Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Plug in for the latest game innovations BY BILLY O’KEEFE KNIGHT RIDDER/TRIBI NENEWS SERVICE EYETOY: PLAY FOR: Playstation 2 FROM: Sony Every generation of game consoles needs at least one innovation that is at once ridicu lous and impossible to do without. This time around, that device is EyeToy, a digital video camera that literally puts you in the game. And while respect is certainly due to the light guns, dance pads and rumble packs that paved the way, Sony’s remarkably af fordable gadget might be the coolest leap off the beaten path that gamers have ever seen. It’s easy to assume, based on appearances alone, that EyeToy is simply a gimmick de vice that lets you place your face inside any game that supports it. That assumption couldn’t be more wrong. EyeToy’s main sell ing point isn’t its video capabilities but it’s ability to track light, motion and even color in an extremely impressive fashion. As a re sult, games built for EyeToy—12 of them are included in the companion disc, “EyeToy: Play”—allow you to interact with the activ ity on screen by actually touching it. It’s as if you finally found a way, as many kids have dreamt, to get sucked into your TV. Take the “Kung Foo!” mini-game for ex ample. In it, little martial arts fighters fly from all directions in an attempt to attack you (as displayed on screen via the camera). Your job is to push, swat and elbow them away before they get the chance, and you do this simply by watching yourself on the screen and literally punching, swatting and elbowing at the right time. People adamant ly opposed to getting a workout while play ing games need not apply, in other words. Completely nuts? Oh yes, no doubt, but that’s precisely the point, and if any gam ing device is capable of drawing and keeping a crowd, this is it. EyeToy won’t replace the turntable as the “it” item at parties, but it’s an extremely fun way to play games with friends — whether they normally play games or not — and do something active at the same time. Sony has said that EyeToy is more than just a one-shot gimmick. The “Play” disc includes several experimental ideas (in the freeform Playroom area), as well as a way to record video messages. Future collections of games are on the way, and scientists in the Sony labs, in addition to licensing EyeToy’s technology to any PS2 publisher that wants to incorporate it, have produced prototype versions of a shooter, a snowboarding game and other gaming standards with remark able results. Very, very easily recommended. In this holiday season’s avalanche of cool gaming must-haves this fall, EyeToy might be the coolest of them all. MARIO KART: DOUBLE DASH FOR: GameCube FROM: Nintendo “Mario Kart: Double Dash” continues the legacy of one of the best racing games ever made. Unfortunately, the developers kept too close an eye on the past to make a ma jor splash in the present. First, the good news. “Dash,” while no technical marvel, looks miles prettier than its 5-year-old predecessor, “Mario Kart 64.” It sports a super-smooth frame-rate, even in four-player mode, and feels more three dimensional than “MK64” did. The series has always touted frantic activity as its hallmark, but “Dash” adds unprecedented levels of obstacles, eye candy and noise to each track. It’s pretty much a mad house. The new rules are another change for the better. This time, two characters share a kart — one drives, tne otner minds tne weapons and special items, and the two roles can be switched on the fly with a press of the Z button. All the usual power ups — blue shells, banana peels, mush rooms — are intact, but each character also comes with a new special power-up, such as Mario’s fireballs and Bowser’s gi ant shell. Managing who should drive and who should attack sounds like strategy lite, but this, along with the ability to choose customized karts and pair together any two characters, adds a nice layer of depth. Players going solo with “Dash” will need it. The game is a ton of fun, but the single-player mode, while featuring new tracks, is as simplistic as it was in previ ous installments. The rather skimpy list of unlockables doesn’t do the game any fa vors, especially since the included cast of characters has barely grown over the years. “Dash” supports the broadband adapter, but only for LAN play. Nintendo missed a huge opportunity to sell a truck load of modems and adapters by not taking this game online. In the end, the chances are good that you’ve seen this game before. The new ad ditions and ideas are all for the better, but for solo flyers who have played “MK64” to death and need something new, “Dash” probably will feel stale after a few hours. Make some friends, though, and you’ll eas ily get your money’s worth from this one. P.N.03 FOR: GameCube FROM: Capcom There’s so much to love in “P.N.03.” Unfortunately, there’s just as much to hate. It’s a classic case of concept versus execu tion, and in too many cases, the wrong team wins. The premise is a good one: A third-per son shooter, but one that borrows as much from “Parappa the Rapper” as it does from traditional shooters. Survival becomes a matter of understanding and timing enemy patterns of attack, while firing off special attacks requires a briskly-executed se quence of button presses using the GameCube’s painfully small D-pad. Sounds like a unique and fun experience; unfortunately, the final result only gets it half right. You can sense greatness inside “P.N.03’s” shell, but the game’s awkward con trols and the Cube’s lousv controller team ud to produce one heck of a killjoy. The exclu sion of any ability to strafe instead of simply jump to the left or right is understandable, considering the game’s rhythmic premise, but the lack of any ability to backpedal—you can take one awkward step backward at a time—will drive you crazy. The inability to shoot while doing anything but standing is another killer; you understand WHY the de velopers did that (it’s a rhythm game, see!) but when certain levels put you in a situa tion where you’re surrounded by enemy fire, it’s hard to sympathize. The tools are definitely there: Vanessa is a cool main character, and the ability to buy special suits and moves adds meat to what is otherwise a very short game. Unfortunately, control is king, and “P.N.03’s" developers fell too deeply in love with a concept to overlook some pretty glar ing missteps in this department. A longer sequel that solves these problems could be a killer action game, but until then, this is good for a rental and nothing more. ThisYear IS Bring them home something other than your laundry for the holidays. __ _. ^^vVlth great shopping and movies come out and see why Dutch Square Center Is where k all roads lead to for great ^ gift Ideas for your holidays. ■ I