Leapster grows up with Didj

— -- For kids who have been weaned on Leapster educational video games, there's a new system for them when they outgrow its content. LeapFrog now offers the next stage of educational gaming, called the Didj Custom Gaming System, a handheld for kids ages 6 to 10.

The Didj ups the ante on game-play mechanics and graphics so that the games look like the handheld games that you might find on the Nintendo DS or Sony's PlayStation Portable. But unlike those other handheld games, the Didj games include educational content.

The Didj is smaller than the Leapster but retains some of its familiarity by using the same button setup with a multidirectional button, home and help buttons, and the A and B buttons. But, it adds upper right and left buttons, a configuration that is similar to the PSP. Unlike the Leapster, the screen is not touch-sensitive.

What's interesting about the Didj is that you can customize some of its content. The games cover core educational content in math, spelling and language arts for grades one through four, and for each game, you can select what skills you want drilled. For example, if the game is drilling multiplication, you can choose which numbers you want drilled, or if the game is covering spelling, you can choose which words to practice.

You can also customize other aspects of the game play, depending on the game. You might be able to change the look of the background or your on-screen character or avatar. Perhaps you can add special powers to your character. Each Didj game is different and offers its own customization.

To use the customization, you must load the system software on a computer and then connect the Didj to the Internet using a USB port. The Didj will go to LeapFrog Connect, a special website that allows you to control what is on the Didj. From LeapFrog Connect you can upload the points (called Bitz) that you have earned in the games and exchange them for items to use within the games. You can also download some free items for use in your Didj games. This site is also where you control which educational skills the games drill, and for some games, you can create your own avatar on the site.

LeapFrog has made its name by creating fun ways for kids to use technology to learn, and the Didj continues this mission. As kids get older and more savvy about technology, their expectations about what games should do also increases. They want better graphics, and the Didj provides them with clean, crisp visuals. They want faster-paced game play, and the Didj provides that as well, particularly in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars game (sold separately for $29.99) where you play as Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker and wield your light saber as you fight evil droids.

But LeapFrog made some tradeoffs when designing this system. Unlike the Leapster, this system does not have a touch-sensitive screen. Instead, the Didj uses a variety of buttons, which creates a more complex system. In Jet Pack Heroes, the free downloadable game that comes with the system, the game does not save your progress as you play through the 15 side-scrolling levels. While the game keeps track of your educational progress and the points you earn, you must start at level one each time you play. For kids on the go, this lack of saving is a turn-off. Star Wars: The Clone Wars only saves when you have completed a full level.

How good the Didj will be ultimately depends on the quality of the games. Jet Pack Heroes is average fare. It plays like a slow-moving Mario-type side-scrolling game where the educational content has been placed on top of the gaming. You stop the gaming to answer educational questions. Educational content works better when it is integrated and doesn't feel like an add-on.

The Didj is starting with 10 games, each selling for $29.99, including ones that feature Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Sonic, Nancy Drew and others. In Super Chicks, girls make friends, shop and become heroines by rescuing citizens of this world. While cute, these rescue missions are somewhat repetitive and the game seems pricey for the amount of content. Ditto with the Star Wars title, where there are only four levels of game play.

The Didj has potential to be a fun educational gaming system for young elementary school kids, but some of these early games seem to lack depth and have unfriendly save features.

Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine (www.ComputingWithKids.com). Contact her at gnstech@gns.gannett.com.