The multiplatform (Pocket PC, MS Smartphone, desktop Windows and Palm OS), multiplayer game developer company
RealDice seems to have been concentrating on releasing new titles lately. In May, they have released no less than two new games:
Multiplayer Championship Mahjong (current, tested version:
1.12; note that it’s, being so new, still not available on
the official homepage of RealDice) and
Multiplayer Championship Chess (current, tested version:
1.30). The games cost $14.95 and $19.95, respectively, and both have fully functioning trial versions.
Multiplayer
They have the same central server-based multiplayer capabilities as the previous two multiplayer RealDice titles,
Poker and
Backgammon. This means you’ll be able to play people anywhere in the world, but only if the two of you both use an Internet connection. You won’t be play local games (games without any kind of Internet connection). Please see
the Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup for more information on these questions. I won’t elaborate on the multiplayer mode of the games here because you will find all the necessary information in the linked article.
Multiplatform
These games not only have Pocket PC, but also Windows, MS Smartphone and Palm OS clients. This is very good news for people trying to play people using other platforms.
Good news: compliant with square screens and has a Hi-Res version
Both new games, as with the later versions of Poker and Backgammon, are compatible with square-screen (240x240) devices and have dedicated, high-resolution, VGA versions too, which indeed look very nice on VGA devices.
Bad news: the major bug of 100% CPU usage is still present!
Now, for the problems. Both titles use the CPU constantly at 100%, even when nothing happens (that is, the games are just idling – there’s no in-game music and not any kind of communication). The worst consequence of this doesn’t need to be over-emphasized: really high power consumption (the battery life of your device will be really low if you play these titles!).
This was the case on
all my test devices (I’ve tested the new titles on my
Pocket Loox 720, Dell Axim x51v, WM5-upgraded
HP iPAQ hx4700 (both titles work on it, which is good news because the WM5-upgraded iPAQ hx4700 is known to be incompatible with a lot of games) and
HP iPAQ 2210 (the latter being a QVGA device). Needless to say, as with all my tests, this was the case with freshly hard reset Pocket PC’s, using decent CPU meter tools.
In addition to the full CPU usage, it’s only on the x51v that the games run with acceptable speed and responsiveness; on all the other devices, the games are sometimes next to unplayable because of the speed (that is, the lack thereof).
This problem has always been acute with all the RealDice titles I’ve tested and has also been admitted by the developer. The developer should really fix these problems as soon as possible.
No in-game music
Unfortunately, RealDice titles have never had any kind of in-game music. Compare this to the well-known titles with excellent in-game music like
The Travel Collection or most PDAMill board games!
Verdict
If the 100% CPU bug weren’t present, I’d really recommend these titles for VGA users or people that don’t want to play internet connection-less local (for example, Bluetooth PAN or Wi-Fi peer-to-peer) games. Now, I’d say either wait for a bug-free version or go for an alternative title, even when they don’t have native VGA support. As far as chess is concerned, I’d recommend
The Travel Collection and, as far as Mahjong is concerned,
Gamebox Asia by PDAMill (if QVGA resolution isn’t a problem) or, if you have a VGA device,
Pocket-Jongg 3D.V5.
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