Common Sense Note
Parents should know that buying this system is the same as buying a new DVD player with one difference -- the system has four unique remote controllers that allow families to play trivia games by competing head-to-head. This is a good fit for families looking to add another DVD player to their household.
Family members might want to discuss which category of questions they like the best and why. Do parents have an unfair advantage in this type of trivia game?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
Zapit Games is entering the market of interactive DVD games by offering a new twist to family game playing. Instead of creating a game to play on your existing DVD player, it has created a new DVD gaming system called GAME WAVE.
The Game Wave system is a DVD player with four unique remotes and comes packaged with the software trivia game 4 Degrees: The Arc of Trivia, Vol. 1. Families can purchase two additional remotes ($28) so that up to six players can compete at one time. Zapit Games has released four additional games to play on the Game Wave system, each retailing for $28.
The addition of multiple remotes changes the game dynamics of playing DVD games. Before, players had to pass the one remote around to take turns playing games -- thus, only one person could answer the trivia question. With the Game Wave system, family members can now compete head-to-head.
For example, when playing 4 Degrees: The Arc of Trivia, Vol. 1, all players compete to answer the same question. After the question is posed, the software offers "4 degrees" of multimedia information to help answer it. The first and second degrees of information are often obscure clues, while the third and fourth degrees start to make the answer obvious. The system registers how quickly a player answers the question and awards higher points to the player who can answer the question with the least amount of help.
In addition to being a DVD gaming system, the Game Wave is a regular DVD player. Because the system costs $110, this gaming experience will appeal most to families looking to pick up a first or second DVD player. We found that the "Open/Close" button on this system was less responsive than typical DVD players; families purchasing the Game Wave will need to be patient and may have to push the button multiple times to insert DVDs into the system.
In addition to the 25 hours of trivia game play that comes packaged with the system, families can add on games that test Bible trivia, history, word building, and one that plays card games.
Twenty years ago families would congregate around a board game to play trivia games. Nowadays, with kids weaned on technology, board games seem tame. Game Wave's combination of music, videos, narration, and multimedia breathes life into trivia games in a way that this new generation can embrace.
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Social BehaviorEncourages families to play together. |
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Educational ValueTrivia on everything from Bible verses to history. |
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