I can’t understand it. We are supposed to be raising the ‘Internet Generation’ - children who are completely at home with technology, PCs and the Internet. However, I’m still amazed at the dearth of kid’s software that I can find for my children for either the PC, the Xbox or the Pocket PC.
Since Matt introduced me to the wonder that is XBMC (Xbox Media Centre) I’ve really been enjoying playing with my £20 pre-owned original black Xbox. It has, however, been a trial to find child-friendly software that my 3 and 6 year-olds can truly play. We quite enjoy a bit of Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, and they don’t mind Burnout 3 because the whole idea is crashing!! However, a lot of the software is still too difficult to control for them, or simply not interesting for them.
A friend we visitied recently has Buzz! Jungle or something like that, and I have to say that was brilliant - lots of fun for all of us, and the right level. It would be perfectly playable with a normal controller, and I can’t believe there isn’t anything for Xbox that’s similar - am I looking in the wrong place?
I find the same problems with an old Pocket PC that I let my 6 year-old have to play with. She loves sketching and making notes, but I’d like to give her something like the games you can get on the Nintendo DS - like Brain Training or something. The PPC would be so ideal for that kind of interaction. I’m trying a few freeware things I’ve download recently and will see how they look.
It’s not just games. Alice is due her SATs this May, and we’ve bought a couple of test books to look at to understand what they will be expecting of her. A lot of the material is basic maths and comprehension - again perfect material for computer software to deliver. A bit of creativity could even make this stuff fun. Is there a gap in the market, or am I just missing this stuff?
If anyone reading has any suggestions, please let me know. If they sound good, I’ll test them on Alice and give you some real user feedback!!
Dan
