On a recent visit to India, I was videotaping in a preschool. During a music lesson, I flipped the viewfinder on my camera around, so the children could see their own faces. The effect was immediate. Faces became animated, and eyes started to sparkle, and the teachers wouldn’t let me leave until everyone had a turn. The event was a reminder of how powerful it is to see yourself on a screen. This trick is being exploited by both Microsoft Kinect and the Sony PlayStation Move, with titles like EyePet (page 16) and Kinectimals (page 18). What does this expanding form of human computer interface (HCI) mean for children? Here’s a starter list:
• New exercise, sports and dance games will watch, score and rate a child.
• The line between concrete and abstract could blur with augmented reality techniques (see http://bit.ly/9h0rva). A traditional block, toy, book or playing card could jump to life, inside a 3D screen.
• Point, click, drag and drop will be replaced by a voice and motion.
• Skype-like plugins could make game sharing as routine as starting up a game and giving a voice command.
• New motion-based methods could help children learn to read and hard-wire abstract math relationships to their hand.
This welcome step away from abstraction has created a new set of research questions for educators and designers. There’s never been a better time to ask “how can we tap this power for the benefit of children?”
Here’s a video that shows off the latest features of the Sony PlayStation Move.
Enjoy our Back to School issue!
We tried the PS3 version of this game (with a load time of nearly 10 minutes!) and found the game to deliver on the kinds of battles you’d expect to find in a Transformers game. In the story, your goal is become the ultimate weapon as a Transformers character in the final, epic war that will determine the survival of their entire race. Features include a variety of weapons, and the ability to convert from robot to vehicle at any time for air or land battles. There are different multiplayer modes and you can play through story missions, using the drop in/drop out online co-op play. Prices are $60 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and $40 for PC. There are also two versions available for the Nintendo DS — Transformers: War for Cybertron Autobots and Transformers: War for Cybertron Decepticons, rated E10+ and priced at $30 each. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In this game, you play as Buzz, Woody or Jessie as you run, ride and fly through scenes inspired by the film. For example, in one scene, you jump along the cars of a moving train, ducking under low poles or swinging buckets, and navigating across train cars with moving logs. You can complete missions to earn rewards such as gold and new customizations, and purchase new toys with your virtual earnings. Or you can customize new buildings, and then change how they look with paint and accessories. A “Toy Box” mode lets you add new characters and game elements. Developed by Avalanche Software for Disney Interactive. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
If one word could describe this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, it would probably be “motion.” If that were expanded to three words, it might be “geeks looking silly.” Fortunately we had our camera, and the resulting mashup is called “The E3 Waltz.”
So now that we’ve reached the mid-point of 2010 and Toy Fair, E3 and ISTE are behind us, we’re able to start connecting some dots.
1. Nintendo is still in first place in the children’s software quantity and quality race. They also had the star of this year’s E3 — the 3D edition of the Nintendo DS, called the Nintendo 3DS. For the first time, a child can play with 3D photography.
2. Microsoft and Sony are playing catch up. But at least they’re in the race. It will be interesting to see if the Kinect connects with the public, at the estimated $150 to $180 estimated price. Based on the title list, they’ve definitely been drinking the Wii Kool Aide. The optical based Sony Move controller are also interesting.
3. The App Flood Continues. Flip through the feature reviews of this issue, and you’ll see some very exciting iPad experiences for children.
Video Games in Libraries? Absolutely!
“You can check out a movie or a book at a library. Why not a video game?” Starting with this issue, we’re beginning a series of articles designed to help children’s librarians use and circulate hardware. This includes a listing of recommend titles for starting a collection. Do you have experience with this topic? If so let us know! We’re also offering a new white paper, “Building Your Collection: 100 Library Friendly Video Games” for $25, in PDF format. Visit the order form.
