(Sorry Katie)
(Nintendo DS; $34.99; Rated E; Nintendo.com)
(one and a half stars)
Look, I’m all for innovative design elements when it comes to gaming. I think Nintendo has put themselves on the line more often than Sony or Microsoft when it comes to unique ideas. But I wasn’t born yesterday; don’t create a tech demo for the DS’s touch screen and microphone and try to call it a “game.”
And if you are going to do that, don’t insult me by charging $35 for it.
“Electroplankton” is created by Toshio Iwai, a media artist from
So “players” rub their stylus across the screen to make the Electroplankton move and respond in different ways to create music across ten different settings. Manipulating different aspects of the environment will alter the music in pitch and tone- and that’s just about it as far as gameplay goes.
But fear not suckers who’ll purchase this game against my recommendation: when you get bored of making your own music (and you will in about 15-20 minutes) you can always play the “Audience Mode” which plays the game for you! Nintendo even suggests you sit back and listen through a stereo with a (not included) audio adapter. Oh, and no, there’s no option to record your music for later playback; that would make too much sense for a music-creation game.
And a sixty-page instruction booklet? For this game? Come on! It’s like you’re trying to make me angry.
One and a half stars: it turns on and does something. What it does, it does satisfactorily; but what it does is far from interesting, and it sure as Shinola ain’t worth thirty-five bucks.
No comments:
Post a Comment