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[title]Video-game publisher Activision held a summit last month in Elk Grove Village to introduce new games specifically for girls. We have a pretty good idea of why girls will like them, so we decided to test them with a tougher critic: a nine-year-old boy (my son Basil). Here they are, along with the his reaction to the (pink) bag of goodies for girls.
Game overview It’s a video game, but it’s also an electronic pet. In Home Mode, players can communicate with their Wappy Dog through the game console, asking the physical toy dog to perform tricks (such as singing and dancing) and play mini games with the dog. In Travel Mode, players can tell the physical dog to “sleep” while kids continue to play and customize their virtual dog via the console, then sync the two up later.
Why your girl will love it Pet lovers will adore the realistic qualities of the Wappy Dog, who responds to touch and sounds. More than 18 conversational prompts are recognizable by the dog, and the player’s level of attention to the toy determines its short-term mood and happiness. It’s like having a dog…without having to feed it or clean up.
What our boy had to say “It’s awesome because you can play with the dog or put the game into travel mode and play mini games and do stuff while the dog is asleep. I think it also probably helps you figure out how much work a dog really would be. Except for walking the dog and having to clean up dog poop. But I don’t think a game would be fun if all you were doing was walking around and picking up poop all the time.”
All games are for the Nintendo DS platform and available in stores now.