The game requires a Shockwave player, and can be played in online mode for free on a windowed screen.  If you always wanted to drive the Mach 5 and race against different characters, or just enjoyed the cartoon this might be an interesting game.  Driving control is with the arrow keys, as well as hotkeys to operate the different features of the Mach 5.  The download page for the free Shockwave version of the game is here.

I had read in one of the Parelli Level 1 PocketGuides that Level 1 can take 3 weeks to 3 months with the assumption of spending 6 hours a week playing with your horse. I found this to be astonishing!

First, that Level 1 could be completed in 3 short weeks (3 months seems reasonable). And second, the idea of spending 6 hours a week playing with my horse. An hour a day for 6 days - that seems doable (although implementing it is more difficult). But I was confused about to spend that hour.

Since we're learning the basics, wouldn't I bore my horse to death, playing Porcupine for an hour? I mean, how many times can you do the same thing? I'd read elsewhere that you don't keep repeating the same 'task' once the horse gets it, you move on. So I was confused. Up until now, I'd played with Amigo for 30 minutes at a time - at most. Usually 15 minutes at a time. And guess what? It's taking forever to move through Level 1.

Yesterday, it occurred to me that instead of asking for exactly the same thing every time, I could mix it up; and ask for more. So that's what we did.

Amigo and I played Friendly Game, Porcupine Game, Driving Game and Yo-Yo Game for 40 minutes. Mixing it up, playing around, keeping it interesting. Amigo is highly food motivated, so a treat after a Phase 2 response kept him interested in our play-work. And a good scratch on his most favorite spot - under his belly - had him feeling really good.

Lots of effective communication . Lots of licking and chewing. Lots of smiles.

By the end of the 40 minutes, Amigo was responding to every request with only Phase 2. Smart horse!  Next time, we'll practice on yielding FQ and HQ in a circle...  

Naturally,

Lauren

P.S. - One challenge is that Amigo will back up (do the Yo), stop and then wants to come forward to me. We'll have to work on that.

Log Entry: Level 1: Lessons 6-7: Games 1-4

So I have a few sentimental posts coming, and I thought i would not do that right now. So my new friend Andy has been gently guiding me into buying an Xbox 360. I am not really fighting all that hard, but the fact is I need to pay for some other things. And something in me really wants to start saving. That being said, I think I am "renting" my buddy Tom's for a while this up coming week. He is a musician, and he is broke, so it is sort of a loan program we have done before. I buy this or that from him, and it has no meaning to me...and he buys it back later on.

So were doing something like that with the 360 I think. That being said, I bought some 360 games, that I will want to own when I own a 360. But I have an Xbox now, so I bought a game to get ready for the 360. I am a driving game guy, at least I thought I was. I bought Forza Racing for my Xbox. It is a racing SIMULATION. Let me tell you that it has been a long time since I have played a simulation. So the fact is, this was an amazingly difficult thing.

I am still driving a Ford Focus SVT, and really need to spend a lot more time driving.

Recently I had been playing the need for speed games, and clearly they are NOT simulations.

So, damn you Andy for humbling me.

Everyday that goes by I feel less and less comfortable in my relationship in regards to CW. I cannot remmedy it, and as a result I allow it to be whatever it is now. I wish I could help it, but the road is a road I do not like to be on. I also think it is the wrong road in general.

The graphics are mediocre. While they aren't the best that the PSP has to offer, they are good enough for the game itself and graphics aren't everything. Sometimes if you are going really fast (over 200km/h) and driving on the left side of the road, cars will appear quickly just like they're popping up out of nowhere and you might crash. This happens rarely and isn't a big problem, especially if you have a fast reaction time.

The gameplay is excellent first when you get the game but the appeal quickly wears off. Even after just a few days of offline gaming (I don't have wifi) I'm starting to get a little bored of the game. Basically you can buy houses, buy (or rent) new cars and drive around the same boring Hawaii you've been driving around the whole time you've been playing. One slightly annoying feature, which probably becomes a little less annoying after you purchase multiple houses, is that whenever you save the game and turn off your PSP to come back and play later, when you come back you end up back at your house. One time I was pretty far away from my first home; up on the northern part of the island driving around and exploring the game and I was going to put my PSP into standby mode but I held in the power switch for a bit too long and it turned completely off. Even though I had saved the game a few minutes later, when I turned my PSP on again I was back home. Obviously, I retained rewards from any races I had won and my mileage counter didn't lose mileage but the whole getting magically transported back to your house thing gets a little annoying at times.

