LeapFrog Announces New Licensing Partners and Properties for Its Web-Connected Gaming HandheldsEducational Gaming Reaches the Next Level with Extensive Software Library for the New Leapster2 and Didj Gaming Systems
NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American International Toy Fair, Booth #1949 -- LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. , a leading developer of technology-based learning products, today announced fourteen new licensed, Web-connected software titles for its recently unveiled handheld gaming systems, the Leapster2 Learning Game System and the Didj(TM) Custom Gaming System. New titles feature popular characters and stories from leading entertainment properties including Cartoon Network, Lucasfilm Ltd., Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. All new games will connect to the proprietary LeapFrog(R) Learning Path to extend the learning online and further enhance the fun gameplay experiences.
"LeapFrog's educational gaming systems are a great way to get kids engaged in learning and gaming," said Paul Southern, senior director of domestic licensing and marketing of Lucas Licensing. "With the new Star Wars: The Clone Wars games for the Leapster2 and Didj systems, the LeapFrog and Lucas Licensing teams worked together to ensure kids will experience high-quality games that reflect the excitement of our new Clone Wars movie and TV series, while also delivering the educational integrity that LeapFrog is so well known for."
Leapster2 is the latest handheld in the popular Leapster family and offers a sleek new form for enjoying new games such as the exclusive educational game license for Lucasfilm Animation's new CG-animated movie and TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer Camping Adventure: Explore Spanish Words!. The five new licensed titles expand the preschool gameplay online with fun activities and rewards that encourage continued play while allowing parents to see what their child is learning and share in their accomplishments.
The Didj handheld is the first totally customizable educational gaming platform for grade-schoolers and features nine new titles in its introduction year. Didj offers everything from arcade-style play with SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog to adventure gaming with the exclusive educational game licenses for Lucasfilm's INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL and STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS to brain-teasing fun with Warner Bros' Nancy Drew: The Mystery in the Hollywood Hills. Beyond extensive customization features that allow kids to personalize the look and feel of games, parents and kids can customize the learning content, too-connecting gameplay with schoolwork. The Didj system supports what kids are learning in school, from spelling lists to multiplication tables, and lets them practice skills in a fun way.
Parents can get an early peek at the Leapster2 and Didj handhelds and software, as well as the LeapFrog Learning Path at leapfrog.com/gaming and leapfrog.com/learningpath.
"Our licensing partners are vital to our gaming business, especially in a year where we'll be introducing two new systems, Leapster2 and Didj," said Doug Carlucci, vice president of licensing and content acquisitions at LeapFrog. "We know that kids want to play video games that feature characters and stories they love and it's important that we can deliver fun experiences while reinforcing our commitment to learning through this exciting medium."
Learning is Not One-Size-Fits-All
LeapFrog's proprietary new Learning Path is an integrated part of all new gaming titles for 2008. It is a free online tool at leapfrog.com that interfaces with LeapFrog products to show parents what their child is learning and how their activities or games map back to the Scope and Sequence of educational skills that is at the core of every LeapFrog product. Each time parents connect their Leapster2 or Didj system, they can see how education comes to life for their child-the games their child has been playing, the skills they have been practicing and the progress they have been making.
Availability
The Leapster2 handheld will be available in the summer of 2008 with an MSRP of $69.99 and new titles at an MSRP at $24.99. The entire library of 33 titles is cross-compatible with all the Leapster(R) platforms. New licensed titles include:
-- Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Math
-- Disney/Pixar's WALL-E
-- Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer Camping Adventure: Explore Spanish
Words!
-- Scholastic's I SPY: Treasure Hunt
-- Scholastic's Outwit!
The Didj system will be available in the summer of 2008 with an MSRP of $89.99 and new titles with an MSRP of $29.99 each. New licensed titles include:
Summer 2008
-- Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
-- Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants: Fists of Foam
-- Nicktoons(TM): Android Invasion
-- SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog
Fall 2008
-- Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Clone Wars
-- Lucasfilm's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
-- Warner Bros' Nancy Drew: The Mystery in the Hollywood Hills
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., is a leading designer, developer, and marketer of innovative, technology-based learning products and related proprietary content, dedicated to making learning effective and engaging for all ages, at home and in schools, around the world. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog has developed a family of learning platforms that come to life with more than 100 interactive software titles, covering important subjects such as phonics, reading, writing, math, music, geography, social studies, spelling, vocabulary, and science. In addition, the company has created a broad line of stand-alone educational products for children from birth to 16 years. LeapFrog's award-winning U.S. consumer products are available in six languages at major retailers in more than 35 countries around the world. LeapFrog School's multisensory products currently reach students in more than 100,000 classrooms across the United States. LeapFrog School is a business division of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
LeapFrog, DIDJ and LEAPSTER are trademarks or registered trademarks of
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. Lucasfilm, STAR WARS, THE CLONE WARS, INDIANA
JONES and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & (C)
Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. (C) 2008 VIACOM. SpongeBob SquarePants
created by Stephen Hillenburg. TM & (C) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
(s08). All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Copyright (C) 2008 LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media contacts:
Erin Nelson Jenna Martin
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. Kaplow Communications
510-596-3437 212-221-1713
enelson@leapfrog.com jmartin@kaplowpr.com
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
CONTACT: Erin Nelson of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., +1-510-596-3437,
enelson@leapfrog.com; or Jenna Martin of Kaplow Communications,
+1-212-221-1713, jmartin@kaplowpr.com, for LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
Web site: http://www.leapfrog.com/
LeapFrog Announces Key Publishing and Licensing Partnerships to Support Its Innovative New Tag(TM) Reading SystemNext-Generation Reading Product Interacts with Real Books Featuring Classic and Popular Children's Titles and Characters
NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American International Toy Fair, Booth #1949 -- LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., a leading developer of technology-based learning products, today announced an all-star line-up of publishing and licensing partners to support the launch of its new Tag Reading System (leapfrog.com/tag). Available this summer, the Tag Reading System is the first handheld learn-to-read technology to bring to life the lovable stories and characters of respected children's authors from notable publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster and others.
