Customer Reviews

Xtractaurs Starter Kit

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We loved the idea of this toy and were really excited to open it and plug it all in. Our son learned about DNA just from the concept of it. However, what they don't tell you on the packaging is that the online game is only free for 3 days. So after paying quite a bit for some plastic dinosaurs and a fancy extractor-like USB device you still have to pay an online monthly fee to actually play with the toy.
I'm certainly glad I didn't give this as a gift to someone else's child thereby committing them to the online fee as well.
There are plenty of toys out there with online games which are free (or at least wrapped into the price of the toy). Poor product.

I'm going to break down my biggest problems with this toy.

Firstly, the extractor gun and dinosaurs are really just for show. What you are buying is an overpriced computer flash game. Out of the box you will get a toy dinosaur, an extractor gun, and a CD. You insert the CD into your computer and wait for the magic to happen. The only thing on the CD are drivers for the extractor gun and an autorun feature to open your web browser to the Xtractor website - that's it. Once there, you will be prompted to download the actual game.

This brings me to my second problem; right from the get go, the download would not work properly. After hours of troubleshooting and attempting to restart the download, it just worked... Simple as that.. It just worked.

Now for the installation. This is my third issue. As soon as I installed the software I was hit with over a dozen prompts from my firewall which was warning me that the new software was trying to initialize connections to the internet. I figured it was necessary since the xtractor gun had to eventually communicate to the Mattel website. However, the connections never stopped. While the program was running, I would get an alert from my firewall approximately every 10 minutes. Also to note, the game adds itself in your computer registry to auto start every time you turn on your machine. Basically, if you install this software, your computer will be initializing a connection to the internet every 10 minutes the entire time your computer is running until you finally uninstall the program.

Last issue: When we got the "toy" working and my son was able to create a user account for the website, we saw that he only had a 3 day trial membership. That membership is now expired. I tried following the directions to get the full membership which was just to purchase the Xtractor kit. The one I already bought. I was then taken to a link which was to download the software. The software I'd already downloaded. I'm sure the problem occurred sometime during my initial installation, however I tried reinstalling and had similar problems.

After about 3 hours of troubleshooting the issue, I have given up on the game. I have indepth knowledge of computers and advanced knowledge of computer security. I will never recommend this to anyone and have not even scratched the surface of how this application can compromise the security of your home network.

Buyer beware.

My son loves this game and would play it for hours if we let him. He is saving his money to buy more dinosaurs. I don't know what technical issues other reviewers have had because we have not had any. My son's computer was running Vista and is now using Windows 7, no problem with either. Getting started he needed some assistance but he is a few years younger than what the game recommends.

It was fun for a little bit with my son. I bought a few of them so that he would have more than one. BUT does not play with the toy any longer, maybe play was for 2 days on the computer and a week with the toys. We dont even go on that website. It seems as if the website is no longer maintained. It was hard uploading the DNA from the Dinosaur. Sometimes we had to do it several times. The heads pop off one 2 very easily...but I suppose that goes with the part online where you can create a new Dinosaur.

"Megavores on the prowl! This roar megavore may have been the powerfullest ever to roam--one of the kings of the megavores--but megastomp is the best king I've ever had so far," says my five year old who received this for his birthday and has been playing with and collecting them ever since.

My son loves playing this game and being able to fight his friends online makes it a virtual playdate. It is a lot of fun and he has spent hours creating different mutated dinos. He tested this toy at Mattel before it first came out and all of his friends now have it.

Great toy.

Avoid this toy at all cost. Not to mention the hidden costs that the others mention, I couldn't get this toy to work on my Windows system. Many hours on my Windows systems (XP and Vista) and my Mac, and it simply does work!! I also spent considerable time with the Mattel product support and they were without any clue.

Unfortunately, this toy is being returned to Santa. I am hoping the elves understand.

My son saw commercials for this toy on TV and asked to have it. It was not very expensive (under 20) so I bought it for a Hanukkah gift. Once you have the started kit there are more dinos that can be added. My son loved it and since the additional dinos were not very expensive (under 10 dollars) I added quite a few more. He has about 5 dinos at this time. While he loves the toys there are some problems.

