Digially Downloaded July Issue

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Games and business issue: - Special, 6-page publisher round table discussion - Interviews with Ubisoft and Microsoft - Indie developer interviews and columns

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Welcome to Digitally Downloaded!

It’s not often that we get to take a look into the inner workings of the games industry. Events such as E3 are of course wonderful, and Tokyo Game Show is a lot of fun, but these are less interested in being business conferences. These are chances for developers and publishers to show off their wares.

Game Tech is different. There wasn’t a single game on show, but rather, the leaders of the business in Australia joined up to discuss the industry, the problems they face, and put a local spin on the global situation.

As a journalist, it was insightful. I realise now just how difficult the situation between retailers and the games industry is - in many ways the two have wildly different interests, and yet they’re also completely reliant on one another at present.

Digitally Downloaded team Editor-in-chief Matt Sainsbury (matts@digitallydownloaded.net) Contributing writers: Owen Sainsbury Domagoj Saric Aidan Broadbent Clark Anderson Jason Micciche Chris Ingram Nick Jewell Arnar Leví Please direct all correspondence and advertising queries to: advertising@digitallydownloaded.net

This might change, though. Slowly, all the traditional strengths of the retailer is being taken back by the publisher.

Digital download services now play host to AAA-grade games. You can hop online or head into the various mobile app stores for some gorgeous game guides. And the collectible markets seems to be heading that way too.

Ubisoft announced that it would be offering a range of collectible goods through its online shop portal. That in itself isn’t so unusal; Square Enix and others have been doing the same in Japan for years, but it’s another sign that the bigger publishers are looking to pull more privledges from the retailers.

And if retailers keep pulling stunts like EB Games has done numerous times in Australia recently with deliberately breaking street date for major releases such as Ocarina of Time and Portal 2, how much longer before the publishers start to pull pre order presents and offer them to people who buy through the likes of Steam? How much longer before a major game gets a digital distribution release before copies of the game are sent to retailers?

Retail is on a dangerous slippery slope right now, and it’s clear the old business model will no longer work. There’s too many other options for publishers now.

Matt Sainsbury Editor-in-chief

Digitally Downloaded is © M,MndM Media. Content may not be republished without written permission.

Cosp lay C h

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19 year-old Selin S from Germany has won a 2,000 € trip to South Korea with this costume.

The press release (translated from German) claimed: Moderated by the competition judges and Desireé Botcher Brigitte was the two German participants in the cosplay world championships in Japan, sat on the jury, among other things, Ji-Yoon Park, product director for Intrigue.

For those that don’t know, Intrigue is an MMO, and apparently popular enough to have a community of cosplayers.

We can think of something else the judges took notice of.

on

Runespell: Overture We’ve been following the development of Runespell: Overture pretty closely here at Digitally Downloaded, and after playing the preview build of the game, it’s safe to say the anticipation is justified. Runespell is one heck of an addictive little experience, and when the game goes live, we recommend everyone get to downloading this one.

Much like how Puzzle Quest ef-

fectively brought together Bejewelled and RPGs, Runespell somehow connects the dots between solitaire, poker and the RPG. The basic idea of the game is this: you’ve got a deck of cards laid out in front of you like you were going to play solitaire. You need to arrange those cards into “poker” hands which allows you to attack your opponent (who is doing the same thing with his own deck of

cards). The better the hand, the more damage you do.

There are a couple of catches that complicate that basic idea though.

For starters you only get three ‘moves’ per turn, which means that you need to be efficient in building hands. Pairs and three of a kinds just won’t cut it. It’s also possible to steal cards from the opponent’s deck, which introduces another layer of strategy

– do you use your turn to stop the opponent from building an especially nasty hand?

And then there’s the magic abilities and allies. Those are activated when you’ve done (or taken) enough damage to fill up your “rage” meter. But using them takes up one of your three turns for that round. The range of abilities that these spells and allies can

Preview offer is impressive – from shields to damaging spells of various elements to healing yourself. You can only take a certain number into each battle though, so finding a good balance introduces a nice Magic: the Gathering CCG element to the game.

It’s a surprisingly complex and layered game, is Runespell, and every bit as addictive as the other best games this hybrid genre has

thrown up over the years. The story might come across as a bit obscure for some audiences – rather than focus on a traditional fantasy setting, this one takes place in a setting derived from Norse mythology, but the presentation is clean and colourful enough to draw you into the game regardless.

g n i k Unloc

The Business

Industry Roundtable Sydney’s Luna Park recently played host to the first Australian Game-Tech conference; an event for people in the business of making and selling games to get togehter and throw ideas around.

tor, entertainment and devices division (DM): We think there is a trend towards convergeance, where entertainment is going to sit around a single destination under the TV, and we think that destination is going to be consoles.

I think there is very distinction in the minds of most consumers now between video and music and TV and gaming. Gaming has become incredibly legitimised now across broader demographics than the typical 18-24 year olds, than in the past.

There, thought leaders from Microsoft, Sony, EA and Ubisoft participated in a round table discussion on the challenges and opportunities currently facing the We firmly believe that all of the games industry. entertainment experiences will

puter Entertainment managing director, Australia and New Zealand (ME): At Sony what we believe there is still a place for immersive gaming, and that kind of gaming is not something you can get on all devices and through all services. Despite the overlapping of mobile phones, consumer electronics, TVs and so on, there’s still a demand for core gaming.

Question: To start us of, if you could give us an idea about where the games industry environment is currently like? What are the broad trends that you are seeing?

come together to the destination device. We believe it’s the console so we think the opportunity to grow the industry is going to be very significant, and we expect significant growth going forward.

Immersive gaming is still something that sits in the gaming console area, and at Sony we believe PlayStation Vita really capitalises on that desire. You can’t define the gaming sector anymore. It’s many kinds of gaming, but with big games, there’s a polarisation to how many can succeed a year because there’s a lot of big games coming out, but they’re still the centre of the universe to the gaming industry.

David McLean: Microsoft direc-

Michael Ephraim: Sony Com-

Who knows where the broader in-

From left to right: Edward Fong (Ubisoft), Bryan Neider (EA), Michael Epharim (Sony), David McLean (Microsoft)

dustry is going at the macro level?

But big gaming is here to stay, and PlayStation is about big, immersive gamin, and Vita is taking that outside of the home, and breaking the disconnect between portable and home console. And if we deliver on that, and we think we can, then it shifts a whole paradigm about immersive gaming.

Bryan Neider: Senior vice president and COO of the EA Games Label (BN): First of all I just want to say a lot of our conversations and concerns overlap a lot, but I find it fascinating then, that all the companies and geographics share a view of the world that is somewhat similar.

For me, the issue is not related just to the games industry, but as businesses it’s how to manage through the change that will be important in the future. Change is something that is usually very frightening because it’s leading into the unknown. As I think we’ve all talked about, the future isn’t certain about what it’s going to look like, but I do believe that if you think it’s going to be positive then you’re going to be focusing on opportunity not risk.

Where companies and individuals fail is when they become defensive. And they become defensive in a very emotional way, so it’s very personal. The fact is, there is a power that is infectious about how you approach change. One of the key take away points for all of us is one that is of an optimistic future, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be without challenges.

We’re still in a creative business, and working with creative people there is a protection you want to have; that vunerability when they extend themselves to try something new is difficult.

Personally, I am an amateur photographer but I can tell you I sweat over every comment my friends and family make on a picture, and I’m not doing it for a living. So I can only imagine what our game designers and engineers and artists do, and it’s important we understand the part of what we can do is really to help them take those creative processes.

We have a couple of games coming out with EA that we’re proud of. There’s Alice: Madness Returns that has just shipped, and Shadows of the Damned that.

They’re huge creative risks, but

I’m proud that as an organisation we’re willing to do that, because I do think we have an obligation to push the boundaries of our industry.

You have to let your guard down, and that’s a hard thing to do. I would hate for our industry with so much ahead of it to collectively give into a rut about doing a me-to or an also-ran. We’re in a unique opportunity to cross the boundaries on what it means to interact with entertainment.

Edward Fong: Ubisoft managing director, Australia and New

Zealand (EF): The advent of social media and networking means that the consumer has a bigger voice than ever before. I figure whether you’re on the marketing or development side we must make sure we’re listening to our customer. Get too pidgeonholed in your thinking and do what you used to do in the past you’re going to get left behind. The challenge for every team here we need to make sure we’re listening to our customers because they’re vocal, opinionated, and it’s not just about the money any more, it’s about the time. People are time poor. People don’t have necessarily 40 hours to sitting down to finish the game.

Question: What would you say are the main challenges facing the industry?

EF: I’ll stick my neck out here and I think retail is the challenge.

There’s an opportunity for us to work better with them. We’re seeing the opportunity that retail represents, and I think there are options in some instances where

we need to stand side by side with retailers as opposed to going head to head. In some cases, and I’m not saying we need to hold hands and sing by the campfire, but there are instances where we can actually work well together.

I know there are some retailers out there that and wanting to embrace better cooperation with players in the marketplace, and I’d like to see that continue.

ME: I think devices are getting very complicated in some categories, and that is a retail issue.

It’s an evolution of devices where things exist like Smart TVs and consoles that do everything. It’s an education piece for consumers – how do we cut through the jargon when there’s so many choices, so many boxes in front of them, I think there’s a major issue.

Some retailers are specialists that can sell new technology, but quite a few retailers are self serve.

Exchange rate is another issue.

People are talking about pricing; it’s a very contentious issue. Not

something we can control locally, because this country is three quarters the size of America with a tenth of the population, so the cost of business and many other factors are high. And when exchange rates are what they are, it’s not just our category that is facing the problem of what is the price and value of the products we’re selling?

