Review: uDraw GameTablet

When I fired up the uDraw, I did the obvious thing: I drew a massive penis.

I tell you this for two reasons. The first is because I believe that’s what 99% of the gaming public would do when presented with a graphics tablet, especially one that’s pointed at the casual art market. Hell, that’s what 99% of gamers would do when given pen and paper and told to draw something, with the one percent remaining spewing out a bad version of some obscure Anime character.

The second reason? Because it demonstrates the level of my artistic ability and confidence. Draw a picture? With no skill or imagination, what else but a knob gag will do?

The uDraw GameTablet for PS3

Sadly, even though I’ve been drawing penises since I first picked up a pencil, and considering I’ve spent many a lonely minute examining my own in vivid detail, my attempt at phallic artistry failed completely. It was less a penis, more a lollipop.

Reviewing THQ’s uDraw Graphics Tablet (PS3 version) is tricky, as the main problem I had with the thing was its USP: the very fact that it’s a graphics tablet. It’s unfair to heap on criticism when my actual issues are with the medium itself rather than the specific product. The Godfather might be the greatest movie ever made, but if you hate gangster films you’re out of luck.

However, as the uDraw is aimed at a market full of folk with long-expired artistic licences, I feel it important to highlight a few things I found uncomfortable with the graphics tablet interface:

1) It’s not a mouse pointer. When we move a mouse, the cursor moves with us. If we need to sweep the cursor left to right, but the mouse hits the edge of our mouse mat, it’s no bother. We lift the mouse, reposition it in the centre of the mat, and continue our sweep. With a graphics tablet, that’s not what happens.

The workable area of the tablet is a piece of paper, and transposes to the workable area of your TV screen / Monitor. You draw a line from the centre to the right, and lift the stylus off the tablet? When you replace the stylus on the tablet, the cursor will reappear on the new area of page / screen. This makes PERFECT SENSE when you’re in drawing mode, although it brings another problem I’ll mention below. The problem is when you’re not actually drawing; it’s when you’re using the tablet as a mouse pointer or general controller in the menu screens and options. Everyone who’s using this product will have the mouse-mentality as standard, and controlling the wandering cursor this way is highly irritating. It almost caused me to throw the tablet at the wall on more than one occasion.

2) The disconnection between tablet and screen. I draw on the tablet. My scratchings appear on the screen. It is very difficult to mentally associate my own actions with the lines that appear. When we draw on paper, we look at the page and the pencil nib and the lines we are making. We look at our hands, and we guide the picture accordingly. I want to draw a face, so I draw a circle. I lift the pencil, and position it in a spot to draw the eyes, then nose, then mouth.

When drawing with a tablet, you’re not looking at the paper upon which you are drawing… you’re looking at the picture appear before you as if by magic. There’s no connection between input and output, so when you try and draw something as rudimentary as a face, it’s extremely difficult. Ever tried drawing a face with your eyes closed? That’s what it’s like with a tablet.

With the limitations of the medium taken into account, what of the uDraw itself? How does it fare as a tablet? As a controller? As a gaming device?

The tablet itself is black and sleek, and displays its gaming credentials with d-pad and button configurations. The unit takes three batteries, which we had to purloin from various remote controls dotted around the house. I’m surprised there was no battery pack and charge cable jack, to connect the thing to the PS3 a la a normal controller, but maybe that’s a necessity of the unit. The stylus is attached to the tablet by blue wire, which seems flimsy, and was definitely too short. When passing the tablet for group play, the wire had a tendency to twist, which led to a few untangling-the-phone-cord issues.

The sensitivity of the tablet itself was fine, if not exciting, while the pressure needed to activate the stylus tip for drawing was a little heavy. Bespoke tablets have other great features, such as pressure-sensitive nibs that can simulate sweeping brush strokes, while the uDraw avoids these things. As a tablet, the uDraw appears basic and slightly cheap, which, to be fair, it is.

