swinxs
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Video: Tiny hands-on with Swinxs
When this Swinxs RFID game console arrived at the doorstep of our European annex to test, we realized our dilemma: kids, we need kids, preferably the type who won't mind being tricked into a little physical activity. Fortunately, we always have a few 3-footers lurking around the Engadget "waste acre" scrounging for circuit boards to strip of their gold. Presumably then, in violation of several international child labor laws, we put Swinxs to the grueling challenge of entertaining three kids, city-hardened, and angry at the establishment after their respective 5-, 6- and 7-years of big city livin'. How did Swinxs fare? Click on through to witness the laughter and tears spilled during a typical Swinxs afternoon.
Swinxs lures your children outside, tricks them into "moving around"
We saw a few clever products at Toy Fair 2008 designed to get kids up and active, but none so nefarious -- and cute -- as Swinxs. The "toy" is basically a talking computer with an RFID reader, that guides kids through different pre-loaded games or stories. The kids wear RFID wrist bracelets that identify them in the game, and let them interact with the machine. We heard, from a reliable source, that if kids engage in this type of "running around" in "grassy areas" they very well may die, but that's all hearsay. Once kids grow tired of the included games they can download and install more over USB, and there's a free SDK for developers to create new entertainment for Swinxs. No word on a price or release date, but hopefully we'll be seeing more of this one as time progresses. Video is after the break.[Editor's note: No kids have been known to die from running on the grass. Ever.]%Gallery-16344%
