease of Use 7 70% Featuring five modes of play and a clunky design, the Jungle Time app combines Educational 8 an interesting collection of jungle sound effects with workbook-like time telling Entertaining 7 exercises. While the actual exercises are dry, the options menu lets you adjust the challenge Design Features 5 level, adding to the potential utility of the program. Good Value 8 Details: Andrew Short, http://jungleeducation.com/. Price: $0.99. Ages: 5-8. Platform: iPad. Teaches/Purpose: telling time with analog and digital clocks. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 3.5 stars. Entry date: 6/1/2010. [WB]

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Ease of Use 9 96% It's always fun to see a good series of games get better. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 Educational 10 -4 is the most evolved Harry Potter to date with levels inspired by the first four Harry Entertaining 10 Potter stories. Designed with TT's famous drop in, drop out interactivity (so you can explore and collaborate with a second player), it is also easy to swap characters, which Design Features 9 is a good thing, because each character has specific abilities needed to get to the next Good Value 10 level. The game is nicely illustrated, with depictions of Hogwarts castle, Diagon Alley, ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+, Cartoon the Forbidden Forest and the village of Hogsmeade. As you explore, you can do more Violence, Crude Humor than walk. You can drive a cart, fly a broom. Many of the puzzles are nested (multi- layered) with embedded surprises. Visit www.magicisbuilding.com. Created by TT games for Warner Bros. Mediatech testers say "buy it." Details: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, Inc., www.warnerbros.com. Price: $50. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PSP, Windows. Teaches/Purpose: logic. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.8 stars. Entry date: 3/26/2010. [WB]

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet Ease of Use 8 92% Ideal for two player collaborative problem solving, this interactive comic book lets Educational 8 you become either Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk as you save the universe. Like a Entertaining 10 LEGO Star Wars game, there are plenty of problem solving opportunities. In the story, the Super Hero Squad must find the lost Infinity Stones and battle evil Design Features 10 villains, including Thanos and Dr. Doom, who are trying to destroy the universe. You Good Value 10 smash your way through each level, in the three game modes, unlocking new costumes, powers and challenges. The DS version features six levels. As you might ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ expect, the game is full of comical stereotypes. Created by Griptonite Games for THQ. Details: THQ, Inc., www.thq.com. Price: $40. Ages: 7-up. Platform: PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360. Teaches/Purpose: logic, and problem solving. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.6 stars. Entry date: 8/12/2010. [WB]

9 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Motion Math Ease of Use 7 90% If you've ever tried to bounce a ping pong ball on a paddle, you get the idea of Educational 10 Motion Math -- a math drill where you lean your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to steer a Entertaining 9 bouncing ball to the right spot on a number line. The result is a dynamic, structured drill that gradually moves from easy (like 1/2) to hard (-17/15), helping you Design Features 9 understand relationships between fractions and percentages. Good Value 10 After you choose a difficulty level, you see a number line, along with bouncing ball, with a fraction shown on it. If the ball shows 1/2, you try to hit the center of the line, 50% between the 0 and the 1. The ball might alternate between a percent, mini pie- charts or a fraction. If you miss, a set of arrows provides hints, helping you to visually approximate, say, the difference between 1/2 and .65. What's missing? An option for giving the child a pause button, just in case it's time for recess. Other features include a generic cumulative leaderboard, and the ability to send scores by email. This "virtual manipulative" technique can bridge concrete and abstract. It feels a bit like you're using a mental math jack hammer, as you move your way toward a better understanding of numerical relationships, one bounce at a time. Details: Motion Math Games, www.motionmathgames.com. Price: $.99. Ages: 7-up. Platform: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, iOS 3.1.3 or later, 16.6 MB. Teaches/Purpose: math, fractions, percents, comparing quantities, number lines. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.5 stars. Entry date: 9/30/2010. [WB]

