Ping Pals (Nintendo DS, 2004)

Reviewed for Big Boss Games by: KBN

"Ping Pals Won't Earn DS Owners Many Friends" Although the Nintendo DS is at it's heart a revolutionary step forward in gaming tech, the major problem with it's feature rest in support.

Release titles for the NDS were scanty, and though there were a few hard-hitters there were just as many that leave gamers scratching their heads and asking why. Therein lies the flaw with Ping Pals, an upgrade of sorts for the Nintendo DS's built-in standard Picto-chat feature.

The major problem with Ping Pals is that it is technically a game, not a software patch. Which makes it incompatible with normal Picto-chat. Anyone who owns a DS will attest that it's hard enough to find someone in chat mode within 65 feet without also requiring them to be running the same game. But as you'd expect, Ping Pals does support the DS Download Play system which would allow a friend to download the game and then chat with you.

However, that leads us into the second problem. The allure of Ping Pals comes from the customization of the chat experience. Namely Avatars, Music, Backgrounds and textured 'paper' on which to write. However anyone who downloads the game from you won't be able to see or use any of these features. And as you may or may not have expected, these add-ons don't come free. You must use in-game money to purchase items, which can be earned in a variety of ways, most of them painful. Additionally, all the items are very expensive. Many times, you will see an item which is a lot of money, spend hours playing and finally buy it only to find out you hate how it looks. And you can't return it, only sell them to other Ping Pals which can be quite frustrating.

All in all, despite it's total uselessness, Ping Pals does have have a few redeeming factors. You do earn a weekly allowance if you log on the first day you booted up the game, and it's not too shabby. Also some items are only available on special days at certain times, so if you're a collector, you need to log on often. So basically the customizable Avatar is the only saving grace.

Ping Pals for the DS gets a pathetic 2/5 stars.