Gallery: Technokids My First Digital Camera
When it comes to video games, there are few that I have more nostalgia for than the Freddi Fish games and other Humongous Entertainment titles. I have built a decent collection of these games and related memorabilia over the years and am always on the lookout for more. Recently, a toy camera bundled with a Freddi Fish game came up in an eBay search, which I had never seen before.
The reason it piqued my interest was the inclusion of the Dutch version of Freddi Fish's One-Stop Fun Shop, in addition to the original English release. The Dutch release of Freddi Fish's One-Stop Fun Shop, Freddi Fish Knutselbox, has always been a bit of a mystery. As far as I know, the Dutch version never got a standalone release and was only ever bundled with other Humongous Entertainment games as part of a number of 3-in-1 packs.
Example of a 3-in-1 pack that "Freddi Fish Knutselbox" was part of.
Freddi Fish Knutselbox was the only One-Stop Fun Shop game to be released in Dutch. Given that the 3-in-1 packs all denote "nieuw" (new) next to the image of Freddi Fish Knutselbox, I think it's safe to say that it was first released as part of these packs. They came out around 2004, based on the copyright and file dates. That's quite a lot later than the original release of Freddi Fish's One-Stop Fun Shop, which came out in 2000.
The camera itself is made by Berchet Media. The box also mentions Transposia and Atari. Transposia is a Belgian company that localized most of the Humongous Entertainment titles into Dutch, as well as many other similar edutainment titles. I'm assuming they handled the CD-ROM and software in this package, since that was their specialty at the time. The Atari logo on the box is that of Atari SA, formerly Infogrames, which was the rightsholder of the Humongous Entertainment games when this camera was being sold.
Judging by the copyright date on the box and the dates of the files on the disc, it seems this camera was released in 2006.
The camera is very simple to operate, as you'd expect. After turning it on, the screen displays the number of pictures you can take with the amount of storage space left. The mode button switches between high- and low-resolution modes, and the shutter button instantly saves a picture. No preview is shown on the screen, as it only ever shows two seven-segment digits/letters.
The high-resolution and low-resolution modes shoot pictures with resolutions of 352×288 and 176×144, respectively. Below are example shots of both modes, as well as one shot taken with a Google Pixel 8 for comparison.
For a toy, the image quality (or lack thereof) is about what I expected.
The camera’s memory is volatile, meaning that as soon as you turn the camera off, all pictures taken are immediately lost. At first, I thought there was something wrong with the camera, like an internal coin-cell battery having died. However, the manual acknowledges this behaviour, so it’s by design.
This is a huge downside, in my opinion. I understand that this is just a kid’s toy made to be cost-effective, but I feel like losing all pictures with the flick of a switch takes it too far.
Luckily, transferring the pictures to a PC is quick and easy using the included stand.
stand / base / USB dock
The drivers and software could be installed without issues on a Windows XP computer. The device shows up as a "USB Dual-mode Camera," and Windows' Scanner and Camera Wizard works great for transferring photos to the PC.
Screenshots of the transfer process.
Scans of the box and disc.
Screenshots of the autorun menu.
Screenshots of Freddi Fish's One-Stop Fun Shop / Knutselbox.
Screenshots of the included "Digitalbum" program.