What's that burning smell? Is it the building? Did the knifeless hibachi chef get bored and start lighting things on fire?
Could it be that Majesco's Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii is selling like hotcakes? That's what I'm guessing, because it seems like everyone likes this game.
This past Saturday, the Nintendo World Store in New York City hosted an exclusive event to launch our culinary heroine onto the unsuspecting closet homemakers around the country. Dtoid was there to storm the free food, pwn kids half our age, and grate some virtual ginger with the best of them.
Jump on it...to the next page!
What could have been a pretty run-of-the-mill Saturday turned out to be like a day at the carnival fair for those of us restricted to this urban gulag by the watery deep that surrounds us. Sometimes you don't have time to step off the island, and for just one day, this high-tech haven became the next best thing -- equal parts family-friendly affair, technical titillation, and arena for a blood-thirsty (virtual) cooking competition.
There were no bearded ladies, but several moustachioed moms were among the huddled masses, which eagerly awaited for their children's names to be called up to the cooking stage, like a sprinkle of Iron Chef for the gamer set. Surprisingly, there seemed to be equal gender representation on the floor -- it's 2007 and cooking's not just for the women, anymore!
My awkward stirring, kneading, and sauteeing kept me out of the competition, but while testing out the game all by my lonesome, I noticed that it just takes a little extra practice to think of the Wiimote as the actual utensil you're supposedly using, and a gentle hand to master the movements. Swing too hard, and you're going to splatter your eggs all over the place. I failed at making borscht, but my sushi was pretty solid. By far, the most disturbing bit in the game is the realistic meat textures you have to slice, mince, and grind.
I don't know whether people will actually learn how to make something like paella from this, but all in all, in my opinion, Cooking Mama is definitely the next best installment for your Nintendo. You won't get in trouble for playing with your food and your Wii at the same time!
Contest:
12:53 PM on 04.03.2007
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Now I just want to kick someone in the nuts over it.
Where's Velcroman?
When does Paper Mario come out again?
Don't you remember playing NES games where you heard these sounds for hours on end
... me neither, and I think it was because of this music.
You used my favortie anamanaguchi song! Wheeeeeeee! best video evr.
You can come to NY any time: rifle through the music, then we can go to SCORES - sound like heaven?
I wouldn't say "inconsistent." Like the girl in the video says (albeit, not very audibly, cos the SD800 has not a proper mic), what you see on the screen immediately before you get to cooking doesn't necessarily help you cook, but I think that's because just jumping in, you don't get a chance to understand the subtlety of the controls. You definitely can't flail around with this game, and the sooner you realize that the controls are supposed to be close to the real utensil use, I think the easier it gets.
Apparently the culinary student that talked about the good emulation of cooking techniques in the video went on to place in the second leg of the tourney, so I think they did something right with the controls. Just have to be patient, like with real cooking (which is why I got a little frustrated at first ;_;).