MySims SkyHeroes Ease of Use 7 84% Fun, fast, but not as friendly as we would've liked for beginners, MySims Educational 8 SkyHeroes is a playful flying simulation with race and dogfight modes. But don't take Entertaining 9 that as being a bad game. In the game, you try to shoot down Morcubus and his drone army, and his plans to Design Features 9 take over the skyways. Better flying earns you plane upgrades better engines, and Good Value 9 things like camouflage to conceal the plane and avoid enemy fire. The controls take some getting used to, even in the easiest mode. It would be nice if you could slow ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ down... way down, for younger children. It is hard to shoot down enemies, and it is easy to get lost in a level. The graphics and sounds are excellent. Note that this is the first MySims title for the Xbox 360. You can play alone or in split-screen (in the same room) or online multiplayer, for up to 10 players at once. Developed by The Sims Studio in the EA Play Label, MySims SkyHeroes is scheduled to be available worldwide fall of 2010. Details: Electronic Arts, www.ea.com. Price: . Ages: 7-up. Platform: PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: math, logic. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.2 stars. Entry date: 9/3/2010. [WB]

Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Water's Edge Ease of Use 8 88% There aren't many mysteries when it comes to the design of this 23rd interactive Educational 10 edition from the Nancy Drew series. Like the other titles, you click your way through a Entertaining 9 maze of scenes that are richly illustrated and spiced with plenty of logic puzzles. This time, Nancy is off to , where she meets up with friends Bess and George Design Features 8 and tries to figure out why a ghost has been scaring away the guests of a hotel. As you Good Value 9 explore, you pick up some authentic Japanese culture, trying your hand at origami, a tea ceremony, and calligraphy. ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+, Mild Violence There are two levels of play: either Junior or Senior Detective level, and progress can be saved, so there is something for all skill levels. We tried the hard level and found it to be quite challenging. If you like mysteries, this is well worth the $20. This is the second Her interactive title to run on the Macintosh as well as Windows. Details: Her Interactive, Inc., www.herinteractive.com. Price: $20. Ages: 10-up. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX. Teaches/Purpose: logic, memory, Japanese history. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.4 stars. Entry date: 9/21/2010. [WB]

10 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Old MacDonald Piano Ease of Use 10 96% Put a 17 key (octave + 2) piano keyboard on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch with Educational 9 this well designed multi-touch musical experience. Entertaining 9 The program starts with four modes: Play and Sing Along (play "Old MacDonald" by following highlighted keys), Learn the Song (play and sing along, also with Design Features 10 highlighted keys), Karaoke Mode (record your voice and piano playing by following Good Value 10 words in English, Spanish or French) and Free Style Mode (free experimentation). On the iPad, the keys are nearly the same size as a regular piano. Features include eight piano voices including flute and (our favorite) barnyard songs. You can also record your child singing and playing the piano. The sing and read karaoke style lyrics are available in English, French and Spanish. This is the second App from Kiboomu -- the first was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which shares a similar design. All in all, this is an excellent addition to a young child's app library. Details: Kiboomu Inc., www.kiboomu.com. Price: $0.99. Ages: 3-up. Platform: iPhone, iPad. Teaches/Purpose: music, piano. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.8 stars. Entry date: 9/28/2010. [WB]

Park Math Ease of Use 10 96% This sixth App from the award-winning team at Duck Duck Moose continues a Educational 10 streak of excellence in early childhood interactive craftsmanship that dates back to last Entertaining 9 year's Wheels on the Bus. The App is designed for iPhone and iPod Touch and contains seven easy to explore Design Features 9 games, each with multiple ways to explore some powerful math concepts -- of the Good Value 10 variety that will someday loom at the root of an SAT question. The games include Swing (Count up to 50 as a rabbit swings. You can either watch, or "push" the rabbit with your fingertip); Slide (Help ducks climb to the top of a slide. Quantities are show both visually and in an equation, simultaneously); Seesaw (Balance a seesaw by adding and subtracting mice); Apple Tree (Subtract as apples fall from a tree); Sandbox (Complete patterns by dragging and dropping toys); Bench (put dogs and numerals in order, from smaller to larger. It's especially nice that you can make the order from either left to right or right to left); and Picnic: Counting (Feed a hippo the correct number of food items). It is possible to toggle between two levels of play (preschool and kindergarten). Level 1 includes counting up to 20 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 5. Level 2 includes counting up to 50 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 10. The iPad version, called Park Math HD is in the works, and and will include a third level for First Grade with counting up to 100 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 20. This is a 13.5 MB download, for iPhone OS 3.0 or later. It is well worth the $2 download. Details: Duck Duck Moose Design, www.duckduckmoosedesign.com. Price: $1.99. Ages: 3-up. Platform: iPhone. Teaches/Purpose: math, counting, quantities, adding, subtraction, numerals. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.8 stars. Entry date: 9/21/2010. [WB]