Another feature that is both good and annoying is the police system in the game. While I prefer a game that's kind of realistic where you don't get away with your crimes (speeding tickets, crashing into other vehicles), I find the cops in Test Drive Unlimited focus a little too much on minor accidents than major speeding issues. I've went well over 200km/h in residental areas and have only gotten picked up on the police radar a few times. However, if I'm going 20km/h and I *accidently* hit another car when switching lanes or pulling over or whatever, they come after me. The whole police system works by how many badges (police cars) are after you. There are three in total and the more that are lit up at the top of the screen, the harder the fuzz (sorry about that :P) are trying to get you. You can keep going and as long as the bar stays green (that means the police aren't immediately behind you) then you may be able to evade them and the stars will eventually go away. If you pull over or if the police pull you over (very rarely, I can usually get away if I keep driving long enough on some wide and open interstate) you get charged for the amount of collisions you have encountered, if you've been speeding that adds on a little higher charge and for disobeying traffic laws you also get charged. You don't get your car or house taken away though, don't worry! Just a fee.

The price:fun ratio of the game is pretty high. For an average-priced PlayStation Portable game, you will definitely get the quality you'd expect from your money. I got the game for about $24 used off eBay (I was lucky) so for me it was definitely worth it but even if you pay $40-$50 for the game, it's still a good purchase.

Now for online - please take into consideration the fact that I'm on a dialup connection and don't have wireless internet access, so I just played for a few minutes at the library/town's wireless hotspot. The online play is amazing even though there aren't many online and it kills battery life. You have to make a username and password (don't forget it) and then you can see anyone else in the whole world that's playing online. You can choose to race them, be an annoying b*tch and keep smashing into them or just randomly drive around. When I was playing, there were about 55 (I think) people in the whole world playing online with their PSPs. I'd imagine the XBOX 360 version has more people online since it seems to be the most popular version. Online play really adds to the value of the game.

Even with all the pros I have listed, the game loses its appeal for people with short attention spans like me. Still a good purchase. If you have any other questions related to Test Drive Unlimited, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to respond to it with the best of my knowledge. Atari also has an official forum where you can discuss all versions of the game too.

One final note: In case you don't have a PSP, the game is also available for XBOX 360, PS3, PS2 and PC. I've heard that the PC version has it's flaws and the best version is the XBOX 360 one, but the only versions I've played are PS2 and PSP.

[Also... once again I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much here at The Fun Bucket anymore. I haven't forgotten about the website and I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I've been playing a few different games here and there in my limited spare time and before I go to sleep so I should be able to make a few posts on them (like this post) later.] 

In every way, this game is visually and technically cutting edge and conveys a good feel of being embedded in a story-line. The mix of 3-d, flash, movies and all the filters is pulled off so well and just seems really authentic. And the Flash, I am impressed. At times it looks like real-time graphics rendering. I have never seen anything like this before. One or two years ago, I was seriously wondering if Director was going get a comeback. Internet connections are getting so much faster, that it was really a question of whether the flash player could keep up or if developers and demand was simply going to make the switch to Director. This game shows Flash has nothing to worry about. The player can do it. And what it can't do now, it will be able to do in its next version. Flash really is the plugin for multmedia delivery on the internet.

However, I get the same feeling from playing this game as I do from watching a movie like 300 (which I just got back from watching tonight). It has all the visuals but just no gameplay (or in the case of 300, no storyline). Now, I know there is a little artificial intelligence in the opponent cars, but not for real. Not like any of the other racing games on all the other platforms out there and I just can't help making that comparison.

Again, I think these guys pulled it to the limit and I hope the limit keeps getting pushed. In the mean time, I think we need to keep the strengths of the internet as a platform for delivering games at the forefront. Let me point out again, that I am very impressed by this game - both visually and technically. However the strength of the internet is how it connects people across time and space. Internetgames are fun and unique when you  can challenge a friend, play with other people online or contribute to some kind of community whole. Diffrerent platforms have differnet strengths and interconnectivity is the strength of the internet as a gamedelivering platform and not neccessarily highscale racinggames. Not yet at least.

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The Passanger is a game for Nokia's CK-20W mobile phone where you use the phone's build in GPS to guide  the mystic Femme Fatal around Parais picking up clues. Fantastic graphics and great sounds. One of the games defining the new broadband trend, where video or 3D graphics are controlled in a flash enviorment instead of vector graphics or static bitmaps.

Ill give the game that it looks very stunning when you drive around. At first you really feel like you are controlling the car. It doesn't take long though, to find out that we are really talking about a very linear game. They have filmed out the window of a driving car and depending on which turn you make, a differnet (frame by frame) video is played.

Its stunning yes, I just cant find the game and thats really a shame. Or as my friend would say "So much hat and no farm"

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