Humongous Entertainment unveils Big Thinkers Series of Educational Software: Ben and Becky Brightly interact with kids in new thought-provoking ways.WOODINVILLE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 1997-- - Big Thinkers Kindergarten, First-Grade and Second-Grade Software To Be Previewed at E3 June 19-21 and Released Starting In October - Humongous Entertainment, creators of international award-winning children's software starring original characters including Putt-Putt(r), Freddi Fish Character Freddi Fish is a fictional anthropomorphic fish in the award winning Freddi Fish series of children's software from Humongous Entertainment. Freddi Fish has her own pal, Luther, who is her best friend and goes with her on all her adventures. (tm) and Pajama Sam This article is about the Pajama Sam games. For the character, see Pajama Sam (character). The Pajama Sam series is a collection of children's adventure and puzzle games created by Humongous Entertainment. (tm), will unveil its new Big Thinkers(tm) series of educational software featuring its newest characters, the Brightly twins, at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Atlanta June 19 - 21 at booth 4445. Big Thinkers series animated personalities Ben and Becky Brightly(tm), the Brightly twins, join the family of lovable Humongous Entertainment characters in bringing to life this new series of educational software for kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade children. The Brightlys not only host the curriculum-based activities, they are the activities. With contagious wonder and an ability to stretch and transform themselves into many shapes and forms, the inquisitive Brightly twins engage kids in a fun world of learning and discovery unlike any they have experienced before. Like the Brightly twins, kids can do amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. things when they think big! "First and foremost, educational software must be fun to inspire kids to go back and play again and again. The Brightly twins, with their excitement for life and learning, are a dynamic duo
Dynamic Duo (다이나믹 듀오) is a Korean hip hop duo, made up of members Choiza and Gaeko (former members of the trio, CBMass). who keep kids coming back for more fun and surprises," said Shelley Day Shelley Day was a producer of children's video games. After leaving LucasArts, she founded Humongous Entertainment with colleague Ron Gilbert. She created the famous Putt-Putt character as a bedtime story for her son, which became a series of popular children's video games. , co-founder and president of Humongous Entertainment. "Big Thinkers encourages kids to think big and, in doing so, expand their learning." Each Big Thinkers title contains a wealth of activities that teach skills in five subject areas: math, language arts language arts pl.n. The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. , sciences, creative arts and thinking skills. An assortment of activities, ranging from puzzle solving (math problems, mazes and matching) to exploration (combining words and drawing) and games, help kids have fun while they learn. SmartStars(tm) Success and effort are rewarded when kids earn SmartStars(tm), the motivational currency in Big Thinkers, by completing or attempting activities. SmartStars come in five colors, representing the five learning categories, and are awarded to kids when they complete or exit an activity. Kids can store SmartStars in the BrainBank(tm), a repository for all the stars they've collected during play. Kids and parents can easily access the BrainBank to view and celebrate children's progress. Collecting SmartStars moves each child closer to an exciting SuperStar of Smarts Challenge(tm), one of several puzzle-solving activities that use knowledge gained in each of the five major subject areas. The challenge activity changes each time a child plays; a minimum number of SmartStars must be earned before a child can take the challenge. Successful completion of the challenge rewards kids with a SuperStar of Smarts Certificate(tm) that is signed by the Brightlys and can be printed out and saved. "Big Thinkers integrates national curriculum standards with two of the most unique, exciting and fun-loving characters in educational software today," said Big Thinkers producer Jonathan Maier. "Kids play and learn with the Brightly twins in every Big Thinkers title, so their friendship with the engaging duo grows as they progress through each grade level." The World of Big Thinkers Ben and Becky Brightly, the superstars of learning and laughter, welcome kids to their house to experience a world of fun and excitement. The Brightlys stretch their bodies, transform into objects, produce ice cubes and bubbles from their ears, sing songs, and fill children's minds with a wonderful array of concepts and skills that enhances classroom learning. Skills are discovered and strengthened in a variety of locations in and around the Brightly house, rather than a classroom setting. Each title incorporates material from the five major subject areas into more than 20 learning activities and exciting SuperStar of Smarts Challenge activities. Big Thinkers Kindergarten(tm) Big Thinkers Kindergarten(tm) will be available in October for $29.95 on hybrid CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh. This program provides activities that encourage kindergarten-aged children to master skills in major learning categories, such as letter recognition and alphabet order, simple addition and subtraction subtraction, fundamental operation of arithmetic; the inverse of addition. If a and b are real numbers (see number), then the number a−b is that number (called the difference) which when added to b (the subtractor) equals , patterning, measurement, problem solving problem solving Process involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. , sorting, music composition, animal science and much more. Examples of the activities are: -- Twin time telling. Ben turns his face into a clock, then asks kids to identify and set the time for certain daily events. Kids also help him compare an analog clock Noun 1. analog clock - a clock that displays the time of day by the position of hands on a dial clock - a timepiece that shows the time of day with a digital clock. -- Skywriting skywriting, advertising medium in which aircraft spell out trade names and sales slogans in the sky by means of the controlled emission of thick smoke. The technique was first developed (1922) by J. C. Savage, a pioneer English aviator. language arts. Becky