Swinxs brings out the kid in you and feeds him microchips
This is Swinxs, and it’s sort-of like a games console, but not really. I suppose it’s the logical extension of the Wii’s “getting people active” push. It’s a brightly coloured box, with armbands containing RFID chips, that lets you play a bunch of traditional party games, but with actually-quite-awesome technological extras.
If you’re reading Tech Digest, then you probably like things that do far more than you actually need them to do. Swinxs has that in spades. Sure, you could just play regular tag, but how about equipping each person with microchips, so you know they can’t cheat? It even changes the rules for you mid-game, just like Eric – remember him? – who couldn’t stand losing and started crying if he did.
It’s not just Tag either. There’s ten games pre-loaded, including Dash, Quiz, Hide and Seek, a variant on musical statues, and a form of Dodgeball. More games can be downloaded from the device’s website too – it comes with a USB cable to plug into your PC. There’s also music and quizzes to download.
The device is waterproof, and comes with a rechargable battery with four hours of battery life. Just the thing for family trips to the countryside, or kids birthday parties, or anything in between. To be honest, I quite want one myself. I’m going to get a review model in, and thoroughly test it out for you guys. I’ll film any shenanigans, too, so look out for that over the next few weeks.
Swinxs will be out on 1st October, available from the Early Learning Centre and various websites, and will cost you £130. For that price, you get to be the parent of the child whose parties everyone at school wants to go to. Bask in that warm glow. Just let the kid have a go once in a while, yeah?
Swinxs
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