Polar Plunge Ease of Use 5 56% A fun idea that is way too hard, Polar Plunge is a simple sledding game adapted Educational 3 from the Webkinz.com web site. You can pick up to four routes that vary in difficulty, Entertaining 7 and then race down a slope. To speed up, you lean right. To slow down, you lean left. You can jump over logs by tapping the screen. Design Features 7 The better you do, the more Kinz cash you earn, and the cash is deposited directly Good Value 6 into your online account, providing you've purchased one of the animals, creating a clever extension of Webkinz Online to your pocket. The only problem -- the game is impossibly hard to play. Our testers kept falling, and couldn't even make it through the easiest level. Also, there is no map, so you don't know how close you are to the finish line. If it were more forgiving, we'd get more excited by this potentially fun game. Until there's a revision, however, pass. Details: Ganz, www.webkinz.com. Price: $.99. Ages: 3-6. Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch. Teaches/Purpose: timing, strategy. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 2.8 stars. Entry date: 9/27/2010. [WB]

11 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Record a Story Ease of Use 9 94% We've all grown used to the talking greeting card. Record a Story, ($20, from Educational 9 Publications International) takes that idea up a notch, by letting you record your own Entertaining 9 45 second message on each page of an eight page book. To record your voice, you turn to the page, press record, start talking or reading, giving a young child an good excuse Design Features 10 to read the words, or even stray from the script. To hear your masterpiece, you simply Good Value 10 turn to the page -- a series of holes marks each page. There is no limit to the number of times the narration can be re-recorded, and it is possible to save the current recording using a lock switch in the battery compartment. The book is powered by three AAA batteries, included with the book. Titles include Guess How Much I Miss You, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Sesame Street: Together at Heart, and Dora the Explorer; all for sale starting today at www.pilbooks.com. Details: Publications International, Ltd., www.pubint.com. Price: $20. Ages: 3-up. Platform: Smart Toy. Teaches/Purpose: reading or language. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.7 stars. Entry date: 8/20/2010. [WB]

Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions Ease of Use 7 90% Looking for a good fight? This new Spider-Man game, for one player, will give it to Educational 9 you. Entertaining 10 The game takes place in four universes from Spider-Man lore, each with a distinct art style(Amazing, Noir, Ultimate, and 2099). Each Spider-Main has special skills and Design Features 10 strengths. Good Value 9 The controls are complicated, but this is compensated for by a well designed tutorial, which provides help when you need it. Not that this is a big game that takes ESRB Rating: Teen, Mild Language, long time to load, depending on your game console (we tried the PS3 version). Suggestive Themes, Violence The game takes you to new locations not seen in previous Spider-Man games including jungles, deserts and urban terrain's as you try to contain the magical energy of the Tablet of Order and Chaos, which has been shattered and sent hurtling across parallel universes. Testers who were familiar with the the first game called it "the most complex, but most fun Spider-Man yet." Developed by Beenox (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) and Griptonite Games (NDS). Prices are $60 for the Xbox 360 & PS3 versions, $50 for the Wii, and $30 for the Nintendo DS. Note the DS version features three different versions of Spider-Man. Details: Activision, Inc., www.activision.com. Price: $60. Ages: 12-up. Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: logic, fine motor controls, strategy, deductive reasoning. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.5 stars. Entry date: 9/17/2010. [WB]

