Cigarettes. Crack cocaine. Haribo Tangfastics. All extremely addictive. Now a new member has joined the ranks of the dangerously moreish, and is being delivered directly to our homes by Nintendo. Sold under its street moniker of “PiCOPiCT” (or "Picobits" in the States), this DSi Ware title has swallowed up hours of my time with its compelling gameplay and faultless presentation. Easily mistaken for a Tetris clone this puzzler is in fact as original as it is pretty. As blocks fall from the top of the screen, you have to move correctly coloured blocks into their path to match 4 and cancel them out, clearing away the tiles. Things start simply with just a few colours and slow moving blocks, but by the remix stages you’ll be sweating bullets and spitting blood as the similarly coloured tiles pile up. Classic symptoms. The stylus is perfectly suited for the speed and precision you’ll require to beat later levels, and you may need to resist the urge to dash your DSi against the nearest wall as the tiles inevitably and impossibly fall faster and faster in ever more complex patterns. You will however, take great pleasure at how good you quickly become, squeezing the maximum efficiency out of every wave of falling tiles while clearing each perfectly with lots of combos becomes imperative, and provides the fundamental gaming hit that is so very jaffa-cakeishly moreish. The game is themed around 8 bit Nintendo history, so in addition to the brilliant game itself, you’re also treated to a feast of nostalgia, complete with awesome reworking of classic Ninty themes by Japanese Chiptune outfit YMCK. As you liberate the tiles on the lower screen, they fly up to form the picture of one of your 8 bit memories on the upper screen. Nice.
The whole thing bodes incredibly well for the future of the DSi shop, and in one fell swoop has totally justified my purchase (of a DSi, which I wasn't still wasn't convinced about, as nice as the camera and web browser are). Picopict is available via the DSi Shop and costs a measly 500 points. Which meant I got it free, as I resisted the urge to buy that lame looking WarioWare snapped with my free points. Hurrah.
Right, back to it..
Monday, 6 July 2009
I just need one more hit!!
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
ZX-y
So, gaming. Pretty well established past-time right? Pretty much well defined itself as a mainstream form of entertainment? NO! A mere 26 years ago, the spectrum was doing its thang, and how different that thang was. Those glorious, halcyon days of yore still bring a bead to the eye, and a tug to the heart. Its sometimes difficult to believe how recently games have come to the place they're in today. GTAIV, Bioshock, Wii Play? How has this happened? What an extraordinary age we live in! Think load time are bad now? You young whippersnappers don't know you're born! Its easy to forget how young gaming is as a medium, so you should pause to reflect on this the next time its getting a bashing from fuckwits on Fox news, no wonder they struggle with the concept. Those old enough to remember the speccy and all its joys may have given up their gaming habits to get mortgages instead, but many of us press on with the new fangled bastardised hobby of ours. Some of us still love it, and even suggest that games are much better now and the old ones are merely ghostly reminders of an age long since improved upon, best viewed through the rose tinted specs glued stubbornly to our eyeballs.
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