Mattel's attempt to bring Barbie into the internet age with Hello Dreamhouse left many users in the cold on Sunday!
The game allows children to control functions in the small house (opening doors, controlling elevators, lights) using voice commands and through an app.
But on Sunday, Christmas morning, some users reported problems using the game's voice command, with many saying they received a message saying "error code 18" when trying to use the game.
“Santa brought us a Hello Dreamhouse, but all we have is a code error,” one user wrote on Twitter, while another wrote, “#hellodreamhouse code error 18 is ruining Christmas morning. Can you help me? There are no instructions on how to fix this! #Help.”
According to one user, the Hello Dreamhouse instruction manual says that the “Error Code 18” message refers to a problem with the wireless network. The same manual suggests moving the game closer to a router or modem for a stronger signal. However, when the user followed the instructions in the manual, they were unable to resolve the issue.
In response to user concerns, ToyTalk, the company behind the technology you use in Hello Dreamhouse, released the following statement to users:
“Today, a small number of users are experiencing service issues due to the extremely high volume of demand we have received for Barbie Hello Dreamhouse. Our engineers have identified and will resolve many of these issues, however there may still be intermittent issues as we continue to investigate solutions. If you are still experiencing issues, we recommend turning Barbie Hello Dreamhouse off and on again by turning it off for 15 seconds and then turning it back on.”
Nevertheless, shortly after Christmas morning, some users were still reporting issues with their tech-enabled game.
It's unclear whether or not the issue affected all users, as some have shared images of Dreamhouse games on social media, without mentioning any complaints about error .
So while the good news is that we've finally reached the era of mainstream gaming, it turns out that if the game is very popular, it can suffer the same problems as other high-tech services with huge user activity.
For its part, ToyTalk has issued an apology to those affected by the outage. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and your family,” the online statement to users continued, “and thank you for your patience and understanding. Happy Holidays, The ToyTalk Team.”