Sports Champions Ease of Use 8 92% Sports Champions is the game that comes bundled with the Sony Move controller, Educational 9 which is required in order to play the game. Entertaining 10 You start by choosing an avatar, and then choose from Disc Golf, Gladiator Duel, Beach Volleyball, Archery, Table Tennis and Bocce. Most of the games are best with Design Features 10 one other player, but there are some four player options, if you happen to have that Good Value 9 many $50 move controllers. Each controller must first be calibrated -- a 30 second or so routine in which you line yourself up with an animated figure on the screen. ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+, Violence There are three modes of play, making it possible to compete for a prize, or just play. Of all the movement games we've reviewed, this was the smoothest. Our testers spent the most time with Gladiator, where you try to knock your opponent out of an elevated ring. "I'm dripping with sweat!" and "my arm is so sore its going to fall off" were among the comments. Details: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., www.us..com. Price: $40. Ages: 10-up. Platform: PlayStation 3 (Move). Teaches/Purpose: sports, hand-eye coordination. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.6 stars. Entry date: 8/10/2010. [WB]

12 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Tam & Tao in Numberland Ease of Use 8 80% This is a sandbox App, where children can freely tap, trace, drag and drop their Educational 9 way through a set of numbers, from 0 to 9. According to the documentation materials, Entertaining 8 the app was modeled after the teaching methods of Maria Montessori. There are three modes of play, each hosted by either Tam or Tao, two children with Design Features 8 strange accents, as judged by someone in New Jersey. Good Value 7 The Draw mode turns the iPad into a slate, where children can draw with eight colors. An eraser is always available for mistakes. 123 Play consists of a ten screen ebook, with hidden animated sequences, one per number. For example, in the 4 screen, there are four sets of everything. Children can throw four snowballs at four wolves, shown in a winter scene, with four mountains and four trees. Touching an item labels it, e.g., "four wolves" or "four clouds." There are two language options (French and English) although changing them requires changing the settings for your device in the control panel, a very clunky process. While not the most sophisticated program, it is good at getting out of the way and letting children freely explore, or just scribble. Note that younger children may need some help getting in or out of some of the activities. Details: Les Trois Elles Interactive, http://lestroiselles.com/en. Price: $9.99. Ages: 2 -5. Platform: iPad. Teaches/Purpose: logic, math, numeral formation, counting, fine motor. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4 stars. Entry date: 9/23/2010. [WB]

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Ease of Use 8 92% A great golf simulation gets better in the form of this year's Tiger Woods PGA Educational 9 Tour. This time, you can play as either the U.S. or European squad and play your way Entertaining 10 through the Rider Cup tournament on the Celtic Manor Course, taking on the role of the team captain if you like as you participate in various competitions including Design Features 10 foursomes, fourballs and singles. An online mode lets you play with or against up to Good Value 9 24 players. Other features include True Aim (view a golf round from the perspective of a golf ESRB Rating: Everyone pro); and Shot Focus (improves your accuracy by shrinking the aiming circle). The PS3 version supports the new PlayStation Move controller, which we did not test. Testers said "buy it, if you can afford the $60." Details: EA Sports (EA Tiburon), www.ea.com. Price: $60. Ages: 10-up. Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii. Teaches/Purpose: sports, golf, hand-eye coordination. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.6 stars. Entry date: 9/15/2010. [WB]

Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Ease of Use 8 84% Fairly fun and true to the Tinker Bell theme, this one player DS game lets you Educational 8 create your own fairy avatar and fly into Fairy Camp, where you visit various locations Entertaining 9 using a map on the top screen. As you fly around and talk to different fairies, you collect seeds and take items to other fairies, lending a scavenger hunt play pattern to Design Features 9 the experience. Good Value 8 Your goal is to find and grow the rare Rainbow Lily. Content includes six fairies and mini-games that ask children to memorize patterns and find hidden seeds. There's ESRB Rating: Everyone also some reading and mapping. You can customize your fairy avatar with fairy talents, facial features, hair style, outfits and accessories. You will also compete in quests, and time-based minigames that use specific fairy talents for arts & crafts, baking and decorating cookies and more. If you have an online connection, you can download a fairy from PixieHollow.com to the English Countryside on the Nintendo DS, send postcards from Fairy Camp to friends in PixieHollow.com, and upload gatherables from the English Countryside to PixieHollow.com. We found the D Gamer system clunky and hard to use, and eventually gave up trying to connect. But the game itself fun. Testers said: buy it or borrow it. Details: Disney Interactive Studios, www.disneyinteractivestudios.com. Price: $30. Ages: 6-9. Platform: Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: reading, logic, mapping. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.2 stars. Entry date: 9/17/2010. [WB]

