Ucreate Games & Artimation

by Mattel

Product Features

• Mash-up creativity and game creation into the hands of kids.
• Kids can build and customize unique games
• Uses a unique, photographic interface that automatically recognizes game activities
• This customizable gaming experience provides an endless variety of challenging game play
• Includes drawing table, folding camera, USB connection, software, dry erase drawing supplies, and game template booklet

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 15 x 4.5 x 11.4 inches ; 2.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00264XVTA
• Item model number: P6161
• Manufacturer recommended age: 7 - 13 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,334 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Ucreate Games puts mash-up creativity and game creation into the hands of kids. Using your computer screen and the Ucreate Games tablet, kids can build and customize unique games using hand drawn lines and a library of fun, interactive game elements, including: drawing templates, photos, sound effects, and recognizable game components. Ucreate Games uses a unique, photographic interface that automatically recognizes game activities and captures the user's creations. This customizable gaming experience provides an endless variety of challenging game play that the user controls. Ucreate Games includes: drawing table, folding camera, USB connection, software, dry erase drawing supplies, and game template booklet.

Product Description

Make it great with UCreateProduct InformationUCreate Games and Artimation is the creative experience that allows youto build customizable games mash ups and puzzles.  Use yourbuilt-in digital camera to capture images of yourself friends or anycool object. Then bring them to life using hundreds of animations andpre-loaded pictures to create and play games.  Use hand drawnlines photos sound effects and a library of interactive elements tocreate the gaming experience you want!  Create mash upanimations to share with other UCreate users - the creating and sharingis unlimited.Product Highlights U-Mash It Up - Bring your toys to life;capture the image and then animate U-Bring the Images - Use the Built-incamera to take photos U-Design the Game - Build your gameusing different colors and cool assets: Green add speed; red slowsthings down U-Create More - Download fresh assetsfrom myucreate.comProduct Features Create your own player profile Animate photos 3D objects and more 4 fun games modes with mash-ups puzzles and more Built-in camera is easy to use to capture images Trim crop save and insert your photos into games andmash ups Use the Color Physics Markers to create games Create animated mash-ups and share with other UCreate usersIncludes UCreate Games Unit Interactive Booklet Instruction Manual Quick Start Guide Installer CD 4 Color MarkersNote:  Markers conform to ASTM D4236. Markers may stain fabrics and other surfaces; avoid contactwith carpet clothing walls and furniture.Windows System RequirementsWindows XP with latest service pack installed: 750 MHz processor (1 GHz recommended) 256 MB of RAM minimum (512 MB recommended) Video card capable of 800 x 600 resolution with 32 MB ofRAM DirectX 9-compatible (128 MB of RAM recommended) AC97-compatible audio system and speakers 500 MB of available hard disk space (includes DirectX 9.0cinstallation) Internet connection required

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 154 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, I can make drawings come alive, September 23, 2009

By 

Wigglesworth (Sunny) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ucreate Games & Artimation (Toy)

I've been thinking/dreaming about some way to be able to take a simple drawing and then animate it. This thing actually does that. Amazing. From that point on, all the gaming, customizing, etc all makes great sense. Kids can now envision, scribble and cause those images to come alive and actually move. THAT is progress. The fact that it includes a digital camera is really nice - they don't just sell you programming and expect you to go out and buy hardware.

101 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun for kids,, December 4, 2009

By 

L - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ucreate Games & Artimation (Toy)

the mash up is really cool. the games are alright, i was hoping for a little more control of the charactors in mash up, but im using it for video purposes to use with my own music. i also have the u create music, which does allow you a good bit of control..

found this on google.

promises to "put mash-up creativity and game creation into the hands of kids." I was intrigued; it sounded like a lot more than a passive game-playing experience. Ucreate Games is geared toward kids ages 7 to 13; I figured my smart 6-year-old son would be into it--and he was for a while. After I installed the software for him and attached the USB camera, I worked with him to figure out how to use the Ucreate software.

In the Ucreate Games and Artimation package, you get a drawing tablet, software, a folding digital camera attached to a stand, markers, and a set of templates. The main activities are building and playing your own pinball games and puzzles; creating animations that Mattel calls "mash-ups"; and playing a game called Ball Drop, where you try to get a ball to move from one area of a room to the exit by placing objects in strategic places.

What's really cool about all of these activities is that you can create your own artwork to incorporate into the games. For example, you can draw different parts of the pinball table on the included templates, capture the drawing, and then import the pieces to be placed on your playing field.

Kids probably won't play the pinball game very much after they've created it, though. The playing field is small, and there's only so much you can add to it. My son has a pinball game for the Xbox that he really enjoys, and he didn't think the Ucreate pinball game was very much fun.

However, he has had a blast making mash-ups. On the second day of using the Ucreate, he spent most of his time drawing different characters in the templates and importing them. He also took photos of his Matchbox cars and imported them. He then grabbed these newly created objects and made them move: Using the character templates, he was able to make his people dance and walk around the screen.

The amount of control you have in the animation, however, is very limited. You can add an object and make it do something like move across the screen, but there doesn't appear to be any way to change the motion or action at any point. It's simpler than a typical animation package, which includes frames and points at which you can change things. This really limits the product and the creativity.

Additionally, there's no way to edit your pictures. As I mentioned, my son took pictures of his cars--but there's no way to use just the car in a mash-up. As he animated the car, the background moved with it. It would be great if you could use the base of the camera stand as a chroma key green screen, which would automatically remove the background from objects.

My son has played with the Ucreate a few more times since then; but the mash-ups, which he initially really enjoyed creating, have become too limiting for his imagination.

i agree with most of what he says, but i think the mash up game will hold young peoples interest. by design everything you do with this unit is creative, esp when you take your own images. note that you can also point the camera striaght up, and take self potriats or what ever they place in front, it gives you a 3 second countdown before it takes the pic, you have to get the light right because the built light is deactivated when the camera is in the up position. just by playing with this, they will learn about many things, by playing with the lighting in their room, the endless options of pictures and placement considering their toys, books, magazines,etc, the camera is capable of taking good pictures. what you will get is a photo album of your young ones work, in which the photos can interact with one another.. yes the templates and movements are limited, but the backgrounds, plots, and pictures are not. A+++

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86 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Creative Toy!, September 20, 2009

By 

TV (Seattle) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ucreate Games & Artimation (Toy)

Super creative toy! It lets your kids make video games and animated characters using only markers! Only downside is that it requires an internet connection and a computer, but it looks like they are going to release more and more free games for this over time!