Leapfrog's Leapster Explorer

We were in the store recently and Matthew found the display for the new Leapster Explorer.  We weren't in any hurry that day, so I allowed him to play with the display model for a while to see if he liked it.  Well, he loved it!  He was able to try out Toy Story 3 and Penguins of Madagascar.  Both games are appropriate for his age, and challenge him to learn new things.

Matthew already had a Vtech V.Smile Pocket that we got him 2 years ago and he also had the Vtech Vmotion system that hooks up to the TV.   We made a deal that he had to go through the games that he no longer plays and sell them and his V.Smile Pocket on ebay to earn the money for the new Leapster Explorer.  He was able to earn enough money to buy the system and a new game!  He chose Toy Story 3. 

Leapfrog also offers LeapFrog Connect.  This allows you to hook up the Leapfrog Explorer for added content.  I was able to also download demo versions of The Penguins of Madagascar and Mr. Pencil Saves Doodleburg.  You can also buy Leaplet cards to download more games, ebooks, videos and more.





 Parents can also see their child's progress on the Learning Path.  You can view the results in a few differen ways.  You are able to see the amount of time that the child has played the game, the types of questions they answered, the percentage they answered correctly, and more.

I love being able to see his progress.  And I can utilize this as a way to reinforce and supplement some of the skills he is learning in preschool and at home.  There are characters that he loves and it fosters an interest in learning.  In the past, I have allowed him to play Nintendo DS, but what I have found with him is that it tends to lead to aggressive behavior when he reaches levels that he can not beat.  The Leapster Explorer adapts to your child's level.  So the content will remain challenging and encouraging without becoming impossible.  It also integrates with online content that we can play together in Leap World.  His favorite right now is a game with a scale where you balance the weight of various things or people.  He thinks it's funny to put an Ape, dog and Piano on one side and a bowling ball, mouse, and motorcyle on the other.  But he learning also about weights and measures because he sees the heavier side go down.  There is also a mode where they give you two objects and you choose which is heavier.  Another game involves sorting items for recycling by paper, plasic, or aluminum.  Which is a skill he can use at home in real life too.

Overall, a very good toy.  It's regular retail price is $69.99.  There are plenty of sales and coupons out there as well.  I used two coupons at Target while it was on sale and got it for $39.99 using a Target coupon and a Manufacturer's coupon. There is a $10 coupon on the back of some of the falvored Cheerios boxes right now.

This mom approves this toy!

Leapfrog Customer Care

After a long stretch of bad luck, I finally found good customer care!  Leapfrog went above and beyond to help a rather loyal customer of theirs.  We have plenty of Leapfrog toys in our home.  To fully appreciate what Leapfrog did for us, let me tell you the story of my Leapfrog Didj.

I purchased my son's black Star Wars version of the Didj direct from the Leapfrog website in November 2008. I also got two games - the Star Wars game and the Foster's game. It was pre-loaded with Jet Pack Heroes. It worked fine for several months. I do not remember exactly when, but I do believe it was probably last June 2009 that I hooked it up to the Leapfrog Connect website to check progress, etc. I was required to run an update. After the update, the Didj wouldn't work at all. First, it just wouldn't read cartidges, so I ran it again, thinking perhaps I disconnected too soon or something. After I ran it again, It didn't power back up. I tried changing to new batteries and that didn't work. I tried looking up similar problems to see if there was a fix or something that others experienced. I didn't have time to call customer care about it, so I put it up on a shelf so that my son wouldn't see it (out of sight out of mind - he's three. And yes, he actually does play the games on his own). I somehow managed to also forget where I put it.

I finally just found it last month. I had put it on a shelf completely out of my own view. Now that I had it again, I put fresh batteries in it and hooked it up to the computer to try and see if a brand new update might fix the problem. When it was plugged into the computer, it did power on. I was able to run the update and my son could play Jetpack heroes because it was pre-loaded on to the system, but he couldn't play the cartidge games,  I tried cleaning the cartridge, but that didn't seem to work. I just get the little Didj character scratching his head telling me that he can't read the cartridge.

I happened to post about it on the Facebook fan page and the nice gal that moderates the Facebook page suggested that I call customer care for a replacement.  I was suprised because I felt that it had really been too long to expect anything from Leapfrog.   But I gave it a try.  Basically, they told me that since it was out of the 90 day warranty, I was out of luck.  So, just to keep the Facebook moderator in the loop, I told her what had happened when I contacted customer care.  She then took it into her own hands and I had a new Didj in my hands within a week!

