News of a recently announced video game from Ubisoft both intrigues and irritates me. It’s called Style Lab: Jewelry Design and it was designed for “tween” girls (ages 8–12) to play on their Nintendo DSi.

At first blush, the game sounds cool: An article from News 8 Austin explains that “users not only design their own jewelry from scratch but also run a virtual boutique, selling that jewelry and interacting with customers.” Teaching girls about jewelry design and entrepreneurship? I’m all for it!

The article goes on to say that girls can then virtually try on their jewelry creations. According to Ubisoft, girls can upload their photos into the game so they can “wear” the virtual necklaces, bracelets, and earrings they design. Now that’s got even me interested – so often I’ve sketched a design and thought, “Well, who knows if this would look good when worn.”

But then the game turns in a direction that let me down. According to Karen Louie of Ubisoft, “What you’re going to be able to do is design custom jewelry pieces, necklace, bracelets, and earrings, right in the game. You’ll be able to upload them to our Web site, and then order them from the manufacturer and they’ll be mailed to your door.”

Wait a second: So those burgeoning jewelry designers won’t even learn the art of bead stringing? They’ll design within the constraints of large-scale manufacturing? They’ll pay a laborer to make their own designs? Kind of puts a stopper in creativity and takes your hand out of handmade. But maybe that’s not the point of the game. Decide for yourself when Style Lab: Jewelry Design comes out in early December. As for me, I think I’ll stick to designing in the real world.