NEW ITEM! Enter search mode and type in the key word: Kutoka Kutoka's approach: Learning should be fun. Children are born with a curiosity for knowledge, yet by the time they have been through a few years a school, learning is considered to be an unpleasant experience. At Kutoka we build on that natural-born instinct to learn by creating interactive experiences that engage and teach while entertaining. When learning is entertaining, learning becomes enjoyable and encourages the student to invest more time and to want to explore further. During our research, we see children wanting to share their learning experiences with family and friends, it is a true indication that our approach is working. Where's the beef? Quality is an overused word and quite often just an empty promise. Not at Kutoka. We strive to create the highest quality and pride ourselves on delivering some of the most striking children's software available. We believe that children should be exposed to quality graphics and animation, and that they help create a more immersive experience. We've got character! We choose your children's new friends wisely. A great deal of research and effort goes into our character development. We make every effort to make them lovable and endearing as they are the key motivators and guides in our games. Kutoka’s roots: Kutoka was founded in Montreal, Canada in 1995 and is first and foremost a developer of ideas, a creative boutique set up to develop great content and to nurture brands created by this new content. The company started by developing multimedia titles for prominent third-party publishers such as Compaq, Fisher-Price and the Corel Corporation. Then in 1998, Kutoka launched its first self-published title "Mia's Reading Adventure - The Search for Grandma’s Remedy", assuming complete responsibility for product development, publishing and distribution. Kutoka’s complete in-house production facility and Softimage 3D animation studio handle all facets of development, including concept, scripting, animation, programming, integration and testing. Educational consultants follow Kutoka’s projects from the beginning and contribute to the product design. Concepts and designs are tested and re-tested with the final users, children. All of these elements have combined with Kutoka’s world-class design capabilities to establish the company’s reputation as an innovative creator of edutainment for children. Kutoka’s products have travelled to over 40 countries and have been localized into 14 different languages. The exceptional quality and originality of our titles have garnered wide recognition and over 100 national and international awards for the company. Each day honors us with testimonials from parents and children all around the world expressing their delight in our titles. Our mission is to continue to produce original, different, high-quality, entertaining and educative products that use the strengths of interactive entertainment to educate. Meet the Cast: Mia: Mia is a cute little mouse who is a bit of a tomboy, she is full of energy, audacity and is somewhat stubborn. Mia loves adventure and discovery, but does not take risk-taking as seriously as she should. She does not always think about the consequences of her actions and can get herself and others into some pretty awkward situations. Mia is bright, extroverted and a bit of a clown, she craves being the center of attention and is a natural born leader. Her curiosity, which is both a blessing and a curse, is always leading her and her friends to new adventures. One of Mia’s favorite expressions is "Jeronimouse!" and she lives in the attic of an old Victorian cottage on Carrington Lane and is just starting to explore the world around her. Freddy Frog: Freddy Frog lives at the pond and is very accident prone. He is a bit forgetful and this gets him into a lot of situations where accidents can happen easily. However, being a very happy frog, nothing ever really seems to bother him too much and he is always ready to move on to whatever comes up next. Romaine Rat: Romaine Rat is generally the bad guy, although it is not really what he wants to be, but his greed almost always gets the best of him. Romaine is an entrepreneur whose main client is the General Store. Romaine spends his time roaming the countryside finding products that he can sell to the storekeeper. Like any good businessman, he always has his eyes wide open in order to spot any opportunities. Romaine has a deep passion for "Sparklies" which are diamond-like pieces of cut glass and plastic that are used as the currency in Mia’s world. Manfrid Mouse: Manfrid is Marty’s father, he is a very jolly mouse and owns the local General Store. Marty’s mother died when he was only a year old and Manfrid has raised his son alone. Manfrid has always been a little puzzled about his intellectual son, Marty, who never liked sports and always prefers a good book to an adventure. Manfrid finds that he can relate better to Mia and often relies on her to relay his feelings and concerns for him. Fortunately, Mia is around to motivate Marty, which pleases Manfrid and makes him want to futher encourage their friendship. Manfrid’s business relationship with Romaine Rat has always been a little bizarre, however Romaine always manages to get whatever stock that the storekeeper may need. Betty Bird: Betty the woodpecker is one of Mia’s best friends. She is a little older and gets around and finds out about a lot of things because she can fly. She is wise to a lot of things that Mia isn’t and therefore is often a good source of information. With the character of an unwitting rebel, she can be at once strong and gentle, stubborn and cooperative, self-assured and shy. Betty’s Mother keeps her pretty busy running errands, so she often cannot hang around with Mia as much as she would like. Miguel Mouse: Miguel is a recent arrival to Mia’s world. He has come all the way from Mexico and misses his family very much. Miguel has a gift for mechanics and has built an elevator for all the mice to use. For this everyone is very grateful as many of the local mice have run into trouble trying to negotiate the staircase. Miguel believes in traditional values and likes to wear his sombrero to remind him of his heritage. Marty Mouse: Marty is very smart, but sometimes he gets overwhelmed by his emotions, finding them temporarily debilitating. He doesn't always believe in himself and shies away from trying out new things.That is why Mia is always pushing him, but once he gets going, there's no stopping him! Marty is a bit confused by his father not having a very intellectual approach to life. Nonetheless, he loves his father very much. Because his mother died when he was very young, Marty and his father often seem to need a woman’s influence in their lives, and of course, Mia is always happy to oblige. Many of the program have been given awards, Just one program: Mia’s Reading Adventures has earned the: Editorial Awards: Critic's Choice - Family Life Magazine (USA) Software Magic Award - Parenting Magazine (USA) 4 mice - Macworld Magazine (USA) 5/5 stars - P.C. Guide (U.K.) 9/10 - Home PC (France) Grade A - The Houston Chronicle (USA) 5/5 stars - Award of Excellence - The Review Corner - (Canada) GameQuest Recommended - WomenGamers.com (USA) Best Picks for the Holidays - Choosing Children's Software Magazine (USA) Awards: Silver Award - Summit Creative Awards (USA) Grand Prize, Multimedia category - Octas Awards (Canada) Best Product Edutainment/Entertainment Software - Retail Vision (USA) Grand Prize, Education category - Möbius Award (Canada) Gold Award - Parents' Choice Awards (USA) Grand Prize, Educational Software category - Boomerangs Awards (Canada) Children's Media Honor - Parent's Guide Awards (USA) Nominated Educational Game of the Year - Game Industry News (USA) Finalist, Animation Category - IdN Magazine Awards (Hong Kong) Recommended by Quebec's Consumer Protection Bureau (Canada) 3/3 stars (highest rating) - Canadian Toy Testing Council (Canada) Best Bet Award - Canadian Toy Testing Council (Canada) Winner - Early Elementary Interactive Story Category - Bessie Awards (USA) Many of the other programs also have been given a number of awards. 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