Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

As I ventured into a GameStop over the weekend, I happened to overheard a consumer come in, complaining about a game that he had bought.  The game in question was Need for Speed: Shift.  His complaint was that the game sucked.  No other brainiac insights just that the game sucked.  He wanted a refund on the title which of course, because it was opened, was not going to happen.  As I listened in a bit closer, his complaints were that the title was not a Need for Speed game.   Hearing that made me realize something – while most people in the press are raving about the new direction for Need for Speed: Shift, including its in-car camera, driving physics and damage modeling, it might have left its fan base in the dust.

Several of the Aeropause writers have talked about how we were waiting for this game to come out, and how it looks to be a great time for the Need for Speed franchise to go back to its roots and get a little more serious with its style.  Sure, I loved Need for Speed Underground 1 and 2, and Most Wanted was a pretty good title as well.  From there, the franchise started its swirl down the drain of mediocrity, reaching an intervention point with the atrocious Need for Speed: Undercover.  Electronic Arts went back to the drawing board, scraping just about anything Need for Speed had done since its Underground heydays, and created two new franchises, Need for Speed: Shift and Need for Speed: Nitro.

A funny thing may have happened along the way.  The Shift part of the franchise turned towards a mix between Forza/Gran Turismo and Project Gotham Racing in its driving style and mechanics.  Gone are the days of super-glowy neon and strange rail scraping physics, and in was a new wheels-on-the-road engine.  For those in the enthusiast press scene that have tried Shift, all have lauded it as a new era for the Need for Speed series.  Nitro, on the other hand, looks to continue the old school of thought, with drifting, graffiti modes for painting the track and other over the top styling.  This does not make Nitro a bad game.  In fact, it makes it a rather appealing entry into the series, because it is easy to get into, and far more forgiving in its driving model.

Herein lies the dilemma.  Need for Speed: Nitro would probably be better suited for gamers that love and enjoy the Underground style of game.  But those same folks most likely do not own a Wii.  Those gamers are instead greeted with a new design and focus that clearly leaves them behind. 

It is unfortunate that the gentleman in the beginning did not give the game more of a chance.  He said he only had the game for two days and hated it.  I am not sure if he adjusted the games intricate slider system to allot more of the driving aids available, or if he was more interested in having the old, Underground street racing experience.  I for one have enjoyed my time with the Need for Speed: Shift demo on the PC, and I am anxiously awaiting the room in my budget over the next few weeks to pick it up.

If I would have been smart I should have offered to buy the copy that the gentleman ended up trading in.  He only got $23 worth of credit.  I would have floated him at least $30.