I uploaded a YouTube video — I Am T-Pain Mic — Preview http://youtu.be/kxFEvpESSgo?a
I uploaded a YouTube video — SpyNet Video Watch and Accessories for 2011 http://youtu.be/o_MtC8KQ4Kg?a
I uploaded a YouTube video — Dora Fiesta Favorites Kitchen Preview http://youtu.be/CPr6UTqWIiE?a
I uploaded a YouTube video — Beamz Player Interactive Music System http://youtu.be/u-seIq9-B3w?a
I uploaded a YouTube video — Rock Star Mickey http://youtu.be/a6qzWOYFeDU?a
I uploaded a YouTube video — Yoomi for Duo iPad Demonstration http://youtu.be/DnGtvlBJswI?a
Just posted: A New Game Accessory for the iPad – NYTimes.com http://t.co/wMOueNJ
A report was released (March 14, 2011) today from NPD, called Kids Leisure Time IV that concludes “the nature of how kids socialize is changing, with person-to-person (aka, traditional) socialization decreasing as kids get older, being replaced by other forms of socialization such as social networks, cell phone usage and video chatting.”
The national (USA) survey was of mothers with children aged 2 to 12 years, living in the household. The study (released Feb 11) was based on 1,994 completed surveys and was fielded from December 2-22, 2010.
According to the report,
“kids ages 2-4 spent 17.5 hours per week spending actual face time with friends or siblings, with the average hours per week dropping off as kids get older (10.8 hours for ages 9-12). New technology, activities and entertainment options are having a noticeable impact on how kids are spending their leisure time. While kids have the same number of hours to spend on leisure time (68 leisure hours in a typical week, which has remained constant since 2007), they have more activities in which to engage, requiring them to reprioritize how they spend their time, leading to shifts in the kids’ leisure time landscape.
Blurred Definitions
“A growing body of leisure time activities span both ‘entertainment’ and ‘socializing,’ with the lines between these two categories becoming blurred,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “Arguably, an activity like talking on the phone with a friend has always had an intrinsic entertainment value, but this has become even more pronounced in light of the many new ways in which one can now communicate. For marketers, this translates into more ways to reach kids from both a product/content standpoint as well as marketing/messaging.”
No Threat to Traditional Toys
There seems to be minimal impact of these ever-expanding entertainment and device options on kids’ interaction with toys. Participation rates, share of time and weekly hours spent each tell the same story: toys are a stable foundation in kids’ leisure time landscape. Unlike movies, kids are still as actively engaged with toys as they were in the past few years. In fact, they may even be spending slightly more hours per week with toys than they did in 2009.
“While some of these newer ways to spend their free time are quite alluring to kids, toys hold a unique place in kids’ lives,” said Frazier. “Toy manufacturers should embrace and expand upon what makes traditional toys special to both kids and adults.”
The report comes from the NPD Group.
This DS edition of Plants vs. Zombies has all of the gameplay of the original PC edition with added single or multi-card multiplayer options, five game modes, four all new mini-games and 14 achievements. In the game, a mob of zombies is about to invade your home and you must use strategically placed home guarding plants to stop them. Each plant has a different attribute, and they must be deliberately placed on the grid with the DS stylus in order to successfully stop each Zombie. 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.
You can play with up to four players in various virtual game boards, in both competitive and cooperative challenges featuring Pac Man characters. Content includes 45 minigames including racing, eating, and rolling a giant snowball. There are three modes of play: Story Mode (lets you explore all the game board worlds); Mini-Game Mode; and Party Mode. Extra content includes the original arcade versions of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Mario Sports Mix brings four sports to the Wii console. The games — volleyball, basketball, ice hockey and dodgeball, can be picked up and played with 1 – 4 players, with or without a Nunchuk (although a Nunchuk is preferred), in tournament or exhibition play, or against other real players, online. You can play as one of 12 Nintendo characters or as one of your Miis. There are some usual Mario style twists, for example, you can collect coins while you play to earn extra items, like a Koopa Shell to use as a shield in Dodgeball. 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.
Ms. Frizzle comes to the multi-touch screen, in the app version of the Scholastic book “The Magic School Bus: On The Ocean Floor” by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. Arranged in ebook fashion, the app takes children on a tour of the basic parts of the ocean. 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.
Content includes 40 new story levels across six themes. A new Create Mode lets you make better levels and new games across multiple genres. Some features have been simplified. You can reset the controller button for any object and change the rules to any level using Direct Control. Other new features include four-player offline/online multiplayer that lets you include scoreboards and other elements in your creations. There are new gadgets including a grappling hook for swinging, and power gloves for picking items up and throwing them; Customizable Sackbots; a cinematic cut-scene maker; new create materials including Filters, Plasma, and Electrical Neon; and new create tools including a Level Link Badge to jump from level to level. Developed by Media Molecule Ltd. for Sony. 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.
Designed exclusively for the Wii, this game features characters from seven Disney channel shows, including Camp Rock, Sonny With A Chance and Wizards of Waverly Place. You can jump to a tutorial at anytime — even in a game, which is a nice feature, and the controls are explained well. The more you play, the more games you unlock. There are both circuit mode and free play mode, and high scores can be saved. Developed by Page 44 for Disney Interactive Studios. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed by the same team that made Brain Age for the Nintendo DS back in 2006 (Dr. Ryuta Kawashima), Namco’s Body and Brain Connection takes advantage of the Kinect’s ability to know where your body is at any given time, bringing an exciting new twist (at times literally) to the puzzles. To enter your answer, you might have to kick balls into a goal, or move your arms in order to line up bridges to direct a moving stream of traffic. Like the older Brain Age title, you are given a pre-test, and your progress is recorded as you play. If you do better, the challenge increases, but if you start getting wrong answers, the challenge decreases. Content includes twenty activities designed to cover math, logic, reflex, memory and physical-related exercises. 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.
Here’s the slide I showed at EETC. 
Picture if you will, your ideal early childhood learning environment, say, in a daycare or a public preschool. Chances are, it is filled with developmentally appropriate materials. You have blocks, art supplies, room to move around and role play materials. But does your vision include an iPad in each area?
In this issue of CTR, we sketch out what such a preschool might look like, complete with base costs, logistical issues and a list of apps to support each learning area. It turns out for about $3000, you can greatly enhance a learning environment with five iPads, and for about $1,800 you can create a bare-bones model. See page 5.
This issue also contains a first look the 2011 tech toys, which we cover in more detail in this month’s LittleClickers column, on page 4. And tomorrow, we’ll see the next iPad! I’m predicting it will have a camera, better volume control and more ports. You can see my complete wish list here http://bit.ly/igunFH.
Built from the ground up for augmented reality — the Nintendo 3DS
Augmented reality (AR) has come up a lot in the past year, as cameras are married with motion detection hardware. Wikipedia defines AR as live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input. Last week, I spent two hours with the Nintendo 3DS and I think that Augmented Reality just might be Nintendo’s secret weapon for keeping a step ahead of the competition. I provide more details, here http://bit.ly/f4Pxt9).