A Review of Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show

Jackie and Kristina Wheeler

Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show is based on the popular Madeline character in books, videos, games, and cartoon series, “Adventures of Madeline.” This game begins by telling a story to set the stage for why Madeline must put together a puppet show. The story introduces the characters and tells everything that children need to find. It gives a few hints on where to find things — a VERY FEW! The goal of this game is to find everything needed to put on a puppet show.
Kids help Madeline find her cape (for theater curtains), collect balloons, dress puppets, paint backdrops, decorate and deliver invitations. The items are located in her house, her neighborhood, the city, and the park. Finding these items was fun, but some are hidden so cleverly that it becomes too challenging (and frustrating) to find them. We finally resorted to looking in the book for help on where the find all the balloons.

Other activities include painting the backdrop for the puppet show. Kids can choose which backdrop they want and paint it with a paintbrush, mix up new colors, or pour paint with a bucket!

Designing the invitations lets children explore their creativity by selecting different colors, type style, stamps, and stickers to use.

Dressing the puppets can be fun. First you have to find eyes for the puppets — then you can choose clothing and hair for each puppet — a boy, a girl, or an animal.

There are some vocabulary games where children can learn new words in French or Spanish. Kristina didn’t have much interest in this, but she’s only 5. There’s also a matching game where you match pictures, picture with French or Spanish words, or English, Spanish, and French words. This is a nice way to gently introduce a different language to young children.

When the big event (the puppet show) finally arrives — it’s almost a letdown. We worked so hard to find everything. Then the puppet show is over and that’s it! The game is over. No more levels to try, no other things to find, you just have to start over. The first time this game can be frustrating for all because it’s so hard to find everything. The problem with this game is that once you done it a couple of times, there’s no more challenge. It gets kind of boring. There’s lots of cute graphics, music, voices and sound effects, but nothing much out of the ordinary.

The creators of Madeline must have realized things were hard to find because they included an answer key in the instruction booklet. A getter way to have handled this would have been to include online clues and hints. This is done a little, but not enough, we found.

Other annoyances include very slow transitions between graphics and pictures, taking over my cursor and not letting me control when to move on, and sound that has lots of static in it. Kristina likes this game, but she doesn’t continue to play it over and over like she does with other games. No thumbs up on this one…

School House Scorecard

Product:	Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show
Company:	Creative Wonders P.O. Box 7532 San Mateo, CA 94403-7532 E-Mail: cwsupport@ea.com
Cost:	$40.00

System Requirements:

Windows:
486, 8MB RAM, 5MB hard disk space for hard drive installation.
Double-speed CD ROM drive, 256 SVGA card,
Windows-compatible sound card.
Windows 3.1 or higher with MS-DOS 5.0. Windows ‘95.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 2
Entertainment Value 3
Graphics 3
Sound 2

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/madeline-and-the-magnificent-puppet-show/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/title-of-big-job http://worldvillage.com/title-of-big-job#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=228 Running On Empty

A Review of Big Job

John Butterfield

It’s games! It’s music videos! It’s education!

It’s a mess.

It’s Big Job, a CD-ROM about big, big trucks, construction vehicles, farm equipment and fire and rescue engines from Discovery Channel Multimedia. The normally reliable folks at Discovery took a wrong turn with this confusing educational vehicle. They don’t lose their license to drive, but it’s time they went back to study the rules of the road.

Rated for ages 4 through 8, Big Job offers a chance to explore the world of big trucks and construction equipment. Well and good; anyone who’s tried to drag a hypnotized 5-year-old away from a construction site knows that monster trucks grip a child’s brain waves like four-wheel-drive Megazords.
But just because they’re hypnotized doesn’t mean the junior truck jockeys are brain dead. The best children’s multimedia has raised the standard of excellence so high that companies wishing to compete had best be ready to be the best in the field or break new ground. However, rather than excelling or innovating, Big Job piddles and imitates.

