Video game review by ERIK LEIJON

Chibi-Robo (GC/Nintendo, Skip) is the latest in the Nintendo GameCube line of titles that are high on creativity but lacking in execution. While more fleshed-out than its previous incarnation (think ridiculous Conga controllers), in the end, Chibi-Robo is not as satisfying an experience as it could have been.

You play as the next great potential character for Smash Bros. (which is really all anyone is looking for when they play first-party Nintendo titles nowadays); a diminutive metallic toy named Chibi-Robo, who must roam around the Sanderson’s house and complete various chores, converse with other toys and generally help out anyone in need.

This simple premise is almost ruined at the start by the ill-advised concept of “happy points,” which are doled out by Telly Vision, your floating helper NPC. Calling them happy points is a problem for two reasons. One, it sounds juvenile and does nothing to distance Nintendo from their reputation as a company who exclusively tailors their games to little kids. But even worse is how Telly Vision roots you on after receiving said points by saying, “Spread the happiness!” Insert whatever remark you want about drug consumption or sexual innuendo, but to anyone with a remotely dirty mind, there’s enough firepower in the game’s dialogue to get your naughty creative juices flowing.

Even worse, Mrs. Sanderson’s conversations with the mute protagonist, the robo-erotic relationship between Chibi and Telly, and Mr. Sanderson obsessing over his favourite television character Drake Redcrest would make Freud proud.

I don’t hate this game. There are a lot of missions and it doesn’t get as repetitive as a janitorial robot game suggests. What annoyed me greatly was that although a small robot running around a big house begged for much exploration, you are hamstrung by a constant need to recharge your battery every few minutes (I’m starting to know how crack addicts live), and Telly forcing you back into your little house without letting you complete your missions (don’t get me started on how he suggests you need “quiet time” with him). This means all the missions you do are rush-rush and don’t allow for mindless journeying. It basically ruins the purpose of Chibi-Robo, and minimizes what the game does well.

There are things to like about Chibi-Robo. The characters and sound effects are fun, and the art style is akin to Toy Story (as are many of the game’s primary concepts). But I would like to advise

Nintendo that you have to pay for voice-over actors—there’s no excuse in 2006 to use cacophonic noises à la Star Fox on the SNES.

Anal art direction

Project Gotham Racing 3’s art designer Chris Davie was in town last week to promote Microsoft’s attempt at conquering the art world, PLAY: The Art of Xbox 360. They had a full display in a gallery in Toronto, but only three pics were available behind closed doors here.

That being said, despite his art being shown first and foremost, Davie isn’t too caught up with calling his work “art.” Actually, he

didn’t even call it work at all. During the making of the game, he became an anal perfectionist who kept trying to make every level look perfect. He said he became obsessed (in a good way), with “everything from street names, lampposts, traffic lights.” His team went to New York and the other locations and took thousands of photos.

I mistakenly took one of his pictures as a real-life photo since I saw cracks on the road and the buildings.

Interestingly, for a guy working on the most cutting-edge graphics, he’s pretty hooked on the minimalism of Xbox Live Arcade.