Happy Action Theater is Double Fine’s latest Xbox Live Arcade game. It’s the first Kinect XBLA game they’re released, but not the first Kinect game they’ve written as they were also responsible for the “Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster” Kinect retail game. Happy Action theater isn’t really a game though so much as a collection of augmented reality mini-games that use the Kinect camera in some interesting ways. The game grew out of Double Fine’s desire to have some Kinect fun with their kids according to this interview: Gamasutra with Double Fine.
There’s no high scores, there’s no leader-boards, there’s no direct competition, each of the 18 mini-games is really just a fun little exercise for up to six players to enjoy at once. Yes, you can play six player games which is unusual for a Kinect game. Apparently Happy Action uses an alternative mode of the Kinect camera that really just uses your silhouette and the depth information to track you. It works surprisingly well as most of the mini-games don’t really require a massive amount of accuracy and are still great fun. Happy Action is also incredibly forgiving compared to many other Kinect Games and will never nag you about ‘moving back, moving left’ etc. Some mini-games also seem to have a funny Easter egg if all the players move out of the camera’s view.
We have a couple of young boys under 10 and they’ll regularly fire up Happy Action and play it for up to an hour without getting bored. You can play each mode separately for as long as you like, but by default the game starts in a rolling demo where you cycle through each mode, playing each one for a couple of minutes. I won’t list all 18 mini-games here as you can see most of them in the demo video on Xbox Live, but will describe a couple of highlights (names are my own) :
Lava: In this mode you’ll see your living room slowly flood with burning lava which you can splash around in. Dipping your hands into the lava sets them on fire and you can fling fireballs around at each other for some amusing effects. There’s also friendly little flames that you can get to dance around on your hands and shoulders.
Monsters Attack: Turns your living room into a tiny black and white city of regenerating buildings that you can destroy by rampaging through them while helicopters and jets ineffectually try to shoot you. This is one of our favourites and frankly I’d love to see expanded into an entire Kinect game, sort of a HD Kinect Rampage because it would be fantastic.
Pigeon Park: Your living room is filled with hungry pigeons that fly around and roost on your body. Waving your hands around scatters bird food around which attracts more pigeons. You can turn yourself into a pigeon covered statue, or chase the pigeons away, even popping them into clouds of feathers if you’re forceful enough.
My wife is a paediatric occupational therapist and wanted to add to this review: “The game provides an excellent selection of interactive and action packed opportunities where children can experience success with a range of motor and cognitive challenges, while also having loads of fun. As a parent, I also appreciate the fact that ‘Happy Action Theater’ is cooperative, which means that our boys can authentically play together without the distraction of ‘winning’ or ‘losing’. This means less fights, and lots more teamwork and laughter”.
If you’re interested the trial is definitely worth downloading. It’s less than half a gig and gives you a good demo of several of the 18 modes, including the Lava game, which is good fun just by itself. At 800 MSP for the full game, Happy Action Theater is great value if you’ve got kids, or if you’re looking for a good party game for a bunch of drunken adults. Also given Double Fine’s previous XBLA releases I’d expect one DLC pack to become available for this game in the future and we’ll definitely be picking it up when it does.
On the surface, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection sounds like a great concept, three classic games for the price of one. BUt it's that little word in the middle that will trip some people up. Classic. As in old. Sure, these classic games have been given a graphical overhaul, but they never really step into the next-gen shoes. They still feel very dated. If you're not a fan of the series, you're not going to have nostalgia on your side and you're going to be looking at these games from the cold hard standpoint of what you're used to with the latest battlefield or Call of Duty game.
I was never a Metal Gear Solid fan, but I didn't approach the games with a Call of Duty expectation. Even so, I was still shocked as to how bad the first game, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, was. Graphically it was depressingly bland and control wise it was even worse. Camera controls seemed to be broke so with this third person sneak and don't get caught game, you were always ending up in spots where you couldn't see what you were doing. Sure you could press a button to enter first person mode, but for some reason all you could do is look around and shoot. Your character wasn't able to move around whilst in this mode.
Then there were all the cut scenes and helpfully hints that broke up the action and made it into a bit of a stop go game. This just wasn't going to cut it with today's breed of gamer.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was better. Camera controls seemed a little more friendly, but the cuts scenes and hints still bugged, and they play areas were so small that you were continually loading the next area.
Finally there is Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, still a dated looking game, still with far too many cut scenes getting in the way of the game, but a much more playable game by today's standards.
If you think back to the restrictions of the time, it's easy to see what Metal Gear Solid garnered such a following. The upgraded graphics don;t really do enough to keep the modern gamer happy, we're used to shiny eye candy and unless there is some nostalgic connection, most players are going to find it really hard to get over just how dated everything looks. The inclusion of XBox achievements certainly makes for a nice touch, but in the end, if you're not a fan from the past, or a curious gamer anting to see how thing used to be, you're probably going to be disappointed with Metal Gear Solid HD Collection.
Well Sony's latest generation of portable gaming devices has finally made it to our shores. The delay mostly due to the manufacturing losses in Japan post the 2011 Tsunami. However Sony has bounced back and come February 22nd/23rd they unleash the PS Vita upon the rest of the world.
