Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15127 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Mattel
• Dimensions: 5.51" h x 4.33" w x 2.76" l, .79 pounds

Features

• Totally fun and totally unique, it's a 2-D girl living in a 3-D world
• Push the buttons on her handheld house to interact with your Pixel Chix pal
• You and your pal decide together what to wear, what to do and where to go
• Find more fun and challenging choices through 5 levels of play

Editorial Review
Sort of a pared-down version of The Sims computer game, Pixel Chix provides grade-school girls with a virtual buddy whose every move they can control. Residing in a luxurious 2-story dark pink house, this Pixel Chick is a 2-dimensional LCD image imposed on a background with 3-dimensional furniture. Five action buttons on the front program the Pixel Chix pal to play, eat, change clothes, go out, or go to sleep, and "yes" and "no" buttons let girls answer the Pixel Chick’s questions. As long as girls are playing with their chick, she is happy; but ignore her, and she gives her owner a lot of ‘tude by anxiously tapping her foot and clearing her throat. Attentive owners will continue to advance along the 5-level gaming system and accumulate more cool stuff for their Pixel Chix pal. However, neglecting the pal causes her to lose all her possessions and, eventually, her screen darkens and she splits. Connecting two Pixel Chix houses together lets virtual friends visit one another while hooking three or more together causes the pals to have a multi-caller phone chat or perform a dance together. --Cristina Vaamonde

Customer Reviews

Pixel Chix Two Story Homes Contain Added Features
The new two-story houses add some features to the game. Now girls can see their PixelChix upstairs--dreaming, washing her hands, and using the vanity, among other things. Parents, don't expect to see her use the included toilet--she draws a curtain for that one!


Buttons
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The buttons along the bottom make it look as if there are many things to do, but they're quite basic:

* Yes--Answer a question
* No--Answer a question
* Go to bed--Send her to bed (a way to turn the game off)
* Vanity/eat--Downstairs, choose a food for her to eat. Upstairs, choose a primping activity (combing hair, etc.)
* Dress--Choose an outfit
* Play a game--The "games" are pretty basic, like having her watch TV or get a phone call.
* Restroom/go out--Upstairs, she will do a restroom activity (hand-washing, tooth-brushing, etc.). Downstairs, she leaves.

Each button allows the user to choose an activity/animation to watch. While some of the activities involve the user, such as a Magic 8 Ball, the interactivity level could be improved to add to game enjoyment. As a girl plays, new features are added (for a total of five levels of play).


Animations
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The animations are pretty basic, and are repeated when the same option is requested. There are some variations. For example, she might dream about sheep jumping over a fence, or she might dream about a butterfly.


Voice
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Perhaps the most interesting and fun thing about PixelChix is that they audibly talk in English. AND, thankfully (unlike in the original homes), there is volume control on the two-story house. Pixel Chix have a voice with a bit of an attitude. Kids may find this endearing and cute; adults may wonder if it will encourage girls to act likewise.


Lasting Value?
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One of the most important buying factors for parents is whether or not a toy has a lasting value. PixelChix are aa tricky toy to evaluate since they may keep some girls entertained indefinitely, whereas they may bore others quickly (especially kids who realize the same comments and animations are appearing again and again and that levels will have to be repeated should something happen to restart the game). Mattel has created the product so that most fans will likely want to expand their collection if they find the toy to be fun. For example, their pets--Pixel Pets--are set to debut sometime in 2007.

Adorable toy, very fun and interactive!
My daughter asked for this for the holidays. We have never bought a Pixel Chix toy before, but I was impressed by what I already knew about them. It's even better than I thought it would be and my six-year-old absolutely adores this thing! There are lots of things to do with Pixel and she has a cute voice and neat personality. My daughter says this is her favorite toy and she got a lot of other great things - even a gameboy!
I highly recommend these toys for girls. Even I like to play with Pixel!

Pixel chix
Really fun to play ( even for parents). Would have liked it better if the options for play didn't start over every time it is turned off for a while. The options only increase the more it is played with. I don't really like my daughter playing with a hand held toy for hours.