Utilizing the tired notion of a child’s clubhouse to introduce its activities, Big Job presents vehicles ranging from snorkel truck to combines, flatbeds to pumpers.
Animated guides, including a computer with a Brooklyn accent, a veddy proper robotic driving companion and a pair of chipper kids – steer the user through a look at big vehicles used by firefighters, farmers and construction workers. By exploring the options, guiding a vehicle down a winding road to encounter games and videos, and collecting “trading cards” (still shots of vehicles with statistics and accompanying 10-second video clips) children are supposed to soak up the big-rig experience.

Don’t bet the farm. By trying to be all things – game, kiddie-level reference, interactive medium and sit-and-watch documentary, Big Job loses its focus and underwhelms in almost all categories.
There are far better games than the nine derivative, repetitious gamelets that kids will find by driving through the Big Job’s countryside and examining their collected cards , or the several additional stand-alone gaming activities accessed from the clubhouse. Do the stacked-up veggies in “Grain Game” ring a bell? It’s “Tetris” gone green. Does “Winston’s Simsite” seem Sim-ilar to oh, “SimCity 2000?” Similar, but inferior – SimCity Lite. These games have been done before, and far, far better.

A similar watered-down quality affects the informational aspects of the disc. Yes, children can see heavy equipment in use – but only in short squibbets of full-motion video, or in a set of MTV-ish fast video cuts in four instantly forgettable music videos.

It’s a shame, because there’s plenty of room on the disc for additional text, diagrams, how-it-works information and the like, to make Big Job the jump-start to a child’s imagination that the better Discovery CD-ROMs can be.

Technically, the video is clear and smooth, the sound is excellent and the animation and artwork bright, cheery and fun. But that’s like chrome bumpers on a garbage truck. It may look pretty, but something still smells.

If you want to foster curiosity and imagination about big rigs, buy your kids a Tonka truck and let them bash around the sandbox. Better yet, take them down to the firehouse, or out to the countryside when spring planting is churning up the soil.

Just steer clear of Big Job.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Big Job
Company:	Discovery Communications, Inc. 7700 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814-3522 Phone: 301-986-1999 Phone: 1-800-762-2189 Technical Support: 1-800-780-6044 (8 a.m.-8 p.m. ET)
Cost:	$49.95

System Requirements:

P.C.:
486-25Mhz, double-speed CD-ROM,
4MB RAM (8 recommended), 256 colors

Macintosh:
Performa, Centris or PowerMac series computer,
System 7.0, double-speed CD-ROM,
4MB RAM (8 recommended), 256 colors.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 2
Learning Value 2
Entertainment Value 3
Graphics 4
Sound 5

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/title-of-big-job/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/grolier-multimedia-encyclopedia-of-science-fiction http://worldvillage.com/grolier-multimedia-encyclopedia-of-science-fiction#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=220 The Surf In Sci-Fi, But No Multi In The Media

A Review of Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

Nathan Bruinooge

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction has long been the standard-setter in
science
fiction reference; Grolier’s now brings us a multimedia CDROM with the same
material,
plus much more. Like the book form of the Encyclopedia , the CDROM provides
archives
of 300 science fiction books, old and new. It adds a number of images,
sounds, films,
hypertext, and search mechanisms–standard fare for multimedia encyclopedias.

Grolier’s divides the CDROM into helpful sections, though often it’s the same
information
being accessed via different routes. The Themes section contains articles,
media clips,
and links on subjects like ‘Space,’ ‘Life Forms,’ and ‘Mind & Spirit.’ The
Book Browser
provides easy access to a host of science fiction books, author information,
summaries,
and hypertext links.
The Time Machine is a detailed, graphical timeline of
the history
of science fiction, with, of course, plenty of links to other information on
the disk.
The Gallery is an archive of the (otherwise scattered) multimedia clips.
Finally,
there’s a detailed Word Search function and a Collections menu that allows
you to store
customized groups of articles and media information.

