Review: Ultimate Dinopedia For iPad - Complete Dino Resource Or Glorified PDF?
January 24, 2011
Overview
Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, much to the disappointment of boys and girls the world over. Fortunately, with the power of computer technology, artists and modelers have digitally brought them back from the grave. And while the world may never see the real-life Brontosaurus’ of Jurassic Park, these giant lizards will virtually roam with us forever.
Now, technology has given T-Rex and Co. another boost. The new resource for the iPad ‘Ultimate Dinopedia’ from National Geographic isn’t the first dinosaur app available for iOS, but it does self-proclaim to be the most complete.
Features
Dinopedia is actually quite linear and navigation can be closely compared to that of a book. The content is separated into three main sections: meat eaters, plant eaters and discovering dinosaurs. Each page contains a different species and has buttons to access additional information such as background story, stats and facts. You can either read the story or have it read to you with sound effects. This is a nice feature, but to say that the narrator for these is a ‘bit much’ would be an understatement.
Some of the more popular dinosaurs also have video clips. These are 3D animations of them roaming and are a nice touch, but there are only a few and they have no sound.
A resource covering every one of the hundreds of dinosaur known in this amount of detail would be unrealistic, so only a few dozen are featured in the Ultimate Dinopedia. However, there are profiles for just about every dino ever discovered that contains a small picture and information about the size, period and fossils.
The Good
The beautiful art is the star of this show. How an artist can look at bones, take a few pointers from paleontologists and recreate such beautiful paintings of these animals I will never know. What I do know, however, is that there are dozens of these crush-worthy paintings to ogle over created by Franco Tempesta (FYI, the author is “Dino” Don Lessem).
There is also plenty of content to justify the current $5.99 price tag, especially considering that a hardcover of the same information would cost several times the amount.
The Bad
The videos seem like nothing more than a quick attempt to add multimedia content. They are short, soundless and won’t be the most professional looking renders you have ever seen. To top it off, there are only 14 and they often cause the application to crash. They recommend closing all other applications before running it to avoid these issues, but I have used many apps that can multitask and execute video without issue.
Aside from the videos and narration, there is little to convince me that this is more than a glorified PDF. Sure, some information is accessed through buttons and icons, but most of the time spent will just be swiping through pages exactly like you do in iBooks. It would have been nice to see some more interactive features such as dinosaurs that you can color (like a coloring book) and simple games like memory matching or hidden items.
Overall, this app has a definite version 1.0 feel making me wonder when and if an update will fix some of these basic problems.
Verdict
Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Resource Ever is a beautifully looking application that will keep kids or dinosaur aficionados entertained for hours. However, the buggy performance and lack of interactive features should convince you to wait and see what the next update or two bring before chomping on this one.