DM: I think there are a number of things. If we look at the whole industry retail without a doubt has to change, and some retailers are more forward thinking about that than others. The rise of broadband, internet connectivity, downloading content means that some of our current business models will have to be considered.

I also think that we’ve grown up as an industry. I think this massive industry, we’ve never really until recently had the same clout as other digital entertainment industries have had. We’re starting to see the brands created in our industry become more pervasive.

When the Rabbids started appearing in car ads, it was further proof that the game’s industry is becoming more legitimised

The fact there is game characters in an ad, although that might look like a small statement, it’s a massive point of interest. Our brands are becoming very pervasive and ground level – outside of our industry. If you look at it from that perspective the industry is now very legitimised and it requires a changing environment.

BN: I think some of the challenges we have at a macro level are going to be around security, data and identity. I think we have an issue with network speed. I think cloud and cloud based storage of your assets is something we can improve on for the consumer.

There’s also a bit around operating systems – they’re growing in number, not shrinking, and that can be a challenge for the consumers. Consider this: The airlines industry has Sabre which is the universal booking system. Could you imagine if each airline used different systems? You’d never be able to make connecting flights.

So they found a way to provide standards for that. Or consider the fact you can share your data on you Visa card and it will work regardless which retailer you went into – imagine if you had to have a different card for each retailer?

So from a consumer perspective, I think there’s a maturity we need around a lot more transferability in a digital environment. Your information, your data, your characters and assets, are in an environment that needs to be a lot more secure than what we have.

so it is not just a purchase environment.

If retailers do not understand they have a role to play in that, I think if you look at some of the online purchasing mechanisms being put together at the moment, then that can become very difficult for a retailer that doesn’t define a part of what their experience is.

Question: What specific changes do retailers need to make to continue to be relevant?

I have to say in Australia there are some retailers that are really savvy about that. They’re understanding the way to keep the customer in the end is the experience. The energy that is currently driving that thought process needs to continue.

DM: My view is that you’re seeing an increase in digital data, and retail partners need to remain legitimate in that that, it’s very important. I think that part of the change may be about the experience that customers have when they go into those stores. Retailers should provide a good experience

ME: I don’t think it’s just Australia. Consider Best Buy in the US; the CEO said “people walk out of our stores knowing 20 per cent of the capabilities of the device they buy.” We’re not putting it all on the retail industry. Technology is moving so fast and it’s up to the manufacturers, suppliers, distribu-

tors to educate, and to disseminate the information. It’s not a case of ‘bad retailer you’re not doing the right thing.’ But they have to put more emphasis on understanding the product and trying to differentiate it.

the answers. They could become the aggregator of content in their stores. They could compete with the digital download services to complement the sales of boxes.

They’re not going to be stopping at electronic box sales.

It’s not a criticism it’s something they need to do is sell product and explain the user experience, and not just talk tech specs.

BN: I think retailers need to be really steely eyed about where they add value. They need to understand what their value proposition is, and right now the paradigm for retailers is how many dollars per square foot. So, if they took a step back – are you defensive or offensive and taking those risks?

There’s an opportunity to take a step back certainly in our space. I

Question: Do you think in the future retail is going to be centred more towards hardware than software?

DM: For me not necessarily.

the handheld space. We’ve made it clear we will not be going into that place; our strategy is around the phone, so very different strategies around the content that we want to put into people’s handheld, and we also have different strategies around our online content. I think if we had synchronised strategies then it would potentially make sense. The reality is as Michael said, we’re two big organisations with different visions and approach, and both are competing for the same pace. I don’t see changing EF: On the publisher side, the lines are a bit more blurred –

“Your information, your data, your characters and assets, arein an environment that needs to be a lot more secure than what we have.”

- EA’s Bryan Neider Some people want to go and speak to some retailer and talk about what game they should buy.

And if you look at especially the specialist retailer, some of the staff are very active about gaming.

When a customer comes in, and can’t make a decision about two games, they’ll go up to the retailer and have that conversation. I also think the videogames category is expanding. We’re bringing a lot of new customers into the industry right now, they’re going to need advice about what to buy, what works well with what, how do they set up their Xbox accounts, and I think the retailer has a critical part to play with that.

ME: As David said we’re moving to digital, and to add to the complexity of the future, retailers are starting to set up their own digital services. Personally I don’t have

think consumers they’re going to do what they want to do.

Question: Consumers have access to standard formats for other entertainment; for instance there are many DVD players, but the all play DVDs. Many consumers demand one box for all their gaming.

ME: I’m not really sure because we’re big corporations with revenue streams and platforms, so there’s the answer to your questions – DVD Blu Ray were all standardised from the start. But the industry we’re in has always been a competitive industry with PC as the base format with console around the PC. DM: The reality is we have divergent strategies. Sony is in

we’re not as protective of our own publisher names. The fact that companies are getting their IPs together shows that they’re comfortable with leaving the corporate side elsewhere. We try and make games as engaging for our customers as possible. We saw Mario and Sonic get together for one of the more popular games in recent years. It just shows the demand the consumers have.

Our industry is no longer about linear, one dimensional experiences on gaming. If that means working with another companys I think it’s a well known fact that there’s more examples of that hitting the shelves every day.

Opinion

d a P i e h t n o g n i m a g e v o l I y Wh

I’ve been playing games since the original Game Boy, and I enjoy a bit of just about everything. And as I’ve become financially independent, I’ve been able to afford more consoles and more games – this generation I’ve got just about everything bar the Xbox 360, and the only reason I don’t have that one is, quite literally, a lack of physical space to put it.

Looking to the future, I’ve got my eyes set on the PlayStation Vita, the Wii U and I look forward to the 3DS hitting its stride. I’m also planning on investing in OnLive should it ever reach Australia’s shores and networks.

The iPad is my favourite gaming device. Here’s why: It’s often misunderstood just how big the iPad’s screen is. At 9.7-inches, it’s far, far bigger than any dedicated gaming console,

and yet it’s just as light. This means it works equally well in the home for use on a comfortable chair or in bed, or on the go – sitting on trains or buses or the like.

The screen is also of an exceptional quality for everything from playing games to watching movies, reading books and magazines, or using the Internet.

As a gaming console, the iPad excels, far better than any other device out there, at certain genres.

It is the best place to go for board games, other than an actual board game store, and more importantly, the board games on the iPad tend to a very accurate recreation of the actual experience of playing a board game.

But here I’ll just be talking about the games. The iPad as a gaming device is unfairly ignored by many as a gaming device: those who haven’t spent much time playing with one think its limits are at PopCap games and Angry Birds. Those are on there, yes, and actually happen to be a lot of fun in short bursts, it’s not a bad thing that the iPad has a lot of quality casual games, but there are plenty of chunkier games available through the App store and, with that lovely, massive screen, it all looks wonderful.

For strategy games, there’s plenty of variety too. From the more casual Tower Defence games through to the likes of Command and Conquer and the hardcore turn-based strategy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms the iPad has me covered. It also has quality “Civilization” style games (Civilization Revolution, Ascendancy, History Egypt Engineering an Empire), Tactics games (Highborn, Wesnoth, Tactical Soldier: Undead Rising). There's also Final Fantasy Tactics on the way, we understand. The really good one.

Developers are also coming to grips with genres that haven’t worked in the past on the iPad. There are now very playable sports games, such as NHL 2K11 and FIFA. There are quality platformers with the likes of Max and the Magic Marker. There are racing games as Sonic All-Stars Racing, and even traditional, 30+ hour RPGs like Avadon (and if

Avadon is anything to go by, those games work even better on iPad).

There’s a growing market for premium priced content on the iPad, and developers are now starting to put out games that rival the quality of other handhold console games.

Heck, there’s even a (small) chance we’ll see World of

Warcraft on the iPad, and that is something that neither the 3DS or PlayStation Vita will likely ever see.

And as for those genres that the iPad really can’t do because of the need for buttons – such as the FPSer genre, there’s an easy solution on the way – OnLive. Bringing true blockbuster gaming to the iPad via the cloud.

In the end, people buy consoles for different reasons – people buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo’s games. People bought the PSP for its superb lineup of RPGs. The iPad, too, has strengths where is can’t be rivalled by the other consoles – such as for strategy, casual and board games, and thanks to technology like OnLive, will soon be able to play host to even bigger games.

So much for just playing Angry Birds, huh?

Comics

R .I.P PSP Comics. You were the best thing on the console Some sad news for PSP fans going forward, no new comics will be released through the PlayStation Network for download.

The PlayStation blog update for this week confirmed that Sony's digital comics team is now working at bringing the service to other Sony products, though it can't confirm which platforms (fingers crossed for Vita).

Of course, you're still able to download and enjoy the 4,000+ comics currently available for the service, but it is a pity to see it go away.

The PSP's great screen (especially the crystal-clear PSPGo) made for a great comic reading experience, and with the likes of Tokyopop on board, was one of the better non-gaming services we've seen on a games console.

Flashback Early Warhammer games: why don’t they make them like this any more?

It’s hard to believe, but two of the greatest attempts at porting one of the greatest wargames of all time, Warhammer, are 16 and 13 years old respectively. Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat and Warhammer: Dark Omen are both brilliant, challenging strategy games that capture the squad based unit management that makes the Games Workshop game so entertaining, with a real time strategy framework that made the games relevant to the computer game format.

Both games feature a small army of mercenaries, lead by cavalry general Morgan Bernhardt, on crusades to slaughter Orcs, Rat-men Skaven and Undead. At the start of each game you’ll have access to just a handful of units – standard infantry and cavalry types, but as the story progresses Morgan meets some more fantastic units, which he might be able to convince to join your cause. We’re talking wizards, fantastic artillery, Elvish archers and Dwarven experts.