First the good: There are both toy dinos and and online games. The toys can be played with without the computer. The dino parts are interchangeable and "hybrid" dinos can be made by exchanging parts. The toys themselves are pretty solid and well constructed. My son loves them and plays with them when he cannot play online. The online component has fun games and is very creative. There is a lot to do (especially after adding more of the dinos). Unlike other kids websites, there is no monthly charge. Once you own the toy you have access to the site. My son has some problems with reading and although there is a lot to read on the site, (a lot of fun dino info) it does not keep him from understanding what to do. It is pretty intuitive.

The Bad: This toy has a number of severe computer issues. I have a very powerful Vista 64 system with a great deal of RAM and processor speed. Still I had a great deal difficulty downloading the software. Each time I followed the instructions, the download from the website would stop and time out. I spent over an hour trying to get the starter kit it to work and it wouldn't and then, for no reason at all it worked....then it didn't....then it did....then it didn't....We did finally get the first dino working.

Once a dino's DNA is in the system then all is well and the settings are saved and the child can log on at any time and play. Unfortunately, each time a new dino is added the problems start again. I called tech support one one occasion and they were great, worked with me, and all was well. Then the next time I added a new dino I had problems again. The computer didn't recognize the Xtractaur gun. When the gun was finally connected, the DNA wouldn't "extract". I had to fiddle with one of the dinos for about 20 minutes before the computer registered the new addition. This has happened each and every time I have added a new dino.

Since my son loves the toys so much, and since the problems only happen when a new dino is first added, I believe this is a worth while toy. But you have to really have patience each time you add a new dinosaur. Some things to consider when having computer issues. Make sure you are running the software as the computer administrator. It is better to use the software on the CD directly instead of downloading from the site. Each time a new dino is added use the CD again and start the software directly from the disk. Make sure that JPJWatcher.exe is running BEFORE you try to connect the Xtractaur gun. This can be started from the CD. Then attach the gun and run the xtractaur.exe file. If you try to run the xtracaur.exe without the JPJwatcher it won't work.

Xtractaurs can be a great game for kids, but it can also be very frustrating. My son (age 5) loves playing this game. Putting the various parts of different dinosaurs together into a hybrid so that he can beat the other 'Megavores' is his favorite part. Is it overtly educational, not really, but he has learned valuable skills: logging in, assembly, strategic parts selection, web site navigation, etc. Having now figured out how to make this work twice, based on other's frustrations, let me provide a description of how I got it up and running. I am doing this assuming you don't have the CD that came with it (worst case). I have a Windows 7 (64-bit) system but I think this works on other systems as well.

1. Go to the Xtractaurs.com site.
2. Create a username and password or log in if you already have one.
3. Plug in your gun. If it glows Red you are ready to go. If it glows green you need to follow the instructions below.
4. Choose the How to Extract DNA link. (Since I already had an account, you may need to do a few more clicks to get to this part. You can get to the main screen with the link by clicking the green XTRACTAURS logo in the upper left.)
5. Click Trouble With Extraction Gun.
6. Under Still Having Problems, click `Click here' under #2.
7. Click the download link.
8. Choose to save the file (not run as the directions indicate)
9. Open the location(folder) of the file on your system, usually in the Downloads folder
10. Right click on the file and choose Run as Administrator. (Note: This is a security risk and we are trusting Mattel that there software isn't malware. Do not do this on sites/files you don't trust.)
11. On the User Account Control box, choose Yes and follow the prompts to continue the install process.
12. You should now have the software installed. Just to be safe, close your Internet browser window and open a new one.
13. Go to the Xtractaurs.com site, log in, and plugin your gun. It should now glow red.
14. On the main page, (You may also need to go to the How to Extract DNA page) pull the trigger and plug it into the dinosaur. Wait for a bit and it should `extract' the DNA.

I hope this walkthrough is accurate and works for you.

the toy itself is cute for dinosaur lovers...but the supplied software is garbage and won't work properly on some PCs.
I only paid 1.00 on ebay so I can't complain.
I don't recommend downloading the software on your main pc as it opens up some serious holes in the network security.