WIRED: good use of touch screen interface, pack-in jumbo stylus and wrist strap, lots of spoken dialog from Cookie Monster and Big Bird And at nearly $10 less than its big brother, it is truly the wiser choice for those looking to give the gift of gaming to the pre-schoolers on their list this holiday season. It might not be game-of-the-year material, but it's a solid educational offering wrapped up in Sesame Street charm. While not nearly as ambitious as the Wii title, Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival for the DS succeeds by fine-tuning its approach. This doesn't make for the most varied and compelling game play, but at least it works. ![]() With rare exception – kids actually need to blow into the DSmicrophone to inflate balloons in the carnival's Food Court – players need simply tap the correct answer to each exercise with the stylus. More importantly, these topics are aided by a super-simple control scheme. Though *Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival *does lose some points for forgoing the regular plastic retail box in favor of a cardboard sleeve, it does include a jumbo click-style stylus that's perfect for little hands and a wrist strap to add an additional level of system safety.Ĭontent-wise Cookie and Bird teach tykes a lot about number identification, pattern recognition, relational concepts and spatial reasoning. The same can be said for the game's pack-in bonuses. That being said, the diminutive nature of handheld gaming does make this trespass a bit more forgivable. Once again it shows that developer Black Lantern falls into the same trap of other kids game creators by dumbing down the visual representation for an audience that (admittedly) has very little in the way of a point of acceptable reference. Kids guide Big Bird and Cookie Monster through a series of carnival-themed mathematics exercises and receive golden cookies for their effort – what's not to love? My review copy of * Sesame Street: Cookie's Counting Carnival *included the same level of parental control and statistical overviews as its big brother on the Wii, but with none of the controller headaches. Interestingly enough, the DS iterations of this series seem to fare a bit better. Sadly, this isn't the only place where the control scheme falters. Unfortunately, in addition to covering unused buttons this also blocks the remote's infrared pointer, making it an unbelievable pain to try and launch the game from the menu screen with the cover in place. In Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure, for example, a branded, non-skid Elmo cozy makes it easy for younger players to grasp the Wii-mote for game play. Unnecessary buttons are covered by a character-themed Wii remote plushie that hides all but the center array (the -, Home and + buttons used for system navigation) and the 2 button (used to confirm in-game selections). On paper the true selling point of the Wii incarnations is a simplified control scheme that removes a lot of the more complicated gesture controls and constant button presses of other titles. Unfortunately they didn't manage to wow me as intensely as I'd hoped. Between Warner's backing and the Sesame Street license, I had high hopes for the titles. I've long lamented the lack of both substance and proper presentation in the kinds of shoddily produced systems and games currently on the market for pre-schooler-friendly play, but as a gamer parent it's a hobby I've long wanted to share with my young daughter. Interactive Entertainment's *Sesame Street *titles for the Wii and Nintendo DS I was ecstatic. The more adept player can take the part of Marco, dodging left and right to avoid things, while the Elmo player interacts with the treetops.When I first began hearing about Warner Bros. In an early sequence, Elmo hops up on Marco's shoulders to run through a forest filled with obstacles. Sesame Street executive producer of gaming Miles Ludwig says Once Upon a Monster creates opportunities for families to play together. "I do have a special place in my heart for Cookie Monster," Schafer said. Soon enough, the deal was in place, and Elmo and Cookie Monster were sharing the spotlight with original characters created by Double Fine. had snagged the exclusive rights to produce Sesame Street games, and something clicked: Double Fine had pitched and worked with Warner before, so why not combine their efforts? "We were like, 'No, no, no, we don't do licensed properties.'"īut then Schafer read that Warner Bros. ![]() "Every time we pitched the idea, someone would say, 'Have you ever thought about putting Sesame Street on this?'" said Schafer. A final idea originally revolved around a world filled with minigames and monsters that somewhat resembled the Muppets.
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