So why bother with the CDROM–what does it provide that the book won’t or
can’t? As with
the general multimedia encyclopedias, the answer boils down to one thing:
hypertext.
There’s nothing like following a trail from a familiar book, via link to its
author, to
someone more obscure, and on to undiscovered (and fascinating) country, at
the click of
a mouse. For a sci-fi fan, browsing this encyclopedia is like surfing the
‘Net; there’s
a seemingly infinite amount of material . . .

. . . as long as you’re talking about words. When it comes to the actual
multis of
media, this CDROM is thoroughly disappointing. Photographs of book covers
and authors
are numerous, but not particularly unusual–we’d expect that sort of thing
from a bound
encylopedia anyway.
The sound and Quicktime movie clips are a decidedly
uneven
and haphazard bunch of bites, ranging from the mildly interesting to the
inane. There’s
a disproportionate number of clips from what few (relatively obscure) science
fiction
authors Grolier’s could convince to chatter in the front of a camera or tape
recorder for
awhile. Meanwhile, more significant authors who normally aren’t media shy
are rarely
heard or seen, multimedia wise–Bradbury and Asimov are two examples.
Multimedia
encyclopedias have a long way to go before their multimedia information
becomes much
more than novelty, and this CDROM is no exception.

Visually, there’s some very attractive, surreal background art for the
various screens.
The interface is intuitive and elegant–it shouldn’t take long for anyone to
find
whatever information they’re looking for. In case anyone does have trouble,
there are
detailed help files. There are no sound effects for events on the interface
itself, but
I, for one, found this refreshing. I was a little disappointed with the
smoothness and
speed from screen to screen–I was running the program by itself in Win95
with 12mb of
RAM, and there was still a big of lag when switching between the major
sections or calling
up media clips.

Overall, this encyclopedia is a good quality program in a genre (multimedia
encyclopedias)
that is still finding its feet.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Company:	Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 90 Sherman Turnpike Danbury, CT 06816 Phone: 203-797-35350
Cost:	Not Available

System Requirements:

486dx/33 or better CPU,
Windows 3.1 (DOS version available),
MS-DOS 5.0 or better, 4 MB RAM, SVGA Display,
CD-ROM Drive and 3 MB Hard drive space.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 2
Sound 4

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/grolier-multimedia-encyclopedia-of-science-fiction/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/fun-school-in-space http://worldvillage.com/fun-school-in-space#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=193 Review Title

A Review of Fun School in Space

Rich Cunningham

In the film Mary Poppins, one line goes: "…in every job to be done,
there is an element of fun. You
find that fun, and snap, the job’s a game." The same analogy could be made
for this new game from the Expert
Software people. They have taken some basic, rudimentary school subjects
(math, spelling, geography, etc.) and,
by adding a space ship with a dinosaur, have created a game that is both fun
to play and even more fun to
watch.

The basic plot of the game is for the player to help the dinosaur named
Jasper and his human friends Johnny and
Sally explore several planets in outer space. Each planet contains different
adventures for the trio to solve.
Game play is almost entirely mouse driven, with the use of icons to control
game play. From controlling
factories to guiding the Blobs through tunnels, to racing through a maze to
bring new life to a deserted
planet, the game player will see, hear, and interact with so many fun things
that learning will cease to be a
job or chore, and become a voyage of discovery and learning.

There are 5 planets to visit, each with a different game:

• Mission Earth: as the operator of a taxi, you have to take paying customers
  to their destination; this is the geography game.

• Eco-Logic: a recycling game, which empasizes sorting and organizational
  skills.

• Mega Maths: in this game, you help Blobs find their way home, which is the
  solution to a math problem. Sound confusing? It is until you see it played. Then it is as clear as the
  sun. This game emphasizes math skills.

• Space Speak: a spelling, grammar, punctuation, and more game, in the style
  of an arcade pinball.

• Alien Art: a drawing program unlike any seen anywhere else.

