Sims DJ iPod Game Review

Ryan's spinning the ones and twos (at least that was the plan) with a review of The Sims DJ for iPod. Will it make you the next star DJ? Well, no, but you'll learn about dance floor lighting, pouring drinks, and buying things. Enjoy the review:

Video reviews of all iPod games now available

If you've been reading the blog for awhile, you know from time to time we'll post a new review of an iPod game. Well, at long last, and after many hours of fun (but also frustrating) gameplay, we have reviewed every single currently available game for the iPod. So, no need to buy a game to find out it's a dud, or wade through the hundreds of comments on the iTunes store. No, we've got everything you need, in reviews of 60 seconds or less.

Just head to theGames Page to check out the reviews. Or, if you just have a passing interest in the games, Here's our list, grouping the games into handy categories, with links to the reviews:

Great:
Zuma - Addictive fun, controls that work great... The only game that truly feels like it was made for the iPod. Zuma shows just what can be done on a mobile gaming platform.

Good:
Peggle - Falls just short of the "great" rating, simply because it's a little too easy to win. Otherwise it shares a lot of the same gameplay qualities.

Brain Challenge - It may or may not make you smarter, but you'll enjoy your commute a little better playing it.

Scrabble - Double word score for this version of scrabble. The board is surprisingly easy to navigate.

Bubble Bash - Kinda like Peggle for those with a shorter attention span. Longer levels would make it better.

Yahtzee - Yahtzee by yourself isn't much fun anywhere, but this is about as good as it'll get. There's a pass 'n play mode to play with a friend, which is much more fun.

Cubis 2 - Take Bejeweled and make it 3-d. Sequences of colored blocks just can't catch a break in this world...

Block Breaker - Imagine Breakout with lasers. And fur coats/bling. Oh, and cheesy dialog between levels.

Phase - Guitar Hero for the road. Fun, but it might be a little abusive on the iPod buttons.

Sudoku - If you can't get enough Sudoku, here you go. But you might find the puzzles a little easier than expected.

Ok:
Ms. PAC MAN - Get it for the nostalgia, and not the gameplay. The controls are frustratingly unresponsive.

Sims Pool - Imagine playing pool on a table smaller than a postage stamp.

Mahjong - Small tiles, and not much of a challenge.

Mini Golf - The gameplay is fine, but the cutscreens, music, and transitions are dull. Again, a tiny golf ball on a tiny screen,
going into a tiny cup.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Aegir's Fire - Ripoff of an old PC game, only made duller.

Naval Battle - You sunk my battleship! Some games just aren't made for one player.

Bejeweled - Controls are less intuitive than they should be on such a well-known game.

Chess - Chess is a lot better when you can easily make out the pieces. When the pieces are behind each other, it becomes a chore in this version.

PAC MAN - See Ms. PAC MAN above...

Texas Hold 'Em - Fun, but the computer opponents just don't seem that good. Raise the pot, and watch 'em fold.

Sonic The Hedgehog - Great game, brought down by tough combo moves with the control scheme.

Bad:

Sims Bowling - Maybe the Wii has spoiled us, but this feels like you're far too removed from actually bowling.

Bomberman - We just weren't feelin' the premise, graphics, and gameplay on this one.

Tetris - How do you screw up Tetris: Making the controls as counter-intuitive as possible is a great start.

Awful:
Pole Position Remix - Remixed to awful. Drive, drive, drive, all alone, group of cars, pass them, drive, drive, drive.

(Dis)Honorable Mention: Lost - Lost is the worst game made for the iPod. Fortunately, it's no longer available, so we won't subject you to a video review. Let's just say unless walking in a line, and reading a lot of pointless dialog is your thing, this game is a bust. Maybe it's all a DHARMA experiment...

Again, you can find all of our iPod game reviews on the Games page.

Gaming: The Wii is a Lie

"It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, Oh my God that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it. So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then go out and buy it and so on." - Michael Capp, President of Epic Games on the Wii

With more quotes like this beginning to show up on the web, it looks like some gamers are starting to regret their Wii purchase. Here are a few reasons I think the Wii has failed.

Ease of Use. When the Wii was first introduced gamers were told that the reason behind its unique controller was to make games easier to play. I suppose some people are intimidated by the multiple buttons present on most game controllers. Nintendo was going to make games easier to play. With the exception of a few titles such as Wii Sports, this is simply not true. The inaccuracy of the motion controls and sensor bar has often left me flailing my arms while watching my character on screen do absolutely nothing. Many games simply don't work with the current technology. Perhaps they will with Wii2. When the controls do work, they're a waggle motion that replaces what should be a button press (Mario's spin move in Mario Galaxy) leaving you wondering why you're not using a standard controller in the first place.

