Sega Nerds

Review: PictoImage

Posted by Graham. Filed under G, News, Nintendo DS, Review. Tagged with Party Game, Pictionary, PictoImage.

You might have missed the launch of PictoImage, or maybe even the fact that the game ever existed.  But the more observant of you might (vaguely) remember me talking about a brief hands-on play I had with the game at TGS 2007.

Unfortunately, my hands-on experience was lacking, due to the huge amount of Japanese that was needed to play the game at all.  I had a little help from one of the (hot) Sega booth babes, but that didn’t help too much.  So instead I watched on, as everyone who could read Japanese had all the fun.

The game was released in Japan a while ago, and finally made its way to western shores, so I now get to experience the full fun of the game that I missed in Tokyo.  Or do I?

In case you don’t know, PictoImage is basically Pictionary for the digital age.  You know, someone is given something to draw, and then others have to guess what it is.

Perhaps not the most amazing concept for a video game, but with the DS’ touch screen it was pretty inevitable that one company would give it a shot, so why not our beloved Sega?

Is that your final answer?

When guessing, all you need do is put your answer in a box on the touch screen with the image showing on the top screen.  You are given the choice of writing (with the stylus) your answers, which does work quite well when you have neat enough hand writing, or if your free-hand sucks you can opt to enter each letter with a keyboard.

Personally I found the free-hand writing faster than the keyboard, though my friends preferred the keyboard.  So I am glad they had the choice in it, unlike some other DS games.

No story, no plot, simple and to the point.

The single player mode pits you against the computer.  The computer draws an image and you have to guess what it is.

While this might seem very boring, it is kind of made interesting by the computer opponents having different ages, and the quality of the image depends on the age of your opponent.

So you might be shown a drawing by a 30 year old, which is very well detailed and contains different colours.  Then you might be shown a drawing by a 6 year old and even if the object is simple, the drawing will most likely look like crap, and be harder to guess.

To give you a genuine example from the game, check the below image (click for full size), and try to guess what the hell it is!

~Seriously, if anyone has any good ideas as to what this is meant to be, please let me know - because it has been bugging me for ages!~

Two’s company, four’s a party!

While a good idea, the single player isn’t that amazing.  Yeah, sure it will keep you preoccupied for a bit, and it’s kind of fun for a short train ride, but you won’t be fixing for another go at guessing what a poorly drawn image is.  You will either guess an image after a few goes, or you will get pissed off and just go onto the next image.  Or get bored and stop playing the game altogether.

The main purpose of PictoImage is that it is a multiplayer title.  Up to eight players can play together (with only one game card needed), taking it in turns to draw and guess what is being scribbled.

And, if you can get enough people involved, the game is actually good fun.  When it is your turn to draw you are told what to draw by the computer, you can’t just make anything up on the fly (which helps to avoid cheating - rules are good).

The other players can see what is being drawn on the top screen, as it is being drawn.  So, you can laugh as your friends cock up, or try to guess what is being drawn before the drawing is finished.

I have to admit, while two-player mode is better than the single player it still feels very limited.  After taking it in turns, drawing then guessing then drawing again, the game does start to drag a little bit.  Pictionary is a game designed for parties, two players is not much of a party.

Annoyingly I don’t actually know that many real-life people who own a DS, but I was able to get three friends to join me in some PictoImage shenanigans, so had a four-player jaunt.

Four players was actually damn good fun.  You know, laughing at other people’s inability to draw something basic, then getting laughed at yourself, as your doodles are certainly not Louvre-worthy.

Better than the real thing?

While we live in a digital age, not everything that is updated to 21^st century technology is better than the real thing.  You can buy a life-like rubber lady, but it still doesn’t beat the real thing - a hooker is much more satisfying purchase.

PictoImage is certainly not a bad game, it does nothing particularly wrong, but it is still not quite as enjoyable as the original, non-digital game of Pictionary.

Whenever you see a proper game of Pictionary being played on TV (I honestly don’t know a single person who actually plays it properly in real life), you normally have two groups gathered around a large pad of paper, shouting and laughing at each other.

~Menu for he training section of the game~

However, a lot of the camaraderie is lost playing the game on four small handheld computers.  It is still fun but, because each person has to type their guess on their own screen, you don’t have a whole team of people yelling the same suggestion at you over and over, until the time runs out.  Some of the spirit is missing from the game.

What is also annoying is when you need to spell a word exactly right, or use the exact phrase.  The game isn’t lenient enough with the answer given.  For example; someone drew a round green object, with a sort of half moon slice cut out from it.  The object was green on the outside and red on the inside with little black dots.  I guessed “melon” another guessed “water melon.”  Both wrong.  It was “watermelon” with no space.

In a real game of Pictionary I think if someone said “melon” no one would really be arguing that it wasn’t quite the right term.

But you say the game is fun, right?

The game is enjoyable.  One of the best things about multiplayer is the different game rules you can apply.

The rules can directly affect the artist or the guessers and they really add a unique twist to a basic drawing game.  A couple of examples are; ‘Spin’ - where the artist will draw, like normal, but the image will appear at a random angle on the guessers screens. ‘Blind’ - the drawer’s screen goes blank, they cannot see what they are doing, and have to hope it looks good.

It’s pretty funny seeing the results and each different rule change/addition really adds some extra enjoyment that you cannot get from normal Pictionary.

The game also offers quite a few different modes of play.  You get the fairly standard modes, but you also get some really fun modes of play - like Picture Race, which is kind of a co-op mode.  You each take it in turns to draw and guess, while the animation of a pencil (called Penzel) runs along in the top screen.  You have to guess enough pictures right before Penzel’s vitality runs out to win.

~Annoyingly, I could not find any really decent screenshots for this game, especially ones which help to show off the different game modes.  So have a trailer instead.~

Summary:

PictoImage is designed to be a family game so, (like most family style games), hardcore gamers won’t be drawn to it.  Especially looking at the single player, which really does feel more like a child’s game.

However, even the multiplayer is pretty enjoyable for anyone, gamers and non-gamers can get some fun from it.

Possibly the biggest issue with the game is that it requires three or more people to get the most enjoyment from it.  I really cannot see a social situation where you will have several people together and someone will suddenly say “Hey, I know, how about a jolly good game of PictoImage!” - and everyone will whip out their DSs in excitement.

I guess if a few of you happen to have DSs with them, you could get something going.  But getting a full eight-player game together requires some organisation, and if you are going to bother doing that, why not just play ordinary Pictionary, with the big pad of paper and marker pens?

I certainly wouldn’t advise anyone to avoid the game - it is fun and does what it is supposed to do, it’s just not an essential purchase.

Pros:

+ Surprisingly enjoyable multiplayer game.
+ Simple concept - anyone can play.
+ The different rules and modes are fun.
+ Easier than carrying a pen and paper around all the time.

Cons:

- Single player quite lacking.
- Missing some of the camaraderie from the pen and paper version.
- When are you going to have eight friends together all with DSs?
- Can think of better things to do with a group of people.

~G~