These games are simple, yet varied to remain challenging. The graphics are
superb, as is the sound quality. The
manual is well written, with each game explained in simple terms, and a
special Parent Check section after
each game to explain what the game is emphasizing, and what the parent should
be aware of from the game. There
was an addendum that was included to point out differences in the product and
the manual. It is a small, but
complete booklet, so as not to get lost in the details of the game.

The only negative comment I can say about the game is that the introductions
are too wordy in their explanation
of the games. While the information is important, it did distract from my 7
and 9 year old’s interest in the
game. Since this game is on CD, an audible accompaniment to the on-screen
instructions would be nice. Outside
of that, I can’t think of a bad thing to say about the program. This is one
that will be enjoyed over and over
again by children. After all, how many games combine outer space and
dinosaurs?

School House Scorecard

Product:	Fun School in Space
Company:	Expert Software 800 Douglas Road Coral Gables, FL 33134 Phone: 305-567-9996 Fax: 305-569-1111
Cost:	Not Available

System Requirements:

386SX or higher running Windows 3.x, works with Windows 95;
4 MB of RAM or greater; 5MB of disk space or greater;
256 color SVGA video card; Mouse;
CD-ROM Drive(1x is sufficient); Printer;
8 bit Soundblaster-compatible sound card

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 3
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4
Sound 3

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/fun-school-in-space/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/at-bat-version-2-0 http://worldvillage.com/at-bat-version-2-0#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=190 At Bat Strikes Out!

A Review of At Bat (version 2.0)

Tina Velgos

Baseball is an American institution. Hot dogs, popcorn, soft drinks
and bubble gum…we’re talkin’ baseball! Bottom of the 9th, it’s anybody’s
ball game. Unfortunately, CrystalVision’s “At Bat” software strikes out
BIG time.

We struggled through the 55 pages of comic-book style graphics. The
flashing Page Turn button was really obnoxious, as was getting around to
the other sections of this software. Depending on whether you use a PC or
a Mac, you have to use Alt , Ctrl or Option keys to efficiently maneuver
around.

There wasn’t much to like about baseball-crazed siblings, Rudy and Joey and
their team, the Hawks. The text was full of stupid jokes and insulting
put-downs. Do I want to expose my kids to this stuff?
Nope. After playing
with this anything but educational software for over an hour, it was too
late. My four-year-old learned words like “weinie” (that’s the way it was
spelled in the CD-ROM!) and talked about “smacking that sucker”. I came to
the conclusion my favorite part of “At Bat” was the Quit button! Although
recommended for children of all ages, I wouldn’t let kids under 12 play “At
Bat”.

Unlike other interactive storybook titles, “At Bat” doesn’t encourage kids
to practice reading skills. In fact, we found more slang in the text than
anything. Words aren’t highlighted as they are read, either. There’s not
enough interactive features to keep the kids amused for long, either.
Another of my gripes was the weak narration….boring, boring, boring.

Six silly games and some basic “how-to’s” of baseball are included, as well
as some stats and a brief history of baseball. Games included Hurlman, The
Batter’s Box, Last Bat, X’s and O’s, Baseball Trivia and 10-Minute Warmup.
None of the games held our attention, as we tried to find something
redeeming about this software.

With comments like “Cheeze, we might be here all day” and “You wingnut”,
you and your kids are definitely better off without “At Bat”. Let’s see
some software that puts the ball straight over the plate. “At Bat” is OUT
of the question!

School House Scorecard

Product:	At Bat (version 2.0)
Company:	CrystalVision Software 2245 Camino Vida Roble Carlsbad, CA 92009 Phone: 800-931-1343
Cost:	$39.95

System Requirements:

Windows:
386 PC or compatible, 3.5 MB RAM (minimum),
Monitor capable of 256 colors at 640 x 480 resolution,
Video Adapter, Windows 3.1 or later,
Mouse or other Windows-compatible pointing device,
PC-compatible double speed or faster CD-ROM drive
and a Sound card.

