Couple Gaming

Cooking Mama, if you aren’t aware of it, came out on the DS years ago to rave reviews. Not only was it not a typical hack-n-slash or driving game, but it was one of the first games to really utilize everything the DS’s touch screen had to offer. You chopped, pulled, blew, stirred, and created something you could have actually applied to real life.

In other words, girls everywhere squealed with joy, and boys begrudgingly became addicted when they failed at making rice.

The followups (Cooking mama 2 & Cooking Mama for the Wii) tried to do the same, but somehow fell a little flat when it came to the ingenuity and excitement. The wii became difficult to manage and the followups felt too much like the look-alikes (“Happy Cooking” anyone?).

With Gardening Mama, some of that magic has come back, spiced up with a touch of Nintendogs, and with a little of the “Dolphinz” urgency thrown in for good measure.

You get to mix up dirt, pull bugs off leaves, blow away clouds (getting horrendously dizzy after 3 screens), decide flower colors, decorate yourself with said flowers, make rainbows, and get graded on how well you do it all. Like Nintendogs, you earn Gifts based on how good you do (which you use to decorate yourself, the garden, and add Unique flowers). However, like Dolphinz, your constantly on your toes about all the flowers that are wilting if you haven’t tended to certain plants while you’ve been tending to others.

There is always something to do, always a reason to turn it on & play, always some new vegetable to plant or flower to see.

Unfortunately, there are NOT multiple logins, so you have 1 garden that everyone gets to tend. It’s not too bad, though if you’ve been looking forward to cutting the kiwi you tended to so well, I suggest hiding the cartridge until it’s done. Also, the map is very difficult to manage (seriously, would it have been THAT HARD to let people use the direction pad to move around?? Or given us a zoom-out??), and you still have the same problems as previous versions, when they give you an arrow, and you get to guess what the hell you’re doing. So, the frustration level does occur, but not as much.

I definitely suggest BUYING this one, not just renting it. You’re going to feel horrible when you have to send back the garden you put so much time & energy into.

STOP!
Do NOT purchase a new Nintendo DS Lite just because your last one is not in the new Spring Colors, or because a herd of baboons have trampled over it. I promise you, those baboons will be back, and next time you will need to be prepared!

Last week, I ran across a list of all the games that were selling REALLY well in Japan (OK, I like to plan what the girls in Japan will be dressing up as during their next Comic-con, I admit it). I noticed that the “DSi” seemed to be high on some list somewhere, so I made a mental note of it, and stuck it away.

Today I saw a note from Boing Boing stating the Nintendo DSi is set for a US release on April 5th.

It comes with an SD card slot where you can save photos taken from the two cameras mounted on the DSi – one on the cover and one facing the player. You can also save bootable ISO images of Windows 95 and OSX on the SD card too which will be ignored by the DSi.

Both screens are bigger too – not a whole lot bigger but now big enough to rest your coffee cup on.
The DSi also comes with a new matte casing which will only break if ran over by a stampeding heard of wild baboons.

The stylus is now a little bit longer too for those who have deep nostrils.

DAMN!  OK, were your baboons wild, or trained?  And were they a herd or a heard?  Well, so the DSi may not be perfect, but at least it’s moving in the right direction.  If you want to see the pretty pictures of the DSi, head over to Gizmodo to have your appetite both whetted and satiated.  Bon Appetit!

It seems to be the new theme: DS comes up with about 4 games, all based on the exact same idea. No “release one and see how it’s received”, no “testing the waters”, and evidently no consumer testing, but as a rip-off version of an actually successful game.

They’ve done this with the Imagine games (after Cooking Mama), the Petz games (after Nintendogs), and now they’ve done it with Zenses (perhaps after Popcap?).

I’ll admit intense curiosity when I saw the first Zenses games: “Games with a relaxing part to them? Awesome… 2 spare time suckers at once!” Unfortunately, I think they spent all their money on the pretty covers or game pictures, and NONE on actually creating new games.