NO MORE ESRB PARENTOOLS IN CTR
This will be the last issue of CTR to contain ParenTools, because the ESRB has discontinued the email service. It will be replaced by a web resource that will list the recently rated games. The plan is to push out a link to that page on a weekly basis through Facebook and Twitter, so if you follow the ESRB on either you’ll get a reminder. The ESRB is working to promote a set of mobile tools so that you can get summaries in the store, when you need them. Visit http://www.esrb.org/mobile.
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT INSECTS?
In this month’s LittleClickers, we examine bugs, a timely topic for the summer. See page 4, visit http://www.littleclickers.com.
We hope you have a wonderful July!
If you can’t wait, have a look at our YouTube channel for some of our recent E3 footage, including highlights from the IndieArcade, and an advance look at Super Scribblenauts; one of the most exciting literacy titles of the year (now it recognizes adjectives, like “amazing.”)
On behalf of all of us at CTR, see you next week, and have a great July 4 holiday.
This action-arcade racing game is set within a reality TV show, in a made-for-TV city. As you race, you try to collide with other vehicles to send them off the track, in order to trigger events that change the race. The game features a variety of game modes in 2-player split screen, along with online racing for up to eight players. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
We tested the Wii version of this third-person action shooter, designed for one player. You can choose to play as either Iron Man, or War Machine, as you shoot bad guys and try to save the world from destruction. You can either run around, or fly using your jet packs, using a rather complicated menu system to track such things as damage. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This year’s edition of the long-running Backyard Sports baseball simulations continues the tradition of being fun and easy to play. When you’re pitching, you get to choose the type of pitch, as well as the hardness of the throw. When batting, you slide the stylus on the screen in order to try to hit the ball, which takes some getting used to. In the DS version, which we reviewed, there were eight fields options, plus a story mode, a homerun derby, a season mode, and the ability to have a quick game. Created by HB Studios and Powerhead Games for Atari. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Join the world’s largest soccer tournament from the comfort of your home, as you battle your way through 199 teams from around the world. The World Cup is the largest sporting event and this is the only official and exclusively licensed video game for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. You can take your home nation team from qualification through a virtual re-creation of the World Cup Final. And, for the first time, you can play out the World Cup in a full online tournament mode against fans from other countries. You will compete under the same conditions that your team will face in South Africa, from the group stage through the knockout rounds, to the chance to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In Avatar The Game, you either fight with the Na’vi, Pandora’s indigenous people, or against them, as a soldier of the RDA Corporation, using customizable weapons or clan-specific skills. As you unlock levels, you acquire new skills. You can also create your own character, drive the vehicles and ride the animals of Pandora. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Based on the DreamWorks Animation movie, this game lets you train dragons, explore the Island of Berk as Hiccup or Astrid in Story Mode, and battle in dragon tournaments for Viking victory in Action Mode. The “Create Your Dragon” feature allows you to customize six different types of dragons. You can also “level up” your dragon’s speed, power, fire and other abilities through training to face the Viking challenge and become the ultimate dragon trainer. You can then use your trained dragons to battle friends. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Coming this fall, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, the next chapter for the series that was one of the first to bring drop-in, drop-out interactivity to the games.
DJ Hero Renegade Edition Turntable
This game expands on the gameplay mechanics of Guitar Hero but instead of pressing buttons, you use a turntable controller which, at times, has you bending streams of notes to earn a higher score. There are 100 songs highlighted in 93 mixes that blend genres of music, including hip-hop, R&B, pop, rock and electronica.
