You have to hand it to Nintendo. While competitors made ill-fated attempts at launching color, battery-devouring handheld game systems, the big N stuck by the Game Boy. The unit's utilitarian design has an almost eerie charm. Thankfully, even with the imminent launch of the color Game Boy, Nintendo's crack team of mad scientists is devising new ways to extend the life of our little pal.
Our household was deliriously excited to learn of the bug-eyed camera that plugs into the top of the Game Boy. My son Gavin, 5, was an easy sell. But even his 4-year-old sister, Ilanah, who couldn't give a toss about videogames, showed an interest. When the Japanese version of the camera and printer arrived, all hell broke loose. Gavin was planning a photo shoot in the jungle (who cares that we live in Chicago), and Ilanah began donning theatrical makeup.
After Gavin took a few warm-up pix of the dog's butt, we snapped a few head shots. The kids didn't seem to care that the image quality is something like a turn-of-the-century photo taken in bad light. Once we filled the album, we got busy. The draw, paint, and stamp features are easy to use and cause explosive bouts of laughter in children. We gave Gavin's likeness devil horns, a goatee, and a stitched-up wound. Ilanah requested flowers growing out of her head, bee-stung lips, and Betty Boop eyelashes. Next, we linked our photos in an animation, pasted them into a Space Invaders-style game, and printed our favorites. While Ilanah arranged the printouts in a collage, Gavin documented the inside of the toilet bowl. Our fun was spiraling out of control.
The Game Boy Camera takes the limited interaction of videogames and turns it into full-blown creativity. Older kids will definitely get into the surprisingly robust features like the DJ screen. We, however, were fully satisfied with a table covered in fuzzy printouts of dog body parts and bathroom appliances.
[an error occurred while processing this directive] Game Boy Camera: US$49.95. Nintendo: on the Web at www.nintendo.com/. [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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