If you are curious about Zenses, take a look at the Amazon pictures; that should sum up every game part of the game. For the most part, they are Popcap/shockwave games, redone with a beach/ocean theme, and coupled with somewhat relaxing (mostly annoyingly repetitive) music in the background. There is a matching game, a memory game, a puzzle game, and a few others so banal I can’t even remember what they were (and I just sent it back this morning). The games are buggy, repetitive, and have no real point to the overall game besides getting a High Score (that doesn’t have your name on it).

So while it may have a short novelty addiction, these games should never, ever be purchased for more than $9. You will get more enjoyment out of spending that on a coffee, a movie, or tossing it in pennies on a school playground. Hell, even shoving the money down your Significant Others pants while they game would be more fun. Hmm.. speaking of…

Anyone that is a friend of this site knows my favorite games:  Phoenix Wright & Hotel Dusk.

I’ve been lucky enough that the Phoenix Wright line has continued to 4 or 5 games (like a good book series), but I have been left cold with Hotel Dusk.

Cing, the creators of Hotel Dusk as well as Trace Memory, is creating a new game:  Eye of Providence.  Here’s just a quick teaser of the game (be warned, it’s not a _good_ preview, and it’s a little dizzying, but at least we get a taste of what the developers are shooting for).

As a side note, Wikipedia is saying that Cing is also creating another Trace Memory, but this time for the Wii. I have high hopes…

Here at Couple Gaming, we have amassed a whole two (yes, 2) people to review games & pull all the really interesting things off the web that we believe is relevant to couples (This is my silent scream for help). Because of this, we usually miss 90% of the brand new games, but try very hard to pull things out of the woodwork that others may have missed or forgotten about and would  really enjoy.

So, with that caveat, I swear if anyone mentions “OMG, You’ve just played a 3 year old game for the last 2 months?!” to me in the forums, I may have to hurt you.

Lost In Blue starts quickly – you are a boy whose cruise ship has crashed, and the opening is that you have washed up on a deserted island. You have very low health, and need to find something easy to eat, quickly. There is no “how to”, there are not many suggestions.. it’s survival nature. Find a coconut, eat it. Find water. Find Shelter. Once you’re up for it, start looking around. Now you find Mushrooms that may or may not make you sick, rocks & wood to begin making things (like a fire starter and a spear), and soon enough you find a girl, who also happened to be on your doomed ship. You explore more and more, finding cliffs to climb up and different foods to have the girl cook. The more you search, the more you find, with the strategy to stay alive & learn the easiest way to do that.

While the storyline and the gameplay are relatively simple, every day is an addictive battle. Feed yourself and the girl, keep both of you healthy; these 2 things take up 80% of your time. You can fish in a river or the ocean, dig up potatoes, catch rabbits/snakes/crabs, set traps to catch deer, and even drag the girl up with you to tame a goat or cow for milk.

Unfortunately, this micromanagement of time doesn’t give you enough leeway to move on with the other aspects of the game. In 2 months time, both game and real, I managed to build beds & table/chairs, fish for eels, catch a snake & crab, catch a rabbit, find a mayan temple, and solve all the puzzles in the temple. What I have NOT done is: Made it past the temple, killed anything larger than a rabbit, tamed an animal, found a lizard, found a gem, and killed my characters more than 20 times (Only 19).

It is the list of what I have not done that has kept me from sending it back to Gamefly. I know through reading online that eventually you become the girl, and the boy leaves you to make rope, dinners, milk animals, etc. Unfortunately, I am not sure I am ever going to make it there.

There is a Lost In Blue 2 out for the DS, though I have read unfavorable reviews. (If you have played LIB2, please post your opinions here!) I also passed by our local gaming store yesterday and saw an advertisement for Lost In Blue for the Wii. I’m so excited, I may finally send back this gamefly rental. (By the way.. what is the limit on how long you keep a game as a rental before you just give in and buy it?)

Final synopsis: Definitely a game worth buying. The inability to save more than 1 place keeps it from being a really good couple game, but the amount of time that goes into the minutia of staying alive makes it a perfect game to trade off under the same save! I definitely suggest picking up used.  Although the game has very little really ingenious screen-touch/mic abilities (it’s only used for 2 things), the other aspects of the game make it really interesting. I’m not sure if it is as much enjoyable as addicting, but definitely worth a try.