"HarperCollins was delighted to adapt the best-selling Fancy Nancy series into interactive books," said publisher Susan Katz. "It is gratifying to give Nancy a voice and allow kids an opportunity to interact with her through an extra-fancy new reading technology."
LeapFrog has been synonymous with learning to read for parents, teachers and children since the introduction of its award-winning LeapPad(R) Learning System. Having sold more than 72 million interactive LeapPad books worldwide, the company is primed to reinvent the learn-to-read category with the Tag reader and its extensive 21-volume library of interactive books, activity boards and activity card sets.
The Tag reader brings beloved children's properties-Fancy Nancy, Olivia, The Little Engine That Could, Walter the Farting Dog, as well as Miss Spider and I SPY(TM) from Scholastic, Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants and Diego and Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends-to life through its interactive technology that fits in a child's hand. Audio for the stories, as well as the fun-filled games and activities spread throughout the pages, is delivered through an innovative Web-based application called LeapFrog(R) Connect, offering children an entirely new and captivating reading experience.
"It is a great medium-it mixes media and it brings the book alive for kids that otherwise might be watching television or playing video games," said Olivia author and artist Ian Falconer. "Ana Gasteyer, the narrator, is a brilliant interpreter of Olivia's home life-all parents can relate to the painful patience required in parenting the overzealous child. And Olivia is nothing if not overzealous."
"This is an incredible opportunity to introduce The Little Engine That Could and Walter the Farting Dog to a new generation of readers," said Doug Whiteman, publisher, Penguin Group. "The Tag Reading System is an innovative way to get kids engaged in reading and we could not be happier with the way this technology brings our books to life."
Reading Between the Lines
The Tag handheld works with Tag-enabled books to create an independent and interactive reading experience for children. By simply touching the highly responsive Tag reader anywhere on any page of a Tag book, children can bring their favorite stories to life, easily skipping from page to page or book to book.
The pocket-sized Tag platform "reads" by using a small, sophisticated infrared camera that works as an imaging system to recognize letters, words and symbols printed on the page. Using the PC- and Mac-compatible LeapFrog Connect Application, parents can download audio for each book in the Tag library, then manage content the way they manage MP3 or digital camera files. With 16 MB of on-board flash memory, the Tag reader can hold up to five books at a time.
All-New Proprietary LeapFrog Learning Path Lets Parents See the Learning
Launching in tandem with the Tag Reading System is LeapFrog's proprietary Learning Path, a free online tool at leapfrog.com that interfaces with LeapFrog products to show parents what their child is learning and how their activities or games map back to the Scope and Sequence of educational skills that the Company has always built into every product. New online connectivity also allows children to access fun online rewards for off-line play and learning.
Based on an award-winning LeapFrog School product used by teachers across the U.S. to assess and instruct students in classrooms nationwide, the LeapFrog Learning Path allows parents to connect the Tag handheld to their computer to view details about the books their child has read, including the skills explored and progress made (leapfrog.com/learningpath).
AVAILABILITY
SUMMER 2008; AGES 4-8; Tag Reading System MSRP: $49.99; Tag books and activity boards MSRP: $13.99 each
Kid classics
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Fancy Nancy at the Museum
Olivia
The Little Engine That Could
Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise
Activity storybooks
Disney/Pixar's Cars: Tractor Tipping
Disney Princess: Adventures Under the Sea
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: The Golden Paddleball
Go Diego Go!: Underwater Mystery
I SPY: Imagine That!
Miss Spider's Tea Party
Pirates! The Treasure of Turtle Island
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Tour de Bikini Bottom
T. Rex's Mighty Roar
Activity boards
Tag Funny Phrases
Tag Super Speller
Activity cards (MSRP: $7.99 EACH)
National Geographic Kids Birds and Sea Animals
National Geographic Kids Land Animals
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is a leading designer, developer, and marketer of innovative, technology-based learning products and related proprietary content, dedicated to making learning effective and engaging for all ages, at home and in schools, around the world. The company was founded in 995 and is based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog has developed a family of learning platforms that come to life with more than 100 interactive software titles, covering important subjects such as phonics, reading, writing, math, music, geography, social studies, spelling, vocabulary, and science. In addition, the company has created a broad line of stand-alone educational products for children from birth to 16 years. LeapFrog's award-winning U.S. consumer products are available in six languages at major retailers in more than 35 countries around the world. LeapFrog School's multisensory products currently reach students in more than 100,000 classrooms across the United States. LeapFrog School is a business division of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
LEAPFROG, TAG and LEAPPAD are trademarks or registered trademarks of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (C) 2008 VIACOM. SpongeBob SquarePants created by Stephen Hillenburg. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Copyright (C) 2008 LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media contacts:
Erin Nelson Jenna Martin
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. Kaplow Communications
510-596-3437 212-221-1713
enelson@leapfrog.com jmartin@kaplowpr.com
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
CONTACT: Erin Nelson of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., +1-510-596-3437,
enelson@leapfrog.com; or Jenna Martin of Kaplow Communications,
+1-212-221-1713, jmartin@kaplowpr.com, for LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
Web site: http://www.leapfrog.com/
