Nickelodeon and Imagination Inc. are rolling out TV trivia games, each contained on a DVD, that use thousands of clips from Nickelodeon cartoons to test kids' knowledge of the shows. Players scroll through the questions with the DVD remote control, all the while prodded by popular TV characters. Disney's Scene It?, another DVD trivia game, falls into this category as well.
To make the experience different every time, all of the toys' responses -- and in the case of the educational games, their questions -- are constantly reshuffled.
With InteracTV by Fisher-Price, kids answer questions from characters like Dora the Explorer.
(Richard Drew -- AP)
|
|
Manufacturers say the new wave of TV-interactive toys is turning the passive experience of sitting in front of the television into a chance for engaging play.
On the PBS show "Sesame Street," Elmo may ask a child to add 2 plus 2. But with InteracTV, the child can answer the same question on a touchpad and hear Elmo's feedback for a wrong answer.
During an episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants" on Nickelodeon, kids can sit back and watch their absorbent hero flip patties at the local burger joint, the Krusty Krab. But with SpongeBob SquarePants Fact or Fishy, a true-or-false DVD game, the character asks players detailed questions about the restaurant -- and players can cue an old scene to see if they were right or wrong.
All this interaction will cost consumers. The Batwave TV-activated Batmobile costs $50, while another Mattel version of the car, the Batman Animated Batmobile -- with lights, sound and ejectable missiles -- retails for $20.
Beyond the cost, though, critics worry that the toys represent yet another effort to turn kids into couch potatoes. American children between ages 2 and 17 already watch an average of 25 hours of television a week, or 3.5 hours a day, according to the National Institute of Media and Family, a watchdog group.
Not all the TV-driven toys require kids to watch TV -- for example, Serafina, the Barbie toy, talks and moves even when she isn't prompted by a movie -- but toy industry analysts say they still encourage TV viewing, explicitly or not.
"These kids need to get outside and play with their friends, not spend any more time in front of the TV," said Marianne Szymanski, creator of Milwaukee-based Toy Tips Inc., an independent research firm, and author of "Toy Tips: A Parent's Essential Guide to Smart Toy Choices."
For others, the trouble with the new TV toys is that they reinforce the same images and narratives kids already see on screen, creating a childhood overrun by Elmo, Scooby-Doo and good old SpongeBob.
