fun

LOS ANGELES--Kids and games. When Tim Schafer of Double Fine stepped onstage to demo his Sesame Street-branded Kinect game today, he explained how he had his 3-year-old daughter in mind when he developed the idea.

Sesame Street, Disneyland, and more: It looks like younger and younger kids are being targeted for gaming. Both Disneyland Adventures and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster are Microsoft exclusives for the Kinect. Add in Kinect Fun Labs, a series of interactive toys and camera-based art apps on a single disc, and you have a clear-cut strategy for attracting the toddler crowd.

Call it the iPad Effect, or whatever you'd like, but the hands-free gaming that Kinect represents looks like Microsoft's new fertile ground for the youngest gaming set. The question is, will parents want their kids to play? … Read more

Though advertising is largely dead, sometimes people come up with wonderfully inventive things that make you stand and smile. Often, those people are in Sweden.

Here is just one wonderful example. It is for McDonald's. The bright minds behind this thought it would be, as the narrator of the video says, "extra fun" to have people stand around in a nice square, whip out their iPhones and play digital Pong on a large billboard.

If you managed to last 30 seconds without being defeated, you would get a coupon for something delicious at Ronald's house.

Particularly … Read more

Fatbooth will make you look fat in pictures. Intrigued yet?

Using what can only be described as state of the art technology, Fatbooth detects a face in your photos, and adds to it a disproportionate amount of chin and cheek girth. Purely meant for entertainment, not embarrassment, the app performs its singular function perfectly. It runs smoothly, is easy to use, and produces an LOL moment almost every time. Fatbooth can also run its face detection and fattening magic on existing photos from your gallery. If you want to see the before picture, just shake your phone. To fatten that … Read more

Fruit Ninja HD is a faithful iPad adaptation of the popular iPhone and iPod Touch game of the same name. This HD version adds same-device multiplayer and sharper graphics to the original's unique gameplay.

The interface hasn't changed, but the game's goofy and addictive premise--slashing through fast-flying fruit with swiping strokes of a virtual sword--works especially well on the iPad's bigger screen. You can even "go Wolverine" with up to eight-finger multitouch.

The game gives you several options for solo and multiplayer: In single-player, you can play Classic (the game ends when you hit … Read more

Consumer electronics company E Fun is bumping up its lineup of Android tablets.

Appearing at CES this week, E Fun will be demoing its new Next4, Next5, and Next6 tablets, all with built-in Wi-Fi and access to the Borders e-book store.

Running Android 2.2, the 10.1-inch Next4 will retail for $349.99, while the Android 2.1-equipped 7-inch Next6 will cost consumers $269.99. Both models include 2GB of memory, an SD card slot, a viewer for MP3 files and photos, built-in speakers, 25 pre-loaded books, and a G-sensor accelerometer that reacts when you tilt and move the … Read more

A certain brand of building blocks has inspired generations of children to explore the possibilities of creativity. Those brightly colored plastic pieces that have been transformed into everything from landscapes to moonscapes click together with an ease of use that encourages fantastic results. Creating combinations in the kitchen might not be as easy as building, say, a five-story Lego pirate fort being attacked by space aliens, but that doesn't mean it can't be just as fun.

The Stackable Spice Grinders won't turn your budding architect into the next Frank Lloyd Wright, but the next Mario Batali? Maybe. … Read more

I'm not the type to decorate my place for the holidays. I'm simply not home enough to enjoy the decorations, and not enough other people would see it to make it worthwhile. My dog might like the effect, but I'm pretty sure he's an atheist. Nonetheless, I'm going to try to make some of these Star Wars-themed paper snowflakes just because I can.

It started with this blog post that included instructions for Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and Clonetroopers snowflakes. Bren over at Geektress saw those 'flakes and got so excited she added old-school Stormtroopers, Wampas, and Princess Leia snowflakes. Awesome. … Read more

Much has been written about the eventual robot uprising. However, until that time comes, Earth and the sky above are the domain of humans; clearly, we should make the most of it while the time is ours. With Skynet in its incubation stage, we humans are free to toast and enjoy the fruits of our creations, with a cold drink and a cupcake, of course. Naturally, the best way to enjoy this meal would be with robot-themed accessories.

For whatever reason, finding a robot drink to toast over a robot cupcake has never been too easy. Luckily (or not), times … Read more

Lie Detector Pro is a fun app that allegedly can detect whether you are generally a liar or generally truthful, but mostly it's just fun to play with. To start the test, place the iPhone in your hand, read the instructions, and hit Next. From there you will be asked a series of questions onscreen, and you will need to speak your answers out loud.

The app supposedly measures your stress level, the tonality of your voice, and whether your hands are shaking to detect if you are dishonest in your replies. The questions are mostly simple ("What … Read more