The turntable controller allows you to use and master various DJ techniques including scratching, crossfading and sampling. So you can learn some real DJ techniques. The game features five levels of play: beginner, easy, medium, hard and expert. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Athlete View
Vancouver 2010 contains 14 Winter Olympic events including ski jumping, short track speed skating, snowboard cross and more. You can compete with up to three other players in your sport to try and earn a gold medal for your country. You can toggle between third person or a first person “Athlete View” that allows you to feel the speed. The game also features new single player challenge modes including Outrun the Avalanche and Beat the Blizzard. We tried the XBox 360 version. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In PES 2010, you take your team to the Champions League. Your roster can include real life players, each with unique characteristics. The improved AI will now help your offense to build attacks or close down your opponents attacks. Other new features include a Master League where you can create and manage your team for a longer period of time. Prices are $40 for the Wii version, $60 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and $30 for the PS2 and PSP versions. Developed by Winning Eleven Productions. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
After you choose your NBA team, you can tweak the roster, or just jump into the tip off. The teams are based on the current rosters, which are checked online. While there are thousands of details, it is still possible to pick up and play the game, and a novice player can have fun with basic passing and shooting. A Dynasty Mode lets you control your favorite team throughout the season. There are 24 teams who can compete in an international tournament. There’s no shortage of sponsored content, including ads for Sprite (the soft drink). Prices are $60 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, and $40 for the PSP. Note that the purchase includes a password good for one year of a service called “Dynamic DNA” and “Dynamic Season.” Both download the latest stats for your players and teams. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
In this seventeenth edition of FIFA, you first create an avatar using a 3D head using the Photo Game Face. Then you can join a club and play as yourself across any mode, and grow your player attributes through 200 accomplishments. Next, you can take your game online, competing against up to ten other players in online competition. You can assign a specific role to each outfield player, and then combine them. The AI allows players to avoid passes not intended for them, avoid blocking teammate shots, and throw themselves in the way of attacker’s shots in defense. A practice mode lets you work on individual skills before taking the field. Prices are $60 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, $50 for the Wii, $40 for the PSP, and $30 for the Nintendo DS and PS2 versions. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This one player adventure game lets you become a pocket-sized Ninja warrior. As you explore the peaceful countryside, you try to protect the balance of nature from the plot of an evil warlord who has turned the woodland creatures into mindless minions. Using standard jump, punch, kick, and slash types of moves, you battle against the bad guys, trying to preserve your health long enough to make it to the next level. You can also alternate between six male or female mini Ninjas, each with unique skills,weapons, and moves.
Developed by Io Interactive and Eidos for Warner Brothers. Prices are $50 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, $40 for the Wii, and $20 for the DS and PC versions. Visit www.minininjas.com. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
New features of this edition include: Game Styles, which give you control over the way the game is played using a slider bar that ranges from casual to serious; and a board play physics engine that lets you shield the puck with your body along the boards, kick-pass it to teammates, or pin an opponent.
Other features include a new Battle for the Cup Mode, a GM Mode that puts you in charge of your favorite NHL organization, and an enhanced Be a Pro Mode that includes a prospects game before heading to the draft. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
A classic title gets a lot better, in this second edition of Marvel Ultimate Alliaance. The PS3 version features 24 playable Marvel heroes including Spiderman, Wolverine, Iron Man, and villains such as Venom and Green Goblin. You will choose a side – Pro-Registration in defense of national security, or Anti-Registration and fight for personal liberties – and create and customize four-character teams. Developed by Vicarious Visions for the Xbox 360 and PS3 ($60), n-Space for the Wii ($50), Nintendo DS ($30) and PS2 ($30) and Savage for the PSP ($40). Note: All games are rated T except for the DS which is rated E10+. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The clean rhythms and addicting melodies of The Beatles map perfectly to the Rock Band format, in this best edition yet of Rock Band. While the format is the same as previous editions, for the first time you can sing along in three part harmony, making it possible for up to seven people to share the same song, at once. In addition, the “easy” level is basic enough so that Grandpa can play along — most players find the drums to be the easiest instrument. Compared to previous editions of Rock Band, the sound quality is better as well, providing you have your game console plugged into a good stereo system; you’ll swear you can hear Ringo Starr settling into his drum set. Other goodies include the ability to visit a virtual Beatles museum.