becomes an airplane and skywrites the alphabet. Using this alphabet as a reference, kids arrange groups of letters alphabetically, match uppercase with lowercase letters, recognize letter sounds, and identify letters in spoken words. -- Bird perch math. The twins stretch out their legs and arms to allow birds to perch on them. Kids answer simple addition and subtraction questions based on the numbers of birds that make their way to and from the perches. Big Thinkers First Grade(tm) Big Thinkers First Grade(tm) will be available in October for $29.95 on hybrid CD-ROM for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh. This program focuses on activities that encourage growth in skills taught in first-grade curriculum, such as phonics phonics Method of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. , addition and subtraction, word building, fractions, spatial perception, oceans and continents, reading, counting money, environmental problem solving and much more. Examples of the activities are: -- Pantry word building. Ben and Becky explore spelling, letter recognition and word building in the pantry. Cans and boxes on four tall shelves in the pantry have large letters on them, forming a word on each shelf. But one highlighted letter in each word has been swapped with a letter in another word, and kids must move them back to where they belong. Kids stretch the twins' arms and legs to help them move and swap the misplaced mis·place tr.v. mis·placed, mis·plac·ing, mis·plac·es 1. a. To put into a wrong place: misplace punctuation in a sentence. b. letters. -- "First, Middle or Last?" game show. The twins jump into a TV and become hosts of a game show where one is the announcer and the other is the game board. They call out the sound of a letter, and kids must decide if that sound appears at the beginning, middle or end of the chosen word. With every success, part of a picture is revealed. -- Crane and train fractions. Ben turns into a crane, Becky turns into a train, and kids discover and understand fractions by assisting the crane in picking up blocks and placing them into the correct train cars. Big Thinkers Second Grade(tm) Big Thinkers Second Grade(tm) will be available in early 1998 for $29.95 on hybrid CD-ROM for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh. This title enhances skills taught in the second-grade curriculum, covering simple multiplication, reading comprehension Reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. For normal reading rates (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of comprehension is above 75%. , addition and subtraction of large numbers, compound words, vocabulary, states of matter states of matter, forms of matter differing in several properties because of differences in the motions and forces of the molecules (or atoms, ions, or elementary particles) of which they are composed. , creative pattern play, planet science, U.S. geography and much more. Examples of the activities are: -- Ant math. The twins discover an underground ant farm. They grow extra arms and hands and multiply themselves so kids can help them perform counting activities. -- Spider-web words. A spider web inspires Becky to hop on Verb 1. hop on - get up on the back of; "mount a horse" bestride, climb on, jump on, mount up, get on, mount move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" the web and grow four pairs of limbs, each pair a different color. On both sides of the screen, little spiders carry cards with words on them. By connecting matching-colored limbs to related word cards kids can form compound words. In other activities, kids can match related words such as antonyms, synonyms and homonyms. -- Sticker toons. The twins see an unfinished piece of art and turn themselves into art tools so kids can creatively complete pictures. Kids can use a variety of special animated stickers to complete the picture or to create their very own animated designs. Humongous Entertainment Established in 1992 by Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert Ron Gilbert is an American computer game designer, programmer, and producer, best known for his work on several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games. , Humongous Entertainment is recognized for pushing the edge in interactive storytelling
Interactive storytelling is a developing kind of computer entertainment. The term was coined by Chris Crawford, a main proponent and developer. and delivering high-quality, hand-animated CD-ROMs starring endearing original characters including Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Fatty Bear Fatty Bear is a fictional teddy bear who appeared in a children's adventure game and an activity game from Humongous Entertainment. Fatty Bear wears red overalls and comes to life when everyone else is asleep. His owner is named Kayla. (tm) and Buzzy the Knowledge Bug(tm). Humongous Entertainment creates interactive Junior Adventure(tm), Junior Field Trips(tm), Junior Arcade(tm), Big Thinkers and Junior Sports(tm) games that encourage kids to explore discover and have fun. Humongous Entertainment, a subsidiary of GT Interactive Software Corp. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : GTIS GTIS Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services (Canada) GTIS Global Trade Information Services GTIS GOES Tap Imaging System GTIS Government Technical Information Services (Canada) ), can be reached on the World Wide Web at www.humongous.com . EDITOR'S NOTE Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : Visit Humongous Entertainment's online press room at http://www.humongous.com/about/pr0.html for news releases, awards, articles, screen shots, product and company information plus more. -0- Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, Big Thinkers, Ben and Becky Brightly, SmartStars, BrainBank, SuperStar of Smarts Challenge, SuperStar of Smarts Certificate, Big Thinkers Kindergarten, Big Thinkers First Grade, Big Thinkers Second Grade, Fatty Bear, Buzzy the Knowledge Bug, Junior Adventure, Junior Field Trips, Junior Arcade, and Junior Sports are trademarks of Humongous Entertainment, Inc. Other brand names and products may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. These products and Humongous Entertainment Inc. are not in any manner affiliated with Putt-Putt(r) Golf Courses of America Inc. CONTACT: Humongous Entertainment John Uppendahl,johnu@humongous.com, 206/951-2127 Mike Salvadore, mikes@humongous.com, 206/951-2149 www.humongous.com |
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