Children’s technology company LeapFrog has announced its latest product, a games console to promote learning while gaming. LeapFrog is aiming the LeapTV games console at 3-8 year-olds who may have their eyes on the likes of the Xbox and PS4, providing parents with a more suitable option. It’s simple on the eyes and comes with a motion-sensing controller and camera kit – similar to Microsoft’s Kinect, to enhance kids’ overall gaming experience. The console is due to launch in October at a respectable $150, and more than 100 games and videos will be available to snap up at the same time.
Video games aren’t always suitable for young kids—some decidedly so. But try explaining to a five-year-old why the Xbox is a grownup device and you’ll end up in an endless spiral of “but why?” LeapFrog’s new LeapTV aims to change that, with a gaming console built just for kids age three to eight. LeapTV offers younger kids some of the same hallmark capabilities of grown-up game consoles: the wireless controller starts in a classic two-hand layout, or flips open to a one-handed wand that works a lot like a Nintendo Wiimote that kids use as a pointer, a wand, or a sword for slashing through jungle vines (but definitely not opponents, I bet). And a TV-top camera offers Xbox Kinect-like body tracking, putting players on-screen and capturing their dance moves, arm waves, and karate chops as they play.