Unlike past versions of Rock Band, this edition is organized into chapters, each with four songs and a challenge. Testers noted that the graphics are “flawless” in giving the title a psychdellic 60′s and 70′s “trippy” feel. Another noted that the Beatles themselves look “weird”, but that their actions are exactly synched to the music (no “fake” mouth moving like in guitar hero). If you already own a Rock Band set, you can plug in your existing Rock Band instruments and purchase the $60 software, or you can spend $250 and buy the special edition Beatle’s wireless controllers, modeled after the band’s original instruments. Four tracks appear at once on the screen — guitar, bass, mic and drums, and, for the first time, the software can detect multiple harmonies at once to recreate the Beatle’s vocals.
The 25 songs include I Saw Her Standing There, Twist And Shout, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Yellow Submarine, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Here Comes The Sun.
The Teen rating comes from the lyrics of the songs. As you play the songs, historic Beatles photos are shown on the screen. More detail has gone into the visual presentation than with any other version of Rock Band that we’ve reviewed.
With this release comes some new frosting including custom-built instruments modeled after the ones that the Beatles used. More information can be found at http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com. Rating: 
It’s Batman vs. Joker in this beautiful one-player brawling game, set inside the insane asylum of Gotham City, also known as Arkham Asylum. You control Batman, as you attempt to stop the Joker and his helpers from taking over the prison.
Our testers hoped that Batman would come equipped with gadgets, and this game met their expectations. You can toggle between Batarangs, the Batclaw or explosive gel aerosol, and solve puzzles using x-ray scanning, fingerprint scans, Amido Black spray and a pheromone tracker. 
There are four game save slots, and three challenge levels. Exclusive to the PS3 version is the ability to play as The Joker in eight Challenge Maps that are available for download at no cost through PlayStation Network, and the Batcave Outpost Apartment which features the Batsuit, the Batmobile, the Batwing and other selected gadgets. Created by Rocksteady Sudios, who worked with Eidos, for Warner Bros. Entertainment. Visit the website at http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/start. Prices are $60 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, and $50 for the PC. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Activision’s answer to Rock Band Beatles? Band Hero (think Guitar Hero, only for a quartet). For $200, you get the game, a five-pad drum kit with pedal, a guitar and a microphone (not bad). This well-rounded kit comes with a diverse collection of rock music, going back to the ’60s (Jackson five and the Turtles), to present (Taylor Swift). Those familiar with last year’s Guitar Hero World Tour will find a more refined, easier to play experience with a better selection of music, in the form of Band Hero.
Band Hero game & peripherals
Open ended features include the ability to create your own show, including the ability to turn a Nintendo DS into a control pad. The Party Play Mode allows you to jump in/jump out of a song at any time, and the new sing-along Mode lets you sing along karaoke style on any song you choose. There is also a Roadie Battle Mode that allows you to team up with a partner on a Nintendo DS for a new level of competition.
Prices are $200 for the game bundled with one drum, one guitar and a microphone; or $60 for the standalone game. The game is compatible with all Guitar Hero controllers, listed at http://www.guitarhero.com/compatibility. It will not work with Rock band controllers or peripherals. The PS2 software only version is $40. This title was developed by Neversoft Entertainment for Xbox 360 and PS3, by Vicarious Visions for the Wii, and by Budcat for the PS2. Besides the suggestive themes of a rock concert environment and the lyrics in some of the songs, there is no worrisome content. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Screen shot: The vocal and guitar tracks, with LEGO characters
Looking for a kinder, gentler Rock Band experience, with easier songs with more family sensitive lyrics? That’s the goal of LEGO Rock Band, which has been designed by Traveller’s Tales, Harmonix and Backbone Entertainment for the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3. There is also a Nintendo DS version with different features. If you’re looking for a different design, you won’t find it here. Songs include the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”, Foo Fighters’ “Breakout”, Vampire Weekend’s “A-Punk”, Blur’s “Song 2”, Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting”, Europe’s “The Final Countdown”, Good Charlotte’s “Boys and Girls” and Pink’s “So What.” Note that you’ll need to supply your own Rock Band instruments. You get what you expect with LEGO Rock Band. Please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.