“No, you got Twitter on my DS!”

The two things I am so addicted to that when I say I “unplug for the weekend”, these are 2 things I leave out as more necessary than an oxygen tank. That’s right my Nintendo DS & Twitter are getting together and making a little DSTwitter baby, and I couldn’t be happier than if my own daughter had programmed it.

Sure, it’s made for DS2.0, and it’s currently in spanish.. but that’s just a hop, skip, and a jump from getting @feliciaday messages while playing Lost in Blue.   Oh, I’m so happy, I could cry.

I’d better start investing in little Twitterette cigars.
 http://kotaku.com/5038733/say-mucho-gust…

Anyone that has been on this site long enough to hear a podcast knows that I am a fan of the DS, particularly the types of games where there is a mystery to be solved.  I’d say my favorite games for the DS are Ace Attorney and Room 214.

With that kind of a background, know that I went in to this game CRAVING it.  I needed it more than an American Idol addict.  Phoenix, Maya, Mia, Pearly, and the other characters broke my hearts more times than the Whedoniverse cancellations.

So first, I need to warn everyone that has been an addict of this series:  The creators are re-doing it.

Now don’t be scared.  They had to redo it – Phoenix Wright was made more for the Gameboy than to really take advantage of the Touch Screen.   Take a deep breath, and make it through all the way to the end.  I promise you will not regret it.

It has been over 7 years since the last game “Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations”.  The premise of the game is that you are Apollo Justice, a brand-spanking-new defense attorney.   Your first case?  You have been asked for specifically by Phoenix Wright to defend him (yet again) for a murder case.  As Apollo Justice, you are going to gather evidence, question witnesses, present said evidence, and make your case before the judge.  Same as before… with a few new twists.

Like I said, the game has been revamped a little for the DS. We can now examine the evidence, turn it over different ways, and if there is something quirky about it, we can zoom in and discuss it.  We can also, when prompted, dust for prints, look for chemicals, and even get plasters of shoe prints.  This actually adds a much-needed element to the game that the DS seems perfect for.   Of course, the “being prompted” does decrease the difficulty of the game, and disappoints some of us.

A new aspect of the game, for those of us familiar with Maya/Phoenix’s “Psyche-Lock” game, is to “Perceive” when a suspect is lying.  To “Perceive” something, a bracelet will become useable on the screen during a specific witness statement.  We then must know about which segment they are lying about, and then “Perceive” their nervous twitch.  This aspect is explained FAR more thoroughly than the magic Magatama, and I am incredibly impressed by how much thought was put into the explanation.  Now, if only they could incorporate this “usable during a specific span” idea for the fingerprinting and other Touch-related aspects.

The character list is terrifying at first to anyone that has played the previous — No Mia, no Maya, no Pearly, no Edgeworth, none of the prosecutors we’ve seen so far, and Detective Gumshoe only makes a small cameo.  Apollo does a pretty good job of filling in for the Phoenix we know and love, and Trucy Wright, Phonix’s 15 yo daughter (?? I know … and yes, it explains it by the end)  does a fairly good job of filling in for Maya.  The prosecutor is much more fun than Edgeworth was by the end, and everyone is very well fleshed out, just like in the past Ace Attorneys.  They become people you know and adore, even if you didn’t know them the previous week.

The end is something any Phoenix Wright fan will love.  You feel like you have been pulled through the 7 years and plopped into a reality you couldn’t entirely control, but have made the best with what you could.  Every loose end is suddenly tied up so tight, you can’t help but be completely gratified.  I squealed or yelled or moaned or pouted numerous times through out that ending.. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so emotionally pulled so many different ways by a game in my life.

So.. final review?  As a personal game, it’s 5 stars, 2 thumbs up, please sir may I have another.  As a Couple Game, it is not nearly as co-operative as many others, with only 1 save spot and no interactive play.

In the future, I hope to see closure to some of our other beloved characters, Phoenix being a more central character, and some more freedom in presenting things to sway how the game goes.