Sony's PS Vita is what they describe as an NGP, or Next Generation Portable, which promised a range of gaming experiences that real gamers would want in a portable gaming platform. Previously Sony introduced the popular PSP and PSPgo in 2007 and 2009 respectively laying a solid foundation for their Portal Gaming platform. With all those lessons learnt the PS Vita comes to the market as veteran in this space, packing features that truly deliver a spectacular portable device.
Vita at a Glance
When you unbox the Vita you notice that they have returned to a similar form factor as the original PSP. This proven form factor seems to fit well with gamers, allowing easy handling of the device and controllers at the same time. By popular demand they have included two analog controllers, which was a major complaint on the early platform designs. In fact the whole button and controller layout feels much like a Playstation SixAxis controller, and does pack much of the SixAxis features.
Center to the unit is a 5" OLED screen, packing a 960 x 544 screen with 16 million colors. The display is very nice. Games like Uncharted : Golden Abyss look stunning, even levelling the criticisms of the most hardened PS critics. To add the screen is fully touch, increasing the number of in game options and interactions greatly.
A surprising feature that was announced a while ago was the capacitive touch pad on the back of the unit. While still an interface to be fully exploited it adds a new dimension to the gaming platform allowing gamers to interact with their fingertips which often sit idly at the back of the unit.
And of course there is the patented Playstation Action Buttons, SixAxis controller and Left and RIght shoulder buttons. But in addition there is a 3 axis electronic compass, which provides Vita's location services for its Social Gaming expereinces.
Under The Hood
Of course Sony have delivered a platform that appears to be generously over powered. Packing a 4 Core Cortex A9 Arm Chip there certainly does not appear to be any noticeable processing issues. The memory on board is a paltry 512mb with an additional 128mb of VRAM, which while sounds a bit light seems totally adequate for the many demonstration titles we have played. The beauty of the PS Vita gaming experience is via the Vita Cards, a SD type memory card that holds each game. These cards reportedly can hold up to 32GB of Solid State Storage which both allows for quick game loading and the promise of media rich titles (lets face it 32GB is a stack load of space for a game)
There are two models available on launch day. Both are equally the same device in terms of specs with the only difference between the two being the inclusion of a 3G mobile data service (HSDPA / HSUPA, GPRS / EDGE / 3G). On launch Vodafone New Zealand and Australia (link) will be providing 3G cards with the PS Vita 3G Models. Upon first activation owners will be able to redeem a code for Wipeout 2048 for free (data charges still apply) . We are not sure if this unit will work with the Telecom XT network at this stage, however have asked the question and will update the review once we have that.
Both models come with 802.11b/g/n wireless and Bluetooth 2.1 as well as a forward and rear facing camera. Now the cameras are note hugely powerful and are probably more suitable for the social interaction side of the platform than high quality photography. They do a surprising 120fps at QVGA resolution (320x240), however the general resolution for both video and photos is VGA (640 x 480).
Software
Sony have departed a little bit on the interface side, opting not to use the XrossMediaBar that is available on many of Sony's other platforms (gaming and entertainment). Instead they use a new design called LiveArea. This is fairly easy to get your head around so its not awful. This device links into the Playstation Network, makes use of the Playstation Shop and adds social functions such as Party and Near (a social mapping application). On a side note Near actually works in New Zealand! It seems plenty of Japanese sounding players are on the network pre launch on the North Shore.
Games are typically delivered either via the PS Vita cards, from local gaming shops, or downloadable from the store. The device will be backwardly compatible with PSP, Playstation Mini, Playstation Suite and PSOne Classics.
Sony promise that Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and even Skype will be available at a later date.
With the PS Vita already available in Japan the device has had some real world experience. With that experience comes the inevitable patches, and improvements. So when the product comes to the rest of the world the system software will be up to version 1.6. This version adds support for Google Maps, which appears to be implemented into a number of other features.
The Verdict
The PS Vita is a stunning addition to the Portable Gaming space. It delivers an unsurpassed portable gaming experience in a familiar form factor. Its light, powerful and very feature rich - And promises to scale to deliver many years of functionality. This is a solid and sturdy piece of hardware you would not be worried bout handing over to your over excited kids. For me i think this sets a new benchmark for Portable gaming and entertainment devices.
Stay tuned to www.gameguide.co.nz as we tear apart (metaphorically) the PS Vita and its launch title games to reveal just how this platform performs in the real world.
Launch Date is set for 23rd February in New Zealand. Prices are $449.95 for the Wifi Model, $549.95 for the Wifi/3G Model.
There used to be nothing more entertaining than watching your kids play with the Xbox 360 Kinect. Now that title has been replaced with the introduction of Kinect Disneyland Adventures. The sheer joy and excitement your family will have when they journey through Disneyland and meet their favorite characters is priceless.
So what is this little bundle of joy?
