Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix 3 (XBOX)

[GamerDad]

Andrew Bub's Dance Dance Revolution: Ultramix 3 (XBOX) article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=2818

[SiW]

I know it's a "more of the same" game, but you might want to update the Kid Factor to get rid of the Eyetoy mention for this Xbox title. Oh, and not call it Extreme. And not call DDR MAX 2 "recent" because 2 more PS2 games came out after it.

[happycamper]

I know it's a "more of the same" game, but you might want to update the Kid Factor to get rid of the Eyetoy mention for this Xbox title. Oh, and not call it Extreme. And not call DDR MAX 2 "recent" because 2 more PS2 games came out after it.

He must have been hitting the exercise mode too hard and gone all fuzzy in the head...

[GamerDad]

Fixed.
Too little to do and too much time to do it in. Or something. Scratch that and reverse it.

[hja]

Open question here. I have 4 and 2 year old girls. The older one is always asking to play a video game but she's just too young to be able to effectively play the games I have. And I don't want them playing halo anyway.

I've read about DDR but was wondering at what age children can comprehend the concept of dancing to a pattern on TV. Is the game intuitive enough for an 4 year old to pick up? At what age would it make sense for her to start?

I've never seen the game so all I have to go on is word of mouth.

Of course as soon as the older one does something, the younger one wants to do it too. I don't want to introduce something that only one can play or else the fights start.

Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?

[GamerDad]

In my experience, no. You're much better off with an Eye Toy and Play, Play 2, or Nicktoons Movin' at these ages. I think 6 or so is when the co-ordination gets good enough for DDR and even then, you're better off with the out of print Jungle Book Disney DDR game for Ps2 or the new DDR Mario for GameCube.

I don't DDR when the kids are around, but that's mainly because it's really easy for a kid to get squashed by wandering too close to the pad!

[txa1265]

Open question here. I have 4 and 2 year old girls. The older one is always asking to play a video game but she's just too young to be able to effectively play the games I have. And I don't want them playing halo anyway.

Depending on whether or not they are 'hams', you might want to opt for a Karaoke system - nifty stand-alone systems have a CD & cassette, with two microphones, and outputs for audio and video. If you get the CD+G you get the stuff onscreen, but even without it is just fun for kids to sing and dance and jump around ...

Mike

[GamerDad]

Eye Toy lets them do that on TV!
The problem with Karaoke is, unless your kids are pop culture sponges already, a 4 and 2 year old aren't going to be able to do much, karaoke-wise, than make up words as they go along. It kind of requires reading.

Karaoke Revolution Party, which is a videogame, comes with a real microphone and uses Eye Toy to put the kid onscreen. Add in a dance pad (no joke) and give the other kid a fake guitar and --- you're getting the band back together man!

[txa1265]

Eye Toy lets them do that on TV!

Excellent ... I hadn't refreshed the thread after seeing the original post, so didn't notice your reply. From what I've seen / heard, Eyetoy is a blast, something we'd surely have ... if we had a PS2 ...

Mike

[SiW]

Even on the easiest level, the DDR arrows are going to be flying by, and if your children are still sometimes confusing left and right it would be particularly frustrating. However, if you're getting DDR for someone else in the house (older kids, yourself) and the younger kids want to join in, I don't think that's too bad as long as you turn off the crowd booing and switch the game over mode to let you finish the song.

But yeah, another vote for EyeToy from me. Some of the minigames might be a little harder for the young children, but there's something there for everyone. It wasn't GamerDad's 2003 Game of the Year for nothing.

[Guest]

Open question here. I have 4 and 2 year old girls. The older one is always asking to play a video game but she's just too young to be able to effectively play the games I have. And I don't want them playing halo anyway.

I've read about DDR but was wondering at what age children can comprehend the concept of dancing to a pattern on TV. Is the game intuitive enough for an 4 year old to pick up? At what age would it make sense for her to start?

I've never seen the game so all I have to go on is word of mouth.

Of course as soon as the older one does something, the younger one wants to do it too. I don't want to introduce something that only one can play or else the fights start.

Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?

My daughter is 4 and has been playing video games since she was 18 months. You have a lot of options. You say you have Halo so I'm assuming you have an XBox which limits you a bit in terms of what's available for kids.

Legos Star Wars is fun and you can play that with her as it allows 2 players (if you don't mind the gun concept). It's adorable. Mia's favorite is Ty the Tasmanian Tiger and I think it's on all platforms. You can start with the first one like we did and progress to the others. Ty throws boomerangs.

For Game Cube (which in my opinion is the best console for kids, you might try Mario Kart Double Dash as you can all play and your little one can have a controller too but not impact the game...also Kirby Air Ride, is pretty much infallable for kids (you won't really LOVE playing it). Animal Crossing is good for just running around. Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure is very good.

She likes Sly Cooper for PS2 and Ratchet and Clank and I let her play those because there is absolutely no blood. NOTE that these are both rated "T" so it's really up to you if you think it's appropriate. She's been playing Sly with Daddy for a long time and just started playing Ratchet with me (the first one) Piglet's Big Game is very good. We just finished Curious George and Mia likes it a lot, but it's not really a great game. We're playing Dora Purple Planet right now and it's completely child proof. Mia loves it and I haven't gotten to even touch the controller as she can do everything herself.

From a purely KID perpective, you cannot beat the VSmile. It's best to use on small TVs for good graphics and has great titles. Winnie the Pooh, Lion King, Care Bears, and Blue's Clues are Mia's favorites. It has big controllers that are reversible for lefties and the kids both play and the game "takes turns" for them so there's no fighting. (On the big people consoles, we use a timer so Mia and Daddy don't get into a fight )
This also has the portable system for your car etc which plays all the same games which is WAY COOL.

Let me know if you need more information. I could write a book on all the consoles for this age group. Hope this helps.

Stacy

[mamafox]

Rats. That last post was from me, btw. Lurking as a Guest I suppose.

S