EDITORIAL REVIEW

It may seem odd that a game could combine elements of Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, and grocery store shopping, but Skannerz does just this. Here’s how it works:All UPC symbols scanned into this device are converted into virtual monsters, some of which join your team voluntarily, some of which you must electronically defeat in order to conscript them. From there, you can play special games that train your monsters to become more powerful and compete against other players. We had some difficulty at first figuring out how to scan the items, and wouldn’t recommend this for younger children for whom the technology might be frustrating. --Charlie Williams ... Read more

Reviews (11)

To HARD TO USE
Well I got my Skannerz for Christmas And EVRYTHING I scan Comes out nothing ...

Commander has more problems than the old Skannerz
My son had a blue Skannerz but didn't like that he could only collect certain monsters so he saved his money to get the new Commander version that he expected to be better than the old one. But the new one has more problems than the old ones so we ended up returning it. Battling on the Commander is VERY different from the original and complete instructions are NOT included in the manual. The manual says they are on the website but they aren't there either. When I emailed Customer support, all they did was send me a copy of the tiny manual that came with the game. As far as we could figure out, you have to wait for a counter to go up to a certain number and hope to hit the button at the exact time. The only numbers that they tell you to wait for in the manual are either your monster's number or the opponent monster's number. It says other numbers do other things but doesn't tell you which numbers or what they do! It doesn't tell you which items you can collect or what they do. The outside of the package advertises that there are 126 new monsters. But they don't tell you that you only have enough space to collect 53 of them. My son loves the idea behind the games so if Radica can just get it together on providing a decent product launch, he would be happy.

super
I couldn't put my toy down for days after I recieved it. This is my favorite toy ever!

Fun, probably worth $20
My 7 year old LOVES this toy. The first one we got did not work at all but we exchanged it for one that did.

Not every UPC has a monster in it - maybe one in 20. But it's exciting when you get a monster. He had trouble understanding the directions for battle on his own but once I read them (a few times!) and explained them, he's been winning most battles and enjoying it.

It's nice to have at the store and we find UPCs on everything now. If it was more than $... I would say don't buy it, because I can see him getting tired of it soon and I'm not the only one to have had a problem with one, but for $... he's had a blast.

I agree, any kid younger than a bright 7 year old could scan the monsters in but would not be good at understanding the battles, etc. Still, it's a fun gadget.

Poor product; poor customer service
Bought the original scanner as a gift for my son. No one in our family was ever able to get it to scan even a test bar code from the manual. And Radica's customer service was basically non-existant. I really expected them to go out of business since they wouldn't respond to phone calls or emails for support, so I'm surprised to see they have a new product out.

I don't recommend buyng products from this company. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Simon says, "Would you like to play a game?" Or seven? With Simon 2, thenext generation of the classic electronic sequencing game, players can play thetraditional Simon challenges against the machine or they can turn over the unitfor head-to-head play with a human opponent. All seven games are variations onthe ingenious original: an ever-increasing sequence of signals, denoted by theflashing and beeping colored buttons, must be repeated by alternating opponents.Complete with nonscuff rubber feet, and powered by three AA batteries (notincluded), Simon 2 features adjustable skill levels on most of the games (asequence of as few as eight or as many as 31, for example). Players who desire adash of recall and replication with their reflex action will enjoy gettingSimon, too. --Tony Mason ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Awesome Homeschool Tool
As I type this message, my husband is playing Simon2 with our two oldest children, ages 3 and 4. They have been at it over an hour and are still having a blast!

As a homeschooling family, we look for toys that will reinforce skills that we are teaching, challenge our children and that are fun! This toy has it all! Even my youngest, who just turned 2 enjoys playing this game. He is too young to really understand it, but loves the lights and music!

The older children benefit from having an adult speak the color pattern out as they play, such as, "blue, blue, yellow, etc". We've found it to meet the needs of all learning styles when used in this way! I would definately recommend this toy to other families! And an added bonus, is that it's fun for the parents to pass the time with as well.

Great place to buy from
My first trip to buy presents on-line was great! I believe I made a great purchase and both my children have enjoyed it.

Returned Twice
We purchased this toy for our 10 year old son and he enjoyed playing with it. However, after just a few hours of play the buttons started sticking or not registering when you pushed them so you couldn't "win" or move up.

We returned the toy and got a new one and the same thing happened with just a few hours of play. We returned it a second time and got our money back. Not a lot of fun if it doesn't work. I would not recommend.

Didn't last two weeks
This is a very fun toy, but unfortunately, it completely died after only two weeks. It wasn't ill-treated, but one day we tried to start a game and one light just turned on permanently. I took out and replaced the battery, and it hasn't shown any sign of life since.