But you’ll need to fish out money for those units, too. The life of a mercenary means fielding a sizable army is expensive, and this in turn means you’ll need to take on jobs to earn money. This was realised especially well in Shadow of the Horned Rat where the value of the contracts were finely tied into the difficulty level of each mission – the higher the difficulty, the more money you’d make. It’s amazing that in the years since, few developers have thought to tie a variable difficulty selection in

with the actual flow of the game, sticking it in the back of a bland menu instead.

Completing some missions would lock out some other missions, which meant these games had a lot of replay value too. The story would finish the same way regardless of the path you took, but getting there was largely down to your own tastes, and your army at the end of each game was likely to look very different each time.

For such primitive visuals, the units in these games had a lot of personality too. Like the Warhammer table top game, building up your units (they gain levels and equipment as they survive battles), and recruiting new soldiers to replace lost ones builds a strong sense of ownership over your pixelated army, and in terms makes you care about their plight. Losing an entire unit would mean it was

permanently lost to you, and well before Fire Emblem even started to be translated into English, this game had people restarting levels over and over again because of wayward fireballs.

The Warhammer license helped the game immensely as well.

Though it’s a pulpy world filled with fantasy stereotypes, the world of Warhammer does feature a wide range of units and a rich history. The battlefield strategy of the game has always been limited, but nonetheless engaging and, like the ancient races of all, there’s something visceral about seeing two hordes line up against one another and simply charge.

It’s a pity where the franchise has gone since. Games Workshop and the developers licensing the name have changed the focus to the squad based, futuristic Warhammer 40,000 for the most part. Still

fun, but I personally always preferred the fantasy battles setting – 40,000 struggles for personality against the lore of Starcraft, Star Wars, Star Trek and any number of other futuristic settings.

Meanwhile, the Fantasy Warhammer saw a reasonable, but soulless strategy game released a few years ago, and then a World of Warcraft MMO pretender. It’s never quite matched the early highs it experienced. Even more tragic is it seems that license transfers and disappearing developers mean these original classics are going to be very difficult to play now. You can still grab the (inferior, but still playable) PlayStation One ports for PlayStation 3 play, and if you’re really committed, you can try and get the games running on Windows.

But it would be lovely for some developer to realise the potential to resurrect this style of game. We see similar elements in everything from King Arthur: The Roleplaying Wargame through to Under Siege, but Warhammer is a tabletop classic for a reason.

Be sure to check out Digitally Downloaded sister publication, www.boardandwargames.com for the low down on all things tabletop and strategic

Developer Insight Ivan Vučica is the lead developer and driving force behind independent iOS release, Zombie Ball. The process of making his first game with his own outfit, Hindarium, has given him a wealth of experience and words of wisdom to share: I’m counting three years in the game development industry.

Before that, I worked on an opensource game, as well as a couple of private projects that ended up going nowhere. This has prepared me for some of the technical and social challenges that arose with the first project that I developed with Hindarium, a “garage” team formed by Nenad Kajgana, Hrvoje Gradečak, Davor Cihlar and yours truly. Zombie Ball is an iPhone game that, despite the experience, wasn’t a cakewalk and carried some lessons of its own. I’ll quickly share some advice based on both prior experience, but also on what Zombie Ball taught either the team, or me personally.

Number one rule for a small team is - appreciate the artist. No game can look good without a good artist. A good artist will listen to programmer’s specifications, but the programmer needs to understand that the artist will, by necessity, understand your game code as just another tool. Your game is a tool must adapt to serve their artistic needs. For example, I messed up rotation of an object around a center point. Coordinates of an object specified by their top-left corner’s position allowed us to easily assemble game maps, but complicated implementation of rotation.

Don’t be stubborn about either using an engine or using OpenGL directly, using C++ or Java or Objective-C, or anything else. Do

what’s the best for the project on a particular platform. For example, we decided to use Objective-C which made the code less portable. However, that allowed us to instantiate a class specified by a string, something not doable in C++. It also allowed us to access things offered by iOS without writing a wrapper. We also decided to use OpenGL directly. We used this to more easily fake the look of the ball, which is actually a flat circle instead of being a three-dimensional ball.

When picking a theme and genre for your game, consider the audience you’re targeting, and look at what sort of a game succeeded best with your audience. Trying to target a general audience?

Take cues from Air Penguin, Tiny Wings and Angry Birds. Trying to target an indie audience?

Take cues from Darwinia, Trine, Torchlight and Braid. Trying to target a core audience? Take cues from Diablo, Call of Duty and Civilization. Trying to target a casual audience? Take cues from hidden object games, puzzle adventure games, as well as puzzles. In all these cases, take a look at what’s common for these games. General audience: cuteness, short gaming sessions, bizzare setting, and maybe even birds. Core: do I feel like a gamer

when I play this? Indie: usually a feeling of innovation and uncommon, but with detailed and polished artwork.

And don’t pick a grossly overused theme, such as zombies.

Always, and I really mean it and can’t stress it enough - always, create artwork at least two times in size of what you actually need.

Never design in a resolutiondependent way - keywords here are retina, tablets and Android. If possible, don’t depend on hardware such as accelerometer, or unportable APIs, too much. This, combined with hi-res art, opens door to new markets such as desktop market. Objective-C is not a significant obstacle by itself- using accelerometer and UIKit is.

Oh, almost forgot: a badly designed audio system can kill game performance.

By no means this is an exhaustive list. In fact, this doesn’t even scratch the surface. It doesn’t cover what I learned about pre-release and post-release marketing.

Hopefully, this can be covered in the future. Until next time -- never surrender, never give up!

Guest Column

Sony’s welcome back package Sony has taking a lot of heat lately.

Seeing the trend in hacking (video game sites in particular) it appears that many companies are not adequately prepared for these security risks, but Sony was easily the highest profile victim. Not only were there staggering losses to its profits, but also in consumer trust and happiness.

Many different opinions came to light in response to Sony's downtime, ranging from those who felt Sony owed nothing because the PSN is a free service, to people who demanded money in their virtual wallets, free retail games and more. In response, Sony presented the Welcome Back program. The package included several different pieces.

- Super Stardust HD - Wipeout HD + Fury addon For PSP owners they could pick two of the following four games: - LittleBitPlanet(PSP) - ModNation Racers - Pursuit Force - Killzone Liberation In addition, for existing PlayStation Plus subscribers, they received an extra 60 days of free service. For the rest, they could try 30 days of free PlayStation Plus service

For PS3 owners, they could choose two of the following five games:

Additionally 100 virtual items for PlayStation Home were made available, there was a selection of "On Us" movie rentals made available one weekend, and existing Music Unlimited Premium members got an extra 30 days of premium service free of charge.

- Dead Nation - inFAMOUS - LittleBigPlanet

We reset our entire family's passwords with ease, and then as soon as the program came back online,

we took advantage of it. The selection of five games for the PlayStation 3 was a pretty solid one.

Older games, but games that were fairly well-reviewed critically and well-received commercially. If I had a larger hard drive, I might have downloaded the two retail games so I could sell/trade in the disc copies, but unfortunately my space is somewhat limited. I imagine I am not the only one who had that issue and that does limit the value of the retail games for those of us in that situation.

A fair number of people complained that they had all or most of these games (with no interest in the ones they did not have). Considering the age of the games in question, that does make it a bit more likely that a person already owned some or all of these. I got three free games out of the deal (from multiple accounts), but I can see where a larger selection of games might have been nice for users as well.

I have a PSP as well, and I already owned LittleBigPlanet (PSP) and I have ModNation Racers for the PlayStation 3, so I opted for Killzone Liberation and Pursuit Force. The games were a somewhat snug fit on an already busy memory card, but they are both a lot of fun.

The PlayStation Plus is interesting because I have been considering it for some time, so I did sign up for it and bought some discounted

stuff, tried some demos and even played some free games while I have the service. I will simply delete what I can no longer play when my subscription runs out, if I decide not to renew it.

One thing thatirked me however is the way your account is automatically set to renew the PlayStation Plus. If you have a credit card on file, that might irritate someone if they see a fifteen dollar charge later that they had not expected.

I personally like the PlayStation Plus offer, but I have read a lot of dissenting opinion on the matter.

Quite a few people feel it is simply free advertising by Sony.

I heard a lot of complaints that the free game mechanism did not work well and that they found it confusing. I never had any issue with it - I found it to be pretty straightforward and was able to download all of my games without incident. That said, the downloads were really slow due to the number of users online doing the exact same thing at the time.

There were also reports of an exploit that could be taken advantage of with the password resets, though I do not know anyone who My daughter was excited about the was affected by it. There were also PlayStation Home items - I seldom error messages from the PlayStause it however, but it was a nice tion Network due to the high touch. The "On Us" movies were volume of traffic they were seeing. old, and really sort of pointless Frustrating at times, sure - but honestly. I found very few people hardly unexpected. online who commented in favor of the limited selection, and once I Overall, I thought this plus Sony's heard what was being offered, did strong showing at the E3 confernot bother with it either. ence were good steps in the right I also am not a subscriber to direction. There were certainly Sony’s music service, so I was things that could have gone better completely unaffected by that ofwith the Welcome Back program, fering. and the fact that Sony opened with

an apology for the entire situation during its E3 press conference were welcome acknowledgements that yes, Sony had a problem and that they were sorry.

