Talking major art with the producer of Mercury's Paint by DS

After the urge to write a novel, the ability to spread pigment across canvas is apparently the second most sought after artistic ability amongst us decadent western capitalist pigs who are looking to find meaning within our downwardly spiralling bourgeois existences (at least that what neo-Marxist philosophy tells us).

But hey! What's this? The capitalist system now offers the answer to this need in the shape of Paint by DS? For a mere £20, too, petty joie de vivre comes in the shape of a stylus.

Well, maybe like those French expressionist painters, we're just suffering from a suffice of absinthe. Luckily, Jason Harman, Mercury Games' producer, is on hand to set us on the straight and narrow.

"Paint by DS is a relaxing game, which offers escapism. Like all titles in the Zen series, it can be played by the whole family," he says, before confirming that the game contains some of the world's most famous works of art. "Some of these paintings feature quite intricate details and therefore will challenge novice and expert alike. But thanks to the Nintendo DS's intuitive gameplay anyone can play the game, as it is just like painting a picture."

Of course, you'll be going up against some of the biggies, such as Van Gogh, Cezanne and Katsushika Hokusai, whose waves woodcuts are a national treasure in Japan. Luckily though, you won't have to deal with insanity, ear-cutting, lost love or poverty. The DS itself will judge how well you colour in the 15 artworks offered up.

"Using an analysis algorithm, the game compares the players' painting against the original to evaluate how good the players' work is," Harman explains.

There will be something extra available for those of us with a more gaming attitude, too.

"There are four mini-games designed to give the player a break from painting," says Harman. "These include a Whack-a-Mole-style game, a buzzer maze game where the player can't touch the sides, a colour memory game where the player has to memorise a series of colours and a sliding puzzle game which features a picture of Hokusai's The Waves. The player has to move the tiles one at a time to recreate the picture."

We can only imagine Paul Gauguin slowly turning in his South Pacific resting place. 'Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?' indeed.

Still, before we get too precious, Paint by DS isn't the only type of game that Mercury will be publishing on the DS. It's the first release in the Zen series, which sees Mercury link up to localise games from Japanese outfit Ertain. The idea for Paint by DS itself came from a series of colouring books, which were very popular in Japan.

"The Zen series of games have been developed for the busy, modern urbanite to aid relaxation," says Harman. "These lifestyle games don't contain any violence or competitive elements. We've also announced Aquarium by DS, Fantasy Aquarium by DS and Matchstick Puzzle by DS as part of the Zen series and we will be announcing more games in the series in the near future."

Paint by DS is due for release on October 26th.