A new handheld system: the Leapster?

[josekortez]

I just saw a toy commercial I've seen a hundred times, but I never really paid attention to it. The Leapfrog Company that makes educational toys for kids has what looks like a handheld video-game system for kids called the Leapster. The thing was shaped like a Game Boy Advance and had A and B buttons and a D-pad. The commercial says it plays games and video clips that come on cartridges. When I worked for a toy store, the Leap Pad stuff was really popular, so I would assume that this thing will become popular, too.

Does anyone have the Leapster, or will anybody here buy this system or collect for it? And, more importantly, will the Leapster receive more respect than the n-gage and the Game.com combined?

[§ Gideon §]

As far as respect goes, I get the impression that in many parents' minds, "Leapfrog" products can do no wrong.

Game.com? What's that??? heh... *cues Rodney Dangerfield* "No respect!"

[Ze_ro]

will the Leapster receive more respect than the n-gage and the Game.com combined?

Shouldn't be too hard... :roll:

Seriously, if I buy another handheld, it'll likely be a Zodiac (http://www.tapwave.com).

--Zero

[josekortez]

bumped for the hell of it.

[The Unknown Gamer]

Aren't kids toys getting cooler or what...

I am planning to buy one for myself and I aint no kid...

[punkoffgirl]

Hmm.. I didn't realize they played games. My brother & sister-in-law were looking to get one for my niece this Christmas, as a step up from the LeapPad or whatever the other is called. I just figured it was another learning tool.

[ventrra]

I just saw a toy commercial I've seen a hundred times, but I never really paid attention to it. The Leapfrog Company that makes educational toys for kids has what looks like a handheld video-game system for kids called the Leapster. The thing was shaped like a Game Boy Advance and had A and B buttons and a D-pad. The commercial says it plays games and video clips that come on cartridges.
I saw those commercials myself. I looks to be an interesting sort of edutainment system.


Does anyone have the Leapster, or will anybody here buy this system or collect for it?I don't have one, yet, but eventually I'll look into it. It's just too odd of a system to ignore. LOL


And, more importantly, will the Leapster receive more respect than the n-gage and the Game.com combined?
I'm not sure that's relevant. I never worry about how much "respect" a system or game gets, just how much I pesonally like it.

[Slipdeath]

its like a handheld pico in my opinion

[slapdash]

Aren't kids toys getting cooler or what...

This is a little off-topic (though I will try to reign it in toward the end), but has anyone seen the Thintronics stuff? Imagine a phone and a radio that are maybe 1/4 - 1/2 an inch thinck, but blown up to a couple feet tall/wide, so you hang it on your wall. I find those pretty cool, though I wonder how good the speakers (& mic for the phone) really are.

Wonder how many years it will be before there are Thintronics TVs and/or videogames...

[pango]

hmm...on to my next project. The Pirate Leapster!

[josekortez]

Hi guys,

Because I started this odd thread, I figured I should update it.

I checked out a Leapster demo unit in a Target today. The system itself is much larger than a Game Boy, and I think the screen is brighter than the original Game Boy Advance. The video clips were well-animated, but the games are pretty simple-looking. For instance, there was a Frogger rip-off with numbers playing on this demo. From what I can tell, all the software is educational.

The system with a pack-in cartridge was going for $79.99, and the games were going for $24.99 each.

[Oobgarm]

Oddly, I actually had a customer come into GameStop over the weekend and ask if we carried the system/games.

[rbudrick]

Lol...I was going to post about this system, but I said, awww, screw it.

Hasn't Wal-Mart carries manmy edutainment systems before that were largely ignored? I remember A LOT of them. Most of em looked like laptop wannabes that took cartridges.

This is just the first one that happens to look gameboy-ish.

So....were these systems ignored in the guide because they are edutainment, or maybe because they were not mainstream, or because there's so many of these weird little systems that they complicate the DP guide to a degree Joe et al don't want to get into. Sorry for stirring up crap....I'm just curious as to why...I mean, who isn't going to snag these types of systems at a yard sale if they see one? Hey, the Pico is in the guide, but that's just cuz it's Sega!!

-Rob

[Duncan]

VTech, makers of their own little-known Creativision system during the 1980s, have been turning out just these sorts of edutainer products for quite some time. Most of them are of a very simple dot-matrix layout (with far less resolution than an original Game Boy or the Game.com), but they do allow cartridge ROMs to be added in order to upgrade the learning/fun experience when needed.

LeapFrog is a newish player in the educational toy business, but their groundbreaking LeapPad (a tablet-style device that helps kids learn to read) has proven to be something of a phenomenon. So it's no surprise that the Leapster, which looks to be a much more serious piece of hardware, is getting good reviews. I have not yet played the little wonder, but the demo I saw at Toys 'R Us looked kind of impressive.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that all these sorts of edutainment systems qualify for inclusion in the realm of video games -- assuming that they meet the Guide's criteria of involving at least some kind of "game" program and are not strictly educational.

As to why they haven't been looked at until now, my guess is that no one in the collecting realm had paid any attention to them until they started getting more sophisticated -- like the Leapster, which to me screams "game" much more than it does "education". I'm guessing this thing is probably a big hit among the kids who have it.

And I'm also guessing it's only a matter of time before someone begins to look into porting some actual games into this hardware. :P And wouldn't Frogger be a no-brainer? Get Konami on the phone, stat!

[ARCZero]

Well, first off the Leapster is recommended for children four to eight years old. Secondly its primary purpose is as a learning tool. Don't expect any Mario or RPG games for this system.

I picked one of these up for my eight year old son. I ended up paying $20 at a Goodwill for a decently working unit. My son is a typical eight year old - watches all the Cartoon Network Japanese daytime cartoons, loves his PS2 and Gamecube, and is adverse to homework. I've been trying to get him into more educational type of stuff, and have used tricks such as rewarding him for reading books. He approaches the Leapster as a handheld video game system and it's a great trick to self-motivate him into learning. I've only given him the built-in cartridge so far, which consists of educational games. The best one is a frogger clone that has your kid doing math problems as he plays frogger. Other games include a memory game, tangograms, and coloring. I picked up another cart that teaches kids how to draw and write better. As far as I can tell all the carts have an educational bent to them.

The unit itself is fairly well made. It takes four AA batteries, has a screen protector, and is ergonomic. The sound is decent, but the screen isn't very high resolution. However, the screen is bright and it serves its purpose. Also, the screen is a touch screen.

As a 29 year old avid video gamer and collector myself (I have less than 50 NES games to complete my NES US cart collection excl Sachens), I would not consider this for myself. I wouldn't recommend it for adults and I don't forsee it becoming a highly valued collectible. Actually, I'd think any adult that purchased this unit for themselves to play has issues O_O

However, this is a great great great tool for helping your young kids with their education.

- ARCZero