13 FEATURE REVIEWS, OCTOBER 1, 2010

Wii Party Ease of Use 8 94% If you were stuck on a dessert island with three other people, this would be the Educational 9 game you want to have, providing you can get past the first few waves of menus. Entertaining 10 The game looks and feels a lot like past versions of Mario Party, and there's a LOT of content, with 80 diverse activities found in 13 party game modes. Some games are Design Features 10 quite innovative. In Animal Tracker, for example, you place two or four Wii Remote Good Value 10 controllers on a table. The game will make a noise, and the first player to grab the remote associated with the noise wins. Hide 'n' Hunt has one player asking the other ESRB Rating: Everyone, Mild Cartoon players to leave the room while the Wii Remote controllers are hidden. When the other Violence players return they have only a few seconds to find the hidden controllers. More traditional minigames include Derby Dash (use the Wii Remote as if you were holding a whip to spur your horse to victory); and Chop Chops (use the Wii Remote to see who can cut through vegetables the fastest). All in all, this is one of , most diverse party games we've reviewed. Developed by Nd CUBE CO., Ltd. for Nintendo. Details: Nintendo of America, www.nintendo.com. Price: $50. Ages: 4-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: fine motor control, timing, memory, logic, temporal relations, art. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4.7 stars. Entry date: 7/1/2010. [WB]

Wooly Wormies: Tell the Time Ease of Use 9 80% This clock drill app features offers three modes: each with three difficulty levels Educational 8 (easy, medium and hard). In Tell The Time, your child turns the hands of a traditional Entertaining 7 clock to match a spoken time, e.g., "it is 2:00." In Match The Time, children are exposed to digital timers, as they drag and drop to match matching times into place. Parent & Design Features 8 Child mode is designed for free-play with the hands of a clock. We didn't like how Good Value 8 feedback is delivered by taking children to a new screen. Also, the clocks face is cluttered. Details: Voxel Beast Ltd., www.voxelbeast.com. Price: $1.99. Ages: 4-up. Platform: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch. Teaches/Purpose: telling time. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 4 stars. Entry date: 5/19/2010. [WB]

Yumsters! 2 Ease of Use 5 72% This twist on Plants vs. Zombies features Yumsters -- stretchy creatures who eat Educational 8 colored fruit as it appears on a grid. They have long necks, which form lines that can Entertaining 8 only be crossed in certain ways, creating a fast-moving logic puzzle. It is less fun that Plants vs. Zombies. Content includes 64 levels with 7 bonus levels. If you have the time Design Features 8 to figure it out, it could be fun but our testers were less-than-enthused about the initial Good Value 7 complexity. Details: G5 Entertainment, www.g5e.com. Price: $2.99. Ages: 5-up. Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch. Teaches/Purpose: logic. Rating (1 to 5 stars): 3.6 stars. Entry date: 9/1/2010. [WB]

14 Future Releases OCTOBER 1, 2010 This section contains a listing of products in the process of being reviewed, but not yet rated. We also include significant updates of older products.

Camp Rock: The Final Jam Based on the story events from the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam, this one player DS game lets you create your own customized avatar and join Mitchie, Shane and the other characters as they explore music camp and prepare to compete against their rival Camp Star. Players can jam to songs using the stylus to play guitar, bass, and drums, as well as perform dance moves inspired by the film. Content includes puzzles to solve and minigames including a water balloon fight and canoe racing. Details: Disney Interactive, Inc., www.disney.com. Price: $30. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: music, rhythm. Entry date: 8/31/2010.

