I love seeing my kids be creative and make art, I always dread the mess. Unless I watch my pair like a hawk and put the kibosh and any over-excited behaviour, they soon end up flicking paint or clay or whatever all over the living room. For a few years now my son (and eldest child) has enjoyed messing around on Windows Paint, but he's still just that bit too young to be let loose on a computer. Enter the UDraw Game Tablet from THQ.
The UDraw Game Tablet is effectively a graphics tablet for your console, much like sort Wacom have been making for PCs and Apple Macs for years. The tablet itself is slightly different depending on the console you buy it for. The black Xbox and PS3 versions are self-contained units, while the Wii version is white and has a slot to house a Wii Remote. This is because, unlike the other consoles, the Wii version uses a control to transmit signals to the console. It's a cost cutting trick that you also see on the Wii versions of Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
No matter which version you buy you get the same thing in the box, the graphics tablet and a copy of Instant Artist. This is a well thought out piece of software, which not only includes much of the same functionality as a a graphics, art or photo editing program on a PC, plus step-by-step tutorials to help you learn important drawing techniques and a suite of mini-games that highlight the game tablets other features, namely its motion-sensing technology, much like you get in a modern smart phone. The mini games include painting by numbers, splatting aliens with the stylus, negotiating mazes with a ball by tilting the tablet and much more. It's this part of Instant Artist my kids seem to enjoy the most, but then they are both still quite young.
While the software is impressive, the hardware itself is somewhat lacking. As you might expect, the stylus lacks the accuracy of a Wacom device, but if your kids are using to playing on a Nintendo DS they will find the UDraw fails to match the accuracy and immediacy of actually touching the stylus to the screen they're looking at. There's a disconnect when using the UDraw that is more akin to trying to draw with your left hand, which means the results on-screen are never what you'd really want.
The UDraw first appeared on the Nintendo Wii and as a result there is more software available for the Wii version, including Kung-Fu Panda 2, Sponge Bob Squigglepants, Disney Princesses Enchanting Storybook, plus all of the software that's available on the Xbox 360 and PS3. On face value that makes the Wii version easier to recommend over the others, but there's a couple of catches. Firstly, the other consoles can display High Definition video signals, which makes your art look better. Also the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are being heavily discounted now, so while the Wii version is still around £50, the others can be picked up for less than £20. We only paid £13 for ours from Morrisons.
Verdict
I don't want to discourage parents from trying anything that might encourage their kids to be creative and if yours are under the age of about 8 the UDraw is a great way to tap into that creativity via their love of video games, especially as the UDraw is now available for less that £20. As for which version you buy that's depends on whether you want the clarity of a high definition version or the variety of the Wii's greater range of software.
Recommended age range: 4+ years
Matt
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