Moving onto gaming. I fired up Pictionary and played with friends.

Group gaming

As I’m not reviewing the game itself, I’ll be brief on the software: it was what you’d expect from a boardgame adaptation. The core was fine, and the graphical bells-and-whistles were charming at best and irritating at worst, but all mostly pointless. The snarky commentary on low/high dice rolls got very old very quickly, but the display of our artwork around the game-board was a nice touch, and the basic array of drawing tools were welcome.

The first clue I had to draw? Florence Nightingale. The first clue my fiancée had to draw? Disraeli.

I mean, really?

Disraeli - ordinarily a piece of piss to draw

We battled on through the game, and it was fun, but we all felt that the tablet was a hindrance rather than a help. The fun of Pictionary comes from trying to guess a clue from a team-mate’s dodgy drawing, and the tablet placed an unnecessary layer of difficulty into the proceedings. Given pencil and paper, everyone can draw a face, everyone can draw a stick man… not everyone can operate a graphics tablet to do these things. A case in point? While trying to draw the clue ‘Charm’, I opted for the Sounds-Like-‘Arm’ route. Problem? I couldn’t draw a f***ing ear.

That was funny, and people laughed when the time expired and they were informed my scratchings were, in fact, NOT a deformed beetle. But they laughter came from the fact that we couldn’t use the tablet rather than from Pictionary itself.

The uDraw itself coped well with Pictionary, although the input cursor was juddery at times. By the end of game two, we all felt more confident with the tablet interface, although I still couldn’t draw a decent ear. If everyone had a modicum of tablet-practice before coming to the game, I’m sure it would be much more fun, but the nature of a social game such as Pictionary means that will never be the reality. I’d feel like a massive bellend if I was so well-versed in tablet-craft that I could accurately draw Disraeli while the opposition couldn’t muster a passable face.

Art creation

On the subject of tablet-craft, and art training in general, I tried uDraw Studio Instant Artist. This game-cum-teaching-tool promised “the ultimate art creation experience”, so I had high hopes. Happily, they didn’t disappoint.

First, the juddery input I felt that affected Pictionary was largely absent here. The nib moved smoothly, and the disconnection I felt between screen and tablet was lessened (if not eliminated). The software itself offers a slew of great artsy tools and tips, including some great lessons for a beginner and expert alike. We have discussion on the colour wheel, composition, creativity, and more. Our personal art tutor, an extremely punchable hippy-type called Remmy, was rather annoying, but once he advised me to draw my feelings through use of music, I deduced he must be a tongue-in-cheek parody.

The depth of content in uDraw Studio Instant Artist is exceptional, and for those with a true artistic bent it’s sure to be a hit. However, the truly serious will likely opt for a dedicated standalone tablet, as the uDraw offers little competition with the big boys other than a pleasantly pocket-sized price tag. And the fact it is the only PS3/Xbox graphics tablet on the market.

In conclusion, I have to ask myself a couple questions:

Did I have fun with the uDraw Gaming Tablet? On the whole, I did. A lot of the fun came from the inability to use the tablet, but that should recede over time. Pictionary will always be fun, but that’s what games are for. Controllers are enablers, nothing more. As controllers will only shine through the light reflected off the games they control, the jury will be out on the true Fun Factor of the uDraw graphics tablet for some months yet.

Would I use it a lot? Doubtful. With a host of more immediately-pleasing options available for my gaming time, would I choose to forgo becoming the Goddamn Batman to bring justice to Arkham City in order to master colour wheel theory? Definitely not, but maybe that’s what’s wrong with the world.

Overall, like the Playstation Eye, DJ turntable and countless others before it, I fear the uDraw with end up at the back of the Great Cupboard In The Sky. It’s like the Breville Toasted Sandwich Maker: it seems cool at first, and it’s competent at what it does, but what it does is niche at best, and there are many more palatable food options available.

But sometimes, all you really crave is a toasted sandwich.