News

DS sim teaches parents how to raise children

It'd keep social services busy if it ever came out here

DS sim teaches parents how to raise children
|
DS
| Sukusuku Kosodate DS

If there's one thing guaranteed to divide parents, it's discussing the best way to bring up children. Remember that programme on a few months ago that followed different child-rearing methods – like the 'give them knives to play with' method or, our favourite, the 'leave them locked in the garden' one? That ended with parents leading a merry witch hunt against one of the 'experts' on the show, so incensed were they seeing babies sleeping for eight hours on a trot while their parents had big, drunken parties.

Child rearing is clearly supposed to be like torture – no one's meant to be able to have fun while doing it.

Anyway, we're not sure what those same people would say about a new DS game recently released in Japan by the name of Sukusuku Kosodate DS. Published by Marvelous Interactive (the one behind the Harvest Moon games), the game contains no fewer than 176 suggestions on how to keep a child occupied.

Which sounds useful enough, until you take a closer look at the promotional pictures accompanying the game and see they contain things such as dressing up as a ghost, frightening your offspring half to death, then whipping off your white sheet to comfort them.

Fear not though, the game is based on a TV show so it must be okay.

As well as containing these inventive ideas on how to play with a small child, the game also contains a database of children's songs, a touchscreen picture book and mini-games for both parents and kids. It even has a journal where parents can jot down memories on their child's development. Presumably the final entries will go something along the lines of, "Little Jonnie now rocks back and forth all day. We may have used that ghost trick once too many."

Unsurprisingly, there's no news on a UK release date for Sukusuku Kosodate DS and we're not expecting one. Western children everywhere should be very relieved.

Kath Brice
Kath Brice
Kath gave up a job working with animals five years ago to join the world of video game journalism, which now sees her running our DS section. With so many male work colleagues, many have asked if she notices any difference.