Kombo : : : PS3 | 360 | Wii | Cube | Xbox | PSP | DS | Forums | Podcasts

AROUND KOMBO:
BLOG
The Invisible Land Mines
Random Access Memories
BLOG
The Moody Gamer
Do you have gaming ADD?
Ping Pals
Console
Nintendo DS
Publisher
THQ
Genre
Simulation
Developer
WayForward Technologies
Release Date
11/21/04
ESRB Rating
Everyone
StumbleUpon Toolbar  
Ping Pals
In case PictoChat isn't enough, THQ and WayForward offer you more... and less.
February 7, 2005 | 8:57 PM PST

by: Jeff Rivera

It's an interesting thing reviewing a "game" like Ping Pals; especially when 90% of what the game offers is already done better by PictoChat. Ping Pals is basically trying to replace PictoChat by offering what you already have built into your DS plus a few extra features, such as: customizable avatars, collectibles, minigames, snapshot save system, and varied music and sound effects. So how does this $30 offering stack up against your free copy of PictoChat? Unfortunately, not very well.

Ping Pals at its core is still just a chat program, but somehow WayForward has managed to execute this in a dissapointing fashion. For starters, the area for drawing a picture or typing a message is much smaller than what you are offered in PictoChat, so your drawings will suffer in quality a lot. Furthermore, you can't combine text and drawings in a single picture, something that is sorely missed. The lack of different pencil sizes, an eraser, language accents, and many symbols cause the chat feature to suffer in Ping Pals. It's hard to build a good piece of software around a flawed core, but it's not all bad in Ping Pals, some of it is at least mediocre.


Oooh, an avatar!

WayForward has added a few bonuses outside of the chat features of Ping Pals to justify the $30 tag, but much of it just doesn't hold up. For example, including multiplayer minigames in a chat program is a good idea, but only including two of them is a bad one. One of these two games is called "Doodle," and it's basically a game of Pictionary, which can be fun for a few minutes. The second multiplayer minigame is called "Hot Potato," and it's the quickest way to bore yourself and up to 7 friends. Basically you type the word "pass" to pass the bomb to another chatter. An unseen timer counts down until the bomb explodes, causing the person who still has it to lose. There are a couple of single player minigames, but I won't embarrass the game by going into them.

The customizable avatars are pretty cool, but earning the money to buy gear for your Ping Pal is tedious. If you are determined to collect all the suits, hats, accessories, backgrounds, sound effects, and colored texts, you'll be spending hours playing the repetitious minigames. In the end, most will decide it's not worth the effort, but it is still fun to mess around with when you do have the money.

In the end Ping Pals tries to rise above PictoChat by offering more, but it somehow feels like less. PictoChat just feels more solid, usable, and a whole lot more accessible. Unless you are a hardcore collector of all things digital, I'd suggest putting your $30 on another DS offering.
Visuals
There isn't much to see in a chat program, but some of the accessories are cool.
3.6
Sound
None of the sound effects are really worth using, you'll most likely have your sound on mute anyway.
2.0
Control
There isn't a lot to control, but the keyboard is pretty small and so is the drawing surface.
6.0
Gameplay
What is offered besides basic chat is boring and lacks any sort of creativity.
3.0
Lasting Appeal
To those willing to play minigames for hours on end to earn collectibles, I salute you.
4.0
Verdict
It's not all bad, but it doesn't even improve on PictoChat's most basic concepts. The minigames will dissappoint you and the collectibles will lose their charm as soon as you see how much work they are to earn. Stick to PictoChat and save some money.
3.3
[not an average]
Review Scores Guide
Screenshot Gallery

(Date Not Available)

(Date Not Available)

(Date Not Available)

(Date Not Available)

Got something that we should post on the site? Send it to us!
February 8, 2010
Twenty more winners to go for our Game a Day Giveaway! Don't hesitate... enter today! Also, make sure you become a fan of Kombo on Facebook!!!

-- Ken Cauley, Editor in Chief

Kombo Breaker
FTW
Kombo's Game a Day Giveaway!
We're giving away a new game EVERYDAY throughout all of February!

Official Contest Page!

WINNERS:

  • February 2: John Riemer, Virgina
  • February 3: Jonathan Dowell, Pennsylvania
  • February 4: Chris Ryan, Florida
  • February 5: Chris Foster, Michigan
  • February 6: Adam Cuevas, Florida
  • February 7: Josh Minar, Kentucky
  • February 8: Bradley Mosbacher, Missouri
  • If SEGA made Shenmue 3, would it SELL?
    Vote!
    (02/09/10 | 5:56 AM PST)
    HDTV vs. SNES
    (02/08/10 | 12:03 PM PST)
    Console Wars "A Bit Silly," Says 2K Marin
    DiRT 2!!!
  • DiRT 2 for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3
    Enter to win!
    E-mail us and include your full name, age and mailing address to enter.

  • Software
    Hardware
    All Time
    Weekly
    9.89m Japan
    31.48m America
    25.90m Others
    67.28M 
    1.25m Japan
    21.76m America
    14.63m Others
    37.64M 
    4.74m Japan
    12.71m America
    14.31m Others
    31.76M 
    29.79m Japan
    44.83m America
    50.20m Others
    124.81M 
    14.02m Japan
    18.98m America
    20.85m Others
    53.85M