Just when you thought your kid was content enough with their own imagination, we have Nintendo to thank for Baby and Me Special Edition -- a new Wii game that promises to "bring your baby to life with your Wii remote."
Vivian Manning Schaffel: How? With a bizarro twist. This anatomically correct baby has a slot in its back for the Wiimote. Targeted at kids 3 and up, it uses motion control to gauge how successfully your kid manages to feed, burp, and do all those mommy-esque things they do with it. It comes complete with 18 play mode games that include a rattle, catching, clapping, and playing with balloons. The fantastical non-plus? A balance board that can be used to rock this child to sleep or teach it to walk.
First off, this doll is kinda creepy. Now that my kid is past the point of making these brain-splitting sounds herself, I've no particular burning desire to secure a device that brings it all back into my house, through a distorted Wii speaker, no less. And what if it breaks and gets stuck on a high-pitched wail? Does the "catch" game involve a window and a dumpster?
The virtual world of Wii was bound to find a way to capitalize on doll play at one point in time or another. And hey -- I'm the first to applaud innovation. But at the same time, I feel it's kind of a shame, because dolls -- even the mildly motorized ones -- require some quotient of your child's imagination. Maybe I'm an old-school purist, but I dig it when my kid has a conversation with her doll that's audibly one-sided. It means her wheels are turning.
What do you guys think? Is this something you'll get your kid, or are you a little skeeved out like I am?
 | Vivian Manning-Schaffel has written for Babble, Parenting, The Advocate, The New York Post, Business Week and a variety of other publications and lives and works in the heart of breeder Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. She authors two pop culture blogs: The Mad Mom and A Hag Supreme, and is on the web at vivianmanningschaffel.com. |
|
previous:
Save Money at the Grocery Store!
|
next:
Parents are Bad Drivers?
|
Email4 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
|  |
|||||||||||||||
|
advertisement
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 WIN IT! This new game has some serious bite!
Enter Here |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
advertisement
|
