Kotaku
oh so cute
Posts Tagged “
Kids Games
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oh so cute
life in plastic, it's fantastic!
Fascinating Yet Horrifying: The Barbie & Bratz MMOs
Barbie, everyone's favorite anatomically impossible plastic plaything now has her own MMO: BarbieGirls. Following in the footsteps of things like Club Penguin, just a lot pinker and more irritating, it's a brilliant marketing strategy and already boasts 4 million users. And they haven't even gone out of beta yet. And continue to sign up new users at the rate of 45,000 a day. Wow. Not to be left behind, Bratz - the trashier, more badly made up version of Barbie - is also opening their own Be-Bratz MMO. More »
cute and rich
Disney Pays A Lot of Money For Club Penguin
Club Penguin is a kid's MMO that features ridiculously cute and chubby penguins. It's gotten some press in the past couple of months, especially back in April when there was speculation over acquisition by a number of much bigger companies. Well, speculation is over - Disney has shelled out $350 million, and when the dust clears, that number could reach as high as $700 million over the next 3 years if profits increase. Not bad for a kid's MMO with limited advertising and a user base consisting entirely on kids dependent on their parents to cough up the monthly subscription fee. More »
capcom
Capcom Thinks Wii Is The Kiddy-Console
Who are Wii owners? Old people? Kids? My boss? (He just got a Wii, he's soooo excited.) Capcom knows who they ain't: The "mature playerbase." In a post over at the Capcom Forums, Capcom's Senior Director of Strategic Planning & Research Christian Svensson types: More »
bandai
Bandai Recalls Japanese Kiddie Games
Bandai's plug and plays are hot. No, really. The company is recalling 173,816 units from its "Let's TV Play" series. Apparently, the cords are faulty and even slightly burned a child. There have also been 17 reports of chords overheating and smoking. Last year, Bandai shipped 173, 816 units and sold 135, 816 of 'em. Unfortunate, because these plug and plays look pretty neat: Kids wear wrist straps (above) and their physical movements register in-game action. And after that, the cords heat up, fill living rooms with smoke and frighten kids. More »
ddr
DDR For Smelly Little Girls
Lock up your daughters! The plug n play Dance Dance Revolution: Strawberry Shortcake is out. And so is My First Dance Dance Revolution and Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix. Here's the skinny: My First DDR clocks in at 19 songs and has five character and four mini-games. DDR: Disney is a reworking of the rare PS1 title and includes Disney standards like "It's A Small World." And DDR: Strawberry Shortcake includes strawberry scented stickers! To keep those little sock moppets from stinking up their mats, we guess. More »
pokemon
The Pokemon Polka
pokemon
"Life-Like" Pikachu Cars for Japanese Children
For those unable to buy the real Pokemon VW Beetle, here are Pokemon toy cars. While Hot Wheels largely makes fantasy mini cars, Japan's Tomy makes realistic toy automobiles. From Hato tour buses and Japan Post mail trucks to Nissan Skylines and Honda Fits, Tomy's toy cars (called "Tomica") depict vehicles Japanese children are most likely to come in contact with everyday. Guess that explains these Pokemon wheels that come in yellow, blue and pink. They are a few years old, but I know that these toys are based off real autos like Toyota's Vitz. For the life of me, I cannot place them. A gold star to anyone who can.
only in japan
All Aboard for The Pikachu Train
At an astounding 98 train stations in the greater Tokyo area, Japanese children can collect seven Pokemon stamps in the "East Japan Railway Pokemon Stamp Rally 2006." Out for summer vacation, moppets have endless time and patient to travel around Tokyo and get special Pokemon railway books stamped. Goody bags and sunvisors are also handed out to kids. The busy JR Yamanote train has also been covered in Pocket Monster characters. The carriages will be decked out in Pokemon Ranger until August 15th, making the morning commute way cuter than it needs to be. More »
mattel
A Console for Pre-Pubescent Players
Mattel, the folks behind Nintendo's Power Glove and the Intellivision game console of yore, is back in the gaming saddle. The company is releasing a new game console called the Hyper Scan, which aimed at the "tween" (between 8 and 12 years old) market. Apparently, this bracket isn't quite ready for real hardware and needs training consoles. Um, okay. Sure. More »
top
men impressionable young girls. Love Sega for the Dreamcast. Hate them for this show.
More »
Sega Responsible for Worst Show on Japanese TV
mushi king
The Real Mushi King
Say hello to the Mushi King Terry. This Lucha libre mask wearing, golden turd caped wrestler is Sega's answer to I-don't-know-what-the-fuck. At an Tokyo event for the popular card game Mushi King, the wrestler made an appearance, oversaw the kiddy competition and hung out with some dude in a green cowboy outfit. The fighter's real name is Kotaro Suzuki, has a "Mushi King" rivalry with his arch nemesis Mushi King Joker and is even getting his own figurine. Ah, the face of Mushi King. With a golden turd. Fitting. More »
pokemon
Pokemon Train Pass
Japanese train company JR East has teamed up with Nintendo to offer the Pokemon Suica card. Standing for Super Urban Intelligent CArd, Suica is a RFID e-money train pass. Commuters press Suica cards on the ticket wicket reader, and the train fare is charged to their accounts. To encourage children to use the cards in lieu of traditional magnetic train passes, a special Pokemon Suica card will be offered. The card can be used at places like the Pokemon Center in Yokohama to charge all sorts of goodies and also to wisk children off to the JR Pokemon Stamp Rally. The original Pokemon design Suica card will be unveiled this July, and kids will go bonkers. More »
osaka games festa