Macintosh:
System 7.0 or later, 4 MB RAM (minimum),
13″ or larger monitor,
256 colors at 640 x 480 resolution or higher, Hard drive
and a Double-speed or faster CD-ROM drive.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 1
Learning Value 1
Entertainment Value 1
Graphics 1
Sound 1

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/at-bat-version-2-0/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/math-munchers-deluxe http://worldvillage.com/math-munchers-deluxe#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=188 Your Kids Will Eat Up Math Munchers

A Review of Math Munchers Deluxe

Tina Velgos

Visit any elementary school computer lab and you’ll find that one of
the most popular titles among kids ages 8 – 12 is MECC’s Muncher series.
Math Munchers Deluxe, hands down, is the most entertaining and motivating
kids’ math title yet!

Meet the zany green Munchers as they dance their way around a boffo 3-D
game board. Look out for the terrible Troggles, like Doggle, Slimey and the
crazy Crumbley sisters, though. They’ll eat the green Munchers, if you’re
not quick enough! Of course, if you want to seriously concentrate on the
math, you can choose an option to play Troggle-free! The sound effects are
hilarious, so get ready for some rip-roaring fun!

Kids also polish their math problem solving skills, as the Munchers rely on
kids’ math skills to help them trounce the Troggles. A great interactive
way for kids to build confidence in mathematics.

Math Munchers Deluxe lets kids select multi-level play capabilities for
grades 3 through 6. Although disguised as a zany game, this hot software
really tackles a wide area of mathematics. Kids will be exposed to
expressions, multiples, factors, primes, equivalents, mixed numbers and
simple geometry. This software allows kids to review familiar math
concepts they’ve learned in school and either practice at a comfortable
level or challenge their abilities as they race around the board, helping
their Munchers conquer the troublesome Troggles. Talk about Muncher mayhem!

Stefanie, a fifth grader, fell in love with Math Munchers Deluxe in less
than five minutes flat. She liked experimenting with the different levels
and agreed that the sixth grade level was a challenge. Math Munchers Deluxe
kept her at the edge of her seat for hours. Stefanie told me she liked the
hip audio and hot animation, while she thought that adding her name to the
Munchers Hall of Fame screen was “really awesome”.

Another interesting feature for kids was the ability to play the CD-ROM’s
audio track off a regular CD player (Track 2 only). Make sure you buy your
kids a good set of headphones unless you don’t mind hearing the song over
and over again!

Even though the battle between the Munchers and the Troggles is going
strong in our house, the real winner is Math Munchers Deluxe for proving
that math can be a blast!

School House Scorecard

Product:	Math Munchers Deluxe
Company:	MECC 6160 Summit Drive North Minneapolis, MN 55430-4003 Phone: 1-800-215-0368, ext. 348 or Phone: 1-800-685-MECC (6322), ext. 529 Phone In Canada: 1-800-663-7731 Internet: www.mecc.com/
Cost:	$29.95

System Requirements:

Windows:
IBM PC or compatible, 486/50 MHz processor or greater,
4 MB RAM, 8 MB RAM recommended,
(8 MB RAM required for Windows 95), SVGA color monitor,
256 colors, Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher,
MS-DOS 5.0 or later, Hard-disk space,
Mouse or other Windows-compatible pointing device,
Double speed or faster CD-ROM drive
and a Windows-compatible sound card.

Macintosh:
Apple Macintosh 68030 required (LC III or greater),
68040 required (LC, Performa 575 or greater), System 7.1 or later,
5 MB RAM required, 8 MB RAM recommended,
13″ or larger monitor, 256 colors at 640 x 480 resolution or higher,
Hard-disk space and a double-speed or faster CD-ROM drive.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 5
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 4
Sound 4

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/math-munchers-deluxe/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/bob-winkle-solves-lifes-greatest-mysteries http://worldvillage.com/bob-winkle-solves-lifes-greatest-mysteries#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=181 Learning Anatomy the Winkle Way

A Review of Bob Winkle Solves Life’s Greatest Mysteries

Ellen Adams

Bob Winkle Solves Life’s Greatest Mysteries from A.D.A.M. Software, Inc. may
be a mouthful to say, but it’s also a terrific child’s introduction to the
wonders of the human body.

