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Microsoft's Entertainment PocketPak
It's may not be surprising that the company
who started it all would come away with our first 4-star rating ever.
But what might surprise you is that the winning Infrared gaming
package is also the oldest software application in our review.
Microsoft's Entertainment PocketPak has been around since 1997. But
now, let's get to the reasons behind the 4-star rating.
This quintessential gaming
suite includes a total of ten games, but only four of them are multiplayer
enabled:
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Cinco (screenshot
below): a word
game where you try to guess a five-letter word by matching letters in other words.
The multiplayer component allows a second player to try to guess the same
word, or furnish their own five-letter word and beam it to someone else who
has to figure it out on their own Pocket PC.
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Hearts: The networked
card game from the Windows desktop. You pass cards to other players in an
attempt to give them the most points. With the Queen of Spades being the
dreaded 15 point card. With two Pocket PCs, you and a friend can conspire
to give the computer players the most points, or go head-to-head in an all
out battle.
-
Reversi: A classic,
this game is better known as "Othello" where you try to end up with the most tiles
when the board is filled.
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Sink the Ships:
Another classic, this is an electronic version of the game Battleship. You
fill a board with ships, then hunt out your opponent's vessels. Every time
you tap on a space, an infrared "missile" is sent to your opponent's Pocket
PC. When successful a resounding "ka-boom" echoes back to your device.
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The objective in Cinco is to successfully
guess a 5-letter word by studying the matching letters. |
With an intellectual
wordsmith game (Cinco), a Card game (Hearts), a board game (Reversi) and an
exciting strategy game (Sink the Ships) the Entertainment PocketPak is the
only software package in this entire review that offers something for
everyone. But that's not all the Entertainment PocketPak has...
ALSO INCLUDED
The Entertainment PocketPak
also includes:
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BlackJack: One of the
best versions of the game of 21 ever created for the Pocket PC.
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Chess: The classic
game which really could have used an IR multiplayer version.
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FreeCell: Another
game from Microsoft's collection of desktop classics, this solitaire
offshoot is a tough one to beat.
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Minesweeper: the
"seek but don't destroy" game known to millions of crazed Windows users.
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Space Defense: (known as
Missile Command, to those over 30) where you tap on the screen to stop
lasers from destroying your cities.
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Taipei: Match the
tiles to reach the bottom of the pile.
And, as a special bonus,
we've learned that the multiplayer games in the Entertainment PocketPak are
also compatible with the previous Handheld PC version (called the MS
Entertainment Pack For Windows CE). So even if you have a friend or
co-worker that uses the larger Windows CE device, you can compete in
multiplayer games against them. Hopefully, the compatibility will continue
with a version released for the SmartPhone.
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Pros:
A ten-game suite for less than $3/per game. Four multiplayer games that
fair equally well in single player mode. Excellent execution of IR.
Great titles. |
Cons:
More! We just want more! |
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