There is a glowing hand on the mast of a docked boat floating near a medieval town. This is the cue to hold down two buttons and unleash the "magic" in Eragon, a video game based on a fantasy novel and newly released feature film. Then you watch as the mast swings around so the young hero and his travelling companion can continue on their quest to smite evil.
Remember: Glowing hand plus button squeeze equals magic.
But there is nothing magical about that or anything else in this repetitive, awful game (for multiple systems, rated Teen). Young Eragon's bow is automatically aimed at the bad guys, there is one track to follow and many invisible walls to keep you on that path, and, worst of all, that companion looks like Jeremy Irons minus his trademark sad intelligence.
This type of play experience -- being forced down one route with a never-ending stream of cloned enemies to down by pressing two buttons -- puts in doubt the whole idea that games are interactive, allowing the player choices and the ability to express themselves. For an entire battle scene, I closed my eyes and continued to press those two buttons. When the grunts and shrieks ceased, I raised the lids to find Eragon seemingly untouched and the bad guys vanquished. Trust me, you can close your eyes after reading any passage in the book (or any book) and imagine scenes that will easily outshine this game.
Eragon and similarly cruddy but popular tie-in games this winter (Superman Returns: The Video Game, for example, is kryptonite for grey matter) have inspired a new tip for this space's annual mini-guide for gift buyers. You know most of the drill by now: Pay attention to the ratings on the boxes, make sure you know which system the receiver owns and play the games with young ones after the reusable gift bags have been packed away for another year.
The new one comes courtesy of a retailer at an independent store. He says many horrible games are picked up at this time of year by desperate shoppers who recognize the name on the box from other mediums and hope for the best. He tries to suggest alternatives, but the buyers tend to trust brand names. If you are not familiar with video games and have not checked a site such as GameRankings.com before heading out then please, for the good of all gamers and the industry in general, buy a gift certificate and let the player do the research. And if cases containing Eragon or Superman Returns are already wrapped up and hiding in your house, dig them out and return them. The interactive arts and your loved ones will thank you.
A fun little Web game has been put up just in time for the holidays. Xtreme Xmas Shopping is the newest casual experience from Persuasive Games and it takes some cute jabs at an easy target: Christmas consumerism.
The game features tiny people in a store rushing to get their mitts on hot gifts, including a doll that looks like Elmo and two rare game consoles, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3. Your little protagonist races from shelves to a cashier with the wanted items or you can steal them from other shoppers as long as nearby kids are not looking. It's worth a play or two and can be found on Shockwave.com by typing in the brilliantly horrible words 'Xtreme' and 'Xmas.'
Back in the real world of retail, some revealing numbers were recently released by the NPD Group, a sales-tracking firm. The November totals for hardware sales in the United States were not what some might have expected: The first three slots were held down by the Nintendo DS (918,000 units), the PlayStation 2 (664,000) and the GameBoy Advance (641,000). Among next-generation consoles, the Xbox 360 (511,000) was able to outsell Nintendo's Wii (476,000) and Sony's PlayStation 3 came in with an underwhelming total of 197,000 boxes sold.
Price and availability were obviously paramount -- the top three systems are $150 or less and have large libraries of quality games. That is some good shopping and the mugging of competitors in aisles was not required.
It has come to this: My expense account this month will include a Burger King value meal and a $5 Xbox game called Pocketbike Racer. Is that burning sensation in my chest shame or indigestion?
The fast-food joint and its creepy royal mascot have shown up in plenty of games, but why pay for product placement when you can get people to buy your ads outright. This particular example has said king racing crotch-damaging small bikes against a guy in a burger suit, order takers and a model or two, and on the Xbox 360 it has high-definition, 3-D visuals. It is buggy and becomes dull after five minutes, however, and let's hope this experiment in advergaming is short-lived. Underwriting a small portion of the cost of good games with advertising is a better move than making cheap but bad ones on your own.