Simon? Rights for kids?
Simon, this was given to my older 12 year old sister. She would play this but she doesn't really enjoy this. Now for me a nine year old I enjoy it. Though I cant play it . I cant play it for one reason and one reason only : sister won't let me play it. Now if I were dropped off from outer space and asked well nicely imonlynot nice to her) then I could play. My point is a nine year old like me enjoys this and a twelve year old like my sister may or may not enjoy this game. I thank you for reading my opinion. Now since I have no clue as to what younger kids might think I agree they like it. ... Read more

Features

• Play 10 classic Activision arcade games on your TV
• All games stored in the joystick: just connect to your television and play
• No game console needed
• Games include Pitfall, Atlantis, River Raid, and Spider Fighter
• Other games include Crackpots, Freeway, Tennis, Boxing, Ice Hockey, and Grand Prix

Reviews (5)

this sucks!
all the games are not good,cheap, and boring. don't get this prouduct.

Woah, the other reviewers are nuts!
Dont be fooled by those guys makin that noise... This thing rocks! Holy COW! If you grew up in the 80's - eating cereal on the living room floor with ur legs in a sleeping bag watching superfriends and peewee's playhouse, or maybe spiderman and his amazing friends, or perhaps the arcade block with q-bert and donkey kong... Then this is for you! Relive those days with these awesome games!! I played pitfall for three hours yesterday... I have always wondered since I was lil one whether u can beat that game or not and I gave it my all yesterday... After three hours I was still rackin up points with no end in sight... but there is no frustration, just the desire to go play it some more! Get thsi product, and also shrek 2 and spiderman 2 for xbox or ps2 and you will have everything you need! It seems only activision, take-two, and majestic have been doign anythign right in the video game industry lately!

PAYCE!!

Decent games, and reasonably comfortable
After playin', enjoyin', and just plain geekin' out to the other TV Games systems-- well, except for that SpongeBob SquarePants dealie; I gotta maintain SOME semblance of dignity, after all-- I decided to give the ActiVision version a go. And after trying its ten offerings out, I found the whole thing a mixed bag. A few of the games were pretty fun and challenging, while others were a bit repetitive and/or nigh impossible to beat no matter how hard I tried.

While the headlining title, "Pitfall!", was kinda frustrating at first-- especially when I was tryin' to get across the gator-infested ponds-- I eventually got the hang of the controls and timing for the most part. Well, except for leaping over the coiled cobras and giant scorpions just right so's I didn't kill myself. The only other problem I had with this title was that the frames that I was running and leaping through appeared to be in a loop-- I managed to survive the first half-dozen frames, and the next half-dozen looked exactly like the ones I just completed! Unfortunately, I never really played this title much when I was but a wee 'Norch, so I have no idea whether or not this was how the original "Pitfall!" was set up. If anyone can give me the 411 on this bit o' weirdness, head on over to my About Me area and drop me an e-mail, willya? Thanks...

While the ActiVision console includes four sports games (Grand Prix, Tennis, Boxing, and Ice Hockey), the only one I really enjoyed playing was Ice Hockey. The Tennis game is so hard for me to score against the computer, I usually get blanked in several straight sets-- which isn't the kinda "love" I'm lookin' for, if ya catch my drift. On the upside, the computer and I can get that ball ricocheting back and forth for up to two minutes on end before the inevitable happens. The Grand Prix game pits me against a bunch of other cars on a straight-line track, with the object of setting the best time whilst trying to avoid potholes and bumping into other cars, both of which can slow me down. Only problem is, this system doesn't save any of the scores and times, so I don't have any records to beat. The boxing game is pretty good if you can keep pushing the button at a maddening pace to try and keep up with your opponent's number of landed hits. I played this particular game for a minute before quitting from fatigue on my fire-button thumb.

Probably the simplest game is "Freeway", a low-budget "Frogger" wanna-be. The object of the game is to get as many chickens across a ten-lane highway as you can in 2 minutes and 16 seconds (why in two minutes and 16 seconds, you ask? Hey, beats me-- I didn't come up with the freakin' game). Like "Frogger", there's quite a bit of traffic one has to dodge to get to the other side. Unlike "Frogger", however, the chicken can only move up and down, not side to side. Also unlike "Frogger", when a chicken is struck by a car, it's not squished flat, but is pushed back one lane (on one setting), or right back to the side of the highway where it started (more difficult setting). Needless to say, this one gets kinda monotonous after a while, especially with the traffic patterns being so predictable.

"Atlantis" is a fairly fun "Missile Command" ape, although you've got to get used to which directional controls activate the three gun batteries you're using to fire on the enemy ships. Speakin' of enemy ships, one of 'em looks kinda like the Enterprise from "Star Trek" and a couple others look a little like X-Wing Fighters and Imperial Star Destroyers from the classic "Star Wars" flicks. I usually get utterly trashed by the enemy in this game, but I manage to have some fun before my inevitable demise...

