Original Sifteo Cubes Game System(Older Model)

I had never even heard of these until I saw them on a gold box deal, so I got them for about 30% off retail. If it weren't for the price incentive, I wouldn't have gotten these, but at that price it was alright since I really liked the concept.I have an 8 year old son who just loves puzzles and solving problems, so I showed him the video of these to see if I should get them and he was enthusiastically begging for them.Arrived quickly, well packed, and about half charged. I plugged in the USB dongle on my current model Macbook Pro and downloaded the program. Installed fine, but I had issues when I went to create my account. It said it already existed with the email I was trying to register. So I used the "forgot my password" link to see if it would send me any info, and it told me that the account doesn't exist. So trying to create, I can't because it exists, trying to get info on it, I'm told it doesn't exist. Emailed support a little before 6 PM CST and figured I'd be waiting till tomorrow sometime, so tried to create a support account so I could post in the forums. About that time I got a reply back from support already (less than 5 minutes) who said to try again a different way, and apparently the combination of me creating a support account and going to a different page was enough for me to get it going.It found the devices right away, no problems with communications.It's like a tag reader, where you load up what you want to play. I don't know what the limit is or how much each game uses though, I haven't found any information on that yet, but with the Tag reader I stopped using it because it was so frustrating having a small amount of memory to use... So I was constantly shifting and loading and deleting content on it for my son. Hopefully these can hold more so that it doesn't become an issue for people who buy several games.There are the games you can download for free, and they give you an additional free 500 points to use as credit to download other games.Play is pretty simple, but it IS addictive, and more fun than I had thought. My 8 year old absolutely loved it, once he got the hang of it. Even with just three, it was more than enough to hold his attention. I'll have to keep an eye out for deals on additional since it would be fun to use four or five, but not at $45 apiece or so.I had no problem with it sensing the connections as I placed them side to side, the problem I *did* have was having it sense the DISCONNECTION as I pulled them apart. Usually I'd have to put them together again to get it to register me pulling them apart again. This, of course, causes lower scores because of the additional time it takes to "wake it up" to see that you've separated cubes.Other than that glitchy behavior, which could hopefully be addressed in an update, they worked quite well, sensed the tilting easily, and respond to push for the push to click surfaces. Backs are smooth so they slide very well both on the table placemat as well as on the carpeted floor.Will have to do some digging now into the self programming, and see if I can come up with some fun, personalized things to surprise my son with some day out of the blue.Edit - After a couple weeks, these are a really big hit. I had to bump my original rating from 4 to 5. My son loves them, especially when I make custom games for it that relate to things in his immediate environment. Now I wish I had grabbed two of the kits on the gold box to have more cubes. Despite the price, I ended up purchasing a second set of three at the normal price, simply because this has become my son's favorite electronic game (which is saying a LOT considering we have just about everything under the sun). I'm looking forward to watching him puzzle through things with 6 cubes now when the others arrive this week. Considering what I paid for his Vita and the games, and how much time he's spent on that, compared to this, clearly the Sifteo cubes were a much better value.

I purchased these as a gift for my husband. I am always looking for new and innovative techie toys for my husband who has everything. Honestly, I think he played with them once, and they have sat in the drawer ever since. Even my son, who was 6 when I purchased them, played with them for a few minutes and then lost interest.The fact that you have to sit in front of your computer to play with them is a little bothersome. I thought they would be like the "Scrabble" cubes and could play anywhere, but just upload different games to the cubes whenever you wanted to change. Furthermore, I thought they would be a great travel game, but you cannot travel with them away from your computer.So, if you don't sit in front of your computer enough and find some time to play a couple of games, it's great, but not for the price. The game selection is a little sparse as well.Overall, they are neat, but for the price, there are better electronic games available.

I bought these cubes for my nephew, but thought I'd get them ready to go for Xmas fully charged and ready to play. Turns out, I was the one charged and playful after downloading some games to play. The word play game is great for adults and tests your ability to think as well as coordinate your hand movements quickly to beat the clock. Turns out the game play allowed me to broaden my vocabulary a bit. All in a nights play. I can't want until my nephew unwraps them at Christmas to play the other games.

I bought the sifteo cubes for our development company. We didn't end up developing anything with the cubes, but they were a lot of fun! I'd get them for my kids if I had any and I really like the idea of using these with those who have learning disability.

This is great and will only get better. Nice to haves: edge to edge screen, touch screen similar to iOS, more adult games (which are sure to arrive). Overall, I give it 4 stars just for the must haves. Tangible interactive is the future of family social games. Love it.

And it seems you find the software for the OLD cubes anymore =(Buy only the new cubes....I wish I could return them for new ones (new ones are cheaper too)~John

My kids (2 and 6) learnt hot to play really quick: [...]Nice and funny gadget; there is a real need of more content.

I realize that these need a PC or Mac to set up, but I didn't realize you have to leave that computer on the whole time in order to play with them. That really kills the value for me, as they would be great as travel toys otherwise. I really expected to be able to load a game into them and then play with them wherever, but unless I bring my whole computer along they're just paperweights. They're novel but not really portable. Considering how much they cost, I thought they'd be more advanced and capable of doing more by themselves.