Family Party: Fitness Fun Designed for children to play along with parents, this game combines sport, party and playground activities on one Wii disk. You start by choosing a character and a game. Content includes 30 activities including cardio training (e.g., roller derby, super squash, volleyball), balance training (e.g., skydiving, hoverboard racing), and brain fitness (e.g., counting mania, smart dieting). A four player mode lets you play in Party or Time Limit mode, and 10 of the events are compatible with the Wii Balance Board. Players can also mix and match games to create their own challenges and compete with others for high scores on a leaderboard. Developed by Tamsoft Corporation. Details: D3Publisher of America, Inc., www.d3publisher.us. Price: $20. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: physical fitness. Entry date: 9/27/2010. Gamesalad (www.gamesalad.com) Free and powerful, this menu-driven programming tool makes it possible to construct iPad games using drag and drop menus, and the post them to the Apple store. Work can be displayed in an online community, where games can be purchased or rated. We have not yet tested this game. Details: Gendai Games, www.gamesalad.com. Price: $free. Ages: 8-up. Platform: Mac OSX, iPhone, iPad, iPad Universal. Teaches/Purpose: programming. Entry date: 9/27/2010. Haunted House We had a quick demonstration of Atari's updated (30th anniversary) version of the Haunted House. You fight ghosts in Graves Mansion, a setting that features the grandchildren of the original character that disappeared 30 years ago. As you explore the dark 3D caverns, you are chased by ghosts. Your mission is to find four lost pieces of the magical urn. There are towers, basements and catacombs with hidden treasures and puzzles. Details: Atari, www.atari.com. Price: $call. Ages: 9-up. Platform: Wii, Xbox 360, Windows. Teaches/Purpose: logic. Entry date: 7/15/2010.

15 FUTURE RELEASES AND UPDATES OCTOBER 1, 2010

Hollywood Squares Featuring Tom Bergeron as the host and center square stars including Kathy Griffitn, Brad Garet and Martin Mull, this game lets you play head-to-head against another contestant to win virtual money and prizes. The game features more than 2,000 questions, increasing levels of difficulty, and bonus items you can unlock. You can also create and customize your avatar. Details: Encore Games, www.encoreusa.com. Price: $20. Ages: 10-up. Platform: Windows. Teaches/Purpose: reding, trivia. Entry date: 9/21/2010.

LEGO Universe After four years of production, LEGO Universe is almost ready. We've now been shown multiple demos, and have been impressed by some of the integrated programming features, developed in collaboration with MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten Group. However, we were less impressed by the subscription model. We're looking forward to seeing how this develops. LEGO Universe is being developed in Colorado by NetDevil studios. You can visit http://universe.lego.com to follow details as the program develops. Details: LEGO Americas, www.mindstorms.com. Price: $call. Ages: 5-up. Platform: Windows. Teaches/Purpose: Creativity, collaboration, language, spatial relations. Entry date: 4/10/2008. Mattel Avatar iTag Action Figure This set of action figures comes with a hidden surprise. On first glance, this set of toys looks a lot like any movie inspired set of plastic figurines (in this case, the movie Avatar). However, included in the packaging is special plastic tag -- about the size of a credit card -- that you hold up to your webcam. This causes an animated version of the toy to come to life on your Mac or Windows computer screen, as long as you have downloaded and installed a special webcam plugin. The effect is eye-catching at first -- you can see it, here: http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=U6h0rva2aos -- until you discover there's nothing you can do with the games, other than move the image around the screen. The technology, from the French company Total Immersion, has also been applied to books and NFL trading cards (a small animated version of quarterback Kurt Warner steps out of the card and throws a pass). Testers found the effect to be amazing, although the plugin installation process was buggy and the experience was not very interactive. The toys were cool, however. See Eye of Judgement from Sony for a similar type of effect. Details: Total Immersion - US, www.t-immersion.com. Price: $20. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site. Teaches/Purpose: representational play. Entry date: 4/14/2010. Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs Third in the Pokémon Ranger series, this game lets you protect Pokémon, people, and nature in the Oblivia region. You will investigate the actions of the Pokémon Pinchers who have been disturbing the peace by chasing and catching Pokémon, and try to stop them with the help of your partner, Ukulele Pichu. You can use the Capture Styler to circle Pokémon on the touch screen in order to move through the story. You can also draw special Ranger Signs on the touch screen to call Pokémon for help. Certain missions are playable by up to four players using the Nintendo DS Local Wireless Connection. Details: Nintendo of America, www.nintendo.com. Price: $30. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: reading, logic, spatial relations. Entry date: 10/1/2010.