Last month saw the release of the January Jalopnik car pack for Forza Motorsport 4. Its a fairly random collection of vehicles with the draw card for most people being the Pagani Huayra. I took each of the cars through its paces with some fairly surprising results. I am a competent driver usually posting Leader board times in the top 30% with all driving aids turned off. Where possible I took each of the cars around a track or two with no modifications and then played around with them upgrading & changing settings but sadly I didn't have sufficient in game credits to buy the Huayra or the Lola. I was pleasantly surprised to be offered the #08 Gallardo as a level increase prize which is a higher than expected level of integration between the car pack & the main game. If not specifically mentioned here you can assume each of the vehicles was average/appropriate for its style and rating.
One of the stand out vehicles is the 2012 Honda Civic Si. It shows just how good the attention to detail, car dynamics and physics are in this game. The second it pulled sensibly away from the line I realised what I was in for and each corner was met with grudgingly slow understeer. I felt just like I do in real life driving my Toyota Corolla in rush hour traffic. This raises my biggest concern about car packs; why?! Why do I want to spend money to drive a 2012 Honda Civic when I could be driving any number of exciting classic or exotic cars that are available free in the game? It’s not like there is a shortage of cars or even a shortage of Honda Civics so what is it doing here? I have 2 (equally cynical) suspicions; 1 it is part of the usage agreement requiring Turn 10 to include the latest real world vehicle releases (which also explains the Inclusion of the Audi RS5 in an already incredibly cramped market place of A-spec 4wd Audi) or it was one of the easiest ways to fill up the numbers.
So if that is the bad what is the good?
Well naturally it must be the Pagani! But sadly no. The Pagani Huayra is as hard to drive as it is to pronounce! It’s slippery under braking and cornering and able to power slide whilst doing 250kph in a straight line... Trying to get this thing off the line with any kind of purpose was incredibly tough and the drive around one of my favourite tracks (Road America) was fraught with tension as I wrestled it to stay straight under brakes and not power slide out of every corner. Given the long straights on this track the Huayra should have performed quite well with a top speed rating of 10 but in fact by comparison the #08 Gallardo went around 7 seconds faster with exactly the same settings. The Gallardo was (unlike the Pagani) a joy to drive around Road America as you can brake incredibly late into the corners and jam it in to the apex for some hugely satisfying cornering. Sadly after upgrading it to an R2800 the Gallardo didn't perform quite as well on the larger sweeping corners of Sedona Raceway Park as it became much more slippery too. Possibly I would have found them both comfortable to drive with the assists on but then all cars drive the same with the assists on so what is the point?
The 2 absolute gems in this game pack are the Audi RS5 and the 1973 Ford Pinto. It isn't really surprising that the RS5 is a good drive what surprised me is how good. My first race out with the stock Audi I knocked out a lap time in the top 3% of the Leader board. That is my highest result ever (previous personal best was 5%). I was mentally scathing of the inclusion of the Audi as it simply isn't required in the game due to the high number of very similar Audi already available however I must confess it has won me over. It handles brilliantly and is also a great looking euro-coupe.
But I've saved the best to last the absolute stand-out performer in this car pack is the '73 Ford Pinto. It seems strange that a small size American runabout introduced to compete with Jap imports of the 70's would be the stand-out performer of a thoroughbred racing game but I guess that is the wonder of Forza. I took the little F100 out to compete in an F-level race at Sebring and won. Easily. On Hard. Against cars that hugely outclassed me. Not to mention I did it in style! As soon as I looked at the car it appeared to have a touch higher quality about the car model, I don’t know if it was the particular metallic green paint I chose but the car seemed to be smoother than the others in the car pack. Also it is the only one that has model specific manufacturer body kit and even the Forza body kit which usually just comes as a huge front and rear wing is modified specifically to this model. The whole look of the car is something special and the sound?! It's not a huge V8 rumble but it sounds wicked, it is unique enough that it caught my attention through the usual in game sounds. I cranked the Pinto up to its max (R2750 ish) with all racing modifications, 4 wheel drive, 6L V8 etc and although I won the race quite comfortably the car lost some of its magic. I could probably play with the vehicle settings to get it back but to be fair the Pinto does start to become outclassed when matched with Ferrari F430GT racing cars and the like. I can’t help but wonder if the '73 Ford Pinto represents a special memory for someone in the development team as it just seems to have a bit more polish about it.
So overall the January Jalopnik pack is a bit of a bust, the Huayra is a lemon (or at least didn't match with my driving style), the Audi RS5 is an excellent drive and the '73 Ford Pinto is just superb in all respects. Overall rating for the car pack is hurt because the concept of spending money for 10 additional cars to do the same thing you can do anyway is pointless and I personally believe these DLC should be free and used as a way to keep interest in the game ticking over rather than generating revenue.
Here’s a full rundown of the cars included in the Forza 4 January Jalopnik Pack:
2012 Pagani Huayra
2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe
2011 Lambourghini #08 West Yokohama Gallardo LP560-4
2011 Honda #33 Level 5 Motorsport Lola
2011 Audi RS5
2000 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo
1996 Chevrolet Impala SS
1986 Dodge Shelby Omni GLHS
1973 Ford Pinto
1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal
