Didi & Ditto is an edutainment

Edutainment

Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...

 software series created in 2003 by Kutoka Interactive

Kutoka Interactive

Kutoka Interactive is an educational software company founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1995. The company produces, develops, and distributes both subject-based and grade-based video games for Windows and Macintosh.- Background :...

. The series consists in three grade-based titles for preschool

Preschool education

Preschool education is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction....

 (ages 2 to 4), kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 (ages 4 to 6) and first grade

First grade

First grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States and English-speaking provinces of Canada. It is the first school year after kindergarten...

 (ages 5 to 7).

Gameplay

After the player picks either Didi (the red beaver girl) or Ditto (the blue beaver boy), an introductory cinematic tells a story and sets the player's mission. The mission consists in exploring Didi & Ditto's interactive world to collect a number of items by winning educational activities. Collecting all the items means completing the mission and seeing the conclusion cinematic.

The difficulty level set by the player at the beginning of the game corresponds to different and more challenging question sets in the educational activities. Optionally, the player may bypass the entire entertainment part of the game and enter a menu of all educational activities.

Didi & Ditto's world

Didi and Ditto are two beavers living in Jako's Valley, a fantastic and colourful world. Living in the Valley are several characters that appear in each game:

• Zolt: He is a purple vegetarian wolf.
• HipHop: He is a fast-moving yellow rabbit.
• Couki: He is a curious puppy always putting his nose where it will disturb Grumpy Bug.
• Grumpy Bug: He is an old grumpy bug who likes to be left alone. He is kind of a hermit.
• Hootdini: He is a magician owl. For some reason, his magic tricks never seem to produce the expected result.
• Ouisy: He is a prairie dog with an odd laugh.
• Venus: She is a blue and white chicken who has not yet given up on trying to fly.
• Blue Bear: He is a timid blue bear who's always hiding behind a tree or a rock.
• Fly Guy: He is an athletic insect who dreams of making it to the Olympics.
• Tiny Turtle: She is a blue turtle with a red shell.
• Comedy Ann: She is the Whoopi Goldberg of Jako's Valley.
• Frank Frog: He is singing green frog.

Titles in the series

• Didi & Ditto First Grade: The Wolf King
  Didi & Ditto First Grade: The Wolf King
  Didi & Ditto First Grade: The Wolf King is the second title of Didi & Ditto educational software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Release in late 2005 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches first grade notions to children between 5 and 7 years old.- Story :Didi & Ditto's home,...
  
  
• Didi & Ditto Kindergarten: A Feast for Zolt
  Didi & Ditto Kindergarten: A Feast for Zolt
  Didi & Ditto Kindergarten: A Feast for Zolt is the first title of the Didi & Ditto educational software series created by Kutoka Interactive. Release in 2003 in Canada and the United States, the game teaches kindergarten notions to children between 4 and 6 years old.- Story :The player, taking the...
  
  
• Didi & Ditto Preschool: Mother Nature's Visit

Technology

All Didi & Ditto's games were developed with the Macromedia

Macromedia

Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...

 (later Adobe

Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...

) Director

Adobe Director

Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...

 multimedia application authoring platform.

The in-game animations were made with Softimage

Softimage

Softimage, Co. was a company located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that produced 3D animation software. Their flagship products, Softimage 3D and Softimage XSI, are used in the creation of computer animation for films, television advertisement, and video games...

 XSI

Softimage XSI

Autodesk Softimage, or simply Softimage is a 3D computer graphics application, owned by Autodesk, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation...

 before they were imported as sprites

Sprite (computer graphics)

In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...

 inside Director. The animated 3D cinematics are also made with Softimage's technology and exported as QuickTime

QuickTime

QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...

movies.

External links

• Didi & Ditto titles at Kutoka.com