Aimed at the junior high set, (recommended for kids 8 and older)
this richly illustrated CD-ROM, filled with cartoons, quick-time movies, and
an enthusiastic narration from balding, bespectacled British Bob Winkle, is a
lively way for kids to acquaint themselves with the mechanics of DNA and the
workings of the brain.

Navigation is simple and easy, either via menu bar (at the top of the screen)
or through screen graphics (As you boot up, Bob mounts a pile of books and
proffers a scroll from which the user can select "Body," "Curiosities,"
"Mind," or "Sickness.") "

Bob tackles puzzling yet rather pedestrian questions like, "Why do we
daydream? " and "What causes a headache? " but he also goes after some tough
ones, like: "What causes AIDS? " and "How does cancer spread? "

Each question is dealt with in an intelligent yet amusing manner.
Quick time movie vignettes introduce and frame each question.
The production values are top notch, too. Detailed medical illustrations of
the human skeleton are interspersed with cartoons illustrating home remedies.
Activities like stereoscopic pictures, matching games, carnival-style
balloon-shooting galleries reinforce the lessons children learn.

Kids can print the text summaries of the various questions, or consult an
on-line dictionary for clarification of terms. An index allows them to go
straight to certain topics, and they can use bookmarks to mark their places,
should they be interrupted.

Since some of the material could be considered too sensitive for the very
young, parents may wish to block out some segments with a special "content
locking" function.

This CD-ROM seems equally at home in a residential or educational setting.
Either place, kids are sure to have some fun, and learn about their bodies,
too.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Bob Winkle Solves Life’s Greatest Mysteries
Company:	A.D.A.M. Software 1600 RiverEdge Parkway, Suite 800 Atlanta, GA 30328
Cost:	Not Available

System Requirements:

Apple Macintosh 68030/25Mhz with System 7 and 8Mb RAM;
IBM PC 486
with Windows 3.1 or 95 and 8Mb or RAM. Double speed or faster
CD-ROM drive recommended.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 4
Sound 3

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/bob-winkle-solves-lifes-greatest-mysteries/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/nikolais-trains http://worldvillage.com/nikolais-trains#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=178 Too Old Or To Young???

A Review of Nikolai’s Trains

Karina Worlton

This interactive storybook tells of a boy named Nikolai and his toy cat
Neow-Neow. They embark on a train race in Nikolai’s imagination. Children
can choose to have the book read to them, or can explore each page one at a
time, in either English or Japanese. Each of the story’s 12 pages has many
animations. On seven of the pages, certain hot spots take the child into
informational screens, covering topics such as the secrets of the solar
system, the operation of a coal mine, the ecosystem, and the functions of
various train cars.

The graphics are not the usual bright, clear, simple, line drawings
designed to appeal to the very young. These are more like watercolors, with
imprecise rendering of some details. I imagine the age the product targets
(four to eight year olds) won’t mind and will probably even enjoy them. The
sound is clear, for the most part, and the music is pleasant, while the
story is interesting and fun.

I would probably have given this product a higher rating, simply for the
story value, if it weren’t for the additional educational material. I’m
completely in favor of “disguising” learning in a fun setting. However, in
my opinion, the educational material was too sophisticated for the story
used to present it. The simple story is read mainly by a young child, while
the technical educational information is read by a woman who sounds like a
science museum tour guide.
In the educational screens, the vocabulary is
more challenging, and the graphics more technical. This is not in and of
itself a problem, except that the product is aimed at four to eight year
olds. I asked two neighbor girls, aged 7 and 8 to test it. They both
loved the story, but thought the educational material was boring. I don’t
imagine a four-year-old would feel any differently. The target age could be
expanded to include, say, 10- or 12-year-olds, but they would probably be
bored by the story. The story and the educational material are mismatched.

