Digital Beanie Babies

Hot on the trail of one of the biggest trends of this decade, Palladium Interactive has designed a cataloguing CD-ROM for Beanie Babies plush toys. Ultimate Collector for Beanie Babies: The Complete Unauthorized Guide, designed for ages five and up, will hit shelves in the U.S. this month, retailing for an estimated street price of US$19.95. The title features the BEANDEX, a daily, stock market-like update of the Beanie Baby market, and print capabilities for both a personalized Beanie Baby Book of a collection and an insurance report stating its value. In tandem with the title’s release, Palladium has launched the Beanie Baby auction site (www.beanieinfo.com), where Beanie lovers worldwide can buy, sell and trade with one another.

Supersite rolls out Summer Games sweepstakes

Appaloosa Interactive’s Supersite For Kids is running an eight-week sweepstakes starting July 1 to help parents entertain kids out of school for the summer. ‘Summer Games II: Adventures of the Bonus Gang’ features a foursome of on-line characters that will lead children on weekly scavenger hunts through the site in an attempt to capture an evil dentist named Dr. Drill. Kids will be encouraged to dally in any of Supersite’s 1,700 activities along the way, allowing them to do things like build a triceratops from scratch, learn to speak the Star Wars Kriton language, and listen to sound clips of different kinds of belches. The top 500 participants of the contest will receive prizes, including computers and software.

Supersite includes an exclusive user interface and protective NetScooter technology to prevent its young users from accidentally stumbling into inappropriate adult areas, as well as a search engine that allows kids to make detailed requests for information. Supersite For Kids can be accessed for free at www.bonus.com.