Review: VTech V-Motion Active Learning System

Written on Nov 17, 2008 by Brian and filed under Reviews, VTech

V-Motion from VTech is a console gaming system designed for kids age 3-7 years old. The console comes with one wireless controller and one game, along with standard RCA connection cables to connect to your television. There’s also an online component, with VTech’s V.Link USB drive that connects to a PC. The whole system is all about simplicity, from setup to use, which is perfect for children who are ready to interact with a starter gaming system.

V-Motion Setup

Out of the box the V-Motion system comes with everything you need to start playing in a few minutes, including a game cartridge. The console itself is pretty straightforward. The RCA cables that connect to your television are built into the back of the unit. While you can use an AC adaptor, the V-Motion doesn’t come with one. Instead there’s a door on the bottom that houses four AA batteries, which come with the system.

The lack of AC adaptor caught us by surprise. At first glance it was hard to imagine running a console on batteries, but it’s important to remember, this isn’t an XBOX or some other high-powered system with a bunch of moving parts like a hard drive and DVD player. The system actually runs for a long time on batteries, we don’t have an exact hour count, but you should get several weeks of moderate play.

The fact that it can run on batteries does a few other things too. First it probably saves you $10. Second, it lets the system be used anywhere, including vehicles equipped with entertainment packages, or even portable DVD players with RCA inputs. The AC adaptor is the same that’s used by other VTech products too, so if you have one already you’re able to use it. The bottom line is that if you need the AC adaptor, you’ll have to buy it separately, but the battery option gives you a lot of flexibility you wouldn’t otherwise have.

Physically, the box is relatively large. It’s certainly not because the internal components need the space, it’s probably more about making room for the large buttons on the front and the cartridge reader. The front has buttons to turn the system on and off, right below those is the V.Link port. The cartridge plugs into the middle, which does take a little muscle, so parents will have to help younger kids with switching games. To the left is the wireless controller connection light/receiver and a port to plug in older wired controllers from other VTech systems. The controller port could also be used for wired accessories released sometime in the future.

On top of the system is a storage compartment for the game Smartridges, as they’re called. A lid opens to reveal room to store 9 games. Incidentally, there are currently 8 games on the market, so with the included game, you can fit them all.

The package also comes with one wireless controller; you may add a second one separately. The controller is an impressive piece in itself. First off it’s wireless, insert the included batteries and you’re set. It’s also easy for kids to grab a hold of, the joystick is easy to handle with either a hand or thumb for bigger kids. The action button is giant, so it’s nearly impossible to miss when needed. The game pad also has four color-coded buttons in the center that are used in certain games to identify shapes, numbers and the like when answering multiple choice questions.

The controller can also be used by both right-handed and left-handed kids, the latter of which are usually disregarded when it comes to gaming. The center portion of the controller rotates 180 degrees, so the pad can be turned around and used for lefties. Each controller has a switch on the bottom to let it be used for Player 1, Player 2 or turned off. When connecting a controller to the system, it’s as simple as turning on the controller and the V-Motion base picks it up in a few seconds.

VTech has done a great job of putting together a simple to use package that has everything you need in the box to get started with game play. The wireless controllers are well done and we haven’t yet discussed the motion control system that can be used. For our setup we were running in 5 minutes and only needed a screwdriver to install the batteries in the controller. We can definitely see the argument for including an AC adaptor, but at least you can start off with batteries and add the power cable later if you want. We do really like the flexibility of taking the system with us though to use with a variety of displays like in-car entertainment systems.

V-Motion Gameplay

Once you’re all set up it’s time to get started with the games. As of now, there are 8 games, along with the one that comes with the system called, Action Mania. Insert that game or any of your choice, hit the power button and turn on a controller and you’re up and running. We’ll have reviews of all of the games that work with VTech’s V-Motion system coming up, so for now we’ll just discuss Action Mania and interfacing with the games in general.

Most of the games follow the same sort of schema, you can play the games in a series, kind of like a story mode or individually. Each cartridge will have a few twists, some have sing-alongs, extra learning games and so on. The games all have some sort of learning connection, generally around numbers, math, letters, spelling, coordination and the like. They also all interface with the V.Link system which comes with V-Motion and we’ll discuss in detail in the next section.

When starting a game, children can select from two skill levels. Each game is a little different, but the harder level generally means the challenges will be a little more difficult. In letter games for instance the harder level will often have more words, longer words or focus on lower-case instead of upper-case. The harder level isn’t dramatically different, but enough of a challenge that younger kids who master the easy level will see a difference.

Each game can also generally be played with the joystick or with motion controls. The motion controls are not entirely unlike Nintendo Wii controls, just a lighter version. Kids tilt the controller left, right, forward and back to interface with the games. The motion controls are pretty fun, but definitely not the best for starting out with. In fact, most of the kids we tested with in the 4-6 age range preferred the joystick in most games. The motion controls definitely add to some of the games though, it’s more fun to fly Wall-E through space for instance, than drive Thomas on the tracks.

The one thing parents are going to be worried about right away though are the graphics. They’re certainly not on par with adult console games, or even some of the flash-based games kids play online. And some of the cartridges are better than the others. But at the end of the day, we give the V-Motion a pass because when we talked to the kids about it, many of whom play the Nintendo Wii, not a single one complained about it. VTech could certainly do more here, but it’s important to remember the audience, which is not parents who are used to PC or adult console games. Overall the system does enough, and that’s all that we’re concerned about. We’re not going to complain unless the gameplay suffers, and largely the games do fine, even without high-end graphics processing.