Of course, I have heard that this is not at all the way things are going to go.. I hear the next game, we’re the Prosecutor!  NOo0ooooooOOooooo!!!!!!

I am always intrigued by DS games with non-mario-looking graphics, so when the 10-foot posters started going up for Professor Layton and the Curious Village, I was definitely intrigued.

Unfortunately, I then followed up the intrigue by checking out Nintendo.coms response to intrigued viewers.. where Nintendo failed miserably.  For whatever reason, they decided to use a brain-age-like puzzle for their web page to show people what the game was like.

So.. I’m here to tell you that if you were turned off by Nintendo.. Try Again!!

I’ve been addicted.. no.. Obsessed with Professor Layton for the last 2 weeks.  Yes, it is a puzzle game, and a little bit brain-age-ey.  However, the puzzles are redeemed by not only not being repetitive, but having a reason beyond “because it’s there” to solve it! The game is propelled by interesting characters, fabulous sub-plot mysteries, and even mini-movies to propel it!

You play as Professor Layton and his side-kick, invited into a city to find a Golden Apple for a client.  This city is full of characters that enjoy giving you puzzles.. and for every one you solve, you get a piece of a different puzzle or mystery.

The puzzles are a wide variety of common puzzles (the water jug puzzle from “Die Hard” is in there), as well as new ones (Anyone enjoy the Chocolate-text-message puzzle?).  They are written to appeal to a wealth of different thinking, from out-of-the-box to math nerds (like me), and are usually just fun to solve.  The puzzles can be amazingly difficult, and there is no “just tell me the answer” button.  There are “clue coins” to use on hints, which are found via a further click-randomly-to-find  game, but the hints are useless over half the time.

The mysteries are really solved for you if you solve so many puzzles, but for the most part, they are easy to solve before the plot catches up.

As a Couple Gaming choice, I vote a definite yes.  Sure, the greatest part of the game (the plot & mysteries) are single player, but many of the puzzles require a lot of thinking, and it is fun to get your spouse involved on the ones you’re stuck on.  Just don’t beat your spouse with the closest blunt object when they solve something you couldn’t;  assume they’re cheating.

Alright, I have been seriously neglecting my Reviewing duties.. but for good reason! I have been really trying to finish Touch Detective 2 and 1/2 and Contact, both Nintendo DS games. As of this review, I have not finished either of them. Yeah, I’m awful at this whole review thing… But, here we go anyway.

First, Touch Detective 2 and 1/2. This is probably one of the best detective-ish games I have played, and is applicable for all members of the family. The detective (a 9-ish year old girl) solves non-violent crimes against a man dressed as corn, and involves the same 20 characters through about 6 scripted and 20-ish unscripted “cases”. The detective work is creative and outside-the-box, the writing and characters are witty and charming, and the colors are rich and truly enjoyable. Yes, there are a few “can’t do _this_ until you do _this specific thing_”. that can get annoying, but it the flow is, for the most part, intuitive. Probably the most innovative, as well as the most frustrating, was the “free roam” section, where you wander around the town helping people with things (such as getting into the “guy club” and finding a way to pet an evil cat, or finding a new “touch”). This part is actually where I gave up on the game, as ou have to just wander & talk to people in order to find the next case; there are times you wander around the town 4 times before finding your next case. Seriously, a hint somewhere wouldn’t kill them… not that I’m bitter.

So.. Touch Detective 2 and 1/2, I definite suggest… especially if everyone in the family has a DS… just let the most gamer-related member play first, to help the others when they get stuck on something.

Contact is an interesting premise, but does not deliver everything it could. You, as the gamer, have contacted another world via your DS. Neat idea, huh? You poke the scientist, he asks you some personal questions, and you think “awesome! interaction with an AI!”

No, that’s where the AI ends. After that you direct a bitmap character around various dungeons, caves, cities, and buildings, leveling up your character, collecting stuff that you probably won’t use.

It continuously teases you with innovative ideas… Secrets to wear “outfits” to change who you are (mole outfit, chefs outfit, etc). “Great!” you think, “I can cook up some raw meat now!” No, you only change clothes when you are at the base, which only happens when you die.