Difficulty of use was the other major problem with the product. The cursor
did not change in any way to indicate where clicking would produce
animation.
Furthermore, the hot spots were often very small, making them
difficult for a child to select. For example, in the activity that teaches
time telling, if the child misses and clicks just to the side of a number on
the clock face, the educational activity screen closes and the child is
returned to the story page. The hot spot boundaries need to be larger for
this target audience.

I also found it difficult to understand some of the voices. “Nikolai” had
an accent, or perhaps a childish pronunciation of some words. A few of the
short animation sequences included high-pitched voices that sounded more
like squeals.

Finally, users cannot interrupt the automatic story reading in the explore
option. Children must listen to each page being read, before a cursor
appears to begin free page exploration. This does not encourage reading,
but keeps the emphasis on listening.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Nikolai’s Trains
Company:	The Corel CD HOME Product Line Manager Corel Corporation 1600 Carling Avenue Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7 Phone: 1-800-455-3169
Cost:	$39.95

System Requirements:

WINDOWS:
IBM PC or compatible 486, Windows 3.1,
MS DOS 5.0, 8MB RAM, Double speed CD-ROM drive,
Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound card.

MACINTOSH:
Macintosh LCIII, System 7.1 with Sound Manager,
8MB RAM, Double speed CD-ROM drive.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 2
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4
Sound 4

Overall Score:

]]> http://worldvillage.com/nikolais-trains/feed 0 http://worldvillage.com/shades-and-jbs-colors-and-shapes-workshop http://worldvillage.com/shades-and-jbs-colors-and-shapes-workshop#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:39:20 +0000 WorldVillage Software Reviews http://www.worldvillage.com/?p=176 Will It Go Round In Circles, Or Square, Or Hexagonal …..

A Review of Shades and JB’s Colors and Shapes Workshop

Rich Cunningham

When I was growing up in Southern Oregon, it was a treat to go to the
movies. We didn’t have much
television, and what we had was in black and white. So, going to the movies
and watching color movies and
cartoons was a real treat. And I still have a soft spot in my heart for
anything that presents itself in
vibrant, bold colors, especially a good computer program like the one I’m
going to discuss now.

The name of the program is called Shades and JB’s Color and Shapes Workshop.
It is part of a threesome of
programs that VTech SmartBytes have released for the 3 to 6 year old age
group. It’s purpose is to help the
user relate shapes and colors to everyday activities, and it does this by
playing several games, with the help
of the Masters of Ceremonies, Shades and JB.
Shades is a chameleon who can
change color to suit the occasion,
and JB is a jitterbug (get it…JB…jitterbug…..). Together they provide
the user interface that allows a
child to easlily understand the program. They also offer help and suggestions
when you are stuck in a game. JB
also helps you move from game to game, and Shades helps you keep track of
your progress in the game, via a
diploma chart.

The CD ROM based game starts with an introduction from the MC’s, then the
user has the option of choosing one
of 6 games. These games, called Workshop Activities are: Sing-a-long,
Coloring Book game, Find the Colors game,
Match the Shapes game, Build a Toy game, and The Pattern Game. Each of these
games teach a concept relating to
the game.
For example, The Coloring Book game reinforces color identification
as a child chooses colors for the
animated story characters and scenery; and the Match the Shapes game
encourages a child to recognize and name
primary shapes within a variety of scenes. The games are not very complex, as
the target age group of the
program is 3 to 6 years of age. At the end of each game, the user gets a
diploma from Shades that can be
printed out on a printer. It can also be used to track the progress
throughout the game. After getting the
diploma, you click on JB, and he recommends which game should be played next.

