Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this site's interface is a little hard to use. It's not always clear what needs to be clicked in order to select a game or video. Ads appear before and after the selected videos. Kids can watch whole episodes of Nickelodeon shows on the site, so if you don't want kids to watch Mr. Meaty or another show, you may want to keep an eye on them while they surf around.
Families can talk about how to plan their mash-up movies in the games section. This fun activity is less of a game and more of an interactive, creative movie-making session for families.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jean Armour Polly
TURBONICK offers kids a chance to watch popular Nickelodeon TV shows on their computers. Full-length episodes of series like SpongeBob SquarePants, for example, can be viewed and rated. Sign up for a free "nickname," and you can "snag" favorite videos and save them to your own private collection. (Some of the videos are in languages other than English.)
Besides the available TV episodes, kids can see short features on Nick's kid celebrities, plus go behind the scenes of movies like Charlotte's Web.
Because kids can rate all the content themselves, users can choose to see just the top-rated videos.
Think you could be a Nick animator? Let your creativity shine in "Mash-Up Central." Select video clips, graphics, transitions, and music to make your very own Nick-inspired movie. This fascinating tool also lets you save your best work and email it to a friend. If yours is exceptional, it might even end up on TV!
Other games are a letdown after Mash-Up. They include Nick-themed hangman games, as well as Simon-like memory activities.
Registered users can post to the message board, which is really offsite at the "regular" Nick.com. The message boards include one for comments about TurboNick itself. Some kids like it, others say it has too many bugs -- that is to say, their computers freeze after watching a few minutes of the videos. That happened to us, too, but after we switched to another browser, everything worked OK.
The user interface is designed for low reading skills. Kids click on pictures rather than words. Unfortunately, the interface is a little hard to use. It's not always clear what needs to be clicked in order to select a game or video. Select a "channel" on the left. More choices will pop up on the right of the channel area. If you want to play a video, look for the "play" arrow inside that video's window. The Games section has a different set of controls on the top right. A more consistent user interface would be a welcome addition.
Families who enjoy this site will also like DisneyChannel.com.
Reviewed: 12/17/2006
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CommercialismArcade games, movie ads. |
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Educational ValueThoughtful planning and creativity are required for the mash-up games. |
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