We’ve all known scrabble to produce some unheard of and strange words, like ‘Quixotry’ or ‘Vrow’, that we swear aren’t really part of the English language; but everyone has heard of the latest words coming from DS Scrabble that are causing uproar. A mother, Mrs. Carrington, is furious after the computer beat her 8 year old son, Ethan, in DS scrabble by using such clever words as ‘tits’, ‘shit’, ‘toke’ and finally ‘fuckers’.

It gets better, since DS Scrabble is obviously an educational game as well, definitions are included for all the words: the plural noun ‘fuckers’ is defined as ‘a slang term for chavs’, while ‘toke’ was appropriately defined as ‘a draw on a cannabis cigarette’. This was clearly not the educational value the mother who purchased DS Scrabble for her 8 year old son was looking for.

Searching for someone to blame over this scandal, the concerned mother quickly contacted the shop where she bought the game from, Asda, who then referred her to Nintendo. Nintendo refused to accept any liability for the situation and then passed her on to the game’s publisher Ubisoft, who then referred her to the Pan European Game Information video game rating company, which had rated DS Scrabble as appropriate for everyone aged 3 and older. Of course, she has not heard back from them since emailing three months ago, and we wonder whether any action will be taken. For his part, Ethan mentioned that he still loves Scrabble and was disappointed his mum said he couldn’t play it anymore because of the inappropriate words.

 

Tags for this review: ds, lite, nintendo ds scrabble scandal

Totally bored with the action and word games? Then you will be pleasantly surprised at this new thrilling experience Cate West: The Vanishing Files.

A fresh breather in hidden objects games with mind boggling mysteries will certainly make each one of you glued to this game. Spread across 29 different locations. The main protagonist, Cate West, is an author by profession and also has an unusual gift that helps her for-see places, people and things by touching an object associated with them. She makes use of this unusual gift in co-operation with the police to nail down criminals. In the due course of the investigation she also realises that it is in a way related to the mystery associated with her own family.

The Vanishing Files is not like any other hidden object game, which happen to shorter than most action games. While the investigation methods are not quite as technically advanced as, say, in CSI 2: Dark Motives, You will be happy to find out 15 well defined cases, 5 phases and 75 scenarios. Travel with Cate to various places, find clues before it’s late. Once clues are collected Cate West with her unusual gift shall unveils the object associated with the culprit.

It has been designed with different phases, you should collect the clues in each phase, nail the culprit. This game has a very different rewarding system wherein the speed and time is considered to award points. The Vanishing Files is a very well executed and designed game. The graphics make you feel as a part of the investigation.

The Vanishing Files is designed for all age groups. A perfect gift for a loved one this Christmas.

Tags for this review: bejeweled for ds lite, hidden object games nintendo ds lite, hidden object games for ds