Atari serves up a treat with the announcement of What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver, the first video game to feature international cooking star Jamie Oliver and his delicious, world-renowned recipes, scheduled for release exclusively on Nintendo DS(TM) for Christmas 2008. What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver walks players through virtual and real-life cooking situations, from shopping to chopping, dressing the dish to serving up meals. The portability of Nintendo DS means Jamie Oliver is with you every step of the way to offer help and inspiration at the supermarket, in the kitchen, on the barbecue or wherever you feel like cooking up a storm.
A look at the world's most popular cooking sims. Which ones will actually teach you something about cooking, and make you a better cook? Which ones were designed purely as entertainment? Which are good and which are bad? The article serves as a side-by-side analysis of all the top cooking games to figure out the above.
Worthplaying writes: "I will be honest: I think using the DS for purposes such as this is a fabulous idea, and something that should be thoroughly explored. What's Cooking With Jamie Oliver? is not, however, more than a token effort, using a simple and bland system to accomplish little more than a real cookbook and kitchen would bring. Tying in a half-baked (ha ha) clone of a years-old game that's been aped a dozen times brings no additional value to the fold. You are better off in almost every way by using your money to purchase a cookbook or a culinary lesson, or perhaps going out and having a bite at a restaurant".
Game Revolution writes: "My friends are all well aware of it, but people who read my reviews on GR probably don't know that at home I'm a cook – a very serious cook. Due to a small, and honestly quite silly run-in with the campus police early in my first year of college, I was moved out of regular student housing and into housing for "problem students". This turned out to be an awesome upgrade, namely my own apartment with a full kitchen.
I had already discovered that the campus cuisine tasted as if the food had been trying to pledge a frat, died during hazing, hidden in the house basement, and discovered by the janitor several weeks later. Then reheated and served."