Sony was hardly flawless throughout the process. I felt they were slow in notifying people what was happening at the beginning and in letting people know that their personal information was compromised. I also think Sony could have offered a wider variety of games because there were those who had most/all of those titles and in a way, that punishes Sony's most loyal customers.

Nick Herber is a man who loves his games, and has been playing and writing about them for many years. http://chalgyrsgameroom.blogspot.com/

Puzzling Aussies Two Australians; James Barrie and Matthew Edmondson, came from the telecommunications industry, but decided to break out and start up their own development studio, Manic Game Studios. Their first game, a brilliant puzzler called Critical Mass Digitally Downloaded caught up with James to discuss the fledgling company and Manic Games Studio’s plans for the future.

Digitally Downloaded (DD): What were the challenges in getting started?

James Barrie (JB): There have been so many challenges along the way it’s hard to be specific other than to say that everything was a challenge. I’ll try to break it down.

We had no money. When I say no money I mean I personally spent a year living on $100 dollars a week. Having a limited to non-existent budget forces you to be creative in the way that you approach things.

Long hours, high stress and constant pressure are something that I think just comes with the trade, but at the same time it can get very hard. During the last two

Independents

months of development we were working 75 hours a week. As a result you quickly learn how to resolve conflicts and deal with the high emotion that arises under those conditions.

Another challenge for us was learning from our mistakes. Initially we had made a prototype for a game that seemed quite good on the surface. The problem was that about two months into development we came across a game breaking problem that had no solution. In the end we had to scrap that idea and start from scratch.

I’m glad we did because because what resulted was Critical Mass.

I think the point is that it’s OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.

DD: Where did the idea for Critical Mass come from? What has inspired your game design?

JB: As I mentioned in the previous answer the game was the result of a failed project we had initially been working on. We knew we wanted to make something simple and we knew that we wanted to use

blocks, but other than that the process was quite organic. The big moment was when we added the rotation into the game. It forced the player to think in three dimensional space which we felt was quite satisfying.

In terms of inspiration I would have to say that the game Tetrisphere on the N64 was a big inspiration for us. But also games like World of Warcraft. We have always been fascinated by the amount of time Blizzard dedicate to game balance and it was definitely in the back of our minds the whole time whilst we were developing this game. It might sound strange considering our games couldn’t be further apart, but we spent about 80 per cent of our time during development focusing on game balance and there were countless conversations about Blizzard during that time.

DD: How are you finding the Australian market for games developers - what kind of opportunities do you see going forward?

Will you be growing the company and working on more complicated games?

JB: If I’m totally honest the Australian development scene isn’t something we have been that involved with. In terms of running a business over here there have been some hard times lately and it has caused a lot of developers to close their doors. However, there appears to be a growing indie scene so hopefully we will see more games from this part of the world. Especially with the recent news regarding tax breaks for developers in this country.

We would love to be able to grow and take on new people and make larger, more complex games. But at the moment that is all dependant on the success of our current game so it is difficult to say what will happen in the future.

DD: How did you find the experience working with Steam? What other platforms would you like to

develop for in the future, if any?

JB: Having the opportunity to publish our game on Steam is fantastic and we are very grateful to be able to reach an audience of that size. I think that the support Steam has given to Indie Developers in recent years is a major reason why so many people are quiting their day jobs to try and make it in this industry.

That said we were initially rejected by Steam and it was only after appealing that decision that we were accepted. We provided them with a new build and addressed a bug that prevented their testers from playing the game.

In regards to other platforms we will be porting Critical Mass to Mac & iOS in the next few months. In terms of the next game it’s hard to say. What we do know

is that we are both PC gamers at heart and so whatever it is that we do, it will most likely be a PC game first.

DD: What would be your dream game, if you had a large team and budget to work with?

JB: We do have one idea that we know we want to make but it would be a much larger game than Critical Mass. It would also require us to take on new people as well as fund development for at least a year if not two.

We are both very interested in games that are driven by an online community and also games that are competitive in nature. We both come from a web development background so online functionality is always going to be a focus for us no matter what game we make.

Independents

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Space Pirates and Zombies (or SPAZ for short) is a brave attempt by independant developers, MinMax Games, to bring a B Grade space epic to PCs... with zombies.

Digitally Downloaded sat down with the developers to get some insights to their process, and their hopes for the future.

Digitally Downloaded (DD): SPAZ is a top-down space shooter on a galactic scale. What made you want to develop a game in this genre?

Andrew Hume (AH): Both Richard and I have been playing PC games for quite a few years now, and as time progressed, we saw fewer and fewer games like SPAZ being made. We grew up playing Star Control, Privateer, and Master of Orion, and we wanted to

o Z ce

a p nS

o t i g

s e i mb

make a single game that merged some of the concepts which we missed so much. It came down to us making a game that we wanted to play and hoping that others felt the same way as we did. Luckily, so far it seems that we were right in assuming that we weren’t the only ones who missed these games.

DD: SPAZ is currently in its Beta phase – did it change much over the development cycle or has it remained much the same since conception?

Richard Clifford (RC): The game is very different than when we started. After a couple months of development, we found that things that sound great on paper didn’t always play very well.

The game itself was like a third team member, telling us when we had made a mistake. Our design

process was very organic. We are very happy with what we ended up with, but it took us a bit longer to get here than we expected.

DD: SPAZ is currently out for release through Impulse, Gamers Gate and BMT Micro. Are you planning on expanding to other digital distributors in the future?

Have you considered attempting to port SPAZ to a different platform, like perhaps the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3?

AH: We’ll push SPAZ as far as we can. We definitely plan to have SPAZ available on other distribution platforms and operating systems. Building a Mac port is a high priority, and Direct2Drive and Steam are both looking like distinct possibilities within the near future. Contact has been made, and we are just waiting to sign contracts now.

We currently don’t have any plans for a console version of SPAZ, but it’s something we’ve thought about and would like to pursue at some point down the road. If there is a desire for it from our fans, then we’ll do our best to support them.

DD: Space Pirates and Zombies.

That sounds like the best sci-fi thing since Firefly: where did the idea for the game come from?

And what about the zombies?

RC: The name itself came very late in the project. When we started designing SPAZ we wanted to ram everything in there we could thing of. We had planned for several other alien races, but as we began developing the game, we realized we bit off more than we could chew. We worked to refocus the game, and the only race to survive besides humans were the zombies. We then reengineered the story and gameplay to focus on zombies. The zombie race became a huge part of the game.

We developed a complex ecology for how zombie ships breed and infect other ships. It’s definitely one of the unique features that sets SPAZ apart from other games in the genre.

DD: We’ve heard that your studio

is a two-person company: who are the brains behind MinMax Games? Where did you get your start? Have you made any plans to expand in the future?

AH: I handle the coding in the game, and Richard handles the art and sound. All design responsibilities are a collaborative effort. We each bring a different discipline to the table, and between the two of us, we were able to produce everything we needed for SPAZ. Richard and I met at Radical Entertainment about seven years ago now and have been working together ever since. We both began to think about leaving at about the same time for a variety of reasons, and on one of our pub visits, we decided that we may as well leave together. Shortly after, we decided to form MinMax and SPAZ was born.

The future for MinMax depends heavily on how well SPAZ does.

We have stretched our finances to the breaking point, so SPAZ is a make or break project for us. If we do succeed, and it is looking more likely that we will at least break even, we plan to continue to expand on SPAZ and pursue other games in the 2D space.

Richard and I have always wanted to keep MinMax a small company, and in that way, we may be a bit of an anomaly business wise.

Ideally, we will make enough to survive and continue making games together until we are 85 years old and retire or the cyborgs enslave us.

DD: Being such a small company must have its own trials and tribulations. Were there many problems on the road to finishing SPAZ? RC: We’ve been working on SPAZ for 22 months full time, with no source of income, so we have both had to make some serious sacrifices to make ends meet.

We initially thought SPAZ would only take six months, but here we are nearly two years later. Aside from the lack of financial security, working on a game together without having to answer to any higher ups has been exhilarating.

DD: Obviously you’ve chosen digital distribution as your platform of choice: what were the reasons behind that decision?

AH: For a small indie company such as MinMax, digital distribution is really the only option. I don’t know how many years it

has been now since I bought a PC game in a brick and mortar store.

With digital distribution, we are able to reach out to a large portion of the PC market without having to rely on a publisher. Digital distribution gave us a chance to stand on our own.

DD: What sort of role do you feel digital distribution plays in the videogame industry today?

RC: It really is the future. Even on consoles you can download full games now. It’s more convenient than having to go to the story to get a hard copy. It also brings a bit of the development risk down, as you don’t have to pay to ship your product to a million outlets.

DD: SPAZ is an ambitious first project, but I’m sure you have

other ideas you’d like to work on in the future. Does MinMax Games have any future projects waiting to be started?

AH: For now we are focused strictly on SPAZ. After release, we plan to continue to support SPAZ and to add some free content and modding tools. If there is enough interest, we will also begin work on expansion packs, but these packs will have to be pretty meaty to not just be added as free upgrade content. Once this iteration of SPAZ has run its course, we will either start work on a sequel right away (which would probably take a couple of years again) or we will make something completely different, but most likely still in the 2D game space.

DD: Thanks a lot, Andrew/Rich-

ard; we really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.

AH/RC: The pleasure is ours.

Thank you very much for the interview. We hope you and your readers enjoy SPAZ for many months to come.

Network with us on...

Digitally Downloaded is on Raptr. Find us at http://www.raptr.com/topic/digitally-downloaded/wall Follow to be kept up to date with our news and reviews as they break.

The month’s reviews

IN REVIEW Welcome to the digitallydownloaded.net reviews section!

Each month we’ll present some of the most exciting, newest, and classic games available on various download services.