My fave adventure game in this system, though, is "River Raid". With a supersonic jet, the player flies over a river, destroying enemy ships, choppers, bridges and fighter jets whilst trying not to hit the refueling markers the player needs to keep his gas tank full. The player can move the plane left and right, and use the forward/back control to speed up or slow down. While I've gotten a bit more used to the left-and-right dealie, I'm still tryin' to get the hang of the speed-up/slow-down angle. Well, actually, I just need to work on the slow-down angle; it's the speed-up thing I do TOO much work on! It's true what they taught ya in Driver's Ed., kids: speed kills! In the time I've been playin' this bad-boy, I've probably crashed the equivalent of the entire U.S. Air Force twice over! But I'm not gonna let that deter me from my mission, oh no...

But even though I found only half of the games here really fun, I hafta say that the ActiVision control joystick is the most comfortable to use out of all the TV Games systems that have come out so far. Unlike either the Atari or Namco renditions, the corners of the ActiVision stick's base are nice and rounded, which won't dig into and cause too much discomfort to my control-holding hand. The ActiVision joystick's smooth response is also a big improvement over Atari's offering, which ya really hafta lean into to get the subject to move where you want it to go. As for the extra Fire button on the top of the joystick: I didn't like it quite as much as I did the sideline Fire button. Were the stick a little longer and the Fire button more off to the side of the control than right on top, however...

'Late

sigh...
I was so disappointed with this thing after having such high hopes of playing this retro style system. The games are not true faithful renditions of the classics! Pitfall has many glitches...sometimes when you go on to the next screen, Harry will be swinging on a vine without you even jumping on it. The vines swing too low, you are practically inside the pits that you are trying to jump over. The sound is absolutely horrible and are not close to the original sounds of the originals. The tones are much lower and also, this unit cannot reproduce the classic thruster sounds of the old 2600. When playing River Raid, (one of the best Activision titles ever) the plane sounds more like a car engine than a thruster. The explosions on Atlantis are more a series of weird tones than explosions. And speaking of Atlantis, its a cool game, but it is NOT an Activision game! It was done by Imagic for goodness sakes!!! I just think of other cool Activision titles like Barnstorming, Laser Blast, Starmaster, Pitfall 2, etc. that could have put on here instead of an Imagic title. I was so psyched to get this when I saw it, but was incredibly disappointed. The Atari 10 in 1 is far superior. I'd rather play Pong with a joystick than a half baked conversion of Pitfall. I cant believe in this age of technological advancements that they cant faithfully reproduce an Atari 2600 game. 2 stars for a cool retro style joystick and
for a halfway enjoyable gaming experience with the sound muted.

an okay way to play some Activision classics like pitfall
This is a pretty average console with some pretty average games and a few Atari 2600 hits. It is a fun game to play with a few catches.

First, the games. Some of these games are very good like Pitfall, spider fighter and Grand Prix, a few average games like Freeway and Crackpots, and there are a few lousy games like ice hockey.
Though the game selection is above average, it could have easily been better. It's missing some amazing Activision games like keystone Capers and H.E.R.O. Those could have been added just from a slight increase in memory.

Next is there is nothing new at all. If you already own these games on Atari 2600 it's not worth getting if it wasn't portable.

Third is durability. It is made out of cheap plastic that is not very durable at all. I left this in my car during hot weather and some of the plastic melted in top of the chip inside and ruined it.

Fourth is multiplayer, only a couple games are multiplayer: River Raid and Freeway. River Raid only has alternating multiplayer while Freeway 2 players can play at the same time.

Overall, this is a neat way to play some classic Activision Atari 2600 games, but you're much better off getting Activision Anthology for Gameboy Advance. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The e-Reader is an accessory for use with the Game Boy Advance that reads information from collectible trading cards and translates it on the GBA into standalone games or enhancements to some traditional games. The e-Reader connects into the GBA cartridge slot and can also connect to another GBA or even a GameCube. Players simply slide the paper cards, available for as low as $1.95, through the e-Reader much as you slide a credit card through a point-of-purchase machine at a grocery store. When you do this, the unit scans the codes imprinted on the card and stores the information in its 1-megabit flash ROM for as long as the power is on. Animal Crossing for the GameCube takes advantage of this technology, and many more uses are planned. This set includes the e-Reader unit and the e-Reader card for the NES version of Donkey Kong Jr. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Gimmicky, but has some useful applications
The e-reader has the potential to be a truly amazing peripheral for the GBA. Unfortunately, the e-reader is kind of being ignored by Nintendo. Why this is, I don't know, but there still are some reasons to buy an E- Reader:

Unlock Extra Levels and Items in Super Mario Bros Advance 4 (using special cards)

Some great NES games in 5.99 packs (Mario Bros, Excitebike and Donkey Kong)

You can use them to unlock cool stuff in Animal Crossing

Some reasons not to buy the E-Reader

It's 40 dollars

Little support from Nintendo or any other company

The games for it, while fun, get old fast

That's about it. If you have Super Mario Advance 4 or Animal Crossing, and some cash to burn, I would recomend getting this. You can unlock some awesome stuff in both games. If more games supported the E-Reader, it would definately be a must buy item. Unfortunately, the small support for the device hampers the E-reader greatly.

goodness
I love this product but I think it should be cheaper. If it was cheaper more people would buy it. But I think it works likes a marvel.

please, help me!!!!
Hi! I'm french and I would like to know if the e-reader works with a french gamecube, if someone knows it, just tell please!!!
Because the e-reader will certainly not exist in France...
Tell me please!
Thanks!

