Talkman

Ever woke up in a foreign country out of toilet paper in the bathroom? Oh, and also not knowing how to ask for it... Reach for your pocket and grab your PSP, insert the Talkman disk in it and get out of this embarrassing situation. Talkman is an excellent traveling tool and a thing to do besides reading on the plane or train.

Story I started talking to myself today. Some of you must think that I have forgotten to take my pills. It's not insanity, it's all Talkman. I was talking to the PSP and it said to me: "Come va?" and I answered "Bene!". If you're in the need for language tips, a better fluency or just pickup lines, here's the tool for you. I really don't know how this game would have lasted without Max, the wonderful bird teacher that will aid you in the quest for perfect speech and understanding. Annoying for some, a true mate for others, the blue bird will help you whenever you need it.

Concept This might seem a great translation device, but it's not only that. Taking into consideration the graphics and the approach of the game it's clearly more directed towards children. The funny character, Max, is the teacher that will guide you through this linguistic adventure. He is some sort of a big blue bird with big eyes and a very cool accent. There are six available languages in the game and a lot of stuff to do. You can exercise your fluency, accent and intonation through the talking game. Also you'll be able to test your skills with the listening game. That's all about listening and picking the correct answer to the question Max poses.

The talking game is represented by a square divided into 25 pieces. There are 25 levels to complete, each with 5 phrases. You can get an "A", "B", "C" or "D" rating depending on how good or bad you've been when pronouncing phrases like "How much for a hotel room?". The phrases from the lower part of the puzzle table in the pronunciation game are the most difficult and it's almost impossible to get an A. We're dealing with a huge database here, as no less than 3000 phrases are available in Talkman. The game has a big problem with loading times, they are huge and that can be easily noticed before Max lets you know if you got it right or not. Getting 25 A-s in the pronunciation game will award you two minigames to have fun with. The microphone must be plugged into the USB port at the top of the PSP and it has a screw that needs to be tightened in order to keep the mike safe.

Practically you'll have to press the square button and keep it pressed while saying what Max wrote on the screen in order to verify your pronunciation. You'll have the chance of hearing him say it first, make him repeat the phrase by pressing the triangle or hear the whole thing in slow motion by pressing the L button together with the triangle. The slow motion will kill all the speed of the PSP, however. In case the whole thing was not clear you can find a tutorial in the options menu providing you with 47 tips. There is a talk mode in case you find yourself stranded in another country. It has lots of traveling scenes (in the plane, shopping, hotel etc.), basic scenes (hospital, taxi, subway, bus, mail, telephone). Using the talk mode is very simple: select the other person's language and choose a situation. After doing that, say whatever you need towards the PSP microphone by holding the square button pressed.

When finished, Max will display what he understood in the language of the person you're showing this to. Sony does not guarantee that there won't be communication problems, but don't expect to get slapped each time you ask a woman a question. It's not all talks and that matters. You will be able to use a unit conversion system, check out what time it is in any part of the globe, see maps, you can use a currency tool, record a voice memo. Another cool feature is setting the PSP to be an alarm clock. Max will wake you up by saying a random phrase getting you ready for another day of learning.

Video It would be quite impossible to give the game a video rating as its only graphical aspect is the interface you'll use to navigate between tests and the 3D background of those games. Max is designed in a simple and fun way and many people will like his cool behavior and cool moves. Is he a DoDo bird? I wonder? There are lots of very funny animations involving Max, especially when he talks about the weather (wearing sunglasses) or holding each country's flag or wearing a French beret. The background of the talking game is a school blackboard (a green one) where Max writes the questions. He becomes very serious and get the teacher looks (glasses and a cool cap) providing funny reward lines for "A" ratings or his sorrow for your inaccuracy.

Sound Max sounds cool in any language, especially in Japanese. In case you didn't know this game comes with a PSP microphone included. Vocal recognition is not exactly what we would have liked it to be, although you can choose between a male or female voice. At times it seems frustrating that you'll get a "C" for your "Per favor" or a way too easy "A" for a complicated phrase in French. Another issue is that the lines that Max says after your task is completed are all the same, repetitive and kind of dull. The silver microphone will aid you in the task of learning German, Italian, English, Spanish, Japanese and French. You should be about 20 centimeters from the PSP for optimal vocal recognition. The players can adjust the microphone settings if they find themselves in a noisy environment. There is no way to speak dialects in Talkman, as Max will recognize only original and by-the-book language.

Conclusion Talkman is a must-have tool when going on the road to another country. I can guarantee that it will prove useful,but also a bit annoying due to those loading times. Who would refuse telling you where a certain museum is, when Max will ask that question from the screen of your PSP? Other than that, this software (it's not really a game) is fun to use and it will really teach a lesson to those that were so sure that they had the perfect accent and intonation. You can't say you have "finished" Talkman, like you could say about a game, because you'll need it each time a language problem appears. If you're the traveling type of guy you'll even be able to record vocal mementos of your friends around the globe and mark them with a flag on the game's world map. What's easier to carry around, a PSP or 6 phrase books?