Review: MobiGo by VTech

Written on Aug 9, 2010 by RuthJS and filed under Reviews, VTech

So, your 4-year-old wants to play games on your smart phone, but you don’t want your phone broken, sticky or your kid’s brain to rot. What’s a busy parent to do? Reach for MobiGo . . . at least VTech hopes so. It’s a slick new gaming system, but there are some notable drawbacks.

Overview

MobiGo was designed to be a portable, durable, gaming unit for children 3-8 years old. Games are interactive and leveled to match your child’s skills. They are designed to reinforce phonics, math, problem solving, science, memory and fine motor skills. The unit retails for $59.99 with one game cartridge, and additional games run $19.99 each.

The MobiGo is available in two color schemes: blue with yellow and orange and purple with pink and more pink.  I reviewed the blue/yellow/orange device as it comes packaged for sale.

Out of the Box

When you open the MobiGo box, you will find that your system comes with the Touch & Learn game cartridge (featuring 7 games, each with multiple levels), a USB cable to connect to your computer for downloads, a cleaning cloth, and an owner’s manual.

VTech has taken great care in designing the MobiGo to make it easy to use and fun. It sports a typical hand-held gaming style with the bonus of rubberized grips to keep it securely in little hands. Other features that VTech added include: touch screen technology (very slick), a flip out QWERTY keyboard (fun and handy), and, of course, educational games.

The MobiGo sports other basic features that you would also expect for a gaming unit: adjustable volume, screen brightness, headphone and DC adapter jacks (headphones and adapter not included).

VTech offers several accessories for purchase to complete the MobiGo ensemble.  These include a carrying case to protect the player and to hold up to three games when your child is on the go. There is also a DC plug for when you don’t have 4 AA batteries on you.  All of these are sold separately.

Additional Games and Downloads

VTech currently has eleven cartridges with licensed characters available for purchase.  These include:

• Ben 10 Ultimate Alien
• Disney/Pixar’s Cars
• Disney Fairies
• Disney Princesses
• Dora the Explorer
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Mr. Men & Little Miss
• NASCAR
• Shrek 4
• Super Hero Squad
• Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3

In addition to cartridges, VTech is working on an online portion with games and content to download which will be offered later this summer. The online features are not available at the time of this review, so I am not able to comment on the functionality nor do I know the pricing.

Using the MobiGo

As with most gaming systems, there’s nothing to do on the MobiGo without a cartridge.

However, once I inserted the cartridge it came with, I was prompted to enter my name (or choose my name after the initial entry); then, I was ready to play.  Even with a small screen (roughly 1.75 x 2.25 inches), navigation is very easy, and the screen is responsive.

I also found the spoken instructions at the beginning of each game to be very clear, even for young children.  All things considered, children don’t require a lot of instruction to get started.

Testing Results

In general, my testers loved the MobiGo.  The included game cartridge was entertaining, and the flip out keyboard and touch screen were novel for a device aimed as young children. None of the games we had required the use of the directional arrows or the button on the front of the unit, but the buttons seems to be well-placed for little thumbs to reach.

Additionally, the game cartridge that was included contained educational games at multiple levels that entertained testers from 3-8 years old. I have to admit, I love the penguin game, so I suppose I should say the games were fun for testers up to thirty-something.

That said, there were three aspects of the MobiGo that came up during testing that I didn’t like.

1. Limited Score: when some of my testers played the games on the included cartridge, they could only achieve a score of 100 points. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, it was blatantly obvious when the testers would play a game, reach a score of 100 points, and continue to complete point-earning tasks, but the score wouldn’t change. When I contacted the public relations team for MobiGo, I was told that this is the way the game was designed. That just doesn’t jive with my competitive side or my sense of fairness.
2. Marketing Age Range Doesn’t Match Available Games: VTech clearly states that the MobiGo is for children 3-8 years old.  However, none of the games that are currently available are labeled for children beyond 7 years.  Furthermore, of the games I found for sale, only two stretched to include 7-year-old kids; the rest were for 6 and under.  Frankly, I have a hard time saying the unit is for 8-year-olds when there are no games geared toward that age group. When I asked about this, the PR team said that there are both beginner and experienced levels of the games and that the experienced levels are geared toward ages 6-7, which does nothing to address my concern with the marketing age range. So, buyer beware, while this unit may be designed for children up to 8, the games only go part way there.
   

   MobiGo Age Range

3. Prompting to Connect to Internet: after several testing sessions, I was surprised when I turned on the MobiGo and was greeted with the following message, “You won a special prize.  Ask a grownup to connect MobiGo to the web, and go pick up your reward.”  I did not like this on three fronts: first, this feels like child-focused marketing to me, which I adamantly oppose.  Second, what if I want to use the MobiGo without the Internet? I now have a child begging me to go online and see what the prize is.  Third, there is currently no site available for MobiGo downloads, so now I have a child begging me to go online to find a prize that’s not even there.  When I asked the PR team, I was told that as soon as I connect to the internet, the message would go away.  As a parent, I’m not impressed with this “feature,” and I want the option to turn it off.

In a Nutshell

The technology employed by the MobiGo is advanced, and the system is slick.  However, VTech has overlooked some important aspects when it comes to usability, including some “features” that I don’t agree with when you’re talking about 3-year-old children. The result:

3.5 out of 5 stars

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