We’ll also score them out of five. By nature, games scores are highly subjective but as a rule of thumb, 1 star is unplayable, 2-3 stars is very niche, poor value or highly flawed in some way, 4 stars is a game anyone should enjoy, and 5 stars is a must have.

We’ll be building out our reviews section in the coming months, so if you have any ideas how we could improve it further, please do email us at matts@digitallydownloaded.net Matt Sainsbury Editor-in-chief

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Available on: PC Publisher: Battlefront.com

It’s safe to say that you need to approach Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy a little differently than you are used to with most modern games. I, in my infinite wisdom, jumped straight in without even a glance at the manual. That was a big mistake. At first, I persisted in trying to learn as I go but after struggling through the tutorial scenarios, after taking way to much time to finish them, I gave up and started reading. I’m not one to shy away from a juicy manual and I kind of miss their presence in most modern games.

The fact of the matter is, developers have gotten so much more efficient in relaying all relevant information to gamers, through tutorials, that manuals have become almost extinct. Combat Mission’s tutorial system feels like it was made in the nineties. The manual is essential and the tutorial scenarios are only exercises in frustration without it, especially if you have never played a wargame before.

The two tutorial campaigns are essentially split into teaching you how to move around and give out various commands, and how to setup a battle, strategise and overwhelm the opposition. Both deliver their intended purpose adequately, but I feel like the

developers could have done more to inform you in-game rather than making you read the manual for any relevant information. When it comes to helpful hints and tips the UI is a wasteland. There is plenty of information there, but the game requires you to learn its language to make any sense of it all.

To its credit, if your knowledge of real world military structure and tactics is good, then everything will make more sense. My own apprehension of such matters was rusty at best, so I began reading up on the basics. It helped a great deal as I began to grasp the intricate details of the game.

CM:BN’s greatest strength, and perhaps its most discouraging hurdle, is the amount and quality of the systems included in the simulation. If you want to master the game you need to be able to understand the tactical doctrine that it’s based on. Everything

needs to be taken into consideration when forming a strategy to take on a specific battle. The chain of command, the terrain, the weather, your troops morale, and everything else you could imagine would factor into a real battle.

There are two basic ways to play the game. Real time where you can pause at any time to give out orders, and turn based where you give out orders and when you start the turn a minute, real time, passes during which you can’t influence the battlefield. In multiplayer the turn-based system, called We Go, players issue orders simultaneously and then the turn plays out. I’ve been switching between the two modes and I can’t decide which one to choose. Both are very competent ways to play the game, and each offers unique challenges.

You can set up your own Quick Battles where you customise your force with a predetermined al-

lowance. Choose the size of your battle field and select from a variety of different map styles. This feature insures a high level of replayability where you can play hundreds of battles without hitting the same scenario again. The AI insures you wont get bored doing this, assuming that you have a general interest in playing endless battles.

The ground type can make a big difference. A wet swamp will significantly slow down and tire your troops.

It has also plenty to offer in terms of campaigns, my preferred mode

of play, which are both based on real battles and completely fictional. A nice little touch by the designers is recommending reading material, that relates to the battles at hand, in the briefing menu before each battle.

The AI, both friendly and enemy, is impressive. The enemy will usually behave in a way that makes sense, tactically, and will move and strike where it’s most inconvenient for your forces. A source of frustration, for sure, but not to the game's detriment. Your units will take their positions in a smart way by taking into consideration their surroundings and

usually never stopping in awkward places in plane sight of the enemy unless you give no choice.

I’ve encountered occasional glitches in the way the friendly AI handles obstacles like choosing the correct way around the environment, but nothing that’s too frustrating and I could usually avoid it later in similar situations.

The environment plays a big part in choosing your tactical approach, as it should, and the games art style absolutely supports that notion. Every piece of pixel on the battlefield has a purpose and it’s definitely a no frills style. It enhances the play giv-

ing you cause to consider every building, wall and bocage, when choosing your approach. The units are beautifully detailed and every single soldier is animated, which really gives you a sense of immersion.

I thoroughly enjoyed CM:BN especially because it appeals to my inner history nerd and strategy inclined nature. As an introduction to the tactical wargame genre it’s probably not the most user friendly experience.

If I were to endorse it to inexperienced wargamers I would make sure they are willing to overcome the learning curve, but the learning part does in no way make a boring experience if you are so inclined.

When you strip it

down to its most basic elements, it’s a great war simulator but it fails at being a great game. That said, it’s still a good game and absolutely worth every penny. The feeling that I get when I fire up a battle is one of anticipation. Every situation is different and I really enjoy plotting out my approach

and deciding upon my tactics.

- Arnar Levi

4/5

White Knight Chonicles: Origins Available on: PSP Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

On the PlayStation 3, White Knight Chronicles was a poorly received mix between MMO and JRPG. The reception was unfair – the game featured a large traditional RPG world and a fairly standard (but enjoyable) battle system that looked much like something from a World of Warcraft clone. It was pretty, but many felt soulless, and its robust online play was largely overlooked.

White Knight Chronicles: Origins is a wholly new game with an entirely different development team.

Handheld RPG specialists, Matrix Games, have this one in collaboration with Sony’s Japan Studio.

And despite being a very, very limited RPG, Origins is an addictive little game that owes as much to Monster Hunter as traditional JRPGs. While you’re not going to be hunting down massive beasts and engaging them in epic half hour battles, like in Monster Hunter here you will be playing from a centralised ‘hub’; a train, as the threadbare story introduces you

to. From that train you accept missions, and then traverse a handful of standard dungeon types looking to kill a certain number of a type of enemy, explore a certain number of areas, and complete a small number of other mission types.

It’s a not-so-subtle development trick to conceal the fact that this game doesn’t feature a great deal of scale. There’s no overworld to traverse, and the number of environments to explore is surprisingly limited given this game’s heritage.

The story is equally direct, rarely rising above “hey, this is evil. You are good. Kill it.” Thanks to this system Matrix Games didn’t need to develop towns sweeping vistas, or even many NPCs to interact with.

This probably kept development

costs down, but be warned that the game will feel limited and alienating for people coming in expecting something more traditional.

The dungeons are random in design, and split into ‘rooms’ – so think about Monster Hunter’s areas, just smaller in scope. Moving from one room to another will trigger a new battle, but you can go back to previous rooms

once cleared out safely. Those rooms, though random, are largely bland and empty. Exploring them is not very interesting as a result.

So if White Knight Chronicles: Origins relied on the tropes of a traditional RPG, it would fail miserably. Like Monster Hunter games, though, the fun is more to be found in developing a hero and grinding his/ her way to the top.

The hero is completely customisable, and it’s fluid. One level you’ll be improving his bow skills, the next he’ll learn a nasty fire attack.

Like the PlayStation 3 original you’ve got a MMO-style bar down the bottom where you can assign skills to act like ‘hot keys’ in battle. There’s no menu system, just that bar of skills, so picking the right balance of skills to ac-

cess in battle is the key to success.

The Monster Hunter influences run even deeper than all of this – it’s possible to upgrade equipment with raw materials and other resources earned from defeating enemies and finding gathering points in the dungeons. This ‘loot’ accumulates quickly, meaning it’s easy to customise equipment to the heart’s content. It’s also possible to upgrade the train itself to offer additional support while you’re away visiting the dungeons.

So White Knight Chronicles: Origins is not the most epic RPG, but in being more limited in scope, the game is actually more addictive than the PlayStation 3 original. Uninhibited by superfluous features like plot and exploration,

the game focuses on developing, piece by piece, a character you can be proud of, and in doing so, this is something of a pure JRPG experience. The Monster Hunter inspiration runs deep, but Origins is its own game, and a worthy addition to a very well-supported genre on the PSP.

- Matt Sainsbury

3.5/5

Greg Hastings Paintball 2 Available on: PSN, XBLA Publisher: Majesco

As with many people around the world, I enjoy a good game of paintball. I don’t follow it as a sport – or even truly consider it anything more than a fun pastime – but my friends and I enjoy playing the occasional game at one of the handful of paintball fields around our hometown. Of course, considering the cost and time dedication that is necessary for a game of paintball, we instead spend most of our time playing videogames. Instead of shooting real paintballs at each other, we shoot virtual bullets at each other.

But, hey, Greg Hastings heard that you like gamin’ in yo paintball so he put some paintballin’ in yo game.

Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is actually the third paintball videogame to bear Greg Hastings name, so

don’t be confused by the number attached to the end of the title. I’m not entirely sure who Greg Hastings is or whether a professional paintballer should be considered famous enough to warrant a videogame franchise based around him. Of course, we’re still seeing Tony Hawk videogames, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

That being said, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is actually an alright game. Majesco, the publisher behind the game, has done a fairly good job of translating the chaotic and tactical nature of paintball to digital gaming media which is something I wasn’t expecting.

I’ve always been curious as to how the game of paintball would translate to the videogame industry but have never had the guts to actually buck out and give it a try.

Now that I have, I have to admit

the game was actually much better than I expected. It certainly isn’t on the same standard as blockbuster titles like Call of Duty or Battlefield but it’s a different beast entirely.

For starters, it’s a much fasterpaced game than Call of Duty or Battlefield, though that seems kind of amusing to say. Even now, my subconscious is screaming at me: “A paintball game being faster-paced than a war-based FPS? That’s ridiculous! It’s not like there are any explosions in paintball!” And that’s a fair assessment but, like real-life paintball, many of the matches are over in a matter of a minute or two. After all, they also call it speedball for a reason.

Because of the quick nature of the game it’s easy to pick up for a match or two when you’re looking to kill some time. This is a

good thing because, even despite its strengths, after playing for any amount of time you start to notice the flaws just beneath the surface.

