Customer Reviews

PalmOne PalmPak Games Card (m125, m130, i705 & m500 series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The games themselves are interesting and fun to play; not all of them are outstanding, but they're all at least pretty good. I found Zap!2016 to be a lot of fun, Bubblet addictive, and SimCity really well done. The card is easy to use, although there is a slight delay when loading the menu in Apps or loading a game - normal when accessing a card.

But potential buyers should be aware that there are problems with the software on the card that need to be resolved if the games are to work properly. Zap!2016 can eat up your main memory, and Vegas Slots and Klondike can stop functioning altogether. See the Palm web site for details and solutions. Fortunately these problems are fixable, but I wish that these games had been tested more thoroughly before this card was released. The patch for Zap!2016 takes up 124 KB of your handheld's main memory, which undermines one of the chief advantages of this product, namely, that it frees up handheld RAM.

I would also have liked more games on the card. The card itself is a 16 MB MultiMediaCard, of which the games take up only 1.6 MB. The selection of games seems a little light and could be a problem if, for example, a buyer doesn't much care for a couple of games, such as the Vegas-style gambling games or the card games, and ends up using only a few games on the card. I personally would have liked a strategy game in the mix; others may find other reasons to quibble about the selection. Still, why so few games? Would more have pushed the price higher?

In sum, this game card is satisfying - I do use it quite often - but I'm not entirely sure it's worth what it costs.

I was surprised at the number of negative reviews here for this Game Pak - I just received it as a gift and have been playing the games frequently over the last few days, and I'm pretty satisfied. The card installed and ran the games flawlessly, and the games themselves are simple but highly addictive and entertaining. (Apparently there is a memory leak in Zap!2016, but I'll admit I haven't played that one enough to notice. Hey, I have a slot machine to beat here.)

Let's face it - the Palm is not a high-end gaming platform, and even m505 owners should not expect a stupendous experience. The best games for this size screen are the simplest ones. Klondike is the same as always, with slightly nicer graphics but no scoring. Chroma is a nice three-in-one package of chess, checkers, and backgammon (great for 2-person games on long trips), Vegas Slots and Blackjack are faithful reproductions of their real-life counterparts and SimCity is very basic but contains the essence of the original (I imagine this one is much better in color).

I had none of the technical difficulties of the other reviewers, and I have no problem with the fact that this card is a) only 10% full, and b) thirty bucks. A collection of games like this probably pays the developers a small fraction of the retail price, and we should be supporting people like them if we want better games in the future. I wish they could find a way to selectively unlock the SD card though, so the saved games would also live in there and the memory footprint of the whole pak (er, minus the patches) would be zero.

Bottom line: It's a fine price to pay for a collection of fun, good-looking games. Not perfect, but still very much worth it.

I plan to review each of the games included on this Games Card individually:

It was by pure chance that I have this particular Games MMC card for my trusty Palm m130, and I played it virtually non-stop the first couple of weeks after I got it. First off I was absolutely GLUED to Sim City. I had never played the game before on my home PC, so I was in for quite a treat. I couldn't believe what the game could do! However, my passion for playing Sim City died out MUCH sooner than I had anticipated...but there were other games loaded on the card, so...4-stars.

I switched to Bubblet...I had played the demo version of this for almost 6-months before and absolutely LOVED it. The graphics on the Games Card were a little fuzzy compared to the demo I had played, but it still performs great...a sure-fire winner of a game...5-stars.

9-Ball is a Palm version of pinball...really haven't been interested in this particular game at all...1-Star.

Chroma is a combination 3-games-in-1 combo which includes Backgammon, Checkers and Chess. I've never been much on Backgammon or Checkers, but I really love the Chess and the multiple game settings...3-stars.

Klondike is basic Solitaire...another game that I have never really gotten into in my life, but once I started, I have been forever hooked. I am not all that pleased that 96% of the games cannot be won (at least by me) but when I finally win a game it really puts me through the roof!...5-stars.