Innovation. We were told that the games industry had gotten boring and stale, turning out sequel after sequel. This may very well be the case, but Nintendo hasn't exactly separated itself from this trend. Instead they have released another Zelda, another Donkey Kong, another Mario Kart, Mario Baseball, Mario Soccer. When was the last time Nintendo created an original IP? Third party support isn't setting the world on fire either, unless you want to play yet another collection of mini-games.

Price. At $250 the Wii was considerably cheaper than the $400 Xbox360 and $600 PS3 at launch. But is it really that much cheaper when you start considering what you get for your dollar. You are basically getting a $40 GameCube with a bluetooth remote and wifi. The majority of the software looks equal to or worse than what was previously available on the 2001 released GameCube. When you start adding in the cost of additional Wiimotes and Nunchuck controllers you are approaching next gen price ranges without getting the benefit of high definition graphics or movie playback.

So what does all this mean? Nothing really. The Wii will continue to out sell everything and the media will continue telling you how cool the Wii is. But remember what we learned from watching American Idol. Just because something is popular, doesn't mean it's any good.

iPhone gaming: Top Five Unanswered Questions

The iPhone SDK is out there, (And actually it just had an update today.) and we know a lot of people are working on a lot of great applications, many of which will be games. Unlike the launch of a true gaming console at CES or the heyday of E3, this is the rare instance in which millions of the "console" have already sold, and no one quite knows what will happen with games. And so we present (in no particular order) the top five unanswered questions about gaming on the iPhone.

1. Is the hardware up to the challenge? Or more precisely, how much of the hardware power will Apple allow to be unleashed? According to specs from Roughlydrafted.com, iPhone specs include a 620mhz processor (underclocked to 412mhz), compared to the 67mhz ARM processor in the DS, and a 333mhz processor in the PSP. Of course as anyone from the PowerPC days knows, processor speed is only a small part of the story. The iPhone also has four times the RAM, and much more than ten times the storage capacity. However, it is after all, a phone. How much of this hardware can be maxed out for gameplay? How much of that RAM needs to be ready for use by mail, iTunes, Safari, etc? How hard does Apple want to push the hardware, and was this in mind when the phone was designed? After all, some have questioned whether Apple ever wanted to put out an SDK to begin with.

2. What will happen with battery life? Again, related to just how much of that raw hardware power Apple wants to unleash. The processor is already underclocked by more than 100mhz, presumably to save battery life. And as mentioned on this blog previously, battery life can be slightly shorter than expected already. What happens when you have 3D graphics running all the time during game play, as well as accelerometer input, etc? Look for a surge in 3rd party battery solutions to give gamers more juice.

3. What happens when the phone rings? When you're playing most consoles and the phone rings, you can ignore it, or glance over at your phone and take the call. It's presumable that gameplay will pause, and a dialog box will ask you whether to take the call. Given the concern over Apple's limitations on running apps in the background though, will you lose your game/saved data? This seems like an unlikely scenario, yet the SDK limitations could be interpreted to show this as a potential problem.

4. Can your music be integrated with gameplay? Already some games for the iPod allow you to continue listening to your iTunes while playing. Will Apple's restrictions around music, ie. not allowing developers to access iTunes, limit this capability on the phone? And more importantly, will it limit the creation of exciting new games that could integrate the users media already stored on the device? Imagine a 3rd person shooter in which the tv in one of the settings is playing your favorite music videos. Personalization could be taken to a whole new level, or it could whither on the vine.

5. What about wifi/bluetooth? Three cell phones ago, I enjoyed playing Battleship with a friend via bluetooth. Yes it was nerdy to sit there at the same table and play on two different phones. But it was also fun. The bluetooth functionality of the iPhone is limited right now, to put it kindly. Devices like bluetooth-enabled cars, with integrated address books are unable to communicate with the phone. Will we see more support of bluetooth standards in general, or will developers have to create their own solutions? And even if they can, will Apple give them access to the system calls and underlying OS to make that possible? The same questions surround wi-fi. Will iPhones be able to communicate directly with each other? Will a wifi network be required?

Clearly those five questions lead to many, many more. What are your predictions? Let us know in the comments.

Gaming: TDL host in RB6V2 CONFIRMED!

The original title of this post was going to be "LOLCats in Vegas" but after two hours last night trying to get the the kitties to pose for a picture I gave up. Instead I'll be playing through the game this weekend staring at myself. I just wish the developers gave the option of adding some polygon hair!