For starters, the character models are something on par with what we used to see last generation.

The movement animations are alright but pale when compared to other first-person shooters of the last year. The hands of the models are particularly annoying, never actually grasping the guns and merely sticking their fingers straight out from around the grip. There aren’t even any facial models; each and every character wears a mask, as per the safety regulations of paintball, but it’s hardly an excuse. The only way to distinguish between different characters is by what they’re wearing, their height and the awkwardly polygonal breasts for the female characters.

What? It’s a fair complaint!

The controls for the game are straightforward enough, though the game does utilize a cover system similar to what is in Killzone 2 and 3; pulling down on L2 allows you to pop in and out of cover by moving the left stick.

It’s a pretty intuitive system that works well for the sort of coverbased tactics inherent in paintball.

The computer AI for the opposing teams seem to be fairly decent, though the AI for your team is more of a hit-and-miss affair, spending equal time doing nothing and completely owning the other team. More than once I’ve had a single AI teammate get four eliminations in a row in one match and then get eliminated within seconds of starting the next. Of course, neither AI compares to the skill of the human mind so, as long as you play smart, you should be fine.

There’s also a command system where you can give orders to your teammates. It’s a very rudimentary system with only three differ-

ent commands – defend, move to and attack – but it works well for what it is. The unfortunate thing is that because each match is over so quickly, the command system seems almost unnecessary; you barely have time to even think about giving orders before the match is over and done.

Playing the game, you can either partake in regular Exhibition games or you can embark on a Career mode that has you recruiting actual paintball professionals and winning money at tournaments around the United States that you can then spend on equipment and physical training for your team. There’s also quite a number of different game modes built into the game that you can choose from, and there are a plethora of lovingly recreated paintball fields from real arenas around the States, so you’re never at a loss for things to do.

Probably the best thing about the game is the paintballs themselves.

You can tell that Majesco spent a great deal of time making sure the paintballs in-game moved like paintballs do in real life; never will two shots hit the exact same spot, and it truly is intimidating to see dozens of paintballs flying over your head while you cower behind a bunker. The balls arc like they do on an actual field, so you always have to compensate for wind and gravity when shooting at targets further away. Some of the hit detection seems a bit off, especially when you get up close and personal with an opponent, but perhaps that’s just the frantic nature of paintball bleeding through the controller.

There are some entertaining additions -- like how your screen will start to fog up if you sprint while running, simulating how your goggles actually fog in a real game. Likewise, the ability to switch which shoulder your gun is on is helpful when hiding behind cover. There's even a slide and a dive animation built into the game, allowing you to quickly maneuver around the field.

Unfortunately, the entertaining things are often tempered with the frustrating, such as how the voice acting is pretty mediocre and the music is repetitive and contrived. The Career mode, while seeming robust, is very simplistic and a bit tedious after a while. It’s entertaining to see all the different paintball fields from around the States, ranging from famous fields in Boston to grand spectacles in Hawaii, but the character and team development isn’t even worth bothering with.

All in all, Greg Hastings Paintball 2 is an entertaining diversion.

It's not the best, but it's hardly the worst game you could buy.

Of course, with a $20 price tag this game is for paintball enthusiasts or for the people who like paintball but would rather stay at home; at that price, I simply cannot recommend it for anyone else.

Just like real paintball, though,

it’s always more fun with friends so make sure, if you do pick it up, to call a friend over and hand him that extra controller.

Otherwise, you’d be better off playing Call of Duty.

- Nick Jewell

3.5/5

THE role-plaYing WaRgame

INCLUDES THE EXPANSIONS THE SAXONS AND THE DRUIDS AND THE DLC’S LEGENDARY ARTIFACTS AND KNIGHTS & VASSALS

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Akane the Kunoichi Available on: XBLA Indie games Publisher: Haruneko

Whatever stance you take on the great pirate versus ninja debate, it’s tough to deny the overwhelming appeal of these assassins.

While both clans have their fair share of video game adaptations, some are more successful than others. Enter Akane, a kunoichi (female ninja) whose skills are second to none. Her platforming game is not only a solid argument for ninja superiority, but proof that independent developers can craft some of the best titles available on download services already full of quality.

Akane’s mission is to rescue her master, Goro, from Hiromi’s group of ninjas. However, Akane also happens to have a crush on her master, providing her with further incentive to save the man.

If she wants to express her love, she’ll have to tackle hordes of enemy ninjas and dank environments. Can she take back her man, and then take his hand in marriage?

As one would expect from a ninja, Akane has an assortment of techniques at her disposal. For physical moves, Akane can jump, cling

to walls, and even scale said walls via timed leaps. In terms of weaponry, she can toss multiple kunai (multifunctional handheld weapons used by martial artists such as ninjas) in a matter of seconds.

Our heroine also has ninja scrolls at her disposal, which activate one of three deadly attacks that are interchangeable at the player’s discretion. Power-ups hidden throughout the stages include extra scrolls, multi-directional kunai, and hourglasses that give Akane more time to complete a level.

Level designs can be tricky, but they’re always achievable if you take things unhurriedly and don’t hesitate when making jumps. While the typical platforming game promotes dashing and hopping through levels as fast as you can, Akane rewards players for taking their time. While stages have time limits, they’re never an issue unless you simply cannot figure out what tactics to use against a boss.

In many ways, the game expects

the player to become a ninja. This also means that the difficulty will ramp up significantly toward the end, so gamers had best be prepared for some demanding trials.

Akane’s outfit may be tad skimpy, but one would be hard pressed to say the game skimps on content, as it offers 15 levels and five boss battles. In addition, you’re bound to devote at least two or three hours in an effort to acquire all 45 of the kimonos hidden in the levels to unlock the secret ending. To ice the cake, there are achievements that give the player a few extra challenges to attempt.

- Clark Anderson

5/5

Ace Gals Tennis Available on: XBLA Indie games Publisher: Haruneko

Ever since the inception of gaming, the market has been full of tennis-like games. With so many of these titles available, it could be difficult for a fan of the sport to determine what warrants purchase. Thankfully, Ace Gals Tennis is a worthy contender for your cash, serving up a great deal of content and genuine fun for about a dollar.

Right from the beginning, you’ll notice that this is tennis in its purest form. There are no gimmicks or unnecessary superfluities to clutter the gameplay. The control system is exceptionally simple, consisting of one button and the analog stick. You don’t have free control over your gal, instead watching her run automatically towards the ball ala Wii Sports.

In order to achieve an “awesome shot”, you need to hit the ball at the very last second before it goes past your character. You also have to aim the ball to determine approximately where it will land when it reaches the opponent’s side of the court.

For such a simple control scheme, scoring a point shockingly feels like an accomplishment. This certainly isn’t a negative, as many tennis games fly by too frantic for my liking. Ace Gals Tennis forces you to be tactical about how you approach your opponent instead of mindlessly mashing buttons.

At times, it feels like there’s an element of luck, but the gameplay is largely skill-based. The characters have their own individual stats and this adds an extra layer to things without sugarcoating them. All in all, it is an intriguing system that the designers built the game around.

There are two game modes on offer: Quick Match and Career.

Quick Match allows a player to go against the CPU in a single match, while Career is a huge campaign with numerous tourneys to partake in against the computer players.

While some of the tournaments are mere single matches, the average length of a game can be notably lengthy. The lack of multi-

player or a doubles option doesn’t hamper the experience, but it does leave the gamer speculating as to how much better the game would be with these additions.

Haruneko wasn’t holding back on content, as the game includes several unlockable characters and difficulty modes. In addition, there are achievements to help push the player to persevere through some of the tougher challenges. If you seek to unlock everything, the game could easily set you back over 10 hours. Not bad for a $1 game, no?

- Clark Anderson

4/5

Avadon HD Available on: iPad Publisher: Spiderweb Software

We’ve already reviewed the excellent Avadon: The Black Fortress on Digitally Downloaded, but the promise of an iPad version was just too good to ignore. As a rule of thumb I prefer playing games on consoles and touch screens – sitting in bed with an iPad is a more relaxing experience to me than sitting at a computer or with a laptop on a desk.

But for some game experiences, the iPad has struggled to provide quality content, and the RPG genre is one of those. A couple of Square Enix efforts aside, there hasn’t been any truly gripping RPGs that make good use of the great iPad screen – and the western RPG has been all but forgotten. Avadon: The Black Fortress takes advantage of this gap in a big way, and is an even better experience this time around than it was on PC. I won’t repeat what I said in my previous review, but in summary:

This is an independent project from industry veteran, Jeff Vogel (read a full interview with him in our recent Digitally Downloaded magazine) that is a successful throwback to the days of classic RPGs with top down turn-based battles, basic animated sprites and plenty of dialogue boxes.

It’s a big quest (you could be looking at 30 hours to get through it all), with plenty of side missions and secrets to uncover. There are a few concessions to the modern audience – skill trees and a variable difficulty level that, at the lower settings, makes the game a cakewalk. In almost every other way though, this game is classic RPG dungeon hacking at its finest.

And on the iPad’s lovely screen, it looks good. Avadon is not the flashiest game, but it’s aesthetically pleasing in a retro kind of way.

Icons are clear and maps are well designed. It’s a genuine pleasure to play through the game, if only

to see what each new environment throws up.

The iPad also does an admirable job of replaying the mouse and keyboard with the touch screen.

Scrolling around the map through swipes is a snap – and tapping on the screen to direct your party of heroes to each location is intuitive and comfortable. The game does seem to be a bit of a memory drain – a couple of times I’ve had the “iPad is running out of memory” message, and that can at times cause the animation and sound effects (there’s almost no music) to stutter, but it’s a minor complaint that doesn’t make the game any less pleasant to play.

