It’s a special delivery on your personal computer. My Little CD Tots is a unique CD-ROM package that combines a real 16" soft baby doll and accessories with a "virtual baby" software title.
Children create a new "baby" by choosing from 4 onscreen little tots with different skin colors and genders, name him/her, or they load a saved baby. The on-screen baby wears similarly-designed clothes as the real doll, and is extraordinarily life-like, rendered in state-of-the-art 3D. Large buttons at the bottom of every screen serve as a gateway to the various activities of the program that allow kids to feed, bathe, change the diaper, and play with their special tot, while indicators at the top of the screen make it easy to know the baby’s needs in the different categories with happy, neutral, or sad faces next to the needs icons.
Those who were uncomfortable with the whole "virtual pet" concept might raise their eyebrows at the premise behind this "virtual baby" title. However, the program was executed with great care to ensure that young children would never be overwhelmed by an overly needy on-screen baby. The program can be played on level one in which the baby is totally undemanding, or on medium level (default) wherein he/she simply fusses a little when his/her needs are not met. Young children need not fret nor will parents have to deal with the nightmares of a "virtual pet" that is too demanding, unless parents press F1 to change the level to level three, which makes the baby downright cranky. Older children may want to experiment with the program’s higher level, but besides the fussiness factor, there are no dire or serious consequences when needs are not met.
It came as no surprise to this reviewer that kid testers were drawn so enthusiastically to this program. The on-screen baby is really quite fun to observe and the challenge of caring for him/her is one that most preschoolers gladly take on. I think this program has some value as a small dose of reality training for children who are expecting a new little sibling, though never in a negative or overwhelming way. It teaches them that babies need some attention, and that they do fuss when they want something. I mention a "small dose" of reality because there are certainly some "unreal" components including thought bubbles that show players exactly what their onscreen baby wants. If only real babies were so easy!
Simple pleasures in this program include moving a bubble wand across the screen so that bubbles appear then disappear with a satisfying "popping" sound, navigating a maze in order to steer the baby to the park, and adding color to coloring templates (50 coloring pages are available onscreen and can be sent to the printer as well). There are 3 bedtime stories in the nursery that contain bold illustrations and playful text. Most fun of all is the ability to take snapshots of CD Tots and place them in a printable baby book.
The virtual babies were programmed with an artificial intelligence system that allows them to have their own moods! Feed the baby carrots when she wants bananas, and she’ll turn her head away, spit them out on her highchair tray, or throw the offending purée at the screen! She might toss a toy that she doesn’t like in favor of another one, or fuss a little when her desire to be soaped up (communicated via a thought bubble with a picture of a bar of soap) goes ignored.
We appreciate the fact that besides the appearance of various Graco and Little Tots paraphernalia and accessories in the program, there are no obvious marketing plugs for them. In other words, the program doesn’t suggest that children go out and buy the products for their real-life doll, though some kids might recognize these accessories on a subsequent trip to the toy store.
What’s missing here is watching babies grow and learn. The environment of My Little CD Tots is not as dynamic as Mindscape’s Babyz for this reason. However, it is this very simplicity that makes My Little CD Tots just right for little computer users (Babyz is too complex for this age group).
