Venture

Why Chibi Robo: Park Patrol
Shouldn't (And unfortunately will be) overlooked.

Just yesterday I stopped by my local Wal-Mart to purchase my copy of Chibi Robo: Park Patrol for the Nintendo DS. I've been looking forward to Chibi's DS debut since my friend, Jordan Pike (jordanpike.com), introduced me to the first game of the series on the Nintendo GameCube, entitled Chibi Robo: Plug into Adventure! I instantly fell in love with the game and its quirky, playful characters, fun to explore environments, and unique gameplay--so you can imagine how excited I was to find out about its sequel on the Nintendo DS. Did it live up to my expectations? The answer is YES! The game uses the DS's touch screen perfectly. The game has a relaxing pace, paired with smooth gameplay and a pleasant sense of humor.

I urge anyone who enjoys great, original games to check out Chibi Robo: Park Patrol. The bad news: despite being such a great game, there are a couple of reasons why I'm predicting some pretty bad sales figures.

Number one: The release date, only one day after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass--one of the most, if not the most anticipated Nintendo DS games of all time. Being this close to such a "big hitter" can only hurt the sales of Chibi.

Number Two: Wal-Mart exclusivity. I personally wouldn't consider Chibi a commercially mainstream game, and when I want to purchase what I believe to be a somewhat obscure title, Wal-Mart isn't the first place that comes to mind.

Number Three: Bland reviews. Although there are a handful of good reviews, most reviewers, including IGN, are giving the game the, "I just looked at some screenshots and read a press release." score of 7.

Hopefully, dear reader, you'll appreciate these simple reasons why I doubt this great game will sell.

Nintendo's marketing has been puzzling lately. Due to the game's environmentally-friendly setting (the game is about cleaning up a park), Nintendo has decided to give away 500 trees (yes, trees) to anyone who registers his or her copy on Nintendo.com. In a second promotion, one perhaps more understandable, Nintendo has put Chibi Robo-themed bookmarks in schools. At the time of writing, I have no further information on how many schools have received these bookmarks.

The bottom line: Park Patrol is one of the best games I've ever played. You owe it to yourself to check it out!

- Matthew Taylor, gamebot