Happy 2007

Well here we are with a New Year and I have the nagging feeling I'm supposed to be doing something. Did you see the Star Wars entry in the Tournament of Roses Parade? I wish I had known about that before I wrote this week's cartoon.

I got a couple of new games over the holidays, both of which take advantage of the Nintendo DS touchscreen interface.

The first is Cooking Mama. Ever watch a kid play with plastic food in a pretend kitchen and wish you could do the same? Well here's a game that will let you do just that (and you don't have to find a kid to play with, either). In Cooking Mama you're in charge of the kitchen as the perpetually smiling Cooking Mama tells you what to do. The tasks vary from dicing onions to separating an egg to grilling kebabs. It's up to you to tap, drag and blow on the screen to get the recipe to come out just right. Only a few of the game's 76 recipes are available at first, with the rest unlocked during play. It's a fun little game, but other than unlocking the recipes, there didn't seem to be enough of drive to keep me going and certainly not much of a reward once that's accomplished. Compared to other games, this game lacks a certain level of excitement. Which is perhaps that is why it is priced at half of what the other games sell for.

But if you want excitement, something that will keep your toes tapping and your virtual feet moving, look no further than Elite Beat Agents. The story (if you can call it that) revolves around a specialized crew of performers that use their special dance moves to give people the confidence they need to get out of trouble. Like Cooking Mama, you use the stylus to tap and drag when the game prompts you to do so. Do well and the dancers move with grace, fail and they fall on their posteriors. If the Elite Beat Agents don't do their job well, then terrible things happen to the folks they're supposed to be helping. Which is important, because you need to successfully complete a mission before you can move on to the next one. The game comes with 19 rocking songs, many of which you'll recognize. If you're a fan of games like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, you'll like this game.

Well, that's all for now. Don't forget to write.