Why am I republishing this?  Because it’s generated a long and interesting thread about the game. I’m hoping these gals stick around!

Taking care of a little baby can be a lot of work. But it can also be a lot of fun, too. Now your child can take part in the fun of looking after and taking care of their very own baby with My Baby Boy/My Baby Girl on the Nintendo DS.

First, choose a name for your baby, as well as skin, hair, and eye color as well as ethnicity. Even though there are two versions of My Baby, the only difference is which gender you’ll start out with. When you raise your second baby in the game, you can choose either boy or girl.

Taking care of your baby is done with the Nintendo DS touch screen and microphone. Get your baby’s attention by speaking softly in the microphone. But not too loud or you’ll frighten the little one. If you’re not sure what to do with your baby, a pediatrician and nurse are always on hand to give you advice.

Use the stylus and touch screen to hold the bottle at just the right angle so your baby can drink milk. Help your baby with their development as you use the stylus to let them grasp your finger, feed them solid foods, even change a dirty diaper! Just like handling a real baby, you must use gentle, easy, and slow motions when using the stylus so you don’t hurt the baby. You can also take pictures of your baby and dress them up in cute little baby clothes.

The graphics are a nice mix of cartoonish and realism. Real enough to look like a baby, but cartoony enough so that it doesn’t look creepy. The sound effects are VERY realistic, from the coos and gurgles to the many different kinds of cries. You’ll almost think there’s a real baby in your house!

If there is any problem with My Baby, it’s that some of the activities are very detailed, while others are not. You can feed your baby a bottle, but you don’t get to burp it or wipe up any spit-up. And there are a few missing details that kind of bugged me. Like, in the beginning of the game, I choose to be the baby’s Daddy. But when it showed my lap in the game holding the baby, you could see the feet below had women’s shoes on! But that’s really only a minor complaint. For what it is, My Baby does a decent job.

Kid Factor:
My Baby Boy/Girl is rated E for Everyone with a ESRB descriptor of Comic Mischief. I guess that would be all the dirty diapers and poopy butts you have to clean. I dunno. Strong reading skills are a must, as everything in the game is text, and some of the words are pretty complicated for a kids’ game. The babies in the game are not anatomically correct, in case any parents were wondering. Any child who enjoyed Nintendogs or plays with baby dolls would probably enjoy My Baby Boy/Girl. It might also make a good gift for a kid who is about to become a big brother or sister, as the game kind of shows what it’s like to take care of a baby.

Tags: Game Reviews