So I finally got a Webkinz yesterday - we got in PENGUINS! which is what I'd been holding out for, I knew they'd release some around Christmas, they had to, and all the cats and even the unicorn was all spiky-fur and I didn't like. But the penguin is fluffy and HAS ROSY CHEEKS!

...anyone not in touch with the elementary-middle school set (or in my case working retail), Webkinz are stuffed animals that you buy, and come with a little secret code that grant you a year's access (this is the part no-one buying realises) to the website, where you can play games and things, and earn money, and thus buy clothes and decorate a house and things with your pet. It's very bubbly and cute, though the flash is a little buggy in Firefox, I've had it hang up on me once or twice. And the games are actually decent, just cute versions of the standards really, but in large part nicely done. I'm still investigating.

I was relieved to see that they make it VERY prominent that you've only got a year before you have to renew your account (which, and this I like, you can also do by buying a new Webkin), when you go to set up your account. I was pissed to see that this information is NOWHERE on the tag (though I thought I'd read it there when we first got the things into the store? not there now, anyway). The trivia sections have different age categories, and there are a few that throw me now and again. You can actually expand and set up a whole mansion of rooms for your pet, including a yard, which I like. The one thing so far I'd like to see more of is a social aspect, interaction with other users, but again, I've only been through like half the site, so we'll see. (Anyway I'm sure they'll keep that limited, as this is designed for young'uns, and parents are now paranoid.)

Interestingly, they don't even take your email address, the ONLY info they want is your name and birthday, which they encourage you to not fake only so that you can remember it if you lose your password.


But there is one thing that made me angry. I'm playing a boggle-type game, finding words in a pile of letter-tiles. I was wondering how strict it would be about what words it allowed, it's got a large enough vocabulary so far at least. I knew it would undoubtedly not allow vulgarity, but...

The letters G, A, and Y all appeared together in a row, and though it wasn't going to give me a very high score, I couldn't resist, and tried it.

"Oops, that's not a word!" says the bow-tied teddy bear in the corner.

"Hmm, I've never heard of that word before!" he says when I try it again.

Unfortunately, this is not a mere laziness in creating vocabulary for the thing to accept, if they just threw in any dictionary you'd at least get "happiness". This couldn't be anything but deliberate, and while I realize it gets thrown around as a derogatory term, and they want to make their site as family-friendly and non-controversial as possible... thanks for excluding the sexual identity of a whole chunk of the population.

Though I do understand if it's simply that they don't think kids should be referring to sexual orientation in their crayola-colored site.

...really, I'm relieved the bear didn't tell me, "We don't allow words like that here."