Good idea, mediocre execution
[THIS REVIEW IS ONLY FOR THE E-READER - NOT THE GAMES INCLUDED.]

In 2002, Nintendo decided to bring a popular fad in Japan to America - barcode scanning for the Game Boy. This was done through an accessory called the E-Reader. The accessory has been in America for nearly a year and a half now, and has been selling surprisingly well. How does it measure up? Read on for my review of this little accessory.

PROS:
-Through the usage of this accessory, you can greatly expand the things you can do with your Game Boy Advance.
-If you buy the accessory, you can purchase classic Nintendo games for just five bucks each (that's the suggested retail price.)
-If you buy Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Game Boy Advance, you can purchase E-Reader cards to expand the game greatly - and even cards that will create items for you!
-The accessory has a link port on it, so you can link up with friends and still have the accessory attached.
-You can save one game to the accessory's hard drive.
-The newest collections of Pokemon cards can be scanned with this accessory, and by scanning them, you can get interesting bits of information.

CONS:
-It's not worth the forty bucks Nintendo is asking.
-ONLY ONE game can be saved to the hard drive at a time.
-Scanning the cards takes a lot of time.
-You must scan the cards JUST RIGHT.
-The games available for the system get old fast. Why haven't NES classics like Metroid and the Legend of Zelda gotten E-Reader releases yet?

OVERALL:
I think this was a good idea for Nintendo, but ultimately the concept just falls flat. If you can find one of these things for a good price, by all means make the purchase, but otherwise, don't bother. As good an idea as this was, it just wasn't used to its maximum potential.

e-reader
yes the e-reader works with the gameboy sp. the sp is more advanced than gba so get over it. the port does not have to connect to it just rests on top of open gba-sp, and does not interfere with gameplay. the e-reader is most useful for animal crossing. of course you need the cable to link gba and gc. more e-cards are expected in the future to enhance current games and you can play classic games. look at your ecards.... on mario bros there are strips on both sides , all you have to do is scan both sides. just scan the card slowly and it works great. ... Read more

Features

• For use with the Navix Port (sold separately), which uses wireless motion recognition to determine your swing and pitch
• Test your pitching accuracy with the Navix Bat Controller
• Live pitch control with the VR ball allows you to throw one of nine different pitches
• Lead your team through the playoffs and on to victory with League Play
• Flex your muscle at the plate and see how far you can hit the ball in the Home Run Derby competition

Reviews (1)

Gimme an A! Gimme another A!
Sheesh-- I thought I'd hit the bottom of the barrel when I started doin' Amazon reviews for socks, bedspreads, and shaving razors! But reviewing batteries? This is definitely a whole new low for me...

But I digress. Being someone who owns and regularly plays/uses a couple dozen hand-held/portable electronic games (see what I'm talkin' about at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/3U1GDAL5MCFA4/ref=cm_aya_av.lm_more/102-0973344-6392964), a trio of remote controls, a pair of mini-flashlights and a graphing calculator, it's pretty much a given that I go through AA batteries like a fiend. However, I do not wish to spend money on new AAs like a fiend. So when my supply is running low I'll usually buy a bulk pack (24+ cells) that gives me the best value for my scratch. Almost invariably, the brand that occupies the best-value end of the battery-purchasing spectrum is Ray-O-Vac. From what I've experienced, they work just as well and last just as long as their Energizer and Duracell counterparts. Which means I can play my fave hand-helds for a good while, and have a few shekels left over to buy a new AA-powered doohickey to add to my already-overflowing collection...

Final aside: Who the hey came up with the bright idea to saddle this product with the three-part fun/educational/durability rating that Amazon/Toys-R-Us reserves for toys and games?! Anybody out there have a clue on how I should rate this product on the 'fun' and 'educational' scales? Um... hello? A little help here...?

'Late ... Read more

Features

• For use with the Navix Port (sold separately), which uses wireless motion recognition to determine the angle of your roll
• You control the amount of hook on each release
• Realistic graphics and stereo sound put you in the bowling alley
• Create up to 8 players, and customize your game with different techniques and hooking styles
• Choose from 3 modes: Against the Clock, Panel Crusher, and Moving Pins