A nice feature of this program is the parental controls feature. It gives the
parent the abililty to configure
the program to suit their child, and perform the routine housekeeping chores
so the child doesn’t. This
includes setting up the included screen saver, adjusting the volume, and the
printer set-up, among other
things. It allows a parent to get hands on involvement with the program, and
enjoy it with their child.

The program installation was flawless under Windows 95, and performed with no
glitches or hang-ups. The
customer support number is included in all the literature, which tells me
they want to hear from their users
about problems. There was also a note that said the program had used the
Windows 95 beta , and while that
should not cause any problems, they wanted to be contacted if there were
problems.

All in all, this is a very good, solid program that doesn’t attempt to
accomplish too much, but does accomplish
what it sets out to do, which is help learn about colors and shapes. The
other two programs in this trilogy are
Shades and JB’s Alphabet Workshop, and Shades and JB’s Numbers Workshop.
Based on what I have seen from this
program, these 3 together would be a very good platform for a young computer
user to expand from.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Shades and JB’s Colors and Shapes Workshop
Company:	VTech Industries, Inc. 101 East Palantine Rd. Wheeling, IL 60090 Phone: 1-800-47-SMART IBM:
Cost:	$29.99

System Requirements:

IBM:
386DX-33 (486 recommended),
4 MB Ram (8 MB recommended), 2X CD ROM,
Windows 3.1 or greater, supports Windows 95 install,
SVGA 640×480, 256 color mode, Soundcard, and mouse.
No Macintosh version available.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 3
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 3
Sound 4

Overall Score:

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A Review of Strategy Games of the World

William T. Yates

Playing board games can be more than fun for you and your kids – it can be a
learning experience also! Edmark has packaged three classic games from around
the world: Nine-Man’s-Morris, Go-Moku, and Mancala, in an attractive package
designed to teach strategy development in real-world problem solving. Some of
these strategies are Model Building, Analysis, Pattern Recognition, Attention
Focussing, Elimination, and Reconsideration of Assumptions. A Dear Parents
file with a QuickTime video by Donna Stanger, Designer and Executive Producer
of this CD-ROM, presents valuable information on these games, strategies, and
how to help your child develop these skills. The accompanying User’s Guide
provides a good written explanation of the games and even provides a useful
troubleshooting guide (which proved unnecessary – I had no problems at all).

The games are playable on ten different skill levels and each have an
animated strategy coach who makes comments and suggestions during the course
of play. Occasionally, at an appropriate point in the game, a Real-Life
Strategy QuickTime movie is available in which someone (in one case, a stunt
man) explains the importance of a particular strategy in their real life
work. If you just want to play the games, the extra narration can be turned
off. You can play the computer or another player.
The screen opponents are
animated and show appropriate reactions to good and bad moves. There are
three different game environments for each game, depending upon the skill
level chosen. The higher skill level environments are more abstract, while
the lower level environments display animated people opponents. An
informative and interesting history of each game and background on the
environment in which that game is presented is available at a mouse click.

The animation and graphics are very well-done and the sound is very good. If
you are just interested in playing the games, you can find numerous freeware
and shareware versions of theses games available from various sources;
however, they operate at a basic level not always appropriate for young
children.
The animation and dialog in this package help to teach your child
to not only play the games, but also how to think about what is happening in
the games and how to develop and employ strategies to succeed.

School House Scorecard

Product:	Strategy Games of the World
Company:	Edmark Corporation P. O. Box 97021 Redmond, WA 98073-9721 Phone: 206-556-8484
Cost:	$40.00

System Requirements:

Macintosh:
System 7.0.1 or higher; 8 MB RAM;
256-color, 13″- monitor;2x-speed
or higher CD-ROM
PC:
Windows 3.1 (enhanced mode),
Windows 95, or later; 486/33MHz or better;
8 MB RAM; Super VGA,
640×480 (256 color) monitor; Hard disk with 2 MB free;
mouse; Windows-compatible sound output device

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 5
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 5
Sound 4

Overall Score:

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