How would you like to cook a meal that you can’t smell, taste or eat? That’s the fun of the first cooking video game (we’ve heard of) since Burger Blast.
A story aired on National Public Radio Saturday about a Nintendo Wii game called Cooking Mama, kind of a gourmand’s Guitar Hero, that simulates the job of a chef by making the player cut, prep and cook meat and vegetables and other stuff.
In classic NPR fashion, reporter Andrea Seabrook duels with chef Barton Seaver, of Hook in Washington DC in a contest that, over the radio comes out about as exciting as the nonexistent beef in wine sauce created by the two in the game.
But plenty of video games have made boring stuff fun and fun stuff boring in the past. Remember that level in Parrapa the Rappa when you have to sell stuff at the flea market? If this game is anywhere as good as Parrapa, we’ll buy a Wii right now.
The funny thing about this NPR story is, obviously, the question of whether one needs to be better at video games or at the things they simulate, to beat the competition. Seabrook fancies herself a skilled gamer, but is she a match for Seaver? You’ll have to listen to find out.