16 FUTURE RELEASES AND UPDATES OCTOBER 1, 2010

Raving Rabbids Travel in Time The Rabbids travel back in time in a washing machine where you explore the past and revisit moments in history such as the discovery of fire and the first step on the moon. You will also uncover how the Rabbids wreaked havoc on the past and decide if the course of history needs to be changed. The game features over 20 different games with five gameplay types from flying to bouncing. In addition, games can be played either online or split screen with up to four players. Some of the games also offer improved accuracy as they utilize the Wii MotionPlus accessory. The game also features an interactive Museum which contains mini-games featuring Rabbids dancing and singing, and more than 30 customized Rabbids characters from an Egyptian to a Cowboy and a Pirate so users can be whatever character they choose. Details: Ubisoft, . Price: $50. Ages: 12-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: logic. Entry date: 7/1/2010. Readeez Folderfuls Readeez Folderfuls are videos, audio files and PDF content designed to deal with concepts like counting money or telling time, based on the Readeez technique. Videos feature the Readeez' SyllableSync technique, where words are seen and heard simultaneously to create an association between written and spoken words. The Audio portion comes on MP3 files of the songs from the videos that you can listen to on your computer, copy to a CD or play on your MP3 player. eBooks are PDF files with the words to the songs. Each Folderful combines written with spoken words using SyllableSync, which gives beginning readers the experience of being read to while reading for themselves. Not yet reviewed. Details: The Readeez Company, http://readeez.com. Price: $9. Ages: 3-6. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX. Teaches/Purpose: math, money, counting. Entry date: 9/23/2010. Roblox (roblox.com) This online building game lets people work together to conceptualize, design, and share their own games. Everything on the site is user-generated, allowing you to learn the dynamics of construction and physics as you create. You begin by creating an avatar and customizing your world using a catalog of virtual items including clothing, gear and collectibles. You are given a blank canvas that you can turn into an original game populated with people, vehicles, homes and landmarks. Details: Roblox, www.roblox.com. Price: $free. Ages: 6-up. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site. Teaches/Purpose: programming. Entry date: 7/1/2010. Samurai Warriors 3 This multi-player, 35 level fighting game lets you become a Samurai fighter in ancient Japan. You control the weapons, armor and decide which course to take to complete your mission. Content includes 35 warriors who can fight on foot or horseback and can be customized. A “Murasame Castle” level lets you explore a castle inspired by 's “The Mysterious Murasame Castle"... a collaboration between the Nintendo designer and KoeiTecmo. Some of the content is based on actual Japanese history. A multi-player mode lets you work collaboratively together with another player using either local or online play over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Details: Nintendo of America, www.nintendo.com. Price: $50. Ages: 12-up. Platform: Wii. Teaches/Purpose: fighting, logic, strategy, Japanese history. Entry date: 9/27/2010.

