I've been pretty hard on LeapFrog and their Leapster handheld "learning game system." During its and our first year, 2003, I wrote a review of the Leapster, which I followed up a year later. LeapFrog was a major sponsor of Henry Jenkins's first Education Arcade conference, which I covered here as well (1, 2). Back then (mid-2004), they were promoting the "Games for Learning Seal," a kind of validation mark for educational games, which I actively scorned (and which has since been abandoned). And I've been nothing short of incensed at LeapFrog's continued lack of third party development support (1, 2, 3), something that might actually make the device competitive with other handheld gaming platforms.

A few things have happened in the year since we last left the Leapster, and they're worth noting. In particular, I want to update you on new Leapster products and the latest in the third party development saga. Many thanks to WCG reader Maureen Kolkmeier for sending me some of this information and allowing me to post it here.

First, LeapFrog introduced a new version of the Leapster, the Leapster L-Max. It's basically the same as the original Leapster, but it can be connected via A/V to a television. The player can perform actions on the handheld that then take on new form on the television screen. An example from the Leapster L-Max product page:

The L-Max still functions as a portable system when it's not connected to the television, although it appears that some software may effectively require the TV connection to take full advantage of its features. Maureen K. sent the following feedback on the L-Max, which she gathered from various online reviews:

We own a (normal) Leapster at my house, and I can attest to the insane devouring power of the thing. As for the TV screen quality, as I reported in my original review, the LCD quality on the device itself is terrible, and I wouldn't be surprised if the gadget doesn't have the resolution even to fill a standard NTSC image.

On the third party development front, Maureen K. pointed out to me that Leapster announced last year that educational publisher Scholastic would become its first third party publisher. Here's the key paragraph from the press release:

I don't think it takes much squinting to realize that this isn't really a third party publishing situation. It's a co-marketing and co-distribution plan, and probably a very smart one from LeapFrog's perspective. But it hardly signals the kind of general third party licensing system that I'd hoped and called for (both here and in person with LeapFrog executives at the first Education Arcade conference). That would allow third party developers to work independent of LeapFrog's characteristically punitive and creatively impoverished self-interest -- even if it would require LeapFrog approval before publishing. So, it seems nothing really has changed.

A new LeapPad owner from Poland (where the product has just recently been introduced) recently emailed me asking about hacking that device, and wondering why LeapFrog gadgets don't have the kind of homebrew communities like the GameBoy Advance or the PSP. It's a good point, but the reasons also seem clear: both those devices have third party development arrangements, even if unfortunately controlling and financially limiting ones that require upfront capital investment and submission to first party approval. The Leapster and its sibling products don't even have that going for it, so the affordances of the devices really haven't been fully explored, perhaps a necessary first step before it even appears on the radar of hackers and homebrewers.