Soap Suds
I Want It and I Want It Now
by Ty Brewer
January 1998Yes, another year is upon us, and now is the time to profess my desires. Yes, desires. You see, I didnÆt get what I wanted last year. Forget what the Rolling Stones say, I didn't even get what I needed. This year, my goal is to get what I want.
I Want More Games for Pre-Schoolers!
I have a two and a half year-old daughter. She can operate her Microsoft EasyBall with the best of them. Yet she has only one game she can play. Why? Well sir, that is the question!
The problem here isnÆt a lack of titles, itÆs a lack of quality titles. Most of the pre-school titles I see require close parental interaction to keep the kid on track. Other titles frustrate the child who taps their mouse button too frequently. Other titles railroad the child into one task (and we all know the attention span of a two year old!). As much as I loved Tuneland, my daughter clicked too often for the game to be useful.
The Problem Defined
Kids are very different than adults in ability, attention, and buying power. Consider this: as an adult, I may like the game Quake. The target audience for Quake is anywhere from 14 to 34 (a 20 year span). Consider the kid's game Lego Island: the target audience is much more compact (claimed to be ages 6-12). Younger children lack the cognitive ability or the motor skills to play the game. Older are easily bored with the concept. But still, the parents go off and buy this because they remember how much fun they had with Legos.
The problem, then: it is extremely difficult to make good kidÆs games. Rather than complain, I offer advice, ala, The LIST.
The List
Games for Kids under 4
- a.. Characters that the kids already know (Barney, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and my favorite: Pinky and the Brain)
- b.. Repetitive instructions so parents don't have to say it
- c.. Intelligent Mouse Clicking
- a.. Some content gets repetitive and you just want to click to stop the character from speaking
- b.. Some content should ignore mouse clicks by impatient kids and keep playing
- c.. The important issue: not every click should be the same
- a.. Fewer unfamiliar songs
- b.. Wider variety of activities
Games for Kids 4-7
- a.. Better interfaces that guide the children along
- b.. More fun - less education
- c.. No Full-Motion Video - and I mean it!
- d.. Exposure to educational content, but not the central theme of the program
Games for Kids 8-12
- a.. More fun - less education
- b.. More interactive and associative educational games
- c.. No Full-Motion Video
- d.. And I know parents will hate me for this, but more gross and ickey stuff û kids love that!
IÆll review this list from time to time, making changes where necessary, but with the long-term goal of finding better titles for my children - and yours.
Got a question or suggestion? Email Ty!
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