Introduction: Utilities are nothing new on Nintendo's handheld systems. As far back as the Gameboy Classic there were translators and city guides all condensed onto a tiny cart so the DS interface, Ping Pals, is unlikely to be the only thing available by the end of the year, especially as the touch screen and stylus present endless possibilities for developers. In fact if the rumors are to be believed there are several publishers working on software to turn the humble DS into an all singing all dancing PDA. Ping Pals however is not a new piece of software but more of an enhancement to Pictochat and so it does raise the question 'do we really need it?' Well, do we?

GamePlay: It's difficult to describe the chatting system from a fresh angle given that it's one of the first things you do with your DS anyway (though some of you may have popped in the excellent Metroid Demo first). Put simply Ping Pals allows you to chat to other DS users with a new, colorful graphical interface. The bonus here is that only one of you needs the cart and as long as other users keep their DS switched on Ping Pals will remain on their system. What separates this from the included Pictochat is the inclusion of icons and backgrounds, which you can customize to represent yourself in chat rooms. These aren't all available initially though, you have to purchase them with credits that are accumulated by chatting. Ping Pals also addresses one of the biggest problems with chat utilities - the fact that you need someone else to chat with. That's no problem here as they've also included a kind of AI, always on hand, imaginary friend who's so lacking in any type of personality you're probably better of with your 'other' imaginary friend.

To pad the package out there are also a handful of mini-games and although you're only likely to indulge in these once they're included nonetheless. The first is a 'guess the top ten answers' to a multitude of questions or Family Fortunes as it's known in the UK. These could be the top ten things you'd have in a sandwich or maybe holiday destinations. Far more self-explanatory is the Pictionary section but equally more baffling is a kind of 'bomb' game where you must forward a parcel until it eventually explodes.

Control: Not a great deal to control here really and almost all the interaction is done via the touch screen so why not scroll down to the 'Dual Screen Use' section to see what we mean.

Graphics: Ping Pals is unlikely to be paraded as a glowing example of just what the DS can achieve visually and the graphics are functional at best. There are some highlights but given that this is the one real aspect, which separates Ping Pals from the already included Pictochat, you would expect a little more.

Sound & Music: While Ping Pals actually offers new and diverse audio as a feature there's a very good chance you'll be reaching to turn this off after only 20 minutes or so. It's not that it's badly implemented and some of the unlockable alerts are actually quite pleasing it's just that the constant beeping does become a little irritating not only to you but also everyone around you.

Dual Screen Use: Well it uses both screens and like Pictochat all the interaction such as drawing and typing is done on the tough screen. The biggest problem here is the fact that the actual drawing area is significantly smaller that that of Pictochat's severely compromising how much information you can send in any one package and, of course, the quality of your images. The rest of the package also uses the touch screen functionality but this is all in such a basic manner it's difficult to see it as truly innovative in any way.

Final Comments: Imagine if you will, that even with the introduction of the GBA SP the various companies the supplied the backlight upgrades for the original GBA still insisted on selling and promoting their wares. Ping Pals is a little like that in that THQ are asking you to buy a product which essentially every DS owner already has all be it in a more simplified form. It's this fact which is Ping Pals greatest downfall and whether or not it was in the planning stages before Nintendo decided to include Pictochat with the DS unit it's very existence now is somewhat redundant. Expect significant amounts of copies of Ping Pals in the sale and second hand bins in the coming months but even then it's questionable whether a purchase is justified.

Pro: Ermmmm....
Con: Pointless.
Final Score: 2.7


Reviewed by: Andrew Blanchard