The timing was pretty good because as you may have noticed from a previous post, we are having our living room repaired.  So this "new" toy will hopefully help to keep his mind off of the fact that our house is in complete disarray!  He was pretty excited to get his Star Wars game in there and start playing again.

Matthew was really happy to see his new Star Wars Didj.  Hopefully this one will last a lot longer!  He has already started to download new micromods and spend his rewards.  I only wish I knew how to transfer the things he had earned on the old Didj.

VTech's new MobiGo

I have been reading a lot of reviews on the Vtech MobiGo which is slated to be released in August.  (It's already available at Toys R Us).  It seems like a pretty neat toy.  My son saw some of the demo videos online and we looked at the list of game titles that will be available.  He has informed me that he wants the Superhero Squad game for his birthday.  I thought it was even more cute to find out that he wants it because his daddy (a police officer) works with Spiderman to fight the bad guys. We went to Toys R Us last weekend and saw the demo version in the store.  I'd like to get it for him, but we do already have the VMotion and the VSmile Pocket.  He really enjoys those games and they are not compatible with the new system.  It will be a tough decision to invest the money on a new game system.  He does already also have a Nintendo DS, but I'd rather have him put that aside for a little while and play more age-appropriate games.

   

Should a toddler be allowed to play with a Nintendo DS?

When my son was just under two years old, I was playing Super Mario Brothers on MY Nintendo DS.  It was never intended for him.  After watching me play the game once, he wanted to give it a try.  I figured that he would get bored with it pretty quickly, so I let him have a try.  My to my amazement, he played the game well from the very start!  I thought it was amusing and amazing!!  So that Christmas, I got him the Leapster.  I figured that it would be a good alternative for him.  Well, the downside is that because he was only two years old, he doesn't know Math or how to read, which is somewhat required for all Leapster games.  Drat!  The Nintendo DS is so much easier because there are plenty of E rated games that do not require reading.  So after my husband got me a new DS for Christmas, I decided to give my old one to our son.

Well, it has snowballed since then.  He is still only three years old now, but he can play Nintendo DS games like a champ.  He plays much better than I do.  (No, I am not jealous.)  But sometimes I wonder if this can be a bad thing.  It certainly has it's ups and downs.

I have noticed that with certain games he can become a bit more aggressive, so I do try to steer clear of those games.  I have tried to steer him toward the Leapster games, but that attempt has failed most of the times.  Sure, he plays his Leapster sometimes, but not as much as that Nintendo DS.  It's good for long car rides and getting him to sit still in a restaurant for longer than five minutes.

I don't allow him to take it to social gatherings, such as a family get-together for the holidays.  But that really doesn't help when most of the bigger kids have brought their DS with them.  I feel like a family gathering is for socializing with people, not for burying your head in a video game, which is what he would do.  But when he sees the other kids with their game systems, the only thing he wants to do is have a turn with it.  And when that kid doesn't want to share their DS (which is totally their call), then all heck breaks loose.  My three year old is being taught to share and now this older kid is not sharing.  Oy-vey!  Now what?

I am not about to give in and let him bring his DS with him.  There is just too much that can go wrong in that scenario.  And I am trying to get him interested in other things so that he doesn't become a video game junkie. 

But I do have to admit that sometimes it is nice to have a long stretch of time to do laundry or something while he's playing a round of Kirby.

My Review of Vtech V.Smile V-Motion TV Learning System - Blue

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The V-Smile V-Motion Active Learning System by Vtech is a brilliant breakthrough gaming console that combines wireless motion-activated play, web connectivity, and educational gaming into a system that plugs directly into your TV. Your children will love the wireless action-packed play that guides ...

Vtech V.Smile V-Motion TV Learning System - Blue

Good when it works

By Vicki from Parma, OH on 12/15/2009

3out of 5

Pros: Educational, Engaging, Interactive
Cons: Works inconsistently
Best Uses: Entertainment, Young Children
Describe Yourself: Education Oriented, First Time Parent, Working Parent

I bought this in May 2009 for our son. It worked great for the first few months, then it started having problems. I called Vtech and they told me how to re-set the thing. (unplug everything, hold in the power button for 30 seconds, plug it all back in). I found myself constantly calling Vtech. It would work for one game and then I'd have to do the whole re-set thing every time he swapped games. After about 6 or 7 different calls to Vtech, they finally had me send the system to them and replaced it with a new one. I got the new one yesterday, so we'll see how long it lasts. My son likes the games and we probably have about a dozen different games. I don't expect much for graphics on this, so that's not a big deal. I just shouldn't have to disconnect everything and re-set it every time he wants to switch games (and hope it powers back on)

(legalese)