After a few dungeons, you realize this is another 8-bit hack-and-slash, level-die-level-win-level-die stream, and I tell ya, Unemployed Ninja was more fun about it than this is.

Overall, Contact is like a slutty prom date … offering up so many possibilities, but leaves you at the door step, realizing your imagination and a video will be more satisfying than the $60 you just spent for a handshake.

Long story short: Touch Detective: YES YES YES!! Contact: NO!

Next time: Imagination: Fashion Garbage and Picrossxxxoodamnit!

As a general rule, I try to stay far, far away from all games involving virtual animals as pets, and that replace all S’s with Z’s.  That is usually left for my daughter to review (thank Jeebas I’ll never be reviewing Hamsterz). 

In this case, I was bored enough while waiting for Ymiris’ flight to land that I grabbed whatever was close.. and was pleasantly surprised to find myself engaged, even addicted.

Dolphinz premise is that you’re a teen sent to help your Uncle on a tropical island for the summer.  Your uncle owns the island, and is putting in an aquatic animal park, which you now are going to help take care of.

You start by feeding the animals, then cleaning their pools, then giving them their medicines, and lastly training the dolphins or orcas.  While this is a limit of 4 minigames that you play over, and over, and over, and over.. (with 2 of those games being almost identical), by the 4th or 5th day, you realize you’re hooked.  Over the minutes that you play, the animals get hungry or sick, the pools get dirty, and you are required to take care of more & more animals & pools. 

While this premise alone feels rather redundant and unrewarding, the complications that each day brings, and the rewards you get for finishing the days, are quite the reward some of us are looking for.  taking care up to so many points gets you a new pool, or enough points to move to the next day, or another animal in a pool you already have.  Or you could get an Informational sheet on one of your animals, or an underwater camera to watch your favorite animals (I loved watching the Rays myself).

The biggest downfall of the game would have to be the Training exercise.  You are given a specific design (a line, a curl, or a squiggle usually), and you must trace that design perfectly.  If you do it quickly, you get a “great!”.  The problem is if your DS is a little older, it doesn’t recognize some of the pen marks as being right on, and you fail.  Depending on how well you trace that design, the dolphin or orca will do some trick, and this is really where it fails.  You don’t get to pick what trick it should do when, you just trace, and the game does the trick for you.  How hard would it have been to have taught you what shape tells the animal to do what trick, and let YOU decide what order to do it in, in order to wow the crowd?  And would it really have been that difficult to put you in an actual arena to do these tricks, instead of doing them in the same pool you’ve taken care of them in?

The storyline alternates between rewarding and annoying.  The personal storylines of stale jokes and strange offshoots can be skipped easily, but the animal storylines make you feel like you’re making a difference, as strange as that is.  I actually felt like I had accomplished something when I was able to save some whales that had lost their way & were caught in a cove, or once I had all 8 penguins (I hate those penguins now). 

The most rewarding is an underlying storyline with 2 surprise twists in the last few days.    I won’t give it away, but I’ve told Ymiris that it’s worth finishing just for those last few days.  If you really want to know what the 2 twists are, post below & I’ll e-mail them to you. 

 Now for the Couple Gaming part of this review…

The game allows for 3 save spots, thus 3 people to play at different times.  My daughter got to day 4 and stopped playing, Ymiris has played up to day 30, and I finished the game (45 days).  While very few DS games actually allow you to play together, per se, I still consider this a great “couple game”, as it’s fun to see who can finish first, and the different ways we take care of our animals.  Ymiris is thorough & makes sure everything has 5 stars… whereas by day 20, I was only fixing things that were 3 stars or less.  Granted, I had 1 day I had to redo over 15 times because of that, but I still stand by my timing (especially because I finished long before he has). 

It has a little bit of everything for everyone… so if you find it in the discount bin (which I’m sure you will within days), I say pick it up.  it’s a good few weeks worth of easy entertainment in 5-minute intervals. 

Oh, do be careful with your intervals, though.  The game only saves when you move on to the next day (not good when someone else sees the DS laying around & stops your game to start theirs), and either the game or my DS is quite buggy, as a few times I’d close the DS and find it has turned itself off.