Walking With Dinosaurs, the CD-ROM

[Raymond Ancog <rayancog@pacific.net.ph>]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but I bought a copy of the 
official WWD software at a surplus shop for the equivalent of US$ 5.00. 
Yes, it has the BBC logo and Discovery Channel emblazoned on it. It was 
made by Brighter Child (www.brighterchild.com) and is distributed by Encore 
Software (www.encoresoftware.com). Despite the minimum requirements of a 
Pentium 200 and 64 MB RAM I was able to run it, albeit a bit slowly, on my 
humble P90 with 40MB. The inside flap of the cover has seven screenshots, 
and the Family Tree caption read, "Trace the evolution of dinosaurs from 
basic reptiles to the first mammals." Oops.

I'm not gonna do a full review (and it would be biased by my personal 
opinions), but from what I've seen so far, it's a good CD. For someone who 
didn't watch the original on TV (either because I missed it entirely or 
Discovery didn't show it in (Southeast) Asia), the video clips were 
wonderful (aside from the rubbery appearance of some animals). A few more 
corrections should have been done here and there, such as with the Family 
Tree that is sure to rile cladists (Utahraptor to T. rex, anyone?), and the 
Fact File where the buttons read "Previous Dinosaur" and "Next Dinosaur" 
though all sorts of Mesozoic tetrapods were presented.

Anyone wanting to do a more detailed critique is welcome to do so. Gotta 
get back and watch some more, taking some minutes off my bedtime...


Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog
Mines and Geosciences Bureau
Philippines