PJ-clad Superhero makes an ascent on the food pyramid
--------------------------- SOFTWARE
Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat From Your Head to Your Feet
SPECS
Humongous Entertainment/GT Interactive; Ages 3 to 8; www.humongous.com; Windows 98/95 (Pentium 90, 16MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM) and Macintosh (80 MHz PowerPC, System 7.5.3, 16MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM) $24.99
PAST SAMS
Pajama Sam 3 is the latest adventure featuring one of Bothell-based Humongous Entertainment's characters. The previous ones:
-- Pajama Sam 1: "No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside" (1996)
-- Pajama Sam 2: "Thunder and Lightning Aren't So Frightening" (1998)
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My first look at the newest Pajama Sam game, "You Are What You Eat From Your Head to Your Feet," made me wonder if the folks at Humongous Entertainment had strayed into the camp that believes all children's computer games should be educational.
After all, the PJ-clad superhero had managed to have fun in his first two adventures without veering close to academics. Yet here comes a game that features the food pyramid.
I needn't have worried. "Is there anything that teaches you about food here?" I asked my 8-year-old son, Nolan, after watching him play Pajama Sam 3 for half an hour.
"Not really," he replied.
Close call. But this latest Pajama Sam outing didn't seem to include as much fun as this little caped crusader deserves either. His first sidekick in the game's action is a piece of broccoli named Florette.
The premise is that the fats and sweets are forcing the healthy foods off MopTop Island. An emergency peace conference has been called among the food groups (did you know there are six groups now?) but four of the delegates are missing.
Pajama Sam leaps from scene to scene, trying to round up the missing delegates and meeting some colorful characters along the way. Like Bothell-based Humongous' other games, there are clues to discover and puzzles to solve. Pajama Sam travels inside a beating heart, to Muscle Beach and to a factory where the Jelly Beans and the Kidney Beans are squabbling.
The narrative thread seems a little weak, and the incentive for rounding up these delegates tenuous. What kid would really say, "OK, cookies, your dinner-spoiling days are over," as Pajama Sam does, and then go in search of cheese (Chuck Cheddar), an apple (Granny Smythe) and Bean Number 47? None in my house. Candy Land this isn't.
Some jokes will fly over the heads of most kids. At a gathering of ice cream, cookies and other sweets, one character says "It's a political party - it goes on forever." Puzzled my son: "What does that mean?"
An etiquette lesson displays some cute humor. A proper table place setting includes a cocktail weenie poker and a swizzle stick. "Eat all the food on your plate and do it in alphabetical order," advises the etiquette teacher, Selma Celery.
The biggest carrot this game holds out is the promise of a Pajama Man Action Figure with Titanic Elbow Thrust for Pajama Sam should he collect 20 box tops sprinkled throughout the game. Other minigames include a Bean Counting & Sorting Machine, a Caramel Pit and skiing on Powered Sugar Slopes.
Nolan, who's at the top of the age range for this game, figured it out after a few sessions, but still enjoys going back for the other game paths it offers each time he plays. Our 6-year-old neighbor, a big Pajama Sam fan, declared it "great."
I couldn't have solved this game without (1) the cheat sheet that came with the press kit, (2) a lot of random clicking around the screen (which seems like a dubious method of problem-solving to encourage in children) or (3) my son.
"How did you know to click there?" is my common refrain as I watch him navigate Humongous programs. It's either a huge shortcoming of these games or an unfailing way to differentiate the intelligence of the generations.
Gadgets
Sonicbox iMRemote Tuner
Dialing in Internet radio (art available) DEVICES Sonicbox iM Remote Tuner SPECS Windows 98/NT 4.0/2000; RealPlayer 7 or Windows Media Player 6.4; Internet Explorer 4.01; 56K modem; Pentium or equivalent; 64MB RAM; 40MB disk space; USB port; soundcard with DirectSound; about $75
The promise of Internet radio comes through clearly with the Sonicbox iM Remote Tuner, a PC add-on that pulls in faraway radio stations.
The device approaches its goal of making Internet radio as simple as tuning an FM dial, at least for 800 preset stations. Listeners can add a few of their own favorite stations that broadcast across the Internet, too.
The prerelease unit we saw consists of several pieces that wirelessly transmit PC sound to an FM radio and allow a listener to remotely control which station is playing. This all sounds and even looks a bit complicated, but the Sonicbox sets up fairly easily and works simply. The device requires a computer running Windows 98 or higher.
Listeners also can plug their headphones into a wireless receiver for walking around the house. But that invites static, even within the stated range. Sonicbox says the receiver can be 100 feet from the PC and the tuner can be 65 feet from the PC.
The Sonicbox tuner, however, can't find archived or special broadcasts. So I had to go to the PC to dial up the latest St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Still, the Sonicbox allowed me to listen downstairs to the Cardinals while the PC sat upstairs, a treat for someone living cross-country from Busch Stadium.
Sonicbox is still refining the iM Remote Tuner, which is expected to be available by midyear. - David LaGesse Dallas Morning News.