A bigger concern is the fact that fingers are less precise than a mouse pointer. In combat, the game plays out over a grid – tap a square and the hero will head over there. Tap a monster and he/ she will attack the critter. But the grid is small, and occasionally you’ll

tell the hero to do something by accident. On the higher difficulty levels, this can be lethal.

I would hope that in future Vogel production iPad ports (and I certainly hope there are a few of those), he includes the ability to pinch to zoom in closer to the action for more precise controls. I realise the game’s graphics would look pretty ugly up close, but the playability offset would be worth it.

In the end, Avadon is a fairly expensive game by the iPad’s typical standards, but it’s a must have despite that, with far more content and a far more interesting quest than almost anything else you can find on the App store. It looks like Jeff Vogel is on to something good here, and hopefully it’s just the start.

- Matt Sainsbury

4.5/5

Akimi Village Available on: PSN Publisher: Ninjabee

you are given more Akimi than you need, you won’t often need to give the little guys a new career.

To begin you’ll build the basic town hall and farm buildings. This gives you access to your first little group of Akimi, which, much like Pikmin or the citizens of Little King’s Story, run around doing chores that you can set them to.

There are a lot of different activities the Akimi can perform, from working on the farms, to setting up shop in various refineries to It starts out relaxing enough. You pump out quality building materiwake up on an island that has als, to chopping down trees and succumbed to misery – its insmashing rocks for the raw mahabitants, the Akimi, little more terials. The little fellows are idiots that ghostly shells of their former though, and to get them to do a selves. You have no idea how you got there, but a raccoon-thing tells job, you need to pick them up, set you you need to save the island. By them their task, and then show them where to take the goods building up a vibrant and active they’ve created. Once you’ve done community, you can reclaim that that though, you can leave them to land little chunks at a time, and their task, unless you wish to give eventually earn a trip back to the them a new job, they’ll just keep real world. doing the same thing. And, since Akimi Village is the kind of game that children should be playing.

It’s violence free and cute, yes, but it’s also engaging and challenging at the same time. Adults can enjoy it, younger kids will lap it up and, with the social interaction features this is a game you can lose a lot of time into.

While you’re doing this, you’ll also need to be erecting new buildings and unlocking blueprints. The game features a tech tree of sorts – completing one building unlocks a new blueprint, and there are three dominant “strands” of buildings to work with. Not all are necessary to complete the game, but those optional ones do tend to give your Akimi a useful productivity boost. To construct each of those buildings, you’ll need to collect various building blocks that can be created at the various different buildings that you’ve already got going. There are a truly staggering number of different blocks and buildings to work with, and the more complex blueprints take a lot of wandering around to piece together.

Still with me? On paper it’s a confusing process, and the ingame tutorial is a little inefficient at explaining the dynamics of this game, but once you get going it makes easy sense. The challenge comes in in managing the Akimi and resources while still constructing new buildings. The game’s pace ramps up rapidly – by about the 1 ½ hour mark you’re going to be running around like a madman trying to get everything done, and given that the raw resource demand for some of the more expensive building parts is huge, you need to efficiently plan forward too.

It’s made a little easier with the ability to send resources to the

people on your friends list with their own copies of this game. It’s an economy that is based on generosity and sharing – after all, there’s no benefit to stockpiling massive amounts of resources here, so you might as well send gifts to friends. There’s also no real urgency in the game, since there’s no real way to lose, so it’s possible to dial back the pace or take a breather if you need a moment.

The game’s greatest failing point (at least, compared to the competition) is the presentation. It’s technically proficient, and you’ll have no trouble finding what you need or getting around the island, but it’s also a sterile kind of charm.

Pikmin and Little King’s Story were great because they were charming games, as much as good games. Akimi is a good game with a charm that is entirely too forced, and therefore fails to be ‘cute’ in the slightest. The music, too, is pleasant, but instantly forgettable.

It’s damning, but not unfair, to say

that if Gameloft decided to rip off Pikmin, this is how it would look.

It doesn't take long for this empty patch of land to become absolutely packed with buildings an busy Akimi Thankfully this is not a Gameloft production - they would have failed to make a game this much fun. Akimi redeems itself by offering that subtly educational, but entertaining time management gameplay that has been addictive since the days of the original Sim City. For younger ones, this is a must have PlayStation Network game. For older folks, if you found the likes of Pikmin and Little

Kings Story fun, but also enjoyed the combat free sandbox of Animal Crossing, then look into this.

It’s a happy balance of all those concepts.

- Matt Sainsbury

4/5

Delbo Available on: DSiWare Publisher: Neko Entertainment

It does a couple of things differently, though. The bubbles are only able to shoot vertically, so you don’t need to worry about trajectories. On the other hand, a strategic layer is added to the game by the ability to draw a row of bubbles closer to the bottom of the screen.

This comes with obvious risk, but then there’s the benefit of being able to line up some seriously impressive combos.

It’s hard to get too excited over Delbo. It looks like a bog-standard puzzle game on a service that is very easy to ignore. On top of that, the only genre that DSiWare ever actually excelled at, the puzzler, already features some very stiff competition for this game.

But for value for money, this is a game that I can easily recommend. While it is bog-standard in premise, Delbo succeeds because it is constructed so very well.

Neko Entertainment should be complimented; this game, which can be played with just the D-pad and by turning the 3DS around so that it is a ‘book,’ controls beautifully. The aim of the game is simple – to shoot bubbles up the screen to create chains and keep them from dropping down to the bottom. We’ve all seen this already – it’s the very same premise as Puzzle Bobble.

And that’s the extent of the game (aside from a power up shot that occurs if you chain enough good combos together). There’s just the one gameplay mode, and it’s a score attack.

But while the content might be thin, the execution is brilliant. The game speeds up at a rapid pace, and becomes very challenging, very quickly. Because the controls are so responsive, though, it’s not a frustrating challenge, and the reward for moving up the (sadly,

local only) leader board is substantial.

The presentation is also very enjoyable, with clean bubbles that make a nice shattering noise as the combos build up. The background music, a harpsichord, is also something we’ve not seen before in DSiWare, and adds a rustic charm to the whole game.

It’s not an epic, and it’s a game that will linger in obscurity on the DSiWare service, but Delbo is good value, and a must have for anyone that enjoyed challenging and fast-paced puzzle games.

- Matt Sainsbury

4/5

Puzzle Dimension Available on: PSN Publisher: Doctor Entertainment

Back in the days of the PlayStation One, a little puzzler by the name of Kula World was an underrated classic. It featured a beachball that you needed to manoeuvre around a platform that was suspended in the air, Monkey Ball style. In the game you need to collect various treasures while avoiding spikes and other nasty traps.

exit goal. There’s no time limit – a marked improvement over Kula World, where the arbitrary countdown made some levels too tense.

This is a more relaxing puzzler on the surface, though scores are also tied to how quickly you complete levels, so getting those top scores still requires fast thinking.

To help draw people in, it starts easily enough with stages existPuzzle Dimension is a spiritual ing on a single plane with solutions that might as well be lit up sequel to that game. With heaps of levels, a vibrant aesthetic and with neon signs. You’ll be feeling pretty good about yourself for that some truly nasty challenges, this is a game that just like Kula World first hour or so as you fly through the initial stages. That good feelbefore it, manages to be both ing doesn’t last long after that frighteningly addictive and incredibly frustrating. though.

The main aim of this game is to roll the ball over to collect a series of flowers around the level (flowers rendered in that gorgeous 3D miniature block style that makes the likes of 3D Dot Game Heroes so compelling) and then reach the

Soon enough you need to start dealing with icy floors that you can’t slide over the edge, rock platforms that disappear after you use them once, and winding passages in three dimensions that can make basic orientation a puzzle

in itself. There’s a huge range of levels split by visual theme, and the difficulty makes a habit of spiking at some strange moments, and spiking regularly enough that if you’re not a committed puzzler fan, you’re probably not going to finish this one.

But it does look and sound good.

There’s a strong, faux retro vibe in this game. The aforementioned 3D dot flowers are a nice touch, but everything from the psychedelic backgrounds to the elegantly animated ball itself is smooth and classy stuff. The music is a little too much like elevator soundscapes, but it’s not offensive in the slightest either.

- Matt Sainsbury

4/5

Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips Available on: iPhone Publisher: Reflexive Entertainment

Fancy yourself as a bit of a multitasker? Reckon you’re a guru at time-management? Or do you just like playing fun, absorbing and challenging games? Answering “yes” to any of those questions means you need to get Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips, the fantastic sequel to the App Store’s 2009 #1 game: Airport Mania (which has a very nice port currently available on the Nintendo DS and Wii download services). Reflexive Entertainment have delivered a game full of entertainment, for all ages, that will keep you playing for hours and hours.

Your job is to take control of an airport and make sure that things run smoothly. Bring planes in to land, allow passengers to disembark, refuel, repair and restock your planes and then get them back in the air, all the while making sure to keep the planes themselves happy and on time.

Featuring 79 levels to play as well as the extra challenge of getting high scores, this fast paced game will keep even the best of gamers busy. Added to that, you can unlock 18 different aircraft and earn over 50 awards so there’s no shortage of entertainment and replayability.

As you start off the expectations are reasonable and the further you progress in the game, the harder it is to get that elusive “perfect” score. The start of each level offers a handy hint in terms of gameplay and when you start earning enough money you can buy extra features for your airport, ranging from an extra layover

spot, to a spray-painting service to change the colour of your plane to even having the option to keep your planes happier with in-flight movies and beverages.