The game that comes with V-Motion is called Action Mania which includes three types of games; Rapid Race, Backyard Party and Raise a Racket.

Rapid Race has two modes, street race (letters and spelling) and bobsled (number order and comparison). In street race kids can drive a car in a race against the clock to fill in missing letters in words. The road is full of obstacles to avoid though and stars that add to the player’s score. Bobsled is similar, though I must admit, my son enjoyed running into the obstacle that turned him into a snowball that rolled down the hill. When played the right way though, this game is about number order on the easy level and greater than or less than comparisons on the hard level.

Backyard party features a main game called Balance It (healthy food) and a sub-game called Bouncing Ball (colors, classification). In Balance It, kids control a child who is balancing on a large ball, rolling about his backyard on a path. The goal is to avoid obstacles while collecting the healthy food items along the way. This game was by far the most popular in our test group; the kids liked the idea of rolling around on a ball. Most even played it straight, avoiding the fries and selecting the broccoli for instance. In Bouncing Ball, balls are tossed to the kids and they have to quickly decide which pile they belong in based on color. This one gets a bit repetitive and was fun the first few times, but generally had low replay interest. It’s worth noting that in Balance It, the course changes each time, so the game has a little variety to it.

Raise a Racket has a Competition (hand-eye coordination) mode and Good Aim (colors, classification, counting) mode. In Competition kids play the tennis coach by hitting the ball back and forth. The character moves on its own, so kids just have to worry about timing the swing. On the difficult level, the balls move faster, adding to the challenge. In Good Aim, kids have to hit the right colored balls into a net. Both games fared well with the test kids, coming in second to Balance It.

All of the games also feature a 2-player mode, which generally has both players going at once on the same screen. Some of the games are competitive, each kid playing for the best time. But in some, like the tennis games, they play together to beat the coach. The second player definitely adds value to the game.

For an essentially free game, Action Mania has a good deal of depth and is quite enjoyable for kids in the 3-5 range, though younger kids may have a hard time with the tennis game on their own. Older kids can still have fun rolling around on a ball and finding healthy food, especially in multi-player with a younger friend or sibling.

All of the game cartridges offer a relatively limited set of gameplay, in that each can be completed in an hour or so. That’s by design though, since kids can’t really save their progress on V-Motion. They can save their high scores to the V.Link drive and they also accumulate up to four gold coins per cartridge to use with V.Link online though, so there is the higher objective of getting a score high enough to unlock all of the gold coins.

V.Link Internet Connection

The VTech V-Motion comes with a V.Link drive that has a USB connection on one side for the computer and a proprietary connection on the other side that plugs into the V-Motion system. As kids play each game cartridge and earn higher scores, they earn gold coins, up to four for each cartridge. These gold coins can be used to unlock computer games to extend the fun. The drive can also be used to upload high scores so the kids can see where they stack up against other V-Motion players.

We found the gold coins to be good motivation actually to succeed in the cartridge games, because the games V.Link offers are surprisingly well done. They also work within a dedicated application that totally blocks access to the rest of the computer, so kids can’t accidentally cause a problem on your PC.  Each game requires a gold coin to unlock it, there are 16 games in all. We really hope V-Tech continues to expand the game selection to keep kids coming back to the PC as well.

The high scores are also a fun feature; each kid can create an account for their V.Link to see how they compare with other players. But the scoring system isn’t widely used. We have top 100 scores in all the games we’ve tested so far and Wall-E for instance has less than 50 total scores registered. We’re not entirely sure why this section isn’t more active, but it doesn’t really matter. The games they have on the computer are fun and kids can explore on their own in the safety of the desktop application.

The only issues we have with V.Link is that is essentially only works with one child at a time. Since the V.Link is associated to a kid’s account, you can’t use one with more than one child. But there’s not really a great reason to, since the top scores aren’t widely populated and once the games are unlocked, there’s not a great reason to keep plugging the V.Link into your computer. Of course you can buy another V.Link if you want one for each child, but there’s just not much value past the first one. VTech doesn’t offer any educational insight either, like LeapFrog does. This is definitely something they could accomplish though and we really hope to see more development here in the future.

Summary

We really enjoy the V-Motion system, it’s one of the best gaming products on the market for younger kids. Sure kids can play the Wii these days or other systems, but most have little to no educational software. We think the sweet spot here is for kids in the 3-5 range, though many games offer something for older kids, especially in multi-player modes or if they have an affinity for some of the brands like Mickey Mouse, Wall-E, Thomas, Spider Man and others. The system is well conceived and the wireless controllers with the option to use motion controls were a big hit. The V.Link ads PC gameplay but doesn’t help parents when it comes to understanding what their kids are learning about, a definite area of improvement for VTech. As a whole though, we like the V-Motion price point and think the system has a lot to offer younger kids until they’re ready for more advanced learning and gameplay.

Pros

• Priced well
• Easy to set up – everything is included in the box
• Great wireless controllers that work for left and right-handed kids

Cons

• Only 8 games currently available
• V.Link system could do more

Bottom Line

For kids in the 3-5 range, this is the best console game system available. The games are easy for kids to understand and parents can have V-Motion up and running in a few minutes. Couple that with the easy to use wireless controllers and VTech certainly has a winner.

4.5 out of 5 stars