Imagynasium
5/4/00
Although this program is not perfect, I can be quite forgiving since they have TRIED SOMETHING NEW!!!!!!!!! This past year has been absolutely despicable. There has been little, if any, decent software released. At least someone it TRYING to be innovative.
Imagynasium is produced in conjunction with the Robert Redford Sundance for Kids program. In that this is a hop, skip, and a jump from my house, I am pleased to say they did a pretty darn good job. The idea is to allow kids to use their creativity in new and innovative ways. Information from the music area, art area, and story writing area, can be moved anywhere in the program. You are not limited to "paint only in the pain program," "write only in the writing area" etc. I really liked this idea.
The interface is very avante garde. It looks
at times as though you have stepped into one of Salvador Dali's dreams. As
a result, the interface is not always obvious. It is easy to use, but takes
some poking around before you really know what you are doing. Once you learn
the ropes, however, things are consistent from area to area.
The collector, and brain boosers are important aspects of the program. As you move from area to area, you can click on almost anything you see. Any item (sound, visual etc.) can be dragged to your 'collector,' where it can be utilized in any of the project areas. This feature was one of the ones that was NOT obvious without accessing the help section. If you are stuck, a visit to the brain booster might get those juices flowing. There are ideas on how to get started, ideas for looking at your project in a new way, and ideas for how to wrap up the finished product.
Three creativity areas:
- Jingle Jungle: Create musical compositions using any sound you can find. These sounds are changed into slugs, which appear on a sound board. You can rearrange them, change their pitch and more. Your kids will not learn music in the traditional sense, but they will pick up some concepts while just having fun. There are tons of sounds, voices to add to your composition. A game in this area has your child matching sounds. This is a good memory/listening game.
- Downtown: Your kids will enjoy making collages like the one pictured above. They don't all have to be so wild. Use the objects, sounds, and items you have collected, or access the collection of other items already provided. I was somewhat disappointed in the art tools provided. There were not enough painting tools, or colors to use. The included game here is a puzzle game. A wild looking collage appears, then falls apart. Your child must piece it back together again.
- The Curio Shop: This writing area is great for budding authors. The screen is shaped like a clock, with twelve numbers around the edge representing twelve pages. You can use the included characters, creatures, people, backgrounds etc., or transport some of your own from other areas. There are lots of great musical backgrounds for each page, with a database of hundreds of different sound effects. Text is added at the bottom of each page. The game here has your child adding captions to all sorts of premade story pages.
If you have collected a series of good projects you want to show off, visit the Big Screen and put together a presentation. Your child will select the order he or she wants the projects to appear, and choreograph the finished product.
I would like to have seen even more in this program. It is a great idea with lots of nice features. It is so nice though, that I left wanting more. Thanks to South Peak there may be hope for this industry yet!
| Grading for Imagynasium Educational Value: 4 1/2 Entertainment Value: 4 1/2 Replay Value: 5 |
You can find this program at http://www.southpeak.com