Is the LeapFrog LeapPad Learning System a game console?

[KaiserMk7]

I mean it has cartridges of content which you interact with. Discuss.

 

[MasterEn]

to an extent, it could be considered one. it is more for education, so...
the main point of video games is to have fun, so if a kid had fun with it, i guess it would count.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Of course it is. Just because the games are for learning doesn't mean they aren't games.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Of course it is. Just because the games are for learning doesn't mean they aren't games.

Of course it's unquestionably not a videogame console, as all visual content is on separate, static, non-electronic media.

 

[MajesticSiN]

Of course it's unquestionably not a videogame console, as all visual content is on separate, static, non-electronic media.

You have answered your own question. Thread over.

 

[Deleted member 821138]

Of course it's unquestionably not a videogame console, as all visual content is on separate, static, non-electronic media.

Seems like you don't want a discussion, just a reaffirmation of your own pre-conceived assumptions.

 

[KaiserMk7]

Seems like you don't want a discussion, just a reaffirmation of your own pre-conceived assumptions.

You have answered your own question. Thread over.

The question I asked is whether it's a "game console". That's still up in the air. Video was not at all a part of the question.

 

[Kamako]

Oh, that's what you can play those edutainment games on right? That sounds like a games console to me!

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Technically it counts

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

I think it's technically missing the "video" part of the video-game console to count.

Now is it just a games console on a technical level? Sure. It's a console on which you play games designed for edutainment through the medium of books.

On a sort of related note:

Does anyone remember this thing? It was like an edutainment games console for little kids. My little brother and sister had one when I was a teenager.

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[KaiserMk7]

Does anyone remember this thing? It was like an edutainment games console for little kids. My little brother and sister had one when I was a teenager.

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Of course. I'd love to see people interested in emulating and homebrewing for it.

 

[driftwood]

Its a game console that focuses exclusively on the edutainment genre, yes. Also most of the games for the Magnavox Odyssey, and other electronic games from the 1970's going into the 90's used those plastic clings that had printed designs to relay to the player a large amount of the visual information needed to play the game. LeapFrog and other like edutainment companies used similar plastic clings or small storybooks to do the same.

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2025

Some of those old Tiger Electronic games, not being educational, used a foreground overlay. If you dropped an broke that part but the screen was still good, you lost most of the visuals other than the matrix blobs that represented your character and the objects to avoid.

Post automatically merged: Sep 2, 2025

Of course. I'd love to see people interested in emulating and homebrewing for it.

It does seem that edutainment stuff is often overlooked in the preservation and emulation groups. Hopefully interest will increase.

 

[Luz de Luna Luz de Luna Luz de Luna's icon]

Sure is, so long as you get to play it and have some deeper interactivity than going through menus.

That's good enough on my book.

 

[Deleted member 58254]

when i was a kid i had a leapfrog didj with a FIRE nicktoons game on it
and this bitch ass punk ass kid mitchell bittner stole the whole handheld from my bookbag
THATS WHY YOUR COUSIN MADE OUT WITH ME THE NEXT YEAR YOU FUCKASS BITCH

 

[Tetronomicon]

Well... It does play educational games. Which means it plays games on it. In the same way that people play games on a phone. Take that however you will in terms of how much of a console it is (or isn't).

That being said, I think I saw one of the handheld ones with a screen and controls be jailbroken and used to emulate games on it. Mostly only for pre-fourth generation consoles. But it emulated them nonetheless.

So... of course it does... maybe.

 

[Daixess]

So like, the LeapPad itself was brought to Japan as the CoCoPad with the help of SegaToys. The CoCoPad wasn't compatible with LeapPad books according to the wiki, but there is evidence of the CoCoPad books being compatible with the LeapPad. All of this is from my recollection.



I feel like if LeapPad branched out to japan more, we'd probably be having more instances of LeapFrog having these region free consoles.

Also somewhat relevant, but there was a sega endorsed Russian educational computer toy called the cybershell that was basically a megadrive with a keyboard and mouse.