What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver

It was developed by German studio keen games GmbH & Co. KG and published by Atari Europe. The game features several recipes, each listing preparation times, ingredients and courses. In addition, What's Cooking? Can be used as a shopping list to remind players what items to purchase, and it can act as a timer to count down from a specified time and make an audible sound when it is done. The game was first revealed by Atari at the Games Convention 2008. The game was poorly received after its release. Reviewers generally agreed that presenting a cooking guide as a video game was a good idea, but they found that the game was poorly executed and mediocre as a result.

• Developer — keen games GmbH & Co. KG • Publisher — Atari Europe • Platforms — Nintendo DS • Genre — Cooking, Educational • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer

• Illustration — The cooking challenge portion requires that the player cook virtual meals before the timer runs out. What's Cooking? is an interactive cookbook and food preparation video game with recipes that each list preparation times, ingredients and courses. Recipes can be sorted by criteria such as dishes that take less than 20 minutes to prepare, or vegetarian-only meals. After opening a recipe, an ingredient list is presented. Items on the list can be earmarked and added to a shopping list as a reminder to purchase in the future. A timer option is also available, which counts down from a specified time and makes an audible sound when it is done. Before doing any real cooking, a virtual representation of each step in the recipe is given on the screen that must be performed by the player. The Nintendo DS touchscreen and stylus are used to perform tasks such as whisking eggs, pouring sauces and cutting vegetables. Tutorials are also available to teach the player how to perform simple cooking preparation tasks. While cooking, the Nintendo DS responds to audible commands; saying "next" into the device's microphone will move the recipe on to the next step. One hundred recipes are included in the game, and players can create their own dishes in the game. Afterward, they can share them with others via Wi-Fi. In addition to the game's cooking aspects, What's Cooking? features challenges in which the player uses the stylus to chop, stir, and serve as quickly as possible.

What's Cooking? was first revealed by Atari at the Games Convention 2008. The game is narrated by Jamie Oliver. In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, Oliver noted that he tries to make his games as "three dimensional as possible", and he wanted to "make it relevant" to the player. The developers also wanted to make the game as interactive as possible.