When it comes to software reviews, my philosophy is generally along the lines of "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Newspaper space is precious, and I'd rather spend that space and my time telling you about programs I like.I'm about to break that rule.
I looked at The American Girls Premiere software program from The Learning Co. recently, and I hate it. I think it's terrible, and you shouldn't waste your money on it.
Let me preface my criticism by saying my girls loved the historically based American Girls dolls from The Pleasant Co. when they were little. One has a Felicity doll, the other a Kirsten doll.
I expected the CD-ROM program to be just as good as the dolls and their accompanying storybooks.
The creativity program, aimed at girls ages 7 to 12, is supposed to let users create and produce animated plays. The program boasts that it lets users practice their creativity, writing and storytelling skills while brushing up on historical knowledge. Each doll character - Felicity, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha and Molly - represents a historical period ranging from colonial America to World War II.
To make a play, users choose one of the doll characters and select a scene, props, appropriate lighting, sounds and text. Punch a few buttons, and voila! It's Broadway.
Only, it's not.
First of all, putting together a play is a difficult process that isn't eased much by the included tutorial. The characters are one-dimensional and don't move at all once you select a pose.
Figuring out how to add sounds, and getting them to appear at an appropriate place in the script, was impossible.
Switching from one scene to another has all the grace of turning pages in a book.
But the worst feature of American Girls Premiere was the robotic voices that speak the lines users create for characters. Granted, it is quite a feat to be able to type in text and have a computer speak the words aloud.
But the mechanical sounding voice is frightening, and horribly out of sync with the sweetness of the characters.
I didn't try adding voice through a microphone attached to my PC, which is another option for giving the characters dialogue. Perhaps that's the best way to get around the automaton hidden in the program.
But it won't solve the other limitations of the program - it's flatness, awkwardness or the difficulty of creating plays. Kids who've played with programs that let them create animated movies will find this program a bore.
The best part of the program is that it comes with a cute hat and a handbook with lots of fun activities, stories and even advice on how to start a doll club.
The program is available for $35. My advice: Save your money and hope any future versions are markedly improved.