PXBlackjack is straightforward and simple...you can decide on your (fake) bet, and see if you come out a winner...I imagine the odd's right about the same as playing in a casino -- but a whole lot less expensive...2-stars.

Zap!2016...This is the game I was the most excited about. I had been playing Zap!2000 for almost a year now and figured that 2016 was an upgraded version with different settings and levels and I was PROFOUNDLY disappointed that this is NOT the case at ALL. Essentially 2016 is EXACTLY the same as 2000 with just ONE MINOR difference: The Background. That's IT. The battle scenes and asteroids and alien ships are all IDENTICAL...they are even set in the exact same order, too. Basically, if you own Zap!2000 you already own Zap!2016 -- do NOT buy this Games card based upon the belief you are getting a new and improved version -- it ISN'T, pure and simple...4-stars.

One other reviewer noted that this card is a 16mb card, but these games use up less than 2...so why so much extra wasted space? For the cost, couldn't you add a few extra games? Other than Sim City which separately is HORRIBLY over priced, you could buy all the games on this games card for much less, or get them FREE on various Palm Games websites. Over all, this card has supplied me with a HUGE number of hours of entertainment... and I probably sound more displeased than I actually am, but I just question the price of this card versus how many games are actually provided. Something to think about.

I found this card to be easy to use. Other then the fact that it is tiny and I am always afraid of losing it, it makes things easy. The games are easy to access, takes no time to load it, and I dont have to worry about things like registering, download errors, or that it might make my palm crash. I had no technical problems. Of course, not all of the games were great and Sim City can get a little overwhelming with only the small palm window to look through, but overall I am impressed.

First, I would like to knock at least one star off of this review from Palm for making it so difficult to really see what games were actually on this card.

Second, when I finally found out, I was a little disappointed, not by the quality of the games, but the quantity. Of all of the games, I play a couple regularly: Zap 2016 and Solitare.

Come on Palm, I am sure that you could have rounded up a few more titles from the vast assortment of free and cheap Palm software to at least make the purchasers feel like they got something. After all, there was more room on the card.

1. Most of the programs don't work. They either hose the PDA (m505) forcing a reset, or, in the case of SimCity, just tell you that "This version of SimCity is unregistered. . The whole reason I bought this card was to get SimCity--the advertising never disclosed that all I got was an icon and a banner advertising a product that I had to purchase separately.
2. The card only uses 1.6M of the 16M card, but is write protected so you can't make use of the rest of it--or recycle the card when you realize what's on it is not worth the 1.6M it consumes. Your money is better spent buying a blank 16M card and downloading the same games for free.
3. I have been unable to find any support for the card. The Palm web site sends you to the web sites of the individual program suppliers.

I have had not problems with the card! The games are good and I tossed the freeware versions I had on the palm.

I am surprised at the bad ratings of others. Don't know why they are having problems.

This was a good buy for me.

I am suprised by what the other reviews are saying especially about SimCity. They MUST have a bad card. I have had the card since Christmas 2001, and I have to say that it works in my M505 flawlessly! I admit I don't play the games all the time...but it does help pass time when waiting in long lines and when you are simply bored!

This palmpack card is worth every penny. I bought it mainly for travelling. We live in Europe and do a lot of long drives so this definitely keep us entertained. My dad played chess from Naples to Austria. My husband is highly addicted to Simcity, he wouldn't give it up!? and I personally liked bubblet. This will keep you entertained for hours. It's definitely better than the games in our cell phones! :)

I brought this card a year back, when i wanted something to do on a long international flight. Its a good time killer. The card (I think) was wasted as they could have included more games. The card is a 16mb card with only 1.6mb used. They could have atleast made the rest read/write so that it could be used as extra memory. SimCity has been the game I have played the most. Zap2016 is also fun to play, the card games are good to kill some time. Try it with the sound off when you are at a boring meeting or lecture.