Each Radica Cube World package contains two different cubes.  There are currently four different ones available.  Each Cube houses a stick character with a distinct "personality".  The two we have are SLIM and SCOOP.

SLIM is a stick wielding character who behaves like a "little martial artist".  SCOOP is a "friendly guy with a dog".  We don't have WHIP and DODGER in yet, but they are on their way.  Radica will introduce another four new characters by the Fall of 2006.

The front of the cube has a small LCD screen and three buttons (Sound, On, High Score). The cubes have a set of magnets and metal connectors on each side.

The reset button and battery cover is in the back.  We plan on taking the entire cube apart ...later :-)  We want to play with it a bit before hacking into the thing.  You know we'll want to see if we can figure out how to reprogram it with our own graphics!!!  

It would have been great if Radica had made programmability a "feature" of this product.  If they had, this thing would take off like a rocket!  All kinds of unexpected Cube World interactions could arise with such capabilities!!!

Pressing the center button turns the Cube on.  The sound control is the left most button.  Pressing the right most button will display the high score. 

The Cube is orientation sensitive.  Rotating the cube will cause the stick figure to actually tumble around.  If you rotate by 180º quickly you can actually cause the stick figure to fall on its head!

As fun as bouncing the little stick guy around may be for some, the real entertainment starts when one or more of these Cubes are connected together.  The figures inside the Cubes will interact with each other depending on which of the sides of the Cubes touch each other.

The stick figures can actually move from one Cube to the other, give each other "High Fives", and even stick fight :-)  Watching all the different interactions are quite addictive and a huge time sink.

The one good thing about the residents of Cube World is, unlike the Tamagotchi pets, they do not require any care and feeding.  They won't starve to death and die if you forget about them for a while.

We have more of these Cube on the way to the RainyDayMagazine office. We are going to build a little Cube World.  Hopefully, there will be videos of the different interactions in a few days. 

A new crop of Tech Toys just came in to the RainyDayMagazine office today.  All work grinded to a halt as folks gathered around the UPS guy (btw... we call him "Santa Bob") to see what was hot at ToyFair 2006... it was not like we didn't already HAVE enough diversions in our office.

The instant hit with the bunch at the office was a package from Radica containing a couple of cubes.  For those who were caught up in the Tamagotchi craze, you may want to be a little careful with these cubes.

In this FirstLook review, we'll check out these Cube World modules and how they works.  In the FirstPlay review, we'll set up four-cube "world" and videotape the interaction! 

Reviews:

1. First Look

2. Look Inside

3. First Play

Review Summary:

Initial Impression- Addictive!!!

Usability- Magnetic attraction

Durability- Test in progress

Price- $30 for pkg of two

Other TechToys

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2. LazerWire First Use

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    - Alarm triggered movie

3. 20Q

4. QX5 Digital Microscope

5. Kids Gear Headphones