There’s something for everyone in Airport Mania 2: Wild Trips and it’s the perfect iPhone/iPad game because you can play it for only a few minutes on the train or spend hours playing on your couch. Keeping focused is important as different sized planes are worth different amounts of points and even the colour of the plane has an impact on your score. Colour schemes are also customizable so that you don’t get too confused between the differ-

ent colours. From basic scores to perfect scores, and awards galore, any level of gamer will be able to enjoy this game. The cute graphics and funny sound effects will entertain and amuse while the speed of play will ensure that your fingers tap furiously away at the screen.

- Domagoj Saric

5/5

Ticket to Ride Available on: iPad Publisher: Days of Wonder

Ticket to Ride is a game from the same folks behind Small World, which means to me it is a fresh new board game to play on the iPad. It also happens to be the best, bar none, board game on the iPad in terms of presentation and quality.

For one thing – this game builds in video tutorials. They’re comprehensive and in five minutes you’re ready to play the game.

And, if you don’t want to use bandwidth, there’s a conventional tutorial as well.

The visual design of the game, from the menus through to the board itself is considered, classy and features stellar production values.

It’s rare that a massive studio like EA is upstaged, but that’s exactly what’s happened here. Risk and Monopoly are not a scratch on the presentation quality of Ticket to Ride, and as a result, this is a game that’s really, really easy to lose yourself in.

Of course, presentation would mean nothing if the game itself was boring, but Ticket to Ride is a best seller for a reason. The game is broken down into three actions you can take each turn – you can pick up a few action cards

(‘trains’ of various colours) or you can use those trains to claim ‘train routes’ on the map. These routes are colour coded, and claiming them is how you score points – you get points for having the longest continuous route, and for completing specific routes that are randomly assigned to you from a deck of cards. Sometime’s you’ll be asked to claim a route from

but challenging game of balance and strategy. With no dice to roll, there is no random element to the game, so luck doesn’t play a role.

It’s a trait of the modern board game that elevates them beyond classics such as Monopoly, which are simply not fun when you’re having a bad day with the dice.

Here, a win or loss is entirely on your own head.

Seattle to LA… and other times the ‘mission’ cards feature more challenging, but more lucrative distances to travel.

It’s possible to play nasty in this game by blocking your opponent’s routes, but ultimately Ticket to Ride is a casual, social game.

And thankfully, the multiplayer options are comprehensive and work really, really well. Game Center integration makes organising a game with friends a snap, and if you’re in the mood to play random people – it’s a well populated game right now.

Which brings us to the third action – you can choose to draw a few more of these mission cards.

Just beware that any cards you haven’t completed when the game ends means you’ll be losing points.

Given you can only take one of those three actions each turn, Ticket to Ride is a very simple,

Yet another example of just how good the iPad is at board games.

- Matt Sainsbury

5/5

Robosurf Available on: iPhone Publisher: Picies Interactive

Picture this: the end of the world has arrived. The planet is basically an endless ocean, devoid of human life with only a few animals left to keep you company. You are robot who has managed to survive the destruction of the apocalypse and you're wondering what you should do. Obviously, the conclusion you come to is that you should spend your time surfing!

Robo Surf doesn't claim to have a great storyline but it makes up for it with simple, entertaining gameplay and plenty of challenges to keep you playing for hours.

Robo Surf is a fun little variation of the “hover� style game. Control your character with just a tap of your finger to keep him surfing at the height you want to avoid all the obstacles in your way. Basic and intuitive, the controls are a breeze to master as there are really only two things you need to do: tap and swipe. Tapping the screen will give your robot a boost to make his wave rise up while releasing your finger will let him

fall back towards the sea. Swiping across the screen is necessary to activate your turbo and we'll get into the details of that in a little bit.

The aim of the game is to travel as far as you can and the only way to achieve this is by avoiding the obstacles. In Robo Surf these obstacles are seagulls and bats who fly at various heights and will stop your surfing session if you hit them. To add an another element of danger, there are bosses at various points along your run who will attack you in different ways, for example, Spring Shark will jump up at you while the the Homing Hermits will launch themselves straight at you like missiles. The way to defeat these evil sea creatures is, obviously, to turn into a fireball and ram into them. This is your robot's special turbo ability and can only be activated when you've collected enough oil barrels (these float around in the air amongst the seagulls and bats) to fill up your

turbo meter at the bottom of the screen. Once your bar is full simply swipe across the screen for a burst of fiery speed which can kill any enemy standing in your way, including bosses. You can even use your turbo when not fighting bosses too, for a speed boost over a couple of hundred meters.

Robo Surf is a great example of making the right game for the right system. This entertaining app makes good use of the capabilities of the iOS and provides plenty of challenges for any level of gamer.

The kind of game that can be picked up and played any time by anyone, Robo Surf manages to combine all the aspects of good gaming in a neat and accessible package.

- Domagoj Saric

4/5

Get Retro

Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream Available on: Wii Virtual Console Publisher: Nintendo

Back in the eighties, Nintendo simply could not stop releasing sports titles. The company published video game adaptations of all kinds of activities from golf and hockey to pro wrestling and, most importantly, boxing. While a handful of the sports titles have become dated and lackluster, Punch-Out!! still manages to stand out from the crowd.

The level of personality poured into this title surpasses so many others from the NES era, and it should be one of the top contenders for your cash on the Wii Shop Channel.

You play as Little Mac, a 17 year old boxer looking to work his way up to the top of the leagues.

You’ll square off against bizarre opponents like Glass Joe, King Hippo, and Don Flamenco.

Many of them are hilarious in their own way, be it their onscreen actions, their imitation of popular icons, or their lighthearted representation of stereotypes. What makes the game so memorable, even to this day, is the all-star cast. While the Virtual Console version lacks Mike Tyson, this helps the player to truly enjoy what is offered instead of trying to breeze through the game just to fight Mike.

The fights themselves are somewhat deceptive; Punch-Out!! is more of a timing-based puzzle game than a genuine fighter. If you simply mash on the attack button and dodge blows to the

best of your ability, you won’t make it further than the first few rounds. Instead, you must learn the habits of your opponent and catch

onto whatever odd behavior they exhibit before launching devastating attacks. Little Mac essentially has four moves at his disposal: left jab, right hook, dodge, and a special attack. Unlike Mac’s other moves, the special attack can only be used after some success within the fights. In between rounds, you have the option to heal once, which adds an extra helping of strategic flavor to the game.

Punch-Out!!’s difficulty is fairly well rounded. The first few opponents are total pushovers, but they can get absurdly difficult by the end. Anyone can pick up and play the game without too many hitches, so long as they can identify the puzzle elements.

Resuming play after a game over

is a little archaic due to the use of passwords for “saving” progress, but you can always search up a password on the Internet to erase the problem.

The game’s length mainly comes from discovering the weakness of opponents, so once you’ve found all the weaknesses, it may or may not warrant subsequent playthroughs.

Those looking for a full-out fighting game will honestly be dissatisfied with Punch-Out!!. However, it still appeals to a fairly large audience due to its unique blend of puzzles, humor, and fighting. If you can appreciate titles that rely on comedic value, Punch-Out!! will be a knock-out hit.

- Clark Anderson

4/5

Kirby’s Dream Land Available on: 3DS Virtual Console Publisher: Nintendo

It takes about 20 minutes to skip through Kirby Dream Land’s four environments and defeat its five bosses. At no point through that time will you feel challenged and your reward for those 20 minutes?

A slightly more difficult remix of the game.

This is a waste of time, frankly.

It’s impossible to become involved in a game that flies past so rapidly. Though there’s a great variety in the enemies Kirby faces, they’re all “blink and you’ll miss it,” experiences.

Though the environments themselves are interesting, there’s no time to step back and enjoy the experience – you’re shuffled on to the next level too quickly.

And to make matters worse, the game’s length is artificially extended. After completing each of the four levels, you need to go back to those environments for a brief platforming section, and then beat the exact same boss of each environment again. It’s bad enough that the bosses were boring the first time around – asking players to defeat them again is a slap on the face.

After you’ve knocked off those four bosses, it’s time for King Dedede. He’s a cakewalk too, and then the credits roll. It’s not so

much that I have a problem with the ease of the game, that comes with the Kirby franchise and modern Kirby games like Epic Yarn still manage to provide plenty to explore, unearth and experience within that easy context. Dream Land’s problem is it has no real secrets, there’s nothing to collect and there’s no real incentives to play well.

It’s a pity that this is such a pointless game, because in terms of presentation, Dream Land is lovely. The environments are bright and cheery, and you just know that if this was on a colour console, your eyes would be taking in a rainbow of bright colours.

The music is twee and happy, and the enemies bounce around with great fluidity. The game has a great energy to it, and certainly plays a lot faster than some of the other Game Boy platformers.

Kirby has his usual “suck” ability, though he can’t take on the abilities of his enemies in this game – all he can do is spit them out as a projectile weapon. Kirby can also still float into the sky, but that’s the extent of his abilities.

There’s a handful of powerups than give him additional abilities, but they’re not really necessary for getting through the game, so they feel like an arbitrary inclusion. Still, Kirby is a joy to navigate through the levels.

It’s just that even the really young ones will struggle to get much meat off this bone. As bright and cheerful as the game is, you will struggle to appreciate its 20 minute-long, linear experience.

Games like Epic Yarn have spoiled us with the potential for Kirby – easy games yes, but also involving games. Unless you’re a Kirby diehard, or feeling especially nostalgic, this game won’t do anything for you.

- Matt Sainsbury

2/5

See You Next Month!