A few mobile releases have caught my eye this month. The biggest, I suppose, is Guitar Hero which will be coming to a handset near you soon, courtesy of Hands-On. I have absolutely no idea how this will work - Java games are not known for their amazing sound and won't it be a little bit embarrassing - let alone socially intrusive - to let rip with Smoke on the Water on the 7.15 commuter train?
It would be interesting if they found a way to use real sound clips. But again, Java is a virtual platform with limited access to the phone's other functionality so I'm not sure how that could pan out. "The lifestyle of music is strongly immersed into our everyday culture, and having Guitar Hero on mobile platforms will now allow our dedicated fans the opportunity to passionately feel the music, anytime and anywhere," is all that the improbably named Dusty Welch, head of publishing at RedOctane, will say on the matter.
But what of the screenshots above?
Well, the one on the left is SCX, a forthcoming slot car racing title based of course on Scalextric (but, no doubt due to some complex licensing issues, can only be called that in Spain, Russia and Mexico). Publisher LemonQuest is promising six-player slot action, as well as the ability to change brake tension or fuel load, as well as choosing the pit-stop strategy.
This all sounds more complicated than when I used to play Scalextric (I had the one with the two minis that could do 180 degree turns by skidding fast on corners). Then, it was just a challenge to keep the cars on the track for more than two laps - and there'd always been one bent bit of slot that the car stopped on.
Anyway, the isomertic visuals look nice and Super Sprint-esque. One thing though - there seems to be no track construction mode! What an oversight!
The second screenshot is of the amazining-looking Come On Baby, "The world's first mobile infant game," declares publisher Ozura. The game, I think, has already been released in Singapore, but is getting a global roll-out. It's all based around nappy changing, feeding, etc. The graphics look a bit Cooking Mama (which, incidentally, is also coming to mobile phones in the UK soon). Perhaps it should be bought up by the government and distributed free to teenagers - they might actually pay attention if they learnt about parenthood from their phone.