17 FUTURE RELEASES AND UPDATES OCTOBER 1, 2010

School Loop Student Tracker Student Tracker, which we did not test, is a system for "identifying students who need support and creating call to action for the education teams" for use in schools. With it, a principal can search for struggling students in a particular grade who are trending down in grades and send an email to all of their teachers, parents and counselors. He/she can also save the list in a group to stay on top of their progress and promote the list to the student's teachers until each student is out of risk. This allows for everyone involved in a student's education to monitor that student's academic performance, communicate about it, and make sure appropriate measures are being taken to keep a student on track. Student data can be filtered by performance criteria including: number of zeroes, chronic absences, grades, and grade trends. The service is provided by School Loop, a K-12 web hosting and school-to-home communication system. School Loop users can create a variety of trackers to suit their needs. The Personal Tracker can only be viewed by the creator, the School-wide Tracker is available to all users with access to the system, and the High Priority Tracker allows administrators to create high priority groups that are automatically added to teacher's dashboards. In addition, the Student Record allows educators to address a message to any or all of the members of a student's team, and parents and students can access team members and communicate with them with one click. Details: School Loop, www.schoolloop.com. Price: $call. Ages: 5-up. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX. Teaches/Purpose: assessment. Entry date: 8/25/2010. Story Reader 2.0 This new version of the Story Reader features a lighter, more compact shell with an ergonomic handle for greater portability, as well as books with more durable spines. To use, you simply open the magnetic cover of the reader to hear a narrator read whatever page the book happens to open on. In addition, each story features sound effects and music. The starter set includes the Story Reader 2.0 unit and one Toy Story 3 title. Additional titles are available in three-pack book refills for $20 and include Disney's Cars, Finding Nemo, Peter Pan, Sesame Street and more. Details: Publications International, Ltd., www.pubint.com. Price: $25. Ages: 3-up. Platform: Smart Toy. Teaches/Purpose: reading. Entry date: 8/20/2010. The Search for Wondla The Search for Wondla ($18, www.wondla.com, in stores this week), looks and smells just like a traditional new hardcover book. But three of the 477 pages contain special images that trigger an animated map when they are spotted by your Mac or Windows webcam. The technique, called "augmented reality" uses a special plugin. After a ten minute one time installation, you cli'ck on the Instant Immersion icon found on the books website to start your webcam. After you see yourself on the screen, you find one of the three icons in the book (hint, one is found on page 277) hold it up to the camera and presto, a special map pops up. The effect is amazing the first time, until you realize that you can't do anything with the map except move it around the screen. Have a look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=QayxY0ABGTE. This technology is hardly new; it's being used in a line of Mattel Avatar toys, and Topps playing cards See. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6h0rva2aos. It was developed by the French company Total Immersion (www.t-immersion.com), and if they get their wish, the old saying "you can't judge a book by it's cover" will get a little bit more more true. Details: Simon Schuster, . Price: $18. Ages: 10-up. Platform: Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site. Teaches/Purpose: reading. Entry date: 9/21/2010.

18 FUTURE RELEASES AND UPDATES OCTOBER 1, 2010

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure The second in a series, this one player game for the Nintendo DS lets you become Tinker Bell as you search for a treasure north of Never Land. You can create your own Fairy and explore the world of Pixie Hollow, complete quests, and play minigames to help prepare for the Autumn Revelry. The game has an Internet connection, letting you gather items to customize your Fairy's wardrobe and furniture to decorate your Fairy's home. Players can create and customize up to five Fairies, upload a Fairy avatar and transfer items collected in the DS game to the related web site: PixieHollow.com, here it is possible to also download news and polls. Details: Disney Interactive Studios, www.disneyinteractivestudios.com. Price: $30. Ages: 6-11. Platform: Nintendo DS. Teaches/Purpose: logic. Entry date: 7/30/2009. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Piano App This app was created by a preschool teacher and pianist and was designed to introduce children to playing the piano. This play-a-song app allows your child to follow the lighted keys or match the music notes to the piano keys, and watch the piano keys light up one by one with the song. Your child can also press the start button and sing along, add animal sounds to the song, and hear the song played on a variety of instruments including banjo, xylophone, harp, flute, and bells. You can also record your child singing and playing the piano. The sing and read karaoke style lyrics are available in English, French and Spanish. See also Old MacDonald Piano. Details: Kiboomu Inc., www.kiboomu.com. Price: $0.99. Ages: 3-up. Platform: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch. Teaches/Purpose: music, piano. Entry date: 8/10/2010. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Based on the TV show, this new version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire lets you test your trivia skills as you try to win $1,000,000 by correctly answering 15 multiple choice questions, each worth an increasing amount of virtual money. As in the show, the game lets you ask for help using lifelines: Ask the Audience; Double Dip; and Phone a Friend. The game features more than 3,000 questions and bonus items you can unlock. You can also customize your avatar including body, hair, face and clothes. Details: Encore Games, www.encoreusa.com. Price: $20. Ages: 10-up. Platform: Windows. Teaches/Purpose: trivia, language, reading. Entry date: 9/21/2010.

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