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Pure Evil in Stuffed Animal Form

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Smallwoody

I have 3 kids ages 9, 6 and 4 with the oldest two being boys and the youngest a fit throwing monster who wants everything her way. Their birthdays are spread across the months of April, May and June so we get smacked pretty hard at the end of school with party costs. Because of this we tend to rotate who gets the Mega throw-down and who gets ice cream, cake and cold KFC on the river.


The present of choice this year is something called a Webkinz. It is a small stuffed animal, in our case the shape of a English bull dog, named George. We know his name because it came with a tag on him with instructions on how to "Adopt" you pet. No.. the name isn't on the tag... it has you log into a web site, put in the random code on the tag, register a user for your child and you are presented with a printed out "Adoption Certificate" with the animals name, interests and his best friend (in this case a turtle). Using this login information, your child can now play in the imaginary universe of Webkinz! It's basically a web based knock off of '"TheSims" except with animals. You have a room for your pet you can decorate with object you purchase with the in-game currency. How do you get this currency you might ask... through flash based games of course. The Webkinz people must have put their whole budget into the two sound effect they use cause they're great!

It's been 4 weeks and now the oldest has one as well. I find them huddled around the laptop when I come home from work each day. They've set up each other as friends and can send each presents like Big Screen TV's or a chair. They're becoming obsessed with how much money they need in order to purchase "just one more" widget for their pretend animal on the screen. The stuffed ones are under their bed at this point.

My daughter actually threw a punch at me yesterday when I told them all to get off the computer for dinner. I turned it off yesterday evening and it won't be on again for a week. Many tears were shed but I needed to get a hold on what was happening... evil pretend virtual stuffed animals taking over my children's minds.

Be warned if you get one of these as a present. I'm thinking of buying stock in the company (I think it's privately owned...)

Comments (4)

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ekattan·
Yeah my nephew used to play a same web based character but it was with penguins. You have to pay per month basis like 32 dollars to buy special items. I just told my sister to cancel that thing before everything goes to hell. These games are addicting as WoW to kids. Not only that, it just teaches teach that the more stuff you buy the better off you are. Consume, consume, consume.
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Gman·
Still...it sounds vaguely fun & interesting...maybe I'll check it out as a family thing or soemthing...
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BalekFekete·
Webkinz is just another of those products in the long line of \"Why the FUCK didn't I think of that and do it to make a few million dollars\" that I come across from time to time.\r \r Stuffed animal + stupid website = HUGE PROFITS.
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Smallwoody·
They're harmless and the kids were cool with it today. I usually don't have a problem with game addiction with the kids. Both Nintendo DS stay in my truck to be played if we're going to school or generally in transit, they have no xbox other than my 360 which is off most of the time (as far as they are concerned) but has the old arcade favorites and they play some flash based games on Disney and some other sites.\r \r I went to lunch with my wife and she said that the boys both told her they were not allowed on the computer day without being prompted. Their reward: Swim practice, a trip to the library for some new books and the kid's chess club.