NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Learning Company Launches Paint, Write & Play!,
An Easy-to-Use Creativity and Writing Program
Designed Especially For Ages Four to SevenFREMONT, Calif. - July 15, 1996 - The Learning Company, a subsidiary of SoftKey International Inc. (Nasdaq: SKEY), today announced the release of Paint, Write & Play!™, an easy-to-use painting, drawing and writing program designed especially for children ages four to seven. With a focus on developing creativity and building vocabulary, reading and writing skills, Paint, Write & Play! is ideal as a child's first creativity and writing program. This Windows and Macintosh CD-ROM is available now for an estimated retail price of $45.00 with street prices ranging from $35.00 to $41.00.
As the entry point to The Learning Company's Interactive Writing Tools System of products, Paint, Write & Play! includes essential creativity tools and many specially designed features so that even the youngest users can create pictures, illustrated stories, letters and more. Children will quickly bring their ideas to life by exploring three main activity areas: the Art Studio, the Travel Center and the Writing House. Users can craft their own stories using the painting and writing tools, or they can "build" stories by choosing words and clip art pictures from the hundreds included in the program.
"At The Learning Company we have designed our Interactive Writing Tools System so that each program specifically targets the writing needs of a particular age group," said Diana James-Cairns, vice president of premium product marketing for SoftKey International. "At the younger ages, creativity and exploration are especially important as children get used to putting their ideas into writing. Paint, Write & Play! provides them with a fun, playful environment as they learn how to express themselves."
A child-friendly user interface invites children into the three areas of Paint, Write & Play! where they express their creativity, gather ideas and put them into words.
System Requirements
- The Art Studio is an easy-to-use paint program featuring all the essential creativity tools: freehand painting and drawing tools with sound effects, hundreds of clip art images, 48 colors and fill patterns, pre-colored backgrounds and simple editing tools.
- The Travel Center is a gateway to adventures where children can find story ideas in ten fun worlds ranging from the Arctic to the beach to Africa. As children explore, the program pronounces and names hundreds of animals, actions and everyday objects that children can use to build word lists for use in their stories.
- The Writing House helps children write and create their own storybooks, letters and more. Fun, age-appropriate features include a child-friendly word processor, a dictionary of picture words, a list of frequently used words, three font sizes and tools to make covers and title pages. Once they have created their storybooks, children can use the text-to-speech feature to have Paint, Write & Play! read their stories aloud.
Paint, Write & Play! requires an IBM or compatible or a Macintosh computer with a hard disk, a double-speed CD-ROM drive and a mouse. The Windows version requires a 486/25MHz processor or better; Windows 3.1 or higher (including Windows 95) with 8 MB of RAM (or more); a 256-color VGA monitor; and a Sound Blaster or Windows-compatible sound card. The Macintosh version requires a 68030/25MHz processor or better; System 7.1 or higher with 8 MB of RAM; 640x480 screen resolution with 256-color monitor.
The Learning Company is located at 6493 Kaiser Drive, Fremont, Calif., 94555; telephone (800) 227-5609 (Customer Service), (800) 852-9952 (Technical Support), or (510) 792-2101. The Learning Company's web site is located at http://www.learningco.com.
SoftKey International Inc. develops, publishes and markets more than 500 consumer software titles in the education, productivity, reference and lifestyle categories, targeted at home and school users. According to the 1995 PC Data Annual Report, SoftKey is the number one publisher of consumer CD-ROM software by unit sales. SoftKey's products are sold in more than 22,000 stores across 40 countries through multiple distribution channels including retail, direct mail, OEM, school sales and more. The company's product offerings include The Learning System from The Learning Company (including the popular Reader Rabbit family of products) and Learn To Speak™ series, and such top-selling titles as Compton's® Interactive Encyclopedia, The Oregon Trail®, the Calendar Creator™ family, BodyWorks® 5.0, American Heritage® Dictionary series, KeyCad™ Complete, Mosby's Medical Encyclopedia™ and the Platinum™ and KeyKids™ jewel case lines. SoftKey is headquartered at One Athenaeum Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02142; telephone (617) 494-1200, fax (617) 494-1219.
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