Software Briefs

New York— School Zone Interactive introduced its Pencil Pal software, the company's latest effort in the educational software space, at the American International Toy Fair.

The four Pencil Pal titles are Preschool, Kindergarten, First Grade and Phonics. All carry a $19 suggested retail price. The Preschool title uses a barnyard theme to introduce children to the skills they will need in school. The Kindergarten product teaches counting and the alphabet using a clubhouse atmosphere. The First Grade title takes the kids on a high seas adventure to teach math and language skills, and the Phonics tutorial has a firehouse premise to focus on vowel sounds.

New York — Plaid Banana, a spin off of Disney Interactive, will ship two new kids titles in March: Moop and Dreadly, The Treasure on Bing Bong Island; and Ollo and the Sunny Valley Fair. The first title has the two characters searching for treasure with an entire cast of characters that inhabit five separate episodes. The second title has the residents of Sunny Valley getting ready for the local fair, allowing the game players to help set up the fair grounds.

Seattle— The latest addition of eMedia's Guitar Method series will ship this month. Guitar Songs 2, estimated retail price $29.95, teaches the guitar and bass for 21 hit songs and features a new teaching tool, variable speed MIDI tracks. Other features include an automatic tuner, a recorder for use with the PCs mike, and a digital metronome. Some of the artists represented on the title are Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt.