Looks like LEGO is the new gold standard – all you need to do to revive a video game or franchise would be to release it in the famous LEGO brick form, and you’re good to go. The Star Wars franchise isn’t new to the LEGO treatment, but this time round you can be a proud new owner of the LEGO Darth Vader TIE Fighter set that comes with a tiny minifig of the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, where he can plant his butt in the cockpit while attempting to get a lock on Luke Skywalker during an exciting reenactment of the Trench Run. $29.99 will net you 251 pieces, where even the Force won’t be able to help you put it together apart from your brains and a careful understanding of the chart.

For those who have kids that have outgrown the Leapster and the Leapster2 might want to look into the Didj. This portable gaming system is designed for children ages 6 to 10, and has many cartridges (sold separately) that are both educational and entertaining, generally based on popular tween trends like High School Musical 3 and Hannah Montana.

Like the Leapster2, it is designed to be connected to the computer via USB for more interactivity. For example, kids can go online and trade the points they have earned for modifications in their game worlds. In fact, there was times that it demanded connectivity.

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Bandai has come up with a piggy bank that resembles an extremely cute dog made up of many rotund segments, helping teach your little one the virtues of saving up for a rainy day. This coin bank’s extremely large nose is there for a very good reason – it houses a motion detector within that will activate mouth movement to open up whenever your hand goes near it to deliver not doggy treats, but coins where he will gladly eat it up and swallow. All coins will be accumulated at the tray below where it can later be removed once puppy needs to perform a ‘potty time’. Out in Japan fron November onwards, we’re not sure just how much it will cost.

Source: Fareastgizmos

I had a chance to try out the Leap Frog Leapster a while ago, and I finally got a chance to try out the Leapster2.

Those who might not be familiar with the Leapster should know it is a handheld gaming system with an educational focus, designed for kids ages 4-8. It would appear that very little has changed as far as the layout of the Leapster2 in comparison to the original Leapster.

What makes the Leapster2 different from the original is the ability to plug it in to the computer via USB. From there, a kid can download games, preview titles, and access the online rewards and bonus games that they have earned playing the cartridge games.

Another feature that is different that its predecessor is that it has space for an SD card. You can save programs like drawings or pictures to the cards, and thus print them out or view later, but the slot is in a very awkward place. The SD card slot is actually behind the battery pack, and removing the card after you are done is somewhat difficult.

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I’m sure most of you had the opportunity to play with Pop-Up books when you were a child, but if you haven’t, then the experience will be even more fresh with Electronic Popables.

Jie Qi, with assitance from Leah Buechley and Tshen Chew from the MIT Meida Lab have taken the pop-up book to a whole new level. Their Electronic Popables book features plug-in power motors, so not only can stuff move at the pull of a tab, but it also glows with electronic light.

And that’s not all, certain creations will often light up when the user pushes down on the page, and there is even one instance where pop-up Venus Fly Traps actually open and close. There is a video here after the jump if you want to see it for yourself, and I highly recommend that you do.

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BrickHouse Security has just unveiled its latest Amber Alert GPS (AAGPS) system that will offer unprecedented peace of mind to families, where the diminutive Amber Alert GPS will provide parents with the opportunity to make sure that their kids are safe and accounted for when they’re away from home in a new and easy way. This is made possible thanks to updated GPS technology, which ought to go some ways in making sure that horror stories of parents being separated from their children (intentionally or accidentally) will not happen – or at least, lower the risk by a whole lot more.

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I think that most of us would agree that CSI: Crime Scene Investigation isn’t designed for six-year-olds. However, if you have a six-year-old that happened to watch it, then perhaps they would be inspired by the forensics people. This is assuming they wouldn’t have nightmares.

I am assuming that this is the target audience for the Spy Gear Evidence Kit. This All-in-One Inspection Set is designed for future detectives, as it highlights all the nifty aspects of it. For example, it has a 7 piece fingerprint kit that allows your kids to use lifting tape, glow in the dark powder, and an LED flashlight with UV Blacklight. This kit also has tiny ink case and a 2-sided fingerprint card for more fingerprint fun.

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For several years, Leap Frog has put out an assortment of electronics entertainment geared towards children, and the Zippity is the most original.

Leap Frog, makers of the Leapster, Leapster 2, and Didj describes the Zippity as a “high-energy learning system that gets preschoolers dancing, jumping, playing and learning with Disney characters”, but you probably can’t see how from the picture to the left. I had a chance to try it out, and an adult would see the Zippity as essentially a touch sensitive mat with a very large joystick sticking out of it.

This mat is completely wireless, and requires four C batteries. The mat requires a transmitter that hooks up to your television with the red, white, and yellow ports, and also requires four C batteries.

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