Gadget Madness reviews the Robosapien and dresses him up in pimp clothing.
I saw a stack of them at Costco last week for $70 each and decided that I had to take one to work. Getting the sucker out of the box was a serious ordeal — under no circumstances should you give one of these to a child (or adult) young enough to cry out of frustration unless you’ve already unpacked it and installed the batteries. And by the way, changing the batteries requires a freakin’ screwdriver!
Ages 6+ my ass!
The remote has a bunch of buttons but it doesn’t really seem to do all that much, and it doesn’t do anything particularly well. It doesn’t walk very straight, picking things up is difficult, and it throws like a sissy. I get a chuckle out of hitting the remote “Power Off” button, which makes it twitch a bit and say Rosebud just before shutting down. The guys at work love the Dance routine — too bad it only has one.
There is one thing that Robosapien does really well: It makes me want to buy an Aibo.
Actually, the reason that changing batteries requires a screwdriver is that the device is designed for use by children. Batteries are a great choking hazard. I’m not sure if it’s required by UL/CE, but the lawyers sure demand they be hard to get to.